Freeway Bike Path OKd Despite Dangers

A proposal by a coalition of San Diego bicyclists for funding of an isolated bike path along California 52 was rejected when the San Diego Assn. of Governments instead approved a committee’s recommendation for a cycling path on the shoulder of the freeway.

Members of the countywide Bicycle Coalition had asked Friday that $3 million be allocated for grading and preparation of a bike path running parallel to the southern extension of California 52. Grading and design of the highway for bicycle paths at a later date would be more expensive and meet with greater opposition, said Ed Reilly, a spokesman for the coalition.

The bike path Sandag approved for the shoulder of the highway will be dangerous for cyclists and probably won’t be used much, Reilly said after the meeting. The bike path would extend for about five miles.

“It’s like being told they are going to put up a pedestrian walkway across (Interstate) 805 and then anticipating a bridge, but instead they put in a crosswalk,” Reilly said. “The bike path (that was approved) was not much better than a crosswalk on a freeway.”

Not Possible to Fund Both

“I tried to give the bike path group the money they asked for,” but it was not possible to fund both the isolated bike path and a proposed highway interchange at an extension of Jackson Drive, said San Diego City Councilman and Sandag board member Ed Struiksma.

At issue was whether the committee’s proposal met the interpretations of Proposition A, a 1987 measure that boosted local sales taxes to pay for road improvements and alternative transportation programs. The proposition states only that all new highway projects it funds are required to “include provisions for bicycle use.”

Supporters of the proposed Jackson Drive interchange felt the committee’s bike path was adequate and funding that could be used for the interchange should not be diverted for an isolated cycle path.