Friday is a day many people in Pacific Beach have been hoping for: the removal of the Diamond Street bollards.
The bollards were installed at two intersections as part of a pilot program to the city of San Diego's Slow Streets Program, but there was a lot of pushback from neighbors.
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The city’s decision to remove the bollards, which have been in place since 2020, is getting some strong responses.
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“The bollards create a lot of problems with people, cars and bicycles," Diamond Street resident Aracely Sampson said. "It's unsafe, and I am so glad that they make the decision to take them down."
"We're just doing big loops around everywhere. Doing different routes home, and all that good stuff," Kierstin Geary, who lives on Diamond Street, said.
Not everyone is pleased.
“It was nice that the city was prioritizing non-vehicular transportation,” another Diamond Street resident Catherine Sweet said.
“It does benefit me personally," skate Autumn Love said. "Going through it does slow traffic, so that’s nice."
The Slow Streets Program reroutes east-west traffic on Diamond Street and prohibits vehicles from turning left at intersections with Fanuel and Cass streets. It is intended to slow traffic and make it safer for cyclists, skaters and walkers.
But both sides can agree on one thing: this part of the Slow Street’s initiative did far more to divide the Pacific Beach community then bring it together.
“That’s what we are dealing with — the animosity. The animosity about the bollards. The animosity toward anyone that wants to use the street for anything other than driving as fast as they can,“ Sweet said.
“People would flip their fingers at me. They were swearing at me all the time,“ Sampson said.
When residents and drivers weren’t taking it out on each other, they took out their frustration with the bollards. Many have been ripped from their base and discarded on the side of Diamond Street, leaving large openings. Witnesses say cyclists used the opportunity to disregard traffic signs, and drivers intentionally used their vehicles to intimidate others.
“Is this person going to randomly do a U-turn right here and go around it, or are they going to plow through the center of it? I’ve seen all of it,“ Love said.
Pacific Beach Planning Group Chairperson Marcella Bothwell says the members voted unanimously to send a letter to the mayor’s office asking they be removed.
“It just doesn’t work from a traffic standpoint. It doesn’t work from a safety standpoint,” Bothwell said.
Mayor Todd Gloria and Councilmember Joe LaCava, who represents the area, sent a letter back. Both agreed and committed to removing the bollards on Sept. 27.
In part of the letter, the mayor wrote: “The city will utilize the results and lessons learned in future implementation of the Slow Streets Program as well as other traffic calming and Vision Zero projects.”
Bothwell says the concept isn’t dead and that the planning group and other community organizations are working toward a more pedestrian-friendly community.
“We need some much better, smoother pathways on these east-west thoroughfares. Everybody wants to go to the beach, and we want it to be safe to go to the beach,“ Bothwell said.
The city hasn’t said when the bollards will be removed on Friday, but there are a number of residents who tell NBC 7 that they want to be there to add their opinions about the city’s decision to scrap the project.
