Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition: Save sidewalk on 3rd St.

[[email protected]]

Hi folks,
Thanks to every one who has written to the City of Santa Rosa, your e-mails are working! We now need to put some heat on Caltrans. Again, please take a look at the close to home article from SCBC member Steve Frye re the removal of the south sidewalk on 3^rd street under the freeway overpass. Please forward this to all groups and friends and encourage them to write an email.
This is a bicycle issue too; removing the sidewalk will force pedestrians to walk in the bike lane. This is ridiculous. Please send letters to Caltrans Project Manager Rey Centeno at [email protected] and let him know that they must not remove this sidewalk. Times have changed and Santa Rosa residents care about the walkability and bikeability of our city and we will not let them ruin our vision! Also please cc the chair of the SCTA Bob Jehn [email protected] and our assemblymember Noreen Evans [email protected] for support.
Best,
Chris
Christine Culver
Executive Director
Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition
www.bikesonoma.org
ph: 707.545.0153
fax: 707.573.0147
Mail: PO Box 3088, Santa Rosa, CA 95404-3088
Office: 445 Orchard St. Suite 205, Santa Rosa
"Passion and persistence"

Steve writes:

Dear members;
RE: Elimination of sidewalk on the southerly side of 3rd st. under 101.
I have kind of reached the end of my rope regarding trying to prevent the removal of this sidewalk. In response to my Close to Home article (see attached) it seems steps have only been accelerated towards this end. Today the contractor is working furiously on putting in the new sidewalk on the north side of 3rd. When this is completed I am guessing they will pour the new curb on the south side with NO Sidewalk to complete the dirty deed.
I have tried to rationalize with the City at numerous fronts. With our traffic engineer I have gone over the numbers showing how we could slightly shift the roadway to enable the south sidewalk to be replaced. I have talked with my City Council person who has taken the matter up to the City Manager. I have consulted with the project manager from th consulting firm DCE who oversaw the Station Area Plan who agrees the takeaway of this sidewalk is a bad ideal and during the planning phase was not told about the removal as they developed this plan. I have brought up the issue at our Bike & Ped. board meetings numerous times. I have talked with Ken MacNabb who is overseeing the project for our Advance Planning department who also thinks it is a bad idea. I have talked with Mardell in the City ADA compliance dept who says she can do nothing because the problem lies in Caltrans jurisdiction. Various people in the City have told me it was a done deal decided years ago by a stakeholder group, (I think we all know how those go) and their hands are tied.
I can only think of a few more options...

• Try and get a court injunction to stop the work on the south side at least until the Station Area Plan goes before our Planning Commission for approval in late May where we could make a case for this pedestrian connection to remain. How to do this I have no clue. The problem with this option is the PC may not agree with the importance of the sidewalk, they will listen to Staff who doesn't see a problem.
• File an ADA grievance with Caltrans which I still have not been able to figure out who to contact and not sure this would stop the work.
• Regarding the removal of the sidewalk on the southerly side of Third St.

If you do not agree with this decision contact the City Manager Jeff Kolin @ 543-3010 [email protected] or Mayor Bob Blanchard Phone: (707) 543-3017 [email protected] . Tell them you want the City to insist that Caltrans figure out an economical cost-effective way to replace the southerly sidewalk. Furthermore, tell them to request Caltrans to suspend any further work on the south side of Third St. until we can get this issue resolved
MTC resolution 3434 sets the guidelines for any future funding for Station Area Plans centered around rail-transit station. Without meeting these guidelines, there would essentially be no future funding for projects to make the plan a reality. The funding relies specifically on well designed, efficient interconnections for people to walk and bike to the Station. As anyone could surmise, taking away a sidewalk on the only street connecting our City is strictly against these guidelines as follows and jeopardizes future funding;
From Resolution 3434
"The plans shall at a minimum include the following elements:
• Station access and circulation plans for motorized, non-motorized and transit access. The station area plan should clearly identify any barriers for pedestrian, bicycle and wheelchair access to the station from surrounding neighborhoods (e.g., freeways, railroad tracks, arterials with inadequate pedestrian crossings), and should propose strategies that will remove these barriers and maximize the number of residents and employees that can access the station by these means. The station area and transit village public spaces shall be made accessible to persons with disabilities. "
Obviously since the consulting firm DCE was not told and had no idea that the sidewalk was being removed, their Plan and the EIR does not consider this new barrier or mitigate for it.

Go to the March 29th Planning Commission meeting-
Offer your comments regarding total lack of mitigation measures regarding pedestrian and bicycling issues in Chapter 12 of the Station Area Plan EIR. Your comments will then have to be addressed in the final EIR and if the responses are not adequate we can urge the Planning Commission and City Council not to approve/certify the EIR until these circulation and barrier issues are adequately mitigated.
The Planning Commission meets at 4 in the City Council chambers.
Here is the link to the up-coming March 29, 2007 Planning Commission Agenda:
https://ci.santa-rosa.ca.us/default....949&NewsId=250
Thanks for your concerns
I am looking for anyone who has some suggestions and or can help. Although it's not like a freeway going through the middle of our town, it is significant as it really is the only street connecting downtown to the west side of town. I appeal to you all because I know walkability, accessibility and the pedestrian element are important issues to you. .
Sincerely,
Steve Frye

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