SAN DIEGO — With all the confusion over the new shared traffic lane concept that was implemented on Gold Coast Drive in Mira Mesa, people in Point Loma are worried these types of lanes are coming to their neighborhood next.
“It’s terrible,” said Pt. Loma resident Catherine Fagan. “I think it’s going to cause more problems. People are going to be confused.”
“It seems a little dangerous to not educate before you implement a new way of driving,” said Chris Lincoln.
People living around Evergreen Street in Point Loma say the road was freshly paved 2 weeks ago, and now they’re seeing chalk outlines that indicate the City may be installing a shared traffic lane there.
“I’m really apprehensive about this whole thing, especially on this street,” said longtime resident Manuel Silva. “Of all the streets they could’ve used here in the flats of Point Loma, this was the worst one.”
People are outraged on Gold Coast Coast Drive in Mira Mesa where two lanes were reduced to one to make room for wider bike lanes. Now, cars going in either direction have to share the same lane and it’s causing chaos.
“I thought the road lane did not make any sense to me as a driver and even as a pedestrian. I thought it was dangerous,” said Fagan. “I wanted to know who approved it.”
CBS 8 wanted to know the same thing. Monday night, live on CBS 8, we asked Mayor Todd Gloria, ‘What’s going on?’
“When the residents say they did not receive any warning, they are correct and that was a mistake and we are working to correct that,” said Mayor Gloria. “It’s a shared lane situation which is new for our City, although not a new bike treatment, but the fact that it’s new for our City really means that we should’ve done far more education and outreach. In the meantime, we’ve halted additional installations of these kinds of bike lanes until we can do more robust public engagement and public education.”
CBS 8 reached out to the City about whether they plan to follow through with painting the new lanes on Evergreen Street. As of Tuesday night, CBS 8 had not received a response.
People are mainly confused about how they’re supposed to share a traffic lane with oncoming cars.
“I was not taught that maneuver when I learned to drive, and I was not quizzed on that when I got my driver’s license,” said Melanie Smith. “So there should probably be a public safety campaign to teach us how to do that to keep the bikers safe.”
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