Ever since the hard-working Peggy Mandeville retired from the City of SLO’s Public Work’s Department the City has been down by one Principal Transportation Planner.
It’s fitting then that a replacement for the active cyclist who worked on many of the city’s bike and pedestrian infrastructure projects in addition to high profile work like the LOVR overpass should be found while the County is celebrating Bike Month.
Adam Fukushima – leader of the Caltrans Bike Tour featured on page 42 – told the SLO City News that he’s ready to start June 2 as the town’s new Alternative Transportation Coordinator.
The close knit community of bike advocates in the area have known Fukushima for about a decade dating back to his time at the Bicycle Coalition of SLO County as the Executive Director.
“I was Dan before Dan was here,” joked Fukushima about the position that City Councilman Dan Rivoire still holds with the now rebranded nonprofit Bike SLO County. “I actually hired Dan when I was at the Bike Coalition. It will be great to come back to SLO and work with him.”
Fukushima never left the City of SLO as a resident, in fact he and his wife now have a toddler that they plan on raising here, but he has bounced around the state for work on projects throughout Caltrans’ District 5 as their Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation Planner.
“I’ve done a lot of CEQA [California Environmental Quality Act] work and worked on projects for cities from Santa Barbara County to Santa Cruz,” he said. “What I love about SLO is the engagement of citizens here. People actually turn out for meetings and get involved.”
They’re so involved it turns out, that it’s hard to keep secrets around town.
While Fukushima had told his Caltrans coworkers that he was in for a change of career gears, it became more public knowledge during a Bike Month breakfast at City Hall and the info wound it’s way to social media.
These are a lot of the same folks he’ll be working with to help the City pin down plans for a Broad Street Bike Corridor and the eventual completion of a the Railroad Safety Trail, if or when money becomes available.
