For some time, San Diego has been on a quest to turn many city streets into places where people want to gather.
Some simple realities have come into sharp focus in recent discussions: Roads should be paved and, for the foreseeable future, people will want to drive automobiles on them.
Those significant, if not startling, conclusions are the bottom-line takeaways from policies emanating from City Hall.
The San Diego City Council and Mayor Todd Gloria have taken aim at improving streets in more ethnically diverse and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods south of Interstate 8. A top priority is to start putting down pavement on dirt roads, many of which have been that way for generations.
The broader push for improvements includes sidewalks — or wider ones — trees, bike lanes, pocket parks and better transit access along roadways to create a healthier and more environmentally friendly locale that encourages neighborhood socializing. That’s the hallmark of Gloria’s “sexy streets” initiative across the city to connect the big concept of infrastructure with people-level improvements.
Early in the coronavirus pandemic last year, when beaches and parks were closed, then-Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s administration launched a pilot program to give those stuck at home a nearby option for outdoor activity and community interaction at a safe distance. The “slow streets” plan closed down several roads in the city to through traffic to allow for strolling, biking, skateboarding and the like on streets as well as sidewalks.
Some advocates and planners saw this as a post-pandemic template for certain roads. The idea was controversial from the start and became more so as parks and beaches reopened and people began driving more. Recently, all but one of the closed streets reopened.
David Garrick of The San Diego Union-Tribune has written extensively about both the paving and closed-streets programs.
In February, he reported San Diego had reversed decades-old policies to clear the way to pave more than 60 miles of dirt roads and alleys in primarily lower-income neighborhoods. The change was spearheaded by Councilwoman Vivian Moreno, who made a straightforward observation.
“Dirt roads and alleys have no place in America’s Finest City — or any neighborhood,” said Moreno, whose District 8 stretches from Sherman Heights and Stockton in the north to San Ysidro in the south and over to Otay Mesa East.
Getting them paved is not a simple or inexpensive task.
The city estimated it would cost between $300 million and $900 million to pave and upgrade all 60 miles of dirt streets and alleys.
Gloria intends to get things started by designating $40 million in his first proposed budget toward paving and repairing roads in historically underserved communities, mostly in council districts 4, 8 and 9.
“People say infrastructure isn’t a sexy topic. I disagree — and that’s why I call newly paved roads ‘sexy streets,’” Gloria said at a news conference last week, according to City News Service. “All San Diegans deserve streets in their communities that are in good shape.”
One of the policy changes by the council essentially allows the city to pave dirt streets. That’s right — there had been restrictions on doing so for decades.
A 1952 policy prohibited the city from working on unimproved dirt streets except “if dust becomes unbearable, or if minor upgrades would somehow reduce some other city expenses,” according to Garrick.
Also changed was a 1979 rule to recognize dirt streets and alleys as part of the city’s street network, clearly making them the city’s responsibility.
In part, the situation is an outgrowth from long ago when farms dotted the landscape east of downtown. But that changed decades ago and yet polices kept the dirt roads from being paved.
“From day one, I have been leading the charge to address the intentional disinvestment, infrastructure inequities and mobility issues that have plagued our communities of concern for decades,” Monica Montgomery Steppe, the only Black member of the City Council, said at the news conference. “Our residents deserve neighborhood streets that are free from potholes and safe for multimodal access to transportation. These are basic services our government should provide.”
For the most part, the city pulled the plug on the “slow streets” program. The temporarily closed streets served as petri dishes for the future, however. It’s clear there are visions for modifying how streets can accommodate different modes of getting around — from walking and cycling to transit and automobiles.
How much roadways built with autos in mind will be transformed toward more shared uses remains to be seen. Efforts to shift transportation away from cars have long run into stiff opposition. Nevertheless, it’s happening to various degrees, and some streets have successfully morphed into parkways with no cars allowed, at least during certain hours.
But what sounds good on paper doesn’t always pan out in practice — or sit well with all residents.
Given that it’s the last one remaining in the slow streets program, Diamond Street in Pacific Beach would seem to have the most potential to remain partially closed. There’s a difference of opinion on that.
“Slow streets are a way to encourage walking, biking, skating and other people-powered transportation by creating spaces where driving isn’t prioritized,” Pacific Beach resident Katie Machete told SDNews.com. “We know that higher-speed roads are more dangerous for everyone, and we consistently hear complaints from the community about speeding in Pacific Beach.”
Cindy Van Voorhis likes the intent of the program, but said it didn’t work on Diamond Street.
“Making our streets safer and building on a sense of community are excellent motives, but this closure does not achieve these goals, and the city is putting our citizens’ lives and property at risk for this pet project with no merit,” she said, according to SDNews.com. “Our streets are not made safer by creating a complex driving pattern with a myriad of new accident-prone opportunities. . .”
Other critics of the program bemoaned the loss of parking and some merchants complained about a loss of business.
Perhaps the biggest problem was the closed streets diverted autos elsewhere.
In that sense, they weren’t really different than typical detours — which tend to annoy drivers and residents dealing with more traffic on their streets.
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Column: San Diego's 'sexy streets' get the buzz, 'slow streets' get the boot - The San Diego Union-Tribune"
Post a Comment