San Luis Obispo city officials are determined to slim down a portion of the Higuera Street corridor in a bid to boost public safety.
“On this street, Higuera, we’ve had five fatal collisions since 2019 and four involving victims who were walking or bicycling,” SLO Active Transport Manager Adam Fukushima told the City Council at its Feb. 4 meeting.
The City Council study session provided feedback on the Higuera Complete Streets Project, which stemmed from an active transportation plan approved in 2021. The project goal is to reduce vehicle miles traveled—in turn, cutting the rate of greenhouse gas emissions—and encourage more people to be less car-dependent.
Council members directed staff to continue working on the project that comes with a “road diet” from Bridge Street to Margarita Avenue, narrowing the traffic lanes and creating more width for buffers and sidewalks.
The study session arrived on the heels of the city rolling out a Vision Zero Action Plan to achieve zero traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries by 2030. SLO City Council will consider community input on the plan on March 18.
The proposed road diet will widen the stretch between Bridge Street and Fontana to add protected bike lanes, increase buffer space between vehicle traffic and sidewalks, and add a continuous center turn lane.
Over the past five years, the corridor between Bridge and Fontana has had 49 crashes, according to staff. The road diet aims to reduce crashes by 19 to 47 percent, lower speeding, and further separate high-speed vehicle traffic and pedestrians and/or bikes.
The city staff report claimed that the project could increase the average delay by 3 to 5 seconds per vehicle for drivers exiting the Chumash Village senior community driveway during peak commute hours. The report added that the reduction from two traffic lanes in each direction to one in each direction could make it easier for some drivers to judge gaps in traffic.
Many Chumash Village residents informed city staff in public outreach sessions that the lane trim could lead to traffic congestion. Chumash Village resident Gene Nelson told council members he wants the city to stay off the diet altogether.
“On my way to this meeting, in the dark, in the rain, I observed a bicyclist doing the safe thing while heading south in the project area. He was on the sidewalk, bicycling slowly, with his bright headlight,” Nelson said. “That safe approach is already mandated on southbound Madonna Road between Madonna Inn and Laguna Lake. This is much safer than the proposed lane reductions between Bridge Street and Margarita.”
Mayor Erica Stewart sympathized with the senior community.
“I don’t see a win if we include the Chumash Village in this project. I think it should be north of Chumash Village,” she said. “We’re not going to add the amount of guests or homes in that area, and I do think that we have to be aware of the fact that there’s only one way in or out.”
The Higuera Complete Streets project partially runs on funding that’s timebound. The Caltrans Active Transportation Program granted almost $7 million, and $2.2 million came from SLO Council of Government’s regional funding commitments. The City Council also approved $1.1 million as part of the 2023-25 financial plan to fund the remaining preconstruction activities and contribute toward project construction.
While the city hopes to start construction toward the end of the year, the ultimate deadline for grant forfeiture is February 2026, when it must get allocation approval from Caltrans.
“I don’t want to delay this project any further. I don’t want to jeopardize any of our other projects,” Councilmember Emily Francis said. “Let’s not let this die.” Δ
Editor’s note: This article was updated to include an image and links.
This article appears in Health & Wellness 2025.
In related news, DOGE is putting the federal government on a “spending diet” to improve cost effectiveness and efficiency. I hope supporters of this article’s description of a local issue agree on all smart diet choices.
The Cit Council is not looking at the whole picture. I lived and travel on Higuera street for long time and now you want to make it 2 lanes with a 14-foot-wide bike lane on each side. What a joke. Maybe reduce the speed and have more enforcement towards bike safety should have been tried. I remember riding my bike down Madonna Road and we only had a foot to ride in. I followed all the rules and light while riding, but today, riders think they don’t have to follow the rules. Many of times coming out at Creekside MHP a rider would go right thru the red light as I had the green. If you like this idea from the Council, you better go look at Grand Ave. as that is the same idea.