More than 150 cyclists, young and old, converged Saturday morning at the northern fringe of Balboa Park to commemorate the long-awaited completion of Pershing Bikeway – three years after two people lost their lives on the once dangerous route.
As spectators cheered and clapped, bicyclists took off from Bird Park, heading downhill on a celebratory ride along Pershing Drive through Balboa Park, their route now safely shielded from passing cars via a two-way protected bike lane on the east side of Pershing and a buffered bike lane on the west side.
The bikeway, which has a total project cost of $27.5 million, starts at Utah and Landis streets in North Park, continues through Balboa Park along Pershing, and ends at C Street downtown. While much of the 2.3-mile-long path has been open for a couple of months, a portion of the southern leg of the roadway had, until recently, remained closed to vehicular traffic.
“Everyone deserves to have safe and affordable options to get where they need to go, and the opening of Pershing Bikeway is a milestone for our region because it allows more people to do just that,” San Diego City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera told those gathered for the official ribbon-cutting.
As if to prove his point, a few moments later a bright yellow Ferrari noisily sped by on the road behind him. “That’s why we need safe highways,” he quipped.
Lu Sevier, 30, of North Park, had rescheduled her brunch plans with friends so she could participate in the inaugural ride. She said she had tried bicycling along Pershing a few years earlier, before construction started in early 2022, and quickly concluded that she felt so unsafe she would never ride it again. Until Saturday.
“I had a friend, Ann, who passed away in a car cycling accident in the D.C. area,” Sevier said. Her fears about poor safety on Pershing, she said, “had kept me from going into downtown at all, so this is so cool that we’ll be able to go into downtown safely, and with a protected bike lane I can bring friends with little kids. Today is for Ann.”
Two years ago, almost to the day, Laura Shinn, a San Diego State University administrator, was struck and killed by a driver while cycling in an unprotected bike lane on Pershing. Two months later, Jonathan Sepulveda was fatally hit by a driver on Pershing while riding an electric scooter.
Vicki Granowitz, a longtime North Park community leader who has already walked the new route, said she remains disappointed that the project couldn’t have been completed years earlier.
“The North Park Planning Committee approved the plan many years before they implemented it,” she said. “Had they implemented it when they planned to, those two people would not have died.”
She noted that some motorists, accustomed to a speedy drive along what was once a four-lane expressway, may be disappointed by the slower two-lane route on Pershing. “That includes me, I drove it at excessive speeds when I shouldn’t have.”
Overseen by the San Diego Association of Governments, the Pershing Bikeway dates back to 2016 when planning first started, said Chris Carterette, senior regional planner. Construction started six years later following extensive public outreach and design work, he said.
Funded via SANDAG’s half-cent sales tax program, the project also includes five new pedestrian intersections, 75 path lights, extensive landscaping, and a new 75-foot-long pedestrian bridge that helps connect the northern and southern ends of Balboa Park.
More than just a significant safety improvement, Pershing Bikeway is one more incremental step in prioritizing walking and biking over cars in Balboa Park, says Anar Salayev, executive director of Bike San Diego.
“This is similar to what was done to Park Boulevard, which used to be a four-lane expressway and is now reconfigured to have a protected bike lane, bus-only lane and single lane for vehicles,” he said. “Together, these make the park safer for not only bicyclists but also pedestrians who have a buffer between them and cars flying through Balboa Park.”
Rich Hathaway, 57, an avid cyclist from North Park who was preparing to join the celebratory ride, said he was never too bothered by the conditions on Pershing before the new construction.
Asked if it was worth the $14 million it cost to construct the bikeway, he said, “It looks pretty. I think it’s a good thing but I liked it before. I never felt unsafe going uphill, although I definitely feel safe now going downhill on the new bike bath.”
