SAN DIEGO — Working for You update June 29, 2023:
Rows of traffic-calming bollards were installed Tuesday, June 28, on Diamond Street at the cross of Fanuel Street and Cass Street. The installation was delayed by about a week as city staff worked to answer legal questions posed by neighbors opposed to the measure. The installation of the flexible posts brings mixed reactions from neighbors, many in support of slowing east-west traffic, and others opposed to the new bollards and increased traffic on neighboring streets.
Working for You update June 21, 2023:
After weeks of previewing new traffic calming measures coming to Pacific Beach, and growing debate among residents, the City of San Diego is now delaying the installation of bollards in Pacific Beach.
The city planned on adding traffic calming bollards to two intersections on Diamond Street which would detour traffic away from the intersections.
The city has not said why it's holding off on the installation or when it will begin.
WATCH RELATED: City delays installation of traffic calming bollards on Diamond Street in Pacific Beach
Original story:
A debate on Diamond Street is brewing in Pacific Beach over new traffic calming measures. On Wednesday, the City of San Diego plans to install a row of bollards at two major intersections to cut down on the number of cars using the road as an east-west thoroughfare.
“Diamond’s being singled out, we have no idea why,” said Jessica Moore, who lives one street over. “The residents have not been asked. We do not need it. We do not want it.”
Some neighbors are pushing back on the idea while others are embracing it.
“We didn’t know anything was coming,” said Diamond Street resident, Laurise Tomlinson. “We weren’t warned, we weren’t asked, we weren’t polled about this at all.”
But others living in the area are eager to try anything that might make the street safer.
“As a resident, that doesn’t bother me. I’m willing to make some adjustments in favor of public health and safety,” said Michelle Sexton, who lives on Diamond Street.
The bollards would prevent cars from using Diamond St as an east-west cut-through, making them turn right to get off Diamond, while bicyclists and skateboarders could still pass through.
“I don’t let my kids out in the front yard to play because of the speed with which people go down this street and the lack of attention they pay to any of the stop signs,” said Karim Rafaat, who also lives on Diamond. “If that can be improved, this becomes a safer spot for any of the children living on this street.”
During the pandemic, the city turned Diamond into a “slow street,” closing it down for through traffic, and making more space for walking, biking, and other ways of getting around. The street was opened up again to cars this past January, but Wednesday, they’ll be installing the bollards at two of Diamond’s busiest intersections, Fauel Street and at Cass Street.
“Now to have the proposal for the bollards only at a couple of intersections, to me represents a compromise,” said Catherine Sweet who lives on Diamond. “I walk my kid to school every day and I see kids riding their bikes to and from school, and the bollards will just cut down the opportunities for interactions between people without a metal cage around them and people in cars.”
Some people who live nearby say that taking traffic off of Diamond Street will just push it over to their street.
“The traffic’s got to go somewhere, so if you take it off of one street, it’s going to go on the adjacent street and frankly, we just weren’t designed for that,” said Alex Rojas, who lives with his family on Missouri Street.
Some neighbors tell CBS 8 they may be planning a protest on the corner of Diamond & Fanuel during the installation of the bollards.
WATCH RELATED: Some Pacific Beach residents urge San Diego to reopen Diamond Street after two years
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