SAN DIEGO — The Pershing bikeway will allow commuters to get from North Park to Downtown San Diego in a safe manner by bike.
CBS 8 spoke to a cyclist who rode the bikeway, and he said the improvements were much needed.
Chris Carterette with SANDAG told CBS 8 before it's construction, Pershing Drive was an intimidating street to bike, and the changes made should be helpful to bikers.
"It's now appropriate for it's setting. The key component was to reduce the car lanes from four to two and repurpose the space of the previous two car lanes," said Carterette
The repurposed lanes are now a continuous sidewalk and a 14 foot, two way bike lane, separated from the traffic by a median.
Jim Barouss has been cycling in San Diego for 50 years and says he feels way safer biking Pershing.
"It looks like they've done a great job at putting in separate phases for bicyclists and pedestrians and making it apparent to the motorists that there is going to be bikes, it's wonderful," said Barouss
Linda Webb has been cycling in San Diego for 40 years, and still has a few concerns about the bikeway.
"I think it's a big deal, I think it's a good thing mostly. I do have concerns about how things are built out, they're not always the best there is no one right way to do things, I understand that."
Barouss said the intersections on the bikeway do still need a little work.
"In between the intersections it's wonderful, there's still the hill to come and they are still working on the intersections," said Barouss.
Webb and Barouss said part of the fix is cars being a little more mindful at intersections.
The project was approximately $14 million, funded mostly by a Transnet funding measure and other local funds. Webb hopes more cyclists feel safer on their commute.
"Hopefully it does the job and gets people out there, that's what I want to see," said Webb.
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