HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/18/2021 Item 3, Reich
Delgado, Adriana
From:Jonathan W. Reich <jreich@calpoly.edu>
Sent:Thursday, November
To:Advisory Bodies; Fukushima, Adam
Cc:John Clements; Sandy Stannard; Steve Klisch; Michael R. Boswell; Sloan Thomas
Campi; Joseph J. Ragsdale
Subject:Improve Safety of Foothill Blvd. for Cyclists and Pedestrians NOW!
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Hello Active Transportation Committee,
I heard you're meeting tonight.
I live in a neighborhood adjacent to Foothill Boulevard and I bike commute to Cal Poly 3-4 days/week.
According to San Luis Obispo's own data, Foothill Blvd. has both more vehicular traffic and bicycle traffic, than
Broad St,
and vehicles travel at higher (arterial) speeds on Foothill.
Yet somehow Broad St. got to the head of the line before Foothill Blvd. for bike safety improvements.
While the City of SLO and neighborhoods argued and dithered about Broad Street, another bicyclist was killed
on Foothill Blvd.
The existing conditions on the most heavily used section of Foothill Blvd. are dangerous and very much
disincentivizes bike commuting.
50% of Cal Poly's carbon footprint is from transportation.
That footprint could be reduced a lot through changes to Foothill Blvd.
SLO could solve a lot of problems and save lives,
short term traffic safety wise and long term climate change wise,
through changes to the shared public right of way called Foothill Blvd.
I am writing to express my support for
1) placing the Foothill corridor AT the top of the Tier 1 project lists for long-term safety improvements that
include protected bike lanes
and
2) using any available funds for low-cost and quick-build projects to enhance safety infrastructure ASAP along
the Foothill corridor -
as opposed to use of short-term or surplus funds for a lengthy study.
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We urgently need protected bike lanes along Foothill due to its history of fatalities and serious injuries from
accidents of all kinds,
and due to its well documented heavy usage by community members
including neighborhood residents, Bishop's Peak and Pacheco students, SLO High students, and Cal
Poly/Cuesta students, faculty, and staff.
Fix Foothill For Bikes Now!!
Jonathan
Professor Jonathan Reich, Chair, Cal Poly Academic Senate Sustainability Committee
Architecture Department, California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo
http://architecture.calpoly.edu/faculty/reich
Cell: 805-801-8848
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