[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6613089,"mediaKeyId","2878237-d5d6738d0e421697641fc25d4f5291b7","parentId",2878237,"title","Mountain View committee approves development of Active Transportation Plan maps and scoring criteria; staff to return with prioritized projects","audioSeconds",6149,"startMs",2176000,"endMs",8325000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2878237-d5d6738d0e421697641fc25d4f5291b7&start=2176&end=8325","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2878237-d5d6738d0e421697641fc25d4f5291b7/thumbnail_2176000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6613089/Mountain-View/Santa-Clara-County/California/Mountain-View-committee-approves-development-of-Active-Transportation-Plan-maps-and-scoring-criteria-staff-to-return-with-prioritized-projects","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6613089-44fa2e00ec7e3998b8dc1d86a2661c56/orig.mp4?Expires=1774939016&Signature=dxVaIKmu3kJ6DK9Ix1FYN3-zWn~XmXjC-HWnQiKiChQrc1WoRNcaSMulS5V4OrU~1teShH0xzD8N5Y06XwJVVHbA8iEMbQpp9HGOBZwTCUVDtMgvjOyOPeTab19qAOIKzD4PzvE13mjQBr56rYTFTX8UVxqfd4ZJdQcx-lghKCjaSEeFBGx5C8kbWWLAvU3VsZqf-chzbMGU6LRaocyH~Rkivj3Kh70VBkEKzpW1RP1V9nwh-bgffB~97umAY1doSAhi--bdDlVFENvsJVHkJj40~hYIr6uG-t6oa0aCMwjZXGCc~sEVWXCWMZLhGyGfMVsQijhPCef-QMFeGJPbvA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Coty of Mountain View","date","2025-04-04T18:11:45.94Z","article","The Mountain View Council Transportation Committee voted to recommend that staff proceed with development of an Active Transportation Plan (ATP) that combines the city’s pedestrian and bicycle planning, finalizes holistic network maps and adopts scoring criteria to prioritize projects.

City transportation planner Brandon White, presenting the staff recommendation, said the ATP “combines bicycle and pedestrian plans and will result in bicycle and pedestrian policies and projects,” and told the committee the staff recommendation was for the committee to “proceed with the development of the active transportation plan, including maps and scoring criteria as presented.” The recommendation directs staff to finalize a prioritized project list and policy language for a draft plan the committee and public will review later this year and next.

Staff and consultants described the process and engagement to date: an existing conditions analysis reviewed by the Technical Advisory Committee, the Active Transportation Plan Advisory Committee (APAC) and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC); 655 online responses to an interactive map survey; two bicycle tours and three walking tours; and focused outreach to the Day Worker Center, the Senior Center and a teen center. Staff said 96% of city streets have existing sidewalks; the map development identifies remaining gaps and unimproved streets.

Council members and community members pressed staff for technical clarifications and policy choices. Key points discussed:

- Scoring change: Council requested feasibility and implementation be added to the scoring criteria. Staff added a feasibility and implementation category worth 10% of total points; to accommodate that addition staff reduced other criteria proportionally. The feasibility subcriteria include order‑of‑magnitude cost, interagency coordination, practical timeline, opportunities to leverage existing projects, and alignment with funding sources.

- Unimproved streets policy: Ria Huey Descartes Lowe, the city’s transportation manager, explained the city’s unimproved streets policy requires neighborhoods to form an assessment district to pay for full street upgrades; when the city repaves it generally repaves “as is.” She said the ATP will direct a study of the unimproved streets policy rather than changing the policy within the ATP itself.

- Facilities and treatments: Staff clarified the maps show a mix of off‑street multi‑use trails (class 1), on‑street bikeways and “class 3” bicycle boulevard candidates (neighborhood streets where traffic calming, wayfinding and speed humps are used to create low‑stress routes). Staff said the default travel lane width used for feasibility screening is 11 feet, subject to context sensitivity and later project‑level analysis.

- Comfort and canopy: Committee members and public commenters urged stronger language and examples to capture “comfort” — shade, tree canopy, place‑making and respite — so the scoring and final plan favor streets that invite walking and lingering as well as safe travel. Staff noted that biodiversity and urban forestry work and sidewalk/trail planning are related and that additional mapping of crossings, shade and canopy will be added in later phases.

- Crossings and accessibility: Community commenters and BPAC asked staff to include pedestrian crossing inventories and accessible pedestrian signal gaps (for people with low vision) in future work. Cliff Chambers and others highlighted the need to map mid‑block crossings and add examples for how intersection treatments would be scored.

BPAC and APAC input was summarized in the staff memo. BPAC moved to include Los Altos High School and Los Altos Unified School District facilities serving Mountain View students on the map; that motion was adopted by BPAC. Staff said the next steps are finalizing the network and scoring criteria (Q2), project prioritization and outreach (Q3) and a draft plan for public review next year.

