The National Week Without Driving

 

It's good for you

It's good for the Planet

It's good for Laguna Beach

 

 

 

Sept 30-Oct 6, did we miss it? Good anytime....

SB-960 Complete Streets Act is the LAW

 

Dear Laguna Residents,

GREAT NEWS:   Sponsors like Calbike and YOU supporters can celebrate because this morning 9/27 and as promised, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senator Scott Wiener’s Complete Streets Bill, SB 960! It will require CALTRANS to serve the needs of people who bike, walk, and take transit, as well as people driving, on the state routes it maintains.  

Maybe now the LB City Council Cabal will address the reality of this development and recognize the new mandate for CALTRANS to address a true multi-modal Laguna Canyon Road without the red-herrings. 

 

-LS

LCR Power Utilities Undergrounding Money Spent

These charts show the project expenditure for Laguna Canyon Road power utility undergrounding from 2007 to 2024. These amounts are drawn from the LB Public Works (PW) Utility Undergrounding Division Summary found in the respective LB Fiscal Year City Budget. 

 

The Laguna Beach Public Works Department supports 3 full-time staff positions since 2017.  These expenditures occurred prior to the proposed Protect and Connect construction start date.

Since the introduction of Complete Streets Policy to Laguna Beach in 2008, the city nor LB Public Works has found the resources to place a bicycle rack in front of LB City Hall. That's 16-years since introduction.

 -LS

The CALTRANS Relinquishment of Laguna Canyon Road

What you probably didn't know about the CALTRANS Relinquishment of LCR to the City of Laguna Beach. You should read this, somebody is on the hook for upwards of $141,000,000 to pay for it.
 
The chart shows the anticipated cost of acquiring a 2.5-mile segment of Laguna Canyon Road from Canyon Acres to El Toro Road in order to underground overhead power utilities found there. The project costs were estimated by Laguna Beach City Public Works Department in conjunction with several consulting firms RBF, MIG, HDR, and Mark Thomas over a ten-year period 2014 to 2024. The trend of this endeavor over time is evident, increasing as the complexity of project construction is realized. Details of the project follow the chart. If the details are overwhelming, skip to Item 5) below.
 

 

Legend: The Project Cost is the present value of the project, the Annualized Costs occur annually, the Total Credits offset Project Costs. 
 
Overall Sentiment: Hearts and minds of City Officials and Residents are in the right place but the design proposals here don't meet project goals or requirements, as the Consultants reveal, they are not yet well developed.
 

1) Project Intent/Purpose

 The project intent from public outreach is markedly different than that from the LB City Subcommittee  trying to sell it to the same LB public. The original reference and intent follow:  

2024 LB LCR City Subcommittee: 

1. Wildfire safety
2. Beautification
   
3. Develop multi-modal mobility system

2022 Approved Project Study Report (PSR)

1. Improve vehicle safety
2. Improve pedestrian and bicycle mobility & safety
3. Encourage active transportation on corridor
   

2015 LB LCR Task Force: 

1. Beautification
2. Minimize impact to open space
3. Enhance vehicular mobility and safety
4. Add active transportation peds/bikes
5. Narrow lanes to lower speeds

* the words "fire" or "wildfire" or "fire safety" does not appear anywhere in the August 2022 Approved Project Study Report (654 pages) or the LCR Task Force Final Report. 

2) How to pay for it: Grant Funding

 
There are many sources of grant funding anticipated to pay for the now $141 Million project. Two favorites are BRICK and RAISE grants, there are seven more: LTCAP, LPP, SCCP, SS4A, PROTECT, MPDG, and CSP. Grant funding is competitive with no guarantee of funding success. California runs a $45 Billion deficit, what are the chances grant administrators will look upon Laguna Beach charitably?
 

3) Meeting stated Purpose: Wildfire Mitigation 

What do the Consultants say? HDR says of Undergrounding "There is an expected low likelihood that undergrounding utility lines along Laguna Canyon Road will reduce wildfire risk, and the expected magnitude of this benefit is low. "
 

HDR Consultants say of Wildfire Mitigation: "There is a low likelihood that the relocation of utility infrastructure in the Laguna Canyon Road right-of-way (city ownership), as opposed to outside of the right-of-way (Caltrans ownership), will generate wildfire prevention benefits. The magnitude of these benefits are expected to be low."  
 

4) Benefit Cost Analysis

 

9 January LB Agenda Report Mark Thomas Consultants say "With City ownership, the underground utilities can be located within the roadway, resulting in significant cost and right-of-way savings. Undergrounding utilities within the roadway will also minimize the environmental impacts to open space."   But is that smart roadway design? So when when underground water enters an electrical power vault we close the highway for repairs? CALTRANS knows better.
 
