HomeMy WebLinkAbout5/19/2026 Item 6b, Hoppe
Scott Hoppe <
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:May 19 City Council Meeting Public Comment: Item 6.b 2026 Vision Zero Action Plan
Council Members,
I am writing to offer my strong support for adopting the 2026 Vision Zero Action Plan. Its core
commitment that no loss of life is acceptable on our streets reflects exactly the values this community
holds.
I appreciate the city's ongoing efforts to protect pedestrians. The Active Transportation Plan and annual
paving projects have successfully brought high visibility crosswalks and ADA curb cuts to areas near our
schools. This is great progress.
However, the Vision Zero Plan rightly prioritizes the High Injury Network (HIN) for major funding, and my
concern is that children are missing from this HIN data.
Most school zones, like C.L. Smith Elementary, are not in the HIN. But a lack of fatal crash data does not
equal safety. As a family, we bike our kids to school daily. I ride about 4,000 miles a year on my electric
cargo bike with my children throughout town, and I ride another 12,000 to 15,000 miles a year for
recreation (road, dirt, etc). I am highly experienced and significantly more comfortable on the road
than the average person, yet I still consider the area in front of the school unsafe when cars are
present.
Over the past year, I have formally reported three near misses with aggressive drivers, and I have
experienced many more. I am working with other parents to report these daily hazards through the Ask
SLO app, and we are organizing a walk audit on Balboa Street later this month because the infrastructure
simply feels unsafe.
Because school zones fall outside the HIN, they risk being deprioritized for the very improvements that
would protect our most vulnerable road users. I urge the Council to explicitly direct that Safe Routes to
School corridors be a top criterion when sequencing Vision Zero and Active Transportation Plan
investments.
Let's build protected bike lanes and lower speeds where our kids travel before those streets become part
of the High Injury Network. Let's not wait for the data to get worse before we act.
Thank you,
Dr. Scott Hoppe, CPA, accountant, professor, community member and concerned parent
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