This Thursday, May 5th, planners from the City of San Diego will be presenting their plans for one-way cycle tracks along Park Boulevard in University Heights to the University Heights Community Association. This meeting will be crucial in determining whether these cycle tracks move forward. If you are available, please come attend the virtual meeting and let the city know that you support these cycle tracks!
Instructions:
To speak at the virtual meeting:
Simply join the Zoom meeting at 6:45 pm on Thursday, May 5th at this link: https://www.uhsd.org/attend-a-meeting
When the discussion of the Park Boulevard Cycle Track begins, use the reactions feature at the bottom of the screen to raise your hand. When the moderator calls on you, please be prepared to speak for between one and three minutes.
At public meetings, personal anecdotes based on your experiences as a local resident are almost always the most impactful. Try to craft your comments around the following subjects:
How do you feel riding a bike on Park Boulevard right now? Do you feel unsafe? How would a cycle track make you feel safer?
How would a cycle track impact your travel patterns? Are there businesses on Park Blvd. that you would be more likely to visit if a cycle track was available? Many businesses are concerned about how the small loss of parking will affect their visitors; we need to show them that this cycle track could bring even more people by bike and on foot.
To email the relevant decision makers:
Please send an email with the subject line “Support for the Park Boulevard Cycle Tracks” to the following recipients:
Mayor Todd Gloria: MayorToddGloria@sandiego.gov
Kohta Zaiser (Mayor’s Rep. for District 2): ZaiserK@sandiego.gov
Councilmember Stephen Whitburn: StephenWhitburn@sandiego.gov
University Heights Community Association: info@uhsd.org
Again, your personal experiences with riding a bike will be the most important content to include in your email. If you’d like, please feel free to copy and paste my template email below:
To whom it may concern,
I’m writing to encourage you to support the proposed cycle tracks on Park Boulevard in University Heights. As a resident of San Diego/County/University Heights, I rely on safe bicycle infrastructure to get around the city and access the places I need to go to meet my daily needs.
Currently, I feel unsafe riding on Park Boulevard through University Heights. Without a dedicated bike facility, I am regularly close-passed by drivers and squeezed against the parked cars on the sides of the road, putting me at risk of being hit with a door by someone getting out of their parked car. Because of these unsafe conditions, I am much less likely to ride on this road and visit the local businesses than I otherwise would be.
Building a separated cycletrack on this section of Park Boulevard would not only make me feel safe, but would make me feel more comfortable bringing friends and family who are new to riding bicycles to this area. Moreover, a cycle track would slow traffic down and make this street more comfortable for everyone, whether they choose to bike, walk, drive, or take transit. Although I’ve always loved University Heights, I’ve always believed that the business district could become much more vibrant if it dedicated more space to bikes and pedestrians and people riding bikes, and less to cars.
The Park Boulevard Cycle Tracks will make all road users safer, and will make University Heights into an even more beautiful and vibrant community. I encourage you to support the expedited implementation of this bike facility.
Sincerely,
…
Thank you for helping build a more bike friendly San Diego!
