The city of San Diego abruptly pulled the plug on funding that allowed Fifth Avenue to be a car-free pedestrian walkway for seven blocks in the Gaslamp Quarter.
The move is being roundly criticized by area merchants who say blocking the street to cars was good for business.
“The Gaslamp Promenade launched in July of 2023 and was designed as a lively pedestrian hub, offering outdoor dining, entertainment, and community gathering spaces,” Gaslamp Quarter Association Executive Director Michael Trimble said in a statement. “However, the City of San Diego has now ended its financial support for bollard operations, halting the daily installation and removal of the bollards that controlled vehicle access.”
Trimble confirmed the move is part of cost-cutting efforts by the city, which is facing a quarter-of-a-billion-dollar budget deficit.
One merchant believed it cost $40,000 per month to operate the bollard program. Trimble said that number is inaccurate but declined to specify the cost.
To be clear, Fifth Avenue from Broadway to K Street has been a “Slow Street,” with the road blocked from noon to 2 a.m., since July 2023. The full-blown Gaslamp Promenade concept was never put in place.
Ending the recent pedestrian-friendly program is a big problem and counterproductive to doing business, Exclusive Collections Founder Ruth-Ann Thorn said. She moved her art gallery to the Gaslamp Quarter two years ago in part because of the promise to block off the streets and ultimately create a Gaslamp Promenade.
Thorn said immediately after the street reopened she saw a 60% drop in foot traffic in her gallery. And, she witnessed two close calls of people nearly getting hit by cars on Fifth Avenue.
“Whoever is making these decisions has clearly never run a business,” she said. “Yes, there’s a deficit. But the Gaslamp businesses bring in tax revenue. Why handicap our ability to do business? That doesn’t make any sense but that’s what’s happening.”
The end of the bollard program is bittersweet for Cuban Cigar Factory General Manager Bill Murken. He says his weekday business was actually deterred by shutting out car traffic, but that it was a better fit on weekends and on Padres game days when more people were downtown.
Either way, Murken says the city did the wrong thing by getting into a deficit and hoping it would be solved by Measure E, which was on the November 2024 ballot and called for a one-cent sales tax increase. (Its passage would have brought in an estimated $400 million to city coffers.)
“I have to live within my budget,” Murken said. “Our city needs to live within its budget. Saving the day by getting a sales tax increase obviously didn’t work and now they need to cut all these programs. It’s a shame but that’s the reality.”
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
However, in 2023, Gloria said: “San Diego’s downtown rebounded from the pandemic faster and stronger than most other U.S. cities, and one of the factors that helped keep our Gaslamp Quarter restaurants and shops in business was our closure of Fifth Avenue to vehicle traffic to make it an enticing outdoor attraction.”
District 3 San Diego City Councilmember Stephen Whitburn also did not respond to a request for comment.
In 2023, Whitburn said: “Closing Fifth Avenue to traffic makes it more exciting, more vibrant and more fun. We are creating an iconic urban esplanade. The addition of these bollards is another step forward in that evolution.”
The Downtown San Diego Partnership also did not respond to a request for comment.
In 2023, DSDP President & CEO Betsy Brennan said: “Walkability and pedestrian activation aren’t just best practices in creating welcoming urban spaces – they’re the lifeblood of vibrancy in our urban neighborhoods.”
Now that the rug has been pulled out from under all that glorious hype, one merchant wondered if private funding was an option for getting the bollards back in place.
The GQA’s Trimble said he’s currently negotiating with the city for funding.
“I know how important this is to the community,” Trimble said. “We worked for five years to get to this point. We will explore all options.” SDSun
