
The Rose Creek Bikeway is more than 50 percent complete and is anticipated to open to the public by mid-2020, and the bicycling community couldn’t be more pleased.
“It’s an important connection for both commuters and recreational bicyclists that will be a separated Class I bike path that connects existing sections of the Rose Canyon and Rose Creek bike paths in the City of San Diego,” said Andy Hanshaw, executive director of the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition.
“The Rose Creek Bikeway provides connectivity and accessibility for non-car centric mobility options,” said Kristin Victor, who’s helping create an EcoDistrict in Pacific Beach.
“The Friends of Rose Creek is thrilled to see the amazing progress on the Rose Creek Bikeway and look forward to the grand opening when the community will gain access to new areas of Rose Creek,” said Karin Zirk of Friends of Rose Creek.
The majority of remaining construction activity will occur on Santa Fe Street between the cul-de-sac at the northern end and the new bike and pedestrian bridge at the southern end, said Jessica Gonzales, spokesperson for SANDAG.
The Rose Creek Bikeway project is a high-priority project that will fill a two-mile gap in the Regional Bike Network between points to the north such as Sorrento Valley, University City, and UC San Diego, and points to the south such as Mission Bay, Pacific Beach, Mission Valley, and Downtown San Diego.
The 2-mile segment of the Rose Creek Bikeway is part of the Coastal Rail Trail, a planned continuous bike route that will run approximately 44 miles between Oceanside and Santa Fe Depot in Downtown San Diego.
Preliminary bikeway construction activities began September 2017 as part of an agreement between the San Diego Association of Governments, a regional transportation planning agency, and Mid-Coast Transit Constructors, who are building the Rose Creek Bikeway in conjunction with the Mid-Coast Trolley project.
“With the mid-coast trolley line currently under construction, the Rose Creek Bikeway will also be an important connector to those wishing to access the trolley from Pacific Beach, UTC, Sorrento Valley and UC San Diego areas,” Hanshaw said.
“It’s an exciting time to see implementation taking place for long-planned bikeways designed to give safe, connected networks for folks to choose to bicycle more to get to/from work and to move around the region. We look forward to more projects coming on line in the next few years, and know that this will result in increased ridership, safer streets and healthier communities,” Hanshaw said.
Victor noted creation of the Rose Creek Bikeway gives coastal communities more transportation options. “It gives the opportunity to create prosperity with the integration of safe parkland, bicycle and pedestrian pathways along the creek supporting the equity, resilience and climate protection imperatives of the Pacific Beach EcoDistrict and connectivity to the future Pacific Beach/Balboa Area Transit station,” she said.
The Rose Creek Bikeway will begin at the north end of Santa Fe Street and connect to the existing bike path at Damon Street and Mission Bay Drive, just a short distance north of the Mike Gotch Memorial Bridge over Rose Inlet.
Zirk noted Rose Creek Bikeway could be a catalyst for better things to come. “We hope, as more members of the community have the opportunity to ride a bike path along the creek, they will advocate for Rose Creek now and in the future to maintain this amazing wetland in the middle of San Diego,” she said.
The Rose Creek Bikeway also connects to the Rose Canyon Bike Path, a 1.5-mile bikeway, most of which was recently upgraded and relocated to support construction of the Mid-Coast Trolley Project in the surrounding area.
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