{"id":424485,"date":"2026-08-05T13:14:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T13:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/424485\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T13:14:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T13:14:09","slug":"san-diegos-bike-lane-network-marred-by-traffic-clogged-streets-connection-gaps-sdsu-report-finds-san-diego-union-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/424485\/","title":{"rendered":"San Diego\u2019s bike lane network marred by traffic-clogged streets, connection gaps, SDSU report finds \u2013 San Diego Union-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new report from San Diego State University finds that San Diego\u2019s expansive bicycle network remains difficult and sometimes dangerous for cyclists to navigate and contains key gaps that prevent continuous riding.<\/p>\n

The \u201cState of the Ride\u201d report<\/a> analyzes how the city\u2019s current bike network implementation aligns with infrastructure planned in the city\u2019s climate action plan and bicycle master plan and in regional planners\u2019 transportation plan.<\/p>\n

It commends the city\u2019s existing network of 700 miles of bike facilities but identifies corridors for improvement and highlights how biking could feel safer for more communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not the question of, how many miles did we build?\u201d said Anar Salayev, executive director at BikeSD. \u201cIt\u2019s more like, can an average child or a 70-year-old woman actually ride there?\u201d<\/p>\n

The report \u2014 published in May by master\u2019s students in SDSU\u2019s School of Public Affairs in partnership with BikeSD, a nonprofit that advocates for safe biking and pedestrian infrastructure \u2014 will be shared Wednesday with the city\u2019s mobility board.<\/p>\n

It comes on the heels of a report from a county watchdog panel<\/a> in June that highlighted the city\u2019s ambitious plan to build a comprehensive bicycling network, but similarly pointed to its gaps.<\/p>\n

The hope is that the SDSU report can help inform upcoming and recently approved community plan updates, as well as the city\u2019s bicycle master plan, Salayev said. That master plan is now being updated from its original 2013 version.<\/p>\n

About 75% of the 2013 plan\u2019s goal for bike infrastructure has been implemented, according to the report, with nearly 700 miles of bike facilities.<\/p>\n

The most common type of facility \u2014 which accounts for nearly 60% of the mileage \u2014 are class II bike lanes, which are designated specifically for cyclists.<\/p>\n

But the report found that bike infrastructure is not distributed evenly across the city.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Just over 80% of major streets and roads have some bike infrastructure \u2014 but only 8% of that is protected, and most corridors have disconnected segments, the report found.<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile a majority of the network is technically bikeable, a substantial portion consists of high stress segments that may discourage use, particularly among the \u2018interested but concerned\u2019 population,\u201d the authors wrote.<\/p>\n

Salayev points to low-stress options like the Bayshore Bikeway or the Interstate 15 bikeway that connects Kensington to Mission Valley.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Those streets are in neighborhoods that recently got a community plan update \u2014 such as the College Area and Mira Mesa \u2014 or are in the process of updating their plan, such as Mid-City.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one thing for it to be on paper, another thing for it to be built,\u201d Salayev said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new report from San Diego State University finds that San Diego\u2019s expansive bicycle network remains difficult and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":424486,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[23,100,74,76,75,1696],"class_list":["post-424485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-top-stories-sdut"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424485\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/424486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}