A Vision for Texas Street

By Nevo Magnezi, BikeSD Board Secretary

On August 18, 2019, Tom Morris, a man with a walker, was killed due to traffic violence while trying to cross Texas St in North Park. On November 17 of the same year, a 33-year old man was killed, also trying to cross Texas St, this time by a big rig truck. They join 6,590 other Americans who were killed in 2019, doing something that comes naturally to all of us: getting around on foot. Indeed, 2019 saw the highest pedestrian fatality rate in the United States since 1988.

Other cities in developed countries don’t seem to have this issue. Oslo and Helsinki saw zero pedestrian deaths in 2019. This success is not because our Nordic friends are less likely to jaywalk. Rather, it is because urban planners in those places design their built environment to be safer and more forgiving to human error. The tired excuses that San Diego is so distinct from other places that we must simply accept the killing of our community members cannot be tolerated. We can and must do better to make our entire transportation system safer.

So what makes Texas Street so deadly? Between wide streets, heavy traffic, insufficient pedestrian crossings, and a complete lack of any biking infrastructure, Texas Street is not designed for humans in mind.

 

What Texas Street looks like today between University Ave and Madison Ave.

 

As city planners know well, speed kills. The National Association of City Transportation Officials, or NACTO, recommends that lane widths be 10 feet in urban areas to reinforce a 25mph speed limit, or 11 feet for designated bus and truck routes such as Texas St. The current distance from the edge of the street parked cars and the line delineating the center turn lane is 14 feet. The city must reinforce a design that truly limits vehicle speeds to 25mph, and that means ensuring lanes are only as wide as their intended use.

The relationship between speed and fatality risk. Provided by NACTO.

With two 11 foot vehicle lanes, the pedestrian crossing distance, should naturally be no more than 22 feet. By implementing mini-roundabouts, as done on Meade Ave, in conjunction with pedestrian refuge islands and curb extensions, the pedestrian crossing distance can be reduced to 11 feet at intersections. Furthermore, raised continental crosswalks implemented at every intersection could further increase the visibility of pedestrians and provide much needed mobility to disabled folks who currently cannot cross at many of the intersections.

 

Intersections on Texas Street could someday look something like this (though with a more compact roundabout design). Provided by Bike East Bay.

With each vehicle lane width of 11 feet and 7-8 feet for street parking, that leaves 16 feet left on this 52 foot wide street. We believe that the best use of the remainder of the street width would be for two 8 foot wide cycletracks, including buffer, adjacent to the curb. Similar designs of sandwiching cycletracks between the sidewalk and street parking have successfully been implemented in many other cities as well as downtown. We note that the North Park Community plan calls for a class II bike lane facility, which makes sense, as in addition to being a bus, truck, vehicle, and pedestrian route between North Park and Mission Valley, Texas Street is also a bike route and has class II bike lanes north of Madison Avenue.  That being said, we believe a class IV cycletrack is more appropriate for Texas street between Madison Avenue & University Ave because of the NACTO recommendation that streets with a speed of 25mph and an average daily traffic volume of greater than 6,000 vehicles be equipped with protected bike lanes, in order to become a facility suitable for all ages and abilities.

 

 

Finally, we would like to note that we think it would be great to keep the approximately 98 public street parking spaces, according to our count, on Texas St between Madison Avenue and El Cajon Boulevard, as well as points south. Parked cars can further provide protection and limit speeds by making the lane feel even narrower to drivers, and offer convenience to those who drive in the neighborhood. However, our top priorities must be satisfying our vision zero and climate action plan goals. Ultimately, we defer to the expertise of our city planners in determining how much street parking can be maintained.

No doubt, building roundabouts, protected bike lanes, and extending curbs will be costly. While BikeSD is not qualified in estimating the total cost, it is worth noting that in 2013, the state of California determined the economic loss associated with each traffic violence death to be 1.32 million dollars. With two deaths and twenty five reported injuries since the beginning of 2018, building a safer Texas Street will be a steal in comparison to doing nothing. The state provides funding for jurisdictions to build complete streets through SB-1, however so far the city has not used any of that money explicitly for that purpose. We ask that the City of San Diego use all available funding sources, including SB-1, in order to ensure that Texas Street becomes safe for users of all ages and abilities.


Road closed to thru traffic sign with bicycles

District 9 Seeks Community Input for SlowStreets By May 1 Support Safer Places for People to Walk and Ride

ACTION ITEM Please fill out this form by May 1 if you live or ride in City Council District 9

Road closed to thru traffic sign with bicyclesCouncil District 9 Slow Streets Input Form

Council President Gomez would like to find out from our D9 neighborhoods, planning groups, business districts and advocates thoughts and ideas for bringing the slow streets movement to District 9. She would like your feedback as we consider this initiative. Please provide your feedback by May 1, 2020. If you have questions, please contact Lara Gates, Deputy Chief of Staff, at lgates@sandiego.gov

Click here: INPUT FORM FOR D9 SLOW STREETS

Just to note, under this initiative, these streets would not be closed to emergency vehicles or local traffic that must use these streets to access a final destination and would not affect transit routes.

