The latest in San Diego's effort to make the city more bike- and pedestrian-friendly has temporarily closed a portion of Park Boulevard near the San Diego Zoo for construction.
Park Boulevard between Upas Street and President's Way will be closed, one lane at a time, on weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. through at least February for the repaving project.
The repaving may affect morning commuters, zoo attendees and parents dropping off their children at Roosevelt Middle School. Construction will start slightly later -- at 9 a.m. -- for the portion between Upas Street and Zoo Drive in order to alleviate traffic in front of the school, the city said.
Construction crews will first resurface the southbound lanes between Upas and Presidents Way and add a fresh three-inch layer of asphalt before doing the same to northbound lanes as to avoid closing off the entire busy roadway.
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Ultimately, the project will add bike lanes and expand a dedicated Metropolitan Transit System bus lane along Park Boulevard. The city said each side of the street will have a dedicated bus lane, a separate bikeway one lane for cars. In some portions of the street -- particularly near the World Beat Center, the bus and car lanes will be combined into one to preserve parking.
As for parking, there will be 67 parking spaces along the route, mostly along the west side of the street, and four loading zones. The city said they will add 100 spaces
The first portion of the project between Robinson Avenue and Upas street has been completed but the portion of Park Boulevard up to Village Place is the next to undergo construction. The city is adding a separated bikeway from Morley Field Drive to Presidents Way.
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The Park Boulevard Bikeway is part of a massive San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) project to connect several areas across San Diego by bike. By the time the project is through, the city plans to have bikeways linking Uptown, Old Town, Mission Valley, downtown San Diego, North Park and Balboa Park.
The city said the updates are "features designed to make Park Boulevard more pleasant for everyone – people who bike, walk and drive."
The $200-million Regional Bikeways Projects, which includes similar redevelopment in the North Park and Mid-City areas and along Pershing Drive, Fourth and Fifth avenues, Washington Street and several other areas of San Diego, is being funded by TransNet, a half-cent sales tax increase approved in 2013.
