HomeMy WebLinkAbout6/18/2024 Item PC, Nelson
From:Gene Nelson, Ph.D. <
To:E-mail Council Website; Fukushima, Adam
Cc:Kathy Smith; John Mudge; Judy Hornaday; julessievert@gmail.com; June Smith; Gene
Nelson; Mary Pollock; Virginia deLaval ; Carolyn Blackman; Cricket Anders; 'Sharon
Whitney'; Cynthia Pretzel; Beverly Gilbert; Duane Livingston; Mark Buchman; Nadia
Pinkerton; Tom Nichols; Cathy Veley
Subject:A waste of taxpayer dollars - The proposal; to block two lanes of South Higuera in
front of Chumash Village
Attachments:No South Higuera Road Diet - 06 18 24.pdf
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All: The more I research this proposal, the more waste I discover.
Here are the comments I delivered during the public comment period before the SLO City Council on Tuesday, June 18.
No new taxes. Our taxes are already too high. What do you think?
Gene Nelson, Ph.D. Chumash Village Owner (805) 363 - 4697 cell
P.S. I object to the ?ght control (likely by plan proponents) of the Community Mee?ng at the Chumash Village Clubhouse
star?ng at 5:30 PM on Wednesday, June 19. Ci?zens should be able to directly address the city representa?ves right a?er
their presenta?on instead of having their concerns filtered and read by the organizers during the allo?ed 20 minutes.
1
[For 06 18 24 Council Meeting.] San Luis Obispo doesn't need "Road Diets."
Instead, we need a diet from wasteful and harmful taxpayer expenditures.
My name is Dr. Gene Nelson. I live in SLO. I and many others oppose the city's
plan to wastefully reduce the capacity of the arterial road South Higuera Street
by blocking two of four lanes at a geographic choke point. This plan is
particularly harmful because most of the region's population growth will be to
the south of the city. SLOCOG's 2023 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP)
projects a regional population increase of 42,000 by 2045. That growth is almost
equal to the city of SLO's population. If this harmful project is implemented in
its current form, picture the gridlocked inbound rush hour traffic on South
Higuera, likely stretching back to LOVR, until the road blocks are removed
after taxpayer protests.
Yesterday's Wall Street Journal published an article, 'A Voter Revolt Grows in
California'. Quoting from the article, "A new PPIC survey shows that 71% of
likely voters say they pay more in taxes than they should. That’s by far the
largest share in the 21 years that the question has been asked. A record 56%
also said they’d prefer to pay lower taxes and have fewer services."
SLO County voters rejected Measure J in 2016. This measure would have
increased regressive sales taxes to fund transportation system improvements.
Perhaps coincidentally, since 2016, various city projects have been implemented
to clutter up our city roads and cause congestion. Before a lane was taken away
from Marsh and Higuera streets downtown, rush hour traffic congestion was
barely noticeable. Now, rush hour is a nightmare with businesses continuing to
depart downtown, leaving vacant storefronts.
Our tax dollars have been wastefully expended to create unnecessary
congestion on our local roads. Maybe our leaders think this congestion will
yield support for a new Measure J to increase our taxes by a billion dollars in
response to this congestion. That seems to be the hope of the 2023 RTP's
authors. The South Higuera "Road Diet" is the most expensive ATP in Tier 1
of Appendix B - almost $10 million. The ATP Tier 1 total is about $0.2 billion.
I suggest hiking and yard work as much safer alternatives to getting "doored"
like 4 year old Maia did last fall in Oakland, killing her - per the article I sent
you. Lethal "right hooks" to bicyclists are likely at Monterey and California.
Extravagant spending is proposed on a Higuera Street-Madonna Road traffic
circle that would apparently require a new Region 5 CalTrans headquarters.
How about a bicycle tunnel under Madonna Road near the Madonna Inn?
Stop the waste of taxpayer funds. No "Road Diet" for South Higuera street.