As the U.S. Congress currently debates a new national transportation bill, advocates for safer streets have gathered at 54th Street & University Avenue not far from the San Diego State campus, to shed light on one of San Diego’s most dangerous intersections and focus attention on pending cuts.
The bill, sponsored by California Sen. Barbara Boxer, would reauthorize federal aid for transportation and highway construction projects. The last deliberation on the bill occurred last Friday, and ended with Sen. Harry Reid recommitting the bill to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works for further examination. Currently, there are 223 proposed amendments to the bill.
Walk San Diego, an advocacy group interested in improving the pedestrian experience in San Diego County, is opposed to passing the bill without first reforming it. The group said the bill will strip dedicated transit funding from the federal transportation bill.
“States and regions would no longer be assured of a regular and consistent stream of funding for transit investments,” the group said.
Walk San Diego said the bill is the “most dangerous move we have seen from the House, and would threaten the ability of our regions to plan and invest in transit projects and long-term plans.”
The group’s statement asked for supporters to contact their representatives and urge them not to cut funding for what it has called “complete streets”; which are defined as streets that are safe to walk near and bike on.
Transportation for America, a coalition of transportation reform advocates, has a national sign-on letter that was sent to Congress, urging it not to cut additional funding for safer streets.
“Funding for biking and walking and Safe Routes to School programs is critical in fighting the obesity epidemic, which is one of the biggest health and economic challenges facing our nation and state,” San Diego County Supervisor Ron Roberts said, according to a press release from Transportation for America.
Local media have also brought attention toward the growing issue. In a report by ABC Channel 10 in San Diego, one advocate was quoted as saying, “The roads are for people, not just for people in cars. We’ve got to share.”
Jim Baross, a bike safety advocate, said there is a desperate need for bike lanes and better signals.
Kathleen Ferrier, urban planner, SDSU alumna and Policy Development Manager at Walk San Diego, said there is currently a need for change in transportation methods.
“The younger generation want to bike and walk and generations ‘Y’ and ‘X’ are moving to communities where there are complete streets; where there are cycle tracks and safe biking and pedestrian-friendly streets.”
Ferrier said the issue has been building for some time.
“We have got these decades-old policies that favor car and speeding cars along, rather than prioritizing pedestrian or bike safety.”
She then explained Federal Transportation funding for biking and walking is a meager 1 percent of what is spent on highways; so any cut in the funding is critical.
“Areas that are proven dangerous for walkers can be made much safer with redesigns,” Ferrier said, “But funding for that is hard to come by.”
