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CITY OF GLENDALE, CALIFORNIA
REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
AGENDA ITEM
Report: Adopt 2025 Glendale Roadway Design Policy
1. Motion to adopt the 2025 Glendale Roadway Design Policy.
COUNCIL ACTION
Item Type: Action Item
Approved for November 18, 2025 calendar
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Public Works Department is proposing the 2025 Glendale Roadway Design Policy, a comprehensive set of citywide street design guidelines that will consolidate multiple existing planning policy recommendations into a single, unified design framework that can be practically applied. This policy modernizes Glendale’s approach to roadway planning by prioritizing safety for all users while balancing mobility, community livability, and emergency access. By compiling standards into one reference document, the policy streamlines project development with data-driven criteria, which will expedite the implementation of Complete Streets improvements by reducing the need for repetitive, project-by-project traffic studies. By doing so, short- and medium-term projects are more likely to be completed as originally projected, rather than being delayed or pushed into longer-term planning horizons.
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt the 2025 Glendale Roadway Design Policy (Exhibit A).
ANALYSIS
Glendale’s street network ranges from residential cul-de-sacs to busy arterial boulevards, each presenting unique design and safety considerations. Over time, multiple planning policies have proposed a range of improvements, often including footnotes that call for additional studies. While these planning policies aim to enhance safety and mobility, they can lead to overlapping recommendations and added layers of analysis that increase both the time and cost of implementing roadway improvements.
Additionally, a recent scientifically conducted community satisfaction survey identified traffic safety improvements to the street network as one of the top three community concerns.
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In response, the Public Works Department identified the need for a buildable, single, consolidated roadway design policy to guide how Glendale’s streets are planned and redesigned. The Glendale Roadway Design Policy was created as a proactive step to modernize the City’s approach to street design. It provides a unified framework that prioritizes safety while balancing mobility, community livability, and emergency access.
By serving as a core reference document, the policy allows project delivery to be streamlined through clear, data-driven criteria, reducing the need for repetitive feasibility studies. Its adoption will support the implementation of Complete Streets principles and help deliver safer, more efficient, and inclusive transportation options citywide.
In addition, the consolidation of planning recommendations into a single, practical, unified policy not only supports the City's safety and mobility goals but also introduces operational efficiencies. By potentially reducing the need for project-by-project studies and clarifying design expectations upfront, the policy allows staff to move projects forward more quickly and cost-effectively. Over time, this will contribute to measurable cost savings in planning, design, and consultant support.
Policy Scope and Objectives
The Glendale Roadway Design Policy outlines a structured approach to street design citywide. It begins by summarizing the City’s roadway classification system to reflect current and future needs. For each category, the policy defines the roadway’s role in the network. The goal is to create streets that are safer and more accessible for all users, supporting Glendale’s vision of a well-connected, livable community. This effort will complement the city’s General Plan Circulation (Mobility) Element, which emphasizes safety, congestion reduction, and expanded transportation alternatives. The policy’s development also draws on best practices from local, state, and federal guidance, including neighboring jurisdictions that have similar policies, and more importantly, recent lessons learned from design, construction, and community outreach of capital improvement projects in the City of Glendale.
Design Criteria
A core component of the policy is the design criteria. These criteria cover fundamental elements of street geometry and operation, including:
Lane Configurations and Widths: Recommended and minimum vehicle, bike, and parking lane widths.
Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities: Integrating bike lanes, wider sidewalks, safe crosswalks, and other active transportation features wherever feasible. Pedestrian Enhancements: ADA-compliant curb ramps, refuge islands, Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon (PHB), Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon (RRFB), and high-visibility crosswalks.
Safety and Traffic Calming Features: Curb extensions (bulb-outs), traffic circles (where appropriate), median islands, and street trees or landscaping as buffers. 9b3
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Lane Reduction Guidelines (Road Diets)
The policy also outlines clear guidelines for lane reductions (road diets), offering a structured approach to assess whether removing one or more travel lanes on a street segment is feasible to enhance safety or repurpose the space for other uses, such as bike lanes, wider sidewalks, or additional parking.
The policy further outlines criteria for considering lane reductions, including analysis of traffic volumes, safety data, and street function. The policy offers general thresholds to guide such decisions. For example, a four-lane road with an Average Daily Traffic (ADT) of around 16,000 vehicles or less is a potential candidate for a lane reduction. Table 1 in Exhibit A is a tool for planners and engineers to quickly assess the feasibility of a lane reduction along a given roadway. The Criteria for Considering Lane Reductions matrix lists common criteria and indicates whether a lane removal on a segment would likely be feasible or not feasible. A citywide ADT List and Map, prepared in 2024, supplements this analysis by illustrating current traffic volumes on Glendale’s major roadways, helping to identify which streets carry lighter traffic versus those that are heavily traveled. This map will reflect citywide ADTs as periodically updated. The feasible criteria were developed using real-world project data and lessons learned from the City of Glendale, the City of Los Angeles, and other cities across California and the United States.
