DATE:
September 22, 2026
CATEGORY:
New Business
DEPT.:
Public Works Department
TITLE: Active Transportation Plan Adoption
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt the Mountain View Active Transportation Plan.
BACKGROUND
On November 10, 2020, Council directed staff to integrate and update the Pedestrian Master Plan (PMP), adopted by Council on January 28, 2014, and the Bicycle Transportation Plan (BTP), adopted by Council on November 17, 2015. The combined plan is the Active Transportation Plan.
In the new Active Transportation Plan, competing uses within the public right- of-way would be evaluated with a more holistic approach. On May 24, 2022, Council authorized the City Manager to execute an agreement with NN Engineering, Inc. (Project Team), for the development of a Mountain View Active Transportation Plan (MVATP), Project 21-36.
Plan Purpose
The MVATP is a long-range plan that sets a vision for the future of walking, bicycling, and rolling in Mountain View. It summarizes the current conditions in the C ity, including community perspectives and experiences. It identifies and prioritizes projects, policies, and programs that the City can implement to promote and support walking, bicycling, and rolling. It will serve as a guide and resource for City staff’s day -to-day work and provide context for decisions and direction made by the City’s advisory bodies and City Council for the next 10 to 20 years. This plan is intended to be complementary to other precise plans, specific plans, regional plans, and local plans, such as Vision Zero, Safe Routes to School, the Biodiversity and Urban Forestry Plan, and the Parks and Recreation Strategic Plan, among others.
Plan Development
The Plan was developed through a multi-year process that included technical analysis, extensive community engagement, and interdepartmental collaboration. As the plan progressed, staff
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provided updates and requested feedback from various stakeholders and committees. This includes:
● Technical Advisory Committee (TAC): comprised of 13 staff members from Public Works, Community Services, Fire, and Community Development Departments, and City Manager’s Office.
● Active Transportation Public Advisory Committee (ATPAC): comprised of representatives from 12 community-based organizations, nonprofit entities, or advisory bodies, and Valley Transportation Authority.
● Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC): a five-member committee established to address a variety of issues associated with promoting a safe and positive environment for bicyclists and pedestrians in Mountain View, including transportation, safety and access.
● Council Transportation Committee (CTC): a three -member City Council subcommittee established to oversee programs and activities intended to improve and enhance the City’s transportation systems.
Staff also provided periodic updates to City Council. Table 1 lists meetings and topics discussed at BPAC, CTC, and City Council.
Table 1: Committee, Commission, and Council Meetings
Date Body Topic
May 24, 2022 City Council Authorize the City Manager to execute an agreement with consultant for development of Active
Transportation Plan
February 22, 2023 BPAC Receive presentation on scope of work and provide input to vision statement
October 25, 2023 BPAC Review and provide feedback on existing conditions report
April 24, 2024 BPAC Review and provide feedback on draft scoring criteria May 28, 2024 City Council Review and approve scoring criteria, with changes September 3, 2024 CTC Recommend approval for funding, revised scope, and direction on vision statement
October 22, 2024 City Council Approve funding, revised scope, and direction of vision statement
April 1, 2025 CTC Recommend staff proceed with ATP, with holistic network maps and revised scoring criteria
March 4, 2025 CTC Project update
March 11, 2025 BPAC Scoring criteria and Holistic Network Map Active Transportation Plan Adoption
September 22, 2026
Date Body Topic
April 29, 2026 BPAC Review and comment on Public Draft Active Transportation Plan
June 16, 2026 CTC Review and comment on Public Draft Active Transportation Plan
August 18, 2026 BPAC Recommend Final Plan for adoption
August 31, 2026 CTC Recommend Final Plan for adoption
Public Engagement
Public and stakeholder participation was a critical component of the MVATP’s development.
Public engagement was multi-lingual (English, Spanish, Chinese, and Russian), with translation and interpretation services for key events.
