From: patricia rehfield
To: City Council Public Comments
Subject: [EXTERNAL] exorbitant cost for cycle track construction Date: Monday, May 6, 2024 8:18:00 AM
Hello City Council Members:
I am absolutely appalled at the cost of construction of the one block cycle track cited in the article below. You’ve got to be kidding me! Over $100,000 for plastic bollards and striping on the one block stretch of Santa Rosa Avenue? This constitutes an extreme waste of public funds provided by taxpayers like myself. Don’t get me wrong….l am an avid bicyclist and tour the city streets regularly on my bike. I appreciate the concept of protected bikeways on city streets and am in favor of more of the same. However, at what cost?? Please help me to understand how the exorbitant cost of this limited project can be justified?
Next time you want this type of work done, please ask me. I’ll drill a few holes, plant the cheap bollards, and paint a few stripes for no more than $10,000…..a 10-fold savings for the city!!
Respectfully,
Patricia Rehfield
Posted on: April 17, 2024 | Last Modified on: May 1, 2024 Cycle Track Construction on Santa Rosa Avenue
NF_Cycle Track Construction
Construction is underway on Santa Rosa Avenue to install a cycle track, a two-way protected bicycle lane. The cycle track will be installed along a one block section, on the west side of Santa Rosa Avenue, from 1st Street to Sonoma Avenue. Along this same one block section, on the east side of Santa Rosa Avenue, a Class IIB buffered bike lane will be installed. The new protected cycle track and Class llB buffered bike lane will improve the bicycle network and create connections between Old Courthouse Square and the Prince Memorial Greenway (PMG) .
These bike lane connectivity improvements are an extension of the Santa Rosa Corridor Improvements project that is improving existing pedestrian, bike, transit, and vehicle facilities along Santa Rosa Avenue between Sonoma Avenue and Maple Avenue. The Complete Streets design approach removes a traffic lane in both direction that has a traffic calming effect and shortens the crossing distance for pedestrians.
Cycle tracks allow bicycle movement in both directions on one side of the road, reducing potential conflict points between cars and bikes. Cycle tracks also have a wider appeal than traditional bike lanes as their physical protection enhances cyclists comfort level, thereby attracting more riders.
Funding for the new cycle track is through a $76,887 grant from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District
(BAAQMD) Transportation for Clean Air (TFCA)
administered through Sonoma County Transportation
Authority (SCTA). The City allocated an additional $23,113 to the project.
From: Cass Stewart
To: City Council Public Comments
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Public Comment in Support of Ceasefire Date: Monday, May 6, 2024 4:44:23 PM
Dear Santa Rosa City Council,
I am a Santa Rosa resident living in District 5, and I am writing to you today to once again urge you to listen to your constituents who have shown up, nearly weekly for going on 7 months, to acknowledge the genocide occuring in Palestine and:
1. Call for a permanent and immediate ceasefire
2. Disclose the city of Santa Rosa's investments in the military occupation of Palestine
and, 3. Divest from Israel, including the companies listed on the BDS list (https://bdsmovement.net/Act-Now-Against-These-Companies-Profiting-From-Genocide ).
Locally, college students at Sonoma State University and Santa Rosa Junior College have decided enough is enough, and organized around their shared belief in a free Palestine and the right to an education without funding the violence of occupation, at risk to their own personal safety. Around the country, we have seen footage of student protestors attacked with tear gas, slammed to the ground by law enforcement and counter protesters, and facing the threat of expulsion. Even locally, they are called dangerous and terrorists. What is dangerous about calling for an end to the indiscriminate
killing of thousands? What is dangerous about wanting
an education that isn't funding a violent occupation? Passing a ceasefire resolution on the city level would not only show the citizens of Santa Rosa that the council will not stand idly by while atrocities occur overseas on our dime, but would also honor the efforts of the students whose support for a free Palestine outweighs the risk to their education and personal safety.
The invasion of Rafah is already underway, and even if the violence were to completely stop today, it would take months and millions of dollars to rebuild Gaza. The citizens of Santa Rosa, myself included, expect you to be part of the solution, not complacent bystanders.
Thank you.