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131 | Susan Sperry, Alameda resident, asked the Commission to reconsider the plan and carefully look at the issues of the street. She came before the Commission because she was devastated to see what happened to Shore Line Drive. She carefully gathered newspaper editorials about Shore Line Drive and she is a property owner on Shore Line Drive as well. She said in the past she was able to see the ocean from her window and now there is parking lot. Bruce Kibbe, Santa Clara Avenue resident, felt the plan is excellent and to go ahead with it because this plan is looking towards the future. He said every bicycle equals one less car and one less parking space that needs to be provided by merchants. Commissioner Miley said it was great to see so many young kids out tonight to speak and attend the meeting and he said they were brave to bike to school. Commissioner Bellows replied it was great to see the Alameda Unified School District (AUSD) produce such articulate children. Matt Winn, Central Avenue resident, said one of his kids attends Franklin Elementary School and he does not see the school on the study. He went on to say that there is a whole subset of parents who live on the north side and have kids who attend Franklin Elementary School. He stated that there are four traffic lanes and when crossing the intersection you have to wait 30 seconds or so until one of the lanes notice and stop. However, by that time motorists start getting impatient because there are three other lanes that need to stop and you must wait for all four lanes to stop in order to go. He explained that he uses Central Avenue to get across the City as a motorist and he would gladly give up a lane to see this plan go through, so he recommended the plan. Scott Mace, Central Avenue resident between Webster Street and 8th Street, said he bicycles a lot throughout the island. He felt bikes belong on the street because they are traffic too and motorists need to respect that and most motorists do. He explained that some of the proposed bike lanes are too narrow on Santa Clara Avenue because there is a 7 foot parking lane and a 6 foot bike lane and this gives cyclists a foot or more to avoid the door zone. He pointed out that on Central Avenue staff proposed a 7 foot parking lane and a 5 foot bike lane and that is a legal engineering minimum. However, the bike lane is a door zone bike lane. He requested that staff either widen the bike lane or revert to sharrows. He noted that some statistics are lacking in this presentation such as staff say conflicts occur at intersections, but separated facilities do not make it safer. He stated that they do not know what the cyclists were doing when they were injured. He felt road diets are good for pedestrians, but signage must state that cyclists are not mandatory, and then perhaps sharrows could be painted next to the separated bike lanes. He wanted to see new resources devoted to pedestrian, cyclist and driver education. Ultimately, he was not in favor of the plan as currently proposed because of door zone issue. Gerald Bryan, Alameda resident, stated that the concerns are at the intersection of 6th Street and Central Avenue because it is a choke point across the entire island. He said if you have an accident at the intersection, you will stop traffic going in each direction and that was proven last week at the busiest time of the day. He felt if you cut off that line 6th Street does not go around the corner except for Palace Court and that does not go anywhere. He said realistically staff should look at the area a little differently such as reviewing the crosswalks on the corner and the lack of proper driving and poor riding on the part of cyclists. He recommended erecting Page 6 of 17 |