Jerry Jayne of the Amgen Cycling Club sent out a great to the point email about this Tuesdays Thousand Oaks City Council meeting.  Please read below for information.  I hope many CVCers will be able to attend and show their support for this important project.

“If you live in the Thousand Oaks area, I beg you to attend the Tuesday Night Thousand Oaks City Council Meeting at 6pm. This coming Tuesday, the city council will vote on whether to approve the Lynn Road Expansion Project or not. The plan has been thought out very well; however there are some that oppose this project and they will be present on Tuesday.

The project covers 2.5 miles of Lynn Road from Los Arboles to Hillcrest. If you are familiar with this stretch of road, you know how dangerous this is. There is no bike lane and its just poorly constructed overall, so improvements are needed. Long story short, it’s the last major road connector within the city that does NOT currently have adequate passage for cyclists, so the approval of this project is desperately needed.

Just as important to the bike lane addition, the project also includes the correction of a V-curb on the southbound lane (which data shows that these types of curbs increase traffic accidents as they suck cars into the sidewalk and not away; ie, all the wall damage on the Lynn Ranch wall) as well as the drainage issue at Gainsborough and Lynn when it rains.

These additional improvements will be paid for by this project – all funding is provided through federal funds which are strictly reserved for cycling related projects. If the project is not approved, the funding simply goes away.

The people who do not support this project are not cyclists and may have their own agenda (ie, Lynn Ranch residents who fear that taking distance away from the street to the wall will simply increase the number of cars that will hit their wall). Some recommendations have been proposed to have a ‘shared path’. This recommendation is far from ideal as this increases the safety concern, as cyclists will share a path with pedestrians. Most cyclists do not support this, but its important to let the City Council know prior to the vote.

Again, if you ride in/around the Thousand Oaks area, this is a very important cycling related vote. If you have an hour, please consider coming to this meeting – speak/don’t speak; it doesn’t matter.    

We are all busy people – work, family, health, etc but this is important for your safety while riding. Below, I have linked to some basic information on the bike lane project. PLEASE make an effort to attend. In 10 years with the club, I have never sent a political-related email to you until now.  Please note that if you are going to speak, you get 3 minutes – complete a public comment card upon entry.

See you on Tuesday (and get there early for a seat).  

Thank you,

Jerry”

http://www.toaks.org/civica/filebank/blobdload.asp?BlobID=20486

http://www.velogen.org/dsp/docs/lynn_road_2011_plans.pdf

http://www.toacorn.com/news/2011-02-03/Motoring/Bike_lanes_considered_for_Lynn_Road.html

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Adam Winer

awiner@roadrunner.com