Another young person died in a traffic collision near Cal Poly. Why isn’t more being done?

The roads and intersections leading to Cal Poly are a dangerous mess. Last month, 17-year-old Finn Hartford, who was a beloved part of our family, was killed at the intersection of Highland and Highway 1.

It was 6:45 a.m. on Sept. 11 and he was headed to a morning surf session at Morro Rock. He turned left at a green light on Highland Drive onto northbound Highway 1 and was killed by a heavy truck that ran a red light on southbound Highway 1. This intersection is an accident waiting to happen at any moment, as cars traveling south on an open highway abruptly find themselves at city traffic lights with scores of students crossing.

While the intersection where Finn died is dangerous and is not near his residence, Finn and his friends often accessed Highway 1 via Highland Drive because they do everything possible to avoid the disastrous stretch of Foothill Boulevard between Tassajara and Santa Rosa/Highwy 1. The whole stretch of Foothill from Tassajara to California is like some tainted video game of obstacles and pitfalls to avoid. It was bad enough before the current construction shut down one of the lanes near Broad Street, but have you driven recently on Foothill and seen the constant stream of near accidents and congestion, with cars and bikes veering in and out of turning lanes chaotically?

As a physician assistant in the Health Center at Cal Poly for almost 15 years, I have seen a large number of car vs. bike accidents in the region around Foothill and California, where cars, bikes, pedestrians and trains all compete for access. I care deeply about the students, my patients, who are amazing young adults who deserve to be protected. Over the years, I have written many letters to various individuals, departments and committees at Cal Poly, trying to get them to prioritize a plan to help improve the safety of the whole Cal Poly corridor for students and residents. There have been improvements along the California corridor leading from downtown, but I would venture to say that more students live around the Highland/Foothill neighborhoods, and that area just keeps getting worse with new student housing construction and residences.

Cal Poly actively encourages its students and staff to bike and walk to school, seemingly never considering that it’s just not safe. What priorities could be more important to the University than ensuring student safety? If Cal Poly won’t build and mandate more on-campus living for its students, then it should prioritize collaborating with the city to solve challenges that arise from so many students living in the community and to ensure students’ safety in the community and on their commute to school.

We should all be jarred by the recent deaths in the area surrounding the university: Finn Hartford in September; Andreas Kooi, a Cal Poly graduate student who was struck on Foothill and Broad in August; and Kennedy Love, who was stuck on his bicycle on Foothill near Ferrini in 2017.

Instead, officials allow poorly planned roads, unprotected bike lanes and sprawling construction projects to worsen, just crossing their fingers that another victim won’t die because of the mess. The roads are a ticking time bomb for all of us. While green paint is nice, we don’t just need more green paint; we need new ideas and full remodels. The new pedestrian light at Ferrini is a start and an example of rethinking what is possible.

And it’s not just Cal Poly students who are in danger.

While Foothill to California is the most direct route to reach SLO High for students from this side of town, many SLO High students like my son avoid biking to school along the Foothill corridor; instead, they ride in a patchwork of back streets while we wait for years for the Safe Routes to School projects to be funded and implemented. Groups like SLO Streets For All work tirelessly to implement these projects, but it is astounding that resident opposition and apathy can effectively derail or delay projects just aimed to keep our children safe.

Citizens’ imminent safety should not be a partisan or under prioritized topic. The city and Cal Poly urgently need to work together to drastically improve the safety of our streets before we lose another beloved member of our community.