Draft Mobility Master Plan proposes 12 miles of protected bikeways, safe routes to schools and transit-stop upgrades

Consultants from KTUA presented a draft Mobility Master Plan to the Public Works Committee on July 8 that recommends a citywide program of pedestrian, bicycle and transit-stop improvements including nearly 12 miles of protected bikeways, new class‑1 trails in key corridors, and safe‑routes‑to‑school projects.

Why it matters: The mobility plan identifies priority projects that would expand safe walking and bicycling access, improve transit stops and support active-transportation grant applications. It also highlights equity concerns for parts of the city south of Foothill Boulevard.

Plan overview and priorities

Alex Samarin, KTUA GIS manager and project manager, said the plan’s focus is walking, biking, rolling (including scooters) and transit stops; engineering was provided by Mark Thomas. The draft includes a prioritized project list built from field work, collision data, demographic maps identifying disadvantaged areas (South of Foothill) and more than 600 community-survey responses.

Key recommendations include:

- A proposed network that adds nearly 12 miles of protected (class‑4) bikeways, including a notable class‑4 corridor on Foothill Boulevard intended to connect to bike networks in adjacent jurisdictions. - Class‑1 multiuse trail extensions — for example along Euclid and San Antonio — to improve north–south connections and access to the Pacific Electric Trail and the Metrolink station. - Safe Routes to School measures within quarter‑mile zones around schools, using enhanced crossings, curb extensions, speed feedback signs and traffic calming. - Transit-stop improvements to support multimodal trips, accessibility and park-and-ride connections.

Conceptual engineering and grant readiness

The plan includes conceptual, to-scale drawings for priority segments (KTUA and Mark Thomas) and cost estimates intended to strengthen grant applications. Samarin noted the “cut sheets” and conceptual engineering in the plan appendix are designed to make projects more shovel-ready for state and federal funding programs.

Community engagement and equity

Project prioritization combined objective criteria (collision frequency, access to schools/parks, mode share) with public-input weighting (how often residents raised issues in outreach). KTUA said the area south of Foothill shows higher needs by multiple indices (CalEnviroScreen/Healthy Places Index) and was a focus of recommendations.

Committee discussion and next steps

Committee members asked about north–south connections west of Euclid, tradeoffs for parking removal and “road‑diet” treatments on corridors such as San Antonio, and how speed-limit rules affect bike facility planning. Consultants said some residential north–south streets are constrained to class‑3 shared-lane treatments because parking and roadway width prevent protected bikeways without removing parking or reducing lanes.

KTUA and staff said the plan will be released for public review; the team intends to present the Mobility Master Plan to City Council in September. Staff also noted plans to pursue grant funding and to coordinate mobility work with other capital projects (for example, aligning street repaving and pipe-replacement projects with bike or sidewalk projects to reduce overall cost).

Speakers

Alex Samarin, KTUA (consultant, project manager); Allen French and George Doerr (city engineering/contract traffic engineer); Yesenia Diaz (associate engineer, land use and planning); Mark Thomas (engineering consultant); committee members including Chair Breitling.

Clarifying details and grant strategy

- Draft calls for nearly 12 miles of protected bikeways (class 4) where street geometry and policy permit. - Plan prioritized 10 top project corridors with conceptual designs and cost estimates to support grant applications. - Consultants recommended coordinating pipeline and paving projects with mobility projects to capture cost efficiencies.

Quotes

“Our goal is to go to council in September, and we're well on the way,” Alex Samarin said when presenting the schedule.

“The conceptual drawings in the appendix… are what grant applications are really looking for these days to have things more shovel ready,” Samarin added.

What was directed

- Staff and consultants will release the draft for public review, refine the plan using community feedback, and bring the plan to City Council in September for adoption and to help prioritize grant funding pursuits.

Searchable_tags:["mobility","bikeways","pedestrian","safe routes to school","Foothill Boulevard","Pacific Electric Trail","grant readiness"]

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