HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/18/2021 Item 3, Klisch (2)
Delgado, Adriana
From:Steve Klisch <steveklisch@gmail.com>
Sent:Wednesday,
To:Advisory Bodies
Subject:letter for ATC meeting item 3
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Dear Active Transportation Committee,
My understanding is that the ATC is currently considering how to prioritize the Foothill
corridor for bike and pedestrian safety improvements. I am writing to request that you
place the Foothill corridor at the top of the Tier 1 project list. Furthermore, I request that
urgent action – as opposed to allocating any short-term or surplus funds for a time
consuming study – needs to be taken, without delay, to protect our community members
that frequently use the Foothill corridor. Urgent action could include a quick-build project to
install bollards to the greatest extent possible. This request should be seriously
considered for several reasons: 1) due to recent fatalities and serious injuries, 2) the high
volume of multimodal use, and 3) community members who avoid Foothill and have
recently experienced aggressive and careless drivers on alternative routes.
In 2017, our community lost a Cal Poly student who was hit by a person driving a car near
that construction site. In response to that tragedy, we should have installed protected bike
lanes in both directions along Foothill. Unfortunately, we did not do that. In August, we lost
another Cal Poly student who was hit by a person driving a car at the intersection of
Foothill and Broad. One can only speculate – because there was not a protected bike lane
– if that student would have survived if there was a protected bike lane. Then, on
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November 7 our community read a letter to the Tribune about a serious injury – that
required surgery – to a Cal Poly student, who was bicycling westbound between Santa
Rosa and Chorro. In that case, the student would likely never have been injured if there
was a protected bike lane.
That’s two fatalities and at least one serious injury requiring surgery over the last 4 years
in the same 2-3 block section on Foothill and west of Santa Rosa. That does not surprise
me, because I have lived off of Foothill and commuted by bike to Cal Poly for 20 years –
and the Foothill corridor has always seemed a very dangerous area to ride a bike. I cannot
even begin to count the number of close calls and aggressive drivers that my family has
experienced along the Foothill corridor. Regardless, an objective way to prioritize projects
would be to consider the fatality rate over the last 5 years – which suggests to me that the
Foothill corridor should be near, or at, the top of the list of Tier 1 projects.
Anybody who lives near Foothill and walks or rides a bike knows that there is a very heavy
volume of usage. There are many Cal Poly students, faculty, and staff that live near the
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Foothill corridor, and those people are highly encouraged to bike or walk to or from
campus. There are also two elementary schools in the area north of Foothill Boulevard.
The Foothill corridor is the primary route to access Highway 1 to Cuesta College and other
northern SLO county locations. Also, the Foothill corridor provides access to Los Osos
Valley Road and, thus, the western side of SLO and Los Osos.
Because of the perceived dangers of commuting along Foothill, many people choose
alternative routes including the Highland - Highway 1 and Ramona - Broad intersections.
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Recently, on November 16 my friend Valerie Monge and I spoke to the City Council
asking for urgent action due to recent fatalities and injuries. Valerie spoke about the tragic
loss of a local teenager, who was a dear friend to her family, who was killed by a careless
driver at the Highland intersection. Although that intersection is not controlled by our city,
Valerie pointed out that the teenager (and her daughter and other friends) use the
Highland intersection to avoid the Foothill corridor. Many people seem to do that – and
that elevates the danger of walking or riding a bike in the neighborhoods north of Foothill.
Also, my family often bikes along Ramona for access to downtown. Even though there are
sharrows, we often experience very aggressive and dangerous drivers. Often, drivers will
pass us illegally at the blind curve. Since the start of the SLO high school year, on at least
two occasions my teenage son and his friend have been illegally passed by, and yelled at,
by aggressive drivers – because they were riding along the center of the sharrows.
Our community urgently needs protected bike lanes along Foothill Blvd. Along most of
Foothill there are five lanes for cars and two separated (but not protected) bike lanes. That
ratio of five car lanes to zero protected bike lanes is not acceptable in consideration of the
recent fatalities and injuries discussed above.
Thank you,
Steve Klisch
Neighborhood north of Foothill
San Luis Obispo
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