HomeMy WebLinkAbout3/7/2023 Item 6d, M
From:
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:Support 6d, NORTH CHORRO NEIGHBORHOOD GREENWAY Funding
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Dear Mayor and City Council Members,
I am writing to urge you to continue making progress on your Major City Goal of Climate Action, Open Space
& Sustainable Transportation, by approving the appropriation and transfer of funding as detailed by staff in their report
for this item.
The detractors for this project have been quite vocal since specific plan details were first brought to Council in 2017 and
they are again bleating their same old grievances. Those being their personal ability to store private vehicles on public
streets (parking) and their perception that their driving might somehow be impeded by people riding bikes on the
planned facility. They gloss over the fact that two-thirds the costs of the project are for pedestrian and general roadway
upgrades, and focus on the one-third that is budgeted for bicycling facility improvements. With the exception of the
Foothill crossing at Ferrini which was recently installed as part of this overall project, the status quo is NO
accommodation for bicycling. The detractors feel that the status quo is acceptable as they don’t, won’t, or can’t ride
bicycles and are not tolerant of those who can and do choose to ride for transportation. Now they offer as their “new”
argument, fiscal responsibility, hoping to derail the project. Do not be fooled by this ploy. Their real reasons have not
changed (convenient parking and personal motor vehicle ease/speed).
While staff does a good job of reviewing the public engagement to-date for the specific project, I’d like to point out that
the concept history goes back another ten years. A project similar to the Morro Street Bicycle Boulevard was first
proposed for Broad Street north of Hwy. 101 at a public meeting of the Bicycle Advisory Committee in 2007. This led to a
concept project being included in the City’s 2008 Bicycle Transportation Plan which was approved at a public meeting by
the City Council of that era, headed by Mayor Romero. This process of public meetings, project concept and priority
discussion, was repeated for the following plan update during the next five years, culminating with acceptance by City
Council, headed by Mayor Marx, as part of the City’s 2013 Bicycle Transportation Plan. Staff’s outline takes over here,
with the project morphing to the final phase under the guidance of Councils headed by Mayor Harmon and now Mayor
Stewart.
Ultimately this plan is a compromise. If it was just for people on bikes, the project would look a lot more like Morro
Street, closed to through traffic and essentially speed restricted by traffic diverters. That sort of project would arguably
have been cheaper as well, restricted to a smaller street footprint with no need for traffic separation along the route.
City Council, made compromises in the plan to minimize negative impacts to the neighborhood parking and vehicle
movement, while still creating a bicycling facility to attract riders that might be too timid to ride otherwise. This project
does not close any streets, reduce the number of lanes available for driving, or change the maximum speed limit on any
of the streets involved. The goal of the bicycling focused portion of the project is to allow more people to confidently
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make the choice to use a bicycle for transportation on this corridor, specifically, it is about enabling parents to allow
their children to ride bicycles to school.
This project has been 15 years in the making, reviewed extensively by the public, and approved by four different make-
ups of City Council. Let’s keep the momentum and build the project now!
Thank you for your consideration,
PM
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