A Bike Route Network Appears in Old Town

October 24, 2015

Since the first shared lane markings appeared in Old Town about four years ago, some more changes have slowly appeared making Old Town, California’s birth place, just a little bit more bike friendly than it has been for decades. Below is a drawing of the start of a bike network starting at the Old Town Transit Station.

Nearly four years after the first sharrow markings appeared in Old Town, a small network of bike lanes are beginning to grow.

Below are a few photos of the bike route from Old Town and into Middletown (at the bottom of Washington St)

View toward Old Town Transit Station, a transit hub at Congress and Taylor Streets. Congress St has shared lane markings(sharrows)

ot1 — View toward Old Town Transit Station, a transit hub at Congress and Taylor Streets. Congress St has shared lane markings(sharrows). Photo: Kyle Carscaden

And yes, Juan Street (one of the routes up to the Central Mid-City mesa) is in terrible shape. The good news? It’s finally getting fixed.

ot2 — Juan Street is terrible and finally getting fixed. Photo: Kyle Carscaden

Going up or down the steep Juan Street will soon be better. Today it is pretty terrible.

From the city’s new City of San Diego – Juan Street Improvement Project facebook page: “Recent activity on the Juan Street Improvement project… newly poured concrete on the northbound side from Taylor to Mason Street and grading of the new road, curb and gutter between Mason and Twiggs. All businesses and parking lots are open during the project. Visit historic Old Town!” Hooray for more communicative city departments!

Our favorite hi-viz wearing individuals pour concrete and repave city streets.

Besides Presidio, the other option to get up to the mesa is either along the speedy Washington Street (posted speed limit is 45 mph, if anyone actually pays attention – law enforcement help is more than welcome to address this safety issue), or along Presidio through Presidio Park. But another option is along San Diego Avenue and up Pringle Street which parallels Washington (it is steep, no question, but a little bit quieter)

First, one would ride north on Congress following the sharrow symbols

Then you’d turn onto San Diego Avenue where a portion of the street has striped bike lanes:

While the entire city of San Diego needs a lot of work to make it a world-class city to ride a bicycle in, it is gratifying to see changes happen even if it comes at a very (very) slow pace.