Community Comments on SANDAG Article
Last month in the Publisher Column I shared comments from disgruntled Mission Hills’ business owners and residents, as well as others from Hillcrest and Old Town about a proposed bike lane project that would impact these three communities.
The proposed project involves significant modifications to traffic flow, parking and traffic lanes on Washington Street, University Avenue, 4th and 5th Avenue, India Street and other connecting streets in Hillcrest.
In response, some of you elected to also share your opinions. I am grateful to all of you for taking the time to express your thoughts on this important topic.
According to Timothy Carr of Hillcrest, “I ride a bicycle in and around Hillcrest, Mission Hills, and University Heights. In my opinion we do not need this bike lane. If my opinion counts for anything, I say NO to this project. As a biker who has biked thousands of miles in many states, and takes a 50 mile ride each week in San Diego, I wish to say that closing University Avenue and reducing Washington is beyond stupid.”
Guy Maddox of Point Loma, who is also a bicyclist, added his comments, “All I see when the city put those ridiculous bike stickers on the roadway is that the bikers, ‘those who are not very serious bikers,’ think it gives them the right to hog the road and ride two abreast, which is a dangerous thing to do on any city street. Those of us that ride a lot never ride two abreast, and share the road, giving autos as much room as possible.”
David Fielder of Mission Hills had a differing opinion: “It appears that you are reporting from hearsay and your mention of the proposed plans is vague and inaccurate. I would hope for more objective ‘reporting’ which considers all sides of an issue instead of just printing speculation, gossip, and opinion.”
Tim Gahagan, chair of the Uptown Parking District who also represents the Hillcrest neighborhood as a resident, offered his feedback on this subject. “We would love a world-class biking corridor. However, this doesn’t make sense; not at the expense of the loss of parking. We need to do what is best for the community.”
Gahagan also stated that the Uptown Parking District made a motion against SANDAG’s proposed bike plan and is expecting to learn the results of their decision. He also encouraged residents and business owners to stay involved, attend the forthcoming meetings and speak up. He offered this site for meeting dates: http://www.sandag.org/index.asp?fuseaction=meetings.home.
In a follow up conversation with Gerrie Trussell, executive director of the Mission Hills BID, she said she is coordinating a meeting with SANDAG representatives during the middle of October and would advise us of the time and date. This meeting will be open to the public.
I offered that we would post the information on our web site and alert the community of this important meeting.
We invite you to continue to voice your opinions, email us at info@presidiosentinel.com. And, check our web site for the SANDAG meeting to be held in Mission Hills: www.presidiosentinel.com.
Category: Local News
