If there’s nothing like firsthand experience to create education and awareness, about 25 people organized by Circulate San Diego set out in Point Loma to get their share in a “walk audit” of a stretch of West Point Loma Boulevard.
Circulate San Diego is a nonprofit with a stated mission to create “excellent mobility choices and vibrant, healthy neighborhoods.” Through a series of grants from the California Office of Traffic Safety, it conducts walk audits all over the city, collaborating with organizations, schools, community groups and more to get participation from local residents.
The walkers in the audit Feb. 22 in Point Loma gathered in brightly colored vests at the corner of Nimitz and West Point Loma boulevards and walked east about a half-mile on West Point Loma to Adrian Street and back. That route was identified as a high-crash or high-injury area in recent data compiled by the city.
Each participant got a map of the area being walked, along with a clipboard and pen to note any problems observed along the way, including safety hazards for pedestrians and bicyclists and concerns about traffic, sidewalks, crosswalks and signs.
“We like to lead community walk audits as a way to demonstrate where there are gaps in the pedestrian network, particularly related to safety,” said Carlisle Dockery, director of planning and community engagement for Circulate San Diego. “Nothing really compares to being out and walking it.”
No two audits come back exactly the same, though there is a lot of overlap, Dockery said. “What might feel safe to someone like me might feel incredibly unsafe to someone who’s pushing a stroller or using a wheelchair.”
Nathan Whitworth, who lives in the area, went on the walk with his baby daughter in a stroller.
“The biggest problem is crossing the street because people drive so fast and the street is so wide but the sidewalk is so narrow,” he said. “There’s a lack of crosswalks, even though it’s completely residential. So it makes sense to have more crosswalks.”
Other walkers noted bike lanes that end suddenly and bus stops with no benches, shade shelters or trash cans, as well as bus signs with outdated route information.
Jim Peugh, chairman of the nonprofit Friends of Famosa Slough, was along for the walk with an interest in creating a crosswalk for nature lovers who want to visit both parts of the slough, which are separated by busy West Poma Loma Boulevard.
“The slough is just a neat area for education,” Peugh said. “Both sides of the slough have unique characteristics and different types of birds. It doesn’t make sense to have a park where you have to risk your life to get from one side of it to the other.”
UC San Diego student Nicole Lillie uses public transit often and said she’s concerned about accessibility. She noted narrow sidewalks and no auditory signals at crosswalks.
“Auditory signals for people who are hearing-impaired or deaf are really important because these are such wide-lane streets and there’s a lot of space between lights and stop signs, which really encourages people to speed a lot more because there’s nothing naturally slowing them down,” Lillie said. “Being someone who utilizes public transit and being a walker, it has definitely opened my eyes to how bad a lot of the areas are.”
Anthony Santacroce, a spokesman for the city of San Diego, said the area covered by the Point Loma walk audit is already part of a paid capital project including sidewalk s, curbs and gutters, pedestrian push buttons, pedestrian barricades, protective railings, disabled-accessible curb ramps, replacing inlet markers, roadway base repairs, striping and vehicle detector loops for various streets throughout the city.
Because that area of Point Loma is part of the coastal zone, he said, some of the work has been delayed while awaiting approval by the California Coastal Commission.
Will Moore, policy counsel for Circulate San Diego, said the city could not complete continuation of bike lanes on West Point Loma Boulevard without a complex and time-consuming revision of the community plan by the Coastal Commission.
“We are concerned that needless istrative hurdles like that hurt all San Diegans and reduce coastal access, despite the city’s best efforts,” Moore said.
Circulate San Diego plans to use the from the walk audit to put together a brief report and submit it to the city and post it on its website in hopes of expediting the current efforts.
For more information or to check out reports on previous walk audits, visit circulatesd.org.
