REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Adopt the Active Transportation Plan
Report
SUMMARY OF COMMISSION ACTION
The Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission (BPAC) considered this item on June 18, 2020.
The BPAC voted to approve Alternative 2: Recommend to City Council to Adopt the Active Transportation Plan (ATP) with Modifications. The modifications are included in Attachment 9 to the report.
The vote was 7-0.
The ATP was presented to the Sustainability Commission on July 20, 2020. The Commission appreciated the level of community engagement conducted during the development of the ATP. The Commission reiterated some of the suggestions made by the BPAC related to addressing bicycle network gaps, improving the low-stress spine network, and considering a flexible mechanism for making simple updates to the ATP.
Public Comment letters are provided in Attachment 11 to the report.
PUBLIC CONTACT
Public contact was made by posting the Council agenda on the City's official-notice bulletin board outside City Hall, Sunnyvale Public Library and Department of Public Safety. In addition, the agenda and report are available at the Office of the City Clerk and on the City's website.
ALTERNATIVES
1. Adopt the Active Transportation Plan as originally proposed, which will serve as a guide to the development of a comprehensive bicycling and walking system throughout the City.
2. Adopt the Active Transportation Plan with Modifications as proposed by the BPAC, which will serve as a guide to the development of a comprehensive bicycling and walking system throughout the City.
3. Adopt the Active Transportation Plan with Modifications, included in Attachment 10 to the report, as proposed by Staff subsequent to the BPAC meeting, which will serve as a guide to the development of a comprehensive bicycling and walking system throughout the City.
4. Adopt the Active Transportation Plan with Modifications made by City Council.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Alternative 3: Adopt the Active Transportation Plan with Modifications, included in Attachment 10 to the report, as proposed by Staff subsequent to the BPAC meeting, which will serve as a guide to the development of a comprehensive bicycling and walking system throughout the City.
The BPAC voted unanimously for Alterative 2: Recommend to City Council to adopt the Active Transportation Plan with a list of seven modifications. Staff has reviewed the seven modifications as recommended by BPAC in detail and have included the implementable modifications in Staff’s recommendation to City Council as listed in Attachment 10.
Based on Staff’s evaluation, some of the bikeway and pedestrian improvements recommended by BPAC are not able to be accommodated for various reasons, such as limitation on existing right-of-way, staff availability, impacts to operational activities, and conflicts with existing projects or existing traffic calming policy. Other BPAC recommendations are supported and should be included in the final ATP as noted in Attachment 9.
Several BPAC recommendations suggested changes to collector streets. Collectors are designed for the mobility of traffic onto major roadways and do not qualify for conventional traffic calming measures. Implementing traffic calming measures on these roadways can result in traffic diversion into local residential streets. Furthermore, collectors are often preferred routes for emergency response vehicles to quickly access local streets with residential or businesses. While most measures cause only a moderate discomfort and delay for normal passenger vehicles, because of the heavy weight of fire engines and the delicate instruments and patients within ambulances these vehicles must come to nearly a complete stop when maneuvering over or around any physical barriers; thus delaying emergency response. Therefore, Class IIIB bicycle boulevards are not able to be implemented on collector streets.
In addition, the proposed bicycle network in the Final Draft ATP already included several east/west and north/south corridors in the low-stress spine network (Class I, IIB or IV), together, with the existing/proposed Class II bicycle lanes, Class III bicycle route, and Class IIIB bicycle boulevards, residents would have a complete bicycle network to travel across the City.
In terms of filling in sidewalk gaps, some neighborhoods in south Sunnyvale such as the Raynor-Park and Birdland neighborhoods were previously annexed from the County. At the time of the annexation in the 1970s, the residents of Raynor Park expressed a desire to retain the rural character of the neighborhood. The annexation documents and the associated Master Plan for Services indicated that residents in the Raynor Park neighborhood would need to petition the City and hold an election to form an assessment district to pay for the sidewalk and the related utilities. Alternatively, the City Council could choose to fund the construction of such improvements. As the City implements SRTS improvements in the future, staff will evaluate opportunities to fill in small sidewalk gaps on routes to and from school within the school’s immediate vicinity. As part of the SRTS spot improvement recommendations, one location will be added to the list and staff will evaluate potential pedestrian improvements on the north side of Marion Way between Oriole Avenue and Norman Drive. This location is in close proximity to Peterson Middle School and it is on the routes to and from school.
Finally, as staff continues to update specific and area land-use plans, the individual plan will take a closer look at each of the specific plan/area plan area to determine the most appropriate street cross section, sidewalk width, bicycle facility types, etc. based on the proposed land use and density. Therefore, staff will continually refine the proposed improvements as we develop/update the individual specific and area plans.
After the adoption of the ATP, staff will prepare a final version of the Plan by incorporating all modifications approved by City Council. The Final Adopted ATP will serve as the guidebook in the development of a comprehensive bicycling and walking system throughout the City. In addition, it will serve as a guide for City Council to take future actions and to approve future grant applications.
Staff
Prepared by: Lillian Tsang, Principal Transportation Engineer
Reviewed by: Dennis Ng, Transportation and Traffic Manager
Reviewed by: Chip Taylor, Director, Department of Public Works
Reviewed by: Teri Silva, Assistant City Manager
Approved by: Kent Steffens, City Manager
ATTACHMENTS
1. Report to Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission [20-0554, June 18, 2020] (without attachments)
2. Link to Final Draft Active Transportation Plan
3. Bicycle Facility Classifications
4. Future Design Considerations - Roadway Needs for Bicycle Recommendations
5. Pedestrian Recommendations
Additional Attachments for Report to Council
6. Presentation from the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Meeting of June 18, 2020
7. Excerpt of Minutes of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Meeting of June 18, 2020
8. Excerpt of Draft Minutes of the Sustainability Commission Meeting of July 20, 2020
9. Modifications Proposed by BPAC to Final Draft ATP at the June 18, 2020 Meeting
10. Modifications Proposed by Staff to Final Draft ATP Made Subsequent to the BPAC Meeting
11. Public Comment on Active Transportation Plan