1 APPENDIX A
BETTER OVERLAND & SAFER FOX HILLS PROJECT
COMPATIBILITY WITH PREVIOUSLY ADOPTED CITY PLANS AND POLICIES
This Appendix A provides a summary of the policies, goals, and objectives the City’s Complete Streets Policy, Bicycle and Pedestrian Action Plan, and Local Road Safety Plan that City that staff used to develop improvements to include in the Better Overland & Safer Fox Hills Project.
The proposed improvements described herein are non-exhaustive. For a detailed description of all proposed improvements, refer to conceptual plans for the Project (Attachments 2 & 3).
Complete Streets Policy
Adopted in January 2020, the City’s Complete Streets Policy affirms the City’s commitment, “to promote healthy and sustainable mobility for Culver City residents and visitors by providing safe, convenient, and comfortable access to destinations throughout the City by walking, bicycling, transit, and autos.” The policy applies to all work within the public right-of-way and requires the City to routinely implement complete streets in its projects.
An analysis of the Complete Streets Policy in relation to the improvements proposed in the Better Overland & Safer Fox Hills Project is provided in Table A, below.
TABLE A
PROJECT COMPATIBILITY:
COMPLETE STREETS POLICY
Complete Streets Policy Project Compatibility
Network connectivity
The City will implement a transportation system that
provides a connected network of streets and facilities that accommodate all modes of travel and enhances bicycle
and pedestrian connectivity to public transit, schools, parks, public facilities, regional connections, and businesses.
The project will create a new, north-south active
transportation corridor that currently does not exist in the City. It will connect to several east-west facilities,
including the Ballona Creek Bike Path and Venice Blvd
protected bike lanes and greatly enhance multimodal
network connectivity.
Street design criteria
The City will refer to best practices and standards when implementing projects. By aligning with best practices and standards, the City will:
• Emphasize pedestrian access along and across City
streets by, for example, providing protected crossing
locations and shortening crossing distances
• Pedestrian access is emphasized through various
improvements, including wider sidewalks and sidewalk-
facing streetlighting, new sidewalks on the south side
of Slauson Ave between the 90 on/off ramp and
Hannum Ave, pedestrian refuge islands to minimize
pedestrian exposure to vehicular traffic when crossing
the street, three new crosswalks on Green Valley
Circle, and a new signalized crosswalk at the Julian
Dixon library.
• Provide well-designed and context-sensitive bicycle
accommodations along applicable streets based on
provisions of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Action Plan
(BPAP) and prioritize bike routes designed for people of all ages and abilities with emphasis on access to
schools, parks, and public facilities.
• The project proposes 5.3 miles of new or improved
bikeways on routes identified in the BPAP that will
provide safe, comfortable connectivity to places such
as El Rincon Elementary School, Fox Hills Park,
Lindberg Park, Blanco Park, Veterans Memorial Park
and the Plunge, West LA College, and the tri-school
area.
2 TABLE A
PROJECT COMPATIBILITY:
COMPLETE STREETS POLICY
Complete Streets Policy Project Compatibility
• Provide for the safety, access, convenience, and
comfort of people of all ages, abilities, and background, with the understanding that children, older adults, and persons with disabilities require special
accommodations.
• An “all ages and abilities” philosophy is applied at
every stage of design to ensure the project advances
the City’s mission of creating a Culver City for
everyone. Directional curb ramps, lengthened
pedestrian crossing times at intersections, leading
pedestrian intervals (LPIs), and no right-turn-on-red
restrictions are just some ways the project proposes to increase safety, access, and comfort for vulnerable
users.
• Prioritizing safety for all road users including on
thoroughfares by managing vehicle speeds and conflict
points through design and innovative solutions.
• The project proposes narrowing vehicular lanes and
implementing protected intersections on a main City
thoroughfare—Overland Ave— and will enhance safety
for every mode of travel, including vehicles, by
reducing conflict points and discouraging unsafe
speeds.
Environmental sustainability
The City will implement street improvements, such as
stormwater best practices and an expansion of the City’s urban forest, and integrate natural features, such as
topography and drainage, into project design.
The project proposes to plant new trees wherever
possible and when consistent with the City’s Urban
Forest Master Plan.
Context sensitivity
The City will plan its streets in harmony with adjacent land uses; will coordinate with businesses to develop or
enhance vibrant business districts; and will solicit input from local stakeholders to ensure that improvements promote a strong sense of community and reflect local character.
City staff hosted open houses, lunch & learns, and walk audits to gather feedback from everyone that lives,
works, plays, or travels on the project corridor. All
feedback was reviewed, considered, and incorporated
into the project design wherever possible within the
context of the project’s underlying mobility and safety goals.
Bicycle & Pedestrian Action Plan
Adopted in June 2020, the Bicycle & Pedestrian Action Plan (BPAP) established a vision where, “Culver City will be a community where bicycle and walking provide affordable, safe, and healthy mobility options for all residents. New projects and programs will work to enhance multi-modal mobility.”
The project team that developed the BPAP reviewed various City policies and plans— including the City’s Complete Streets Policy, ADA Transition Plan, Urban Forest Master Plan, Parkway Design Guidelines—and performed extensive public outreach and stakeholder engagement to inform the recommendations, policies, and goals in the BPAP. Public feedback was collected through a variety of means, including:
• Outreach Meetings and Events: The BPAP project team hosted 14 meetings/events to reach a wide breadth of stakeholders. Events included a booth at Fiesta La Ballona; an “Issues & Eggs Breakfast” with the Culver City Chamber of Commerce, and presentation at several Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) meetings.
