Recently, in 2017, the SR15 Commuter Bikeway was completed.
The bikeway leads bicyclists to a large intersection with no safe or legal way to cross.
The purpose of this post, is to draw attention to the fact.
This issue is near and dear to the author because I commute from Hillcrest to Norm Reeves Toyota of San Diego and I believe myself and others would utilize the new SR15 Commuter Bikeway if there were a safe and legal way to cross at Fairmont Ave.
The picture above is the route I’d ride if I rode my bike from my apartment in Hillcrest to Norm Reeves Toyota San Diego. Google thinks you can make that u-turn but it’s not possible, safe, or legal to do so.
Check it out –
The SR15 Commuter Bikeway runs parallel with the I15 and plops you on to Camino Del Rio S in Mission Valley. It’s “wide, paved, and striped to provide two-way travel. It is separated from the freeway shoulder by a concrete barrier. There are several wider paved sections to accommodate resting or passing bike riders, and lighting aligns the bikeway for added visibility and safety.” (www.keepsandiegomoving.com) While this is all fantastic, if you ride down the bikeway towards Mission Valley, when you arrive at the bottom, you must go left or right.
Left, and you head west in to Mission Valley.
Right, and you head east up Fairmont Ave towards College Area.
To get to my job, Norm Reeves Toyota San Diego, I’d naturally go right – but if I go right, there’s two options.
The first option –
Google suggests making this u-turn but it is absolutely and unbelievably unsafe to do so! The road turns in to you going the wrong way on the off ramp of the I8 west! It’s literally a freeway offramp…!!!
There is actually no safe and legal way to cross Fairmont Ave until you go uphill and over 3 miles out of the way!
Look –
I’m not gonna do that!
So what if I turned left at the bottom of the 15 Bikepath?
Turning left is the flatter option but it’s three miles riding west – directly AWAY from my job! I need to go EAST!
The simple solution to this problem is :
All we need is a crosswalk or some sort of crossing where this red line is.
I understand this is a wwwaaaacky intersection with on/off ramps to both the I15 and the I8. This is a massive intersection so this might require a ‘two-stage crossing’ – but something’s got to be done here. I don’t know if this issue has been brought up before – but I had to get this off my chest.
It’s just a suggestion.
Hoping this post might get some attention and something will get done.
Leave a comment – spread the word.
Check back for updates!
– Charlie Sears
alphamail@theawarewolfs.com
The Awarewolfs 
Wow yea that area is really messed up. Lately I’ve been looking at getting to the trolley from NP but I hate Texas Street. I’m beginning to wonder if the 15 bikeway can ever be useful the way it is now. It just kinda spits you out in the middle of nowhere and MV has very little bike infrastructure as is. Maybe the stadium redevelopment will help us a bit.
Thanks for the maps! I was just trying to figure out how to cross the I-8 to get to the Murphy Canyon Bike Path. Now I know which way not to go!
Eyyy glad we could help! Be safe out there!
Totally agree– glad that you brought this up here and are raising awareness. It could be a really great route if some safety improvements were made. I’ve only ever taken this route going the opposite way from the Toyota dealership and am on “full alert mode” going under the freeway by the two on-ramps and then coming up the hill past the off-ramp you mentioned. So dangerous down there for people on bikes but such a direct and logical route for coming/going down to that part of mission valley from the SR-15 bikeway.