HomeMy WebLinkAbout4/18/2017 Item 2, Brooks (2)
Gardner, Erica
From: Lea Brooks \[
To: E-mail Council Website <emailcouncil@slocity.org>
Subject: Bike SLO County comments on 2017-19 budget
Dear Mayor Harmon and City Council Members Rivoire, Christianson, Gomez and Pease:
Bike SLO County appreciates your previous support for connecting and expanding the city’s bicycle
transportation network, and for making multi-modal transportation one of the City’s top priorities. We are proud
of the City’s Gold-level Bicycle Friendly designation by the League of American Bicyclists and dedicated to
helping you meet the 20 percent trips-by-bike goal.
We understand the City has limited resources, but respectfully encourage you to support the following projects
in the proposed 2017-19 budget to help complete the gaps in our bicycle transportation network. More people
will chose to ride bikes if they have safer and more convenient routes on which to pedal. Safe Routes to
Schools are our highest priority.
Bike SLO County’s recommendations:
-Safe Routes to Pacheco and Bishop’s Peak Elementary Schools, a bicycle/pedestrian crossing on Foothill
Boulevard at Ferrini Road and the Broad Street Bicycle Boulevard: In the last budget cycle, the City Council
funded feasibility studies for these projects. Please follow through and allocate funding for improvements
recommended in the studies. Finish what has been started to provide a more safe and convenient connection
for people living on the north side of the city to downtown. We ask that you delay staff’s recommendation to
fund a feasibility study for the Penny Lane bridge over the Union Pacific RR tracks and allocate the money to
complete the Safe Routes to Schools, Foothill/Ferrini crossing and Broad Street Bicycle Boulevard.
-Railroad Safety Trail: Thank you for securing the grant for the segment from Taft Street to Pepper Street,
including the bridge over the railroad tracks behind California Highway Patrol headquarters. We support staff’s
recommendation for a feasibility study for the next segment from Pepper Street to the Amtrak station.
Completing the Railroad Safety Trail to provide a consistent network for people on bikes and pedestrians
between Cal Poly and downtown and eventually Orcutt Road should continue to be a high priority for the City.
-Bob Jones Trail: In recognition of limited resources, we support staff’s recommendation to place a higher
priority in this budget cycle on the segment between Oceanaire and Calle Joaquin over the segment from Los
Osos Valley Road to the Octagon Barn. We ask that you place a high priority in the next budget cycle for the
Los Osos Valley Road to the Octagon Barn segment in anticipation of the opening of the Octagon Barn for
public use, pending approval of the Avila Ranch and San Luis Ranch developments and extension of the
county’s segment of the trail from the Octagon Barn to the Ontario Road staging area.
-Highway 101 at Marsh Street Crossing: Please fund a feasibility study to determine the best fix to the gap in
the bicycle transportation network between downtown San Luis Obispo and the Laguna Lake area. Without
this vital connection in the City’s bicycle transportation network, more people will chose to travel between
downtown and the Laguna Lake area by personal motor vehicle for safety reasons even though the distance is
easily covered by bicycle or on foot. The existing crossing to the Madonna bike path is so perilous that
experienced bicyclists avoid it, and Laguna Middle School students rarely consider it as a viable option for
safe travel to school. The proposed San Luis Ranch development is only responsible for its fair share of
transportation improvements, and fixing this gap is not included.
-Support continuation of $100,000 annually for miscellaneous bike projects and $60,000 annually for
maintenance of bike/pedestrian facilities. With guidance from your Bicycle Advisory Committee, the city has
funded an amazing number of small projects to improve safety and connectivity with the annual $100,000
allotment.
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Bike SLO County is supported by more than 4,800 individuals throughout the region who believe safer
complete roads for biking, walking and driving are essential to communitywide well-being. Replacing personal
motor vehicle trips with bicycling saves energy by reducing fuel consumption, and also reduces air pollution
and traffic congestion and improves public health.
Sincerely,
Lea Brooks
Bike SLO County
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