HomeMy WebLinkAboutTraffic Safety11/17/2021
Dear Teaffic Advisory Committee:
The roads and intersections leading to Cal Poly are a dangerous mess. A few weeks
ago, seventeen-year-old Finn Hartford, who was a beloved part of our family, was killed at the
intersection of Highland and Hwy 1. It was 6:45 am and he was headed to a morning surf
session at Morro Rock. He turned left at a green light on Highland Dr. onto northbound Hwy 1
and was killed by a heavy truck that ran a red light on southbound Hwy 1. This intersection is an
accident waiting to happen at any moment, as cars traveling south on an open highway abruptly
find themselves at city traffic lights with scores of students crossing.
While the intersection where Finn died is dangerous and is not near his residence, Finn
and his friends (including my daughter) often access Hwy 1 via Highland Dr. because they do
everything possible to avoid the disastrous stretch of Foothill Blvd between Tassajara and Santa
Rosa/Hwy 1. The whole stretch of Foothill Blvd from Tassajara to California Blvd is like some
tainted video game of obstacles and pitfalls to avoid. It was bad enough before the current
construction shut down one of the lanes near Broad street, but have you driven recently on
Foothill Blvd and seen the constant stream of near accidents and congestion, with cars and
bikes veering in and out of turning lanes chaotically?
As a Physician Assistant in the Health Center at Cal Poly for almost fifteen years, I have
seen a large number of car vs bike accidents in the region around Foothill and California Blvds,
where cars, bikes, pedestrians, and trains all compete for access. I care deeply about the
students, my patients, who are amazing young adults that deserve to be protected. Over the
years, I have written many letters to various individuals, departments, and committees at Cal
Poly, trying to get them to prioritize a plan to help improve the safety of the whole Cal Poly
corridor for students and residents. There have been improvements along the California Blvd
corridor leading from downtown, but I would venture to say that more students live around the
Highland/Foothill neighborhoods, and that area just keeps getting worse with new student
housing construction and residences.
Cal Poly actively encourages its students and staff to bike and walk to school, seemingly
never considering that it’s just not safe. What priorities could be more important to the University
than ensuring student safety? If Cal Poly won’t build and mandate more on-campus living for its
students, then it should prioritize collaborating with the City to solve challenges that arise from
so many students living in the community and to ensure students’ safety in the community and
on their commute to school.
Student housing is springing up all along the corridor, which seems to me a direct result
of Cal Poly not shouldering enough responsibility for housing their students in an affordable and
appeasing way. Builders bring plans to the City in the guise of building “workforce housing.”
Remember that’s what the Palomar and Chorro/Footholl developments promised when they
passed? Yet they are both named “The Academy”, with a third, three story construction site at
Broad and Foothill leading the current traffic menace.
I’m definitely not a building expert, but it seems to be that the City should be keeping
Cal Poly responsible for helping to maintain and improve the infrastructure needed to safely
house and transport their students. I believe that when Home Depot and Target were built, the
stores had to spend a great deal of money on the nearby roads and wetlands in order to
remediate their impact on the community. Where is that accountability from the University? What
remediation is the outside builder contributing? Why is this growth being allowed without further
safety measures being assured ahead of time?
We should all be jarred by the recent deaths in the area surrounding the University: Finn
Hartford in September; Andreas Kooi, a Cal Poly graduate student who was struck on Foothill
and Broad in August; and Kennedy Love, who was stuck on his bicycle on Foothill near Ferrini
in 2017. Instead, we allow poorly planned roads, unprotected bike lanes, and sprawling
construction projects to worsen, just crossing our fingers that another victim won’t die because
of the mess, but not even paying attention when one is injured. The roads are a ticking time
bomb for all of us. While green paint would be nice at the least, we don’t just need more green
paint; we need new ideas and full remodels. The new pedestrian light at Ferrini is a start and an
example of rethinking what is possible.
While Foothill Blvd to California Blvd is the most direct route to reach SLO High for
students from this side of town, many SLO High students like my son avoid biking to school
along the Foothill corridor; instead, they ride in a patchwork of back streets while we wait for
years for the Safe Routes To School projects to be funded and implemented. Groups like SLO
Streets For All work tirelessly to implement these projects, but it is astounding that resident
opposition and apathy can effectively derail or delay projects just aimed to keep our children
safe.
Citizens’ imminent safety should not be a partisan or under-prioritized topic. The City,
Cal Poly, and CalTrans urgently need to work together to drastically improve the safety of our
streets before we lose another beloved member of our community.
Sincerely,
Valerie Monge,
Physician Assistant, Cal Poly Campus Health and Wellbeing