SAN DIEGO — Construction and lane closure signs have been a source of frustration for commuters on Pershing Drive through Balboa Park for more than a year, and they reached out to CBS 8 for answers.
“It’s annoying, it’s absolutely annoying,” said John Cetrone, who lives in North Park. “This is ridiculous, not to be able to come home the same way I go down, having to detour out of the way to get to the same location, doesn’t make any sense to me.”
Cetrone works at the airport as a bus operator and the construction detours have more than doubled the time it takes for him to commute back and forth.
Along the southbound lanes of Pershing Drive, two lanes have been condensed down to one.
“There is no opportunity to come back the opposite direction, you can see right there it says, ‘lane closed,’” said Cetrone while pointing at a construction sign.
All northbound lanes on Pershing are closed to traffic, starting at the intersection of Florida Drive.
“It’s been blocked off for quite a while,” said Cetrone. “It’s just been stagnant, this whole thing’s been stagnant.”
The construction started in February of last year and it’s one of SANDAG’s Regional Bikeway Projects, connecting North Park to downtown with the two-mile stretch of Pershing Drive.
“Just having the physical separation from vehicles makes a huge difference,” said Erik B., an avid cyclist. “Confidence, you see more families out, yeah, I look forward to seeing more bike lanes in San Diego.”
CBS 8 reached out to SANDAG and they told us the heavy rain in recent months has caused significant delays, but the project is still on track to finish construction early next year.
“It’s very unfortunate for all of us in South Park and North Park because this is a main lane north and south to the city,” said Cetrone.
While Cetrone is disappointed to know the detours will continue to impact his commute for another year, others see the benefits to all the construction.
“The way I see it is that the city’s doing a great job investing in infrastructure that will pay dividends in the future,” said Erik.
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