HomeMy WebLinkAbout2/6/2024 Item 6a, Washington
To:Ellie W.
Subject:RE: Mid-Year Budget Review: South Broad St Area Plan
From: Ellie W. <
Sent: Sunday, January 14, 2024 4:14 PM
To: E-mail Council Website <emailcouncil@slocity.org>
Subject: Mid-Year Budget Review: South Broad St Area Plan
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Dear Mayor Stewart, Vice Mayor Pease, Councilmembers Francis, Marx and Shoresman,
Thank you for your time. We understand there are some unallocated mid-year budget funds being discussed at the Feb
6 council meeting, and are writing to request your consideration for funding to be allocated toward the South Broad St.
Area Plan due to the unsafe driving and biking conditions that have gotten worse on the Broad Street corridor as the
South end of town has significantly grown over the last decade.
We purchased our home on Rockview Pl. near Perkins/Sweeney in 2015 and during escrow read the Broad Street Plan
with positive expectations that our neighborhood would soon be getting some safe updates. Before we bought our
house, we rented just a mile away. We were a one-car household and biked to our jobs and social activities. We
purposefully purchased this house on Rockview because of its close proximity and our ability to continue our biking
lifestyle. We never would've thought moving one mile away would affect our transportation lifestyle this much. But in
the 8 years since living here, we have stopped commuting to work via bike and have purchased a second car, because of
the dangerous conditions that exist on Broad Street, and the inaccessibility to get where we need to go safely. When we
do bike for leisure/social activities, we either go a roundabout way through Meadow Park in the wrong direction of our
destination or ride on the Broad St sidewalk going the wrong direction of traffic (which isn't safe either) until we can
cross at a light/pedestrian beacon.
Leaving our neighborhood by car doesn't feel much safer. Making a left hand turn from Stoneridge, Perkins or Sweeney
feels like you're playing Frogger with your life - jutting out to cross two lanes of busy and fast traffic to make it to the
center lane where other vehicles are often pulling in head first toward you to make their own turn. During peak trafficl
times, attempting to navigate that center "suicide" line feels straight up reckless. I can't tell you how many times we
have nearly come head first with another car pulling in. We also have lowered visibility of oncoming bikes/cars because
of the parked cars on our side of the street. The South end of town has grown significantly over the years with new
housing developments, several large employers located down here, new commercial businesses, and Broad Street is the
main thoroughfare to and from that growth. Traffic calming efforts and safer bike lanes on Broad Street would affect a
huge swath of our residents, not just our neighborhood, and would lead to more residents, like us, feeling confident and
safer to commute by bike.
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We understand there are so many worthy causes within our city limits in need of funding, and you have many residents
making requests. We are hoping that some funding can be allocated to the seemingly forgotten 2014 South Broad Street
Area Plan with an updated traffic study/Plan, which can hopefully lead to traffic calming measures and safer bike lanes
in our near future.
Thank you all for your time and consideration, council!
Ellie & Jermaine Washington
San Luis Obispo
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