 
HDR Consultants BCA: Approved PSR
HDR computed the attractiveness of benefit over cost in dollar amounts or in the mathematical ratio of the two (yes this topic leads most readers into the weeds).  As the numbers show the BCA scores quite low. 

Table 1: Benefit/Cost Analysis Ratios page 102
    Benefit Cost: 1.41
    Benefit/Cost 7% Discount rate : 0.63
 
Table 20: Wildfire Mitigation Benefit
    Wildfire Damage/annual
    Powerline Associated Wildfires County: $168,000
    All California County fires: $12.18 Million/annual
    LBC 30-year benefit total $1065.00
    
Table 26: Summary Emission Reduction Benefits 30-yr  
    Utility Undergrounding: - na
    Beautification:  - na
    Bicycle: $809
    Roadway Widening:$62,000
 

5) New Pending Legislation

The Complete Streets Bill SB-960 mandates that Caltrans implement a multi-modal design for Laguna Canyon Road whether or not the city buys the road, whether or not the relinquishment is completed. In August 2024 the new legislation passed the Senate 31:9  vote and the Governor expected to sign. The Bill is not mentioned anywhere in 654-pages of the August 2022 Approved PSR nor the City of Laguna Beach 9 January Agenda Report. From the bill: "The bill would require the department’s plain language performance report to include a  description of complete  streets facilities, including pedestrian, bicycle, and transit  priority facilities on each project, as specified. The bill would require the department to  commit to specific 4-year targets to incorporate complete streets facilities, including pedestrian and bicycle facilities, into projects funded by the SHOPP, as specified."
 

6) Assessment by CALTRANS

In a letter to LB City Manager,  Caltrans PR Sam Siddiqui writes "This concept primarily focuses on bike and Ped facility and has less to offer for the bigger demand of the vehicular traffic, which is the bigger objective of this study." Consistently Caltrans retains their focus on moving more cars faster and the Approved PSR plans show this.
 

6a) Assessment by LB Public Works

Assistant PW Director Tom Prez: "Thus, creating 'flexibility' in the physical character of the Canyon improvements, and thereby recognizing the significant differences in seasonal, weekly and temporal use, would likely be the most prudent, responsive, and expedient approach to making improvements in the Canyon (LCR)"  
Unfortunately this emphasis does not yet appear in the design Alternatives 1-5 in the Approved PSR.
 

7) Missing from the Approved PSR

- Consultants HDR TEPA analysis (PSR) shows us Level of Service (a measure of car traffic) after improvements remains at 'F'. That means how it sounds.
- LOS is a mobility metric that does not include the benefit of moving traffic by alternatives to the automobile.
- The present measure of LOS does not include the measure of transit passengers, bikes, pedestrians or ricshaws. 

- There are no speed reductions proposed in the PSR
- There is no reference to Complete Streets Policy in the PSR.   
- For all five alternatives the roadway retains 12-foot freeway lanes and maintains the posted speed limit set by Caltrans.
- You don't see bike-lanes on freeways. The proposed design retains freeway speeds and roadway width that are not consistent with bike lanes and pedestrian pathways a true multi-modal design would demand. Stay tuned.

-LS

Affordable Housing NCC

Here are the proposed elevation views for the "affordable housing" project by Related California at the Neighborhood Congregational Church site, St Anns and Glenneyre provided by Change.org. The project proposes 72-units on 3-floors atop a 108-space parking garage.

 

 From Change.org:   

Traffic and Parking Concerns: The proposed development lacks adequate provisions for parking, which will exacerbate the existing traffic congestion issues in the vicinity of St Ann's Dr. With 72 additional units, comprised of studios, 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom apartments with the possibility of over 200 new residents, there will be a surge in vehicular activity, further burdening the already strained infrastructure and making it increasingly challenging for residents to find parking spaces in the area.

"Lacks adequate provisions for parking" and "exacerbate the existing traffic congestion issues" and "there will be a surge in vehicular activity". Whew!  So the solution to traffic congestion issues must be build more of the same right?

If parking is the issue, then a parking garage must be the solution right?  Let's say something totally un-American and un-motorist here:  stop proposing auto dependent communities, build affordable housing instead. Low-income tenants find residential services are within walking distance of this site: 

• Ralphs grocery store: across the street at Glenneyre
• Sunset Drug Store: 1-block away at Thalia and Glenneyre
• Bank:  2-blocks away downtown
• Coffee Shop: Laguna Coffee Company 1-block away at Anita & PCH
  

True affordable housing in Laguna Beach (and elsewhere) is walkable and bikable. Stop building parking structures, garages for cars are NOT affordable housing. Build new affordable housing or refurbish and reuse existing vacancies, what-if Related California built that instead?

