The City of San Luis Obispo is gathering community input to support efforts to improve safety, accessibility, and comfort along South Broad Street.

Community members who walk, use a wheelchair, bike, drive, or ride the bus are invited to share their transportation experiences and future priorities via an online survey, community workshop, and neighborhood pop-up events. Your feedback, along with traffic data and analysis, will help determine which design elements are included in the demonstration project and will guide permanent future improvements. Together, these efforts aim to make Broad Street safer, more comfortable, and accessible for everyone.

About the Project

Six people have been killed on South Broad Street since 2021, and many others have been seriously hurt. Because of these incidents and safety concerns shared by community members, the City has identified South Broad Street as a high priority for improvements. This project is also identified as a high priority (Tier 1 project) in the City’s Active Transportation Plan, Vision Zero Action Plan, and the South Broad Street Corridor Plan.

In 2025, the City was awarded a FHWA “Safe Streets for All” grant to improve the Broad Street Corridor. The City will complete a corridor planning study and implement a demonstration pilot project between South Street and Orcutt Road with low-cost safety improvements. Demonstration project features may include striping modifications, enhanced bicycle lanes, targeted intersection safety improvements to minimize conflicts, and speed feedback signs, as achievable within the available grant funding.

The corridor planning study will develop long term safety enhancement recommendations. In addition to the above implemented with the pilot project, these longer term transportation improvements may include pavement maintenance with restriping/narrowing of auto travel lanes, physically protected bike lanes, installation of new traffic signals (where warranted), installation of landscaped center medians, sidewalk and curb ramp upgrades, street trees, landscaping, and additional streetlighting.

Project Timeline

Current Phase: Planning & Public Engagement

We’re gathering community input to help shape future street improvements to Broad Street and we want to hear from you! There are several ways to share how you travel and which improvements matter most to you: 

• Take the Online Survey: Share your input by visiting: www.slocity.org/OpenCityHall

Plan Approval

After public engagement, the project team will share draft concepts with the Active Transportation Committee, City Council, and the community. Community feedback will help refine the concepts before they move forward for review and approval.

Design & Environmental Review

Once approved, the project team will begin detailed design and environmental review of a demonstration project.

Construction

The demonstration project is anticipated to begin in 2027.

The South Broad Street Corridor Planning and Demonstration Project is evaluating a variety of improvements aimed at enhancing safety, accessibility, and comfort for everyone who uses the road. Design strategies under consideration (pending further analysis and input) may include:

We want to hear from you! Over the next few months, several community workshops and public input opportunities will be held to help shape priorities for the corridor and gather feedback on design alternatives.

Please sign up for project updates using the form below to receive email notifications about upcoming events and opportunities to share your input.

If you would like to learn more about this project or speak directly with staff, please contact City staff as follows: