A new network of bike lanes and routes meandering through Bankers Hill, the Gaslamp District, downtown and several other San Diego neighborhoods was unveiled by Mayor Kevin Faulconer and City Council President Todd Gloria recently. The two officials dedicated the latest addition of two-wheeled infrastructure to the cause of making the city more bicycle-friendly and ecologically sustainable.
“The San Diego Bike Loop is a big step forward in our push to create a more bike-friendly city,” Faulconer said. “These are the types of low-cost projects that have a huge impact on our neighborhoods.”
For his part, Councilman Gloria, whose council district includes parts of Bankers Hill and Hillcrest, where he is known for being easily accessible, frequently holding impromptu, one-on-one constituent conversations at local stores and even a local gym, told LGBT Weekly he will personally be making regular use of the new Bike Loop.
“I’ll be riding this bike,” Gloria said, pointing to a rakish chrome-colored collapsible bike. “I love cycling.”
The San Diego Bike Loop covers seven miles, including long stretches of Fourth and Fifth Avenues, which recently surrendered entire lanes that were formerly dedicated to automobile traffic, but which are now strictly for bicycles.
“Like many of us, our roads are now going on diets,” Gloria said. “We are removing car lanes and replacing them with protected bike lanes. This is a huge step in our great city. As someone who drives this corridor every day, from my home in Hillcrest to my office in downtown, I have seen how well used these lanes really are. People really are embracing them.”
So far, complaints from motorists have been relatively muted.
“I’m taking a wait-and-see approach,” said Mishka Romonava, who drives both Fourth and Fifth Avenues to and from work five days per week. “We’ll see if it makes my drive longer. Who knows, maybe I’ll bike to work once a week. But first, I’ll have to buy a bike.”
