SAN DIEGO — The new protected bike lanes unveiled last week in downtown San Diego designed to increase safety are also increasing confusion among drivers.
The protected bike and scooter lanes eliminated parking along the curb and instead moved the parked cars into the middle of the street.
The change is confusing a lot of drivers who think the parked cars are waiting for the red light.
The new bike lanes are part of the city’s long-range plane adopted three years ago to encourage more people to use bikes and scooters while reducing greenhouse gas emissions over the next three decades.
For residents like John Salas, who scoots to work every day, it is a welcome change to the downtown landscape.
For drivers, it is a learning curve they will need to learn to navigate.
The new bike lanes do provide an emergency lane for ambulances when needed.