How Do You Feel About A Carless Fifth Ave. In San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter?

Plans Call For A Pedestrian Promenade

By Kevin Wilkerson, San Diego Blogger

San Diego’s vibrant Fifth Ave., the centerpiece of the nightlife and restaurant scene in the downtown Gaslamp Quarter, may be making a big change.

A proposal by the San Diego Gaslamp Association calls for making a pedestrian promenade out of the popular street. An artist’s rendering shows trees on each side, pedestrians and no cars. There would also be benches and street art.

Announced in 2019, it would make the area carless from from Broadway to L Street and now the association is asking for input from residents and others at: www.gaslamp.org/promenade.

“The Gaslamp Quarter Association – in partnership with Carrier Johnson+ CULTURE, Kimley Horn, San Diego Downtown Partnership and the City of San Diego – has created a vision for the future of the Gaslamp Quarter, which has reached a turning point in its long history as a dining and entertainment district,” stated Michael  Trimble, Executive Director, Gaslamp Quarter Association, on the Gaslamp association’s website.

“Introducing the Gaslamp Promenade, developed to give public space back to the people of San Diego and all who visit America’s Finest City. The Gaslamp Promenade will reinvent Fifth Avenue into eight distinctive plazas (from L Street to Broadway), fostering community by building a place for social connections, conversation, dining and entertainment.

“This promenade will be a vital part of what makes San Diego’s future great.”

I am all for it, as long as it is properly executed and functional. I have even stated on this website and social media that on weekend nights – when the Gaslamp is the liveliest nightlife scene for any area this side of Las Vegas – that traffic needs to be blocked off along Fifth Ave.

Making it a 24/7 thing could prove to be a nice enhancement to the area.

One element it will need are bike lanes. One rendering shows a woman riding a bike and another pushing one. In fact, the entire Gaslamp Quarter desperately needs bike lanes. I propose painting them on the sidewalks, which in most places are plenty wide to accommodate both bikes and pedestrians.

The electric scooters should stick to the street.

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