HomeMy WebLinkAboutSteve-CCLetter-2021Nov16Dear Mayor Stewart and City Council Members Christianson, Marx, Pease, and
Shoresman,
I am writing to ask that you take urgent action in response to what should be considered
an emergency situation regarding the safety of pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists at
two locations near Cal Poly.
The 1st location is Foothill Blvd. from Santa Rosa St. to some point west of the
construction site at Broad St. In 2017, our community lost a Cal Poly student, Kennedy
Love, 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 Blvd. Unfortunately, we did not do that. After construction began, we recently
lost another Cal Poly student, Andreas Kooi, who was hit by a person driving a car in
front of that construction site.
Then, on November 7th our community read a letter to the Tribune about a serious injury
that required surgery – to a Cal Poly student, Erik Soldenwagner, who was bicycling
towards the construction site. I have known Erik for two years and I talked to him after
his injury and ensuing surgery. In Erik’s case, an impatient driver illegally drove into the
bike lane to pass cars that were merging as they approached the construction site.
Unfortunately, that driver forced Erik off the road, causing him to crash and suffer awful
injuries. The driver did not stop, the crash did not make the news (possibly because it
was not reported as a hit and run), and it is unclear if there was a thorough
investigation. One is left to wonder how many other serious injuries have occurred near
the construction site in recent months due to careless drivers.
Our community urgently needs protected bike lanes along Foothill Blvd. Currently, 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.
It would be unethical to not take urgent action, and here are two ideas. 1) For all bike
lanes other than the area discussed below, we use a “quick-build” plan with bollards
placed to the greatest extent possible. 2) For the westbound lanes in front of the
construction site, where there is usually a protected lane for bicyclists and pedestrians,
we take one more lane away from the four car lanes so that there is a protected lane
100% of the time. Unfortunately, on many occasions I have seen the existing protected
lane closed due to the construction work. Indeed, when I stopped to take the photo
below, that lane was closed. Due to the recent fatalities and injuries discussed above, it
is not ethical to ask cyclists to ever share the road with the drivers at this location.
The 2nd location that is in need of urgent action is the intersection of Highland Dr. and
Santa Rosa St. At times, there is extremely heavy use by bicyclists, pedestrians, and
car drivers and it appears to be a frequent site of collisions and injuries. Especially
tragic was the recent loss of a local teenager who was killed when a careless driver
sped through a red light at that intersection. Due to my extensive experiences driving
and bicycling through that intersection, I believe that many drivers approach that
intersection at speeds of 55-65 mph. I strongly suggest the city consider urgent action to
increase safety at that intersection.
Finally, I want to point out my professional experience and how it relates to this urgent
request. Since 1990, I have worked in the field of injury prevention biomechanics. From
1990-1994, my focus was on automobile safety and injury biomechanics. Back then, I
conducted full-scale crash tests with crash test dummies, ran simulations to improve the
design of child car seats, and analyzed hundreds of rollover crash records at the
Department of Transportation. From that expertise, I can say that we have the
technology and the know-how to mitigate the injuries and fatalities that are occurring at
the locations discussed above. All we need is the willpower of our leaders to make the
hard decisions that will save lives at these locations.
Thank you,
Steve Klisch
San Luis Obispo
two eastboundbikelpedlaneslaneclosed
one westboundlane
oneturnlane