Por David Schwab | Reportero SDUN

Last year, civic leaders led by mayor Jerry Sanders and Qualcomm founder Dr. Irwin Jacobs launched an effort to reclaim the Plaza de Panama and adjacent areas for pedestrian use in time for the 2015 Centennial celebration of the Panama-California Exposition. That is to be accomplished via a plan known as the Ballboa Park Plaza de Panama, Circulation and Parking Structure Project, which proposes construction of a bypass bridge.

Under a schematic presented by Dr. Jacobs, cars entering the park from the west would be diverted, once they’ve crossed the Laurel Street Bridge, to an elevated

roadway behind the Alcazar Garden, leading to the Alcazar parking lot. There, visitors could drop off passengers, use valet parking or continue on to a two-story

parking structure to be built behind the Organ Pavilion.

“The plaza was designed as a grand ceremonial space, a gathering place for park visitors and a hub of the cultural activities in the heart of Balboa Park,”

Sanders said, defending the park’s pedestrian conversion. “As you can see, previous generations traded in that vision, and all they got in return was a few dozen parking spaces and the steady drone of automobiles searching for an empty spot.”

Under Jacobs’ plan, once vehicular traffic is permanently diverted, the Plaza de Panama would be opened up for shade trees, benches, landscaping, fountains

and other amenities, while the road from the Plaza to the Organ Pavilion would be replaced by a pedestrian esplanade. Jacobs’ proposal also calls for a new roofed parking structure with landscaped garden approximately level with the Organ Pavilion to be created. The plans show the parking structure will more than make up for the spaces removed from the Plaza, with current plans netting an additional 250 spaces for park users.

“Separating cars from pedestrians will make the park safer and more enjoyable for both, and the needs of motorists will also be addressed,” Jacobs has said. “The parking structure will not only make it easier for visitors to access the park, but will reduce the time and gasoline that is wasted each time we search for a place to park.”

Since the Park’s proposal favoring pedestrians over vehicles was unveiled nearly a year ago, stakeholders have been weighing in on the merits—and demerits—of the proposal, which is encountering stiff resistance from historical and preservationist groups. Speaking on behalf of The Committee of One Hundred, a

nonprofit established in 1967 to preserve Balboa Park’s Spanish colonial architecture, Michael Kelly, in a position statement delivered Feb. 4 to the Balboa Park Committee said, “construction of the proposed bypass bridge is not in keeping with the historic designation of Balboa Park as a National Register Historic District. Pursuit of this bypass plan will result in protracted delays, excessive costs,and the likelihood the proposal will be rejected by the City’s Historical Resources Board, the State Office of Historic Preservation and the National Park Service.”

Kelly said The Committee of One Hundred believes there is a better way to achieve those same goals without changes to the Cabrillo Bridge, the canyons, or the

historic views of San Diego.

“The City of San Diego should close the Cabrillo Bridge to traffic, adding it to the reclaimed public space,” he said. “Returning the Cabrillo Bridge to pedestrians will remove any need for a bypass bridge; vehicular traffic will enter and leave the Central Mesa from the east side. Traffic turnarounds for passenger drop-off and frequent tram service across the bridge will make it easier than it is now to get to the theatre, museums and events from the west.”

Bruce Coons, executive director of Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO), a nonprofit and the oldest continually operating historic preservation organization in California, said the Jacobs’ park pedestrian proposal as presently construed is unworkable and unacceptable.

“The idea of removing cars, we’re not against,” Coons said. “But the plan he’s come up with is inefficient and would create a debacle on the bridge itself, having cars turn left and right across pedestrian traffic. Nobody’s suggested this destructive a proposal for the south side of the bridge before in history. It [bridge bypass] would destroy the entire character of the fortified hilltop town.”

Coons said SOHO believes a better idea for traffic management would be for the bridge to be closed to vehicular traffic for a portion of the day, say 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

“It’s the simplest, cheapest, quickest, most reasonable way to take cars out of Plaza de Panama,” he said, adding he also believes there needs to be more “give” in Jacobs’ side’s position.

“He and his team have basically threatened to take his toys and go home,” Coons said. “He wants a bond issue for a parking garage based on paid parking. I don’t think anybody’s thrilled at that.”

Mark Johnson, principal designer and team engineer with Civitas, which is designing Jacobs’ pedestrian bridge proposal, said public input is being welcomed in adapting the project to fit that section of Balboa Park. But he added the project’s fundamental objective will not be compromised.

“We are very open to other ideas, but not open to ideas that do not meet the goal, which is to make that a carless plaza … restore the plaza to its original intent,” Johnson said. “The city has been unable to achieve that goal for 100 years. That’s why this private leadership has come forward to try and get that done.”

A nonprofit, Plaza de Panama Committee is now overseeing fundraising efforts for the project to convert the bridge for pedestrian use. It’s currently estimated to cost about $33 million. The committee is comprised of civic leaders all active in the arts and philanthropic communities.

Johnson said Jacobs’ plan is novel because it’s a privately funded project, in a very important public place, to be paid for by a self-supporting bond and private donations.

“We have a group of private individuals who want to make a generous gift to the city and their goal is to remove cars from the Plaza,” Johnson said. “That’s the reason they want to make the gift. People are saying this is not a public process. There have been 63 years of the public debating this process. We’re not asking the public how they think private donors should spend their money. People are asking us to leave the cars in the Plaza as a compromise: We are not willing to do that. If there are cars in the Plaza … there will not be any [donors] gift. Our client is only interested in permanently removing cars from the Plaza.”

Kelly said the Committee of One Hundred supports the proposed three-level parking structure, topped with green space at ground level, as a satisfactory solution

for closed-in parking, adding the group also believes innovative public transportation choices for getting people to-and-from Balboa Park will reduce the need for parking spaces.

“A well-designed, well-managed tram system is critical to the success of any plan to remove traffic and parking lots from the public spaces that we hope to reclaim,”

Kelly said. “Reliable and convenient trams to and from their destinations will make peripheral parking practical for employees, volunteers and park visitors. Funds not used for a bypass bridge could be redirected to extend the new tram system to bus stops and parking lots. All this can be completed for the 2015 Centennial celebration.”