Washington walkers wanted!

WalkSanDiego has developed a Regional Walk Scorecard and is looking for volunteers across the region to use their new smart phone app (called BestWalk) and input data on what it’s like to walk in our neighborhoods.

So to help, we are organizing volunteers to walk along Washington Street and other parts of the area to document walking conditions. Our efforts will contribute to a regional map of walk improvements that we can use to advocate for future funding across San Diego.  And of course, we'll use the scorecard to see how Washington Street fares.

We will spend 1-2 hours Friday, 10/5 documenting walking conditions.  We will meet on the corner of India and Washington Street at 4pm. And then maybe we'll have dessert at Brooklyn Girl because after that exercise we will have earned it!  

Please see the flyer, and if you are interested in Walking The Wash to document conditions as you find them, please let me know.  If you don’t have a smart phone, you can still download a scorecard from their site.  

Please note: if you want to download the app, you need to sign up on Walk San Diego's site as a volunteer, and then they will notify you when it's ready for download.

UPDATE 9:/24: We've got 4 volunteers so far!  Join us!

Funding for LID elements through Prop 84

Exciting news: we started the process to apply for grant funding for all the Low Impact Development elements on Walk The Wash via Prop 84.  Below is our 1-page concept document.  LID is the wave of the future and is certain to become the norm.

Prop 84-Round 2 Implementation Grant Opportunity

Project Concept Form

Please complete form and return to Rosalyn Prickett 
by Friday August 24, 2012.

This Project Concept Form allows you to describe the general concept for your water management project, including any potential integration opportunities. We will compile the project concepts and discuss their merits at the Strategic Integration Workshop on September 12^th.

1.      Project Title	LID technologies added to SANDAG Master Bicycle Plan on Washington Street in Mission Hills
2.      Project Sponsor	Organization		Surfrider Foundation, San Diego Chapter
	Contact Name		Belinda Smith (Secretary, Mission Hills Town Council; Co-Chair Know Your H2O, Surfrider Foundation.)
	Email		Belinda @ surfridersd org
3.      Project Description (100 words or less)	Washington Street will receive improvements in the form of bicycle and pedestrian facilities as prioritized in the SANDAG Regional Bike Plan.  KOA Corporation will begin the design and preliminary engineering in September 2012 through a contract with SANDAG. The project needs LID technologies to infiltrate and manage storm water runoff via bioswales or contouring, curb cuts, native vegetation to restore habitat and improve the storm water quality, and permeable paving where appropriate.  All of these elements will improve the quality of surface water flowing into the canyon and reduce the volume of runoff discharging into the canyon, storm drains, and surrounding bays and beaches.
4.      Project Timeline (check one)	X	Begin Construction/Implementation 2014-2015
		Begin Construction/Implementation 2016 or later
5.      Project Location	Washington Street from the Trolley Stop to 3rd Ave in Hillcrest.  (City of SD)
6.      Need for Project (100 words or less)	Washington Street runs the length of a major canyon artery from the airport up to Hillcrest.  During winter storms the street transports an enormous amount of storm water runoff resulting in flooding, debris and pollution in the canyon/watershed, habitat degradation, and community access.  This project proposes to restore those elements in a holistic way.  Currently there is no way to manage the enormous amount of runoff from the slopes of the canyon  bringing sediment into the storm drains, destroying habitat, and adding polluted stormwater to the creeks, bays and ocean. Decreased runoff will restore the canyon watershed area creating improved hydrologic conditions.
7.      Project Type (check all that apply; however, be judicious)		Water Supply (including Conservation)
		Wastewater
	X	Water Quality / Stormwater
	X	Natural Resources and Watersheds
	X	Flood Control
		Other:
8.      Integration Opportunities* (100 words or less)	Integration partners: SANDAG Regional Bike Plan, Surfrider Foundation, Five Points CDC, and Mission Hills Town Council. Other partners could include Uptown Planners, and City planning groups which address habitat restoration, community open space access, storm water LID projects and recreational programs in the areas adjacent to the proposed project. It can also be counted as another regional demonstration project that uses LID technologies which Surfrider can use to teach urban planners, landscape architects, urban gardeners, etc., who need example sites throughout the county. Further beneficial uses include more park-like settings adjacent to the road and enhanced connection of the top and bottom of Mission Hills resulting in better community feeling and contributing to implementation of the multi- modal, conservation and recreation policies embodied in the City of San Diego's General Plan.

