City planners have unveiled an ambitious new project to add bike lanes to the San Diego portion of Interstate 5. Under the new proposal, lanes second-from-the-right in each direction will be painted green and partitioned with white plastic poles, to protect bike traffic from larger vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cyclists are celebrating the announcement, which will include a system of green crosswalks and light signals, to allow cyclists to safely enter and exit the freeway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Transportation Department spokesman Larry Lane assures the project will help with traffic congestion. \u201cThis will bring much-needed traffic relief to the city\u2019s existing network of bike lanes, which are currently overwhelmed with literally dozens of bikes per day,\u201d said Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe looked around at our priorities in the city, and clearly this was the main thing people want,\u201d added Lane. \u201cWe\u2019ve got plenty of parking spaces already, and every single pot hole in the county has been repaired, so bike lanes clearly are the best use for our transportation budget.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not everyone is happy. Wendy Wheeler, president of the San Diego Electric Scooter Association, voiced her concerns. “Scooter riding is an integral part of San Diego’s culture and our future,\u201d said Wheeler. \u201cMore must be done to encourage cyclists to share the bike lanes with scooters.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At time of publishing, Wheeler was preparing to brief the city council with a proposal to designate new lanes, within the bike lanes, as safe scooter lanes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"