During a recent hour-long Zoom meeting, District 1 Councilmember Joe LaCava fielded questions from some Pacific Beach neighbors who are happy and unhappy with turning Diamond into a permanent slow street.

Following discussion, a determination was made by LaCava and neighbors to leave the orange bollards at Diamond Street to create a slow street for a month, before revisiting the issue to see if traffic-calming is working as intended.

As part of an effort to improve safety, create a pedestrian-friendly space and encourage more alternative modes of transportation, the City proposed adding traffic-calming measures on Diamond Street in PB, starting near the Pacific Beach Recreation Center and Pacific Beach Middle School, to Mission Boulevard and the beach. The City has added flexible orange bollard posts to limit continuous vehicular traffic down Diamond Street to right-turn only at the Cass and Fanuel Street intersections, along with signage along the entire corridor to inform drivers and users of this new roadway design.

The bollards were torn up shortly after initially being put in and were replaced within hours.

“It seems to be working as was initially intended,” said LaCava of the Diamond slow street. “They (bollards) can be replaced. This installation is reversible.”

LaCava added: “Some people who saw the vandalism said, ‘Let’s put them (bollards) in concrete. I’m not interested in that. If this isn’t working … We want the ability to change.”

Beach & Bay Press reached out to PB residents who support the slow streets initiative on Diamond.

“My name is Emma Zackowski and I am a student at Pacific Beach Middle School. I support the slow streets because it provides a safe and practical way to get to school. I believe the slow streets are saving students’ lives that would be in danger from passing cars on their school route.”

“I was lucky enough to witness how glorious it was during the pandemic to have a street that became a focal point for the community; a safe haven on which residents could walk, run, ride, and skate while being safe from traffic,” said Karim Rafaat, MD. “Since then, I have watched its protected slow status dwindle in import, and with this has come an increase in traffic that ignores stop signs and cares little about the speed limit.

“It has become so unsafe that I will not let my kids play near the street on which they live. It was a reassuring step forward for the community when the local voting came down in favor of keeping the street slow, and to support the placement of some semi-permanent emplacements to ensure traffic speeds were controlled. Quite unfortunately, the desires of the majority are in the process of being displaced by those of a vocal and angry minority.”

“The traffic-calming measures installed by the City seem to be having the desired effect,” said Michelle Sexton, a naturopathic doctor. “Those driving cars are taking notice of the changes and 90% are being respectful of the new traffic flow. Pedestrian/bicycle, skateboard, etc. traffic continues to be high as many use Diamond Street as an east-west passage to get to the beach. Around 10% of drivers are maladaptive, and a smaller fraction are defiantly running over the bollards, making U-turns, or driving around honking at them.

“This project has been a great start to help make the roadways in PB safer by helping people to remember to slow down.  Let’s hope this project can be amplified to keep the many tourists, children, and other residents of PB who support mobility choice, a healthy active lifestyle and greener living safer on our public streets.”

“PB is a community that loves to walk and bike, but without safe streets, we aren’t able to get around easily or comfortably without a car,” said Katie Matchett, president of beautifulPB. “The Diamond Street traffic-calming project is a response to years of requests from community members to slow down traffic on our local streets. We hope that it will be a first step towards creating a safe and sustainable network of slow streets throughout PB.”

“The hybrid closure of Diamond Street was such a welcomed development and provided for safe passage to the beach from other parts of the neighborhood,” said Breffni Castellanos Barrett. “We (my family and friends) find it difficult to understand the resistance to the hybrid model. Perhaps a vote is warranted. I am confident the vast majority of actual Pacific Beach residents would vote for a decrease in traffic, improved safety for families, and an improvement in our efforts to contribute toward carbon-emissions reduction.”

But several longtime residents on Diamond and side streets continue to argue that the slow streets are problematic and not solving any safety problem on Diamond, but rather creating one.

“These bollards are terrible here,” argued Laurise Tomlins of Diamond Street. “There is so much noise, so much confusion. People have run over them. They are herding traffic toward different areas. The cars are not stopping at all these intersections. I am re-routed off my street. I just don’t think it’s fair. And I have seen more people walking in the middle of the road. This is dangerous. I thought this was supposed to make the road less dangerous.”

Greg Daunoras told the council member he felt it was time to “look at the future and the bigger picture. The San Diego County Bike Coalition and beautifulPB are really trying to impose their ideology (promoting non-vehicular transport) to get the rest of us to walk and bike,” he said. “A lot of people can not take their bikes to Target or Von’s. I’m raising a red flag. I’m concerned that small special-interest groups will be targeting more streets (for closure) in PB.”