The San Luis Obispo County of Governments’ (SLOCOG) decision to study the potential closure of the El Campo Road intersection on Highway 101 has many South County residents concerned.
The study was initiated at a Dec. 5, 2018, SLOCOG meeting after the death of Cal Poly freshman Jordan Grant in October 2018.
Grant was struck by a BMW that was in the process of making an unsafe left turn at the intersection.
Victor Lund launched an online petition on Dec. 10 via change.org to advocate for a safe long-term solution for the intersection without closing it altogether. Lund is a resident of the Falcon Ridge Estates in Arroyo Grande, a housing development that lies adjacent to Highway 101 and the El Campo intersection.
He said he and other residents worry about emergency evacuations, as the intersection plays a vital role in their emergency egress route. Their preferred solution, he said, is an overpass above the intersection, but that’s a project that would need a consensus from the city of Arroyo Grande, San Luis Obispo County, and Caltrans.
“We really support the idea of studying it, but closing [the intersection] would have a major impact on our system of roads,” Lund said. “Closing it would put additional pressure on already pressurized roads.”
The petition already has 1,022 signatures.
At the Dec. 5 SLOCOG meeting, collision data from the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records system showed that from September 2012 through Dec. 31, 2017, 16 collisions occurred, none of which were fatal. In 2018, two collisions occurred with one fatality, Grant’s.
Local Caltrans officials said they were prepared to act on a solution but need local consensus about what that is. Ī
This article appears in Jan 3-10, 2019.
The El Campo article is accurate but the headline is completely untrue. Does Karen Garcia have the headline wrong or is she letting a personal bias influence what should be a factual report? In fact, the South County residents are wanting to keep it open as an evacuation route with safety improvements and an overpass (Interchange at a previously CalTran proposed site) to be given top priority.
It’s good that Falcon Ridge residents are engaged in the discussion. Perhaps they can be engaged in the multi-million dollar funding of an interchange/overpass, if that’s their preferred option. If they were to raise the funds among themselves and not burden the rest of the state, I’m sure they would find more local support for the project.
Closing El Campo would be a mistake for any number of reasons.
Not least is the frantic rush to react to a death.
If we closed every road or intersesstion where a fatal accident occured, there would be no roads for cars. Maybe that would satisfy some but many are dependent on their cars for work or medical care.
Needed changes will require long term plans by CalTrans, not emotional reactions by local residents and the grieving family.
gail lightfoot
Arroyo Grande