Hawaiian Gardens council adopts 10-year bicycle master plan after extensive community outreach

The Hawaiian Gardens City Council on Aug. 13 unanimously adopted Resolution 023-2025 approving a citywide bicycle master plan that lays out a 10‑year roadmap for bike lanes, bicycle boulevards and a potential shared-use path along the storm‑drain channel.

The plan — developed by Tool Design Group with assistance from the city’s public‑works staff — was funded in part by a $370,000 Caltrans Active Transportation Program (ATP) Cycle 6 grant and is intended to improve safety, equity and connectivity across Hawaiian Gardens.

Consultant Roger Palaya, principal in charge at Tool Design Group, and project manager Leila Singer said the plan was built from crash data, a stress‑level analysis and extensive public outreach. “Everyone really wants safety on their streets,” Singer told the council, summarizing what the project team heard in meetings, surveys and business outreach.

The plan divides work into phases. Phase 1 targets locations that coincide with the city’s repaving schedule to allow relatively quick “win” projects, such as adding buffered bike lanes on Civic Center Drive and bike lanes on 215th Street and 14th Street. Phase 2 covers corridors that require additional study and design — specifically Norwalk, Carson and Pioneer boulevards — where options could include narrowing travel lanes, removing parking, or reconfiguring curb lines. A longer‑term Phase 3 contemplates a shared‑use path next to the storm‑drain flood‑control channel.

Consultants said the planning process reached residents, businesses and other stakeholders through three engagement phases, yielding more than 3,500 contacts and over 500 survey responses. Tool Design Group identified 21 existing bike racks, recommended additional rack locations and mapped bicycle crash history over a 10‑year period to prioritize intersection and corridor improvements.

Council members raised typical tradeoffs during the discussion. One council member asked whether, on 215th Street, the bike lane should be placed between the curb and parked cars rather than between parked cars and the travel lanes to reduce conflicts when cars pull out; consultants said alternate designs would be examined during detailed design. Business owners’ concerns about losing parking on Norwalk were noted; consultants said the plan flags those corridors for “further study” rather than prescribing a single design and that additional technical analyses and targeted community engagement would occur before any parking removal.

Council members voted by roll call: Council member Farfan — Yes; Council member Roa — Yes; Mayor Pro Tem del Rio — Yes; Mayor De Pala — Yes. Motion carried; the resolution was adopted.

The plan calls for applying for additional grants to fund design and construction, tracking implementation progress, and using programming (bike‑safety education, outreach and demonstration events) to build community support. City staff said each project brought forward for construction will return to council for review and approval of final designs.

The master plan provides Hawaiian Gardens a policy framework to pursue Active Transportation funding and to sequence projects over the next decade while leaving detailed design decisions to subsequent phases.