Action Item: Send a Letter

Send a Letter to the Mayor & City Council to Show your Support for Creating More Slow Streets for People to Walk and Ride Safely

Send a Letter to the Mayor & City Council to Show your Support for Creating Safer Places for People to Walk and Ride Safely

A diverse group of organizations are requesting the Mayor and City Council provide adequate space & facilities for social distancing due to the COVID-19 crisis. With the decrease in vehicles on our streets, and the need to provide space for people to walk and ride safely,  join us in requesting that this extra street space be used to provide safer conditions for everyone.

Click the green button below to can send a pre-written letter, or tell your own story and write your own.

Click here to send an email right now

Or…

EVEN BETTER:
Write your own personal message to kevinfaulconer@sandiego.gov. Modify this sample letter and copy/paste to your personal email app.

 

Dear Mayor Faulconer,

Thank you for taking action by beginning to implement Slow Streets during the current public health emergency in San Diego. Bold action is required to flatten the curve and ensure the safety of every resident of the city and more neighborhoods could benefit from Slow Streets.

My family and I use sidewalks and bikeways to access both essential services and get much needed outdoor recreation that provides both physical and mental health benefits.  With the recent implementation of social distancing measures, however, it has become difficult for me and my family to walk and bike safely while ensuring proper 6 foot social distancing from other people doing the same. Meanwhile, the reduction in typical traffic means that our streets have cars that are driving faster than ever, making the choice between a crowded sidewalk or bikeway and fast-moving vehicular traffic both difficult and dangerous.

To mitigate these challenges, I request that the city considers the health and safety of all residents, and reallocate the extra street space from the reduction in vehicular traffic for the use of people walking and biking in more neighborhoods. This can be done by placing “no through traffic” signs on some streets, and reducing the number of vehicular lanes and increasing pedestrian and bicyclist space on others. Furthermore, I request that the city automate the pedestrian walk lights at traffic intersections across the city, because it is not safe to press pedestrian walk buttons and to practice safe hygiene.

I would like to see San Diego join the ranks of other forward-thinking cities implementing similar actions, such as Oakland, CA (Oakland is adding 5 miles of Slow Streets per week), Burlington, VT,  Boston, MA, Denver, CO, and many other cities. I support the joint letter sent out by the diverse coalition of advocacy organizations here in San Diego and would like to see a hyperlocal walking & biking network in my community.

Thank you again for your strong leadership during this critical time for not only the City of San Diego, but the world at large. Thank you for beginning the implementation of Slow Streets. I look forward to seeing our city continue to take bold and immediate action in fighting the spread of COVID-19, and continue to ensure the health and safety of residents.

Sincerely,

_____________

 

And feel free to add these important CCs:

barbarabry@sandiego.gov, jennifercampbell@sandiego.gov, chriscate@sandiego.gov, christopherward@sandiego.gov, monicamontgomery@sandiego.gov, markkersey@sandiego.gov, scottsherman@sandiego.gov, vivian@vivianmorenosd.com, georgettegomez@sandiego.gov, talk@bikesd.org


BikeSD Letter graphic

Letter to the Mayor re: District 2 Recommendations for Transportation Actions as COVID-19 Response

The communities in District 2 have been drastically impacted by the closures of bikeways, pathways, and trails due to the COVID-19 crisis. We support these efforts, as we understand that these trails were overcrowded, and social distancing was not feasible. We want to encourage our leadership to support efforts to create safer space for our residents.

 

Residents need to be able to make essential trips safely, and many need to spend time outside for their mental and physical health. They understand that walking and biking are great ways to move throughout the community. 

 

The recommendations provided below for District 2 have previously been vetted by community organizations and plans, and through City planning documents as proposed bikeways, pathways, or important corridors for safety. While we would defer to city engineers to devise specific remedies at this time, the proposed corridors can be categorized based on those previous proposals, to facilitate access to essential needs.

 

Our first recommendation is to follow the efforts underway in Oakland, referred to as Oakland Slow Streets.

 

“Given the emergency physical distancing requirement, coupled with fewer cars on our roads, we need to acknowledge that people will be outdoors for a little personal exercise, and our responsibility is to make sure that it happens in as safe a manner as possible,” said Councilmember Dan Kalb, chair of the City’s Public Works Committee.

The City of Oakland will work closely with neighborhood residents and community organizations to install signs and temporary barricades along Oakland Slow Streets and at key intersections. Residents will also be encouraged to print Oakland Slow Street signs and post them in their neighborhoods. 

