1 Moore, Tania
From: Diane <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, September 19, 2023 8:23 AM
To: [email protected]; CITY COUNCIL (INCL. CMO STAFF) Subject: Agenda Item #1
Dear Mayor and Councilmembers,
I am writing because I am excited to see you taking the time to learn about the Huntington Beach Mobility Plan. This is exactly the kind of thing a city council SHOULD be working on. HB is a city that is full of active people (whether residents
or tourists) who enjoy the beautiful climate that allows for traveling by means other than a car. However, it is very important that the city plans well to make that movement as safe as possible for all. It's also an important piece to an overall climate plan. More people moving around without using cars prevents carbon emissions, prevents rubber particulates from tires, and reduces the required maintenance on the roads.
I am particularly concerned about ensuring non‐automobile travel on routes to schools be enhanced. I fondly remember walking or riding my bike to school as a child. It's an important step for a child to begin having some independence. But with traffic as it is today, most of us would never consider letting our children have that independence.
Thank you,
Diane James
1 Moore, Tania
From: Steven C Shepherd Architect <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, September 19, 2023 8:40 AM
To: [email protected]; CITY COUNCIL (INCL. CMO STAFF) Subject: HB IN MOTION - STUDY SESSION
Attachments: 230919 - HB IN MOTION - SCHOOL SAFETY CORRIDOR PLAN.pdf HB in Motion isn't about lycra-clad superathletes and fearless bike commuters.
HB in Motion is about ordinary, everyday residents, and those residents have a message: Improve our streets NOW!
Let our kids safely walk or bike to school.
Let my elderly neighbors safely cross the street to get to our local park and End the need for parents pushing strollers to sprint across wide arterial streets simply to get to the local playground.
I see these ordinary HB residents -school children, senior citizens & parents- put in danger every day, and it is entirely unnecessary. We know how to make our streets safer, but in order to make this change, it must first be made a priority.
I've heard a lot of talk about "protecting our children" and making our city safer. Well, if that's really what you want to do, we've gotta roll-up our sleeves and do the work to get it done! Our school districts are doing the work by implementing the new e-bike safety and education programs. Our Public Works department is doing the work by reconfiguring the beach path, Delaware St., and a short section of Springdale St.
What is our city council doing?
Rather than just mindlessly complaining, I am here to help. I have attached a simple plan for a School Safety Corridor that would serve 18 different Huntington Beach K-12 schools with a pedestrian/bicycle route aimed at connecting our community and empowering our residents.
If you're really serious about protecting our kids and improving public safety in Huntington Beach, this plan presents a straightforward and inexpensive way to do it.
Steve Shepherd
Huntington Beach 92646
TO
F.V.
TO
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SCHOOL SAFETY CORRIDOR
SCHOOL SAFETY CORRIDOR
EXISTING K-12 SCHOOL OR COLLEGE
AREA WITHIN 1/2 MILE OF THE
SCHOOL SAFETY CORRIDOR
The
SCHOOL SAFETY CORRIDOR
route is comprised of approximately 3-1/2
miles of Bushard St, 3 miles of Garfield Ave, & 4 miles of Edwards St. As you can see, this route runs directly adjacent to 18 difference HB K-12 school campuses & within less than 1/2 mile of every Huntington Beach high school & community college.
This route also runs within 1/2 mile of the beach, City Hall, the Seniors Center, the HB Sports Complex & Central Park
MAP LEGEND
TO
CM
BEACH PATH BYPASS ROUTE
TO
CM
SCHOOL SAFETY EXTENSIONS
(DIRECT CONNECT TO SCHOOLS)
COPY OF 2021 TRAFFIC FLOW MAP - OCTA
SCHOOL SAFETY CORRIDOR
SCHOOL SAFETY EXTENSIONS
(DIRECT CONNECT TO SCHOOL)
BEACH PATH BYPASS ROUTE
MAP LEGEND
SCHOOL SAFETY CORRIDOR
The
SCHOOL SAFETY CORRIDOR
routing deliberately avoids high traffic
volume arterials, commercial zones & streets with extensive existing on- street parking. Instead, it seeks to utilizes lesser used arterials with low existing traffic volumes.
This zig-zag route connects the farthest southeastern extent of Huntington Beach to the farthest northwestern corner.
The BEACH PATH BYPASS ROUTE parallels our Beach Path and provides an alternate route for reaching DTHB. Having an alternate route could lessen congestion along the existing Beach Path and thereby improving safety.
EXISTING SECONDARY ARTERIAL
RECONFIGURED SECONDARY ARTERIAL
In Huntington Beach, our existing arterial streets and roadways are primarily long, straight and level. The rights-of-way are wide and average vehicle speeds are high - easily exceeding the posted speed limits.
Currently there is not a prioritized route for getting from one end of Huntington Beach to the other on foot or on a bicycle. The best case scenario for a cyclist attempting to navigate from southeast HB to northwest HB would be riding in a Class II Bike Lane on an arterials with significant traffic volume & vehicles traveling at 45mph and above. This is simply the way it is and has been for at least the last 20 to 25 years.
A great deal of work has been done by HB Public Works to carve out more and more space for cyclists on our roadways. Unfortunately, these efforts are a patchwork of projects and do not provide a comprehensive route.
So what can we do?
In order to obtain better results (more riders), I suggest that all funding & design efforts be concentrated on developing a central ped/bike spine running across HB. Within the existing rights-of-way of this route we should prioritize pedestrians and cyclists and use all available methods including traffic calming, & "hard" protected bike and walking paths. Vehicle traffic will still use these streets, but it will be limited to narrow single lanes that make it clear this is a space for pedestrian & cyclist first rather than an typical auto-centric domain. This
SCHOOL SAFETY CORRIDOR
would be design to serve casual cyclists like school children, novices, senior citizens & persons with disabilities.