March 3, 2023
Robert Latino, Associate Planner
City of Salinas
Community Development Department
65 West Alisal Street
Salians, CA 93901
RE: Request for comments John Street &
Abbott Street Mixed Use Development
Project
Dear Mr. Latino:
Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST) provides public transportation throughout the City of Salinas. MST has reviewed the Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) for the John Street and Abbott Street Mixed Use Development Project and would like to make the following comments.
MST serves, operates, and maintains three (3) existing stops within the project vicinity, which currently serve Line 96. In addition to existing stops, MST recommends providing bus stop facilities consistent with MST’s Designing for Transit Guidelines (2020) for a new far-side bus stop to be located on John Street to better serve the project. Should MST service the proposed stop in the future, MST would like to reserve the right to an additional review of traffic patterns and further evaluate necessary improvements to the stop.
Bus stop layouts and designs are evaluated using MST’s Designing for Transit Guidelines (2020) and all bus stops should adhere as closely as possible to these guidelines to ensure adequate access pertinent to the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and to ensure safety of bus operations and passengers. While this project would enhance pedestrian connection, MST requests improvements be made to the bus stops to comply with ADA requirements. The City of Salinas and the developer should consider increasing sidewalk width from five (5) feet to six (6) feet in accordance with MST Designing for Transit Guidelines. Additional lanes on Abbott Street, John Street, and Maple Street should be no less than 11 feet in width in order for transit to operate without encroaching on other lanes.
Upon completion of the project, the developer should consider enrolling in MST’s Group Discount Program to offer employees substantially reduced cost bus passes.
MST submits the following comments pertaining to specific pages within the document:
• Page 92 – Please note this statement should be edited as follows: Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST) provides fixed route bus service near the project site, and both Greyhound and Amtrak provide regional transit options from the Intermodal Transportation Center, located approximately one mile northwest of the project stie. Two One MST bus lines provides service near the project site (Appendix F, MST 2022):
o Line 23, Salinas – King City. This line provides weekday and weekend service roughly every 30-120 minutes between roughly 4:00 AM – 10:30 PM o Line 86, King City – San Jose Airport. This line provides weekday service via four runs (two AM runs and two PM runs) and weekend service via eight runs (four AM runs and four PM runs)
o Line 96, Salinas – Salinas Airport Business Center. This line provides hourly weekday service roughly between 7:15 AM – 6:00 PM
There are three MST bus stops in the vicinity of the project site, all along Abbott Street served by Line 23 96. Bus stops are located at
o North of Maple Street adjacent to the project site, providing northbound service. o South of John Street across Abbott Street from the project site, providing southbound service.
o North of Summer Street, 700 feet north of the project site along Abbott Street, providing northbound service.
• Page 94 – Please note this statement should be edited as follows: As discussed under Existing Setting, three one MST bus lines provides service near the project site with three stops located along the project site frontage.
If you have any questions about the above comments, please do not hesitate to contact me at [email protected] or 831-264-5877.
Sincerely,
Michelle Overmeyer
Director of Planning & Innovation