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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1/8/2020 Item 3, Brooks Wilbanks, Megan From:Lea Brooks < To:Advisory Bodies Subject:Comments for Jan. 8, 2020, Planning Commission meeting Attachments:Prado Road Business Park, Plan Comm, Jan. 8, 2020.docx Please provide the attached comments to planning commissioners for tonight's meeting. Thank you. Lea Brooks 1130 Islay St. San Luis Obispo 1 To: San Luis Obispo Planning Commission Chair Mike Wulkan and Commissioners Jorgensen, Kahn, McKenzie, Quincey, Stevenson and Hemalata Dandekar From: Lea Brooks, San Luis Obispo Re: Jan. 8, 2020, Planning Commission Meeting, Item 3, 301 Prado Road I am a member of the Active Transportation Committee (ATC), but am submitting comments as an individual. My concerns are that the staff report of the seven, two-story structures consisting of 159,663 square feet of office and industrial space on 20 acres does not adequately address the needs of people on bicycles. The proposed project will generate additional motor vehicle traffic on South Higuera Street and Prado Road, which is a dead end for the foreseeable future. Access to this project is the intersection of Prado Road and South Higuera Street. I reviewed the Prado Business Park Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration cited in the staff report at: https://www.slocity.org/government/department-directory/community- development/documentsonline/environmental-review-documents/-folder-2032. It includes a memo dated Oct. 24, 2008, to Jay D. Walter, then director of Public Works, from Tim Bochum, Deputy Director of Public Works, regarding an off -site traffic assessment. It says: The analysis indicates that the project does not, in and of itself, require the connection of Prado Road between South Higuera and Broad Street. However, the project will have a potentially significant impact at the intersection of Prado Road/South Higuera due to the amount of westbound left turns that are added to the intersection. It recommends the following improvements: -Modify the intersection of Prado Road/Higuera Street in order to lengthen the westbound left turn lane on Prado Road to a minimum of 200 feet of storage length. -Install countdown pedestrian signal heads for the two South Higuera Street crossings. -Modify the eastbound and westbound approaches of Prado Road to include protected/permissive left-turn signal phasing. There is no mention of how increasing the westbound left turn lane on Prado Road and the other “improvements” will impact people riding bicycles or how people on bikes will maneuver an intersection designed to improve motor vehicle traffic flow. In addition, I could find no explanation of how these improvements will be coordinated with proposed “improvements” on South Higuera Street associated with San Luis Ranch, Avila Ranch, the proposed Froom Ranch project and numerous other projects generating additional motor vehicle traffic. Given the City Council’s support and enthusiasm for reducing greenhouse gases, including policies and goals that encourage the replacement of vehicle trips with bicycling, walking and transit, I am disappointed at the lack of mitigations that will result in more trips by bicycle. The focus should be increasing trips by bike, foot and transit and bicyclist/pedestrian safety, not motor vehicle flow. And please do not support “improvements” that devote more public space to making it easier to drive a vehicle and preclude the City from constructing protected bike lanes on South Higuera Street. South Higuera Street is challenging for bicyclists, especially those who are not comfortable riding in traffic, because of multiple intersections and driveways, distracted motorists and aggressive driving.