From:
To: Mary Gourley
Subject: Fw: Agenda item 4 Acceptance of Caltrans Grant Date: Monday, October 16, 2023 1:03:48 PM
Reading over the background and the details of the grant proposal it seems like the focus is on making downtown more walkable and bikeable and physically attractive. In particular the focus is on benefits to low-income individuals living near town.
The town is pretty small. I would guess everyone in town is affected by the traffic on 12 and 116.
The traffic lights seem to be acting randomly regardless of the time of day or amount of traffic backed up.
The decision to merge the High Schools led to a dramatic increase of traffic trying to get into the school area. There does not appear to be any thought given to the traffic problems this would create.
This proposal seems to stress making the city safer for pedestrians and bikes. This is based on data predating significant investments in bike lanes and flashing crosswalks in the past couple years.
It seems like the problems not being addressed are increased traffic, traffic noise (engines, horns, sirens - not bad roads) and pollution. Almost impossible for residents to drive through town during certain times of the day. Walking in town with so many cars stopped has to be causing health problems. For many rich or poor with health conditions it is probably just plain unsafe to be there.
This language may be what is needed to get the County to approve funding for another study.
There appears to be a little bit of wiggle room to address the question of how roads can be modified, and signs can be put up to encourage traffic to take alternate routes. Unfortunately, the study won't be complete until January 2026. Then a process would need to begin to plan and fund actual work to change the roads. Sadly, I don't expect to be here to see these problems solved.
Lee