After years of delays, the Pershing bikeway is under construction. Despite the vital connection it will provide for cyclists and pedestrians between Balboa Park and Downtown San Diego, the plan had been scuttled for years.
Activists slammed SANDAG last year after their delays cost at least two more lives. One of the cyclists killed in 2021 was SDSU architect Laura Shinn who was an advocate of environmentally-friendly transportation alternatives. The other loss was Johnathan Sepulveda, who was struck by a teen driver while he was riding an electric scooter in Balboa Park.
The city installed temporary bollards to separate cyclists and scooter riders from cars in the aftermath of those back-to-back deaths.
The 2.3-mile project is an important part of SANDAG’s regional transportation plan. Still, the estimated $13.4 million project funded by the TransNet half cent tax broke ground much later than initially intended.
Uptown News’ former editor Ken Williams reported in 2016 that North Park Planning Committee supported the planned bikeway and noted the dangers posed by the street: “Because of the high speed limit and steep slopes, Pershing has a higher level of accidents than many city streets.”
In 2017, Uptown News contributor Dave Schwab reported that the bikeway was expected to begin construction in December 2018 and be completed in 2020. However, construction began on Jan. 25, 2022 and will not be completed until 2024.
Part of the plan includes traffic-calming measures to reduce car speeds thus making the road safer for everyone. A two-way cycle track will be added that is separated from vehicles in addition to a landscaped median and walking path.
The bikeway will connect with the cycle track on C Street in Downtown and the Landis Bikeway in North Park. A major criticism of San Diego’s current bikeways is that they are disconnected from each other and cyclists have to traverse dangerous streets to move about the region. The North-South bikeway will help fix that.
Encinitas Mayor Catherine Blakespear, SANDAG’s chair, said at the groundbreaking ceremony, “today is just the beginning. SANDAG is set to break ground on more than 19 miles of bikeways and open 11 miles of new bikeways in 2022. Each of these projects bring us one step closer to making Vision Zero a reality throughout the San Diego region.”
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria has expressed commitment to building safer streets for all users.
“San Diegans should be safe when they choose to walk, roll, cycle or scoot to get where they’re going. If you give folks a safe alternative to a car, they will take it,” Gloria said at the event.
Historian and former contributor Katherine Hon took the above photo of Pershing Drive in 2020 as part of her story on the history of Pershing Drive. Visit https://sduptownnews.com/pershing-drive/ or https://test.sdnews.com/pershing-drive/ to read it.
