City engineers and consultants on Wednesday presented a draft South Arcadia Multimodal Safety Improvement Plan that recommends new sidewalks, protected bike lanes and design changes to the Samoa Boulevard–U.S. 101 interchange to improve east–west connections and reduce vehicle speeds. The presentation outlined three interchange alternatives, two design options for Samoa Boulevard and constrained but improvable designs for South G Street.

The plan, funded initially with a 2023 Caltrans sustainable transportation planning grant, seeks to reconnect neighborhoods divided by U.S. 101 by adding pedestrian and bicycle access across the interchange and along Samoa Boulevard and South G Street. “These are long‑term plans that are part of a larger vision to reconnect communities throughout Arcadia,” said Neidra Cadre, Arcadia’s city engineer, introducing the project team.

Consultant Rosanna Southern of GHD said community outreach produced roughly 400–500 comments and two public workshops. The alternatives matrix in the draft report favors a shared‑use trail across the bridge where feasible and protected or buffered bike lanes on Samoa Boulevard where the right‑of‑way allows. Todd Traganza, GHD, said the existing interchange is “overbuilt for the traffic” and that one goal is to avoid widening the bridge if a protected north‑side shared path can be accommodated within the current structure.

The consultants described tradeoffs: roundabouts on ramp intersections would reduce vehicle speeds but require space; signalized intersections that preserve an uninterrupted north‑side trail would need a wider three‑lane cross section requiring bridge widening; and a no‑build alternative would preserve current travel lanes but limit protection for people walking and biking. On Samoa Boulevard a two‑way shared trail on the north side would provide continuity but introduce unusual crossing and signal needs; an alternative with directional, protected on‑street bike lanes was recommended for most of the corridor.

The plan also recommends traffic‑calming “gateway” features west of town and a frequent spacing of engineered calming measures along South G Street; south of Front Street consultants recommended a Class I shared path on the east side and buffered lanes where right‑of‑way is tighter. The draft report shows a shift from higher‑stress to low‑stress facilities in modelled level‑of‑traffic‑stress maps.

Consultants said the project is likely eligible for statewide competitive funding such as the Active Transportation Program and other Caltrans and federal programs; they also said the city can implement near‑term low‑cost items (speed feedback signs, flexible delineators, quick‑build protected lanes) while pursuing larger grants. A draft implementation schedule in the presentation estimated project completion by the late 2020s conditional on securing funding.

Councilmembers thanked staff and the consultants and generally expressed support; staff emphasized the next steps are finalizing the PSR‑style scoping document this winter, separating near‑term actions from longer‑term, grant‑dependent construction work, and coordinating with the county climate action plan. No formal action was taken—this was a staff report and discussion only.

Why it matters: the plan targets multiple corridors that community members identified as barriers to biking and walking and proposes a funding pathway to convert higher‑speed auto corridors to safer multimodal streets if grants and right‑of‑way options can be secured.

Next steps: finalize the project study/scoping document, identify and pursue state and federal funding (Active Transportation Program, Caltrans programs), refine design options with community feedback and staff, and prioritize near‑term quick‑build elements that do not require major right‑of‑way changes.