Wednesday, September 25, 2019

9/25/19 City Council meeting open thread

Tonight’s hot topic: Blakespear vs. the cyclists!

Please use the comments to record your observations.

23 comments:

  1. OMG, the ADA coordinator ain't so coordinated. Blaming the resident for asking on "short notice" given over 24 hours ago, the city apparently can't locate a signer. Hard if not impossible to believe.

    Promised diligence "in future" won't help tonight, will it. SOP alive and well in Encinitas. Blakespear good with it, of course.

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  2. Kranz touts in lieu fees. Working hard for the developer as usual. Dude never stops, sad.

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  3. ha! 2 minutes, no time donations sez Dictator Blakespear. announced AT the meeting with no time for speakers to adjust their remarks. TYPICAL.

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  4. "mode shift to make the roadway more attractive to cyclists." the "mode shift" screws the majority who drive cars and the road will be not attractive to drivers.

    keep it up blakespear, keep it up.

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  5. Considering the % of drivers to cyclists sharing our roads, it appears a very small minority holds the upper hand in influencing our towns priorities.

    Sadly, this is all too typical for our city. The majority loses most of the time around here.

    Drivers represent 99% of the usage on our roads. The remaining 1% has the most influence. What a democracy! Not!

    I must admit I am enjoying the split in both camps of cyclists priorities. The spandex crowds wants everything their way and they do not want to share the road with the casual users.

    Now ain't that a shame.

    Most of them do not live here and that should be made clear every damn time they get up to speak. Where they live should be stated. Our locals always tell where they live. Why all of these out of towners' can get away with not stating where they live should be mandatory before they are allowed to speak.



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  6. Ha! Great decision. Get them bollards and planters in tomorrow. More speed tables at 45 mph! Go for it. What else can the council do to make life miserable for the majority users of the highway.

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  7. My guess at road usage of 1% between cyclists and 99% drivers was wrong. Our mayor just stated that % as 0.5! A half percent who are demanding their way or the highway. haha. Not funny at all.

    There appears to be some elitist mindsets among these spandex riders who for the most part among those attending tonight do not live here.

    Our council is supposed to be about representing their constituents, not all of these out of towners' who want to race through our town withoutn dealig with the casual users.

    All too typical. Me, me, me, me.

    Who knows which side will win out tonight. That should be decides in a few minutes, but I suspect there will be more to come later.

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  8. Bad Road Designs Kill People.

    Last night the City Council listened to incompetent staff's recommendations and approved a bad road design.

    People will get hurt because of your actions last night and the Citizens will pay more millions in lawsuits. Your actions were the opposite of Vision Zero http://www.circulatesd.org/tags/vision_zero .

    Statistics will show the results of your bad decision and you own this one. The coming injuries are because of your decision. Blood on the hands of all those supporting this bad call.

    More sharrows on a high speed road? What a great idea (NOT). Lets ask Stephanie and our friend Roberta about how well that works out.

    https://www.thecoastnews.com/deputies-investigate-hit-and-run-that-left-woman-fighting-for-her-life/

    https://fox5sandiego.com/2018/12/09/cardiff-by-the-sea-community-leader-struck-by-truck-while-cycling/


    Change is needed at City Hall.

    “That is a really sickening irony we’re having to face today,” said Kellie Shay Hinze, Executive Director of Leucadia 101 Main Street Association. “She’s the second person that sustained a life altering injury in the last year, so we had two near fatal collisions on this stretch of highway in just over a year.”

    Hinze said that part of Walker's work for Cardiff 101 was promoting a more walkable neighborhood. Cardiff 101 Main Street is an organization that promotes "a safe and healthy environment" and "a walkable community that provides goods and services for local residents and visitors alike" in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, according to the organization's website. A biographical page on the groups' website describes Walker as a passionate cyclist. She's known as a supporter of the proposed Leucadia Streetscape project, which would add roundabouts, bike lanes and sidewalks to a stretch of North Coast Highway 101, including the area where she was struck.

    “This is an out dated piece of infrastructure,” said Hinze, “It was built to be a freeway in the 1920s.”

    Hinze said $6.5 million has been set aside for the Streetscape project. After Walker's tragic accident, activists are urging the Encinitas City Council to act quickly to implement the changes.

    “We knew this was going to happen!" Hinze said. "She has been to so many public meetings these last three years, just asking for 'Streetscape' to happen and happen in a timely way to keep more death and injury from happening right here on our own local streets.”

    You Know all of this and you approve something that will create more hazardous conditions?

    Can you say liability and lawsuit payouts?

