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

 

Killed by a Traffic Engineer

 

This new book by Wes Marshall shatters the illusion delusion that science underlies our modern transportation system. Our mobility system is obsessed with speed instead of street access. Instead of thinking of just moving cars or vehicles, the better engineers (since 2010) focus on moving people. "When you start thinking about access, it opens up the toolbox. We can start thinking about the bigger picture of how we build not just streets, but also how we establish land uses and connections."

What were Laguna's highway planners thinking in 1940? Maybe let's share our coastal access with visitors so put a freeway through the middle of it. Now we know how well that worked, Laguna ranks the most dangerous city for pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists in 103 similar cities (2020) on PCH. For an interview with the author see Bloomberg News.

 

-LS

Undergrounding another Trojan Horse

SR-133 Protect Connect Project

Undergrounding another Trojan Horse  

or Bikelanes for $11,000 per foot

Remember the fire-and-fear campaign of 2018 led by a city Subcommittee to place a $500 Million bond measure before the voters for city-wide undergrounding of SCE electric power utilities? If we don't  underground our utilities they said, Laguna will burn like Paradise CA, but then in a 2018 referendum vote Laguna defeated the bond measure.  Well today they are at it again, rather than a Covid-like campaign the Protect and Connect Project will couch the undergrounding campaign in eco-friendly bikelanes and a transit route down both sides of Laguna Canyon Road (LCR), from Canyon Acres to El Toro Road.   

 

This brief summary is taken from the August 2022 Approved Project Study Report approved by the city manager and Caltrans. Of five alternative designs the preferred design Alt-5 shows the existing 34-foot travelway will expand to add bike-way and sidewalk improvements on both sides, a bus route with 10-stops. The existing right-of-way (RW) is from 68 to 95-feet, the project will consume all of it, even Big Bend at 53 feet grows another 9-feet. The SCE Distribution Transmission and Telecom lines are located in vaults at the maximum RW boundary, in some cases on private property. Here's a typical section of the roadway from Caltrans Alternative-5:

Roadway Section Alternative-5 Option

The Level of Service (LOS) is a Caltrans measure of roadway performance for moving cars (not people bikes bus-passengers or rickshaws). A traffic analysis shows the Level of Service (LOS) for traffic will not improve remaining at 'F' in year 2030 and 2050, the LOS for biking and walking improves over the present no-provision condition. No increase in traffic volume is planned and the speed limit will remain at 40mph. The construction costs estimated are $40 Million, RW Acquisition costs are $78M, the Alt-5 project total is $141 Million.  
 
On Tuesday 6 May the Laguna Beach Public Works department hosted a Suzi-Q public workshop inviting the public to review design alternatives. The meeting was heated and emotional with 100 attendees pushing back the lack of transparency, planning, scale, cost, and disruption to rural Laguna Canyon. Two days later the Mayor's Newsletter said  the meeting was well attended and "a Success"!

Hired city consultants Mark Thomas said of this project: "This will require easements from various [property] owners throughout the corridor to locate the underground facilities outside of the right-of-way. This will be cost prohibitive and potentially require the use of eminent domain and should be considered infeasible."
 
Hired city consultants HDR said of this project:
"The results of the benefit-cost analysis for the Utility Undergrounding alternative generally support the conclusion that a utility undergrounding project along Laguna Canyon Road may be economically worthwhile under certain conditions if such a plan fits the City’s vision for the Laguna Canyon Road corridor, but also that such a project is unlikely to generate benefits well in excess of project costs." UPDATE: By October 2023 Mark Thomas recommended the project move ahead: "With the cumulative benefit of relinquishment and the ability to effectively mitigate risk to the greatest extent possible, it is recommended that the City formally request Caltrans to immediately initiate the relinquishment process of Lag una Canyon Road ." -Agenda Report 9 January 2024.

During the 2018 fire-and-fear campaign there were three project alternatives for SR-133 proposed in a city staff report, Alternative 1-No build option, 2-Underground power utilities $90M, 3-harden the high-risk LCR utility poles for $2M. Alternative 3 would meet the objective for fire protection yet our Subcommittee nary anybody else ever mentioned it again. "Way-to-cheap for canyon beautification"  goes the argument. 

Protected Power Poles Option

 
Finally, since March pending legislation now before the California Senate Appropriations Committee (SB-960 Weiner) will force Caltrans to implement Complete Streets on the entire length of LCR and PCH. Indeed all California highways under their control must conform to this Caltrans mandate Deputy Directive 64, this means CALTRANS MUST provide a multi-modal solution for LCR WHETHER OR NOT LAGUNA PURSUES UNDERGROUNDS.  
 
