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Would
you like to Ride Your Bicycle to Work?
by
the Social Diary San Dieguito River Park's Columnist Dick
Bobertz
Column #1, January 6th, 2006
If your answer is yes you should start following (and helping)
the many ongoing efforts to establish a county-wide hiking and
bicycling trail system. The San Diego County Board of
Supervisors gave us all a New Year's present last year
when they adopted a County Trails Program. The
program proposes developing trails for hiking, biking and equestrian
uses on a regional basis and coordinating regional trail segments
with other public agencies and cities.
This is a December 1, 2005 shot
of the ribbon-cutting for a bicycle lane along Vial De La Valle
(taken at the west end of the Black Horse Grill parking lot).
Center is Scott Peters next to Dick Bobertz.. The rest of the
group are members of the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition including
Kathy Keehan and City staff.
Why
was that so important? Because, believe it or not, prior to 2005
there was no government plan to coordinate the provision of a
regional trail system - not in the County and not in the City
of San Diego. Yes, various trail segments were being constructed
in both jurisdictions largely as requirements of individual developments.
But, no one was charged with the responsibility to see that those
segments were connected to form a regional system.
The
County's regional trail map includes five trails extending across
the County from east to west including: The San Dieguito
River Park Coast to Crest Trail, the Trans-County Trail, The San
Diego River Corridor Trail, the California Riding and Hiking Trail,
and the Otay Valley Regional Park Trail.
When completed, there will be five east-west regional trails across
the County, all connecting to the north-south Pacific
Crest Trail on the east and the ocean on the west.
I
admit to being an optimist, but it seems obvious to me that the
next step will be to provide north-south links at various points
along these trails to establish a grid of regional trails overlaying
the entire County. If such a system can be established people
will actually be provided with a practical alternative to getting
in their car for every trip to the store, school or work. How
many people will choose a 30 minute bicycle ride that is completely
separated from traffic over a similar time spent in a car in congested
traffic? How many people will take advantage of an accessible
regional trail grid for mental and physical health benefits? How
much will San Diego's quality of life improve? Let's find
out.
Log
on to www.sdrp.org
and find out how you can help.
*
Dick Bobertz has been the Executive Director
of the San Dieguito River Park Joint Powers Authority since
1998. Prior to 1998, he had a diverse career leading government
and environmental organizations in Utah, Nevada and California.
Most recently he served as City Manager for Gonzales, California
and Planning Director for Alpine County, California. www.sdrp.org
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