Council adopts Imperial Avenue Complete Streets Plan to add bike, pedestrian and transit improvements

The El Centro City Council adopted the Imperial Avenue Complete Streets Plan 5-0 on Feb. 4, endorsing a multi-segment concept to improve walking, bicycling, transit access and street greening along the corridor from Adams Avenue to the northern city limit.

The plan — funded through a Caltrans Sustainable Communities grant and developed by consulting firm K2A with community engagement led by Catherine Padilla & Associates — lays out a preferred 30%‑level design and an implementation roadmap intended to guide future engineering, grant applications and construction.

Jacob Leon, a K2A consultant, summarized the plan’s goals: increase safety and comfort for pedestrians and bicyclists, improve equity of access, support reliable transit, and preserve automobile operations where needed for this regional corridor. The recommended design breaks the corridor into three segments (Adams to Scott; Scott to Lincoln; Lincoln to the northern limit) and proposes Class I multi‑use paths in some sections, separated bike facilities in others, and added high‑visibility crossings and transit stop upgrades.

Why it matters: Imperial Avenue is a major east–west corridor through El Centro with long blocks and destinations on both sides; the plan is intended to make the street safer and more usable for people who do not drive and to create grant‑ready design drawings for future project funding.

Key elements

- Corridor: roughly 1.5 miles from Adams Avenue to the northern city boundary; design divided into three segments for incremental implementation. - Active‑transportation facilities: Class I multi‑use paths (shared bicycle/pedestrian paths) are recommended where right‑of‑way allows, plus separated bikeways in the Adams‑to‑Scott segment and green conflict striping at key intersections. - Crossings and transit: new east–west crossings were proposed at locations including Via Lincoln (and considered at El Dorado), with upgraded transit stops, pedestrian‑scale lighting and accessibility improvements. - Funding and next steps: the plan includes a funding table and identifies federal and state grant opportunities; K2A delivered the planning package and recommended the city use it for future engineering and grant applications.

Council questions focused on safety and technical details. One councilmember asked about separation between bicycle and pedestrian paths north of the railroad tracks; K2A said the Class I multi‑use path includes a physical buffer from moving traffic and that railroad crossings will require additional, project‑level safety review by engineers and railroad/Caltrans staff. City staff and consultants also noted coordination with the City of Imperial is needed to ensure improvements connect across the northern city boundary.

The council’s unanimous vote followed a planning commission recommendation to move the plan forward. Jacob Leon thanked community members and local stakeholders for extensive public engagement, including pop‑up events and workshops that informed the preferred design.

Ending

Adoption of the Complete Streets plan does not itself allocate construction funds; instead it provides a community‑vetted design and an implementation table to be used for grant applications and engineering design. Staff said the plan positions the city to pursue funding and implementation when priorities and grant cycles align.

Quotes

"It has been one of my most rewarding projects because the community actually cares," Jacob Leon, K2A consultant, said after presenting the final plan. "They really told us this is an important corridor for them and that this could make a difference in the future."