Complete Street Design Interventions for Laguna Beach

To investigate the solution for greater mobility in Laguna Beach, the Complete Streets Task Force was asked to research, consolidate and report recommendations for infrastructure improvements and interventions that would build a Complete Streets (CS) network and restore balance among four forms of mobility, walking, biking, busing, private autos, and to do it safely. Cities that build Complete Streets have taken the necessary steps for socially responsible living and made the necessary investment for a sustainable economy. The benefits are better health through exercise, preparation for escalating energy prices, adopting new mobility safely, and combating climate change. 

 Cal Worthington said 'Cars are made to get around (California) and there is no other way to get around'. California shaped transportation policy around this prophetic statement and Laguna Beach bought it too. When a city adopts Complete Streets in the circulation element of its general plan the roadways are designed to accommodate all users not just cars. That means pedestrians, cyclists, public transit users and automobiles. A mobility network balanced among all these elements reduces the demand for parking and automobile infrastructure and increases the incentive for commuters to use safe alternatives. Infrastructure used in a complete street include sidewalks, bike lanes, bus lanes, comfortable and accessible transit stops, frequent crossing opportunities, median islands, accessible pedestrian signals, and curb extensions to slow traffic. 

The single most direct means to connect Central Laguna with South Laguna is via automobile on Pacific Coast Highway. Today there are no other safe means of mobility connecting Central with South Laguna except walking on the beach or swimming. The emergency parking shoulder on PCH is utilized by bicycle riders and pedestrians at their peril. The northbound road shoulder at Aliso drives directly into the support column of the Aliso Pedestrian Bridge and into the curb at Aliso Bridge. The sidewalks north and southbound are discontinuous and do not serve pedestrians along those routes. In case you were wondering, yes these routes are used by brave pedestrians and cyclists competing with automobile traffic passing at 45mph. Even dog walkers risk waking on Pacific Coast Highway despite traffic blasting by within inches of Fido. 

In cities where complete street interventions are successful, city policy played a crucial role in encouraging those interventions. Substantial increases in bicycling, pedestrian traffic and public transport require an integrated package of many different complementary interventions, land use planning, and restrictions on car use. Cities begin the change of policy by supporting resolutions to complete the streets.

Introduction to Complete Streets Policy for Laguna Beach

The Vision Laguna 2030 Strategic Plan completed in December 2001 states, "We will be a safe and enjoyable community to walk and bicycle with convenient transit and smooth traffic flow". Nine years later in April 2009 the City Council in a 4-0 decision approved the Climate Protection Action Plan (CPAP), however the agenda bill deleted the bicycle provisions. Subsequently the Council amended the agenda bill to authorize a task force to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety and re-incorporate bike provisions into the Plan. The "Complete Streets Task Force" has been meeting with City members since September 2009 to investigate mixed mobility for Laguna Beach including bicycles, pedestrians and public transit.

Both Laguna Beach residents and visitors are inconvenienced by traffic congestion and perceived scarce parking due to our romance with the automobile and a car saturated transportation system. At peak commute hours we experience traffic 'bottlenecks' because we rely on private vehicles as the sole means of mobility around town. Laguna Beach residents and visitors could help relieve traffic congestion by adopting a transportation system of mixed-mode mobility that includes walking, cycling, public transportation and private transport.

Mixed-mode mobility is consistent with other world class cities as the means to greater connectivity between destinations while improving the quality of life, raising the attractiveness of streets and towns, and lowering the cost to our environment. These benefits are not difficult to rationalize, simply consider that every driver you accommodate with a bus, bicycle, or a walking alternative, you remove one car from our roads and free-up one parking space. Recall the contentious debate that available storefront parking remains a huge necessity to attract, operate, and sustain retail business in Laguna. Adopting mixed-mode mobility relieves the demand for limited store-front parking.

Complete Streets allows different modes of mobility to co-exist with a better record of traffic safety. A complete street means an equal allocation of space is given to all four modes of mobility. A complete street revitalizes the business community by increasing foot traffic and increasing overall capacity of the transportation network. A complete street is designed and operated to enable safe access for all users, pedestrians, dog walkers, bicycles, motorists and transit riders of all ages and abilities must be able to safely move along and across a complete street. Cities with complete streets policies make sure that their streets and roads accommodate all users in a balanced fashion, as well as seniors, children, and people with disabilities.

Streets are made complete through design interventions that balance mobility, but the adoption of complete street interventions is context sensitive. Design interventions may include sidewalks, accessible pedestrian signals, bike lanes, special bus lanes, accessible transit stops, curb extensions, and more. A complete street for a rural area and a highly urban area will look quite different, but both are designed to balance safety and convenience for everyone using the road.

Next week: The Complete Streets Act. This is state and federal legislation that makes complete streets a mandate when forming new city policy.

The Laguna Promenade in 2010

According to archives at the Independent and the Coastline Pilot the first articles on pedestrian traffic and promenades appear far back as August 2002, "Monolithic Structures Become Monumental Failures", by Roger Butow. Laguna residents have been contributing ideas and articles on the promenade topic for a long time. since all cities are unique and require unique solutions for implementing promenades. Since most cities are unique and require unique solutions for implementing promenades, can we resist the temptation to oversimplify this topic?

 

Promenades in all world class cities are common, but that is the extent of their similarity. Their differences lay in the design and implementation of the promenade for the surrounding infrastructure and usage. Closing a downtown street for a 'Bierfest' will most certainly give different results in Laguna Beach as it will in Budapest and Santa Monica.

 

The promenade solution for Bogota (the Ciclovia) is different than the one for Santa Monica or Laguna. What contributes to the differences in the implementation? Among them are culture, values, attitude, topography, mobility, transportation, enforcement, capacity, saturation, and not least seasonal traffic. Our City Council recognizes the complexity of downtown issues and has appointed a task force to research, survey, and make recommendations for the implementation of infrastructure such as pedestrian walkways and bikeways, a component of complete streets. 

 

The Complete Streets Task Force has been meeting since September 2009 to make those recommendations. It is the mission of this blog to illustrate what complete streets are and how Laguna Beach would benefit from adopting them. Complete Streets Policy takes a holistic view of the mobility issue in Laguna Beach, the downtown Promenade may resolve itself as a natural result of the complete streets effort.