News, Links, and Other Views

City of San Diego

  • The City Council’s infrastructure committee had its first meeting and is starting to assess the work ahead.
  • The City’s plan to modify the Cabrillo Bridge and build a parking structure in Balboa Park in order to make the Plaza de Panama a pedestrian plaza was found to be illegal.
  • In sort-of related news, the Cabrillo Bridge is slated for a seismic retrofit this year, during which time it will be closed to cars and only open to non-motorized traffic.

San Diego Region

  • Plans are in the works to revamp Coast Highway in Oceanside.

Elsewhere

  • Arizona is looking into ways to make the state more bicycle friendly.
  • If you are traveling to Berlin or interested in bike route mapping programs, check out the online route planner at bbbike.de.
  • Click here for some cool maps showing the density of pedestrian and bicycle commuters in bicycling.com’s top 10 biking cities.
  • In Sacramento as the state budget takes shape funding for bicycle infrastructure may be in danger.
  • The next time someone complains about how mass transit doesn’t make money and has to be subsidized, or how bicyclists ride for free on roads they don’t pay for, you might want to refer them to this article.
  • Apparently Obama’s new chief of staff, Denis McDonough, will no longer be allowed to ride his bike to work.
  • The New York Times recently ran a story about a cyclist who commutes 40 miles to work.  The story was not well received by everyone.
  • After visiting Denmark in 2009 and being knocked off his bike and breaking his elbow in 2010, LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa started making bicyling a priority.