* Developing integrated project solutions ensures a greater level of benefits for the region and makes your project more viable within the IRWM grant program. Integration includes:

•          Partnerships – Establishing partnerships with other organizations can be cost effective by sharing data, resources, and infrastructure

•          Resource Management – Employing multiple resource management strategies within a single project can effectively address a variety of issues

•          Beneficial Uses – Project solutions can be implemented to support several different beneficial uses

•          Geographic – Implementing watershed- or regional-scale projects can benefit from economies of scale

•         Hydrologic – Addressing multiple watershed functions within the hydrologic cycle can resolve conflicts between beneficial uses

3 feet needed when passing cyclists?

There's pending legislation before our California Senators which proposes a 3' space between cars and cyclists.

"State Assembly is expected to vote Friday on a bill that would require all drivers to give bicyclists at least 3 feet of space when they pass them.

The bill, SB 1464 ,would also require drivers to slow to a “reasonable and prudent” passing speed when the distance is not possible. It also permits drivers to, when safe, move into the oncoming traffic lane to provide the required space. Anyone who violates the proposed law would get hit with a $35 fine; and if a cyclist is injured due to a violation, the fine goes up to $220.

Read more from Marlene Medford's patch article.  

Three feet seems reasonable.  Isn't that what most prudent drivers would allow anyway?  

9/7 Update: SB 1464 passed and now we need to urge Governor Brown to sign it into law.  

A Three Hour Tour

We had a great tour of Walk the Wash with Beth from SANDAG, Seth from KOA, Jasper, Sharon, and myself who are all on the Mission Hills Town Council.

KOA is the firm hired by SANDAG to do the implementation.  Seth is a local resident (Normal Heights) and knows the arteries of Mission Hills well.  He lived in Hillcrest 10 years too.  He's done work in Little Italy, and his firm is doing very cutting edge things in Long Beach currently.

We all met at Gelato Vero at 9 a.m.

Ideas from our discussion and brainstorming during the tour:

- the gateway to our Mission Hills community is very car-centric, and finding a balance of more parking, less freeway feeling, more access for pedestrians and cyclists is our challenge.

- the connector between Washington and Old Town is one way.  It would be a major victory to have 2-way auto traffic on San Diego Ave.  Because this is a bike project though, what if we at least had a 2-way bike path to Washington? Anyone who lives in Old Town or N Mission Hills who wants to go downtown, or to the India St. North area, rides down Pringle to SD Ave.  Then they cut through SD Ave illegally.  The legal route would take a rider 1 mile out of their way, and includes several hills, and across some major freeway off and on-ramps. Shouldn't bikers be able to get from North Mission Hills to the 5 Points Area in the most intuitive, convenient manner?

While we were standing there, evaluating the options, we encountered this man, riding his bike the wrong direction on the one-way portion, and then he rode on the curb when he ran into traffic.

Seth watches a cyclist ride the wrong way down a one-way street.

- Washington Street from the 5 off ramps continues it's freeway like feel.  Cars have to wait at long lights at the 5 Points intersection, so when it's their turn to go, they are eager to get up the hill.  Accelerating both up and down it beyond normal speeds is pretty typical.  I know because I've done it myself!  But when you're walking or biking we need the opposite to happen.  What if Washington was 1 lane either way?  That would allow for bike lanes, and more parking for the 5 Points businesses, which are a destination point for many.  What if the lights at India and Washington were not lights but round-abouts?  That could keep traffic moving too.  The lights are so long at Washington that if I'm ever leaving a parking spot outside Saffron, I have to wait for the light to change because of the back-up of traffic.  An island would keep that traffic moving, and facilitate better parking flow.

- the University exit serves very little purpose because it exits right into a very residential area.  What if we made that exit and on-ramp open only to bikes and pedestrians with a pocket park at the top?  What if cars coming up to Mission Hills and Hillcrest stayed on Washington all the way to Goldfinch?   They could access the uptown business district more easily, and the residences would have less traffic, and less noise.  The top of the street would be turned into a cul-de-sac.  It has great views down the canyon and into the harbor.  It is a natural place for a park, and if it had things like a water fountain and a bench, it would be a beautiful place to start a work-out, or take a walk.

Let's close this area off to cars. It's a residential area.  Let's make a small park, and start our  bike and pedestrian paths here.

- the Washington Street Trolly stop is orphaned by the freeway, and the traffic intersections.  Could we integrate it better?  Would people use it more if they could access it better?  The old Mission Brewery buildings are beautiful, but cut off from the community.  So is the skate park.  Would art along the underpass, and better sidwalks and medians provide more continuity? 

