Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Transportation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Palm Desert staff outline major circulation element update to align with state law and local projects
Summary
City planning staff and consultants presented initial options to rewrite Palm Desert's circulation element to reflect recent state transportation laws, integrate projects like CV Link, add objective roadway design standards, address VMT thresholds for CEQA, and prioritize safety and active transportation.
City planning staff and their consultants presented an initial framework to update Palm Desert's general-plan circulation element, saying recent state laws and local projects require clearer, objective design standards and new thresholds for vehicle-miles-traveled under CEQA.
"This is a huge update," said City Manager Todd as he introduced the scope of the project. Nick Mullaney of the Planning Division said the city contracted the consultant team to amend the circulation element and that the presentation covered drivers for the update, existing conditions, and next steps. Consultant Brian Wolf told the council the effort will fold in local projects such as CV Link and the San Pablo corridor and stressed that the update must be both horizontally and vertically consistent with other plans.
Wolf reported the city's transportation baseline and safety record. He said the initial five-year collision review (2019—2024) recorded roughly "2,984 collisions" including property-damage incidents, "18 fatalities and 49 serious injuries," and described speed, improper turns and unsafe lane changes as common causes. The consultant cited an evaluation of San Pablo showing collisions fell from about nine per year to five per year after recent improvements and average speeds dropped from roughly 30 to 26 mph.
Key policy issues presented to council were: (1) ensuring policy specificity and consistent roadway cross-sections that meet state requirements; (2) updating transportation goals to reduce per-capita vehicle-miles-traveled (VMT) and expand active and public-transit options; and (3) accommodating tourism and seasonality so the city does not overbuild infrastructure for brief peak months.
On CEQA and VMT, Wolf described two threshold approaches being considered: a "better-than-existing" citywide baseline that would require new development to be at least as VMT-efficient as current conditions, and a stricter option that would require projects to be 15% better than the citywide average. He said the stricter threshold can better advance greenhouse-gas reductions but could result in more projects being identified as environmentally significant.
Consultants also reviewed recommended safety measures (including Vision 0 alignment, safety-corridor prioritization and truck-route mapping to avoid sensitive receptors such as schools and residences), roadway design refinements (narrower travel lanes to slow vehicles and create space for separated bike facilities), and options for changing level-of-service (LOS) policy to address peak-season congestion without undermining downtown walkability.
Council members asked for additional modal breakdowns of collisions (vehicle vs. pedestrian vs. bicycle) and for staff to provide more detailed life-cycle cost estimates, particularly in light of heavier electric commercial vehicles. Wolf said staff will provide the requested collision-mode data and that alternatives will be developed for council review.
What happens next: staff and the consultant team will develop policy alternatives, return with a preferred alternative in the spring, and present an updated circulation element to the council in the fall for further review and action.
