HomeMy WebLinkAbout2/4/2025 Item 7a, Schmidt
Richard Schmidt <
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:agenda item 7a -- road diet
Attachments:Council south higuera road diet feb 25.pdf
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Dear Council, please see attached letter in pdf format.
1
Re: South Higuera road diet Feb 2, 2025
Dear Council,
The proposed road diet portion of the South Higuera plan shows what happens when public
health, safety and welfare are given second shrift to following the orthodox theology preached
at the Church of the Holy Bicycle – and frankly, given how recent events have demonstrated the
death hazards of single lane urban emergency escape routes, it appears absolutely Trumpian
this plan is presented in this form at this moment.
In the event of a wind-driven ember fire such as has become the new norm in the West, South
Higuera would be the main evacuation opportunity for much of the city. More on that in a
moment.
Putting the street on a road diet isn’t necessary for bicycle safety. There are obvious options,
including a shared-use off-street bike route similar to what’s been done along Madonna and
along California Boulevard. There’s no need to take away traffic lanes other than because CHB
theology preaches that’s a good thing. Well, in this case it’s not a good thing.
Narrowed escape routes are chaos agents and killers in a fire emergency. We've seen this play
out repeatedly: Paradise, Palisades, Eaton -- too little escape route availability and people
burning to death as a result. In any emergency situation, there will be screwups and mishaps as
people struggle to escape. Cars will break down. Traffic jams will happen. Narrowed roads will
shut down We saw years ago at Paradise how a single lane escape route failed and people died.
In Palisades, the image of abandoned vehicles blocking the only escape route (Sunset
Boulevard!!!) and having to be bulldozed away were telling. S Higuera is the only escape route
for much of downtown and points south. This road diet would be a very dangerous thing.
I’ve lived in SLO for 50 years, and have seen several wind-driven fires stopped at the east edge
of town. But those winds weren’t anything like what is becoming the norm in today’s fire
weather. And in one fire, the stoppage happened only because the wind shifted at the last
minute.
Places that have never before experienced this sort of fire weather have burned due to ember
storms – in Oregon, Colorado, Santa Rosa and all over southern California. We know the hazard,
and the incredible speed with which an ember fire can spread through an urban area – not in
any way a wild fire anymore, but a building-to-building fire, with buildings igniting miles ahead
of the wild fire because of wind-carried embers.
We have been lucky so far. But past luck is no future guarantee.
Think for a moment where our fire winds are likely to come from – the east, out of the Santa
Lucia mountains. So, when massive evacuation is necessary, where will people go? Since Orcutt
Road would likely be in the fire zone, not there. Broad/Edna would also be compromised
headed south out of town. Forget 101 north – that’s right into the fire. So where do all the
people downtown, in old town, Johnson Avenue area, in the sprawl along south Broad go?
South Higuera is their nearest escape route.
In the recent Eaton and Palisades fires, gridlock on single lane escape routes proved fatal. Stuff
happened, and as a result people died. The LA Times did a frightening digital story on people
trying to escape from the Palisades. They couldn’t get out and many had to abandon vehicles
and run towards the ocean.
Sunset Boulevard is a major artery, like South Higuera. To escape, evacuees had to drive
towards the ocean. The LAT story tells how this worked for one evacuee and his family:
The rapidity with which things changed was terrifying. A short time later, Swartz was told to
abandon his car. In the middle of the street. In other words, things had become so desperate
there was no longer any possibility of making the escape route function. It became a parking
lot.
They walked, with flames all around them. But what if they were disabled, and couldn’t walk
that distance?
About that time this exchange takes between fire fighters on the spot and an unbelieving
headquarters:
The fire fighters then ordered a bulldozer to come push vehicles aside so fire trucks could get
through.
This dear council is South Higuera on a road diet in an emergency evacuation.
It’s a really, really bad idea. Please, in the interests of the safety of your constituents and the
city’s workers and visitors, scotch it.
Richard Schmidt