Driverless Car Chase

Bob Eckstein : Science Funnies

State Route 133 Improvement Project

Laguna Canyon Road SR-133

 

Project Summary:

Construction begins: February 2021
Construction ends: April 2023
Revised Cost $39,300,000
Cost per lane foot: $18,714
Speed Reduction: None
Congestion Relief: No Way

 

 

Current Conditions: 

At Laguna Canyon Road or SR-133 southbound, the project segment consists of two general-purpose lanes in the vicinity of SR-73, narrowing to one lane after about 550 feet and continuing as one lane until approximately 300 feet before the El Toro interchange where it widens to two lanes and a left-turn lane. The route continues as two lanes for approximately 200 feet at which point it merges back to one lane for the remainder of the project area. Northbound from project marker PM 3.1,  SR-133 consists of one lane for 400 feet where it widens to two lanes and a right - turn lane at El Toro. It continues as two lanes for approximately 300 feet where it narrows to one lane for approximately 400 feet before becoming two lanes again for the remainder of the project area.

 

 Changes to SR-133:

From El Toro Northbound will become four lanes

From El Toro Southbound will become four lanes

19 utility poles El Toro to 73 will go underground

Purpose:

1. Improve roadway deficiencies  by bringing SR - 133 to  design  standards
2. Improve safety  in the  vicinity  of the SR - 133 / El Toro Road intersection
3. Reduce flooding by improving drainage flow 1.3.2 
4. Underground utility poles
5. Add a Class II (on shoulder) bike lane

Correcting Deficiencies:

• Nonstandard shoulder  widths throughout the corridor
• Overhead poles immediately adjacent nonstandard shoulder widths
• Higher-than-average  collision rates 
• Short-term flooding and debris-carrying catastrophic flooding

Complete Streets Policy Mandates:

The state mandate for Complete Street Policy is AB-1358 while the Cal Department of Transportation has their own Deputy Directive 64 mandate (origin 2001, reaffirmed 2008, 2014). This project addresses Complete Streets Policy this way: 

1.3.2.5 Legislation
There are no known federal, State, or local government mandates that relate to the project. All  projects located on the State Highway System are subject to the requirements of NEPA and CEQA.

1.6.3 Transportation Demand Management (TDM) 
TDM focuses on regional means of reducing  the number of vehicle trips and vehicle miles traveled as well as increasing vehicle  occupancy. TDM strategies were not considered and discussed as part of this project because they  were determined to be not relevant to the purpose of  the  project.

Complete Streets Policy Reality:

1.3.2.6 To encourage the alternative modes of transportation, the City of Laguna Beach (City), in cooperation with OCTA , provides a bus service from I - 405 into  Laguna  Beach in the summer months. The  City also operates a trolley service to and from the Canyon of the Arts. 

1.3.2.7 Air Quality Improvements This project does not increase  the highway  capacity; therefore, it does not contribute  additional air pollutants, and per 40  Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Title 40,  Part 93.12 6 , the project is exempt from all conformity requirements. The addition of  the Class II  bike lanes  should encourage the use of bicycles along the route. 

Bottom Line:  

There is no mention of Complete Streets compliance in the SR-133 Improvement Plan.

GOOGLE Search for Complete Streets Policy: 

No results found for "complete street policy" search:http://www.dot.ca.gov/d12/DEA/133/0P94U/.
No results found for "DD-64" search:http://www.dot.ca.gov/d12/DEA/133/0P94U/.
No results found for "Deputy Directive 64" search:http://www.dot.ca.gov/d12/DEA/133/0P94U/.

UPDATE:  Caltrans reply to Complete Streets Safety Policy

More Information:

Link to State Route 133 Improvement Project (contents)
Link to Caltrans Public Notice and Invitation.
Link to Main Project Plan
Link to Appendix D Technical Reports

Link to Daily Pilot Article 5 December 2019

Link to CEQA Notice of Determinations 11 June 2020

LS

BOSCH Parking and California Dreamin'

Lets legalize Pot ...    download your parking App ...    install Way-Finding signs ...    load your  Q-Codes ...    get Bosch Parking Assist ...    and drive a self-parking Tesla ...

before Bosch ...

