HomeMy WebLinkAbout4/18/2017 Item 2, Rawson
Gardner, Erica
From: Mark Rawson \[
To: E-mail Council Website <emailcouncil@slocity.org>
Cc: Harmon, Heidi <hharmon@slocity.org>; Christianson, Carlyn <cchristianson@slocity.org>; Gomez, Aaron
<agomez@slocity.org>; Pease, Andy <apease@slocity.org>; Rivoire, Dan <DRivoire@slocity.org>
Subject: Please support Bike Projects
Dear Mayor Harmon and City Council Members Christianson, Gomez, Pease and Rivoire,
You may have seen me riding around town on my bike…
I am part of the 20 percent dedicated to helping the city meet its 20 percent trips-by-bike
goal.
In the last budget cycle, the City Council funded feasibility studies for three projects: 1)
Safe Routes to School for Pacheco and Bishop’s Peak Elementary Schools, 2) a
bicycle/pedestrian crossing on Foothill Boulevard at Ferrini Road and 3) the
Broad Street Bicycle Boulevard. Please follow through and allocate funding for
improvements recommended in the studies and 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.
Please delay the Penny Lane bridge over the Union Pacific RR tracks project and
allocate the funding to the Safe Routes to Schools, Foothill/Ferrini crossing and Broad
Street Bicycle Boulevard projects. This project is a permanent fix and the funds are better
spent on shovel ready projects.
Thank you for securing the grant for the Railroad Safety Trail segment from Taft Street
to Pepper Street, including the bridge over the railroad tracks behind California Highway
Patrol headquarters. Please Support staff’s recommendation for a feasibility study
for the next segment from Pepper Street to the Amtrak station and Complete the
Railroad Safety Trail to provide a complete network for people on bikes and
pedestrians between Cal Poly and downtown and eventually Orcutt Road.
Please Support staff’s recommendation to place a higher priority on the Bob
Jones Trail segment between Oceanaire and Calle Joaquin over the segment from
LOVR to the Octagon Barn because of limited funds, But please insist that the next
budget cycle must fund the segment from Los Osos Valley Road to the Octagon
Barn in anticipation of the opening of the Octagon Barn for public use, pending approval
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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.
Please fund a feasibility study of a Highway 101 at Marsh Street Crossing 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 choose 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.
Please Support continuation of $100,000 annually for miscellaneous bike
projects and $60,000 annually for maintenance of bike/pedestrian facilities.
Thank-you so much. We in the bike community look forward to continuing improvements in our community to
make bike travel safer and more accessible for all.
Mark Rawson, AIA
Copelands' Properties
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