Wobbly stairs cause concern on Harbor Drive Pedestrian Bridge

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — A seemingly unstable staircase in downtown San Diego is causing concern, especially as thousands of people are getting ready to attend Comic Con.

“I was in air and caught myself, but I was bailing hard,” Lee Johnston Jr. said. He is visiting San Diego from Colorado for a work conference and said he almost fell down the stairs along the Harbor Street Pedestrian Bridge.

It’s a common bridge and staircase that connects people from the south side of Harbor Drive near the Hilton Bayfront Hotel to the north side of Harbor Drive, near Petco Park.

“A couple days ago I got here for the conference went for a walk and I was coming down these stairs and I caught myself but I had tripped hard,” Johnston Jr. said. “The next day it happened again.”

After further inspection, he noticed several cracks, wobbly stairs and uneven stairs that have seemingly detached.

“I actually detected that one of the stairs was wobbly and that it was also off set back, so if you were stepping at a normal cadence then you were actually missing the step because it was offset,” Johnston Jr. added.

Thousands of people use the bridge and staircase daily, from tourists to locals.

“Well I run up the stairs a couple times a week and yea they could definitely use some repairs and I’m afraid they might fall down,” downtown resident Colin Hayashi said.

“I would at the very at least have it flagged off,” Johnston Jr. said.

“I think it’s important especially how big Comic Con gets, so definitely take care of the infrastructure,” Colin Hayashi said.

It’s not clear yet who is responsible for the maintenance of the bridge and the staircases. The Port of San Diego said this bridge and staircase is not theirs. The City of San Diego has said they are checking to see if the bridge and staircase is their property to maintain.

Meanwhile, a Grand Jury Report released at the end of May claims the city doesn’t have an accurate and complete view of all the damaged sidewalks. The report claims a funding gap could lead to more damaged sidewalks and injury claims.

In the past, city officials have identified about 37,000 sidewalks that are in need of repair.

The Grand Jury Report said sidewalks need $104 million in repair, but the funding is short by $88 million.

“The funding need to repair and maintain sidewalks across the City is significant. The Transportation Department currently estimates more than $238M is required to repair over 37,000 sidewalk locations, and this backlog increases each year. While the Transportation Department is dedicated to repairing and building sidewalks, the current staffing and funding levels are inadequate to meet the needs across the City. We have received the Grand Jury’s report and its recommendations and are currently drafting our responses to them,” a spokesperson for the City of San Diego said in a statement to FOX 5/KUSI News Thursday afternoon.

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