This week commenters had plenty to say about cyclists and safety, plans to change Balboa Park and a deal that would save educators’ jobs. We also added a new way you can reply to individual comments.
Didn’t have a chance to poke your head in the debates? Below are five comments from the week and we hope you’ll sign up to add your voice:
• Heather Hart on “Bicyclists Don’t Feel Safe on SD’s Streets“:
I do my best to follow the rules of the road and I always yield to motorists if they have the right of way, but I must admit that I do not always come to a full and complete stop at empty intersections. In some cases I have even gone through red lights (traffic light sensors often don’t recognize bikes, particularly lone cyclists). In fact, I have actually had drivers get annoyed with me for NOT running stop signs. And do not get me started on our “bicycle routes”. University Avenue is a designated bike route through Hillcrest. If you want to see your life flash before your eyes, I would encourage you to ride that route during rush hour. …
To be a cyclist is to live in a grey area between pedestrians and motorists, where it is often hard to know how you are expected to act in any given moment. It is no wonder that some cyclists become so self-righteous; it is a very lonely and, often, scary place. So lonely, in fact, that I have decided I would rather walk to work than deal with it anymore.
• Scott Kovacik on “In Final Weeks, Opponents Float New Balboa Park Plan” (we also turned Kovacik’s comment into a stand-alone commentary):
I have opposed this project (Jacobs plan) from the beginning. At the end of the 2 hour walk through of the park, having every part of the plan explained in detail with mock-up pictures provided, I am now in favor of it.
There is SO much more than just the creation of the bypass bridge and parking garage – the project in its entirety is performing MAJOR improvements to all the areas that will be handing back over to pedestrian traffic – and I was pleasantly surprised by the scope and magnitude of not only just how much park area pedestrians will re-inherit, but at the extensive landscaping and near-period street repaving that goes along with it.
• Stella Lopez on “Teachers Union Members Should Approve Deal“:
I will be voting NO! and I am laid off.
We need to make sure this is a career and a profession which we all love and want to make worth having and not just some job.
• David Cohen on “S.D. Unified Bringing Back All Laid-Off Teachers“:
IMO, this will not end well for any if the parties involved. After spending the 80s and 90s trying to convince better-than-average college students to become teachers, the last 5+ years have undone that — college with choices don’t want to be teachers, and the baby boomer teachers will be hard to replace. Maybe society needs “a year without teachers” to re-adjust thinking. No amount of “reform” will address the unrealistic expectations people have about what teachers alone can do
• Bob Gardner on “Complained About a Pothole? Better Be Patient“:
I used to report potholes and out of order stoplights regularly.
But I finally gave up.
A lot of the potholes never got fixed even though the city told you they did.
And the city took away the online way of reporting out of order stoplights. You had to call in to report those.
Then you would be put on hold for 10 – 15 minutes.
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Dagny Salas is the web editor at Voice of San Diego. You can contact her directly at dagny.salas@voiceofsandiego.org or 619.550.5669.
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