Local leaders were on hand today for the opening of the Rose Creek Bikeway, a multi-use path between the Rose Canyon Bike Path in University City and the Rose Creek Bike Path in Pacific Beach.
San Diego Association of Governments Chair and Encinitas Mayor Catherine Blakespear joined San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, Council President Jennifer Campbell, bike advocates and community leaders to open the bikeway, which fills a two-mile gap in the Regional Bike Network as part of the Coastal Rail Trail.
The bikeway was constructed concurrently with the Mid-Coast extension of the UC San Diego Blue Line Trolley.
"Together, the Rose Creek Bikeway and the Mid-Coast extension of the UC San Diego Blue Line Trolley represent a significant step toward realizing the Vision for SANDAG's 2021 Regional Plan,'' Blakespear said. "These projects will provide real alternatives to driving alone, helping people connect to major destinations and activity centers around the region while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.''
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The Rose Creek Bikeway is intended to provide a safe option for people to bike or walk between points north such as Sorrento Valley, University City and UCSD, and points south including Mission Bay, Pacific Beach, Mission Valley and downtown San Diego.
"This bikeway provides a critical connection to several communities along with one of the most heavily traveled bike corridors in the region,'' Gloria said. "We worked closely with our communities to ensure this project supports their needs, and I am excited to join them in celebrating the Rose Creek Bikeway opening so that San Diegans of all ages and abilities have another way to get from Point A to Point B.''
The Rose Creek Bikeway is a 14-foot-wide path with environmentally sensitive lighting. The path includes an undercrossing at Interstate 5 and Mission Bay Drive and a 260-foot-long bridge over Rose Creek. Construction began in September 2017.
The bikeway is part of the SANDAG Regional Bike Plan Early Action Program, an initiative approved by the Board of Directors in 2013 to construct a regional network of high-quality, pedestrian-friendly streets and bikeways with the intent to make them safer and more comfortable for every person who uses them, regardless of age, race or physical ability.
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The $29.5 million Rose Creek Bikeway was funded through a combination of federal, state, and local sources, including Transnet -- the regional, voter-approved half-cent sales tax for transportation improvement projects administered by SANDAG.
