Beckett McVoy was pedaling down Marsh Street in the designated bike lane as vehicle traffic rushed past him on the left. He had ridden down this stretch countless times before, but today was different.
As he approached an intersection, a car began turning right as he continued straight. Before he could react, the car clipped his bike. The impact knocked him off balance, leaving him shaken but unhurt.
“I didn’t fall, luckily,” McVoy said.
It was not the first time the political science junior and Cal Poly Cycling president had experienced a close call, and it likely will not be the last.
The City of San Luis Obsipo’s goal is to eliminate traffic-related injuries and fatalities through the Vision Zero Action Plan, city Active Transportation Manager Adam Fukushima said. His role focuses on improving infrastructure for non-motorized travel, such as biking and walking.
“Traffic fatalities and injuries are unacceptable, and these aren’t just accidents.”
Adam Fukushima, city Active Transportation Manager
A big factor is excessive speeding, he added, which can be countered with measures like narrowing roadways to decrease vehicles’ speeds.
“It makes it easier for people to stop if they see a risk and be able to react in time,” Fukushima said.
The Public Works Department’s three Complete Streets projects are part of the Vision Zero Action Plan. The projects will implement features including protected bike lanes and improved pedestrian crossing and paving.
The Higuera Complete Streets project is designed to make the heavily trafficked corridor safer for cyclists and pedestrians. The city is working on the final design after conducting two years of public outreach and plans to begin construction in the fall, Fukushima said.
The city is also looking to add more protected bike lanes on Foothill Boulevard.
“We’ve heard concerns from the community about the difficulty of the Santa Rosa-Foothill intersection,” Fukushima said.
The intersection is part of Highway 1, a state route over which the city does not have jurisdiction. Fukushima said the city is trying to work with Caltrans on solutions.
For longtime residents like Bike SLO County Executive Director Rick Ellison, the transformation of San Luis Obispo’s bike network has been noticeable.
“The city has done a masterful job of taking a nearly 100-year-old infrastructure and making it safe for bicycles,” Ellison said. “It’s night and day from 20 years ago.”
Since 2015, San Luis Obispo has been given gold status as a bicycle-friendly community from the League of American Bicyclists, a national nonprofit that advocates for bicyclists. The organization determines the status of American cities based on categories including engineering, education and accessibility. Of California’s 50 bicycle-friendly cities ranked by the League, only seven have gold status.
Still, the work is not finished. Cyclists continue to report dangerous intersections, visibility issues, and conflicts with vehicles. McVoy, who has been hit by a car twice while riding in San Luis Obispo — once on a skateboard and once on a bike — said he believes the city is on the right track.
“If they keep expanding the network, a lot of the current issues will be resolved. Right now there’s growing pains,” McVoy said.
For everyday riders like Thomas Welheim, who rides his bike for work, the improvements are noticeable but not perfect.
Wilhelm works for Bread Bike, a local bakery that delivers freshly baked goods throughout San Luis Obispo exclusively by bicycle. His job requires him to navigate the city’s streets weekly, carrying bread, pastries and other baked goods to customers. While the growing bike infrastructure helps make his deliveries safer, he still encounters challenges with traffic visibility and drivers not anticipating cyclists on the road.
“Having the bike lanes around town really helps me along my delivery routes,” Welheim said. “It makes me feel safer, yet I still worry about cars being able to see me enough.”
As more bike infrastructure projects move forward, riders like McVoy and Welheim will be the first to feel their impact — for better or worse. Until then, cyclists remain cautiously optimistic as they navigate the city’s streets, hoping the next close call won’t be their last.
