| This is the status quo, getting more congested over time. |
| Or this 1.3 mile Caltrans highway 1 widening, fixing the traffic bottleneck, adding 1 access lane and 1 exit lane. |
Once on the highway, I see cars cut through the parking lot of the Gorilla BBQ to get to Vallemar. Once we get past Vallemar we go the speed limit. When I return from Sharp Park Beach in the morning, I see the left turn to Vallemar backed up to the highway and see cars taking a right turn at the same location. These cars choose not to make a left turn but line up 15 to 20 cars deep in a circle to get onto Reina Del Mar (Vallemar). In the evening, I see cars backed up to the golf course and the left turn lane to Fassler is full of cars. The same thing happens during the year on weekends with the reverse traffic patterns.
This is also a safety issue. The part of the highway between Rockaway and Vallemar is at times very difficult to get through by police, fire, and ambulances. Think about this. If you are dying or in dire need of help, how are these services going to get to you? Then once they get to you, what will the delay to get to the hospital or backup for a police incident or for the fire dept. if there is a fire?
I have read several letters stating that safety is not an issue but asd a 30-year veteran of the Pacifica Fire Department, this issue is very real. These opinions are not from people who have dealt with this problem. I have. Most house fires or severe police incidents cannot be contained by one fire engine or police vehicle. These vehicles need to get to an emergency as quickly as they can. Believe me, minutes to these emergencies are precious. I have lived here for 41 years and the number of highway lanes through our city has not changed in that time. We must make a change. I am not going to change the minds of people opposed to the highway improvement but hopefully I convince you that we should improve 1.3 miles of our highway."
Submitted by Bob Hutchinson
Note: photographs: Congested highway from Pacifica Riptide/Transportation. Caltrans key view #2 (photo 13) of the proposed highway 1 widening (at Rockaway Beach Avenue), lifted from the anti-highway website, so called "highway 1 pacifica."
Posted by Kathy Meeh
5 comments:
Thanks for the great letter James. The anti widening peeps keep repeating this is not a safety issue. What's it going to take for them to be honest with themselves.
Their same old "alternatives" that have been rejected by experts like the smart light timing company. But hey, they know better than everyone.
Good letter Mr Doran. I wish more Fire and Police would speak up and put pressure on city council.
Hutch have you tried to talk to the Police Department and Fire Department on starting a drive to get fire and police on board for the fixing of highway 1?
Let's see, we have 4 retired firefighters that collectively have maybe 160 years of firsthand experience in emergency services in Pacifica say the highway is a dangerous arterial that puts our safety department at a disadvantage to perform their duties. That means, they can't get to an emergency when minutes count. We suffer for that.
Who are we going to listen to, trained professionals,
or a bunch of people with no experience screaming the sky will fall. Show me the creds the nobies have. Bohner! Dont' make me puke. Loeb! Now there's a brainiac. They have been on the no-nothing drumbeat for so long they wouldn't see a rational decision or idea if they saw one.
Go back to your Hobbit hovels and let this town fix our highway and scratch ourselves out of the economic mess you and your ilk have put us in.
Loeb was mayor of a near bankrupt city 30 years ago. Now he is doing what he knows and thinks is best for the city of pacifica. Further bankrupting the city.
Wait to go Peter!
Peabody, no one writes for laughs quite like you. By all means, go scratch.
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