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Moraga council approves conceptual design for Moraga Road–Canyon Road Complete Streets project
Summary
The Town Council unanimously approved conceptual designs for a $4 million complete-streets upgrade on Moraga Road/Canyon Road, including buffered bike lanes, pedestrian improvements and a new signal at Country Club Drive. Staff will move to detailed design and environmental clearance next.
The Moraga Town Council voted unanimously March 12 to approve the conceptual design for the Moraga Road and Canyon Road Complete Streets project and to advance the work to plan, specs and estimates.
The project covers roughly a half‑mile corridor from Saint Mary’s Road north to Sanders Drive on Canyon Road and is intended to add buffered bike lanes, address sidewalk gaps, improve crossings and slow vehicle speeds. Town engineers said federal Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) funding will cover most construction costs: “We were very fortunate to receive about $3,000,000 from the federal government for what is ultimately a $4,000,000 project,” project engineer Nate Levine said.
The council endorsed a design that narrows travel lanes, provides a three‑foot buffer plus a seven‑foot bike lane where feasible, and reconfigures traffic near the Alta Mesa/Ulta Mesa driveway area to reduce vehicle conflicts with pedestrians and cyclists. Staff recommended, and the council accepted, installation of a new traffic signal at the Country Club Drive intersection after a signal warrant analysis showed existing volumes and pedestrian crossing needs meet criteria.
Council members and residents asked detailed questions about sidewalk continuity, the potential for a fully separated multiuse trail (described in outreach as a “class 1” facility) and how the plan would coordinate with future shopping‑center redevelopment and the town’s School Street study. “There is a larger vision that there should be a master planning effort that goes beyond this project,” Sean Knapp, the town’s public works director, said, noting the conceptual design is one piece of a broader program of improvements.
Staff said the project will proceed to detailed design and environmental clearance through spring 2026, construction bids in 2026 and expected construction in 2026–27. The council approved the design by minute order and found the technical studies and design work categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act under the cited categorical exemption in the staff report.
Council members and staff emphasized the project’s limited footprint and the tradeoffs required by right‑of‑way constraints: some sidewalk gaps will be closed by this phase, while longer segments and a fully separated, curb‑protected trail would require additional study and funding. The town will pursue those ideas as part of future planning and as private redevelopment in the area moves forward.
The council voted unanimously to approve the conceptual design and supporting documents and to direct staff to proceed toward PS&E (plans, specifications and estimates) and environmental clearance.
