City staff outline Bayshore Bikeway alignment; businesses and museum warn of access, parking and rail impacts

Steve Manganiello, director of engineering and public works for the city, presented a proposed National City alignment for the Bay Shore/Bayshore Bikeway and described the project as part of a regional 26-mile facility. Manganiello said the city recently received Active Transportation Program (ATP) funds, which he described as "roughly $6,000,000," and told the committee that this award "has now closed our funding gap." He said other grants and funds would cover construction management and inspection and that, based on earlier grants, the city needs to award a construction contract in September to meet grant schedules.

Manganiello outlined the route: continuing down Harbor Drive, crossing the BNSF railroad on Harbor Drive (north of Civic Center Drive) with coordinated upgrades to crossing signals, using an easement from Caltrans to pass under an off-ramp onto McKinley Avenue, and routing through Marina Way and a marsh area to tie into the existing regional bike facility. Staff said they have environmental permits for the marsh segment, including Coastal Commission approvals.

To fit a two-way protected bike path, staff said McKinley would be converted to one-way (southbound) so a two-way bikeway could be placed on the available corridor; the southbound orientation is intended to direct large truck traffic away from the hotel and commercial tourism area and reduce truck movements on 24th Street. Manganiello said the design avoids removing parallel parking on the west side, reinstates angle parking on the east side where feasible and reported a small loss of public parking: about six spaces along roughly a half‑mile of McKinley and a net loss of roughly 10 spaces overall.

Local businesses raised immediate access concerns. A business representative who said tractor-trailers visit the site five or six times daily warned that a southbound-only McKinley would force some trucks to perform blind-side backing into driveways, creating safety and operational problems. Manganiello committed to scheduling in‑field tests with actual truck drivers to verify turning templates and to follow up directly with the business owner to try to preserve access.

Mitchell Beacham, secretary of the National City Depot Museum, said the proposed alignment appeared to take parking used for depot events and asked for assurances that the rail line serving the depot would remain intact. Beacham asked staff to study alternatives such as shifting the sidewalk or restoring parking nearby so the museum's planned Railcar Plaza and public tours would not be impaired. Manganiello said staff would confirm track locations and follow up on design details and parking trade-offs.

Community members and committee members also pressed staff on pedestrian safety and accessibility. Kelly, who identified themself as a representative of Deaf Community Services, asked that a crossing be provided for clients at a busy location; staff noted plans for improved lighting, vandal-resistant fencing, new push-button pedestrian signals and always-stop controls at McKinley intersections. Committee members asked whether a traffic circle had been considered; staff said a roundabout had been their preference but that large tractor-trailers could not reliably make the movements, so an all-way stop met state warranting criteria and offered pedestrian/bicycle safety advantages.

On usage, staff argued that a direct, protected connection to the 26-mile regional bikeway would increase bicycle ridership in the corridor, even though current observed bike volumes on McKinley are low. Staff said outreach for this phase is more focused and that earlier master-plan outreach had been broader but less targeted; they also acknowledged earlier outreach gaps and described a new 2025 early-engagement process to notify property owners and businesses earlier in major projects.

Manganiello and staff repeatedly committed to follow up with businesses and museum staff, to conduct field turning tests with trucks, and to revisit parking and rail-location details before construction. The committee scheduled a related public open house on the 24th Street transit center project at its next meeting and closed the item. The meeting record does not show a formal vote on the alignment during this session.

Note on transcript numbers: during the presentation Manganiello listed ATP funds as "roughly $6,000,000" and later said the city had "secured roughly $616,000,000 for construction." The latter figure appears inconsistent with other statements in the meeting record; the exact total construction funding was not otherwise specified in the discussion.