HomeMy WebLinkAbout6/28/2021 cc - Havas (Death of cyclist Salvador Cortez)
Wilbanks, Megan
From:Gary Havas <
To:E-mail Council Website; Advisory Bodies
Subject:Death of Cyclist Salvador Cortez
Attachments:210625 Death of Cyclist Cortez.pdf
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Greetings.
Please offer the attached letter from Bike SLO County to City Council Members and the Active Transportation
Committee.
Cheers!
Gary Havas
Board President, Bike SLO County
805-458-0755
president@bikeslocounty.org
1
June 25, 2021
To: City Council and Active Transportation Committee
emailcouncil@slocity.org
advisorybodies@slocity.org ATC communication
RE: Death of Cyclist Salvador Cortez
Greetings Mayor and City Council Members, and Chair and Members of the Active Transportation
Committee.
We are deeply saddened and dismayed by the June 25,2021 death of Salvador Cortez at Suburban
Road and South Higuera Street. To Mr. Cortez’s family and those affected we offer our deepest
condolences.
Bike SLO County believes this tragedy was preventable and that we as a city can do better than this. We
and our community partners recognize this intersection and many other points along South Higuera pose
considerable challenges to people on bikes, people on foot, and people with mobility challenges. We offer
our expertise to help the City achieve its Vision Zero goal by collaborating in developing a solution for this
location that is safe for all roadway users. Please allow us to be participants in the examination of this
collision and intersection. Our perspectives as cyclists are invaluable. We have many resources
(advocacy, education, and inspiration, as well as our state and national connections) to apply to help
modify or develop and then implement best safety and access design for this and other challenging
intersections from examples around the country and internationally where applicable. The City has Quick
Build practices written into our new Active Transportation Plan (ATP) that can be implemented starting
immediately.
In San Luis Obispo we support the Vision Zero policy adopted by the City Council in 2016: one death on
our city streets is too many. San Luis Obispo families,workers, students and visitors deserve streets on
which they are safe walking, biking, accessing transit,and driving. Let us work together to accelerate our
timeline from 2030 to now!
Sincerely,
Gary Havas Rick Ellison
Board President Executive Director
860 Pacific Street, Suite #105, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401