The sad state of Kearny Villa Road
Posted By Sam Ollinger on March 9, 2010
Kearny Villa Road. Photo by Robert Leone
Recently, the Union Tribune reported on how dangerous the conditions are on Kearny Villa Road for cyclists. This is not news. In 2001, Larry Mahr was a victim of a fatal collision and, in 2005, Captain Patrick M. Klokow was fatally struck – a victim of a hit and run – all on Kearny Villa Road.
The dismal conditions of the bike lanes along Kearny Villa Road is not the sole culprit. Despite running parallel to the 163 freeway, the speed limit on Kearny Villa Road is 65 mph with drivers frequently going above that speed limit on a regular basis.
Nearly ten years after Mahr’s death, Kearny Villa Road is still in shambles. There has been no traffic calming measures installed and the facilities for cyclists is dismal at best.
Cyclists who ride Kearny Villa Road have complained to city officials for years to no avail.
Kearny Vila Road lies in District 7 which is under Councilwoman Marti Emerald’s control. We contacted Councilwoman Emerald’s Chief of Staff, Xema Jacobson [XJacobson@sandiego.gov] who responded by stating that the problem had been forwarded to San Diego’s staff to their traffic engineering department.
According to Kathy Keehan, Executive Director for the San Diego Bicycle Coalition, the city expects the city’s contractors to repave some sections of the bike lanes in six weeks. Despite San Diego’s deficit, lack of funding is not the issue as money has been allocated toward fixing the bike lanes along Kearny Villa Road.
Kearny Villa Road. Photo by Robert Leone
Meanwhile, this is the current state of Kearny Villa Road as it stands. We’ll check back in six weeks and report back on what changes have been made.
usually i only lurk, but i felt compelled to speak on this matter.
sure the speed limit is 65. sure planes regularly fly low right over you in a deafening roar. sure cars merge on and off at high speeds. but the bike lane…is atrocious.
there are few north/south routes that are accessible via bike. this is one of them.
the bike lane is in the worst condition you can imagine. it’s as if the street was lined with trees and the roots were cracking through the asphalt. there is a crack every 10 ft horizontally, as well as the ever dangerous vertical ones as pictured above. the ironic thing is that the road is fine and recently paved!!! they just excluded the bike line!
if you manage to navigate the cracks, good luck being as successful missing the never-ending glass, nails, and other debris that seems to never get swept up.
it would be nice to have a safe north/south east/west grid throughout san diego.
We have the attention of the City now, let’s keep the pressure on and extend it to the State level with CalTrans who have 50% of the jurisdiction over the high speed transition ramp to 163 south. We owe it to the two martyrs to make sure they are not forgotten.