Mcclintock Drive Resident Feedback Via Email and Phone Calls Excluding 311 April 2015 to March 17, 2016
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McClintock Drive Resident Feedback Via email and phone calls excluding 311 April 2015 to March 17, 2016 POSITIVE 1. 4/24/2015 Dear Tempe City Council Members, Please install bike lanes on McClintock between Broadway and Guadalupe. This will make crossing the US-60 between my apartment in Tempe and my parents' house in Chandler much safer. Thanks for considering this proposition and for making our city safe and beautiful! Sincerely, Julie Cameron 2. 4/24/2015 Members of the Council, I am writing you to express my strong support for the City's recently announced project to remove excess, no longer needed, vehicle lanes on McClintock from Broadway to Guadalupe, which will reduce speeding and crashes on the corridor while creating space to add bike lanes and improve transportation options. As someone who has lived here for about 8 years (2005-2015, with a 2 year exodus to Chicago from 2009-2011), I can testify to the fact that this improvement is sorely needed, and that traffic levels have dropped in the last decade to the point that this is a feasible opportunity that won’t have negative impacts on traffic. When I first moved here in 2005, I remember both driving and riding a bike from ASU to the Target store on Baseline and McClintock fairly often, before Tempe Marketplace opened. When driving, I would often get stuck in a lot of traffic on McClintock, and when riding my bike, I would often feel very unsafe. The road had too much traffic for me to feel comfortable or safe riding on the street, while the sidewalk felt unsafe because it is narrow, with many driveways interrupting it. Today, I still feel unsafe riding a bike on McClintock, for nearly the same reasons. The difference now is that there are noticeably fewer cars on the road, but people all drive faster because there’s less traffic. I notice this too while driving on McClintock now. When on our weekly errands, we will often take McClintock from Curry to Guadalupe (stopping at Tempe Marketplace, Sprouts, and Trader Joe’s, among other places). What was once long lines of congested traffic in 2005 is now lighter, less congested (and more speeding) traffic in 2015. While driving on McClintock, I am routinely passed by other drivers going 10+ miles faster than me. This drop in traffic, as noted in the City of Tempe news post, is not just in my head; the traffic volume numbers show it too. And when you have 20% fewer cars using the same amount of road space, it will result in a lot of unsafe speeding and crashes, which is the last thing we should want, especially right next to a high school. Removing the extra lane (or two) will not only “right-size” the number of vehicle lanes, reducing speeding and crashes, it will also provide bike riders with a new space they can feel comfortable using, which will likely increase the number of people riding bikes overall AND reduce the number of people riding bikes on the sidewalk (a MAG study in 2013 found that, on 6 lane roads with no bike lane, between 90% and 94% of bike riders used the sidewalks, while on 4 lane roads with bike lanes, the numbers dropped to between 56%-71%) , making the narrow sidewalks more comfortable for people walking and those who are waiting for a bus. The bike lanes will also offer people who are walking a physical layer of separation from traffic, which will make walking a more comfortable experience for students, neighbors, and shoppers alike. This all seems like a slam-dunk win for everybody. I’m sure that some people will come out to say that this project will cause gridlock, that traffic will back up and that people will speed through their neighborhood to avoid McClintock if this is built. But around the country, road diets have been proven to reduce speeding (particularly dangerous speeding, those driving 15+ MPH above the limit) and reduce crashes, without causing excessive traffic backups. And when Tempe was studying a similar project on Broadway, a temporary closure to simulate the new roadway conditions found minimal neighborhood cut-through traffic. Most drivers who had been just passing through shifted to the freeway network, which is a more appropriate place for that sort of traffic. I would see something similar happening on McClintock. Those drivers who imagine the traffic to be worse (and those who want to continue to drive at unsafe speeds) will shift over to SR-101 or Price Road, particularly since Dorsey is littered with speed humps (and