San Luis Obispo’s zany bike lanes

December 23, 2023

OPINION by T. KEITH GURNEE

Here’s another reason why the city of San Luis Obispo should be tearing out the utterly unnecessary protected bike lanes it has been installing along Broad, Chorro, and Ramona streets constituting the Anholm Bikeway.

· Never mind the elimination of nearly 100 much-needed on-street parking spaces serving the neighborhood.

· Never mind the dangerous two-way bike lane along Chorro Street (see the attached photo) requiring residents to back out of 16 driveways to cross those lanes and get to very narrow travel lanes.

· Never mind the bicycle and multiple car accidents that have already been caused by these installations.

· Never mind the black scuff marks from car tires that have hit and streaked the concrete curbs.

· Never mind the elimination of a “do not pass” solid double center line in favor of a dotted yellow line to encourage passing and speeding along Broad and Chorro streets.

· Never mind the original cost estimate of $1.1 million for these improvements, only to have the city overrule the city’s special commission’s recommendation against the project in awarding a bid of over $6 million to complete the project.

· Never mind the change orders that will likely move the expense into the $7 million range.

· Never mind the overwhelming opposition of neighborhood residents to what the city has chosen to call “improvements”.

· Never mind this act of publicly sponsored vandalism at the hands of a narrow special interest group to diminish the livability of a once great residential neighborhood.

In the early 1970s, the city of San Luis Obispo sponsored the first bikeway master plan that was prepared by avid cyclist John Williamson. That plan recommended against on-street bike lanes, let alone “protected” ones. Instead, it recommended that bikes and cars should share the road, the condition that existed along Broad and Chorro streets without any accidents for decades.

But perhaps the most interesting aspect of that plan was the strong recommendation for regularly sweeping the streets to keep them safe for cyclists. The attached photo was taken this morning looking down Chorro Street from Mission Street towards downtown San Luis Obispo.

The four-block long stretch of Chorro Street between Mission and Lincoln streets is clogged with a thick carpet of leaf drop. What cyclists would want to steer through this slop?

Conventional city street sweepers are too wide to clear this debris, likely forcing the city to acquire custom equipment to clear the bikeways far more often than the traditional street sweeping schedule of once per month. Just one more reason why this city should never have pursued this project.

When the city started considering whether or not to construct the Anholm Bikeway, Councilmember Andy Pease stated at a council meeting that “if it doesn’t work, we can remove it.”

Well Andy, that’s not exactly a fiscally responsible position, but if the shoe fits wear it.It’s time to remove these hazardous conditions and bring back the safety, livability, and ambience our once great neighborhood enjoyed.

Otherwise, these ugly “improvements” will become little more than very expensive monuments to failure.

 


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I drive these streets pretty often. I don’t see the problem. The driving experience is virtually the same for me. Plus, when I park I don’t have to worry about clothes lining a bicyclist when I open my door.


Seems like the protected lanes would encourage the younger folk to bike around town instead of drive. According to Data USA, the average median age of a SLO city resident is 26 years old, some ten years younger than California’s median age. It makes perfect sense for me that the city would cater to that population, and it skews young—and many of those residents ride bicycles to get around town.


Welp, there’s a college here. THAT might contribute to the Median age. The cyclists that I know are NOT the 20 somethings. They are the 50, 60, 70 people with the $6,000 bicycles that belong to a bike group like the one out of Paso Robles. (I’m using the Paso club because I’m familiar with the group and NONE are young.)


Protected lanes with confusing, distracting, arbitrary functions are frustrating. Occasionally a concrete form will be there. No instructions, just like in the picture Keith posted. What the hell is that? Does someone’s brother in law or nephew own a concrete business?


A few years ago there was a HUGE billboard by the SLO drive-in. It had a picture of a Cyclist with his right arm pointing straight out indicating a right turn. In my almost 70 years on this planet, there has NEVER been a hand signal where the right arm is pointed straight to the right. On drivers tests, School tests etc, there are 3 positions. Stop is down, left is straight out to the left and a right turn is a left arm at a 90 Deg.indicating a right turn. How that was photographed, approved and printed and never caught. I finally called into the Dave Congelton show and was astounded that with ALL of the cyclist demands, input, interest etc. that no one even knew there was something wrong with the image promoting cycling. I was actually tipped off by an old friend that drove through and called me. He’d heard of the SLO no smoking story and was laughing at how “different we are up here. We even invent our own language”. I asked him what he was referring to? He told me to look at it the billboard.


I know, lots of words but WHO makes these decisions?


When they paved Templeton, I had asked someone at the county why they didn’t put angled parking spaces so the businesses could have more parking? On the block in front of Hewitts Hardware and McPhees they could have had 9 more cars park there at a time. I got a reply about concerns about cars backing out into traffic and, there would need to be a left turn lane at Jacks restaurant. If you go to MANY other places in the county there are angled parking spaces. BUT, Backing out in THAT is a concern.


Are these what many of us mention as ridiculous ideas brought to an actual presentation, or is it the monthly supervisors meeting “next on the agenda is, and the public all strangers, have 3 minutes to figure out what we’ve been doing on the 3rd floor at $180K per year? Is it because as a community not enough of us voice our opinions? Or is it because what we voice is only an opinion? HOW do we look at plans for the future of the community that we will live in? What is in the QUEUE today that will affect our very lives in the nxt 5-15 years?


Yep, Rambling on here but honetly. Can someone explain that that concrete structure in the picture is actually used for?


Thank you.


