Cyclists Angry Over Plan for Freeway Path

San Diego bicyclists, angry over what they call a broken promise by local officials to build an isolated bicycle path along California 52, plan to ask decision-makers this morning to quash a proposal allowing bicyclists to ride on the shoulder of the freeway.

The San Diego Assn. of Governments today most likely will grant just $110,000 of the $335 million allocated for the 1991 freeway project for a bikeway, enough to designate a cycling path on the freeway’s shoulder.

But members of the countywide Bicycle Coalition say the proposal, presented by a Sandag executive committee and officials from Caltrans, does not adequately protect bicyclists or encourage biking over driving, a key goal of city and county officials.

Parallel Route

The enthusiasts are requesting an estimated $6-million, 3- to 4-mile isolated bike path running parallel to the southern edge of the proposed California 52 extension, from Santo Road to Mission Gorge Road near Santee.

“I can’t think of any place that allows you to ride on shoulders of freeways in urban areas like this,” said Ed Reilly, spokesman for the coalition. “What Sandag is really doing is not giving us any biking facility there at all.”

And if that’s not agreeable, coalition members say, they’ll compromise: $3 million for the initial grading and preparation for a bike path, and a design of the highway extension that would allow two future bicycling bridges to be connected to traffic bridges across Oak and Spring canyons.

Some City of San Diego officials have informally endorsed that idea, arguing that such preliminary development would cost much more if undertaken later.

Warned of Dangers

“Only the most experienced cyclists would feel comfortable riding on the shoulders,” said Michael Jackson, bicycle coordinator for the City of San Diego, who warned of the dangers involved in Sandag’s proposal and possible reluctance of bicyclists to use it. “If we don’t have a right-of-way and the grading done now, it’s going to be a lot more expensive than $3 million to do it at a later date.”

Getting bikeways around the existing Route 52 west of Santo Road isn’t as pressing, coalition members say. The city plans to build bikeways there in the future, and bicyclists have access to side streets in the area.

Sandag representatives say the problem is simple: lack of money. “It’s a tough question. It isn’t that we don’t have sympathy for what they’re saying. But we have to balance the needs of the whole community,” said Lois Ewen, vice mayor of Coronado and chairwoman of Sandag. “With everything else going on, we just can’t afford $3 million for their bottom-line position.”

Plea Made

Sandag has urged Caltrans, which will orchestrate the construction of the Route 52 extension, to leave room in its design for an isolated bike path in the future, Ewen said.

But coalition members argue that the issue involves more than budget decisions. Bicyclists say they have been entitled to a Route 52 path since 1987, when Sandag garnered support from them for Proposition A, a measure that boosted local and state taxes, by promising part of its revenues to alternative transportation programs--including the building of the path.

“They came to us for support, and we told them what we wanted--the path along 52,” said Reilly. “That’s not what we’re getting. No bicyclist in his right mind would have requested to ride on the shoulder of 52.”

The conflict stems from differing interpretations of the wording of Proposition A, which states only that all new highway projects funded with proposition revenue are required to “include provisions for bicycle use.”

Several Routes

Such a provision can be bicycle routes marked on a roadway by colored signs, bicycle lanes painted along the side or paths completely independent from the road, said Jackson.

Sandag officials on Thursday acknowledged the proposal to allow bicyclists to ride on the shoulder of the road is both the cheapest and least desirable. But they argued that the commitment promised in Proposition A has been met.

“I don’t think anybody (involved) was guaranteed their dream project,” said Supervisor Brian Bilbray, who represents the county in Sandag. “From my point of view, an isolated bicycle way is obviously preferred. But I think it’s just one of those issues that everybody is faced with: You don’t always get everything you want.”