HomeMy WebLinkAbout3/10/2021 Item 2, Brooks
Wilbanks, Megan
From:Lea Brooks <
To:Advisory Bodies
Subject:Planning Commission March 10 meeting, Item 2
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To: San Luis Obispo Planning Commissioner Chair Dandekar and Commissioners Wulkan, Kahn, Hopkins,
Jorgensen, Quincey and Shoresman:
From: Lea Brooks, San Luis Obispo resident
Re: March 10, 2021, Planning Commission Meeting, Item 2, Public scoping meeting to discuss the scope of
the Environmental Impact Report being prepared by LOSSAN for the Central Coast Layover Facility project
Thank you for the opportunity to propose environmental issues that should be evaluated. I am a member of the
Active Transportation Committee (ATC), but am submitting comments as an individual.
Railroad tracks, like freeways, slice neighborhoods in half, making it difficult especially for pedestrians and
people on bicycles to access crossings that are convenient, more direct and safe. Without convenient and safe
crossings at intervals every half-mile or so, people will continue to cross tracks illegally or choose to drive
motor vehicles on indirect, longer routes with crossings. Providing convenient, more direct and safe crossings
will encourage people to replace car trips with active transportation and reduce greenhouse gases.
Issues addressed by the EIR should also include the following:
-A new segment of the Railroad Safety Trail on the west side of the proposed facility that meets Caltrans’ Class
1 pathway standards, including decomposed granite or dirt shoulders for pedestrians, between Francis and
High Street, including Emily.
-A bicycle/pedestrian signal at Upham Street at Santa Barbara so bicyclists and pedestrians can conveniently
and safely enter and exit the Amtrak parking lot.
-An at-grade bicyclist/pedestrian crossing at or near Roundhouse so residents on both sides of the railroad
tracks don’t have to travel a long distance to cross the tracks by foot or bicycle. A crossing will discourage
people from crossing the tracks illegally in this vicinity.
-Work with Union Pacific to make the right-of-way process for bicyclist/pedestrian crossings easier and less
time-consuming. Specifically, the City of San Luis Obispo is currently constructing another segment of its
Railroad Safety Trail, a bicyclist/pedestrian bridge over the railroad tracks connecting California Boulevard and
Pepper Street. The next segment of the Railroad Safety Trail will connect this bridge to the Amtrak station. One
option is a cantilevered bicyclist/pedestrian path on the Union Pacific Railroad bridge crossing Monterey Street.
A bicyclist/pedestrian crossing is also needed at Industrial Way. It should not take decades to obtain right of
way. This process must be simplified.
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