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El Segundo council approves Measure M funding agreement for local travel network, members press for beach route
Summary
The City Council approved a Measure M Local Travel Network Funding Agreement to study and implement a local travel network; some council members pressed staff and South Bay COG to prioritize a beach-side connection to El Porto rather than the proposed Douglas route.
The El Segundo City Council voted 5-0 June 3 to approve a Measure M Local Travel Network Funding Agreement that will allow the city to receive reimbursement for planning work on a local travel network linking El Segundo to neighboring communities.
Council members said while they support pursuing the reimbursement and study, they want the engineering work to prioritize routes people will actually use. Mayor Pro Tem Baldino said the city should flip the study’s Phase 1 and Phase 2 priorities to focus on a beach-side connection to El Porto rather than a Douglas Street route. "I would strongly say we would approve this only if you were going to connect us to El Porto on the beach route," he said.
The funding agreement reflects regional work coordinated by the South Bay Cities Council of Governments (South Bay COG). Council members and staff said South Bay COG is conducting a regional request for proposals (RFP) for consultants and that the city’s staff will participate in consultant selection and can ask the COG to change phase sequencing. Director Sassoon said the city "will be part of the selection of this consulting firm to a great degree and will have a lot of say so about how we wanna implement this project."
Council members raised specific implementation concerns: signage and pilot costs already paid by the city (about $17,000 for Phase 1 signs), the scope of consultant work, parking impacts and the utility of proposed golf-cart links to major streets. One council member said the budgeted consultant totals were roughly $900,000 and asked for local input to avoid paying consultants for plans residents consider impractical.
Council direction included asking staff to request that South Bay COG consider flipping the phases, include local routes that better match resident use, and share the RFP with the council. Staff agreed to draft a letter to the COG restating El Segundo's priorities and to work with the COG on phasing during consultant selection. Staff also reminded the council that the city performs the design work and is reimbursed by the COG for eligible expenses.
The motion to delegate authority to the city manager to enter the Measure M Local Travel Network Funding Agreement passed 5-0.
