Friday, Feb 1 - Advocacy Meetup at Moniker General Coffee
Interested in bike and pedestrian advocacy? Please join BikeSD's Board President Nicole Burgess and our Advocacy Subcommittee for this casual conversation at Moniker General Coffee Co. in Point Loma about bike advocacy with all San Diego area folks. BikeSD is open to discussing and hearing from others about what's important to them in advocating for biking, walking, and all other low-G modes of getting around.
Afterwards join us in a walk to Loma Club for some nice live music from 6-10 pm.
Event Details
Date: Friday, February 1
Time: 5:00 pm
Location: Moniker General Coffee (Liberty Station) - Google Map link
Normal Street Promenade Workshop - Thursday, January 24, 6:00 PM
The Normal Street Promenade will be a new public space in Hillcrest along Normal Street between University Avenue and Washington Street and will be the first transit-oriented pedestrian promenade in San Diego.
To develop the final concept, the City of San Diego and SANDAG will work with the community through a series of workshops. The conference room at Joyce Beers Community Hall will have different stations showing the bare bones concept and then a visual preference station showing options for lighting, landscaping, etc.
The first workshop will be held:
DATE: Thursday, January 24th
TIME: 6:00-9:00 p.m.
LOCATION: Joyce Beers Hall, 3900 Vermont St, San Diego
Please be sure to join fellow residents and learn more about this upcoming project. More background on our earlier report on the Normal Street Promenade here.
West Point Loma Blvd bike lanes: still no approval from PCPB
On Thursday night, staff from San Diego's Traffic & Storm Water Division (TSW) presented slides detailing the West Point Loma Blvd bike lane project to the Peninsula Community Planning Board (PCPB). The project encompasses a "road diet" on a 4-lane-wide stretch of West Point Loma Blvd., reconfigured to a 2-car-lane street with a Class 2 bike lane (paint-buffered only) and other traffic calming measures. This was the third presentation since October 2018 made by the city to the Peninsula community board about the West Point Loma Blvd. bike lane project. TSW's slideshow gave PCPB the results of their detailed traffic analysis, parking study data, lane configuration drawings, and Level of Service (LoS) impacts — all of which showed minimal impacts on drivers along the corridor — in an effort to win approval from the community board for the project.
Unfortunately, the PCPB did not approve the project, though it also did not make a motion of denial.
Speakers in support of the project from BikeSD and San Diego County Bicycle Coalition urged the board to approve the bike facility. There were also others, including local residents on West Point Loma Blvd, that also spoke in favor of better bicycle facilities along this corridor.
There were also a handful of residents that were opposed or had questions. Two audience members took issue with the term "road diet," and insisted that this should be called a "lane removal." Board members' questions focused on issues of traffic delay, the 'back-in/angled parking' configuration, the decline from a Grade B to a Grade C 'Level of Service', and the 'math not working out' when a car lane was removed. These questions were challenging for TSW staff, who gave technical answers that didn't mollify critics on the board.
Many of the PCPB board members shared desire for better bicycle facilities but still wanted to critically discuss specific design elements. Nicole Burgess of BikeSD said, "I think some them truly want to be traffic engineers."
In the end, there was no vote on the project but the board passed a motion calling for the City to return and discuss it further at the PCPB Transportation Subcommittee.
Nicole Burgess wrote San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer immediately following the meeting, "I believe the City has done due diligence and provided adequate information as they have presented three times now at the PCPB. Also, as a reminder, the OB Planning Group unanimously supported a road diet to provide safe bicycle facilities."
BikeSD believes that Level of Service (LoS) should not be the focus of presentations about bike infrastructure, just as it has been removed as a valid topic for CEQA studies. LoS leads to a very narrow discussion about the impact on drivers and travel-time rather than safety and the equitable use of public rights-of-way. Instead, the Vision Zero Systematic Solutions for Safety should be the leading guideline for these types of improvements. We can not let Community Planning Groups make final decisions for the safety measures needed for our streets to meet Vision Zero and CAP goals.
The West Point Loma bike facility was originally proposed by the Bicycle Advisory Board back in the spring of 2018, with unanimous support for the project. For the safety of all road users, BikeSD is hopeful that Mayor Faulconer and Councilmember Jennifer Campbell will advocate for this type of improvement in their community. We applaud TSW's proposed striping plans and believe this Class 2 bike lane is an essential piece of the puzzle to fill in the gap along this corridor.
