Dozens of Junior College neighborhood residents urged the Santa Rosa City Council Tuesday to make a decision about Bicycle Boulevard, but the one they made didn't appear to satisfy anyone, the council included.
Following three hours of often-divisive public testimony about the year-long effort to make a 1.5-mile stretch of Humboldt Street more friendly to bicyclists, the council didn't make a decision about the project's future.
Instead it chose to study the issue further, a move that will delay a decision about the controversial project until after the Nov. 2 election.
Councilmember Ernesto Olivares expressed annoyance that a project that was supposed to be a six-month pilot project had now passed a year in duration with another several months of study ahead.
"If you want to study something, you can study my level of frustration," Olivares said. "I think people want some closure on this."
Mayor Susan Gorin said the continued neighborhood uncertainty was unfortunate. "I share your pain about what this has done to your neighborhood," Gorin said. "It's discouraging."
The decision to study the project further followed input by dozens of residents who either panned the project as dangerous and frivolous or hailed it as a forward-looking experiment of ways to put bicyclists on equal footing with drivers.
"Let's make it safe for our community to take care of their health and do what is right for the planet," said neighborhood resident and bike-boulevard supporter Elizabeth Hegarty.
Opponents, however, lambasted the yearlong pilot project, citing a litany of objections and shortcomings and demanding the street be restored to the way it was.
The temporary traffic circles at seven locations on Humboldt Street were the subject of considerable ire.
"They're unattractive, ineffective, and I think they're dangerous," Roy Whitney said.
The 21-year resident of Spencer Street said he drives an F-250 pickup and the roundabouts are so narrow that he can't get through them without running them over. He suggested the city delay the project and consider funding it in the future with an excise tax on bicycles or bicycle repairs.
The youngest protester of the evening was 1-year-old Delanie Wangler. The daughter of 35-year-old Lee Anne Wangler had a flier taped to her stroller that declared: "I was almost run over at a traffic &‘calmer.'"
The incident occurred about two weeks ago when Lee Anne Wangler was trying to cross Humboldt at McConnell, she said. A car barreling through the traffic circle, which is intended to "calm" traffic flow, missed her daughter by about 1? feet, she said.
Disclosure that city staff was recommending the removal of the McConnell circle did not appease Wangler, who wore a sticker saying, "Restore Humboldt Street. Bikes Yes. Blvd. No."
"It's not just McConnell. They're all bad," Wangler said.
The pilot project began in August2009 as a way to have a street that cyclists and motorists could share equally.
Four-way stops at four intersections between Lewis Road and Fifth Street were replaced with temporary roundabouts designed to help drivers and cyclists keep their momentum. The city originally envisioned a six-month trial, but the City Council extended that period in the hopes of working out the kinks.
City transportation planner Nancy Adams said that since the pilot project has been implemented, there has been an increase in bicycle traffic and slight decrease in the number and speed of vehicles.
Three vehicle accidents have been reported on Humboldt Street during the project period. All were non-injury accidents that did not involve bicycles, she said.
One accident occurred near one of the traffic features, a two-car collision at the intersection of Humboldt and Silva, according to police.
Most people in the packed council chambers held fliers expressing their views on the project. Supporters of the project held up "Neighbors say yes to Bicycle Boulevard" and "I heart Humboldt Boulevard," while opponents' signs said "Restore Humboldt Street."
Numerous residents objected to the $800,000 price tag of the project, and suggested far less expensive ways to make bikers feel more safe on Humboldt, such as better signs and more speed bumps.
Kathleen Rhodes noted that the speed humps or speed tables are relatively inexpensive compared to the permanent traffic circles.
"We could get something like 150 speed bumps for $800,000," she said.
Nica Poznanovich, who works for Community Market, said she's amazed at the opposition given what a bicycle friendly city Santa Rosa is supposed to be.
"We're not asking for much. We're asking for a single road," Poznanovich said.
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