Editor,
It should be said:
• No poorly placed, rarely used bike lanes. Taxpayer money over misplaced priorities, please! We look to the City Council to put residents first.
• Ten resident leaders from multiple neighborhoods brought concerns Sept. 8 to city staff over the proposed 19th/Delaware bike lane installations.
• The city’s current data stands on a one-day traffic count. Morning — 33 bikes/4,600 cars; Evening — 39 bikes/9,000 cars.
• There’s an underlying feeling: “If this project is uncertain to make things better, why are we taking state funding to do it?” And, “Is this another case of residents vs. ideological agendas not grounded in data?”
• It’s unclear that funding the city is eager to take requires maximized bike lanes overtaking two lanes of limited road space.
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The SMDJ reported Caltrain is “scrambling” for a state loan to keep them solvent. My comment? “People will get out of their cars, they said. It’s why we need to build transit-oriented development, they said. And remove parking/car lanes for bike lanes, they said. And streamline massive residential projects to make housing affordable, they said.” How’s this working out?
It should be said:
• This “forced change” has not gone well. The state hands out (our) money for their “forced change” agenda. But when things go sideways (Humboldt) it’s up to resident taxpayers to pay (again) to fix.
• The Delaware/19th Avenue bike lane proposition must be done to result in real improvements. If it is not shown as a slam dunk, it should not be attempted.
Lisa Taner
San Mateo
(4) comments
Who are the 10 resident leaders that the author references in this LTE and her public comment? What neighborhoods are they from? What neighborhood outreach did they engage in before meeting with staff as representatives of the neighborhoods?
Between the May 5 Sustainability and Infrastructure Commission meeting and September 15 City Council meeting there were 11 unique individuals who expressed concerns or opposition to this project, via written or live comment. There were 26 unique individuals who expressed support, all of whom mentioned being a San Mateo resident who lives near the project or a commuter who uses the project corridor to get to school or work.
Michael Regan, speaking on behalf of the Beresford Hillsdale Neighborhood Association, implored staff to "listen to citizens that live in the community, people who live there and have to drive every day." He also asked staff to "work with the group [of 10], they have excellent ideas, we have an excellent Public Works department, the two of them can come to an agreement that we can be proud of."
I partially agree with his first statement, that it's important for the city to listen to residents who live near the project corridor. But I disagree that the city should only consider input from residents that have to drive every day. It's important to listen to ALL residents.
And I'm troubled that the president of a neighborhood association in a different part of the town is encouraging staff to make changes to the project to come to an agreement with an anonymous group of 10 individuals. Governance should be transparent and serve the needs of all residents, especially when we're discussing how over $27M of funding will be spent.
"Put residents first" (as long as they own cars).
Well said Lisa Taner. Well said indeed.
Thanks for your letter, Ms. Taner. I posit that many of these bike lane projects are to reward union labor. These union workers get paid to construct bike lanes and then get paid again to remove them – as what occurred in Humboldt. As long as union workers are rewarded, they don’t care who foots the bill.
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