People who travel the Los Osos Valley Road corridor are being asked to provide feedback on how to make the road safer for everyone.
Right now, the County of San Luis Obispo is developing preliminary designs for the stretch of the road that runs from the intersection of Los Osos Valley Road and Foothill Boulevard in San Luis Obispo all the way through Montana de Oro State Park in Los Osos.
Jake Hudson is leading the project for the county and helping compile feedback from the community for a future public workshop.
“We’re going to present our initial first cut on what we think lines up with the public feedback, the adopted plans and also with on-the-ground right of ways and physical characteristics of the road,” said Hudson, SLO County Public Works Transportation Planner/Project Manager.
Deborah Howe with the Los Osos Community Advisory Council agrees that changes need to be made.
“People who are coming to visit Montana de Oro don’t necessarily know the speed limits. Speeding is often a problem. This is a very narrow, windy road and so having people pay attention, to be mindful of people who may be walking or biking who also want to endure this beautiful outdoor setting,” Howe said.
Through an online interactive map found on the Los Osos Community Services District website, anyone can provide feedback or look at the comments already provided for any section of the corridor.
“People can place dots, explain their wants, their desires, their experiences around particular areas,” Hudson said.
Some of the suggestions already provided include having a walking and biking trail along the road through Montana de Oro, signage to warn drivers not to pass on blind turns and additional parking in the park.
“We have over 700,000 visitors that come to Montana de Oro State Park and they come right through our little community of Los Osos. That’s 700,000 people coming in and going out. That’s a lot of traffic for our small community,” Howe said.
She believes the changes made would be beneficial for everyone.
“We want to make sure that we have the best opportunity to serve not just the people who are visiting Los Osos and Montana de Oro but also the people who live in Los Osos, go to school in Los Osos, ride their bikes and walk their dogs in Los Osos,” Howe said.
Hudson stresses feedback from people living in the community is important.
“We want the community to monitor the website, participate in the online interactive engagement tools that we’ve provided and so it’s really important for the community to be engaged because they really do have a say in what’s happening in their community and we really want to encourage that because it really drives how we put together the overall plan,” Hudson said.
Public Works anticipates the plan will be completed halfway through 2024 with capital projects for pieces of the plan expected to move forward several months later.
