Sustainable Saratoga is dedicated to promoting sustainable practices and protecting the natural resources in Saratoga Springs for current and future generations. It is through this mission that we have long supported initiatives that improve the safety and accessibility of alternative transportation.
Sustainable Saratoga has been a vocal supporter of the implementation of the City’s Complete Streets Plan and has long advocated for initiatives that improve the safety and accessibility of a cleaner, greener transportation system. We are pleased to be part of the Saratoga Safe Cycling Coalition and fully endorse the resolution asking the City Council to commit significant resources to complete the striping and signage recommendations in the 2016 Complete Streets Plan.
Creating safer bicycle infrastructure throughout the City will encourage more residents and visitors to reach their destination on bikes rather than automobiles, which helps to reduce congestion in our inner core, reduces parking demand, and reduces pollution. This results in many benefits to our environment, public health, and the economic vitality of the community. Indeed, studies have shown a strong connection between better bicycling infrastructure and the strengthening of local economies.
As evidenced by this summer’s extreme weather events across the globe – extreme temperatures, drought, wildfires, and floods – climate change is already here. Experts warn us that we must enact changes that will result in “immediate, rapid, and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions” (United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2021) to avoid even greater climate disruption. Investing in greener, alternative transportation is one critical component of any strategy to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.
It is through these benefits and the critical nature of the climate crisis that Sustainable Saratoga believes that now is the time for the City to commit the necessary resources to further the Complete Streets Plan it approved in 2016. This funding will benefit the entire community.
We urge the City Council to commit the resources necessary to complete the striping and signage recommendations in the 2016 Complete Streets Plan.
You can find the resolution and letters of support here and a pdf of our statement here. You can contact the City Council to voice your support for safer cycling in Saratoga Springs.
meg.kelly@saratoga-springs.org;
michele.madigan@saratoga-springs.org;
john.franck@saratoga-springs.org;
robin.dalton@saratoga-springs.org;
skip.scirocco@saratoga-springs.org