Foto Friday: Under Kevin Faulconer's Watch, Tree Trimming Is a Complicated Process Requiring Over a Week to Fix

In the summer of 2011, Channel 8 reported a downed tree in Ocean Beach and the speediness with which the tree was being removed took under a day.

Last Thursday, Jon Christopher reported a tree that was posing a danger on the popular Rose Creek Bike Path "by the crazy dismount section". I reported it as did several others to the city's Street Transportation Department.

It's not safe to ride a bicycle under a tree that shows signs of falling on you.

Earlier this week, I learned that the tree had still not been trimmed so I asked Kevin Faulconer what was going on

Faulconer said he'd follow up

 

 

 

On Tuesday, Faulconer said his staff was following up

As of yesterday, the tree has still not been trimmed. Apparently when it comes to tree trimming to keep cyclists safe - this is a problem that has the folks at District 2 completely stumped.

 

Update: Faulconer has offered the following updates:

 

Update 2: Received an email from a BikeSD member stating:

I went out to the Rose Creek Bike Path by Mission Bay Drive and Damon Street around 9:45 AM this morning (Friday) to trim the tree myself. I brought along my ladder and hand saws. When I got there, there was a reporter from Channel 6 shooting video and interviewing riders as they passed by. They laughed when I showed up. No, I'm not with the city. No, I'm not a hired contractor. Yes, I care about the city and yes, I care about the safety of Bike Path users.
I started hacking away and made some decent progress in an hour or so. I'm no spring chicken and it was hot out there. The Cavalry arrived in the form of a city crew and I was glad to see them. The lead man introduced himself but I can't recall his name. He was a good guy and his crew got right to it. I let them use my ladder which helped them to clear high into the tree branches. While his crew worked on the offending tree, he took up some loppers and proceeded down the bike path, clearing incidental out growth and pruning back shooters. That's how you lead a crew!
treetrim_1

Kudos to our member for taking action and our thanks to the city crew for helping and being proactive with other growth. It should not have to come to the point our own members do the city's work. How quickly would the city remove a fallen tree from a street? Attempts to reach the news station were unsuccessful but according to our member the segment will air on the 10pm broadcast.

Update 3: The path is now passable.

by Sam Ollinger

Tonight: Movies to inspire and connect with your community

Now that summer is in full swing our advocacy efforts, here at BikeSD, need to be recharged. Starting tonight and for the rest of the month, we have a slew of events to inspire and help you reconnect with your community.

Tonight, the always supportive Tiger! Tiger! Tavern will feature two incredibly inspiring movies to showcase the possibilities of the bicycle. Meet at Tiger! Tiger! at 5:30 pm for a short ride after which we'll regroup back at the tavern.

Watch the trailer of With My Own Two Wheels here:

Watch the trailer of Single Track High here:

Perhaps our California newspaper spammer, and self-described "futurist" could join us so he has something to mull over before he decides to launch random opinions in the future that has no basis in fact or reality.

And for your enjoyment, here is a photo of BikeSD board member, Bruce Shank, carrying a bike themed cornhole board and a watermelon - both of which he managed to transport by bicycle.

Bruce Shank showing the power of the bicycle in the newly pedestrianized Plaza de Panama in Balboa Park.

by Sam Ollinger

Foto Friday: Buffered Bike Lanes on Mira Mesa Boulevard

Last month, Joe Punsalan noticed that buffered bike lanes had shown up on Mira Mesa Boulevard

If the vehicle travel lane width was reduced with the implementation of this buffered bike lane, I hope the city is taking active steps to measure vehicle speeds and is considering reducing the speed limit from 50 mph. At 50 mph, unintentional driver errors could be deadly.

Steven Vance from Streetsblog Chicago thought that a concrete barrier to separate the bicycle traffic from the motor vehicle traffic could be a solution.

Perhaps Caltrans and the City could join forces and place a bulk order for Jersey Barriers.

by Sam Ollinger

Low-car households account for nearly 500% of San Diego's growth since 2005

I'm actually more surprised than you are to learn this, but San Diego has both Portland and Los Angeles beat by a wide, wide margin. Between 2005 and 2011, nearly 500% of the city of San Diego's growth was in low-car households defined as "households with fewer vehicles than working adults"*.

This data shows a huge shift in how San Diegans are transporting themselves. I don't know if you're as incredulous as I am to learn this, but this data is definitely something I would have never expected to learn.

Younger Americans are driving less and based on the data above, San Diegans are hungrier than ever to have additional options to get around. If this data doesn't make the decision makers in this city and region really sit up and take notice and act, I doubt anything will.

Much thanks to Michael Anderson from Bike Portland for sharing his methodology.

*Using Shane Phillip's definition, "this is a conservative estimate. The numbers exclude households with adults who aren't working and don't own cars (presumably including the elderly and retired), as well as households with one working adult and one car, even though many of these households are likely to be couples with one working parent and one stay-at-home parent. Unfortunately, the survey data didn't differentiate between these households and those with only one adult." 

Further more, the data per the ACS is "limited to the household population and exclude the population living in institutions, college dormitories, and other group quarters."

by Sam Ollinger

Causes to Consider Supporting: CicloSDias, Messy Jessie's Bicycle Academy and the Challenged Athletes Foundation

Tomorrow (Friday) is probably a day when you're a bit flush with cash and thinking hard about where to put those well earned dollars to good use. We've got some ideas for you.

The city's first open streets event, CicloSDias, is scheduled to happen on August 11th, 2013 - a mere ten days away.


CicloSDias Crowd-funding Campaign 2013 from Media Arts Center San Diego on Vimeo.

With this first event, San Diego will join the ranks of 90 other cities around the U.S. in an attempt to showcase an apparently wary San Diego that no disaster will befall our fine city if she opens her street to people and closes it off to multi-ton motor vehicles for a few hours on a Sunday.

This idea to introduce the city's residents to the notion of reclaiming the public commons and experiencing it without fear of bodily harm that may come in the form of an automobile barreling toward them at high speed unfortunately costs money. Specifically this effort is going to cost $15,000. The San Diego County Bicycle Coalition has been put charge of raising the funds and putting on the event. According to Brittany Statt at the SDCBC, the funds will be used to pay for expenses "like getting traffic controllers, equipment needed to close intersections and supplies for the hubs, permitting fees, and marketing."

Cities as large as New York City and as small as Fargo have managed to successfully put on an open streets event. We'd like to see the first CicloSDias succeed and ideally become a regularly held event simultaneously occurring in all council districts around the city. Closing public space for the public to enjoy the space shouldn't cost money when the benefits far outweigh any perceived downsides. We want to see businesses open their doors, and residents get outside their homes and cars and enjoy our city and, well, our enviable weather.

In the words of our local placeshaker, "dare to live outdoors". Let's start on August 11th.

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Jess Stephens is a familiar and friendly face that many of you have met either at the local farmers' market or at your local bike shop. You probably learned some valuable lesson or came away simply inspired. She has launched a campaign to bring a long held dream of opening a bicycle academy to life.


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The city's Bicycle Initatives Program Manager, Ed Clancy, District 2 Councilmember Kevin Faulconer, and Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman are all raising money for the Challenges Athletes Foundation by committing to a 620 mile bicycle journey down the California coast. The challenge is called the "Million Dollar Challenge" and riders ride from San Francisco to San Diego to raise $1 million for challenged athletes.

On why the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) is important to Clancy, "as a military veteran, and knowing that I have this in common with CAF athletes, this project hits close to home."

Hope you consider donating to all these very worthy causes.

by Sam Ollinger