News, Links, and Other Views

April 4, 2013

City of San Diego

One of the challenges of bicycling in San Diego is finding a good route. Here’s one reporter’s account of trying to find one from North Park to Ocean Beach.
The San Diego Free Press published a good critique of SANDAG’s North Park – Mid City Regional Bike Corridor Project, pointing out why we should locate bike infrastructure along routes that people actually want to use instead of lesser used side streets.
The American Society of Civil Engineers has downgraded the condition of San Diego’s streets from C to D+.
A reddit post raises some points that I think anyone involved with planning in San Diego will find interesting.
Did you know there’s a river running through Mission Valley? If you think San Diego could do better than continually covering it with concrete and asphalt, sign an online petition asking the city council to adopt the San Diego River Park Master Plan.
What does it say about San Diego that the Coronado Bay Bridge has parks and bike paths on one side and zones of toxic pollution on the other.

San Diego Region

The $6.5 billion North Coast Corridor project is open for public review. The revised plan is better than the original, but could still use some improvement. Do we really need four new highway lanes and should there really be a two-way Class I bike lane on I-5?
Carlsbad will be getting new bike lanes and some existing lanes will be widened.
The father of a girl injured in Temecula while walking in a bike lane has filed a lawsuit against the City of Temecula for $10.8 million.
There is an increasing interest in making Coast Highway a livable street instead of an I-5 alternative through-route.
After removing their mayor from the SANDAG board, the Oceanside City Council now wants to remove the mayor’s power to appoint the deputy mayor.
Cars and bicycles don’t mix, according to one Bonita resident’s letter to the UT.
Carlsbad police use the power of analysis directed policing to catch a serial bike thief.
Carlsbad is conducting a parks and recreation needs survey, if you think Carlsbad could use a bike park or have other ideas you can respond here.
The Imperial Beach City Council is studying at what age it is appropriate to require kids to ride on the street instead of the sidewalk.
The 44 mile Coastal Rail Trail from Oceanside to San Diego may still be a long way from completion, however Solana Beach has done a nice job on their part.

Elsewhere

Women in Saudi Arabia can now ride bicycles (though only for entertainment purposes in parks and recreational areas while dressed in a head-to-toe abaya and accompanied by a male relative).
On-site bike shops and company bikes are being used by California tech firms to recruit and retain employees.
Debate continues about building a cycle track in Somerville Massachusetts. Watch videos of arguments for and against here.
Take a virtual cycling tour of Copenhagen via a website that synchs Google maps with user videos.
When told that it would take 30 years to build a pedestrian bridge in Rotterdam, some people decided to build it themselves.
In Los Angeles filmmakers speak out against a bright green bike lane located downtown, saying it makes shooting movies difficult – doesn’t LA realize how dangerous green bike lanes are?
With all the “easy” bike lanes built, Los Angeles now confronts the political growing pains involved with installing bike lanes along busy transit corridors
A report from Los Angeles about a heated community meeting regarding installation of bike lanes on Colorado Boulevard.
In San Francisco merchants concerned about the loss of street parking continue to lobby against bike lanes on Polk Street.
Hipster backlash has hit hard in China as fixed gear bicycles are banned in Beijing and Fujian.
Need help quantifying the health benefits of getting more people cycling? Here are some online tools.