HomeMy WebLinkAbout3/7/2023 Item 6d, Rowley
Sandra Rowley <
To:Stewart, Erica A; Marx, Jan; Pease, Andy; Shoresman, Michelle; Francis, Emily
Cc:CityClerk
Subject:Item 6d, North Chorro Neighborhood Greenway Project
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Dear Mayor Stewart and Members of the Council,
Please deny the recommendation to appropriate/transfer additional funds to the North Chorro
Neighborhood Greenway Project. Why? Because unlike Foothill Blvd there have been no accidents along
this route, thus no necessity for cycle tracks. Because it is time to modify the project plans so they are
not so costly (at the expensive of other worthy projects), so they will not have detrimental effects on
residents who live along the project site, and so the plan is safer for all involved – residents, pedestrians
and bicyclists.
As I recall, when this project first went before Council it was projected to cost around $1 million. Later,
the cost was estimated to be +/- $3.4 million. With prices rising as rapidly as they have been it is easy to
imagine that the current $6.1 million price tag will not be sufficient either; staff acknowledges this by
including Recommendation #2 authorizing up to and in excess of $200 thousand for change orders. It’s
time to call a halt to this design.
The northern portion of Broad Street (not to be confused with North Broad) is one of the narrower streets
in the city. Residents along the street, and along parts of Chorro, are negatively affected by the current
plan through a loss of on-street parking and by curbside cycle-tracks that pass behind residents'
driveways – broken at the driveway but still affecting visibility. As currently proposed, all on-street
parking on one side and a portion of on-street parking on the other side of Broad from Ramona to Mission
and on Chorro from Mission to Lincoln will be lost. And this at a time when garage conversions, accessory
dwelling unit construction and bedroom additions to existing housing are occurring in this area. The
extent to which these residents will be affected far exceeds the effects of current bike-lane projects in
other areas of the city.
In summary, request you take the following actions:
1. Deny the recommendation to appropriate/transfer these funds to this project.
2. Direct staff to assemble a group consisting of a) residents of the affected area – including, if possible,
some with a disability, b) bicycle aficionados who support this design and c) bicycle aficionados opposed to
this design. Then direct them to put together a project that is less expensive and includes quality of life
measures, like increased parking and required curb cuts, for those who live along the project site.
Reference the $3.1 million requested to be transferred to this project, all or part of it could be moved to
Laguna Lake dredging to replace monies that were moved from there to Laurel Lane bike lane
striping. Since there was flooding on some properties around the Lake, this seems like a good time to
ensure sufficient funds are available for dredging Laguna Lake.
Sincerely,
Sandra Rowley
1
Chair, Residents for Quality Neighborhoods (RQN)
2