Given pricey consultants hired for expert project recommendations, shouldn't our city Subcommittee heed the advice? Is modifying LCR for no traffic improvement worth the project cost? Just Wondering.

Les Miklosy
Resident

UBER Unlocks Cities

 "Let's Ride Together"

2018 UBER-mercial

Concerning LB Facilities Master Plan, it's not a Caltrans problem, it's our problem. Let's unlock cities together rather than apart.  

-LS

Car Culture Recognizes National VRU Day

 

 

Thursday May 8 was National Bike Walk and Roll to School Day, who knew?  In car-culture we are known as VRU's "Vulnerable Road Users".

-LS

Laguna Canyon Road Protect and Connect Workshop

Are you concerned about preserving the wilderness, the small scale residential neighborhood, the business district, the CALTRANS/City transportation plan for Laguna Canyon Road? Then please join the public workshop about the CALTRANS realignment of our Canyon Road. Bring your questions, concerns, and values to this public workshop sponsored by the City of Laguna Beach and Department of Public Works.   

UPDATE: 15-Questions Protect Connect Workshop 

 UPDATE: 15-Answers to Questions by LB Public Works

-LS

Laguna Canyon Road Survey

Have you taken the Laguna Beach LCR survey?  The City has embarked on an ambitious plan to improve a portion of LCR from Canyon Acres to El Toro Road with infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians while beautifying the canyon by undergrounding overhead utility poles. The Protect and Connect program is looking for input from stakeholders and roadway users.

-LS

Pledge to Ride WIN a eBike!

May is bike month in Orange County, pledge to ride a bike and win an eBike!   OCTA sponsored check this out.

The Pledge is here.

Cosponsored by AVENTON,  JAX BICYCLE CENTER and SPECTRUMOTION

-LS

EV Trucks are Earth Day Panaceas?

FYI Folks:

GVWR is the maximum weight of the vehicle including occupants and cargo.

GCWR is the maximum including occupants cargo and trailer.

• Toyota Tacoma: GVWR = 5,600 lbs
• Ford Ranger: GVWR = 6,050 lbs
• Nissan Frontier: GVWR = 6,012 lbs
• Ford F-150 Hybrid: GVWR = 7,350 lbs
• Toyota Tundra Hybrid: GVWR = 7,660 lbs
• Rivian R1T: GVWR = 8,532 lbs
• Nissan Titan XD: GVWR = 8,800 lbs
• Chevy Silverado 2500: GVWR = 10,850 lbs

 courtesy of TFL Truck.

Just in-time for Earth Day.

-LS

Is Household Transportation Cost Affordable?

On 25 March 2024 Streetsblog posted " How Car Ownership is Keeping  Americans from Financial Security" and reference supporting data from a study conducted by the US government Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

In the government study the cost of U.S. transportation includes the different modes of transportation like rail, transit, ferry, taxi, and private automobiles. These costs represent the total amount households spend on transportation.

Transportation cost is a measure of transportation affordability compared to other household expenditures. A transportation cost burden measures the percentage a household budget spends on transportation after taxes. After taxes is  a better measure of what a household has available to spend on transportation. 

Households are divided into five groups (quintiles) by household annual gross income. The groups are Highest > $245,000  and Lowest < $25,000.

In 2022, transportation was the second largest household expenditure behind housing, accounting for 15% of average household spending. The cost burden fell hardest on households in the lowest group, the household making less than $25,000 spent 30% of their after-tax income on transportation while those in the highest fifth spent 12%, see the chart.

More take-aways from the study:

• Percent of after-tax income spent on transportation, two cases:
  
• Households No Vehicle: Lowest Income -3%  Highest Income -5%
• Households Owning Vehicles: Lowest Income -45% Highest Income -12%
• Vehicle ownership is the greatest burden on low income earners
• The cost burden for rural and urban households is about the same for any income earner but a greater burden for lower earners.
• Over 65 age households cost burden is about 45% of income after taxes.

-LS

CICLO Irvine Open Streets Event

CICLO Irvine Open Streets

CicloIrvine, Irvine's first-ever Open Streets Event, will take place Saturday, May 4th, from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM. It will temporarily close streets to cars and open them up to people on foot, bikes, skateboards, wheelchairs, and other active transportation modes to repurpose them into a temporary re-imagined public space.   On Barranka from Harvard to Creek Road, see map. 

Map care of Councilwoman Kathleen Treseder and City of Irvine. 

