HomeMy WebLinkAbout6/16/2026 Item 7d, Muñoz-Christian
Karen S. Muñoz-Christian <
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:June 16 City Council meeting: Item 7d
Dear Mayor Stewart and City Council members:
My name is Karen Muñoz-Christian. I wish to comment on Item 7d of the June 16 City Council meeting
agenda.
I live on Corrida Drive, in the neighborhood just south of the King Court/South Street intersection. In addition
to my position as a professor of Spanish at Cal Poly, on several occasions I have served as a volunteer who
engaged with Spanish speakers at Hawthorne Elementary School about Safe Routes To School (SRTS). I am
writing to urge you to center equity and safety for everyone as you consider the driver concerns at King Court.
As a parent wrote during SRTS outreach that I led in Spanish with Hawthorne families for the ATP grant that
partially funded this project, “Por favor la seguridad de los niños en camino a la escuela debe ser una
prioridad.” Translated into English, this means: “Please, the safety of children on the way to school should be a
priority.” I agree with this statement, and I believe that it is crucial to conduct a thorough traffic study with
intentional inclusion of our most vulnerable families when deciding how to address the drivers’ concerns.
Some of these families live in the mobile home park or the People's Self-Help Housing apartments on South
Street. Many students from these neighborhoods walk/bike alone to school due to lack of access to a vehicle.
Any reduction in active transportation safety creates a disproportionate burden for them. In addition, the
soon-to-open large affordable housing development on Bridge St will add 94 families to this area. Many of
these residents will likely also walk/bike from Bridge St to Meadow Park (and on to Hawthorne), often as their
sole means of transportation. Please prioritize the safety of these members of our community as you
consider changing the Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon (PHB) crossing of South St. to a signal without a thorough
traffic study.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Karen Muñoz-Christian, Ph.D.
Professor of Spanish
Pronouns she/her/hers
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