The streets of San Luis Obispo belong to everyone — including cyclists

T. Keith Gurnee in his Aug. 2 Viewpoint (“ ‘Bikelash on Broad Street”) about SLO city’s plans to improve traffic along Broad and Chorro streets makes one thing perfectly clear. He thinks the streets in his neighborhood actually belong to him rather than being part of a shared transportation system. He mentions the phrase “our streets/neighborhood” five times. He complains about losing his parking and his livability, and makes it clear that those who “live, park and access” their homes are more important than the rest of us in the larger community who actually own and have the right to use all of our streets.

Since Mr. Gurnee moved into his home, the city’s population has grown from 28,000 to 48,000 (plus 21,000 Cal Poly students), and the county from 106,000 to 270,000. It is reasonable to expect that with that much of an increase comes more traffic, including bicycle traffic, and a need to upgrade streets to facilitate traffic flow for the safety and benefit of all who travel on our streets. That’s what our city governments are trying to do.

Rather than focusing on “me” and “mine,” perhaps we all can benefit by thinking of “us” and seek to generously share this beautiful place with each other.

This story was originally published August 19, 2017 at 2:58 PM with the headline "The streets of San Luis Obispo belong to everyone — including cyclists."