A staff‑initiated motion to recommend that committee members “proceed with the development of the ATP including maps and scoring criteria as presented” passed at the committee meeting; committee members indicated further opportunities for public and committee review before a final plan and before council action on CIP implications. Committee members asked staff to return with a prioritization step and to define how often the scoring and priorities will be re‑evaluated.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","April 1, 2025 Council Transportation Committee","oneSentenceSummary","The Mountain View Council Transportation Committee voted to recommend that staff proceed with development of an Active Transportation Plan that combines pedestrian and bicycle policies and maps and uses a new scoring framework including feasibility and implementation.","taxTitle","Mountain View, Santa Clara County, California","taxId",2861,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6613094,"VTA outlines $198 million plan to add San Antonio southbound ramp, bike-and-ped facilities on US 101",1795,355000,2150000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2878237-d5d6738d0e421697641fc25d4f5291b7&start=355&end=2150","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2878237-d5d6738d0e421697641fc25d4f5291b7/thumbnail_355000.jpg","/articles/6613094/Mountain-View/Santa-Clara-County/California/VTA-outlines-198-million-plan-to-add-San-Antonio-southbound-ramp-bike-and-ped-facilities-on-US-101","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6613094-e502f8e5cadbcb64eab5f3916ef3f5b5/orig.mp4?Expires=1774939016&Signature=iIWlAK9QkbntAWqiVI74QWCwJ7UVTurvgzItbDFxzgYFVqXDWAKGjgemQf4lHytIqveiFVhbYeR-HZjEmjq~owNuRRi1mGg1DryZkh2en16-~2h5AKEntz~AhYoqdJVekL0RBMgP1tnkwBKLamT~yl5zDRfocyTS-ZRHIZwdvnrHHVJULVqugaGUCOD8sver9yjskWNctr8F4-024opjGqnuC1L6sD8abFP1TeQDRiU1MQlstQW0AFG9-Y3tOxI-nuzTUnFaRhUkrutn~uaW5AqrSbY7lpslPbkJClHv0qiswxJ6FTl7wE-BN495iMsW4409rmlg8ANjg6MiuAeB1Q__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) told the Mountain View Council Transportation Committee that the US 101 San Antonio and Ringstorff interchange improvements are in the environmental phase and would add a new southbound on‑ramp at San Antonio, remove the Charleston on‑ramp at Ringstorff, add a southbound auxiliary lane and new bicycle and pedestrian facilities.

The project “is about $198,000,000,” VTA senior transportation engineer Shanti Chitraddi said during the committee’s April update, and VTA has funding only for the project initiation and environmental phases so far. “For the environmental phase, we have received a total including match of about $8,000,000,” Chitraddi said; she said the PID and environmental phase together total roughly $10 million and that the local match for early work included funds from Google and Measure B. VTA staff said design and construction phases do not yet have secured funding.

VTA and city staff said the work responds to deficiencies Caltrans identified after the 101 northbound auxiliary lane project: closely spaced interchanges that produce short weaving distances, a short southbound on‑ramp at Charleston that creates a weaving conflict at Ringstorff, and an incomplete San Antonio interchange with no southbound on‑ramp. The proposed fix, as described by Chitraddi, is to add the San Antonio southbound on‑ramp, remove the Charleston on‑ramp to reduce weaving at Ringstorff, add an aux lane between the two interchanges, widen ramps to increase storage, and replace existing bridges with higher‑clearance structures.

The plan includes bicycle and pedestrian improvements described as “complete streets” features: class 1 grade‑separated multi‑use paths along segments of Ringstorff, new sidewalks where missing, squared and widened ramps to reduce conflicts with walking and cycling, and carpool lane additions where feasible. Chitraddi described a proposed bi‑directional, grade‑separated multi‑use path at the San Antonio interchange and said both interchanges would have bike facilities designed to avoid vehicle interactions. VTA deputy director Sahir Gulzada added that VTA is meeting with Mountain View and Palo Alto staff to secure local matching funds for future design phases.

Public engagement to date includes a November open house at the Mountain View Community Center and presentations to Mountain View BPAC; VTA said more than 50 people attended the open house and that feedback was “very positive,” with particular public interest in bike and pedestrian connections and questions about left‑turn/pedestrian interactions at San Antonio. VTA said it collected post‑COVID traffic data and plans to publish the traffic operations report and environmental documents for public review as they are completed.

VTA staff gave a tentative schedule: environmental clearance targeted by the end of the year and construction only if and when later phases are funded; VTA said, if funding is secured for later phases, construction could begin in 2028. Committee members pressed VTA to post the project slide deck and updated materials on the VTA project web page and asked VTA to provide a clearer funding breakdown; Chitraddi agreed to add the most recent slide deck and to provide more precise funding numbers at a forthcoming meeting with the city public works director.

No formal committee action or votes were taken on the project at this meeting; the presentation was an informational update and committee members and VTA staff discussed outreach, funding gaps, schedule uncertainty and technical design questions such as vertical clearance (existing bridges at the interchanges are about 15 feet where current Caltrans standard is approximately 16.5 feet).

Project partners cited during the presentation include Caltrans, the Cities of Mountain View and Palo Alto, and a local match from Google. VTA said the project would attempt to avoid free‑flow ramp movements inside Mountain View and would maintain crosswalks near driveways and destinations where feasible. The committee requested VTA post revised materials to the city and VTA web pages and to continue public engagement as the environmental document circulates.","The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) told the Mountain View Council Transportation Committee that the US 101 San Antonio and Ringstorff interchange improvements are in the environmental phase and would add a new southbound on‑ramp at San Antonio, remove the Charleston on‑ramp at Ringstorff, add a southbound auxiliary lane and new bicycle and pedestrian facilities.","actionData","errors"]

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Mountain View committee approves development of Active Transportation Plan maps and scoring criteria; staff to return with prioritized projects

VTA outlines $198 million plan to add San Antonio southbound ramp, bike-and-ped facilities on US 101