A new report from San Diego State University finds that San Diego’s expansive bicycle network remains difficult and sometimes dangerous for cyclists to navigate and contains key gaps that prevent continuous riding.
The “State of the Ride” report analyzes how the city’s current bike network implementation aligns with infrastructure planned in the city’s climate action plan and bicycle master plan and in regional planners’ transportation plan.
It commends the city’s existing network of 700 miles of bike facilities but identifies corridors for improvement and highlights how biking could feel safer for more communities.
“It’s not the question of, how many miles did we build?” said Anar Salayev, executive director at BikeSD. “It’s more like, can an average child or a 70-year-old woman actually ride there?”
The report — published in May by master’s students in SDSU’s School of Public Affairs in partnership with BikeSD, a nonprofit that advocates for safe biking and pedestrian infrastructure — will be shared Wednesday with the city’s mobility board.
It comes on the heels of a report from a county watchdog panel in June that highlighted the city’s ambitious plan to build a comprehensive bicycling network, but similarly pointed to its gaps.
The hope is that the SDSU report can help inform upcoming and recently approved community plan updates, as well as the city’s bicycle master plan, Salayev said. That master plan is now being updated from its original 2013 version.
About 75% of the 2013 plan’s goal for bike infrastructure has been implemented, according to the report, with nearly 700 miles of bike facilities.
The most common type of facility — which accounts for nearly 60% of the mileage — are class II bike lanes, which are designated specifically for cyclists.
But the report found that bike infrastructure is not distributed evenly across the city.
Dense, urban areas in and around downtown have a higher concentration of bike facilities compared to more suburban areas in the northern and eastern parts of the city. Those areas are more reliant on bike lanes along major arterial roadways.
Just over 80% of major streets and roads have some bike infrastructure — but only 8% of that is protected, and most corridors have disconnected segments, the report found.
The report also pointed to the need for more low-stress biking options, such as designated bikeways or multi-use paths dedicated to cyclists and pedestrians — types of infrastructure where riders face less traffic stress. While 63% of the network is considered low-stress, over 30% of the network is considered high-stress, the study found.
“While a majority of the network is technically bikeable, a substantial portion consists of high stress segments that may discourage use, particularly among the ‘interested but concerned’ population,” the authors wrote.
Salayev points to low-stress options like the Bayshore Bikeway or the Interstate 15 bikeway that connects Kensington to Mission Valley.
The bike lanes along Friars Road or El Cajon Boulevard are considered high-stress options, he said, since cyclists there have to share the road with cars and buses with little to no protection.
The report specifically highlights five corridors where the authors want to see more protected bike lanes, lower-stress options and continuous infrastructure: Genesee Avenue from Campus Point Drive to Esplanade Court, Mira Mesa Boulevard from Reagan Road to New Salem Street, College Avenue from Montezuma Way to El Cajon Boulevard, Euclid Avenue from Orange Avenue to Landis Street and the Pacific Coast Highway from Ash Street to Laurel Street.
Those streets are in neighborhoods that recently got a community plan update — such as the College Area and Mira Mesa — or are in the process of updating their plan, such as Mid-City.
“It’s one thing for it to be on paper, another thing for it to be built,” Salayev said.