Six people have died, and many more have been seriously injured along Broad Street in San Luis Obispo in the past five years, with speeding often cited as a cause. Now, city leaders have obtained a grant to study and improve traffic safety in the area, a task that requires data collection and the public's help.
"There is a lot of vehicular volume, high speeds on the whole corridor," said Bryan Wheeler, City of San Luis Obispo Traffic Engineer and Planner.
The city is asking the public to help shape safety improvements for the corridor by completing an online survey now and attending one of two in-person public hearings in the fall. On the survey's landing page, it reads, "Your feedback, along with traffic data and analysis, will help determine which design elements are included in the demonstration project and will guide permanent future improvements. Together, these efforts aim to make Broad Street safer, more comfortable, and accessible for everyone."
The federal government awarded the city a "Safe Streets for All" grant, and the city is completing a corridor planning study that includes obtaining public input through the interactive survey. The initial focus is on the busiest stretch of Broad Street, between South Street and Orcutt Road.
The corridor serves a wide range of users, not just city residents. The area draws roughly 800,000 airline passengers per year who fly in and out of the San Luis Obispo County Airport (SBP), located at Broad and Aero Drive.
The surrounding area includes offices, a growing Aerovista Medical campus, shopping centers, sports fields, a Cal Poly business center, and access points to several neighborhoods.
"Broad in general is used by folks that live in South County and commute into San Luis Obispo for work," Wheeler said.
Residents say the volume of traffic already makes everyday driving feel hazardous.
"I mean, whenever I pull my car out, it's really busy in traffic, so it just always feels like a dangerous situation every time I'm pulling out of my driveway," said Leanne Johnson, who lives in the area.
City officials say the planning process is designed to capture input from everyone who uses the corridor.
"With this project, we want to get input from all of those people, all of those uses, so part of our public outreach is going to be to solicit the voices of people that live here, work here, go to shop here, go to all the uses, buy gas here," Wheeler said.
Planned improvements for the corridor include striping modifications, enhanced bicycle lanes, intersection safety improvements, and speed feedback signs, among others. The current survey focuses on the stretch between South Street and Orcutt Road, but the full project scope is broader, with Wheeler confirming that the entire grant-funded project will eventually run from Broad and High Street to the city's southern limits.
Residents, visitors, business owners, and more are encouraged to provide their experience along the South Broad corridor at THIS LINK. The city is also working to schedule the in-person public hearings in the fall.
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