05.05.20 Regular Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Meeting Minutes May 5, 2020 resolution calling on council to implement safety improvements on this stretch of road. The resolution passed in August, 2019 and was forwarded to council. In January, Margo and I met with Rohit Vij, the city's senior project engineer, to discuss the city's plans for improving safety for pedestrians and cyclists as part of the project. We are very pleased by the addition of a traffic signal at the intersection of Sessom and Academy as well as plans for expanded sidewalks. However, we think that the project must also involve changing the striping pattern of the roadway. In particular, we discussed the following changes with Mr. Vij: changing the striping pattern from the current pattern of four traffic lanes (two in each direction) to a three lane pattern—a center turn lane, two traffic lanes, and two bike lanes. (We've attached a striping plan proposal from MoveSM for your consideration.) We strongly support this change, and can only mention here that numerous studies have shown that such a "road diet" greatly increases safety for all road users by calming vehicular speeds without any significant impact on automobile traffic throughput. In informal discussion, Mr. Vij indicated that the city was already planning to implement this striping pattern. We noticed that the project description specifies the following in the "legislation details" section: "new pavement markings within the project limits to accommodate cyclists." However, we do not see an attached striping plan. We'd like to take this opportunity to invite city staff to clarify the respects in which the pavement would be marked to accommodate pedestrian and cyclist safety—and we'd furthermore strongly encourage council and city staff to implement the striping plan discussed above. Doing so would be an important step towards increasing safety for all road users on what is now a very dangerous stretch of road. Lisa Marie Coppoletta: Is Bert the City Manager or is he the Emperor of San Marcos. Bert thinks he is the Emperor because he engages in what I call "customer service harassment." His policy does not follow any policy. Or, to only follow policies when he desires. In the middle of a global pandemic Bert has his sidewalk people come visit our houses and place leaflets on our mail box with tape. Note the city is not mailing land owners like the Land Development Code requires for developers. The city does not want land owners to know their land is being devalued that is why they do not send official notice as required by those in the business community. Note the city manager has promised proper notification and neighborhood meetings. This promise is on Soundcloud in the public domain. Note that every yard on my side of the block has been butchered for a sidewalk no one uses. The policy voted on by the city council in 2013 is NO ONE SIDED City of San Marcos Page 2