[Voting now closed.]

Previously delayed by the Covid-19 crisis, Supervisor Yee’s office has now opened the voting period for the 2020 Participatory Budgeting ballot of proposed projects. Vote here until July 17th:

bit.ly/District7VotePB

This year’s ballot is long and full of worthy ideas. Highlighted below are the projects that impact Sunnyside or adjacent areas, by category:

Pedestrian Safety >

• Traffic Calming at Monterey:  This project seeks funding to implement various traffic calming measures at East bound Monterey Boulevard. The project will install measures that will slow down traffic and protect many commuters on the 23 and 43 bus lines. [Editor’s note: We’ve been told this project is focused on the section of Monterey between Plymouth and Yerba Buena, and will involve traffic calming and signage improvements for better pedestrian safety.]
• Ocean Avenue Crosswalk Safety Project: This project aims to make Ocean Avenue safer for pedestrians through improving three intersections on Ocean Avenue, located at Geneva-Frida Kahlo, Granada, and Miramar Avenues. The east-west crosswalks across each cross-street would be painted with unique designs to make the crosswalks more visible to drivers passing through the intersections, and landscaping would be installed as appropriate.

Culture >

• Art for Ocean Avenue: This proposal is to beautify Ocean between 19th and Junipero Serra with art to make the street more welcoming to current and new shoppers, businesses, and residents. The funding will paint new murals alongside the M Muni line and on the large Junipero Serra bus stop. Similar murals on Ocean have already successfully eliminated unsightly graffiti. These new murals will be enjoyed for decades by the entire community. The beautification will benefit pedestrians, cyclists, drivers, Muni passengers, residents, and businesses along this busy District 7 corridor.
• Ocean Avenue Public Posts: The Ocean Avenue Public Post project repurposes four utility poles adorned with artist-crafted neighborhood branding that will be installed at key locations where individuals and organizations can freely post informational flyers and notices.

School, Education, & Youth >

• Aptos Middle – Shared Schoolyards Upper and Lower Play Yards Upgrade: This project will significantly upgrade the Aptos Middle School upper and lower play yards, which is used by 1000 students each day and by community members on weekends through Aptos’ designation as a Shared Schoolyard. The project will provide new backstops, rims, and nets for 2 basketball courts; new bench and table seating for school lunch time and community activities; creating a mini skate park; installing a traversing boulder; and installing hydration stations and new debris container to improve usability of the space.

Activate Play Space >

• Wilderness in the Neighborhood – Sunnyside Park: Children love climbing Sunnyside Park’s hillsides. However, excessive trampling on the field level slope has causes soil erosion, plant destruction, and instability to historic trees. This proposal seeks to begin a process of transforming this long and steep slope into a place where children can satisfy their unstoppable curiosity to explore, while also conserving the natural landscape. Steps will grant access to a landing which guides kids to follow a meandering trail around mysterious bends. Parents will welcome knowing their kids are safe from sliding over the retaining walls, and Nature lovers will appreciate that ecological resources are being protected.