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  9. Sadly, they will replay last night’s council meeting in court someday before asking why they ignored the people who know the most about bike safety.

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  10. From attorney Marco Gonzalez on Encinitas Votes on the change in the bicycle lanes:
    Marco Gonzalez - I’m going to use the buffered lanes to ride with my family to restaurants in Solana Beach, to the fairgrounds for events, and to Seaside Reef. I no longer train regularly on the road, as I don’t have the time now that my kids are older (those rides were often 4-6 hour affairs).

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  11. VERY odd the way blakespear so strongly resisted the sharrows requested by more than half the room and some of the other council members.

    Did she do this because if the city put them in it would hurt Roberta Walker's case? Walker cites sharrows as a contributor to her accident. How would it look if the city installed them elsewhere in the city?

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    1. eliminating the class II will result in many cyclists choosing to take the outside vehicular travel lane, which they have the right to do per law. because the class IV pathways will be packed with beachgoers and pedestrians.

      Bicyciists sharing a lane with 50+ mph is not good design.

      All the commentors want a better designed road that would improve the conditions for pedestrians and bicyclists. Many of those infavor of the project explained that they just wanted a "safe" way to get to the beach and SB in that area.

      Those opposed to the proposed projects also want needed improvements, however, they presented serious concerns and flaws in the proposed design that will likely result in people getting hurt or killed.

      The majority of comments received by the city spoke to this point, but the Mayor and her pawns already made up their minds and majority of knowledgable comments

      The City will be liable for the change, the elimination of the class II bikelanes and the resulting injuries. I foresee more lawsuits like Roberta and the others about to drop.

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  12. 10:20 AM
    Sharrows are all over the city. On the Planning Commission for Oct. 3, this Thursday, is an agenda item that will put bicycle paths as connection through all subdivisions and commercial property with changes in the general plan and the municipal code.

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    1. ok still seemed super weird. sharrows are all over the city, yes. they're not taking them out. but putting in new she resisted too hard without explanation.

      you seem to be in the know - are sharrows proposed for new bicycle paths you reference as citywide connectors?

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    2. Yoohoo 10:27, you sound like an insider. Care to respond??

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  13. Is there obsession and controversy about bike lanes in Solana Beach?

    Solana has southbound sharrows on 101 nearly through the whole city, a narrow northbound bike lane. and a DG or concrete Coastal Rail Trail.

    I never hear a huge hullaballoo about biking in Solana Beach. Is that because a few Encinitas residents and a lot of outsiders have a weird obsession with biking here?

    Do they think they'll save the planet by getting a handful of riders out of cars?

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  14. Gonzalez over on facebook thinks soooo many people will "happily" turn to bicycles. what reality do he and his crew live in?

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    1. No reality. They're in their totally artificial, self-righteous bubble. They're delusional. They want to blame everybody but themselves.

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    2. "Meet me in St. Louis" Gonzalez - and bring the pay-off.

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  15. I think our City Council and City Hall staff screwed us.

    Eliminating the class II will result in many cyclists choosing to take the outside vehicular travel lane, which they have the right to do per law. because the class IV pathways will be packed with beachgoers and pedestrians.

    Bicyciists sharing a lane with 50+ mph is not good design.

    All the commenters want a better designed road that will improve the conditions for pedestrians and bicyclists. Many of those in-favor of the project explained that they just wanted a "safe" way to get to the beach and SB in that area.

    Those opposed to the proposed projects also want needed improvements for a safe pathway to the beach and SB, however, they presented serious concerns and flaws in the proposed design that will likely result in people getting hurt or killed.

    The majority of comments received by the city spoke to this point, but the Mayor and her pawns already made up their minds and majority of knowledgable comments

    The City will be liable for the change, the elimination of the class II bikelanes and the resulting injuries. I foresee more lawsuits like Roberta and the others about to drop.

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  16. The council makes its decisions before the issues or cases are heard at City Hall. They sit patiently and pretend to be listening and considering what's said before they decide. However, if you watch and listen closely, you can detect that they've already decided. They toss in a few innocuous questions to make their consideration seem legitimate. It's all a show.

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  17. The spandex riders wanted a lane all for their own selfish selves. Sharing a lane with casual cyclists and other modes of pedestrian travels is not in their interests for riding at top speed unencumbered by others who just as much have rights to ride or walk or stroll safely along the 101.

    That many, if not most, were not from Encinitas, matters. In the future it should be mandatory for every speaker to state where they live. Our Encinitas citizens always do. So should every out of town speaker.

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