SAN DIEGO — More bike lanes installed across the city are being met with lots of mixed reviews. CBS 8 has been working for you since the bike lanes first appeared on Azuaga Street in Rancho Peñasquitos.
Some say the bike lanes are needed for safety, while others complain the new dedicated bike lane took away their parking.
We originally came out to Azuaga Street earlier in April after one of our viewers emailed us saying there are problems with the bike lanes.
Once we arrived, we saw or ourselves between the incoming bike lanes and lack of parking, a bigger issue was brewing in this community. Now, the bike lane project is complete but it’s getting mixed reviews.
WATCH RELATED: New bike lanes in Rancho Pensaquitos cause concern
One biker CBS 8 spoke to said, “When I first started riding it, it didn’t have the cones up so the cones make it feel a lot more safe. I think this bike lane is great. I know that bike lane in Mira Mesa, I mean, I’m a cyclist so I love bike lanes everywhere, but that bike lane in Mira Mesa, I can understand the frustration with it.”
Meanwhile, Jennifer who lives in the area said, “They took away dozens of parking. They forced all of these cars up the hill here where it’s completely dark. I don’t feel safe parking on this side of the hill. There’s no streetlights.”
Jennifer says not only do they need more parking they need the city to communicate better and listen to what the people who live here have to say. “I understand there was a county wide initiative to install these bike lanes. However, the failure to communicate, the failure to give us notice and the failure to seek our responses and what the impact will be on our community is where they really erred.”
Jim McCorkle is the president of the Cantabria Homeowners Association. He's hoping there can be some kind of compromise. “The parking problem is at night. People leave to go to work here during the day. The bikers here are on Saturday and Sunday, during the day. I guess one compromise is let them parallel park at night time with a bike lane during the day?,” said McCorkle.
We reached out to the City of San Diego for comment on this story. They sent us this statement that says,
“The Azuaga St. bike lanes are part of the City Council-approved Bicycle Master Plan and connect two segments of the highly popular SR-56 bikeway. Azuaga St. was recently resurfaced for the first time in 13 years, providing the opportunity to install this planned protected bikeway to greatly increase safety for riders who frequent the SR-56 path. Parking for residents remains on the south side of Azuaga St., where there are lights and sidewalks, as well as on surrounding streets.”
The City has scheduled a Zoom meeting with the people who live in this area for Tuesday morning to listen to their feedback. The San Diego Bike Lane Master Plan was approved back in 2013.
If you want to check the bike lane master plan to see if bike lanes could be coming to your neighborhood, click here.