By Margie Palmer 

Bankers Hill resident Leo Wilson has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Bankers Hill / Park West Community Association (BHPWCA) against the city of San Diego for a bike lane-extension project that removed one lane of traffic along Fifth Avenue.

As part of the city’s “road diet” project, one lane of traffic on the three-lane stretch of Fifth Avenue between Laurel and Upas streets was restriped as a protected bikeway in late 2014. The project, which extended a Fifth Avenue bikeway installed earlier last year, was piggybacked onto a water pipeline project along the same stretch of road. With similar pipeline projects planned for Fifth Avenue north of Upas, city staff said the protected bikeway could eventually extend as far north as Washington Street in Hillcrest.

Proponents of the project say it will not only create a dedicated bike lane, it will also help calm traffic.

The BHWPCA suit, however, alleges that the recent project was not subject to the appropriate environmental review; association co-chair Wilson believes that because the project reduced the corridor from three lanes to two, it should be subject to an environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Wilson, a former attorney, serves as chair of the Uptown Planners, a volunteer community board that advises the city on local land use and development issues. His 10-year tenure on the board — much of it served as chair of the organization — will end this spring when he reaches the board’s term limit. Wilson also serves as president of the Metro Community Development Corporation, a nonprofit focused on urban development projects in Uptown neighborhoods.

“The city of San Diego has failed to comply with CEQA, in that it did not conduct any environmental review of the Lane Reduction Project, despite there being substantial evidence to support a fair argument that [the project] will have significant impacts on the environment,” the lawsuit states.

The complaint goes on to allege the “strong possibility” that traffic will be diverted onto adjacent residential streets and creates a “foreseeable adverse traffic and public safety impact.”

Wilson declined to speak with San Diego Uptown News, saying his attorneys advised he not discuss the case at the present time.

BikeSD executive director Sam Ollinger and local business owner Ben Baltic disagree with the legal action and feel that the lane reduction will not only benefit cyclists, but the business community at large.

“[The plan] benefits everyone. It makes walking and driving safer because adding a bike buffer lane will create a traffic calming effect,” Ollinger said. “[The community groups] have known about plans to accommodate bicycling for a very long time and the blueprints have been vetted by the community. [Wilson] has been aware of this in multiple, different ways so for him to say he’s surprised about this is confusing, unless he just hates bicyclists for some bizarre reason.”

In August 2014, BikeSD created an online petition asking Wilson to resign from the Uptown Planners, citing his “fundamental inability to address the concerns of anyone except automobile drivers and their near constant demand for more public space to store their private vehicles.”

Baltic said other neighborhood associations, such as the Bankers Hill Community Group, have seen studies that show current and future traffic along Fifth Avenue can be handled with two lanes of cars.

“The idea that the lane reduction will flood the neighborhood and flood residential streets with cars is baloney,” he said. “What will likely happen is that existing traffic will go slower and that bicyclists will be accommodated; that’s what everyone wants.”

He also believes that getting rid of the “high-speed freeway” that links Hillcrest to Downtown may also be a boon to Bankers Hill shops and restaurants.

“Property and business owners can attest how bad the high speed of traffic has been for pedestrian activity in the neighborhood,” Baltic said. “If you look at Fourth and Fifth [avenues], the places where the success is commercially is in the Gaslamp and Hillcrest, where traffic is stopped every block. I am dumbfounded as to why [Wilson] would want to keep three lanes of high speed traffic on Fifth Avenue. It’s bad for business, it’s bad for the neighborhood and I’m not supporting his initiative at all.”

On Dec. 29, Uptown News visited the stretch of Fifth Avenue at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. During a brief period observing street traffic in the area, there was no discernible congestion or back up at stop signs, though the bike lanes were little used as well. It is also worth noting that Dec. 29 is a work holiday for many in San Diego, which may have diminished traffic.

Others have expressed concerns beyond pedestrian safety and community economics; they have pointed out that the BHPWCA has not held a public meeting in months and question whether it is still a viable organization.

Wilson said the association is not defunct and held meetings through early 2014. Although the group has not met publicly since Feb. 20, “it continued to communicate [electronically] with its email list, which has about 300 individual email addresses,” Wilson stated through email.

Wilson did not respond to an emailed request for the names of other active members of the BHWCPA.

Although the fate of the proposed bicycle lanes remains uncertain, a city spokesperson said the lawsuit is narrow in scope.

“We do not anticipate that the lawsuit will have any impact on the bike lane as it currently exists,” said City Attorney spokesperson Gerry Braun, “or on any other city bike projects.”

Editor Hutton Marshall contributed to this report. 

—Margie Palmer is a San Diego-based freelance writer who has been racking up bylines in a myriad of news publications for the past 10 years. You can write to her at [email protected].