Bike Corral Ribbon Cutting – Hillcrest (Corner of Fifth Avenue and University Avenue)
From Councilmember Todd Gloria's office,
Councilmember Gloria will be hosting a press conference to highlight the first bike corral installed in the City of San Diego. I hope you will join us!
Bike Corral Ribbon Cutting – Hillcrest (Corner of Fifth Avenue and University Avenue)
Monday, May 14, 2012
12:00 – 12:30pmContact: Anthony Bernal | Council Representative | Office of Councilmember Todd Gloria
202 C Street, M.S. 10A | San Diego, California 92101 | Office: (619)236.6633
UPDATE: Here is the official press release from Councilmember Gloria's office.
In celebration of the bike corral’s completion, Snooze Eatery will donate 100% of the proceeds from Monday’s sales of its bike-themed Pancake of the Day to the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition.
San Diego's First Bike Corral at Fifth and University
After what has seemed like an eternity, San Diego is finally (finally!) getting bike corrals. But what is a bike corral?
A Bike Corral is an on-street bicycle parking facility that can accommodate many more bicycles than a typical sidewalk rack. Bike corrals typically take up an existing single-vehicle parking space and replace it with up to eight bicycle racks – enough space for 16 bicycles! These facilities make more efficient use of a vehicle parking lane in areas with high cycling demands. They are especially useful in areas with narrow sidewalks where it would be impractical to install a sidewalk rack.
District Three is slated to get the initial set of bike corrals thanks to the efforts of Councilman Todd Gloria and his staff, and of course Tom Landre. There will be three locations in District Three (North Park and El Cajon being the other two) that will have bike corrals by the end of this month. What better way to celebrate Bike Month than finally having something tangible and useful for bicycle riders?
Looking back over our email and in-person conversations, Landre kept reiterating how getting a bike corral was a high priority for him. He began meeting with City staff, neighborhood groups, and advocates in January this year to get this done. In one email, Landre stated,
I know I keep saying this and it might be hard to believe but I am working on it daily.
I trusted Landre but was still unclear, like many others in the city, on what exactly the holdup was. Los Angeles currently has multiple bike corrals and San Diego had, until today, none.
But now that we have an actual bike corral in San Diego, we should all be truly grateful to Tom Landre, the City's Bike Coordinator, and Councilman Todd Gloria for working to get this done. Please be sure to send your thank you letters, phone calls and other love notes to:
Tom Landre - TLandre (at) sandiego.gov, phone: (619) 533-3045
Councilman Todd Gloria - toddgloria (at) sandiego.gov, phone: (619) 236-6633
Update: It is also Councilman Gloria's birthday today. He seemed pretty pleased with this news,
[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/#!/ToddGloria/status/200699189619994625"]
Edit: An earlier version of this post inadvertently stated that three of the bike corral locations would be in Hillcrest. Tom Landre sent in an email stating that the next two corrals are slated to be in North Park.
Update on Social Cycle's Legal Woes - Up and Running in the Uptown Neighborhoods
Social Cycle owner, Laura Rovick, isn't waiting around for the City Attorney to welcome her business back with open arms. She's left the downtown area behind, for the time being, and is now running her tours in neighborhoods where the pedicab ordinance doesn't apply: the uptown communities of North and South Park, Bankers Hill and Hillcrest.
Her 16 seat pedal powered machine was spotted over the weekend with happy customers.
According to Rovick, her business received pedicab tickets with a fine of $1,800. Rovick went to Traffic Court and fought it and got the judge to reduce the fine to $100. Additionally, the Judge
ordered the City to meet with us to figure out a way to give us the right license.
According to Rovick, Social Cycle isn't a pedicab because they do not stop and pickup customers like a pedicab would. Tours are organized for an entire group that have a single starting point and a final destination.