doesn’t cross the freeway), and Los Feliz, Hazelton, Oak, Lakeshore, and Country Club Way are discontinuous and/or circitous (and don’t cross the freeway). Those local streets just will not be viable alternatives for most drivers passing through, so the cut-through traffic will not materialize. At the end of the day, this project is an important continuation in Tempe’s commitment to making sure that everyone who uses our roads has safe, comfortable opportunities to get where they are going, no matter what way they choose to travel. It will also serve as a key connector from neighborhood bike routes like Alameda and Southshore/El Paso Gasline to businesses along McClintock. Ideally, this project will also lead to future connections north and south, connecting these businesses to strong bike/light rail ridership and high levels of bike use on the Western Canal. I urge you to continue supporting this project, and others like it, that help to make Tempe a safer, more comfortable, more pleasant place to live and shop. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and for your continued, strong commitment to making Tempe a great place to live with many options for getting around in whichever way we residents want to. Regards, Alex Oreschak 3. 4/24/2015 I support all future bike lane projects. Thanks, Vanessa Cianci 4. 4/25/2015 Tempe City Council, I often bike around the McClintock area. I would strongly support the addition of bike lakes on McClintock. Thank you, Haley Honeman 5. 4/25/2015 Hello Tempe City Council Members:I just wanted to let you know I strongly support adding bike lanes on McClintock from Broadway to Guadalupe! For the last two years, I was a bike commuter in Tempe (at time without a secondary means of transportation). During that time, I biked down that particular stretch of road many times on my way to the bike path. The sidewalks are quite narrow, and a bike is a vehicle anyway and shouldn't be riding on the sidewalk (a pedestrian once shoved me off my bike on the sidewalk, as well). At times when I had to ride in the road, I was honked at, sworn at and had lights flashed at me because drivers do not understand the laws concerning cyclists, nor do they look out for cyclists. Because drivers will drive into bike lanes if they are not separated from the roadway, I certainly hope that the planned bike lanes are separated from the roadway by something more than just painted lines - such as a curb. Many thanks! Lauren E. Hill 6. 7/23/2015 On a recent night I was cycling southbound on McClintock Drive, dreading the railroad underpass south of Apache. After crossing the light rail line, I looked back to judge how much traffic was approaching in the darkness. As usual, I accelerated to minimize potential time in the underpass. But what's this? A buffered bicycle lane that took me all the way home! Thank you for continued improvements to Tempe's multi-modal transportation infrastructure. Sincerely, Steve Bass 7. 7/24/2015 Dear Tempe City Council Members, Thank you for the buffered bike lane on McClintock Drive. Though I am seldom over on the east side of Tempe I appreciate and recognize the importance of the multi-modal aspect of Tempe's transportation master plan. I'm sorry for the negative feedback you've received but as a driver I've have not noticed any downside to these improvements. Thanks again, -Jeff Caslake 8. 7/24/2015 Thank you very much for creating the new bike lanes on McClintock. We frequently cycle with a bike trailer to shop at Trader Joe’s and then ride up to Sprouts. Unless we rode back (west) to College and then up to Alameda and east again to Sprouts, it was a pretty hairy experience to ride north on McClintock and so we often rode on the sidewalk. This is great. Thanks! Sincerely, Kip Goldman 9. 7/24/2015 On behalf the bicycling public, thanks for the bicycle lanes on McClintock. Tom T – Bicycle Cellar 10. 7/24/2015 Hello My wife and I want to thank everyone involved for making the mcclintock bike lane happen. We use it every single day from to and from work to meeting friends. WE LOVE IT! Thank you so much! Keep up the good work! Much love From bike lovers Taylor and Annie Neal 11. 7/25/2015 Gentle men and women,I am a local small business owner and bike commuter. I was pleasantly surprised last week when proceeding South on Mclintock to encounter the new bike lane. I usually have to ride on the sidewalk for safety purposes, though the practice of doing so, is illegal in Tempe. I just wanted to express my thanks and the thanks expressed by many of my customers for your foresight in this installation.