1 STAFF REPORT
DATE: J
anuary 10, 2023
TO: Jus
tin Hess, City Manager
FRO
M: Patrick Prescott, Community Development Director
Ken Berkman, Public Works Director
VIA: David Kriske, Assistant Community Development Director – Transportation
BY: Christopher Buonomo, Associate Transportation Planner SUBJE
CT: Review of Complete Streets Plan Implementation and Vision Zero Discussion
RECOMMENDATION
1. Note and file status of the City’s Complete Streets Plan;
2. Consider how implementation of a Vision Zero Program would affect or change how Complete Streets policies and projects are implemented.
BACKGROUND
Vice Mayor Schultz requested a first-step staff report to discuss Vision Zero; specifically, how Burbank can become a Vision Zero city and develop a Vision Zero Plan with the goal of eliminating pedestrian, bicyclist, and vehicular fatalities. Separately, the City Council also requested an update on implementation of the Complete Streets Plan.1 Both Vision Zero and Complete Streets are complementary street safety programs, and therefore, this report combines both into a single report.
The fi
rst governmental entity to enact Vision Zero was Sweden in 1997. Vision Zero seeks to eliminate traffic-related fatalities across all modes of travel, set a goal to achieve this within a specified period of time, and enhance coordination across the various disciplines associated with planning, designing, implementing, and enforcing transportation systems. 1 The Complete Streets Plan can be accessed here on the City of Burbank website:
https://www.burbankca.gov/web/community-development/complete-streets-plan
COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT
PUBLIC WORKS
Attachment 1 - January 10, 2023, Staff Report – Review of Complete Streets Plan Implementation and Vision Zero Discussion
ATTACHMENT 1 - 1
2 The policy relies on collecting data that allows for responses that are targeted and focused, while creating synergy among a n agency’s many plans and implementation strategies.
V
ision Zero breaks from traditional planning and engineering in two major ways:
1. It
recognizes that people will sometimes make mistakes, so the road system and related policies should be designed to ensure those inevitable mistakes do not result in severe injuries or fatalities. This means that system designers and policymakers are expected to improve the roadway environment and implement policies (such as speed management) and other related systems to lessen the severity of crashes.
2. It is
a focused multidisciplinary approach to roadway design and management , bringing together diverse and necessary stakeholders to address this complex problem. Vision Zero acknowledges that many factors contribute to safe mobility — including roadway design, speeds, behaviors, technology, and policies — and sets clear goals to achieve zero fatalities and severe injuries.
T
hirteen cities in California have adopted Vision Zero Plans or pledged to work toward them, including neighboring cities Los Angeles and Pasadena. The City of Glendale is currently developing a Vision Zero policy.
B
urbank has the means to implement a Vision Zero program , as much of the underlying framework is already built into its existing infrastructure, enforcement, and plans such as the Complete Streets Plan, Bicycle Master Plan, and upcoming Specific Plans (SP) like the Golden State SP , Media District SP, and the Downtown Burbank Metrolink Station Transit Oriented Development SP.
The pl
anning, engineering, and enforcement efforts deployed by staff to date have resulted in declining rates of collisions, injuries, and deaths from 2013 to 2020. Burbank averaged 542 injuries and 3.4 fatalities per year on its roadway network during this period.
While Burbank’s streets are safe relative to its neighbors (Attachment 1), implementation of Vision Zero and Complete Streets projects is an approach that can continue to improve safety of our roadways for all users. The Complete Streets Plan adopted by the City Council in June 2020 kicked off this effort by providing specific policies and short, medium, and long-term projects. Both Vision Zero and Complete Streets are complementary policy and program frameworks to reconfigure streets to be safer and accommodating to all users.
