Uptown Planners Vote to make India Street Safer for all Road Users
Posted By Sam Ollinger on December 7, 2010
I attended the Uptown Planners Meeting earlier tonight to listen to how the Uptown Planners Board would vote on the issue of removing 137 parking spaces on India Street and Kettner Blvd in order to install bike lanes going northbound and southbound.
Over a hundred people were in attendance to offer their support or opposition to the installation of bike lanes.
The Uptown Planners is the city-recognized community-planning advisory board for the neighborhoods of Bankers Hill/Park West, Middletown, Mission Hills, Hillcrest, and University Heights (west of Park Boulevard). Their Board voted against removing the automobile parking spaces because of business opposition against the removal. However, they voted to recommend installation of lighting in the tunnel that goes under the 5 to ensure the safety of cyclists who ride the corridor. Additionally they voted to recommend that traffic calming measures be implemented on India Street and that a feasible alternative for cyclists ought to be made a priority. They voted to have the 35mph speed limit enforced so that sharrows, if painted, could be effective rather than a liability.
All in all, it was a successful vote for cyclists that will ensure that we’re one step closer to making India Street (which was under the ruling of the Uptown Planners) safer for all users.
Of course any dialogue can be seen as good dialogue, but in my opinion this doesn’t sound productive for cyclists at all. It sounds like a typical planning meeting: throwing a couple of long-overdue bones our way and making some vague assurances about what may or may not happen in the future. Without business owners really on board and without any pressure from a willing city government, there is zero incentive for Uptown Planners to actually act on anything. The light in the tunnel might be a welcome safety addition, but lights in tunnels don’t get more people on bikes–bike lanes do.
Thom, I feel your frustration. But while Uptown Planners did vote against removing 137 parking spaces, they did recommend that the City’s consultant investigate how India and Kettner would benefit from traffic calming and a road diet; i.e. more specifically, a reduction of one traffic lane on each street. The Chair of Uptown Planners explicitly stated that automobile speeds should be 35mph, not 60-70mph, and that their motion would support an investigation (by the consultant) of how to achieve that. Furthermore, they recommended that the consultant (who was present) look into the installation of a bike corral for on-street parking. Some bike corrals actually can have positive traffic calming effects. Traffic calming CAN get more people on foot and on bikes: http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/15/6/369.abstract
Also, keep in mind that the City has the final say on this. (Uptown Planners makes recommendations). Some parking may still be removed. And considering that 100 of the 137 parking spaces are nestled up on the east-side of north Kettner in between the side of the freeway and three lanes of high-speed traffic, I would not expect some parking removal—-particularly the above-mentioned—-to be completely off-the-table.
In my opinion, a road diet, lane reduction, traffic calming, a bike corral, and improved lighting would be a success.
Fyi, a new Union Tribune article about last night has just been forwarded to me:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/dec/08/planned-bicycle-route-downtown-san-diego-rebuffed/
Dear Thorn:
1. At least “we” got cyclist’s concerns on the table.
2. They’re actually more than on the table. They’re on the record. They’re in play. Cyclists, with careful cultivation, may have find they have allies in the Little Italy Business Improvement District and on the Uptown Planning Group.
3. We’re not going to see India and Kettner turned into velo-utopia. However, what we can see is cyclist’s concerns being an element in making these two streets, and their neighborhood, better for everyone.
4. The City of San Diego, with the Clairemont Drive bike lanes, has discovered a) bike lanes make a great pretext for a road diet and b) you have to get the planning groups on board beforehand for road diets, or you’ll get a backlash.
5. That tunnel underneath I-5 is just plain nasty. I’ve given up leading ride groups through it (they all defect and go north on Pacific Hwy instead). Getting any improvement there would be nice. Betcha the motorists would enjoy improved lighting there, even if the traffic engineers weasel their way out of providing a tunnel alert button. Come to think of it, improved lighting would be better than a tunnel alert button.
6. There are some issues about size, width, and other street furniture on India near Washington. Bike racks on those sidewalks would need to be placed carefully. Perhaps we could start with the bike racks that are bolted to parking meters.
END