Letter to the Mayor re: District 2 Recommendations for Transportation Actions as COVID-19 Response

April 15, 2020
|In Advocacy, News
|By BikeSD Staff
The communities in District 2 have been drastically impacted by the closures of bikeways, pathways, and trails due to the COVID-19 crisis. We support these efforts, as we understand that these trails were overcrowded, and social distancing was not feasible. We want to encourage our leadership to support efforts to create safer space for our residents.

 

Residents need to be able to make essential trips safely, and many need to spend time outside for their mental and physical health. They understand that walking and biking are great ways to move throughout the community. 

 

The recommendations provided below for District 2 have previously been vetted by community organizations and plans, and through City planning documents as proposed bikeways, pathways, or important corridors for safety. While we would defer to city engineers to devise specific remedies at this time, the proposed corridors can be categorized based on those previous proposals, to facilitate access to essential needs.

 

Our first recommendation is to follow the efforts underway in Oakland, referred to as Oakland Slow Streets.

 

“Given the emergency physical distancing requirement, coupled with fewer cars on our roads, we need to acknowledge that people will be outdoors for a little personal exercise, and our responsibility is to make sure that it happens in as safe a manner as possible,” said Councilmember Dan Kalb, chair of the City’s Public Works Committee.

The City of Oakland will work closely with neighborhood residents and community organizations to install signs and temporary barricades along Oakland Slow Streets and at key intersections. Residents will also be encouraged to print Oakland Slow Street signs and post them in their neighborhoods. 

Below is an initial list of recommended streets to be closed to through traffic. The supporting organizations will continue to conduct community outreach to gather suggestions to further expand the network of open streets:

 

  1. Mission Blvd from Pacific Beach Drive to South Mission
  2. PB Pathways: Phase 1 and 2 (See attached map.)
  3. Sunset Cliffs Blvd and Cordova Street south of Point Loma Blvd. (This will drastically improve the safety concerns of overcrowding on the cliffs.)
  4. Bacon Street from Robb Field to Del Monte
  5. Brighton Street from Spray Street to Guizot Street
  6. Evergreen Street from Nimitz to Talbot
A second approach is to address the large, dangerous corridors where reduced vehicle volume has made it possible to dedicate a travel lane to people walking and biking:

 

  1. Mission Blvd from Law Street to Pacific Beach Drive
  2. West Point Loma Blvd. from Nimitz to Sports Arena
  3. Midway Drive
  4. Morena Blvd

 

Third, where there is limited space on the street, removal of parking to provide safe space for people walking and biking is highly recommended along these sections:

 

  1. East Mission Bay Drive and Mission Bay Drive

  2. Mission Blvd from Pacific Beach Drive to South Mission (This would be an addition or alternative to the above recommendation. Provide a secured parking lot for residents to use if residents have parking issues.)

     

Finally, we urge the City of San Diego to reopen the following trails that have created extremely unsafe riding conditions and are important active transportation corridors:

 

  1. The north-south bike path on the eastern edge of Robb Field and the car travel lane out to West Point Loma Blvd. (Currently, active commuters have no safe access out of OB.)
  2. Old Sea World Drive (Restrict vehicles but allow active commuters.)

 

 

We appreciate your attention to this safety matter and are available to support as needed.

 

Signed, 

 

Judi Tentor, Executive Director, BikeSD
Stephan Vance, District 2 Representative for City of SD Mobility Board 
Nicole Burgess, Bike Walk San Diego District 2
Noah Harris, Transportation Policy Advocate, Climate Action Campaign
Maya Rosas, Director of Policy, CirculateSD 
Andy Hanshaw, Executive Director, San Diego Bicycle Coalition
Richard Miller, Chapter Director, Sierra Club San Diego



 
 
CC: Council Member Jennifer Campbell
Council President Georgette Gomez