Palo Alto studies expanded bike-and-ped network; staff asks council to weigh trade-offs on arterials, quick-builds

City staff presented an update to Palo Alto's Pedestrian and Bicycle Transportation Plan to the City Council on June 2, asking council for direction on a prioritization framework and project lists that would guide deployments of bike boulevards, buffered lanes, protected (separated) lanes and shared-use paths across the city.

The study session matters because the city's 2012 bike-and-ped plan is being replaced with a vision that seeks an “all ages and abilities” network, while the new recommendations raise trade-offs about parking loss, traffic reconfiguration on major arterial streets and near-term quick-build investments. Staff said it will use council feedback this summer to draft a plan and return in the fall/winter for further review and public comment.

Staff described the draft network and the screening method at the meeting. Ria Khutabharat Lo, the city's newly appointed chief transportation official, told the council, "Transportation is a great passion of mine," and said she looks forward to advancing safety, climate and equitable-access goals through the update. Project manager Ozzie Arce summarized the technical approach: the team began with the 2012 network, layered community input and used an initial quantitative evaluation (safety and connectivity metrics) followed by a supplemental qualitative evaluation (cost, readiness and project support) to narrow 25 proposed projects into an implementable list. Consultant Amanda Leahy (Kittelson & Associates) described the facility-selection rules that match facility type to…