While the recently conducted community satisfaction survey found that replacing travel or parking lanes with protected bicycle lanes was a low policy priority, lane repurposing guidelines establish a uniform process for evaluating and implementing road diets, when appropriate. The policy underscores that any lane reduction must maintain acceptable traffic flow while minimizing local cut-through diversion. If a proposed change would create additional congestion or divert a significant amount of traffic to neighborhood streets, it would negatively impact communities and not meet the policy’s standards unless it can be effectively mitigated.
Implementation Strategy
The Glendale Roadway Design Policy concludes with a focus on how these guidelines will be put into practice. The Public Works Department has outlined several implementation strategies:
Integration into Projects: All new roadway projects will be reviewed for consistency with the design policy. City project managers and engineers will use the policy as a checklist during project planning and design. Interdepartmental and Agency Coordination: The policy calls for coordination with key agency stakeholders in the planning of street design changes. This includes consulting emergency responders (Fire and Police Departments) to confirm that any proposed traffic calming or lane reduction will not hinder emergency access.
It also involves working with transit providers (like Metro and the Beeline) if transit service could be affected.
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Community Engagement: The policy recommends engaging local stakeholders such as residents, business owners, schools, neighborhood associations, and city commissions. By sharing the goals and data behind the proposed designs, staff can build understanding and support. Future outreach may include community workshops, presentations, pilot projects, and other opportunities for additional feedback.
Monitoring and Evaluation: To measure the success of the Glendale Roadway Design Policy over time, the Public Works Department will track key metrics on projects that use the new guidelines. This might include before-and-after studies of vehicle speeds, traffic volumes, and collision rates on streets that are redesigned according to the policy. The policy encourages adjusting practices as needed based on collected data.
This Roadway Design Policy is not just a one-time document, but a living framework that actively guides practical decision-making. These design guidelines are meant to be applied flexibly, respecting the character of different neighborhoods, and provide context-sensitive ranges rather than a one-size-fits-all rule. By compiling these standards into one document, policymakers, traffic engineers, planners, and contractors can all work from the same playbook.
STAKEHOLDERS/OUTREACH
The Roadway Design Policy was developed through extensive interdepartmental review.
Public Works staff collaborated with other key departments, including the Police Department, Fire Department, Community Development Department, and the City Attorney’s Office. The draft policy was then presented to the Glendale Transportation and Parking Commission (TPC) at a public meeting on July 28, 2025. At that meeting, the TPC passed a motion recommending that the City Council adopt the 2025 Glendale Roadway Design Policy provided that the substance of its comments be incorporated therein.
The Community Development Department’s Long Range Planning Division reviewed the draft Roadway Design Policy twice. They provided feedback prior to the July TPC meeting and a comment resolution meeting was held in September to confirm that their comments had been resolved. Where feasible, additional comments from other collaborating departments and the TPC were integrated into the final policy, aligning the Roadway Design Policy with the City’s broader planning objectives and the upcoming Mobility Element. Going forward, staff will continue to engage stakeholders citywide as specific projects are planned under the policy, including additional community outreach as needed for major corridor redesign efforts.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with this report.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW (CEQA/NEPA)
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The activity under consideration is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act because it is not a “project” within the meaning of CEQA. Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15378, subdivision (b)(2), the term “project” does not include continuing administrative or maintenance activities, including general policy or procedure making, except as applied in specific instances.
CAMPAIGN DISCLOSURE
This item is exempt from campaign disclosure requirements.
ALTERNATIVES TO STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Alternative 1: Do not pass a motion adopting the 2025 Glendale Roadway Design Policy. Staff would continue analyzing and designing projects case-by- case for all major street projects, which will increase project delivery times, costs, and labor.
Alternative 2: The City Council may consider any other alternative not proposed by staff.
ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION
Submitted by:
Daniel Hernandez, Director of Public Works
Prepared by:
Sarkis Oganesyan, Assistant Director of Public Works/ City Engineer Pastor Casanova, T.E., Principal Traffic Engineer
Arek Harmandayan, T.E., Senior Traffic Engineer
Aaron Isreal, Sr. Assistant City Attorney
Approved by:
Roubik R. Golanian, P.E., City Manager
EXHIBITS/ATTACHMENTS
Exhibit A – 2025 Roadway Design Policy