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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/4/2025 Item 6b, Vujovich-LaBarre Mila Vujovich-LaBarre <milavu@hotmail.com> Sent:Tuesday, November 4, To:E-mail Council Website Subject:6.b PRADO INTERCHANGE AND BRIDGE VALUE ENGINEERING November 4, 2025 Mayor Stewart and City Council Members City Hall 990 Palm Street San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 Re: 6.b PRADO INTERCHANGE AND BRIDGE VALUE ENGINEERING Dear Mayor Stewart and City Council Members, This letter is to comment on the Prado Road interchange and overpass set to be heard at the City Council meeting on November 4, 2025. My sentiments about the Prado Road overpass and extension have not changed over the years as there has never been a comprehensive Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the entirety of this road from Madonna to Broad Street. If we, as a City, are going forward with the construction of a Prado Road Interchange and the Prado Road, it is critical that a comprehensive Environmental Impact Report (EIR) of Prado Road be done from Broad Street to Madonna Road. Currently, the construction of Prado Road is being “piecemealed” or “segmented,” which, in my research, is not legal and is in violation of CEQA guidelines. Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong. Prado Road as an East-West connector has been on the San Luis Obispo City Plan since 1960. There has never been a comprehensive Environmental Impact Report(EIR) of Prado Road analyzing the cumulative impacts, the cost, and the feasibility of it. Our City staff will say that Prado Road has been adequately “studied” over the years. On Page 20 of this document, it states that the project under construction has met the approval of the Council in regard to CEQA. That is just for this small portion of the interchange. Prado Road was included in the LUCE document in 2015 as a “four-lane truck highway” with bike lanes and a pedestrian path. The road was to be from Madonna Road to Broad Street. Back then, and now, I continue to maintain that “Prado Road” with its proposed magnitude does not fit. These comments are due to my past research and communication about this endeavor with City staff and Caltrans for over two decades. If one takes a tape measure and physically goes along the proposed course of Prado Road, one can see what my concerns are. The basic math is as follows: Four lanes for cars and trucks: 4 lanes x 12 feet 48 feet 1 Turn lane: 12 feet 12 feet Bike paths: 2 lanes x 6 feet 12 feet Sidewalks: 2 sidewalks x 6 feet 12 feet Total: 84 feet What I see in the report for you tonight is that there are two options in the PROPOSED CA Refined Design - In Figure AA - Figure 8 Seg 1, there is a two-lane overpass with a turn lane, bike lanes, and a pedestrian path. In Figure BB - Figure 9 Seg 2, there is a four-lane option with a turn lane. As much as everyone wanted it to be a four-lane truck highway in the LUCE discussion, it looks like a two-lane highway and a turn lane is the only viable option. Before, I maintained concerns about the southbound on-ramp to Highway 101 at Madonna Road merging with a southbound exit at Prado Road. Vehicles would be colliding in this stretch of highway. It now looks like all of the discussions about an exit for Prado at 101 are talking about a NORTHBOUND exit only. Is that true? If so, I feel vindicated as a Southbound exit could not exist without causing havoc. While it looks like the North-South impacts and the East-West impacts are being addressed together by Caltrans and the City of San Luis Obispo, it just seems that an in-depth, comprehensive Environmental Impact Report (EIR) involving all of the stakeholders, including the residents of the developments, has not been conducted yet. That remains a huge concern. Since the LUCE process in 2015, many of the residential units have been built, without the approved traffic infrastructure to support them. Fees were paid by developers so that they could develop their properties before the traffic infrastructure was created. This leads to another question: where are those fees now, and how much is in the account for Prado Road? Again, “Prado Road” is in the General Plan as a “four-lane truck highway” however, when portions of Prado Road have been built by developers, they have been allowed to build roads that are more narrow, as in the Serra Meadows new home development on the East side of Highway 101 and the other section of “Prado Road,” on the west side of Highway 101 now known as “Dalidio Drive.” In addition, the part that is near and dear to my heart is the land that was purchased for the Damon Garcia Sports Fields. I have the documents to remind everyone that 24 acres were purchased for $2 million dollars for "recreation" - not a road. There has never been an EIR conducted for putting a road at that location. Ever. The land was purchased for "recreation". The Army Corps of Engineers supported the construction of the Damon-Garcia Sports Fields for "recreation" - not the construction of the road - at that location due to that very fact. City residents legally deserve the remaining seven acres adjacent to the sports fields to be used for recreation. There are multiple possible uses for that land, including a bike lane, a play yard, or even possibly a pickleball court. Also, identified Native American artifacts are adjacent to that land. Additionally, as most long-term residents know, the proposed intersection of a future Prado Road at Broad Street has long been a concern of mine. Having a four-lane truck highway adjacent to the Damon-Garcia 2 Sports Fields to the North will create environmental hazards for sports enthusiasts and add a stoplight at Prado Road along Broad Street. At least in these latest documents, it NOW shows that Prado Road will intersect with Industrial Way and will not be on the land that should be designated as land for recreation. The late Mayor Dave Romero and I, as well as other concerned citizens, including Eugene Jud and the late Jamie Lopes, long advocated for the fact that the “extension of Prado Road” should go south to Santa Fe Road at a widened Tank Farm Road to protect the integrity of the Damon-Garcia Sports Fields and to benefit traffic circulation. Originally, during City planning discussions for the last 20 years, City employees and developers stated that the developers of Serra Meadows, Avila Ranch, Righetti Ranch, and San Luis Ranch homes would be contributing a substantial portion of the needed funds. The most recent reports make it appear that the cost for this interchange and overpass will be passed on to the residents of San Luis Obispo. At the last hearing on this matter in February 2025, Council Member Boswell was the only member who seemed to understand the importance of analyzing the entire route of Prado Road as it is proposed. I hope that you can all please carefully consider any additional approval of this project and demand that a comprehensive Environmental Impact Report of Prado Road from Madonna Road to Broad Street. This piecemeal approach will be catastrophic to residents. Thank you for your consideration. Cordially, Mila Vujovich-La Barre 650 Skyline Drive San Luis Obispo, California 93405 milavu@hotmail.com 805-441-5818 3