Below is an initial list of recommended streets to be closed to through traffic. The supporting organizations will continue to conduct community outreach to gather suggestions to further expand the network of open streets:

 

  1. Mission Blvd from Pacific Beach Drive to South Mission
  2. PB Pathways: Phase 1 and 2 (See attached map.)
  3. Sunset Cliffs Blvd and Cordova Street south of Point Loma Blvd. (This will drastically improve the safety concerns of overcrowding on the cliffs.)
  4. Bacon Street from Robb Field to Del Monte
  5. Brighton Street from Spray Street to Guizot Street
  6. Evergreen Street from Nimitz to Talbot
A second approach is to address the large, dangerous corridors where reduced vehicle volume has made it possible to dedicate a travel lane to people walking and biking:

 

  1. Mission Blvd from Law Street to Pacific Beach Drive
  2. West Point Loma Blvd. from Nimitz to Sports Arena
  3. Midway Drive
  4. Morena Blvd

 

Third, where there is limited space on the street, removal of parking to provide safe space for people walking and biking is highly recommended along these sections:

 

  1. East Mission Bay Drive and Mission Bay Drive
  2. Mission Blvd from Pacific Beach Drive to South Mission (This would be an addition or alternative to the above recommendation. Provide a secured parking lot for residents to use if residents have parking issues.)

     

Finally, we urge the City of San Diego to reopen the following trails that have created extremely unsafe riding conditions and are important active transportation corridors:

 

  1. The north-south bike path on the eastern edge of Robb Field and the car travel lane out to West Point Loma Blvd. (Currently, active commuters have no safe access out of OB.)
  2. Old Sea World Drive (Restrict vehicles but allow active commuters.)

 

 

We appreciate your attention to this safety matter and are available to support as needed.

 

Signed, 

 

Judi Tentor, Executive Director, BikeSD
Stephan Vance, District 2 Representative for City of SD Mobility Board 
Nicole Burgess, Bike Walk San Diego District 2
Noah Harris, Transportation Policy Advocate, Climate Action Campaign
Maya Rosas, Director of Policy, CirculateSD 
Andy Hanshaw, Executive Director, San Diego Bicycle Coalition
Richard Miller, Chapter Director, Sierra Club San Diego



 
 
CC: Council Member Jennifer Campbell
Council President Georgette Gomez

BikeSD Letter graphic

Letter to the Mayor re: Street Safety During COVID-19 Social Distancing

BikeSD sent the following letter to the Mayor of San Diego:

 


Dear Mayor Kevin Faulconer,

 

BikeSD would like to applaud your leadership and thank you for taking swift action to help flatten the curve here in SD. These are very challenging times for all, and everyday you are making decisions for the health of our residents, we thank you and want to offer our support.

 

We understand why parks, beaches and trails were closed. Trails are narrow and social distancing was difficult. People rely on walking and bicycling around their neighborhoods to stay active during the shelter-in-place order, yet typical space allocation for sidewalks and bicycles does not accommodate the minimum six feet of distance.

 

To support the safety of vulnerable road users, promote the health of our residents, and aid economic resiliency, BikeSD would like the City of San Diego to restrict vehicular traffic on selected streets to allow people to bike, walk and run safely on those streets. With fewer people driving to work, and others avoiding the cost of gasoline purchases, our streets are less crowded than normal, creating an opportunity to temporarily repurpose street space. By rapidly expanding our bicycle infrastructure we can provide/promote:

  1. A safe way for people to move about the city while maintaining proper distancing.
  2. An affordable means to access essential services for those most impacted by acute loss of income in the near to intermediate future
  3. Outdoor exercise to balance the physical and mental effects of sheltering in place.

 

New York City, Minneapolis, Denver, & Philadelphia, exemplify quick rollouts for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure in adaptation to the COVID19 emergency (see here for larger discussion). We have the advantage of favorable geography, climate, and many existing streets with wide lanes with which to work towards a similar goal. With a decrease in vehicular traffic, traffic speeds are up, as noted in Los Angeles, and in San Diego, where the CHP reports freeway collisions now disproportionately require ambulance responses. At a time when our hospitals and emergency medicine responses are stretched thin, we can take proactive measures to reduce the likelihood of serious traffic injuries requiring those same scarce resources. New York experienced a 43% incident increase in bicycle collisions during the pandemic, while overall traffic collisions are down 33% relative to this time last year - motivating their emergency roll out of bike infrastructure.

 

Poorer neighborhoods are historically underserved by bicycle infrastructure, while often the most in need of affordable/free transportation in times of crisis. As our economy shifts for the uncertain, and MTS reduces its service due to lower ridership, bicycling becomes a more appealing economic imperative. For example, during the Great Recession, bicycle commuting in NYC shot up 26%. Conservative estimates of savings from foregoing a car and travelling by bike are 4,000-10,000 per year which is larger than the proposed $1,200 check being sent out to families. This savings is then spent in communities which will help stimulate local businesses.

 

Much of this could be accomplished by:

  1. Designating additional bicycle and pedestrian space for all SANDAG EAP projects (including Pac Hwy)
  2. Designating additional bicycle and pedestrian space for the entire network for the downtown mobility plan.
  3. The creation of a mechanism for communities to request opening additional streets to pedestrians/bicyclists so as to increase inclusivity of these measures.

 

We support the community, residents, and leadership to overcome the disruption that COVID19 is causing, and adapt to the changing needs. This is a critical moment where we can adopt a healthier, cleaner, and safer environment. We know you understand the joys of riding a bike and we want to support your team to create streets for people. We believe this will help SD residents adapt and build resiliency in our ever changing world.

 

Sincerely,
BikeSD
3900 Cleveland Ave #205
San Diego CA 92103
talk@bikesd.org