Just came back from the Special Meeting.

I was so obviously the youngest person there. 

There were two presentations on the project.
One was a summary of the Draft EIR focussing mainly on Jacobs’ plan (the main plan), the other was on an alternative to slow car traffic.

I spoke up during the public comments period.
All the 13 alternatives for this project default auto traffic as the main, only way for people to go to Balboa Park. I questioned why not have a streetcar line / trolley extension along Sixth Ave (or Park Blvd), with frequent service dropping people off on Laurel/El Prado. and improved bicycle infrastructure along with that. That way we get more people into (and out of) the park, without cars, without traffic — without needing to build a costly bypass bridge (aka “Centennial Bridge”), without needing to build a costly parking structure at the end of the bypass bridge. 

I’m in favor of closing Cabrillo Bridge and pedestrianizing that whole path into the park.

This main plan, aka Jacobs’ Plan, would have cars turn right—stopping right before these arches—onto the bypass bridge and to a dropoff zone / surface parking and enter the underground-ish multi-story car park. 

The carpark would have a rooftop garden, and so adds to reclaimed parkland to the park. The carpark would also add 124 or so parking spaces. 

But how visionary is this plan? Not very at all.

The majority of the board/committee and some of the public support Jacobs’ plan, for the simple reasons that it accomplishes getting cars out of the center of the park (Plaza de Panama and America), thus reducing pedestrian-car conflicts, fast (relatively—San Diego timeline, remember), and Dr. Jacobs is helping fund a large portion of the project—so why not? “I’d like to see this happen during my lifetime.” “I’m in favor of this project as it’s the only one with funding.” despite a few also preferring closing the bridge and locating the parking structure outside of the park.

Parking structure in the middle of the park?
How much sense does that make?
Everyone’s gonna know: You can park in the middle of the park!
—more traffic into the park. (and more traffic on Cabrillo Bridge—riding my bike on the bridge is gonna be less pleasant.)
Then in 10 years the city’s gonna be planning another big project to solve this problem. 

People are against closing Cabrillo Bridge because it would negatively impact traffic in the area greatly. “Imagine 6th Ave. with December Nights traffic all the time—a mess!” WHY do people here just assume everyone’s going to be driving their own car to the park?! 

“Think outside the box”—not a common practice in this city.
Improve public transportation in the area! Safe, separated cycle tracks! Complete streets with crosswalks across Sixth Ave! People coming from faraway could park farther away, take transit, ride bikes, walk leisurely through the adjacent neighborhoods to get to the park. Liven up the streetlife nearby.

It’s sad that the car-dependent lifestyle is so embedded in San Diegans’ minds, that they can’t seem to imagine a future without using cars to get around.

A man on the board/committee addressed my comment.
He basically said that mass transit isn’t an option in San Diego. 

Oh wow.

I’d like to know the cost of constructing light-rail to the park compared to the cost of constructing the bypass bridge and parking structure.

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