-LS

Support Cal Senate CALTRANS Complete Streets Bill

In April the 2024 Complete Streets Bill will come before the California Senate Transportation Committee, the bill requires CALTRANS to address the safety needs of all roadway users; walkers, bikers, transit and motorists. The Senate Bill is COMPLETE STREETS POLICY for Caltrans in Laguna Beach, that's Route -133 and Hwy -1 South Coast Highway.

Show your support with a one-click (finished) letter to the Senate Transportation Committee or add your comments. Here's a letter sample:

I join with CalBike in asking you to support SB-960, the Complete Streets Bill before the Transportation Committee. My community Laguna Beach is separated by two major CALTRANS highways with no provisions for other mobility modes; walkers, bikers, and transit. At the same time our community ranks the most dangerous in 103 similar communities due to these Caltrans highways.  SB-960 would address these issues. 

Here's the link to SB-960.  

Here's the CalBike link to send your letter.   

UPDATES:  SB-960 votes in August 2024:

Passed Assembly 58:17

Passed Senate 31:9

 

 -LS

Caltrans Complete Streets Corridor Webinar

2024 Summit Advance Webinar

Complete Streets Caltrans Corridor

Webinar broadcast now:

• Caltrans allocated for Complete Streets projects: $15 Billion
  
• Caltrans Compete Streets projects planned: $200 Million

Given the allocated funding Calbike will push Caltrans to implement the projects more aggressively.

Webinar ID: 851 8963 0258

CALTRANS Addresses Complete Streets

CALTRANS got a new gig. 

Caltrans is no longer exclusively about moving cars, a new Director’s Policy for Complete Streets (DP-37) addresses moving pedestrians, cyclists, transit and private automobiles.   Their new 2022 directive provides technical input and strategic direction on policies and guidance related to walking, biking, and transit. 

Since 2022 Caltrans supports a new department dedicated to multi-modal transportation planning,   The Caltrans Complete Streets Action Plan is a planning guide for the Caltrans new Directive 37 to build Complete Streets including policy and procedures, standards, funding data collection and promotion. 

The CASP identifies key high-priority efforts needed to implement the new Director’s Policy starting 2022.

We can now say "Complete Streets" and "CALTRANS " in the same sentence, so let's embrace the positive changes Caltrans can bring to Laguna Beach.

https://dot.ca.gov/programs/esta/complete-streets

-LS

Complete Streets State Legislation - 80 CoSponsors

Calbike sponsored legislation agenda

California Roadway Users Changing

California's roadway population is changing, our roads and streets are showing signs of obsolescence, they are becoming Stoads. In Laguna Beach too our roadway users are changing from car-only to mixed-use: a blend of walkers, active transportation, transit and cars. 

Complete Streets are safe streets, comfortable for people who walk, bike, and take transit as well as driving motor vehicles. In 2020 Laguna Beach ranked by OTS as the most dangerous city in 103 California cities for 1-speed related injuries and fatalities 2-alcohol related collisions. Laguna Beach demands Complete Streets.  

All roadway users demand equal access to our streets and highways, these demands are driven by affordable housing, congestion, economics, trip distance, and parking.  Complete Streets are a remedy for a new mobility plan as mandated in LB General Plan Policy and the LB Vision 2030 Strategic Plan, and consistent with climate action policy in the LB Climate Protection Action Plan.

2019 Legislation Failed

In 2017, a CalBike-commissioned poll showed that Californians across the state, political and demographic groups support building Complete Streets.

In 2019  CalBike sponsored SB 127, the Complete Streets for Active Living Bill. The bill would have required Caltrans to follow its own Complete Streets Policy and prioritize the safety of everyone using our roads. Despite overwhelming support in the legislature and from constituents, Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed the Bill.

Complete Streets Policy  Sponsors

In 2023, CalBike joined 100 mobility, climate justice, and transportation organizations to write Governor Gavin Newsom, urging an independent investigation of Caltrans, better oversight and a moratorium on freeway expansion.

In 2024 CalBike and co-sponsors are once again sponsoring a Complete Streets bill introduced by Senator Wiener, SB 960.

The result of the co-sponsors persistence and hard work are a new legislative agenda for 2024. A brief introduction to the new legislation follows.  

2024 Complete Streets Bill

SB 960, authored by Senator Scott Wiener, would require Caltrans to implement safe infrastructure for people bicycling and walking when it repaves a state route that serves as a local street. CalBike invites you to join their Complete Streets Campaign.

Safe Vehicles Save Lives Bill 

SB 961  another part of Senator Wiener’s safer streets package.  This bill consists of two measures; the first part requires trucks to provide side-guards to protect people riding bikes or walking from being pulled under the rear wheels of a truck. Trucking companies oppose the measure. The second part requires speed limiters on passenger cars to a maximum 10 mph above the posted speed limit, starting with 2027 models.

