The death of a woman who was riding a bicycle and struck by a car in San Carlos has spurred new calls for a bicycle and pedestrian bridge over Highway 101 after a city discussion on it went silent because of the express lane expansion.
At about 10:15 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 16, Andrea Vallebueno, 31, was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead after she was hit on Holly Street near the Highway 101 overpass.
“The accident is a tragedy and our hearts go out to all who knew her,” San Carlos Mayor John Dugan wrote in an email statement.
The fatality reignites a conversation San Carlos leaders have had for many years in regards to safety in the area. Around 10 local residents and bicycle advocates raised this concern during public comment at the City Council meeting Nov. 27.
Residents shared their thoughts on how dangerous the area is — the San Mateo County Office of Education identified this area as part of its Youth-Based High Injury Network and is in the highest 5% of combined safety priority areas — and suggested this fatality could have been avoided.
The city previously was working toward a bicycle and pedestrian overpass over Highway 101, which was said to be ready for construction in 2019, but was ultimately delayed by a widening project.
“It’s quite an effort to line up regional and state funding sources that are necessary for this project,” Dugan said at the meeting. “We were close at one point, the project was delayed because of the 101 express lane project.”
Mike Swire, a member of organizations promoting bicycle safety, said he hopes the council as a whole will become “increasingly critical of spending scarce transportation dollars on highway expansions when life-saving pedestrian and bike projects go unfunded.”
The highway expansion only promotes more driving, Swire said, when regional agencies should be looking to ways to promote alternative methods of transportation.
Holly Street is also the only route to access the east side of Highway 101 and the Bay Trail from San Carlos via bike or foot for several miles.
Though Dugan said at the meeting the topic could not be discussed in depth as it was not on the agenda, he said the pedestrian and bicycle bridge remains a priority of the city.
Swire said the safe streets community are considering installing a “ghost bike” at the site in the near future to honor Villabueno.
The collision is being investigated by the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office Major Accident Investigation Team, and the driver of the vehicle stayed at the scene and is cooperating in the investigation, the Sheriff’s Office said.
(65) 344-5200 ext. 106
Daily Journal staff
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(3) comments
Why is it that Caltrans and the County have all the money in the world to pay for highways dividing our cities, but when it comes to reconnecting them via ADA relevant pedestrian bridges, Carlos Romero, Julia Mates, Rico E. Medina, Mark Nagales, Anders Fung, and our County Supervisors Noelia Corzo and Ray Mueller are nowhere to be found.
This county is great at dividing, but clearly has issues getting things back together with ADA relevant infrastructure.
And yet, the Supervisors think they deserve a raise:
https://sanmateocounty.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=13588118&GUID=23E40237-4991-4656-9BBD-BA62779DE724
There is more political capital to be made with dividing the freeways. ADA compliance is just not lucrative.
It turns out, you are correct Dirk.
In the Video https://www.kron4.com/video/san-carlos-advocates-call-for-safer-streets-after-fatal-cyclist-crashes/10275512/ the news reporter is quoting the city of San Carlos: "The city says the bridge didn't happen because of funding, which instead went to the expansion of the freeway" basically San Carlos is blaming these car-centric politicians, who re-routed the "equity" funding to their favorite car project:
- SMCEL JPA: Emily Beach, Rico E. Medina, Carlos Romero, Alicia Aguirre, Gina Papan, Michael Salazar, Mima Crume for SMCEL JPA.
- SMC TA: Emily Beach, Rico E. Medina, Carlos Romero, Noelia Corzo, Ray Mueller, Julia Mates, Mark Nagales for SMC TA.
And C/CAG celebrated these people, "who were instrumental in the project including:
• Rico E. Medina, Chair of the San Mateo County Express Lanes Joint Powers Authority (SMCEL-JPA) and San Mateo County Transportation Authority (SMCTA), and Mayor of San Bruno
• Kevin Mullin, U.S. Congressman (CA – 15th Congressional District)
• Diane Papan, California State Assemblymember (District 21)
• Dina El-Tawansy, District 4 Director, Caltrans
• Carl Guardino, Vice Chair, California Transportation Commission (CTC)
• Davina Hurt, Chair, City/County Association of Governments of San Mateo County (C/CAG), Belmont City Vice Mayor, Vice Chair of Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), and Board Member at California Air Resources Board (CARB)
• David Canepa, Metropolitan Transportation Commission Commissioner (MTC) and San Mateo County Supervisor
• Gina Papan, Metropolitan Transportation Commission Commissioner, Board Member of SMCEL-JPA, and Millbrae City Councilmember
• Rosanne Foust, President and CEO, San Mateo County Economic Development Association (SAMCEDA)
• Laura Bent, CEO, Samaritan House"
Remember when these people made Highway Expansion an "Equity" project? It was always the exact opposite of that.
=> See how the board member of BAAQMD and CARB is right in the middle of this? See how several board members of Caltrain and SamTrans are leading the charge for car-centric infrastructure? Constantly money from Public and Active Transportation projects are re-routed by these guys, which then raise prices, fees and taxes to pay for "green energy" and "green infrastructure", which never arrives.
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