 ... after Bosch!






... all of that will not free a single parking space when everybody else is also looking for parking.

Fast Company story (click)

"Real solutions to congestion would come from having fewer cars on the road"- Fast Company

-LS

Too Many Toasters? Hail a Car-share

Is Telephony a commodity or a service?  You wouldn't fill your garage with smart-phones or toasters, instead you pay for telephone communication as a service. So why buy a car with insurance fuel and maintenance, why not buy private transportation as a service?

In Laguna cars are like Mariobros Toasters.

Several start-ups have re-defined automotive transportation that way, Fair offers personal transportation at the App Store. Flexdrive offers different car models in a subscription. Carmacar offers roadside assistance maintenance and insurance from a subscription.  Car share is projected to grow globally from 5.8 million users in 2015 to 35 million by 2021 - Boston Consulting Group (Wired).            -LS

Amsterdam Was Once Car-centric

Slowly, change began to happen. “None of this happened overnight,” says Dinca. “You can trace a lot of these reforms to the 1970s, but even then, if you look at photos of Amsterdam 10 to 15 years ago, it was still very car-centric compared to what you have today. I would actually argue that really it was only in the late ’90s that the city started reaping the benefits. -Fast Company

More before and after slides from FastCompany (click)

Laguna can benefit too, so start already.

-LS

Costa Mesa Completes Multi-Use Path

On Friday May 18 in time for Bike-to-Work Week the city of Costa Mesa celebrated completion of roadway refurbishment along Arlington Drive that included roadway resurfacing, landscaping and irrigation and (drum roll) a multi-use path about 0.71 miles long along Arlington Drive. The project cost $4.7 million that's $6.62 million per mile folks, that's called design by committee. Whatever.

City Manager pursued by Council members (click LA Times)

Active Transportation Plan poster

Skateboard park on Arlington Drive

MultiUse connector trail

Costa Mesa Council, Staff and City Manager ribbon cutting (click LA Times)

Back in Laguna the City began refurbishing a 1910 farmer's burn dump in 2011, by 2015 the project costing $4.6 million was not complete, the final costs remain unknown.

Excavated ravine at Sun Valley LB burn dump

A multi-use path from Canyon Acres Drive to Forest Avenue could serve residents of Laguna Canyon at a fraction of these project costs.      -LS

The Transit X Pod

 

Pod People Video

Transit X Street View

Transit X technical data sheet here. 

Compare Transit-X mobility pod with a common bicycle. 

Transit X Compared to Bicycle

Mobility solutions should remain simple.    -LS

The LB Underground Power Agenda

Dear Laguna,
Power utilities are more than buried copper wire, "clean coal" and nukes.

PowerWall by Tesla. Installations: Santa Ana, San Jose, American Samoa.  Laguna Beach?

STOP Members,

Learn the facts about the City's undergrounding agenda and its relentless advertising campaign using YOUR taxpayer dollars to sell FEAR, not FACTS.

Please join us:

When:   May 7, 2018, 5-6:00 p.m.

Where:  412 N. Coast Highway 

                 (Zeytoon Cafe, upstairs patio)

Bring your questions, get educated and get involved!

Stop Taxing Our Property - S.T.O.P.

Massive 405 Freeway Expansion

Not Enough?

Are they insane?

The massive 405 freeway expansion began in January, it will add a lane and create two express lanes in each direction of the 405, from the 73 to the 605.

• 16 miles of 405 freeway affected
• $1.9 billion price tag
• $118.9 million per mile 

 "the project cannot provide enough additional lanes to eliminate congestion." -OCTA (source here).  

Alternatively this expansion project could pay for seventeen independent lightrail lines, from Laguna's Rock Martin Jewelry to Irvine's Barranca Metro Station.   -LS

Bike Month 2018

Click for British Medical Journal

Do you know where your bike is?

Cycle commuting was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and all cause mortality. - 2017 study, BMJ

Win a TREK FX 2 bike, helmets and more just take the bike ride pledge at OCTA here (60 seconds).  -LS