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Soledad seeks up to roughly $23.5 million from state active-transportation grant to fund citywide bike and walk safety projects
Summary
City staff presented an Active Transportation Program grant application proposing protected bike lanes, high-visibility crossings and road diets on six corridors in Soledad; staff said the grant request is about $23.5 million with a total leveraged estimate of $32.6 million and stressed that intersection-control and future-traffic evaluations are included in the project development.
Soledad public works and planning staff presented a citywide Active Transportation Program (ATP) grant application that would fund protected bike lanes, high-visibility crosswalks, road diets and other safety improvements along six priority corridors connecting schools, parks and neighborhoods.
Contract engineer Leon Gomez said the ATP application seeks roughly $23.5 million in grant funding and uses an additional $9 million-plus of leveraged local projects — for a combined program cost estimate of about $32.6 million — to strengthen the proposal. "We're asking for on the order of 23 and a half million," Gomez said, adding that staff has coordinated extensive community outreach dating to fall 2022 and that the project aligns with the Salinas Valley Safe Routes to School plan.
Consultants on the line detailed technical elements: protected bike lanes on Orchard Lane, road-diet examples on West Street, high-visibility crossings and conceptual roundabout options for select intersections. Staff said the grant application includes funds for intersection-control evaluations and for projecting future traffic volumes (10–30 years out) to ensure designs meet long-term capacity and safety needs.
Council members raised concerns about potential congestion during peak school drop-off and pick-up times and urged continued coordination with the school district; Leon Gomez and transport planner Ariana Green said the Safe Routes to School planning work and planned traffic analyses will include school-drop-off modeling and intersection capacity studies. No council vote was required at the presentation; staff said the application is due June 17 and grant awards are expected by December 2024 if successful.
