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CA’s Complete Streets Bill of 2024: Senate Bill 960

Safer and more comfortable streets for all—including people biking, walking, rolling in a wheelchair, and taking transit, as well as people driving cars, trucks, and other motor vehicles—takes public support.

The California Department of Transportation / Caltrans oversees maintenance, repair, and upgrades for many state routes that run through communities as main streets. These state roadways are often deadly, forcing people biking, walking, and taking transit to mix with fast-moving traffic.

Join Bicycling Monterey and other California Bicycle Coalition / CalBike partners in voicing your support for Complete Streets on Caltrans corridors. How? Go to:

https://www.calbike.org/our_initiatives/streets_for_everyone/complete_streets/

If sharing this info on social media, e.g., Mastodon or Instagram, be sure to include a link to https://www.calbike.org/our_initiatives/streets_for_everyone/complete_streets/. Relevant hashtags include #SB960, #CompleteStreetsCA, and #CalBike.

Doesn’t Caltrans have a Complete Streets policy?

Yes, and Caltrans has failed to follow its own Complete Streets policy (https://dot.ca.gov/programs/transportation-planning/division-of-transportation-planning/complete-streets), often downgrading needed safety features or eliminating biking and walking infrastructure during road projects, as reported by CalBike. For example, see a 7/31/24 article by CalBike Policy Director Jared Sanchez, “Incomplete Streets Part 3: Even When Caltrans Is Right, It’s Wrong,” in Streetsblog Cal: https://cal.streetsblog.org/2024/07/31/incomplete-streets-part-3-even-when-caltrans-is-right-its-wrong.

ICYMI, see how to support SB 960:

https://www.calbike.org/our_initiatives/streets_for_everyone/complete_streets/

Cyn Del Rey (Hwy 218) at Fremont Blvd
  • Route 68: South Main Street in Salinas
  • Route 146: Metz Road in Soledad
  • Route 183: Market Street in Salinas and Merritt Street in Castroville
  • Route 198: John McVeigh, Jr. Memorial Hwy in San Lucas
  • Route 218: Canyon Del Rey Blvd in Del Rey Oaks and Seaside

Protected bikeways, a key element of many Complete Streets, have been shown to reduce fatalities and injuries for road users in all modes of transportation.

Below: The site of a truck-bicycle collision on Market Street in Salinas. Here the driver of a truck made an unsafe turn, with the result that the truck struck Rogelio Vásquez López on his bicycle. Rogelio died that day from his injuries.

This post was published on 14 August 2024. One or more changes last made to this post on 21 August 2024.

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