The project team hosted multiple community engagement efforts to understand walking and biking conditions in Mountain View and to allow opportunities for the community to comment on plan development. These included:
● Guided walking and biking tours focused on vulnerable users and challenging areas
● A multilingual online map -based survey with 655 respondents, used to identify favorite areas and challenges
● Targeted small-group multilingual meetings to reach underrepresented communities
● Analysis of roughly three years of public feedback from the City’s AskMV platform, which allows people to submit concerns to the City
● Soliciting comments on the Public Review Draft Plan through CollaborateMV and an in- person public meeting
Input from these activities informed the plan recommendations and the criteria for selecting the top-priority projects. Comments included specific location- based suggestions as well as larger themes, including support for the trails and protected bikeways, recognition that major streets are both important routes and barriers, a desire to improve intersections and reduce driver speed, and the fact that people walk and bike for everyday travel, not just recreation.
Vision and Guiding Principles
The Vision and Guiding Principles of the MVATP were developed in collaboration with the ATPAC, the city’s BPAC, and City staff. The BPAC provided input into the Vision at the February 22, 2023 Active Transportation Plan Adoption
September 22, 2026
meeting. CTC reviewed the Vision and recommended revisions to City Council on September 3, 2024. City Council approved the revised Vison on October 22, 2024:
Mountain View leads the region with an Active Transportation Plan that defines a series of connected, low -stress, and green corridors that invite active transportation. The corridors include shade, wildlife habitat, and public open spaces. The plan enables the City to intentionally support a culture of walking and biking, enhance biodiversity, and reduce climate change impacts.
Guiding Principles:
● Mobility and Connectivity streets that are easy to use and well -connected for walking, biking, and rolling purposes.
● Safety and Comfort: Trails, sidewalks, bikeways, intersections, and crosswalks that are safe, inviting, and easy to use.
● Access and Equity: Policies and programs that engage and protect vulnerable populations and increase mobility choices.
● Sustainability and Biodiversity: Green streets that improve access to nature and open spaces while promoting sustainability via native habitats and stormwater management.
● Innovative and Action- Oriented: An implementable plan with clear standards that are updated and aligned with adopted policies
ANALYSIS
This report summarizes the contents of the Final MVATP, how staff addressed the comments received on the Public Review Draft MVATP, how staff addressed the comments from BPAC and CTC on the Draft Final MVATP, and next steps.
Plan Contents
The Final MVATP includes the following content:
Existing Conditions
The MVATP began with a review of background documents and analysis of existing conditions and community survey input. The analysis examined active transportation conditions across demographics, mode share, network connectivity, collisions, access, equity, biodiversity, and user perceptions. The Draft Existing Conditions and Needs Summary report was presented to Active Transportation Plan Adoption
September 22, 2026
and reviewed by BPAC on October 25, 2023. A summary of existing conditions is presented in Chapter 2 of the MVATP, and the Final Existing Conditions and Needs Summary report is included as Appendix E.
Chapter 2 also includes holistic network maps, which illustrate Mountain View’s existing and proposed bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, drawn from the City’s specific plans, corridor studies, master plans, and bicycle, pedestrian or V ision Zero related planning efforts. The intention is to bring together on a single map all proposed bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, to identify gaps, and to show a long-term vision for the City’s walking and bicycling networks.
Recommendations
The recommendations presented in Chapter 3 and Appendices A and B of the MVATP align with the plan’s vision and focus on providing safer, more comfortable, and separated facilities for people walking and biking. The pedestrian recommendations include new and/or upgraded Class I shared-use paths, sidewalks, and crossing improvements. The bicycle recommendations include Class I shared-use paths, Class II bicycle lanes, Class III bicycle routes and boulevards, and Class IV separated facilities. Tables 2 and 3 below provide a summary of the proposed new facilities.
