People Power!
226 Jeter Street · Santa Cruz, CA 95060 · (408) 425-8851 (voice/fax)
Mission St. has traffic problems, and the City wants to do something about it.
But... There's something you need to know!!!
* This project will not significantly reduce congestion on Mission St. and may worsen it!
1) On the section from Swift to Almar, the real problem is the Almar/Younglove/Mission intersection. This intersection is not addressed in the project.
2) Although it seems that by adding a lane you reduce congestion, this is done at the cost of the center turn lane. That means that most left turns will cause traffic to be blocked behind the turner. This also congests the adjacent lane because stopped cars try to merge to the right.
3) Caltrans's own project manager admits that this section would be better served by a "one-lane in each direction with a center turn lane" than by "two lanes in each direction." In other sections, like from Almar to Bay, nobody really knows which is better because no left-turn counts have been done. That means this project could actually slow things down.
4) Traditionally, widening projects on highly congested roads don't improve the congestion. The reason is that people avoid congested roads by skipping trips, using alternative transportation, or using alternate roads. Even if this project were to increase capacity (which it may not) that new capacity will be relatively small and thus immediately taken up.
5) Because this project so dramatically worsens the situation for pedestrians and bicyclists, many of these current users are likely to switch to using their cars, worsening congestion.
* This project will not enhance our neighborhood
1) Mission St. is the northern entrance "welcoming" people to Santa Cruz. Currently the street is blighted and this project removes a high percentage of the trees, maintains ugly above-ground utilities, shrinks sidewalks, and adds more pavement.
2) By making the street more of an expressway, Bayview Elementary and Mission Junior High suffer from noise and dangerous traffic. Wouldn't if be nice if the street were safe enough to let kids walk or bike to school?
3) By not accommodating pedestrians and bicyclists we risk people's lives -- children and adults. It is also important for the environment (and congestion) that we encourage people to use alternatives.
4) This project would keep Mission St. under construction for at least 2 years. Many businesses fear that they won't survive that long after seeing the effects of construction on River St. business. If businesses go under, we end up with more blight on Mission St. and more people having to drive further away for services that used to be available locally.
5) The planned soundwall at Mission Junior High will be extremely ugly and encroaches on the Junior High's playing field.
* Some City Councilmembers say that Mission St. is a highway, so the neighborhood's opinion doesn't matter.
1) Public Works statistics show that about 3/4ths of the traffic is local neighborhood traffic, not thru-town highway users.
2) It is our neighborhood and community. We live here, so our needs should be considered, just as we would consider the needs of people in other communities important.
3) In state-transportation projects, the City Council is our community's voice. They should be fighting for our needs and not those of people who are just driving through our town.
* We need to do something on Mission — what can we do?
Instead of widening Mission St., we should improve it. If Mission St. were one lane in each direction for the whole length with a center turn lane, and Younglove were one-way, away from Mission St., there would be many benefits.:
1) We could return most of the $10 million project cost to the state. (It probably can't be used for other local projects). Construction would take a couple months instead of a couple years.
2) Mission St. would remain congested, but there would be enough space to add wide sidewalks, bike lanes, and there would be space to underground the utility poles. The heritage trees could be left standing and new trees and landscaping planted.
3) Mission St. could thus be made safer. It is currently the most dangerous street per mile in Santa Cruz, with an unbelievably high average of about 40 accidents per year!
4) By fixing the Almar/Younglove intersection, maintaining a center turn lane, and promoting alternatives, congestion would probably be reduced at least as much as the Caltrans-suggested project.
5) These enhancements would make Mission St. a destination rather than an expressway and that would help local businesses and the westside community.
* What can you do? Write letters to: City Council; 809 Center St.; Santa Cruz, CA 95060. Support People Power, Mission Pedestrian and the Mission St. Business Association in our attempts to make this good community project!