Mr. Gurnee back at it again! This time the ENTIRE article is about bike lanes. However, no mention of his time on the city council back in the early 70s. I felt like he kinda wanted to at the end though. I hope he can hit both points in a couple months when he pens another diatribe.


“AG_fella” doesn’t live in SLO. Keith has been here most of his life. I’ll gladly read any opinion he has to share about a town he loves.


If you’ve ever been North or south of Slo you’ll notice the traffic. MANY people that come to SLO or go to SLO are IN SLO. whether you live 10 min. away, or 40, SLO is still somewhere people go and just because you don’t physically live in a geographical area, doesn’t mean you don’t use it’s entire infrastructure.


Getting under your skin? Yep AG and I’ll never stop as long as I’m alive.


The entire article is about bike lanes because bike lanes are the latest manifestation of our dogmatic, tone-deaf, fiscally-irresponsible San Luis Obispo City Council. I see bikes in these lanes maybe 1 percent of the time when I’m driving the streets, while I see cars on the roads 100 percent of the time. Instead of improving road conditions, intersections, and parking, the Council chooses to pander to a small minority of residents in order to virtue-signal and receive accolades at conferences of like-minded (and small-minded) bureaucrats.


So, every 100 times you drive down Marsh, 99 of those times you never see a person on a bicycle? Please. I see one every time.


You actually thought any Government Dept. is capable of building something the people actually want and within budget? Never happen


I feel so badly for the residents who live in this neighborhood who vehemently objected to this project but were ignored. It’s so hypocritical of this city when they claim to be climate conscious leaders by approving all these special interest projects while encouraging more tourism with folks flying into the area on commercial and private jets and driving their cars to get here. Do you ever hear them say they want to limit jet traffic here to help reduce carbon emissions? No. Instead, they encourage more tourism which brings in more tax dollars so they can squander over $6 million on a project such as this that destroys a neighborhood’s quality of life. When this project was approved, over the objections of most of the neighborhood residents, they were told, without any proof whatsoever, that they expected it would result in a modal shift from cars to bikes from 3% to a whopping 20%. Does anyone really believe that’s going to happen? I wonder if it will be like the city’s claim that if we built more housing, not only would the prices come down but less people would commute from North and South Counties since many would move to SLO. Well, I don’t believe neither of those two things have happened. In fact, traffic has gotten worse now that there are more people moving here from other cities. We need new council member leadership who will put residents first–not just promote an ideology that results in making it more difficult or unpleasant for residents to live here.


Gee Keith no reason to get excited, these city leaders know what’s best for your neighborhood who cares about what used to work.


Any of you here back in the 70s and 80s when you were planning for the well planned growth of SLO with proper planning for infrastructure and transportation? Oh wait “zero growth!!” For how many decades? Thanks elitist long time residents…


Yes, and many of us have been here for much, much longer. That GOOD government city planning is how we judge today’s poor choices.


Also, it wasn’t “zero growth”, it was growth that could be added to the infrastructure capability. As the infrastructure naturally improved, growth was allowed to accommodate. City growth was also inhibited by the surrounding geography, allowing only that which did not interfere with views or access.


The SLO government catered to everyone. Not special interests. Not tourism. Not bicycle riders. Funny thing too, is we didn’t need any parking structures or heavy parking fees, since nobody complained about parking. Many more stores used to be downtown than currently, that catered to nearly any shopping need.


And…just as many bikes rode through town then, as do now.


Well said and spot-on.


we let billionaires swamp the county…back in the 70s China wasn’t open internetionally, Hong Kong was rules By England, South Africa was segregated, Blacks couldn’t play in the NFL, Leaded Gasoline, and Leaded paint, PFAS contamination, Pesticides, superfund sights, Oh can’t forget Leaded water Pipes. segregation in America. The good ol days Am I right? Thank lord these rhetorical arguments only have a short time left until these blowhard wrongs are seen and fixed Due to Terrible Engineers in the 70s.


I truly had no idea that the San Luis Obispo City Council opened China, kicked the British out of Hong Kong, desegregated South Africa, brought black players into the NFL, removed the lead from gas and paint ….. holy cow, is there anything they haven’t done? Give them more money, they are unbelievable!


Keith, An excellent overview of the truly deplorable expenditure of public funds to benefit a minority of residents. But, since the city has elected to so expensively promote bicyclists, and to strongly encourage the reduction of gas-power vehicles in SLO City, how about the City purchase high-quality manual pedal-powered (What??? Physical exercise???) or electric cycles (with back seats / storage for shopping bags), for anyone and everyone in the city who wants one. Hey now — why not really be progressive and install a metro train rail line around SLO to promote keeping everyone out of their vehicles? Just look to Europe and Japan for fantastic ideas for radically improved local mass transit to reduce the use of automobiles. And finally, how about removing all automotive traffic from the 4-block downtown section of Higuera to make it a pedestrian-only mall, with outdoor fountains, benches, restaurants and vendor carts. SLO City seems to think it is being progressive — Hogwash — Far from it — I have seen very little logical and critical thinking by the City over the past 40 years. Small minds, small thinking.


“Otherwise, these ugly “improvements” will become little more than very expensive monuments to failure.” Well said, Keith. They ARE “monuments to failure.” They are, most definitely, “monuments to failure. As well as monuments to stupidity and elitist arrogance. This SLO City Council is apparently completely oblivious to the concept of public service, as well as the concept of public servants. They are seemingly taunting the public with their irresponsible, expensive and wasteful expenditure of taxpayer funds and their complete disregard for public safety. Shameful. Utterly and completely shameful. The compounded problem, apparently, is their total lack of shame.


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