Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Pedestrian-unfriendly in Hillcrest?

Alleged sabotage of signage announcing University Ave. planning meeting

A plan to install dedicated bicycle lanes to Uptown communities of Mission Hills, Hillcrest, and Bankers Hill and close University Avenue to traffic in an attempt to make Uptown more pedestrian-friendly has divided the community and has resulted in allegations that plan proponents are trying to sabotage a community meeting to prevent opposition from organizing.

"This is getting old quick," wrote former Uptown Planners chair Leo Wilson to community members in a March 18 email blast. “Attacks on Hillcrest business leaders are also getting old.”

The message was sent after rumors spread that cycling advocates intentionally destroyed notices announcing a March 24 planning-group meeting at which the group will discuss San Diego Association of Governments' Uptown Regional Bikeway Project, a plan to improve bicycle lanes and the pedestrian experience in Hillcrest and other Uptown Communities.

"We did not intend to offend any one by the meeting notices and apparently we need you to call and email your friends and neighbors to alert them about this plan. To ensure that people who need the route are made aware of the meeting," wrote a group known as "Keep University Avenue Open" notifying Wilson and others about the alleged vandals.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The group, comprised of residents and business owners, feels the proposal to close portions of University Avenue in Mission Hills to make room for a protected bike path leading to Hillcrest's business district will create havoc on Washington Street and will result in the removal of as many as 130 parking spaces.

The group started a petition in opposition to the association of government’s plan. As of today, there were 224 supporters.

"Mission Hills will be land locked with limited ingress and egress if University Avenue is closed in our area. Any new bicycle proposal should keep our roadways accessible for all types of transportation because students, visitors, businesses, and residents all need to be able to get in and out of our neighborhood. Closing down University to through traffic will create more traffic congestion and exhaust fumes and is the wrong way to increase bicycle ridership."

Some residents and opponents of the plan say that the process has turned ugly due to only a few outspoken cyclists who want nothing else than to see cars disappear from San Diego's roads.

The cyclists say the opposite is true. They are only asking for a more safe cycling experience and SANDAG's Uptown Regional Bikeway Project will bring Uptown closer to being just that. They say the process has been hijacked by a few loud residents who have a track record of anti-cycling views, one of those being Bankers Hill denizen and longtime planning group member Leo Wilson.

Cycling advocacy group Bike SD defended the association of government’s plan and the nearly two years’ worth of advisory meetings the agency held in the community before devising the plan; they also attacked Wilson for stonewalling the process.

"Wilson and his cohorts, determined to keep Uptown auto-centric and dangerous, is rallying up support to fight safe streets. Wilson was behind the effort to shut down bike lanes on India Street and Kettner Blvd in Little Italy, he has filed a lawsuit against the Bankers Hill bike lanes, and is rallying up support to fight a safer University Avenue after deliberately choosing to not participate in the community process."

A group calling themselves "SD Streets for People" followed suit with their own petition in support of the regional bike plan.

"The city's Climate Action Plan calls for increasing bike commuter mode share to 6 percent by 2020, and 18 percent by 2035, along with more walking commuters. To accomplish these goals, we need safer streets for pedestrians and people on bikes. This proposal represents the most viable method for a safe east-west bike corridor in Mission Hills."

The group has so far gathered 335 signatures.

The March 24 meeting will occur at St. Paul's Cathedral, located at 2728 Sixth Avenue in Hillcrest at 6 p.m.

(corrected 3/23, 5:30 p.m.)

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

At 4pm, this Farmer's Table restaurant in Chula Vista becomes Acqua e Farina

Brunch restaurant by day, Roman style trattoria by night
Next Article

Two poems by Marvin Bell

“To Dorothy” and “The Self and the Mulberry”

A plan to install dedicated bicycle lanes to Uptown communities of Mission Hills, Hillcrest, and Bankers Hill and close University Avenue to traffic in an attempt to make Uptown more pedestrian-friendly has divided the community and has resulted in allegations that plan proponents are trying to sabotage a community meeting to prevent opposition from organizing.

"This is getting old quick," wrote former Uptown Planners chair Leo Wilson to community members in a March 18 email blast. “Attacks on Hillcrest business leaders are also getting old.”

The message was sent after rumors spread that cycling advocates intentionally destroyed notices announcing a March 24 planning-group meeting at which the group will discuss San Diego Association of Governments' Uptown Regional Bikeway Project, a plan to improve bicycle lanes and the pedestrian experience in Hillcrest and other Uptown Communities.

"We did not intend to offend any one by the meeting notices and apparently we need you to call and email your friends and neighbors to alert them about this plan. To ensure that people who need the route are made aware of the meeting," wrote a group known as "Keep University Avenue Open" notifying Wilson and others about the alleged vandals.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The group, comprised of residents and business owners, feels the proposal to close portions of University Avenue in Mission Hills to make room for a protected bike path leading to Hillcrest's business district will create havoc on Washington Street and will result in the removal of as many as 130 parking spaces.

The group started a petition in opposition to the association of government’s plan. As of today, there were 224 supporters.

"Mission Hills will be land locked with limited ingress and egress if University Avenue is closed in our area. Any new bicycle proposal should keep our roadways accessible for all types of transportation because students, visitors, businesses, and residents all need to be able to get in and out of our neighborhood. Closing down University to through traffic will create more traffic congestion and exhaust fumes and is the wrong way to increase bicycle ridership."

Some residents and opponents of the plan say that the process has turned ugly due to only a few outspoken cyclists who want nothing else than to see cars disappear from San Diego's roads.

The cyclists say the opposite is true. They are only asking for a more safe cycling experience and SANDAG's Uptown Regional Bikeway Project will bring Uptown closer to being just that. They say the process has been hijacked by a few loud residents who have a track record of anti-cycling views, one of those being Bankers Hill denizen and longtime planning group member Leo Wilson.

Cycling advocacy group Bike SD defended the association of government’s plan and the nearly two years’ worth of advisory meetings the agency held in the community before devising the plan; they also attacked Wilson for stonewalling the process.

"Wilson and his cohorts, determined to keep Uptown auto-centric and dangerous, is rallying up support to fight safe streets. Wilson was behind the effort to shut down bike lanes on India Street and Kettner Blvd in Little Italy, he has filed a lawsuit against the Bankers Hill bike lanes, and is rallying up support to fight a safer University Avenue after deliberately choosing to not participate in the community process."

A group calling themselves "SD Streets for People" followed suit with their own petition in support of the regional bike plan.

"The city's Climate Action Plan calls for increasing bike commuter mode share to 6 percent by 2020, and 18 percent by 2035, along with more walking commuters. To accomplish these goals, we need safer streets for pedestrians and people on bikes. This proposal represents the most viable method for a safe east-west bike corridor in Mission Hills."

The group has so far gathered 335 signatures.

The March 24 meeting will occur at St. Paul's Cathedral, located at 2728 Sixth Avenue in Hillcrest at 6 p.m.

(corrected 3/23, 5:30 p.m.)

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Halloween opera style

Faust is the quintessential example
Next Article

Todd Gloria gets cash from McDonald's franchise owners

Phil's BBQ owner for Larry Turner
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader