Along with regular maintenance of neighborhood streets in this area, the Toro Street Neighborhood Greenway will be implemented per the City’s Active Transportation Plan.

The greenway implementation includes installing greenway pavement legends, guide signage, and traffic calming measures (where warranted based on existing speeds) along Toro Street between Phillips Lane and Pacific Street to encourage a low-stress, comfortable environment for those walking and biking.

Proposed improvements also include modifications to the existing RRFB crossing at Marsh/Toro Street to allow bicycles to activate the RRFB system without the need to dismount. Additional crossing improvements currently in construction that will also benefit the proposed Toro Street Neighborhood Greenway include a new neighborhood traffic circle at Toro/Buchon and a new bicycle/pedestrian crossing at Monterey/Toro, which will include raised medians, hi-vis crosswalk markings, and RRFBs with push buttons accessible to pedestrians and cyclists. 

Along with regular maintenance of neighborhood streets in this area, a striped bike lane will be installed on a short stretch of Highland Drive just west of State Route 1 where the roadway climbs a steep grade per the City’s Active Transportation Plan.  

In addition, several Neighborhood Traffic Management (NTM) requests have been received from residents for streets in Pavement Area 8 at the following locations: 

1. Highland Drive between Patricia Drive and Santa Rosa Street 
2. Patricia Drive between Twin Ridge Drive and Highland Drive 
3. Jeffrey Drive between Highland Drive and Westmont Avenue 
4. Rancho Drive between Westmont and Clover Drive 
5. Westmont Avenue between Patricia Drive and Jeffrey Drive 

City staff are in the process of collecting speed and traffic volume data on these neighborhood streets to evaluate if traffic calming measures are warranted based the City’s adopted volume/speed thresholds. If traffic calming is warranted, staff will send a mail-in ballot to adjacent properties to inform residents and gauge support for proposed measures.

Typical elements included with NTM projects speed humps, speed tables, traffic circles, and traffic diverters. The preferred design elements will be selected after reviewing traffic data, soliciting input from the neighborhood, and conferring with the San Luis Obispo Fire Department. 

Resurfacing sections of Broad Street, Chorro Street, and Murray Avenue was initially part of the 2022 Roadway Sealing project. However, these facilities were deferred due to conflicts with construction of a new sewer line and the North Chorro Neighborhood Greenway.  

Key project elements on these facilities include: 

1. Chorro Street Bicycle Lane (ATP Tier 2 Project): Installing northbound bicycle lane between Mission Street and Meinecke Avenue. This feature does not require any removal of on-street parking. 
   
   
2. Broad Street NTM: Identifying and installing traffic calming measures on Broad Street between Mission Street and US 101 to encourage low vehicle speeds and discourage cut-through traffic. Additional discussion of the NTM process and elements is described in the Pavement Area 8 (University Neighborhoods) section above. 

 Existing lane structure

Proposed lane structure

The Johnson Avenue Road Diet pilot project was installed in 2023 and included reducing the number of lanes from two in each direction (four total) to one in each direction plus a center turn lane (three total). 

After installing the pilot project, prevailing speeds have decreased from 43 miles per hour (MPH) to 37 MPH. Moreover, less than 1% of vehicles are traveling 10 MPH or more above the 35 MPH speed limit (93% reduction with road diet).

Following a successful pilot installation, the temporary road diet between Bishop Street and Laurel Lane will be made permanent, with addition of permanent thermoplastic pavement markings.  

Johnson Avenue between Laurel Lane and Orcutt Road is also proposed for resealing as part of the 2024 Roadway Sealing project.  

In addition to roadway sealing, the temporary rubber curb median will be replaced with a permanent concrete median refuge with landscaping at the Sydney Street school crossing (on Johnson at both sides of the intersection). Traffic calming measures will also be installed at the Southwood intersection to slow turning speeds, shorten pedestrian crossing exposure, and improve pedestrian visibility.