Westside Neighbors Debate Bike Boulevard
Written by Tara Leonard
SANTA CRUZ, CA (Dec. 4, 2008) – Discussions are under way about how to make King Street, on the Westside of Santa Cruz, safer for bicycles but not everyone is on board with current proposals. Those with ideas and concerns are invited to a public meeting on Wednesday, December 10.
Spurred by several fatal bike accidents on Mission Street, the City Transportation Commission, an advisory body to the Public Works Department, authorized a study on ways to make King Street a more inviting alternative bike route. Two of the options in the report are currently being promoted by People Power, a local advocacy group for “human powered transportation.” One option entails removing parking on one side of King to allow room for bike lanes. The second would divert cars off of King at several-block intervals, redirecting them onto Mission Street, and thus eliminating through-traffic. King would remain open to local traffic, bikes, pedestrians, and emergency vehicles.
“It’s a great coalition of neighbors and bicyclists working on the project,” says Micah Posner of People Power, which has been holding neighborhood meetings, along with the Coalition for Neighborhood Preservation, to drum up support. “Our goals are really congruent. We can create a safer place for people to ride and draw riders away from Mission. We can also make King Street a nicer place to be. We need to keep communicating and talking with folks and building consensus around what we want as both neighbors and cyclists.”
“I’m concerned about global warming and more efficient ways to travel,” adds King Street resident Debbie Bulger. “I’m hoping that it will be comfortable and safe enough that more people will be getting out of their cars.”
But not everyone is happy with how quickly the gears seem to be spinning. They question the practicality of any plan that would divert cars off a major traffic artery just as increased UCSC enrollment, expanding Safeway and New Leaf markets, and a new 20-acre live/work development under construction at Delaware and Swift will inevitably add thousands of cars to an already crowded Mission Street.
“It’s not realistic to expect me to load my two kids into a Burley and get to school, work, gymnastics and football practice on bikes,” says Ladera Drive resident Vicki Powers. “I’m worried that a small population of squeaky wheels is going to change something for all of the residents. Bike lanes are one thing, but diverters? We shouldn’t reroute entire neighborhoods because of bicyclists. The average tax payer doesn’t want to have to follow a labyrinth every time we leave our houses."
Walnut Avenue resident Terace Perkins agrees saying, "My three children and I bike and drive on King Street almost every day. It's fine as it is. Diverters will create horrible traffic throughout the Westside. And let's face it -- it's simply not feasible for most of us to use bikes as our primary form of transporation.”
Posner is undeterred by such resistance, assserting, "People Power is totally motivated around this. One of the two proposals is going to happen.”
Not so fast, cautions City of Santa Cruz Transportation Manager Jim Burr. “All options are still on the table,” he says, not just the two currently favored by biking enthusiasts. “The next step in the public process is a meeting on December 10, hosted by the City of Santa Cruz, to disseminate information and gather a wide spectrum of public comment. At that point, it will go back to the City Transportation Commission and eventually to the City Council.”
The December 10 meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at Mission Hill Middle School. For more information, contact Bicycle/Pedestrain Coordinator Cheryl Schmitt at 420-5187. You can read a draft copy of the King Street Bikeway Concept Plan on the City Of Santa Cruz website, http://www.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us/pw/pdf/KingSt_DraftReport_08.pdf.
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