ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
MEETING DATE: February 13, 2024 AGENDA CATEGORY: New Business TO: Multimodal Transportation and Safety Ad-hoc Committee FROM: Gregg Strakaluse, Director
DATE: February 5, 2024
SUBJECT: Discussion and Report on Safe Routes to Schools & Parks
[Document Description]
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends discussion and receive and file staff report.
BACKGROUND:
Safe Routes to Schools and Parks have been and continues to be a top priority for City Council and the Public Works Department. Routes to parks and schools occur in a variety of ways on a variety of surfaces. The many ways people move is termed multimodal transportation. This may include walking, running, bicycling, and motoring on a motorcycle, in an automobile, and on a bus. Electrified devices have created a boom in transportation, particularly for recreation. Scooters, unicycles, bicycles, tricycles, skateboards, and others are using the public right of way and are entitled to do so with motorists with very little exception, but in accordance with the rules of the road. Limited access facilities such as freeways restrict the type of vehicles allowed. Lastly, the American Disabilities Act establishes design standards to ensure that the public rights-of-way are accessible to those with disabilities. Providing safe and accessible routes is a complex issue, but there are many design options and technologies available to engineers for developing a well-balanced solution for multimodal use.
Establishing a route to/from a park or school doesn’t mean it’ll be used or safe. In many areas of the City, 5-foot bike lanes are provided along 12-foot vehicular travel lanes on arterials with speeds exceeding 50 MPH. Also, adding a safety feature, like a caution sign, to an existing route doesn’t necessarily ensure that it’ll be substantially safer to use. Engineers should understand that there are a wide variety of users of the right-of-way, as well as the wide variety of design options and technologies available for use in 2024.
Prior to Measure N (one-cent sales tax), actions to improve safety over the years have been limited to what could be provided due to budget constraints. Compounding this, the traditional approach to roadway design was focused on moving vehicular traffic with minimal delay. The consequences of this have been higher than normal vehicular speeds, one of the lowest vehicular commuting times in the nation (Axios), and one of the highest pedestrian (#7) and bicyclist fatality (#11) rates in the nation (Dangerous by Design-2022, Car Insurance.org-2023). There have been actions take over the years to add additional warning and regulatory signage, implement occasional police enforcement details, and install flashing beacons; today there are many more innovative designs and technology available to traffic engineers to protect pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists.
To add even more perspective, transportation development standards for land developers have required the construction of traditionally wide vehicle travel lanes for dedicated rights-of-way, with minimal accommodations for sidewalks and bike lanes. This has changed in recent years. Today’s development standards have narrowed vehicle travel lanes in most cases to 10-feet and provide for buffered bicycle lanes. Sidewalks buffered by landscaping to the curbline are encouraged.
Safe Routes to Schools and Parks Needs Assessment and Mapping Portal In late 2022, the Department, in close collaboration with school officials and parent-teacher organizations, began to identify transportation safety needs within a half mile radius around schools and parks. Understanding the transportation safety issues facing students and neighborhood residents has been important for the Department. To organize the data and information, staff began to map these needs in the City’s Geographic Information System (GIS). Mapping the needs throughout the City and highlighting disadvantaged areas (defined by CalEPA’s 2018 Disadvantaged Communities Map) has enabled staff to plan, budget, and prioritize improvements.
The following hyperlink provides direct public access to the Safe Routes to Schools and Parks mapping portal. It’s a powerful tool for engineers and planners to use for identifying and tracking the transportation safety projects proposed and completed. It can be found at the following link:
https://cob.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/sidebar/index.html?appid=3f3829f6db214a059301a6e1453ff 3f6
Over the 155 square miles that make up Bakersfield, the following features are summarized on the mapping portal:
155 schools (public, charter, and private) within the City or within a County pocket within the City; 62 Parks;
Approximately 21.62 miles of missing sidewalk or pathways, much of which is pending construction by future development of vacant parcels;
7 proposed pedestrian flashing beacons;
8 sets of proposed radar feedback signs;
44-intersections of proposed reflective traffic signal backplates; 4-roads with raised medians islands;
6-Intersection with proposed geometric improvements;
Multiple Active Transportation Projects (a.k.a. Complete Streets) Areas for allocating American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding are consistent with the bounded disadvantaged areas on the map. Additionally, a layer is provided for Transformative Climate Communities (TCC) area also known as the Southeast Strong area.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There are multiple funding sources for Safe Routes to Schools and Parks, the most prominent being the American Rescue Plan Act. Significant grants have also been awarded. Staff provides the following funding summary:
$2.2M Highway Safety Improvement Projects (HSIP)
Reflective Backplates (various locations),
New Raised Medians (Jewetta, Camino Media, Hosking, Panama) Radar Feedback Signs (various locations)
School Flashing Beacons (Norris Elementary School, Stiern Middle School) $8M Active Transportation Projects (ATP)
Friant-Kern Multiuse Pathway ($4.3M)
Chester Avenue Bike Lanes ($200K)
H Street Complete Street ($3.5M)
$10M RAISE Grant
Chester Avenue ($10M)
$6M ARPA Funding
Of the available $6M in ARPA funding for Safe Routes to Schools and Parks, roughly $5.2M remains to be encumbered.
Total Encumbered to date: $788,838
$449,429 Monitor Street 30% Complete Street Design (S. High School to Golden Valley High School)
$141,909 Rafer Johnson School Area Improvements: ADA Ramps, Sidewalk, Curb, Gutter $87,500 Fruitvale Jr. High School Flashing Beacon
$110,000 Bike Transportation Plan
Encumbrance plan for $5.2M prior to the December 31, 2024 deadline are as follows:
$1.75M to complete the Monitor Street Improvement Design $1.9M to fill roughly 4.4 miles of sidewalk gaps or create other safe pathways; $300K Intersection Control Evaluations (potentially roundabouts) o McKee Road
$550K Curb Extensions & Traffic Calming
$450K Enhanced Decorative Crosswalks
$250K Rectangular Rapid Flashing Devices, at Crosswalks
COUNCIL GOAL:
Safety and Resilience
ATTACHMENTS: Web link address for Safe Routes to Schools and Parks Mapping Portal:
https://cob.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/sidebar/index.html?appid=3f3829f6db214a059301a6e1453ff 3f6