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Residents and Bike Santa Fe urge city to dedicate funds and a coordinator for bike and pedestrian safety
Summary
Dozens of residents and members of Bike Santa Fe urged the council to dedicate a staff position or part-time contractor and to use repaving (a proposed $25M GO bond) to add protected bike lanes, safer crosswalks and maintenance funding; speakers stressed low-cost fixes like restriping and pop-up lanes can significantly improve safety.
Multiple members of Bike Santa Fe, the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC), and individual residents urged the governing body to dedicate budget and staff time to bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and maintenance. Phil Lucero, president of Bike Santa Fe, said the city can make meaningful improvements with modest investment: "The good news is, we don't need major new spending to improve our bike and pedestrian network," he said, urging the city to use repaving projects to add protected lanes and safer crosswalks.
Speakers recommended creating a dedicated bike-and-ped coordinator (even part time) to coordinate across departments and with the county, to ensure the $25M general-obligation bond for repaving includes restriping and protected-bike-lane elements, and to implement the maintenance-resolution requirements that set aside funding for ongoing upkeep.
Councilors acknowledged the comments and said staff will continue to integrate BPAC input into the GO-bond repaving plan and maintenance work. Commenters also encouraged low-cost, visible measures (pop-up lanes, temporary restriping during repaving) and stronger enforcement of traffic laws to improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians.
The governing body did not vote on an immediate budget allocation at tonight’s meeting; public speakers and councilors described the comments as priorities to be considered in the upcoming budget cycle and GO-bond implementation.
