The Case of the Missing Bike Lanes on Imperial Avenue

I have an unnatural love of bike lanes of late. For most of my adult life, and a significant portion of teen years, a bike lane was a symbol of a frivolous structure. Structure where structure was not needed. Placement, where socially, I did not need to be placed. This was a perhaps an  immature rejection of some set standard imposed by others on someone who supposedly knew better. Now, it’s an ironic twist that I find myself arguing for a needed structure when, after years of riding experience, I need it least.

Despite being the kid who once rode a portion of the Monterey Highway 10 miles on his BMX bike from San Jose to Gilroy where there was no bike lane, I found myself looking for a bike route a few years back when planning my first commute. I had emailed the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, and received a package via snail mail with all the designated routes. Imperial avenue is my main arterial  road which had a marked bike lane.

For a few months afterward, I rode on neighboring roads when I had the time available to explore and to satisfy wanderlust. But Imperial was the standby, the recommend route to new cyclists – the safe spot.

Parking signs have replaced the bike lane signs on Imperial Avenue. Photo by staff.

And then one day, things turned comical. I had recommended Imperial Ave to someone as the main bike route from Lemon Grove into downtown San Diego. A few days later, he came to tell me about being buzzed while he was passing a parked car parked in the bike lane.

This is where things take a comical twist. In the county of San Diego, parking enforcement in unincorporated portions of the county have to be enforced by the California Highway Patrol. Knowing how incredulous this sounds, I called the CHP and explained the problem. A few weeks later, I got a call back. “Sir, I’m sorry, but that section you described is an authorized area to park.” Nervously laughing, there was a little banter, and I hung up. Unlike the operator at your local 800 number, getting into a heated debate with the CHP, is something that now with age, seems like a unwise choice. Call me silly, but telling them they are a bunch of lazy ass clowns seemed like the wrong thing to do.

I’m glad I didn’t.

So my next time through, I rode Imperial Avenue, noting the bike lane.  Which, in a way, is pretty tedious. Watching a white line while riding seems a bit ridiculous. And I have the attention span of a teenage male going through puberty at Hooters. Part of the joy riding for me is seeing the city, that while driving a lounge chair on wheels (a.k.a. the car I have) is normally missed at 40 mph. Riding along, riding along…I pass the spot someone spray-painted “187 pigs” on the boarded up window of the old car detailing place. I pass the Mercado that is surprisingly busy this morning. I pass a dude standing on the street corner weaving heavily…a ’87 Nissan truck on bags is bouncing and pounding out a heavy version of Molotov’s “Puto”… and there’s a car parked in my bike lane.

Only the bike lane isn’t there. It’s kind of there. But not. It was there. Remnants of it are there. But it’s not there.

This is one of those early morning spiderweb moments. You’re walking along, alert perhaps groggy, just minding your own business. Suddenly there’s a sticky strand on your face you can feel and you’re reeling wildly around waving your arms because the static version of what you know as reality has been interrupted by a little something stuck on your face and everything changes.

I do my least favorite thing and turn around, riding the wrong direction in the bike lane, err, side of the road, trying to figure out what happened where. It’s all uprooted and unexpected. Now, I’m staring at the ground, riding the wrong way with cars coming at me. Instinctually, I grab for the phone to call the police and tell them that someone stole bike lane. Someone honks, I look up, and I become thankfully aware of my surroundings. So I look around, and then back down. There it is, the bike lane again.

Parking signs have replaced the bike lane signs on Imperial Avenue. Photo by staff.

I’ve had my share of adult beverages in my life, but have never partaken of mind altering drugs. Shoot, I’ve never even smoked a joint. But at this point, I’m feeling as if I’m in “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”, only, the white lane is vanishing at my wheels. It’s a bit perturbing. Years of riding and at some point, right out from under me, literally, someone stole a painted white line. And I never noticed. Until it was pointed out to me. Good thing I didn’t call the CHP those colorful adjectives I had conjured up.

I circle back and find the root of the problem. At 65th Street, the bike lane has been erased. Yes, erased. 3 hour parking signs had been put up. Then at 69th, the bike lane resumes. Or rather, what’s left of the bike lane. When I say erased, I’m not exaggerating. There are grind marks on the street, as well as paint that covers over where the bike lane use to be. Just over a half a mile. Ironically, there are no sidewalks, and if you were to park there, you’d have to walk ¼ mile to cross Imperial, which in this section is a 35 MPH road. So now we’ve got parked cars and pedestrians in the…well, where there used to be a bike lane.

Erased. Rubbed out. Scrapped off. Painted over.

Who does that? On what authority? More importantly, who failed to consult me first? Ok, perhaps the last question is a bit selfish. But there used to be a bike lane there.

A review of newer maps shows that the section is a “shared use” section, without a bike lane. To put this in perspective, sections of bike recommend routes on maps have been completely removed even when it’s not been a sanctioned removal. Jamacha Boulevard’s bike lane – the site of a stagnant construction for 8 years, is simply cleared off the map.

So somewhere, someone scrubbed off the bike lane. You can see it in the

Parking signs have replaced the bike lane signs on Imperial Avenue. Photo by staff.

pictures. You can also see how narrow a section it is to pass with a car parked there. You can also see that people apparently like to zip-tie stuffed animals to the signs on the side of Imperial Avenue.

Of the numerous questions above and in general, it comes down to two: what happened and does it matter?

I happened to mention the missing bike lane on Imperial Avenue at a recent group bike ride. It was sort of an out loud question, general commentary, sort of a “why is the sky blue” question. An older gentleman there turned towards me, but not directly at me, and announced the answer out loud. Dressed as your semi typical commuter, wise looking, astute in nature, he let the answer go with an air of authority.

“Who cares about a bike lane? We don’t need them.”

It would be a bit surprising, and then more so when I recognized it was Jim. And yes, I take it a bit personally, as it’s the second missing bike lane in my life, and the second time Jim has been involved with missing bike lane issues. Jim who?

That would be Jim Baross, Chair of the San Diego Regional Association of Governments Bicycle Pedestrian Working Group, Vice Chair of theDepartment of Transportation’s California Bicycle Advisory Committee, President of the California Association of Bicycle Organizations, Board Member for the California Bicycle Coalition, and Spokesperson for the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition.

Apparently the official spokesperson of the San Diego County Bike Coalition doesn’t need bike lanes.

Do I need a bike lane?

After all, how many days, months, years had I been riding that section and never noticed that the bike lane had been removed? I couldn’t tell you. In the years, there’s never been a problem for me there. A white line, a few millimeters high if that. But it was taken away from me – something that rightfully belonged to me. And the one bike advocate who could have fought to get it back doesn’t care or want to.

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Ed. Note: The post above was written by fellow writer, Will, who brought to to light some of the frustrations that bicycle advocates are facing in the city of San Diego. Jim Baross, the official spokesperson for the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition was contacted to clarify his stance on bike lanes. Previously, Baross was one of the only people representing a bicycle advocacy group in the state of California to vote against experimenting with bike boxes a vote that was a disappointment to many cyclists in the region. When questioned about his position on bike lanes, Baross refused to give a clear answer claiming that the concept of a bike lane was a “complicated issue”. When thelargest city in the country can increase the number and percentage of bicyclists just by painting lines on asphalt, this lack of commitment to all current and potential cyclists’ rights is nothing short of irritating and frustrating. If we can’t get a self-described bicycle advocate to advocate for cyclists, perhaps its time we put someone in place who will.