Rovick is happy to be making progress, even if it is at a very slow pace. Rovick however, still wants to run her business in the downtown area as her warehouse storing the bicycles are located downtown and towing the bikes on a flatbed to where she's currently hosting tours is an expensive affair.
Adams Avenue Has New Sharrows (Again). Sharrows on Park Boulevard Scrubbed Away.
Last May, sharrows were placed on Adams Avenue. Last December the sharrows were removed from Adams Avenue in preparation of the street being resurfaced. The removal of the sharrows got some local media attention as well.
I finally had a chance to ride on the Adams Avenue this past week and took a few photos of the new sharrows that were placed about a month or so ago.
And now after placing sharrows on Park Boulevard last year, the powers that be at City Hall has decided to scrub them away. Here is a photo I took this morning of the scrubbed away sharrow:
I'm not sure why it is so difficult for departments at the City to communicate with one another to avoid duplicating work and wasting precious dollars.
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For more on what sharrows actually are, read this writeup from Aaron Garland.
Omni Hotels and Resorts Introduces a "Two Wheeled Tourism" Travel Package
Perhaps prompted by the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition's successful first Bike Summit this past weekend at Omni Hotel, the Omni has introduced a "Two Wheeled Tourism" travel package for their local guests.
JOIN THE BIKING BRIGADE AT THE OMNI SAN DIEGO HOTEL
Downtown Luxury Hotel Offers “Two Wheel Tourism” Package for Local Guests
SAN DIEGO, CA (April 3, 2012) – The Omni San Diego Hotel encourages more eco-friendly travel for the local market with its new “Two Wheel Tourism” travel package. Visitors can enjoy adventurous bike trails and fun destinations throughout the city with easy bike access available on Amtrak, San Diego trolleys and the Coronado Ferry.
The Omni San Diego supports the biking revolution with deluxe room accommodations, an in-room “Get Fit” workout kit, picnic lunch for two and maps of San Diego’s best bicycle trails from the San Diego Bicycle Coalition. The hotel concierge can also arrange bike rentals and custom bicycles tours. Available throughout 2012, the “Two Wheel Tourism” travel package starts at $279 per room, per night. For more information and to book the package, please visit omnihotels.com or call 619-645-6540.
The “Two Wheel Tourism” travel package includes:
- Overnight deluxe accommodations for two
- In-room “Get Fit” kit
- Picnic lunch for two
- Two round trip ferry tickets to Coronado Island
- Complimentary car and bicycle valet
- Regional bike trail maps from the San Diego Country Bicycle Coalition
About the Omni San Diego Hotel
The Omni San Diego Hotel is part of the Omni Hotels family, which creates compelling, memorable guest experiences by tempting the senses in innovative ways, surrounding them with a balanced blend of scents, sounds, sights, textures and tastes. Nestled in the heart of the historic Gaslamp Quarter, the Omni San Diego Hotel is within walking distance from more than 90 restaurants, 20 nightclubs and 40 boutique shops and close to the city's top sites and attractions including San Diego Zoo, Balboa Park, shopping at Horton Plaza and much more. Since opening in April 2004, the Omni San Diego Hotel offers an ideal destination for leisure travelers in downtown San Diego’s historic Gaslamp Quarter. The 21-story luxury hotel features 511 guestrooms and suites with scenic views of San Diego Bay, the ballpark and the San Diego skyline. The Omni San Diego Hotel is also distinguished as the first and only US hotel attached to a ballpark, the San Diego Padres’ PETCO Park.
About the San Diego Bicycle Coalition
The San Diego County Bicycle Coalition (SDCBC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to making bicycling better in San Diego. The organization does that through educational programs, promoting awareness of bicyclists and bicycling issues, reviewing infrastructure improvements, and acting as a voice for bicyclists to elected officials and decision makers throughout the San Diego region.
Media Contact:
Rachel Esserman / Lydia Lee
Murphy O’Brien
(310) 453-2539
resserman@murphyobrien.com / llee@murphyobrien.com