HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-17-2018 - Anholm - Mills1
Tonikian, Victoria
From:Rice, Jennifer
Sent:Wednesday, May 16, 2018 11:55 AM
To:Tonikian, Victoria
Subject:FW: Anholm Bikeway workshop
Hello Victoria,
Please distribute the below correspondence for Agenda Item 2 on the ATC meeting. Thanks,
Jennifer Rice
Transportation Planner/Engineer
Public Works
Transportation Operations
919 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-3218
E jrice@slocity.org
T 805.781.7058
slocity.org
From: melanie mills <
Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2018 10:57 AM
To: Hudson, Jake <jhudson@slocity.org>; Johnson, Derek <djohnson@slocity.org>; Fukushima, Adam
<AFukushima@slocity.org>; Schwartz, Luke <LSchwartz@slocity.org>; Rice, Jennifer <jrice@slocity.org>; Grigsby, Daryl
<dgrigsby@slocity.org>
Cc: Tdisanto7@gmail.com; Lea Brooks <leabrooks332@gmail.com>
Subject: Anholm Bikeway workshop
Dear Staff,
Thank you for providing the opportunity for residents of SLO to meet and discuss the Anholm Bikeway project at last
week’s workshop. I participated in a group that was comprised mostly of Anholm neighborhood residents. Besides
myself, there was one other participant at our table, Tom di Santo, who does not live within the limits of the project.
Tom lives at Nipomo and Leff and is a daily bike commuter on this route to his employment at Cal Poly. I live in the
Sinsheimer neighborhood and have been a regular user of the route (by car and bike) as my kids attended Pacheco
Elementary.
I am writing because the reporting provided from our table did not accurately represent all of the opinions or
discussions that took place during the workshop. I have copied Tom, as we had similar observations that we discussed
afterward that are summarized below. On a positive note, although the members at our table did not all share the same
opinions, discourse was respectful and most individuals listened to thoughts expressed by others.
Unfortunately, the individual who reported back for our table skewed her comments in support of her own views. The
following are examples of her mischaracterization of the group’s discussions:
She stated that everyone at our table was against diverters. Tom and I both expressed openness for diverters to
make the neighborhood less desirable as a cross town vehicular arterial, reduce volumes, and protect side
streets from becoming cut through routes. When we noted during her presentation that we were not against
Received: 05-16-2018
Meeting Date: 05-17-2018
Item Number: 2
2
diverters she reworded her statement to say that two people in the group who don’t live in the neighborhood
thought diverters were “okay‐ish.”
She did not mention support expressed by Tom and myself for a separated lane for cyclists that would make the
route more comfortable and safe for less experienced and vulnerable users, like young kids.
She described a preference for developing the railroad safety trail extension so that cyclists could ride over
there, instead of going through the neighborhood. This was an idea she proposed during our discussions that
was not accepted by the group as a viable alternative to the Anholm route, yet it was presented as
such. We even drew her a map to show how far out of the way the railroad tracks would be to a cyclist trying to
move through the Anholm Neighborhood from downtown to the Foothill Corridor.
Lastly, she failed to mention that we discussed the idea of a one‐way couplet and that in addition to Tom and
myself there were other Anholm residents in our group who were open to this option. No one at the table
expressed opposition to looking at the one way couplet idea. It seemed to be a possible compromise, but was
not mentioned at all.
I am compelled to share this information with staff because the workshop felt imbalanced. The majority of participants
were residents from the project limits who seemed focused on their individual position or situation. Because of this
vocal majority, the summary of reported outcomes appeared to favor improvements limited to traffic calming and
neglected to include the kinds of improvements that will make people on bicycles safer and more comfortable and
achieve mode shift.
I recognize the complexity of this project and greatly appreciate the effort and continued commitment of City Staff to
work toward a solution that respects neighborhood while supporting goals for mode shift.
Sincerely,
Melanie Mills