• Online Engagement: The BPAP project team leveraged the City’s existing social media channels and email distribution lists, developed a project website, and launched a public input map where members of the public could submit location-specific comments about bicycle and 3 pedestrian improvements. Nearly 600 comments were collected via online engagement. The BPAP project team found that:
o “One comment frequently received included advocating for a protected bikeway on Overland Avenue.”
o “Pedestrian safety was also heavily emphasized in stakeholders’ comments. For example, comments identified the intersection of Green Valley Circle and Fox Hills Drive as dangerous due to heavy traffic and the curvature of the roadway.” o “Multiple comments advocated for a safe crossing near Culver City’s library on Overland Avenue, just north of Ballona Creek.”
• Community Survey: In addition to the public input map, 235 people submitted project surveys regarding challenges and opportunities with respect to biking and walking in the City.
Chapter 4 of the BPAP provides a set of network recommendations for bicycle and pedestrian improvements throughout the City driven by the guiding principle of “a commitment to mobility for all.”
A summary of the BPAP in relation to the improvements proposed in the Better Overland & Safer Fox Hills Project is provided in Table B, below.
TABLE B
PROJECT COMPATIBILITY:
BICYCLE & PEDESTRIAN ACTION PLAN
Improvement
(Type)
Description Project Compatibility
Bikeways
(Bicycle)
Bicycle Improvements
Recommends 22.85 miles of new bikeways to
augment City’s existing 14-mile network of
bikeways.
The project proposes 5.3 miles of new or
improved bikeways on streets identified in the
BPAP.
Leading
pedestrian interval
(Pedestrian)
A leading pedestrian interval (LPI) gives
pedestrians to enter the crosswalk at 3-4
seconds before vehicles are given a green
indication, allowing people walking to better
establish their presentence in the crosswalk
before vehicles have priority to turn left or right.
LPIs or dynamic no-right-turn-on-red
restrictions are proposed at every signalized
intersection.
Directional curb
ramps
(ADA)
Recommends directional curb ramps that align
with the crosswalks they serve, improving
navigation for people with visual impairments,
people in wheelchairs, and people using
strollers.
Directional curb ramp upgrades are proposed
at every signalized intersection along the
project corridor.
Crossing facilities
(Pedestrian)
Recommends a variety of improvements to
improve safety, visibility, and comfort for
pedestrians crossing the street, including high-
visibility continental crosswalks, new pedestrian
beacons at mid-block or uncontrolled
(unsignalized) crossings, and advance stop or
yield markings for vehicles
The project proposes to upgrade all standard
crosswalks to high-visibility (continental), a
new signalized crosswalk is proposed at the
Julian Dixon Library, and four new crosswalks
are proposed in the Fox Hills neighborhood.
Traffic calming
(Bicycle,
Pedestrian)
Recommends facilities that encourage drivers to
travel at a speed appropriate for the surrounding
land uses and users
Proposed improvements such as curb
extensions, protected intersections, and
narrowed travel lanes will discourage
speeding and promote appropriate speeds
along the project corridor.
Pedestrian-scale
lighting
(Pedestrian)
Also known as sidewalk-facing streetlighting,
pedestrian-scale lighting improves visibility for
people walking, as opposed to those at heights
and directions intended to light the roadway for
motorists
The project proposes to retrofit all streetlights
on the project corridor to include a sidewalk-
facing luminaire.
4 Local Road Safety Plan
The City’s Local Road Safety Plan (LRSP) was adopted in February 2021 with a vision to, “identify roadway safety issues within Culver City, and address them through a holistic approach using the E’s:
Engineering, Encouragement, Enforcement, Emerging Technologies, and Evaluation.”
Table C shows how the improvements proposed in the Better Overland & Safer Fox Hills Project are consistent with the LRSP’s goals to improve traffic safety, with particular emphasis on the safety of vulnerable users.
TABLE C
PROJECT COMPATIBILITY:
LOCAL ROAD SAFETY PLAN GOALS
Goal Project Compatibility
Systematically identify and analyze roadway safety
issues and recommend appropriate improvements
Through the LRSP’s systematic analysis, Overland Ave is classified as a “high-risk corridor” in the LRSP, with six intersections along the project corridor classified as “high- risk intersections.”
This project proposes to implement a comprehensive suite of safety improvements in response to the findings of the LRSP.
Improve the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists by
using proven effective countermeasures
The project proposes to implement several “Proven Safety Countermeasures” recommended by the Federal Highway
Administration, including crosswalk visibility enhancements, LPIs, flashing crosswalk beacons, design improvements
along curved roadway segments, and more.
Ensure coordination of key stakeholders to implement
roadway safety improvements & response within Culver
City
As used in this goal, “stakeholder” refers to City
stakeholders like the Police and Fire Departments. Public Works staff are working with staff in Police and Fire to ensure that the proposed improvements will not impede
emergency response.
Continually seek funding for safety improvements City staff are requesting approval to submit applications for grant funding to construct this project.
Ensure that safety improvements are made in a manner
that is fair and equitable for all Culver City residents As described in the project’s goals (see Background section above), the Better Overland & Safer Fox Hills Project is for everyone and places particular emphasis on people with
disabilities and vulnerable users.