AgdaPkt 2012-10-22 - Laserfiche WebLink

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7.A. - Page 1 RE PO RT To the Honorable Mayor and City Council From the Cit Mana er October 22, 2012 SUBJECT Farm Hill Boulevard Street Improvement Pilot Project RECOMMENDATION Accept the analysis and direct staff to identify other candidate sites for similar pilot projects, but not to implement the conceptual roadway modifications on Farm Hill Boulevard. BACKGROUND Implementing the General Plan as cost-effectively as possible, staff seeks to leverage scheduled roadway maintenance projects into complete street projects as defined in the General Plan. Redwood City adopted its updated General Plan in late 2010 following an extensive community-driven process. The Plan establishes a clear commitment to transform city streets from being automobile-centric to meeting the needs of all roadway users — people who are walking, riding transit, riding bikes, and driving. There are many reasons the General Plan emphasizes the development of complete streets — complete streets support our shared goals of health, sustainability, and community building. Streets designed for people walking and bicycling, in addition to those who drive, encourage more people to walk and bicycle. The General Plan includes multiple goals, policies, and programs to facilitate the development of more complete streets. This guidance includes Policy BE-25.5: "[c]ontinue to implement Pedestrian Enhanced Designs (PEDs), especially on streets with projected excess vehicle capacity, to reduce either the number of travel lanes or the roadway width, and use the available public right-of-way to provide wider sidewalks, bicycle lanes, transit amenities, or landscaping." Program BE-57 identifies the need for an engineering study to determine feasibility and lists streets that are projected to have excess vehicle capacity (including Farm Hill Boulevard and segments of Jefferson Avenue). When a list of streets is finalized for the pavement maintenance program, transportation staff reviews the list and the existing roadway configurations to determine if any striping changes should be made. This review takes into account community requests, presence of schools, parks or other activity centers, existing roadway characteristics (volume, speed, road classification, etc.), as well as adopted plans for the area.