October 25, 2022
Community Development
DATE: October 25, 2022
TO: Mayor Butt and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Lina Velasco, Director of Community Development
Lydia Elias, Planner I
SUBJECT: Bicycle and Pedestrian Action Plan Study Session
FINANCIAL IMPACT: Development of the Action Plan was funded by a California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) grant awarded to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission
(MTC) with Vallejo and Richmond as sub-applicants.
Richmond’s portion of the grant totaled $238,000.
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
N/A
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
The 2022 Bicycle and Pedestrian Action Plan (BPAP or
Action Plan) provides a set of short-term infrastructure recommendations and actions for the City of Richmond to quickly and effectively improve biking, walking, and
rolling (i.e., micromobility device, wheelchairs, etc.). The BPAP is designed to work in conjunction with the City’s Local Roadway Safety Plan (LRSP), created in tandem
as part of the Travel Safe Richmond project. Alta
Planning and Fehr & Peers assisted the City of
Richmond in preparing the plan.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
RECEIVE a presentation of the DRAFT Bicycle and
Pedestrian Action Plan and provide feedback –
Community Development (Lina Velasco 620-6841).
AGENDA
REPORT
October 25, 2022
DISCUSSION:
The City of Richmond is committed to prioritizing safety on its roadways for all users.
The Bicycle and Pedestrian Action Plan (BPAP or Action Plan) contains recommendations that are designed to provide short-term infrastructure improvements with a focus on decreasing the risk of collisions for people walking, biking, rolling, and driving across Richmond. Data on bicycle- and pedestrian-involved collisions provided insight into locations and roadways representing the biggest safety challenges.
Richmond has a rich history of community-driven planning projects (i.e., neighborhood and corridor plans) guiding bicycle and pedestrian planning. This BPAP consolidates and sets those ideas into a prioritized set of feasible, immediate actions. This Action Plan combines past planning efforts, existing guidance, and documentation to create a set of achievable objectives for the City of Richmond to meet, improving existing bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.
This Action Plan is designed to work in conjunction with the City’s Local Roadway Safety Plan (LRSP), which was adopted by City Council on July 19, 2022. The recommendations from the LRSP have been incorporated into the BPAP’s recommendations and together these plans comprise the Travel Safe Richmond project.
The two plans work together to create unified policies and infrastructure recommendations for improving roadway safety and comfort for roadway users of all ages and abilities. In addition, this Action Plan once adopted, updates and replaces the previous Bicycle Master Plan and Pedestrian Master Plan, adopted by the City Council in 2012.
The Bicycle and Pedestrian Action Plan included a multifaceted community engagement process. The City used multiple engagement methods and partnerships to further the reach and effectiveness of the engagement opportunities. Community engagement included three community workshops, three pop-up events, the development of a project website with an interactive web map, coordination with the City’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC), and numerous meetings with neighborhood councils. The City partnered with Rich City Rides to lead community engagement with Richmond’s neighborhood councils. Over the project’s development phase, the community engagement process provided over 500 interactions (workshop or pop-up attendance and online interactions) with community members and stakeholders.
The Action Plan recommends over 90 miles of new or improved bicycle facilities as well as pedestrian spot improvements at 134 locations. Recommendations include projects identified in other City adopted or approved corridor and transportation plans, including the recently approved LRSP. The recommended improvements directly respond to safety concerns and community feedback. Four categories drove the recommendation of the projects: safety, health and equity, connectivity, and community support.
The BPAP sets forth 77 high priority projects, 123 medium priority projects, and 118 opportunity projects. These identified projects can be found in the tables and figures included in the Draft Bicycle and Pedestrian Action Plan (Attachment 1). The prioritized list of projects in the Action Plan is not intended to be a hardened order of projects but
October 25, 2022
rather a guide to support City of Richmond staff in selecting projects that can fill a variety of grants, repaving, or opportunistic situations. As funding is identified, individual projects will be implemented.
Next Steps:
The final Action Plan will incorporate additional community feedback from the third community workshop occurring on November 9, 2022, as well as any feedback received from this study session, project website, and project email. Public comments will be considered until November 11, 2022. Consultants and City staff will finalize and bring the Action Plan back to City Council for adoption in December 2022.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Draft Bicycle and Pedestrian Action Plan dated October 7, 2022