-LS

Affordable Housing Doheny Village

What can Laguna learn from neighbor Dana Point and their response to the State mandate for  Affordable Housing?  Here is a sketch of Dana Point’s Doheny Village.

The location will support the construction of a new 306-unit housing complex (reduced from 400 units due to size concerns) on 4.4  acres to replace the existing Capistrano Unified School District bus yard (staff report) for a density of 56 du/acre plus a 1.1 acre recreation area. The development features a mix of studios and 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom apartments less than a mile from the beach, none of the apartments are expected to have a coastal view.

The city’s 2021-2029 Regional Housing Needs Allocation — state housing mandates — call for the city to add 147 very low, 84 low, 101 moderate and 198 above moderate-income units. According to a staff report, 46 of the 306 units proposed — only 15% — falls under affordable housing requirements.

Can the project be funded by state resources?  State funding is at risk as this article shows there's not enough money to go around. https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/12/affordable-housing-california-2/

Situated in an urban area, the project is near retail establishments, making it convenient for residents to walk to nearby amenities. So why burden the project sold as "affordable housing" with an expensive parking garage?

More details about the new Doheny Village:

• In accordance with the Dana Point Zoning Code the project provides 586 parking stalls within the seven-level parking structure (one basement level).
• A Class III bicycle route would be created along the project frontage of Victoria Boulevard and shared-use, 10-foot sidewalks along Sepulveda Avenue and Victoria Boulevard allowing for bicycle travel.
  
• The project will result in 2,086 new daily weekday trips, 214 Saturday midday and  205 Sunday peak hour.
  
• The proposed project would introduce up to 796 additional residents to a 32,815 population.

The TAKE-AWAY FOR THIS PROJECT:

 The "service level" is a measure of vehicle traffic NOT including pedestrians, cyclists, trams or trolleys, it is the measure of motor vehicle capacity the road can sustain. A traffic analysis of the project shows the "service level" remains at 80% to 90% of vehicle capacity before and after completion.

The study found despite a 586 stall seven-story parking garage and 2086 new trips, a Congestion Management Analysis not required for this project.

The increased population may increase the demand for transit facilities in the project vicinity, but would not require new or expanded facilities.

Project pays in-lieu fees to cities of San Juan Capistrano and DP for "incremental cumulative traffic impacts", or in other words pay to play project development.

Back in Laguna Beach  the Neighborhood Congregational Church project as proposed is  72 Units, 108 parking spaces. The developer's portfolio shows affordable housing projects built at 30 dwelliing units per acre for Fountain Valley, Bloomington, and Irvine but the density for the NCC project will be twice that at 60 units per acre. (ref: Notice of Funding Availability for Affordable Housing Project, RELATED CALIFORNIA, May 7 2024).

"The proposed project is a joint effort by an ethical, community-sensitive church and a reputable, experienced developer with an excellent track record" but the product they produce is a 1950 car-centric plan totally inappropriate for Laguna Beach and the beach cities in 2025.

-LS

TRUMP Rally Butler PA

 Election 2024: It started.

"There is no place in America for this kind of Violence (except Television, Social Media, Entertainment)". - numerous political and presidential figures

Children with guns children with drugs children with eBikes. Our behavioral solutions are moral spiritual and educational, not technical.

-LS

Laguna Beach Street Safety Workshop/Questionaire

Laguna Beach City Sponsored: Street Safety Workshop Saturday 6 July 10am. Where are the most dangerous streets around Laguna for pedestrians and cyclists? Take the hot-spot LB City questionnaire below.

You're invited:

Tell the city of Laguna Beach how you feel about their traffic safety issues, take the 5-minute street safety questionnaire.

Thank you for participating.

-LS

Walk Bike or Bus, Hippi 4th

 -LS

July 1 Cal Senate VOTE Complete Streets Campaign

How you can help: show 15 California Assembly Transportation Committee members your support for better safer mobility in Laguna Beach. July 1 the Transportation Committee votes on Senate Bill 960, the Complete Streets Bill to direct Caltrans to support Complete Streets. 

The bill requires the California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS) to set objective goals to prioritize the implementation of comfortable, convenient, and connected facilities for pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit users on all projects ... where applicable.

Complete Streets are streets that are safe and comfortable for people biking, walking, and taking transit, as well as driving motor vehicles. Protected bikeways teach safe bike practice, they reduce accidents and fatalities for road users in all modes of transportation.

-LS