Quicker and Better Bikeways Bill

AB 2290 the Better Bikeways Bill limits state funding for Class III bikeways (or bike routes) to streets with speed limits under 20 mph. These are the least safe bicycle infrastructure, which typically include only Sharrows marking a lane shared by car drivers and people on bikes. The bill removes loopholes and strengthens requirements for Complete Streets on state and local street projects already funded by the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Program.

The bill’s final provision creates a quick-build pilot at Caltrans. Quick-build adds safety elements for people bicycling and walking in months rather than years.

No Freeway Expansions for Freight

AB 2535, sponsored by the Charge Ahead California coalition, limits highway expansions for freight traffic, a critical step toward reducing our freeway dependence and triggeriing induced demand from freeway expansions. 

A Plethora of New Complete Streets Legislation

A dozen new bills for 2024 include AB 2086 for Caltrans accountability and SB 689 Bike Lanes in Coastal Areas: This bill converts an existing motorized vehicle travel lane into a dedicated bicycle lane near the Pacific coast. Read the details at CalBike here.

How to Take Action

You can add your name to petition the Governor for Complete Streets here.  Follow bike-friendly legislation on CalBike’s Legislative Watch page here.

 -LS

Complete Streets Federal Legislation - Markey/Fetterman 2024

New Complete Streets Legislation

Complete Streets Policy and approach to road design emphasizes safe street access for all road users, pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcycles, transit and automobiles by prioritizing infrastructure and new vehicle code rules. These roadway users have historically been left behind by legacy transportation bias that preferred motorists. In January 2024 Senators Markey and Fetterman have put forward The Complete Streets Act that takes the first steps toward a new street safety mindset that will ensure all road users have access to safe, equitable transportation options and apply nationally.

Correcting Street Design Standards

Legislation introduced October 2023 aims to correct America's road safety crisis by modernizing roadway design standards that leads to over 4000 pedestrian fatalities per year. The Building Safer Streets Act sets new standards for safer streets by reforming the development process for a highway design manual called the MTCUD (Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices). This change will redefine how road projects should integrate transit, multi-modal and safety features and address dangerous design standards.

The Act would streamline FHWA (Federal Highway Administration) road design practices, require the FHWA to publish new guidance to help develop multimodal streets work in local contexts, and would no longer allow a time metric to displace safety and increase dangerous speeds when evaluating project benefits. 

Collisions Matter

The chart shows trends in pedestrian fatalities nationally from 2009 to 2021 resulting in over 40,000 deaths in a decade. 

Pedestrian Fatalities Nationally  -SmartGrowthAmerica

These are the 2020 OTS traffic safety rankings for Laguna Beach, out of 103 similar cities Laguna ranks:
 
   Pedestrians : 14
   Bicyclists : 8
   Motorcycles : 2
   Alcohol involved : 2
   Speed involved: 1
  Hit and Run: 11.

DOT Chooses Safety over Speed

For an example of street design with a motorist bias, consider how a posted speed limit is derived. Previously the posted speed is that speed which 85% of freely flowing motorist traffic would travel at that location. In a Complete Street allocation (Complete Streets Act) the new speed limit would be set to a safe speed for all roadway users in a multi-modal design.

Transit over Highway Funding

Past funding has been allocated 20% to transit and 80% to highway development but all Americans—no matter where they live—deserve transportation options that are convenient, affordable, sustainable and safe. But this arcane policy makes it an uphill climb for transit agencies to deliver that kind of service. In fact, fewer than 10 percent of Americans live within walking distance of transit that runs every 15 minutes or less, Transit Center found.  The new legislation addresses the funding imbalance.

Take Action for New Legislation

To support these improvements ask your senator to cosponsor these bills.

-LS

Car Violence Survivors Week

American injuries caused by vehicles by the numbers:

Estimated 2,497,657 people injured on U.S. roads in 2021;

Estimated 6,063,428 police-reported non-fatal traffic crashes in 2021.

 

Traffic deaths on U.S. roads: 

36,355 in 2019 < 39,007 in 2020 < 42,939 in 2021;

19,937 crashes every day;

118 deaths caused by auto accidents each day.

 

January 22-26 is Gun Violence Survivors Week in America where:

over 200 people are wounded with a gun;

110 people are killed with a gun (2023).

https://momentsthatsurvive.org/

iT'S tIME fOR cAR vIOLENCE sURVIVORS wEEk iN aMERICA.

-LS