HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-17-2015 Public Comment AyralSubject: FW: Ferrini Road COUNCIL MEETING: 2 -1-I -1 S tZECEIVED
[l'EM NO.:
FEB 0 9 2015
From: odileayral gmail.com [odileayral @gmail.com] on behalf of Odile Ayral [oayral @calpoly.edu] LO C `FY Ciao M. —,
Sent: Sunday, February 08, 2015 2:50 PM
To: Grigsby, Daryl; Johnson, Derek; Mandeville, Peggy; Hudson, Jake
Cc: Marx, Jan; Christianson, Carlyn; Ashbaugh, John; Rivoire, Dan; Carpenter, Dan; Lichtig, Katie
Subject: Ferrini Road
I have become aware of a number of possible projects in relation to Ferrini Rd., and I would like to share some
(hopefully) useful comments.
1) Median on Highland preventing left turn onto Ferrini and North Chorro.
This median was built for two reasons, the first one being the prevention of a left turn onto Ferrini at a
dangerous intersection where there is no visibility. If you open a path for cyclists who want to turn left through
the median, you put their lives at risk because the visibility remains poor. Moreover, the large number of cars
entering Highland at this point would endanger the cyclists even further because they would have to cross
through the path of many cars.
A much better solution is the one I along with other cyclists have used for years when we ride on the campus
Highland: We use the old bike path built by Cal Poly along the pedestrian sidewalk. This allows us to cross
Santa Rosa where there is a crosswalk (there is no crosswalk on the other side) and then turn left with no
problem. It may not be a standard solution, but it is certainly the safest. Indeed, I rarely see any cyclist using
the right side of Highland when they go west, simply because it is NOT safe.
2) Foothill / Ferrini crosswalk / lights
The second reason the median was built was to prevent shortcutting because Ferrini already has a much higher
volume of traffic than a residential neighborhood should have. We now suffer only from south to north
shortcutting, and this has reduced some to the stress, despite the large volume of cars brought by the new
Pacheco. If you build regular traffic lights at the Foothill / Ferrini intersection, most of the cars coming from
Los Osos Valley Rd will turn left at that point instead of going to Santa Rosa, and our traffic will again become
a nightmare.
We DO need something to cross Foothill safely because it is very dangerous right now (I know, I cross it all the
time), but we need something for pedestrians and bicycles, not cars. Perhaps a crosswalk with a flashing light
(similar to what you built downtown) would be the solution. And it would be a lot cheaper than regular traffic
lights.
3) Sidewalk along the Ferrini / North Chorro merging
Just a gentle irritated reminder that this stretch still does not have any sidewalk along the city property, and that
this area becomes dangerous for pedestrians when it rains because they can't cut through muddy "Couch
Park." If you build your humongous city sign there without providing a sidewalk for the numerous pedestrians
who walk there, you are not thinking ahead. How can you build a bike lane without a sidewalk? Pedestrians
will have to walk in it because it's better to be run over by a bike than a car. Since you are going to do work
there, please don't do it half way, do it right, and BUILD THE SIDEWALK.
Thanks,
Odile Ayral