ATTACHMENT 1 - 2
3 DISCUSSION
C
omplete Streets Plan
M
any of the projects identified as short-term priority projects in the Complete Streets Plan (p. 150) have been initiated. Given that initial conceptual plans have been developed and funding identified for most of the short -term infrastructure projects, most of the projects are in the planning or design phase and should begin construction in 2023. The projects are as follows:
1. B
onnywood Place/1st Street Pedestrian Safety Project (in design, construction late 2023)
o This project improves safety at the pedestrian crossing to Olive Bridge and path of travel from Downtown to the Metrolink station. This project has been combined with the First Street Complete Streets Project.
2. Front Street Protected Bikeway Project Phase 1 (in design, construction late 2023) o Provides east/west bicycle connectivi ty between Downtown and the Metrolink station to provide a first/last mile connection across the I-5 active transportation gap.
3. First Street Complete Streets Project Phase 1 (in design, construction late 2023) o Provides east/west bicycle connectivity along perimeter of Downtown and provides connectivity to the Front Street Protected Bikeway, forming a central beltway of protected bicycle infrastructure in Downtown.
4. Downtown San Fernando Boulevard Reconfiguration Project (in planning/outreach phase, construction mid 2023)
o Modifies the circulation pattern for Downtown San Fernando Boulevard.
Conceptual alternatives are being analyzed that maintain vehicular mobility while improving the pedestrian and business environment for the corridor.
W
hile not highlighted in the Complete Streets Plan, other projects consistent with Complete Streets Policies are:
• C
handler Bikeway Extension (in preliminary design, construction early 2026) o Connects Chandler Bikeway to Metrolink station, connecting the Chandler Bikeway and the Burbank Channel Bikeway to make a continuous protected bikeway that crosses the entire City.
• San Fernando Bikeway (in design, construction mid 2024) o Completes a substantial portion of a regional bike path extending f rom Sylmar to the Downtown Burbank Metrolink Station along the San Fernando Boulevard railroad corridor.
• LA River Bike and Pedestrian Bridge (in planning/ outreach phase, construction late 2025)
ATTACHMENT 1 - 3
4 o Provides the City of Burbank’s first bicycle bridge over the LA River and connects the City’s bicycle network to the proposed LA River Bike Path extension.
As these short-term projects near completion, staff will begin considering the planning of the mid-term priority projects (Complete Streets Plan p. 158). These projects include:
• Citywide Sidewalks Implementation Plan
• Citywide Safe Routes to School Plan
• Front Street Protected Bikeway Phase 2
• Downtown San Fernando Reconfiguration Project Phase 2 • Downtown Magnolia Boulevard Pedestrian Safety Improvement Project • Magnolia Park’s Magnolia Boulevard Reconfiguration Project • Chandler Bikeway Access Improvements and reconfiguration Project • Hollywood Way at Whitnall Highway Intersection Reconfiguration Project • Edison Boulevard at Hollywood Way Intersection Reconfiguration Project
Staff remains vigilant for specific opportunities to advance the planning and coordination for the longer-term projects included in the Plan. Opportunities to advance these projects could come via securing grant funds or incorporating all or some of these projects into adjacent development projects. These projects include:
• Downtown Magnolia Bridge Rehabilitation Project . Staff recently submitted a federal Reconnecting Communities planning grant to undertake feasibility study and outreach towards rehabilitating the Magnolia Bridge as well as the Olive Avenue Bridge.
• First Street Complete Streets Project Phase 2
• North Olive Greening Project
• Mariposa Street Bridle Path Project
• Hollywood Way at Empire Avenue Underpass Improvement Project • Magnolia Park’s Magnolia Boulevard Reconfiguration Project (Phase 2) • CA-134 Freeway Cap Project
Vision Zero
While the Complete Streets Plan outlines goals, priorities, and policies that the City can utilize to improve safety in the public right -of-way, it does not specify methods to implement these goals, policies, and priorities. Further, while the Complete Streets Plan includes recommendations to conduct periodic safety data collection and analysis, it prescribes this analysis citywide, and in assessing the effectiveness of specific Complete Streets Projects. It also identifies the broad responsibility of various stakeholders in ATTACHMENT 1 - 4
5 implementing the plan (such as different departments) but does not prescribe a specific method for how different stakeholders collaborate to implement the Plan.
