CicLAvia is this SUNDAY

"To the Sea"

It's here again, the fourth annual Los Angeles CicLAvia is Sunday 21 April 2013. Come join the block party in Los Angeles! You can ride your bike, walk, push your stroller, skateboard, rollerblade, Razor, hop, skip and jump for 15 miles without worrying about cars or traffic. Bring you dog, kids, hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, water bottle, and good shoes.

You can get there without your car. "Take Metrolink--it's better than Disneyland!"

• Click here for a map of the route
• Click here for a FAQ of the event
• Click here for photos of last years event
• Click here for the Metrolink train schedule $10 bucks round trip!
• Click here for copious details at Speaking of Spokes, SC Patch

See you on the train or see you there! -LS

LB City Hall Seeks Mobility Experts with Multi-Modal Experience

The city of Laguna Beach is soliciting proposals from consultants with experience in multi-modal transportation system planning and design. The public is invited to attend workshops to assess current transport conditions and plan for a new mobility system based on a multi-modal approach. The consultant will report progress from the planning process and input from workshops via the city website. All the stakeholders involved in Laguna's mobility system should attend: business owners, school district, police and fire departments. The public is encouraged to contribute by attendance or posting comments on the city website. The solicitation in the RFP (pictured) is well written with deliberate content, take the time to contribute your ideas.

How to Solve Traffic 101

seattle.car2go.com

Here is more OUT-OF-THE-BOX thinking to solve the parking and traffic problem in Laguna Beach. Call your wheels with your Smartphone App. Brought to you by those urban grunge kids in Seattle, car2go is a car-share program that allows anybody with a membership ($35 Registration) to telephone their wheels and drive away. Cities benefit because visitors don't park their personal vehicle on Laguna's streets, residents don't either. All those extra cars that choke Laguna streets remain at home in the garage, or better yet sold at auction. No need to build a $55,000,000 parking garage.

So you are in Laguna and need wheels to get around? Call laguna.car2go.com. Pick-up your wheels in five easy steps:

1. Use the car2go Smartphone App.
2. Walk around the block.
3. Get-in.
4. Go. (38cents/minute)
5. Park.

One more Kool tool in the traffic tool-kit brought to you by creative planners in Seattle.

"Get in. Go. Park. It’s as simple as that."  See http://seattle.cars2go.com.

Will CalTRANS get a grip on this road?

LCR Head-on Crash, photo credit LB Patch

Laguna Canyon Road is operated and maintained by CalTRANS, the California Department of Transportation division of highways. CalTRANS is held by federal mandate under Deputy Directive 64 to maintain and operate this rural canyon road safely for all road users, they include pedestrians, cyclists transit buses and motorists.

Tesla Model S, photo credit Google Images

CalTRANS instead operates the canyon road like a freeway where hot-rods are not discouraged from racing. Patrons want to put a 'safe' crosswalk at LCAD. Ever see a safe crosswalk on a freeway? When 10,000 Altura Laguna residents descend on Laguna for beach access, the conditions for road users on LCR will become even worse. When will the city of Laguna Beach or CalTRANS get control of this road?

The Village Arrival

Systemic problems require long-term planning and sustainable solutions.

Balance the mobility system.

Council Meeting on the Village Entrance

Project photo c/o LB Independent

Laguna Beach City Council held a special meeting tonight to present two plans for the Village Entrance giving a net gain of roughly 200 parking spaces at a cost of $33 to $55 Million. That is a lumped average cost of $220,000 per parking space. The plans include substantial park grounds and pathways connecting ends and points of interest.

Councilwoman Elisabeth Pearson presented the first plan while councilwoman Toni Iseman delivered the second. During her presentation  Pearson emphasized this astonishing quote: "get rid of a sea of cars, cars look unattractive" followed by " Our spending reflects community values". Next Iseman followed with: " we don't like people in cars, we like them on their feet."

Despite 4-5 years of community input and educating Council on this topic, no Council member uttered the words "Complete Street Policy".

