29 September 2005

Dear Mayor and City Council:

Thank you for your vote last night to preserve Arana Gulch!  I especially
appreciated councilmember Porter's observation that if the city's financial
crisis is severe enough that we must sell off city property, then we should
have some process to determine which property is to be sacrificed.

I am going to heed the admonition of councilmember Coonerty who told us
that we advocates of preservation must think of ways to help the city
survive financially.  The first thing that comes to mind is that I know of
one city project that costs a lot of money, but is of dubious benefit to
community.  That project is the Broadway-Brommer bikeway.

Public support for the project is weak at this point.  Of the many public
hearings related to the project over the years, I've attended almost all.
It is very striking how public support for the project has shriveled.  I
remember well one CTC meeting in the fall of 2003, at which the project was
on the agenda, and no member of the public showed up to speak in favor of
it.  Not even a token People Power representative was there.

At another CTC public hearing, the only public speaker who advocated it was
a man who often comes to hearings to bash bike projects.  He told us that
his reason for supporting this one was so that motorists like himself would
not have to put up with bicyclists on Soquel Ave.

Originally the project was supposed to be a top-notch high-speed commuter
bikeway that would be able to lure a significant number of motorists out of
their cars. Can anyone these days, with a straight face, claim that the
current form of the project will be able to meet that objective?  Valid
environmental concerns forced changes that slashed its transportation value.
I question whether the current, partially-paved, form of the project would
even qualify as a bikeway as defined under Caltrans HDM Chapter 1000 (the
"bikeway bible").

The transportation value has shrunk, while the cost has remained high due to
the need for bridges.

And then there's the opposition.  I can state with confidence that almost
all the members of the public who spoke against developing Arana Gulch are
also passionately opposed to the bike road.  Opposition is strong and
growing.

Meanwhile, if you asked bicyclists what's their top priority, I'd wager that
few would say B-B.  I'm a bicyclist, and I hate this project.  And I know
lots of other bicyclists who feel the same way.

If this project ever made sense, it surely does not make sense now.
It doesn't make sense, even if "someone else" is paying for most of it.
Even if the bulk of the construction is paid for by the CMAQ, STP, the
county, or the state or federal government.  That money could be better
spent on something else. All levels of government are strapped.  No one has
money to waste.  Let's not fall prey to the fallacy that wasting state or
federal money doesn't cost us. State or federal money wasted on B-B is
federal money that won't be available for something else that we (or our
fellow citizens in other counties and states) really need.   We are all
tax-paying citizens of the county, the state, and the nation, as well as of
the city of Santa Cruz.  In the final analysis, it's still coming out of
"our" pockets.

The Broadway-Brommer project is a loser that should be axed immediately, and
permanently.  That way, we won't need to pay for more studies; we won't need
to have more hearings; we won't need to waste more staff time applying for
grants; and we won't need to spend money building it or maintaining it.

And we won't have to waste money defending the project from the otherwise-
inevitable legal challenges.

So if you're looking for ways to save money, take a good look at
Broadway-Brommer. I would go even farther than that.  I would say, if you
want to convince the public that you're serious about the city's fiscal
crisis, you've got to ditch something this weak.  High cost, low benefit,
and divisive to boot.

Last night, councilmember Mathews observed, regarding the greenbelt, that
we're in a different world now.  I think her observation applies in spades
to Broadway-Brommer.

Sincerely,
Don Fong