New Sharrows on 6th Avenue
Have you seen the new sharrows on 6th Avenue between Robinson Avenue and Ash St? They were put in on the freshly repaved street along with the new "Bikes May Use Full Lane" signs.
What do you think of the new sharrows?
Bankers Hill Neighbourhood Parking Committee Needs your Ideas to Enhance Bicycles and Pedestrian Access
I just received an email from the Chair for the Bankers Hill Neighbourhood Parking Committee soliciting community input to enhance bicycle and pedestrian access in Bankers Hill.
Bankers Hill Neighbourhood Parking Committee Meeting
When: Tonight (March 19, 2012) at 6:30 PM
Where: in the Great Hall of St. Paul's Cathedral which is located at the corner of Nutmeg Street and Fifth Avenue in Bankers Hill
Why: Offer the committee input on how Bankers Hill can enhance bicycles and pedestrian access
The email from Douglas Scott, the Chair at the Bankers Hill Neighborhood Parking Committee follows:
I am the Chair for the Bankers Hill Neighbourhood Parking Committee. Our committee is charged with developing ideas to maximize the availability and maximize the use of the parking available to us in Bankers Hill. Enhancing bicycle and pedestrian access to the nieghbourhood will help us take the pressure off parking in our limited area. If you would like to send ideas to be considered for submission during the current budget cycle, please do so. The e-mail address is: EasytoParkBankersHill@gmail.
com . Do not be put off by the "Parking" in our name. We are committed to creating a multi-modal circulation system.
There is a meeting to-night March 19 beginning at 6:30 PM in the Great Hall of St. Paul's Cathedral which is located at the corner of Nutmeg Street and Fifth Avenue in Bankers Hill. Residents and interested parties may submit their ideas to us.Also, feel free to submit ideas via e-mail.
Texas Street is getting new, wider bike lanes thanks to a housing development in Mission Valley
A BikeSD reader and another budding bike advocate, Savannah, wrote in earlier this week,
I am one of the lucky commuter cyclists here in San Diego who has the pleasure of riding up the Texas St. hill from Mission Valley to Normal Heights. They have been doing some construction on the hill for the last couple weeks and I have been on the hunt to figure out what exactly they are doing. They cut the majority of the bike lane off (not so bad during construction hours because they turn the right hand lane into a bike lane with cones, but it sucks after hours because it becomes two car lanes and a semi-ridable bike lane but at times it becomes too narrow and we have to jump out in the lane...and then the right lane traffic moves 3mph) I finally got a chance to talk to one of the construction guys today while riding up and he said his crew was just doing the drilling, but the ultimate plan is to put in a retaining wall. I'm not sure how big the retaining wall is going to be, but with how much of the hillside they chopped off, I think there should be a decent bike lane going up. Hopefully! I am going to keep talking to the crews out there and will keep you updated. I think it is incredibly important that we make sure a proper bike lane is installed in the end because there are a lot of cyclists who ride this way and it's not a small or easy hill. We need the protection of a bike lane on this section of the road. Street lights would also be helpful for those of us who commute at night, but that's a whole other can of worms.
I contacted our friendly bike coordinator, Tom Landre, to help answer Savannah's question. Landre quickly contacted and received an answer from Bob Lathrop, the Project Manager overseeing the construction of Texas Street. This was Lathrop's response,
1) We are installing 15 poles and lights along the entire west side of Texas street, from Camino del Rio South to Mission.
2) When complete there will be a retaining wall, a new sidewalk, new curb and gutter with drainage inlets, and YES a paved bike lane.
A note of appreciation for Councilmember Todd Gloria
One of the city's most popular thoroughfares is 30th Street. A few days ago I noticed that the street was getting torn up in preparation for resurfacing.
As one of the main thoroughfares for bicyclists connecting North Park to South Park, I was curious whether any bicycle facilities would be installed as part of the resurfacing project.
This morning, District Three Councilman Todd Gloria announced that his office was instrumental in getting the City to commit to installing sharrows as part of the resurfacing project which will be completed within the month.
[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/#!/ToddGloria/status/175267406845976577"]
This being election year, I have to write a short note of appreciation for the tremendous amount of work that Councilman Gloria and his dedicated staff has done for the bicycling community. His work has not been appreciated enough and the work he has done has benefited not only District Three residents, but everyone who chooses to visit or pass through the District.
Gloria was instrumental in setting up a meeting between the San Diego Police Department and myself along with others in the bicycling community which led to the SDPD training all their patrol officers on the laws affecting cyclists. Councilmember Gloria was also receptive to actually riding with the city's cyclists which allowed him a first hand look at how our terrible infrastructure makes for unpleasant riding conditions and he has been very vocal in calling for our road infrastructure to be repaired.
I can confidently state that no other individual at the City Council has been this responsive, this engaging nor this proactive. Todd Gloria is currently running unopposed. He is only just getting started and it would be wonderful to have him serve for another term. So I hope all of you who live in District Three will consider voting for Todd Gloria on election day. I hope that Gloria serves as a role model to all his peers at City Council because next time around I'd like to have a difficult time picking favorite City Councilmembers. I would vote for Todd, but thanks to the redistricting process I am now part of District Nine where I can only hope that my new Councilmember is as effective as Councilmember Gloria has been.
B Street bike lanes are an exhibit of the City's passive aggressive attitude toward cyclists
Last week while riding back after a meeting, I turned onto B Street and saw empty trash and recycling bins placed in the bike lanes by the City's Environmental Services Department.
This is a perfect example of how cyclists are treated by the City, completely ignored. When I last contacted the Environmental Services Department this problem last September, I was told that my comments were forwarded to Mr. Menzore Brassfield who is the district supervisor.
Last week, I mentioned this problem to Kevin Faulconer, District 2 Council Member. He was kind enough to follow up on this issue and last night learned the following:
[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/#!/kevin_faulconer/status/172180763687653376"]
So now this appears to be an enforcement issue where one City agency has to enforce the vehicle code against another agency and waste valuable time, energy and money for no good reason. Perhaps what we really need is a dramatic depiction not unlike how Casey Neistat was able to convey his message of the nuisance involved in dealing with obstacles in the bike lane.
UPDATE: Council Member Faulconer provided additional information on how to report blocked bike lanes.
[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/#!/kevin_faulconer/status/172451085007593473"]
To report trash bins in bike lanes here is the phone number to call:
[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/#!/kevin_faulconer/status/172450215897481217"]