Table 2: Pedestrian Recommendations
Recommendation Mileage Number
Crossing improvements 30
Class I shared-use path 10.5
Sidewalk widening 5.4
New sidewalk on one side 1.5
New sidewalk on both sides 0.3
Table 3: Bicycle Recommendations
Recommendation Mileage
Class I shared-use path 10.5
Class II bike lane 4.9
Class III bike route 4.3
Class IIIB bicycle boulevards 20.7
Class IV separated bikeways 22.3
This chapter also includes a set of program and policy recommendations to support active transportation. These program and policy recommendations were developed to align with MVATP’s Vision and Guiding Principles and to support safer, more accessible walking and biking.
They were also informed by related programs and policies in other adopted City plans, including the Vision Zero Action Plan and Local Roadway Safety Plan.
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The proposed programs and policies include improving intersection safety (e.g., increasing sightlines at corners and leading pedestrian intervals), strengthening education and enforcement (e.g., road safety education programs and targeted enforcement), enhancing the public realm (e.g., improving tree canopy and waste bin placement policy), and supporting behavior ch ange through programs (e.g., implementation of Safe Routes to School programs and community walk and bike events). The plan also recommends updating standards and policies (e.g., bicycle parking requirements and standard details) and using data -driven approaches to evaluate effectiveness over time.
Prioritization
Projects were prioritized using seventeen metrics distributed across five criteria: Access and Equity, Safety and Comfort, Mobility and Connectivity, and Sustainability and Biodiversity and Feasibility. The first four criteria relate directly to the MVATP guiding principles and the fifth criteria, Feasibility, was added at the direction of CTC and City Council. Each scoring criterion had an associated metric that allowed for measurement of the criterion using objective data, community comments, or professional judgment, depending on the criterion. Mountain View staff across several departments, the TAC, ATPAC, BP AC, CTC, and City Council provided input into the scoring and prioritization process.
The existing conditions analysis and the development of a holistic network map identified over 100 potential opportunities for pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure projects across the Ci ty.
These projects were scored and prioritized using the criteria above.
Staff reviewed the 24 highest-ranked project opportunities and selected twenty as priority projects for the City to lead in the near term . The four that were not selected already have final design underway (1) or are in Caltrans right-of-way (3). For the projects within Caltrans right-of- way, the plan notes that the City will coordinate with the lead agency —Caltrans or VTA— to support improvements. The list of priority projects and the conceptual designs are provided in Appendix B of the MVATP.
Implementation
Chapter 4 of the MVATP outlines the steps, resources, and decisions needed to move priority projects from concept to construction. It also notes the validation step needed at the start of each project to evaluate the feasibility of the concepts proposed for the priority projects.
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Resurfacing and Reconstruction Concepts
To balance the need for near-term improvements with the higher cost and longer timeline associated with major capital projects, the plan includes two alternatives for priority projects:
● Resurfacing alternatives present improvements that could be included in routine maintenance projects, including grind and overlay. These alternatives do not involve moving curb lines; therefore, the existing curb-to-curb width defines the space available for reallocation. For recommendations that reallocate roadway space, the validation step will be necessary to determine feasibility.
● Reconstruction alternatives assume the street is fully demolished and rebuilt within the existing right -of-way, typically as part of a major capital project triggered by utility replacement or a similar scale of work. These alternatives present visionary concepts that may affect drainage patterns, trees, medians, and other existing features. These concepts will require additional validation, feasibility analysis, and community engagement.
Cost Estimates
Cost estimates were developed for resurfacing alternatives of priority projects only. Cost estimates for resurfacing alternatives were developed using generalized unit costs and frequency assumptions. The estimated costs for these resurfacing projects are approximately $55 million.
Green Street Infrastructure
The Plan provides recommendations for improving green street infrastructure in Mountain View.
Green streets deliver measurable benefits that extend far beyond aesthetics. They provide space for natural elements to support biodiversity, incorporate sustaina ble stormwater strategies, create inviting environments through complementing traffic-calming efforts, and prioritize active transportation modes for people of all ages and abilities. Recommendations are conceptual in nature and did not include feasibility review.