A Vision Zero plan can help streamline and focus implementation of Complete Streets policies while providing clear guidance on how to implement them more efficiently. The Complete Streets Plan already has a stated goal of improving roadway safety, and it broadly addresses safety and injuries that road users face. It analyzes crash history, land use, commuting patterns, and equity measures to develop broad policies and prioritize projects. It has served well in guiding where to build the backbone of a citywide Complete Streets network. Vision Zero is a more focused and dynamic process to implement Complete Streets. It focuses specifically on addressing traffic safety, utilizing more recent data and responding to immediate safety concerns in specific areas. Vision Zero is usually implemented by directing a multi -functional team to rapidly analyze crash data and incidents, then potentially respond to that data by developing “quick -build” short term improvements to address crashes and incidents. The focus on vehicle speed management and reducing or restricting vehicle throughput is a unifying principle used to improve safety, and this “rapid- response” approach with a focus on reducing vehicle speeds is used to set policies across departments and set the processes that best utilizes resources.
Adoption of a Vision Zero strategy, plan, or policy does come with trade-offs. It balances convenience with safety, but with a policy preference oriented much more towards slowing speeds and restricting vehicle throughput in order to reduce the probability that vehicle conflicts result in crashes and ensures that crashes do not cause serious injury.
Under Vision Zero, reducing vehicle congestion is not prioritized and in fact, many Vision Zero improvements increase congestion and slow vehicle travel times. This shift in focus affects the existing street infrastructure, as Vision Zero projects generally narrow, tighten, or restrict vehicle road space in order to improve it for pedestrian, bicycle, and transit usage. This approach is consistent with the City’s policy documents like the Burbank2035 General Plan, as well as state policy meant to de- emphasize congestion and focus on reducing vehicle miles traveled (VMT). However, because Vision Zero takes this approach further and does so much more quickly, it would require the City to identify and modify legacy policies and projects that prioritize vehicle throughput and focus on reducing vehicle delay.
Although much of the framework is already in place for a Vision Zero Plan within the Complete Streets Plan, there are specific areas where the City can improve in order to unify all of the disparate plans and have them all work toward a goal of zero roadway deaths. These tenets have been key pillars of successful programs in other California cities.
1. Data – An effective Vision Zero derives its insights from current, concise data that can be easily shared within an organization. Currently, data is not easily shared between departments and may not be up to date. Building a robust data analytics tool including crashes, public health outcomes, speed, vehicle volume, and other ATTACHMENT 1 - 5
6 factors can more effectively target project implementation and evaluate project goals. This also enables clear, transparent reporting of project impacts.
2. Speed management – Speed is a fundamental predictor of crash survival, and as people age, their vulnerability to severe and fatal injury increases. Vision Zero prioritizes vehicle speed management and speed reduction over most other transportation roadway priorities, so that streets are redesigned for lower speeds that protect human life. Currently, the City implements a citywide speed hump program for local streets, has instituted 15 mph speed limits in all school zones, and has lowered the thresholds for installation of all -way stop -controlled intersections. Vision Zero programs expand speed management to become one of the primary engineering outcomes of all roadway design.
3. Quick-build – While Short Term Priority Projects in the Complete Streets Plan were identified as the most immediate priority, planning timelines still take multiple years to prepare for project construction. Vision Zero projects are characterized by the utilization of pavement markings, signs, bollards, and other methods and can be deployed much more quickly (one to six months) than traditionally planned projects (which have multi -year schedules). These quick -build projects can improve roadway safety until permanent projects can be funded and designed or can be incorporated into annual pavement and sidewalk repair programs . The use of transportation technologies (signal timing, detection, and other means) is another characteristic of some Vision Zero projects. Quick -build projects are particularly applicable to smaller pedestrian features that improve safety at intersections, such as bulb- outs and vehicle daylighting at corners (Attachment 2) . Roadway lane reductions or reconfigurations are another feature of Vision Zero projects that can slow vehicle throughput, reduce the number of conflict points, and reduce collisions. These improvements can come at the risk of increasing volumes on adjacent roadways when implemented on streets with higher vehicle traffic.