Yes! I support BikeSD's advocacy for safety. Tell me about becoming a member...
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Park Boulevard Bikeway - open house & traffic safety hearing January 8
Mark your calendars for the January 8th open house and hearing about SANDAG's proposed Park Boulevard Bikeway Project. This event is focused on presenting the recently-completed Park Boulevard Traffic and Safety Impact Assessment.
Date/Time:
Tuesday, January 8, 2019
6 – 6:45 p.m. Open House
6:45 – 8 p.m. Public Hearing
Location:
Roosevelt Middle School
3366 Park Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92103
The Traffic and Safety Impact Assessment being presented at the open house has some very interesting bike and pedestrian path designs. Below is an image of the current intersection at Park Blvd. and Robinson Ave. Below that is a drawing from the Traffic Study showing how the new bike path is configured at this same intersection. The proposed bike lanes come up onto the corner bulb-outs and cross through the pedestrian space (taking the rider out of traffic lanes for many movements through the intersection). Please take a look at the Traffic and Safety Impact Assessment for more eye-opening details on this new bikeway.
SANDAG's Transportation Committee is anticipated to consider whether the proposed project is exempt from CEQA at its February 1, 2019, meeting. Comments collected at this public hearing and open house (as well as written responses to those comments) will be provided to the Transportation Committee for its consideration before its February 1, 2019, meeting.
SANDAG's project director believes the Park Boulevard bikeway has broad community support and doesn't expect much, if any, opposition to the design. Nevertheless, we encourage all BikeSD members with an interest in the Park Blvd bikeway to attend and give their input. Support for bikeways in San Diego is never something to be taken for granted so it's important for bike advocates to speak in favor of these facilities at every public hearing.
Hope to see you there on Tuesday at 6 pm!
BikeSD Campaigns 2018 - End of Year Report
BikeSD saw progress on a number of local campaigns for bike infrastructure in 2018 — as well as a few delays and setbacks. Here's the end-of-year scoop on several of them:
Downtown Mobility Plan hits the ground
The first phase of downtown San Diego's bikeway was striped in late December with great fanfare. New two-way cycletracks along J Street are just the start, though finishing all three planned phases of the project will take sustained effort. Get the full scoop on progress to date on this central set of bikeways.
BikeSD gets Gilman Dr. some buffered bike lanes
A last-minute opportunity arose during a sewer replacement by UCSD along Gilman Drive in La Jolla: bike lanes with buffered space could be added after the road was resurfaced by the University. Read about BikeSD's successful presentation to the UC Planning Group and where this led on the safety of the Gilman Dr corridor.
Potential 30th Street Bikeway
A grassroots campaign called 'Right Side Club,' founded by Matt Stucky, pushed for a better north-south bike facility on the eastern side of Balboa Park. The city's current bike Master Plan on the east side were lackluster so Matt laid out a better plan for a bike facility along 30th Street. Check out some great thinking on this potential alignment.
SANDAG's Hillcrest Bikeway is modified
A recent push by City Councilmember Chris Ward's office to create a park-like urban space in Uptown, called "The Normal Street Promenade," has pushed back SANDAG's timeline for the Eastern Hillcrest Bikeways by 3 to 6 months. But the Promenade has led to some interesting changes in the bikeway design along Normal Street. Perhaps more importantly, the Promenade has created community-wide alliance to that's invested in seeing SANDAG's Phase 2 bikeways completed in full.
Balboa Avenue Station
The Balboa Ave Area Specific Plan has been one big disappointment to transit, pedestrian, and bike advocates. A large parking lot, car-centric station design, poor access from points west like Pacific Beach, a narrow and difficult access ramp for non-drivers. Read about our efforts to get changes in the Balboa Station plan.
Border to Bayshore Bikeway
BikeSD was at the SANDAG transportation committee meeting to advocate for this important connection and to encourage MTS to work with SANDAG where a new rapid bus line will intersect with bike infrastructure. Project information here.
Yes! I support BikeSD. Tell me about becoming a member...
(Plus, receive a free BikeSD t-shirt with every membership, while supplies last.)