Smaller-Scale Safety Improvement Projects
The Plan notes that the City wil l continue advancing pedestrian and bicycle safety through smaller-scale projects that require limited design and can be implemented by City maintenance staff. Improvements may include signage, striping, pavement markings, rubber curbs, flexible Active Transportation Plan Adoption
September 22, 2026
delineators, sidewalk repairs, temporary bulbouts, and refuge islands, either as individual projects or grouped across multiple locations.
Public Input
The Plan includes a discussion of public input and the City’s commitment to continued engagement as MVATP projects advance. The level of outreach will generally reflect the size and impact of the project, with smaller projects following the City’s standard design review process and larger or more significant projects receiving additional analysis, community engagement, and potentially a feasibility study before design.
Funding
Funding to support active transportation infrastructure and programming is available from many different sources at the federal, state, regional, and local levels. The Plan provides a non- exhaustive list of potential funding options in Chapter 4.
Comments on Public Review Draft Plan
As part of the public engagement process for the review of the Mountain View Active Transportation Plan (MVATP), City staff presented the draft document in a series of meetings including:
● Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) on April 29, 2026 ● Public Workshop on May 4, 2026
● Council Transportation Committee (CTC) on June 16, 2026
The Plan was also available for public review on Collaborate MV from April 20, 2026, through May 18, 2026. The City used email subscription lists and social media to invite people to the meetings and share the opportunity to comment on the public draft plan.
During the public review period, staff spoke with community members and received written input via the project website and email. The City received over 200 individual comments on the public draft plan. During the BPAC and CTC meetings, members offered positive feedback on the plan’s thoroughness and readability and recommended additions to the recommended policies and programs.
The key themes raised by BPAC, CTC, and community members included:
● Request the Final Plan be reviewed by BPAC and CTC prior to bringing to City Council ● Strengthen the Programs and Policies section by referencing adopted local plans ● More focus on pedestrian improvements in MVATP
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● Greater consistency across sections of the plan
● Better highlight the MVATP’s role in advancing sustainability ● Add performance metrics, defined outcomes, and better multimodal data collection
Attachment 2 identifies where and how these themes have been addressed in the Final Plan.
CTC Comments on the Public Review Draft Plan
At the June 16, 2026, CTC meeting, the committee requested several modifications to the plan, which staff incorporated into the Final MVATP:
● Strengthened language in the implementation chapter describing how we coordinate with Caltrans, County, VTA, and neighboring jurisdictions.
● Clarified that the Carol Avenue sidewalk recommendation is subject to the City’s Unimproved Streets Policy.
● Added a section discussing how the City will seek public input as project recommendations move forward.
● Added language related to e-bikes.
● Revised narrative in Latham Street cut sheets to indicate that proposed sidewalk widening may consist of spot improvements, and that the City’s intention is to retain mature trees.
● Added disclaimer to maps noting that sidewalk widening could consist of spot improvements.
● In recommended programs and policies, it is noted that strong design standards are tools to ensure that developments construct adequate pedestrian infrastructure.
● Added section on private development and the MVATP to the implementation chapter.
● Expanded discussion of how the MVATP will coordinate with other City plans.
● Added appendix listing Vision Zero non-infrastructure recommendations.
Advisory Committee Discussion and Recommendation
Staff presented the Draft Final MVATP to the Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee on August 18, 2026. The BPAC voted unanimously to recommend the plan for adoption to the City Council with modifications:
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● Edits to text and photos to further emphasize pedestrians.
● Clarification that delivery bots do not currently use City sidewalks.
● Addition of language recommending small-scale construction projects that support safety.
● Noting that the intersections of El Camino Real with Rengstorff and Showers should be included in future projects and planning.
Staff presented the Draft Final MVATP to the CTC on August 31, 2026. Staff recommended incorporating the changes requested by BPAC and presented additional recommended changes.
