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Council directs staff to pursue University Avenue Vision B and scope a pilot for a road-diet option
Summary
Consultants presented two corridor visions for University Avenue. Council directed staff to advance PS&E for Vision B (maintain two travel lanes with protected bikeways and buffered sidewalks) and to scope a temporary pilot testing elements of Vision A (localized road diet with an emergency/transit bypass lane).
The council heard a data-driven presentation and community engagement summary on the University Avenue Grand Corridor project and gave staff direction to proceed with design work.
Consultants described two alternatives: Vision B maintains two travel lanes in each direction while adding continuous, buffered sidewalks and protected bikeways and improving crossings; Vision A implements a road diet in parts of the corridor, converting a travel lane into a mountable emergency/transit lane and creating a more local, pedestrian-first street with plazas and improved midblock crossings.
Consultants cited collision data for 20202024 (96 reported collisions on the corridor, with a quarter involving people walking or biking) and pedestrian and bicycle counts concentrated on the segment between Bay Road and Donahoe Street. The team stressed signal-timing improvements and coordinated measures would be essential to preserve travel reliability whether or not a road diet is adopted.
Council discussion recognized both the public-safety benefits of a road diet/vision A and the political and operational concerns about reducing vehicular capacity. Several members favored a pragmatic step: advance PS&E on Vision B (mobility focus) while preparing the technical and funding groundwork for a short-term pilot of Vision A elements (flex-post bollards/temporary lane reconfiguration and dedicated emergency/transit bypass) so the community can test behavior changes before permanent construction.
Public commenters generally favored stronger pedestrian safety, protected bike lanes and the emergency-vehicle priority lane; some urged caution on a full road diet because of regional traffic patterns and development pressures on nearby arterial routes.
Next steps: Staff will proceed with 50%/100% PS&E for Vision B, complete signal-timing analysis, pursue grant funding for implementation, and scope a temporary pilot project to test elements of Vision A. The council asked staff to return with refined cost estimates, potential pilot phasing, and signal coordination work products.
