On November 16, 2021, we submitted the following petition to Caltrans, signed by 535 concerned residents:
Eureka is experiencing a traffic safety crisis. That crisis is concentrated among people walking, biking and rolling on Broadway. Broadway is extremely dangerous and experiences a very high level of collisions resulting in serious injury or death. It is not safe or comfortable to walk, bike or roll on or across Broadway, but many people have no other choice. Because of the way Broadway was designed, vulnerable people are regularly being killed on the roadway. In the last decade alone, at least 10 people have been killed and at least 14 people severely injured while walking or biking on Broadway.
As local residents and street users, we are united in our belief that saving lives, improving local quality of life, and increasing sustainable transportation should be prioritized above maintaining or increasing travel speeds. We are encouraged by Caltrans’ recent commitment to developing complete streets features along Broadway from Herrick Avenue to Truesdale Street, as well as a new pedestrian crossing at the Village Pantry. We urgently need Caltrans to extend this commitment to making near-term safety improvements to the rest of Broadway as well, from Truesdale Street to 4th Street.
We ask that Caltrans take the following actions as soon as possible throughout the entire Broadway corridor:
- Build additional safe pedestrian crossings.
- Improve the safety of signalized intersections with new infrastructure and signal reprogramming.
- Build protected bike lanes.
- Provide raised medians and landscaping.
- Support the City of Eureka’s efforts to improve pedestrian-scale lighting.