Around San Diego

Bayshore Bikeway Planning Update
San Diego County Supervisor Greg Cox is leading a SANDAG committee of citizens and officials from cities around San Diego Bay to help complete the Bayshore Bikeway. When the 24-mile bikeway is completed, it will encircle San Diego Bay. This year, SANDAG, in conjunction with the County of San Diego, the cities of Coronado, Chula Vista, Imperial Beach, National City and San Diego, and the Unified Port District, has begun an effort to update the original bikeway plan. The Bayshore Bikeway Plan Update comes at a time when both the cities of National City and Chula Vista are planning for bay front redevelopment, and when the Port District has plans for a new hotel near the San Diego Convention Center, and for significant improvements on the North Embarcadero and at the old San Diego police headquarters.

The Bayshore Bikeway currently consists of a combination of separate bicycle paths, on-road bike lanes, and roads designated as bike routes with signs only. The original plan for the Bikeway was drafted in 1976 by Caltrans in cooperation with the jurisdictions that surround the Bay. Much of the bikeway have been completed since then, like the bike path along the Silver Strand and across the Imperial Beach bay front. The construction of the Gordy Shields Bridge at the Sweetwater River in 2004 was the first major improvement on the east side of the Bay, but much of the bikeway on the east side remains unimproved.

La Jolla Traffic Calming - Pain or Pleasure?
The jury is out. The effort to "calm" car traffic through the Bird Rock area of southern La Jolla is progressing with installation of several traffic circles. Early reports are mixed. Can bicyclists learn the necessary skills and assertiveness for "taking the lane space" through the circles so they don't get squeezed to the curb? Will motorists learn that bicyclists get to "take a turn too"? Are these facilities designed right to accommodate or threaten our right to travel? Attempts to tame wild motor vehicle uses appear to be "all the rage." Del Mar just installed more crosswalk raised lights and "bulb-outs" narrowing our shared space. We are holding our breaths wondering "will the careening car drivers really slow down?" "Will bicyclists be able to claim some of the diminished space in those narrow chicanes?" These may be harbingers of things to come though a few traffic circles already exist in San Diego at 49th and Adams in Talmadge, and a vintage one at Mission Cliff Dr and North Ct. one block west of the north end of Park Blvd. (Thomas 1269 C3). The City of San Diego is developing an update to its traffic calming program - what works, where, when and how to decide. SDCBC will participate to provide advisory input, review, and recommendations from the perspective of bicyclists for each component of the overall program.

Lake Hodges New Bridges
Big plans are being made for widening the existing I-15 bridge and also for a new bridge to the west just for bicycling and walking. Both projects are facing delays due to the additional costs of construction from the abundant amount of water in the Lake right now. Caltrans is planning to prohibit bicyclists on the I-15 bridge if the new bike-ped bridge opens. SDCBC is facing opposition to our polite but firm request (demand?) that the new bike-ped bridge should provide reasonable opportunities for non-motorized travel and should not be closed at night. The Water Dept. and a community planning group oppose 24 hour opening. The issue may come to a hearing in September with what's left of the S.D. City Council. Let your Councilmember know that we want equal opportunities for travel - no night time bans!

Free Bike for Life Classes
The San Diego County Bicycle Coalition will soon have finished off its grant funds to provide bicycling training for free. They are taking registrations for classes in the fall - Contact bikeforlife@sdcbc.org, for more information. Click onto www.sdcbc.org for the current calendar of classes for the next few months. (Hey, did I mention they're FREE?!?)

San Diego Center City Development Plans
So, how does the Center City Development Corp plan for bicycling downtown? Their Draft Downtown Community is available for download (if you have a fast connection) at http://www.ccdc.com/planupdate/index.html. I think the plan would improve downtown bicycling but doesn't go far enough toward making the downtown "friendly" to bicycling. Look and then tell them what you think.

Bicycle Registration?
SDCBC has been approached by a national company to participate in their bike registration program. It works similarly to the City of San Diego and State bike registration program (if that is still in existence) where an agent buys bike registrations stickers and forms, and then sells them to customers. The $5 registration is input in the national database at Cyclefinders.com. "Bikes and ATVs that are registered in a national database are less likely to be stolen, and more likely to be returned to their rightful owners if they are" is the claim. Cyclefinders would like SDCBC to be an agent for them. Do you register your bikes? Would you consider this a good service for SDCBC to provide? What bike registration service would you like and support? Respond to jimbaross@cox.net.

Door Zone Bike Lane
Bike lanes have recently been painted on Sunset Blvd. in Mission Hills between Couts St. and Ft Stockton Dr. (Thomas 1268 H4 & H5). Philip E. provided a photo at http://www.efgh.com/temp/20824.jpg . Sunset Blvd. is a fairly well-used bike route through the Mission Hills area, but too bad the lanes are squarely in the door zones of parked cars. Be careful and keep to the left edge of the lane when parked cars are present!

San Luis River Path
A recent addition to the San Luis River Path runs under a railroad trestle just south of the river and connects the path directly to Pacific Street. The addition seems to be complete. It has been fenced, and the part under the railroad trestle has been roofed, probably to protect bicyclists from railroad fallout.

Sorrento Valley Road Still Closed
The section between Carmel Valley Road and Carmel Mountain Road is currently still closed to bicycling and walking. The City of San Diego is working on a sewer line project, and they feel it is unsafe to allow bike and pedestrian access in the area. The reopening date is uncertain. An alternate route (hilly and highly trafficked) is signed in the area.

Bachman Drive Improvements
Bachman Drive is one of the most popular and relatively quiet routes for bicyclists travelling between Hillcrest and Mission Valley. The road was originally built and intended to serve motorists only for the hospital parking garage and open for general pedestrian and bicycling use. A few years ago it opened to the general motoring public. The raised island squeeze point at (almost - ugh) the top of the climb has been removed making it easier for bikes and cars to get through without impeding one another.

Useful Trip Distance Calculator
This is probably a useful tool for getting accurate distances on-line for your bike trips on-line. The author has modified the google.maps functions (google.maps already provides good road maps). With this calculator you can pick your own route, and get useful maps to print.
http://www.sueandpaul.com/gmapPedometer/

Are They (we) Worth It?
Special bicycling facilities cost money. Are they worth it? How much do bicycle facilities cost? Can we quantify their benefits? In what cases do estimates of benefits outweigh costs? Bicyclinginfo.org, the pedestrian and bicycle information center, offers two resources to help assess the costs and benefits of building a new bicycle facility in your town. The Costs-Demands-Benefits and Bicyclopedia tools can help you estimate costs, the demand in terms of new bicyclists, and measured economic benefits (e.g., time savings, increased livability, decreased health costs, a more enjoyable ride, decreased pollution). Bicyclopedia http://www.bicyclinginfo.org/bikecost/ estimates benefits versus costs. (Surprise: bicycles win!)