Cyclists and pups on Friday night lit up the boulevard during the Bike the Boulevard Spectacular.
“I want people to see me and see my dog,” said Kelly Souza with her dog, Leo.
“I love going to The Lafayette and walking down and now I can do it with my lights.”
The new MTS bus and bike lane that stretches on El Cajon Boulevard between Park Boulevard and Fairmount Avenue, reducing it to two lanes on both the east and west directions.
It’s the Boulevard Bus Way Rapid 215 and Route 1.
“It has not impacted my commute at all. Not one iota,” said Anne McEnany.
She cycles and drives to work in National City everyday and said she sees people respecting the bike lane.
Advocates hope the shared bike lane will reduce the high number of vehicles versus pedestrians and cyclists crashes on El Cajon Boulevard. Riders want the lanes to stretch even further.
“We need more lanes everywhere, and I ride my bike to work everyday,” said cyclists James Walters.
He lives and biked from Clairemont to the event but moved to San Diego from Indianapolis.
“We have a lot of bike lanes in Indianapolis which is strange because the weather is terrible,” said Walters.
“I thought coming out here that there would be a lot more bike lanes and there’s not.”
However, SANDAG is paving more bike paths to help reduce the carbon footprint and less dependency on gasoline fueled vehicles.
“Until you build a system to make bikes work and safe, you have to make it safe and complete,” said James Younkman.
In January, SANDAG approved $90 million in bonds to build 70 miles of new and improved bikeways throughout San Diego County, including 30th Street in North Park. This has been controversial between cyclists, businesses and neighbors because the plan would have removed over 400 parking spots.
“Which is amazing, I can’t wait,” said McEnany. “It is crazy to us that there is not more access here in San Diego.
Construction on the 30th Street bike lanes will start once the pipeline replacement project is complete which is expected to be in July 2020.
The San Diego Bike Coalition promotes Bike on the Boulevard Spectacular, which is the First Friday of every month until June. Meet at Boulevard Court on El Cajon Boulevard and Alabama Street.