CITY OF POMONA
COUNCIL REPORT
September 19, 2022
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: James Makshanoff, City Manager
Submitted By: Rene Guerrero, Public Works Director
SUBJECT: ADOPTION OF THE POMONA SAFE STREETS AND ROADS FOR ALL (SS4A) STRATEGIC PLAN RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City Council adopt the Pomona Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Strategic Plan.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Adoption of the Pomona SS4A Strategic Plan (Attachment No. 1) will allow the City to apply for roadway safety funding to implement traffic safety improvements with the goal of reducing traffic fatalities and severe injuries on Pomona’s roadways and street intersections.
FISCAL IMPACT:
No Fiscal Impact at this time.
PREVIOUS RELATED ACTION:
On August 15, 2022, the City Council adopted the Local Roadway Safety Plan (LRSP).
DISCUSSION:
The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) established the new Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) discretionary program with up to $1 billion in roadway safety funding available. Municipal governments, such as the City of Pomona, are eligible to apply for SS4A funding. As part of the SS4A grant application, the City is required to submit a current Local Roadway Safety Plan (LRSP), which the City has prepared and was adopted on August 15, 2022, as well as a Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Strategic Plan. The LRSP has become the basis for traffic safety guidelines moving forward, which the City will review every ten years (or as funding allows). The LRSP not only focuses on sites with a concentration of severe collisions but also aligns with the California Statewide Strategic Highway Safety Plan, which allows the City to target a broad geographic area and systemic implementation of cost-effective measures.
The City will apply for SS4A funding to implement several traffic safety improvements to reduce traffic fatalities and severe injuries on Pomona’s roadways and street intersections should we be successful in being awarded grant funding. The proposed project includes installing/upgrading traffic signage and signal modification, including Leading Pedestrian Intervals (LPI) and all-way stop controls, as well as crosswalks, Class II bike lanes, pavement markings, and restriping across strategic project locations identified in the City’s Local Roadway Safety Plan (LRSP). LPIs are low-cost adjustments to signal timing to reduce conflicts between pedestrians and vehicles by improving visibility of pedestrians in the crosswalk.
To be eligible for SS4A funding, the City must also demonstrate that roadway safety improvement projects are focused in disadvantaged communities. Identifying community areas that are designated as disadvantaged communities is a core element of the SS4A grant application. The Pomona SS4A Strategic Plan uses the USDOT metric for determining which Census tracts can be considered a “historically disadvantaged community.” The plan also uses the definition for disadvantaged communities (i.e., Areas of Persistent Poverty) provided by the USDOT.
Reviewing current safety plans, guidelines, and standards, as well as potential revisions to those guidelines, is a critical part of the SS4A application. As this policy assessment is not included in the 2022 Local Roadway Safety Plan, a detailed discussion of Pomona’s major safety-related plans (and their relation to the newly adopted traffic safety guidelines in the LRSP) is provided in the Pomona SS4A Strategic Plan. Adoption of the LRSP provides a proactive approach to addressing safety needs and demonstrates agency responsiveness to safety challenges. The SS4A Strategic Plan goes hand-in-hand with the LRSP, as both are required to be eligible to apply for SS4A funding.
The principal goal of the City’s traffic safety commitment is to reduce traffic-related injuries, particularly to pedestrians. By adopting the LRSP and the Pomona SS4A Strategic Plan, the City demonstrates its commitment to reducing traffic fatalities and severe injuries on our streets and roadways by prioritizing projects that focus on traffic and pedestrian safety improvements.
Prepared by:
Maritza Sosa-Nieves, Senior Management Analyst
ATTACHMENT:
Attachment No. 1 – Pomona Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Strategic Plan Adoption of the Pomona Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Strategic Plan