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130 | Kathy Neilson, Central Avenue resident and parent to an Encinal High School student, said she was surprised by the low collision incidents reported at the corner of Encinal Avenue and St. Charles Street because she felt there are more collisions that took place than was actually reported. She was happy to hear about the inclusion of curb extensions and crosswalks because they will be effective. She felt that the loss of one parking spot in front of her home makes up for increasing community safety. She was also happy to see the Sycamore trees would stay and beautify the street. She wondered if the plan includes redirecting activity to go from Santa Clara to Central Avenue. She also wondered if the school district considered changing the school hours. She thought potentially staggering school start hours would reduce the traffic. Colin Wainmain, Academy of Alameda student, said he rides his bike to school 3.5 miles each way. He said he likes to ride in the bike lanes because they do not honk at him and the bike lanes allow him to focus on riding safely and follow the laws. He explained that after school, he often rides down to Webster Street to get a snack and then rides over to soccer practice at Alameda Point. He said he would ride along Shore Line Drive after soccer practice, but his coach would not let him ride in the dark because it is too dangerous. Jim Strehlow, Alameda resident, stated that plans have changed from initial presentation from workshop to workshop to tonight. He said what was shown tonight was new material not previously shown to the public so #1, 2, 3 and 4 became 1, 2a, 2b and 3 from sections A-K. He felt there should be more meetings on the project now that there are new revisions and the community should review and have the opportunity to present questions and receive answers. He asked staff how many citizens along sections A-F have stated that they want a cycle track in front of their house or business, especially since it will be more difficult for them to enter and exit their home or business. He also said, the parking widths on sections F, G, H, I, and K are 7 feet wide, not 8 feet wide and he wondered if staff would move the disabled off the street. He noted that Section J, slide 48 on the presentation packet is something the community has not seen before and public input was not received. He believed that was a bait and switch. He asked the Commission about Commissioner Schatmeier's ideas and why they were not included in the plan other than 8th Street. He said he bikes along 19th Avenue near Stern Grove in San Francisco and San Francisco would never suggest taking away one traffic lane because that would make it difficult for vehicles and emergency access vehicles to maneuver. Overall, he said some portions of the plan he agreed with, but he did not approve this vastly changed project. Todd Waimain, Central Avenue resident on the east end, said he and his children bicycle to the west side of the island. He felt the City needs to have a safe way to get across the island and his children have told him about unsafe drivers and how they are following the rules of the road. He went on to say that he lives on a portion of Central Avenue that contains sharrows and the drivers do not understand exactly what they are. He asked that staff construct dedicated bike lanes because most drivers understand what that is and it is safer for cyclists. He explained that he would cycle more frequently to the west end to Alameda Point for soccer games and Spirits Alley if there were safer options to do SO. He noted that when coming out of Crab Cove cyclists are spit out on a sidewalk and there is signage saying "Do not bike on the sidewalk." He also pointed out that the plan has no loss of parking, so he does not understand why this plan cannot be approved as it stands because the presentation was quite thorough. Page 5 of 17 |