4. Organizational collaboration – C ollaboration within the City’s organizational structure ensures that decisionmakers and departments share the same goals and policies in order to enable a quicker, proactive approach to addressing roadway safety issues . City departments are aligned regarding imple menting the City Council’s transportation goals and objectives as dictated in the City’s policy documents. Vision Zero requires even more focused collaboration to more quickly implement improvements that address safety issues, and policy alignment on which measures are to be used to address safety, speed management, and accommodation of all roadway users.
5. Enforcement – The Police Department currently conducts weekly, monthly, and annual reviews of collision data to identify high incident collision locations and to ATTACHMENT 1 - 6
7 focus enforcement efforts. The Police Department utilizes a combination of collision data, citizen complaints, officer observations, traffic volumes and patterns, and historical citation information to guide enforcement strategies. Vision Zero programs include a robust and iterative analysis process between planners, engineers, and law enforcement who collaborate to collect data, use the data to identify roadway safety issues, and to target enforcement in places that improves safety based on this data analysis.
6. B
udget – Vision Zero programs can realign transportation and infrastructure funding to focus on roadway safety and vehicle speed management . Vision Zero programs require dedicated transportation planning and traffic engineering staff (either City staff or consultants) specifically assigned to designing and implementing Vision Zero improvements to quickly address collision patterns. The quick-build, low -cost characteristic of Vision Zero improvements (based on comprehensive data analysis) means that securing grants to transform effective temporary projects into permanent long- term improvements are more effective because these projects provide the safety benefits of the long-term improvements to the right of way. However, deploying a full Vision Zero plan necessitates increased resources for the required staff across departments.
In short, Vision Zero programs and Comple
te Streets Plans are complementary and work
together to improve access to all modes and to increase safety to all through vehicle speed management and reductions in throughput. In many ways, a Vision Zero Program is a specific method to implement Complete Streets; it does so in a way that focuses even more resources directly on safety and deprioritizes other transportation values that differ from this primary focus. A Vision Zero Program requires a commitment of the community to set safety as the highest focus, even when that focus conflicts with other values such as convenience, speed, or other attributes of a traditionally planned transportation system. It also requires a focused deployment of city transportation resources to collect and analyze data, respond to safety issues identified in that data, implement, and maintain “quick-build” projects on a short timeline, and commit to analyzing the effects of those projects on the safety of the transportation system.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact to receiving the information contained in this report. Should the City Council wish to consider adopting a Vision Zero Program or Goal, the implementation of that program would require new funds for staff to implement the program, and an increase or reallocation of existing transportation and infrastructure funds to implement Vision Zero improvements.
CONCLUSION
The Complete Streets Plan, adopted in June 2020, provides specific policies and short, medium, and long-term projects that enhance the safety of the City’s public right-of-way and transportation system. The plan has many elements similar to a Vision Zero program.
Several of these projects are in various stages of planning. While Burbank’s fatal collision ATTACHMENT 1 - 7
8 rate is relatively low compared to other surrounding cities, a Vision Zero plan can further reduce and prevent fatal collisions and improve safety for all users. A Vision Zero plan will need a commitment by the City Council to further elevate improved safety at the expense of driver convenience and delay , which will require additional recurring budget resources to provide the staffing, capital improvements, and maintenance necessary for Vision Zero projects.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 – City of Burbank Injury and Fatal Collisions 2013-2021 Attachment 2 – Examples of Vision Zero Projects
ATTACHMENT 1 - 8