Washington Street Bike Plan - DESIGN IDEAS!

SO finally, after months and months, we are starting to see some designs for what a bike path on Washington Street could look like.

The image shows what the current state of Washington street is, and what it could look like.  Some thoughts:

• this is a section of Washington Street at 68' wide.  But not all sections are that wide, nor do they support a 6' median.  But, we are not supposed to take this view as the literal implementation of the plan.
• the pathway/sidewalk on the right is a nice feature, and because it's grade-separated, it looks really safe.  
• both bike lanes look like safety is a priority
• the median planted with a tree makes the whole street look much more aesthetically pleasing.  I wonder if they are thinking about capturing any runoff in that median?
• it's not really fair to call it a "Parking Lane" in the existing view because it is actually a bike lane currently, albeit a really poor one.  Apparently the city places a sign off to the right indicating it's for bikes, but someone keeps taking it down.  That said, this bike lane contains an average about 15 cars a day parked in it, because as we all know, there is no parking in Five Points.

What do you think of the proposed design?  Do you think it's safe?  Do you think it works?  What do you think the impacts will be?

Bike lanes to boost business in Mission Hills, San Diego!

I haven't posted on Walk the Wash in forever because now that the project is funded and underway, we are all waiting to see what the fabulous team at SANDAG has come up with!  We are eagerly anticipating the design solutions in the coming weeks.  As soon as we have pics, we'll post them.

In the meantime, our friend Jean sent us this great post from Treehuger on how bike lanes boost business.

Bike lanes increase business and decrease injuries to everyone using the streets.

You can read the article on how bikes boost business, but suffice it to say, that a NY study showed a whopping 49% increase in retail sales! When you consider that our city council just made the permits for outdoor sidewalk seating a lot easier and cheaper, this will really increase sales for everyone on Washington and the surrounding areas!

I wonder what would happen to businesses along India street if there was a bike lane there too?  

Surface streets like Washington are not freeway onramps.

The City Council voted Tuesday to improve bike routes all over the city.  Thanks to our Councilman, Todd Gloria, for supporting this important mode of transportation!  

This resolution will make biking safer which means more people will use bikes instead of cars.  

"With our progress on sharrows, bike corrals, bike sharing and ciclovias, we are working hard to make our city more bike-friendly."  - Todd Gloria, via facebook.

A good article on KPBS is here, and Fox has a good video summary, with a blog link.

Project Update

Members of the community give input on the Uptown Regional Bike Corridor Project.

Beth at SANDAG has uploaded a project schedule with a good summary of our portion of the regional bike project for Uptown. The next meeting is Feb 6, and it will cover design ideas and review existing conditions.

Last year we blogged about some design ideas when we toured Washington street with some of the trustees from the Mission Hills Town Council.  

In SANDAG's first meeting, staff did a great job of explaining how communities would like to bike more, but the vast majority feel unsafe on the roads.  In fact, surveys show that 60% of people are interested in riding, but are concerned and so they don't. Of course this means communities continue to have more cars on the roads, more traffic, more parking issues, worse air quality, less exercise for folks that want it, more wear and tear on infrastructure, etc. etc....  Only 1% of people have no fear when it comes to sharing the road with cars.  SANDAG showed an excellent powerpoint with the great information on bike lane designs, and explained how roads are for everyone, not just cars.

They finished the meeting by asking what are the opportunities for our community as we build out this enhancement?  And, what types of facilities be implemented in certain areas?  Check out the powerpoint for ideas, and tell us what you'd like to see in Mission Hills.

The danger of cycling next to parked cars

This is a great video that shows the danger of cycling next to parked cars, or what's known as the "door zone."




The safest lane to travel in is the bike lane, and reduces injuries by 90%.  You can read a good summary post and link to a new study here.

According to the study, the most dangerous roads are "wide streets with parked cars and no bike infrastructure".  Hey, that sounds like Washington Street!

Studies have shown....

Sandag should invest even more in bike lanes!

I-5 at Midtown.  Photo courtesy of Great Streets San Diego.  http://sdgreatstreets.org/page/3/

Great article yesterday on the judge's ruling against Sandag's regional transportation plan.  Why?  Because it really asks Sandag to re-address transportation in a more holistic sense.  We simply can't keep widening freeways as a means to addressing transport.  Widening a highway works temporarily to accommodate our cars, but within a few years as more cars use the road, we are back to square one and we've wasted money on infrastructure that isn't meeting our needs. Again.

If I worked for Sandag, I would look at all public transport options and simply increase them: more routes, increased schedules, more connectivity.  I would also add more bike lanes, and find ways to connect all public transport with biking.  If we really want to be a city of connected villages, we must integrate our public transport options into how we get around.  With Sandag's regional bike upgrade plan, they are doing a good job, but we could do even better by having more lanes, better lanes, and really promoting biking as a means of transport.

I would also reduce the daily fee to use our current public transport.  It used to be $5.00 to use any public transport for the entire day.  And this is a great option for tourists, or someone who doesn't get out much, but a friend was telling me it's now increased to $7.00.  The website still says $5.00 however.  Either way, I think this all day pass would see more traction if it was only $2-3.00.

If we have billions of dollars to widen freeways, we have billions of dollars to increase public transport, and get people out of their cars, which improves air quality, improves community, improves our health by exercising, and all which ultimately improves our lives.  San Diego simply can't lose by investing in more and better public transport.