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North Park businesses, residents decry newly painted red curbs for bike lanes

Protestors along 30th Street in North Park hold signs saying "Honk if you need parking"  along red-painted  curbs
North Park residents and business owners lined 30th Street Friday morning protesting the impending loss of hundreds of parking spaces as the city installs bike lanes. Visible in the photo are curbs the city painted red Wednesday night and some ‘No Parking” signs.
(Nancee Lewis / for the San Diego Union-Tribune)

Business owners, residents protested loss of 450 parking spots along 30th Street as city installs bike lanes

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Business owners and residents in North Park Friday protested a stretch of newly-painted red curbs along 30th Street, where the city plans to install protected bike lanes.

The city has said that it plans to do away with about 450 parking spots along busy 30th Street and will install protected bike lanes along a 2.4-mile stretch, from Adams Avenue to Juniper Street.

In 2019 the city said there were a total of 552 parking spaces there and that after the bike lanes there will be 103 parking spaces along the stretch and another 70 spots added through angled parking near 30th Street.

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But first, there were new red curbs and No Parking signs along 30th Street, from Redwood Street to El Cajon Boulevard. Some of the protestors said they were surprised by them on Thursday morning.

“I was completely mortified when I saw them,” said Liz Saba, owner of Presley & Co., a jewelry store on 30th Street. “For us, it’s just a big slap in the face ... We haven’t been listened to since the beginning.”

She said it’s another challenge for businesses struggling to recover from COVID closures.

“We barely survived COVID, and now this is pretty much putting the nail on the coffin,” she said.

Disability rights advocates also have objected, saying they were worried about fewer accessible parking spots.

Business owners, residents protested loss of 450 parking spots along 30th Street as city installs bike lanes

Nearly 30 people, many with a group called Save 30th Street Parking, held up signs along the roadway Friday saying “Don’t destroy our business community” and “Honk if you need parking.”

One man cycling past the protest cheered, “Bike lanes, yay bike lanes.”

The city’s 30th Street Protected Bikeways Mobility Project is expected to follow the completion of a pipeline replacement project in the neighborhood.

Then-Mayor Kevin Faulconer directed city staff in 2019 to design protected bikeways on 30th Street. The project did not have to get a council vote.

Proponents see it as a step toward making the streets safer for cyclists while encouraging people to get out of their cars and use environmentally friendly modes of transportation. They say it will the city meet its climate goals.

“What we have accomplished here is no small feat,” said James Nagelvoort , director of the city’s Engineering and Capital Projects Department, in a statement. “We were able to upgrade several miles of critical infrastructure and give residents a new way to get around their community.”

Alec Phillipp, a city spokesman, said the community was notified of the red curbs with informational door hangers distributed earlier this week.

“Curbs are being painted red to avoid any delays to the paving operations set to begin along 30th St. early next week,” he said in an email. “After the street is repaved and allowed to cure, the street will be striped and separated bike lanes as well as a new parking arrangement will be incorporated. Street striping is currently estimated to occur in early July.”

The bike lanes will be on both sides of the street; they will be 7 feet wide and will include physical barriers — plastic posts or parked vehicles — to protect cyclists, according to city officials.

Colin Parent, executive director of Circulate San Diego, a transportation and safe streets group, said he understands the concerns of businesses but believes similar projects in other cities have proven effective and have helped increase business in commercial districts. He said the bikeway project will have a positive impact on the neighborhood.

“What you’re going to see is more people visiting places that are close to home or places where they don’t have to drive,” he said.

The city said work will be done at night to minimize the impact on nearby businesses. City staff also plan to coordinate with businesses to remove temporary outdoor dining patios, installed during the pandemic, and then replace them after the street is paved.

Pat Sexton, a resident who is president of Save 30th Street Parking, said she doubts the bike lanes will be safe if cyclists have to get out of the bikeway to avoid outdoor dining patios.

“It’s foolish; it’s counter-productive,” Sexton said of the plan to have cyclists go around the patios.

In 2019 Save 30th Street filed a lawsuit against the city requesting a preliminary injunction to stop the work, but last year a San Diego judge denied it. Sexton said the plaintiffs expect to go to court later this year for the lawsuit, which seeks to do away with the bike lane project, Sexton said.

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