WHAT: Show of support for pedestrian safety on Highway 9 (and elsewhere in the SLV)

WHEN: Thursday, April 4, 9 AM

WHERE: Watsonville City Council Chambers, 275 Main St #400, Watsonville, CA 95076

SIGN UP: Click this link to commit to attend. This will help us know how many to expect. Thanks!

Dear Neighbors,

It is time to come together and take a stand for pedestrian and cyclist safety in our community. Please join us in taking some time on the morning of Thursday, April 4, to call for action now to improve the safety of Highway 9 between the schools and Felton. We will urge the Regional Transportation Commission and Caltrans to greatly accelerate progress on pedestrian safety. We do this in honor of Josh Howard, who died when struck by a vehicle while walking home from work on February 22. We do this in solidarity with Josh’s family, whose loss could have been any of ours. We do this for all our children and neighbors because walking to work or school should not risk your life. We do this with the resolve that it never happens again.

At the Regional Transportation Commission’s next meeting, during the open comment period, a few of us will provide prepared remarks. We will deliver the petition (over 1,400 signatures), and then will ask all supporters present to stand for a moment of silence. The meeting starts at 9 and we should be done by 9:30 so you can get back to work. 

In collaboration with County Supervisor Bruce McPherson and Regional Transportation Commissioner Mike Rotkin, we identified this as the most effective way to demonstrate our resolve. The Commission can’t discuss items that aren’t on the agenda, so we won’t receive feedback right away, but your presence will make a strong impression. 

Supervisor McPherson and Assemblymember Mark Stone are convening agency decision makers shortly after this meeting to take action. Our show of support will give their work a strong boost of political will. RTC staff developed key improvements in the Highway 9 Complete Streets Plan. With broad support, we will build on this momentum and get the projects built faster.

Together, we take this stand to honor a young man who left this world too soon, to protect the young people of the San Lorenzo Valley, and to invest in infrastructure for everyone who gets around without a car, or wishes it were safe enough to. Thank you for joining us.

Can’t make it? Share your thoughts with the RTC: info@sccrtc.org; use the subject line: Highway 9 safety; or sign our petition before 4/4 at https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/safe-pedestriancyclist-route-for-highway-9

Sincerely,
Kelley Howard, Joni Martin, Bryan Largay, Nancy Macy