The CTC voted to recommend the plan for adoption to City Council with the staff recommended modifications and added three new changes:
● Enhance Greening/Tree Canopy Improvements description in Table 7 ● Make the disclaimer more obvious in the cut sheets in Appendix B ● Enhance discussion of bicycle boulevards/shared streets in the plan
Attachment 3 lists the requested changes and how they were addressed in the Final MVATP being presented to the City Council.
NEXT STEPS
After adoption, staff will begin implementation of the plan. City staff will develop reporting metrics to measure the plan's success and begin collecting data. The first report on the progress of ATP implementation will be presented to BPAC in Fall 2027.
The MVATP is a visionary, long-range plan, and each capital project is expected to require further public engagement and engineering review to validate assumptions and confirm feasibility prior to implementation. Staff will recommend new priority projects and programs be added to the Capital Improvement Program based on opportunities, Council priorities, and funding availability.
Several priority projects are already underway or will be shortly. These include, but are not limited to:
Underway
21-40 – California Street (West) Complete Street Improvements, Pilot 22-01 – Middlefield Complete Streets
25-28 – Miramonte Avenue Improvements
25-39 – Rengstorf Avenue Complete Street Study
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Funded
27-27 – Mountain View Design Standards Update
27-24 – Evelyn Avenue Complete Streets Study
FISCAL IMPACT
Adopting the plan will have no direct fiscal impact.
LEVINE ACT
California Government Code Section 84308 (also known as the Levine Act) prohibits city officials from participating in any proceeding involving a “license, permit, or other entitlement for use” if the official has received a campaign contribution exceeding $500 from a party, participant, or agent of a party or participant within the last 12 months. The Levine Act is intended to prevent financial influence on decisions that affect specific, identifiable persons or participants. For more information see the Fair Political Practices Commission website: www.fppc.ca.gov/learn/pay-to- play-limits-and-prohibitions.html
Please see below for information about whether the recommended action for this agenda item is subject to or exempt from the Levine Act.
EXEMPT FROM THE LEVINE ACT
☒ Competitively bid contract
CONCLUSION
The Mountain View Active Transportation Plan is a long-range plan that sets a vision and guiding principles for the future of walking, bicycling, and rolling in Mountain View. It identifies and prioritizes projects, policies, and programs that the City can implement to promote and support walking, bicycling, and rolling.
The plan was developed through a multi -year process involving technical analysis, community engagement, and interdepartmental collaboration. The Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee, Council Transportation Committee, and City Council provided guidance and direction at key decision points. The Final MVATP presented to City Council reflects revisions in response to community input and comments from BPAC and CTC members.
The plan includes holistic maps of existing and proposed bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure to show a long -term vision for the City’s walking and bicycling networks. Additionally, t he plan prioritizes 20 projects for the City to focus on in the near -term. The Plan also discusses incorporating green street infrastructure into active transportation projects. Priority projects are Active Transportation Plan Adoption
September 22, 2026
conceptual and will require additional validation, including technical analysis and community input. Future project development will consider active transportation benefits together with vehicle operations, parking, trees, drainage, utilities, right-of-way constraints, funding, and other site-specific conditions.
The plan recommends over 20 policies and programs for the City to implement to support walking, bicycling, and rolling. Recommendations include the continuation or expansion of existing policies and programs, as well as new ones.
If adopted, the MVATP will guide City staff’s day-to-day work and provide context for decisions and direction made by the City’s advisory bodies and City Council for the next 10 to 20 years.
ALTERNATIVES
1. Adopt the Mountain View Active Transportation plan with additional modifications.
2. Do not adopt the Mountain View Active Transportation Plan.
3. Provide other direction.
PUBLIC NOTICING—Agenda posting
Prepared by:
Lauren Ledbetter
Transportation Manager
Allison Boyer
Assistant Public Works Director
Approved by:
Kimbra McCarthy
City Manager
Attachments: 1. Active Transportation Plan and Appendices
2. Response to Comments on Public Review Draft Plan
3. Changes Requested and How Addressed