HomeMy WebLinkAbout2/6/2024 Item 6a, Justesen
Erik Justesen <
To:E-mail Council Website
Cc:Erik Justesen
Subject:Fund South Broad Street
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Dear city council members,
I live on Lawrence Drive and have joined a group of our neighbors who are growing tired of the unsafe conditions on
the segment of Broad Street between South and Orcutt Road. Specifically, we are concerned about:
1. Traffic volumes and speeds.
a. Traffic needs to be calmed on Broad Street. It func?ons as a highway, not a city street, making it nearly
impossible to make le? turns safely in and out of this neighborhood. There are no controlled intersec?ons
for vehicles between South/Santa Barbara (Fire Sta?on) to Orcu?, where car and truck traffic average over
42 miles per hour. Controlled intersec?ons would slow traffic and allow le? turns and street crossings to be
made safely at key loca?ons.
2. Bike and Pedestrian unfriendly
a. While the city has done a fabulous job enhancing ac?ve transporta?on projects in other parts of our
city, this segment of Broad Street remains a bike and pedestrian desert. Walking or biking along or
a?emp?ng to cross this street is to risk your life. We have many residents on either side of Broad that
want to walk or ride to the other side. If you live on the South Street Hills side, you want to get to Taste,
the Coop, My Fried Mike’s pizza, Sinsheimer Park, Sinsheimer elementary school, the Railroad bike path,
etc. and if you live on the north side of the street you want to get to the South Street Hills open space,
Stoneridge park, Hawthorne elementary, visit friends and family, etc. Broad Street is the great divide
and is preven?ng this flourishing neighborhood from, well, flourishing!
3. Unsafe crossings.
a. Broad street in this segment creates an uncrossable division between neighborhoods. It is impossible to
cross Broad on foot, on bike, or in a car due to the large volumes and speed of traffic. The Broad street
corridor Plan adopted in 2014 is working! Many new apartments, stores and restaurants have opened
on the north side of Broad (Victoria street), des?na?ons that are great for the neighborhood but
completely inaccessible for the over 500 homes and +1,200 residents that live in the Lawerence/Mitchell
drive area.
All these issues ?e directly to the City’s Major Goals.
Climate Ac?on, Open Space & Sustainable Transporta?on: reducing dependency on vehicles and improving our bike and
pedestrian systems. Make it convenient, enjoyable, and safe to walk and ride a bike!
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI): This area is one of the more affordable neighborhoods in SLO, making this segment
of Broad Street safer for those who can’t afford a vehicle is an important step towards making transporta?on systems
equitable to all our residents. Make it fair to all!
We residents are not engineers, nor do we understand all the various laws that apply to traffic calming and
improvements. We do know that the 2014 plan needs to be updated so City staff can find the best possible solu?ons.
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At your City Council mee?ng on February 6, we ask you to allocate funding from the mid-cycle budget to update the
Broad Street Corridor Plan so these cri?cal issues can be addressed. Let’s not wait for yet more ci?zens to be killed
along this unsafe corridor.
Thank you.
Erik Justesen
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