Sorry folks it never happened. Those task-force meetings you attended, you were only dreaming. If we spent $33-55 Million on a real mobility plan for Laguna Beach, we could adopt a true city-wide multi-modal transport plan that would eliminate cars (congestion), not just hide them in the bushes for $220,000 each. But now I'm dreaming. -LS

LETS BE CLEAR

This is a 'Vine Covered Parking Garage'















This is a 'Village Entrance'

Paak da Ka Only $70,000 Each

Laguna Beach City leaders have the audacity to label a 600 car multi-story parking garage as " THE VILLAGE ENTRANCE".

Laguna Beach Independent Article

Coastline Pilot Article

Maintaining a myopic view of Laguna's mobility problems will lead to expensive ineffective solutions like this one.

 

During  Community Workshop #3 the city's hired consultants recommended a multi-mode transport plan would be preferred over building parking garages due to cost, space and growth constraints.

Whatever your view on the $42 Million Dollar project, add your comments here or to the on-line articles and attend the council meeting on the subject Tuesday 26 March 2013 5:00pm (check for presentation time). Read the agenda bill for this meeting here.


-LS

Parking Management Community Workshop #3

... back from a very encouraging Workshop #3 for the Parking Management Plan hosted by the Laguna Beach Planning Commission and guest speakers from RBF consulting. Our speakers were very well informed on this topic and patiently responded to questions from the audience through-out the duration of their 2-3/4 hour presentation. The audience were very engaged on this topic and received our guests with a warm welcome. A note of gratitude goes to our Planning Commission members for selecting consultants with experience outside Orange County.

Here are some very brief comments from notes:

Three noteworthy parking strategies of many presented were these

1. Incentive Priced Parking
2. Parking Structures
3. Mixed-Modal Transportation

• Growth in Laguna's downtown parking demand is 4% on average
• The sophistication and expense of building parking structures to keep pace with a 4% growth in parking demand is prohibitive (at 4% the parking demand will double every 18 years).
• A mixed-modal transportation strategy is preferred to more parking structures
• Voluntary employee parking will free-up more downtown parking
• Of  RBF clients, 90% adopt and implement recommended plans
• Implementation success relies on good city leadership to champion idea
• Special interest groups often squash good ideas
• The world of parking management outside Laguna Beach is changing profoundly, Laguna can catch-up to change.

A power-point presentation of  Workshop #3 on 20 March 2013 .
 

Score: Parking: 385 Bikeracks: 0

Recently the city of Laguna Beach requested proposals from transportation consultants for a downtown business district parking management plan. The Introduction of this 'RFP' reads compliant with AB 1358 and Complete Streets Policy, excerpt:

"The ideal proposal will include the development of innovative parking strategies that complement the complete streets policies of AB 1358. The submitted Downtown/Laguna Canyon Area parking recommendations should recognize the importance of a balanced, multi-modal transportation network that meets the needs of all users of streets, roads, and highways; including, pedestrians, bicyclists, children, persons with disabilities, seniors, movers of commercial goods, users of public transportation and motorists. Consultant recommendations shall also include strategies that improve City livability, sustainability and reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions."

The city selected a winning proposal from RBF Consulting of Irvine where the consultant addresses "a balanced multi-modal transportation network" (so far) in this way:

The word 'bicycle' is used 0 times.
The word 'bike' is used 0 times.
The word 'walk-in' is used 0 times.
The word 'walking' is used 0 times.
The words 'bike-share' are used 0 times.
The words 'bike lane' are used 0 times.
The words 'bike route' are used 0 times.
The words 'bike rack' are used 0 times.
The words 'car-share' are used 0 times.
The word 'sustainable' is used 0 times.
The word 'motorcycle' is used 1 time.
The word 'bus' is used 1 times.
The word 'shuttle' is used 6 times.
The word 'trolley' is used 14 times.
The word 'parking' is used 385 times.

(See Technical Memorandum 1)

If you see a disconnect between the city RFP and the consultant proposal, then there is hope. Remember you earn the government you keep so get involved. The next public Workshop on LB parking is today Wednesday 20 March 6:30pm at city hall, click here for meeting details. -LS