The folks at Gelato Vero had input too:
- can we please have a left-turn from Washington to India on a green arrow only?
- can we please have no right on red from India to Washington?
They witness really bad accidents on a regular basis.  A roundabout traffic island could mitigate those.  And it would provide a major landmark for a welcoming experience to the gateway of Mission Hills.

All of these points are just ideas.  All of them are from voices of the community.  If you have ideas, you should let us know by contacting us.

Thanks to Beth and Seth for both working on the weekend!  We appreciate it!

The NY Times has a great article about how cyclists are wearing cameras on their heads to capture accidents and auto drivers' behavior more accurately.  The video of a hit and run in the article is shocking and when you see it, you realize why cyclists sometimes call cars 'weapons of mass destruction'.
My friend Sara sent me the article and said, "I want a nonprofit to fund thousands of these cameras, and a legal fund to enforce to the maximum extent against negligent vehicles."  


How about we just put up a barrier to keep cars in their own lane, and make biking safer?  

You can read the entire article here. 

Services = Smart Growth

Image courtesy NRDC.

Last night at the Uptown Community Planners meeting there were some good presentations about the pitfalls of density.  The presenters say that Smart Growth isn’t smart because it brings more traffic, more air pollution, overcrowding of parks, more parking problems, and noise conflicts.  Normally I’d agree because it sounds logical, but the whole point of Smart Growth is to offer more community services like public transport, bike lanes, and greater integration of park areas.  Services are the smart side of any growth plan because services help mitigate the negatives of growth impacts. If people feel safe riding their bike to the store, they could choose it over a smog-producing car.  To feel safe, they need a clearly allocated lane to the store.  But if there are no safe paths, they will always choose their car.  Services = smart growth.

Our planners are doing a pretty good job of identifying services, but they need to call out these services in their plan and list all the smart services offered in conjunction with maps and zoning plans.  To alay the fears of long-time community dwellers used to larger open space and less traffic they need to show increased bus schedules, and open spaces allocated for future parks.  They need to work with the people at TripTracker who are seeing huge increases in recorded bike trips and get the word out how people will choose bicycles for short trips over cars if given the opportunity.  And our urban planners need a solid roll-out plan once the services are up and running so the community knows the services are available and actually uses them.  This is the last part of any good plan, and sometimes it gets forgotten and then everyone thinks the planning failed. It didn't fail, it just didn't rolled out properly and then it takes forever for people to get on board and use the services.   

*****

BTW, if anyone participated in bike to work day this year, SANDAG would like feedback via their survey.  Friday 7/20 is the last day to fill it out.  If you do complete it, you will be entered into their drawing for a great prize. (Zoo tix or Spa days.)

From their email: 

Thank you for your participation in Bike to Work 2012. We had a record-breaking Bike to Work Day, with more than 7,200 cyclists participating. Overall, there were 18,202 bike trips recorded in TripTracker in May, totaling 137,700 miles, enough for 5.5 trips around the earth. We are excited about the results and thank you for making them a reality!

Status update and download the flyer.

Share the flyer with your family and neighbors.  

This post is to address 2 things: a status update and to let you know there is a flyer you can download and share with friends.

1.  Status 6/25:

• Funding: as of today, there is funding for our project thru the San Diego Master Bicycle Plan.    A very good map of SANDAG's proposed network is included.   The budget for the entire project is $249 million, and this is to cover the entire network over a period of 10 years.
• Location: the portion we are addressing in Mission Hills is roughly from the Trolley stop at Washington,  to about 3rd Street/University area.  It also includes a small part of San Diego Ave over to California Street.  But again, this is all open for discussion, and depends on priorities, and feature requests, etc.  
• Design:  Currently the only 'design' that exists is the proposed bicylce network.  Actual features have not yet been developed.  Requests for features of the bicycle portion are being handled through Bikely.  Instructions are clear enough, but it's unclear if the general public knows to submit them.  We'll have to do some outreach and see.  All other features can be submitted here through the blog.  
• Schedule: Roughly there will be a year of design and study, and then a little over a year of implementation.  This is a very broad time-frame, as things are obviously just getting started.  
• Scope: SANDAG is really supportive of taking a holistic approach, which means if we can implement important connectors like public transport, and add features like pedestrian walkways, and add some green features, it is a win for everyone.  

2.  Share the flyer:

We now have a flyer you can download, and share with your friends and neighbors. If you are a resident of the area, please post it on your refrigerator so that your family and neighbors know about it.  If you are a business, and you have a spot to post it like a bulletin board or a bathroom door, please do so.  Thank you!