The city of San Luis Obispo aims to improve safety measures and accessibility by gathering input from the 20,000 drivers, cyclists and pedestrians who use Foothill Boulevard daily through the Foothill Complete Streets Project.
Students who use Foothill Boulevard daily are encouraged to contribute to the new street improvement initiative through an online survey, which will be open until March 17.
“So many Cal Poly students and staff live along Foothill and use the street to get to campus,” engineer and transportation planner Dana Ebe said. “It’s very important to hear from the Cal Poly community on what their experiences are on a day-to-day basis, and their concerns and their priorities as well.”
Since 2017, San Luis Obispo reports that three community members have been killed in traffic collisions along Foothill Boulevard. This initiative aims to make the road safer through community-driven responses to current conditions.
According to San Luis Obispo’s Vision Zero traffic safety initiative, there were 97 collisions on Foothill Boulevard from 2019 to 2023.
“This feedback is super important in helping us decide what improvements are needed most and will shape our early design ideas that we’ll be sharing later this year,” Ebe said.
The project spans from the railroad tracks near California Boulevard to the Bishop Peak trailhead, a through street connecting Cal Poly, K-12 schools, neighborhoods, parks and numerous services.
Currently, during the planning and public engagement phase, the project is focused on gaining community input to inform future decisions about street improvements. The next phases of the project include plan approval, design and environmental review and eventual construction.
“There always are inconveniences with construction, of course, that we do our best to minimize,” Ebe said. “The main goal of the Foothill Complete Streets Project will be to improve safety, accessibility and comfort for everyone who uses the street.”
The city will also offer a community workshop and pop-up events for people to share their mode of travel and improvements they hope to see according to Ebe.