Title
Recommendation to Adopt Street Classification Mobility Element Appendix General Plan Amendment (Action Item)
Body
To: Honorable Chair and Members of the Transportation Commission
BACKGROUND
In 2021, the City Council adopted the first comprehensive update of the General Plan since 1991, which included an update of the Mobility Element. At that time, it was agreed that more work was needed on the Street Classification Appendix and would be completed in 2022.
On September 20, 2022, with the help and support from the Transportation Commission subcommittee (Chair Soules, Commissioner Kohlstrand, and Commissioner Weitze), the City was able to publish a draft updated Street Classification General Plan Appendix for public review and comment. The draft document was presented and discussed at the September 28 Commission meeting, and on November 1, 2022, the Transportation Commission subcommittee met to review proposed revisions to the draft Appendix.
Based on comments received since September 20th, the staff/consultant team prepared the revised draft Street Classifications Appendix (Exhibit 1). Exhibit 2 provides a summary of the changes made between the September draft and the November recommended draft.
Staff is recommending that the Transportation Commission recommend that the Planning Board and City Council adopt the General Plan Appendix to replace the 2008 General Plan Appendix (Exhibit 3).
DISCUSSION
General Plan and Appendix Purpose. The General Plan provides policy guidance for public decision making. It is a framework that guides future decision making regarding land use, transportation, open space, safety and other issues of general importance to the community. General Plan policies provide guidance for future decision making. The Street Classifications Appendix provides an additional layer of policy guidance for future decision making by staff, the Transportation Commission and the City Council for future decisions interpreting and implementing General Plan Mobility Element policies.
The General Plan street classifications recognize that streets provide two primary purposes and that both purposes must be considered in the design and use of a public street: streets serve a circulation purpose (streets must support people’s ability to get around town) and streets serve a land use purpose (streets must support the use of the adjacent private or public land). Streets include the travel way (the paved areas), the curbs and gutters, the intersections and crosswalks, the sidewalks, the street trees, the bus stops, the street lights, and a variety of other critical facilities to support a high quality of life in Alameda. Depending on the location and size of the street, the circulation purpose may differ. For example, a street in a neighborhood (e.g. “neighborhood local street”) serves a different circulation purpose than a street leading to the Posey Tube (e.g. “gateway street”).
Streets must also support the adjacent land use. A “neighborhood local street” serves a role in supporting the adjacent residential properties in a way that is much different than how a “main street” serves the adjacent commercial properties on Park Street or Webster Street. The streets may be the exact same width, but how they are treated and improved and the role that the sidewalks, curb space and travel way plays in supporting the adjacent land uses may be very different.
Therefore the classification of a single street like Park Street or Lincoln Avenue changes as the land uses adjacent to the street change. “Main Streets” identify those areas of Alameda that provide lands for shopping and retail services, such as Park Street, Webster Street, the Neighborhood “stations”, and the shopping centers. The “Main Street” street classification recognizes that in these areas Park Street or Webster Street or a short portion of Lincoln at Grand street, for example, should be treated differently, because in these areas the street design must change to accommodate people walking around stores and shopping and/or delivery trucks stopping for short periods. As a result, a street like Lincoln Avenue which serves as a “Neighborhood Connector” for much of its length on the map will change to a “Main Street” as it passes through the Grand Street Station commercial area of Lincoln. This provides guidance for future decisions about curb use, for example, adjacent to a Station, which may not be necessary or appropriate for the use of curb space four blocks further down Lincoln Avenue in a residential-only area.
General Plan Street Classifications and the Active Transportation Plan Proposed Bikeways. As an appendix to the General Plan, the General Plan Street Classifications are intentionally broad. They are a guide for decision making about streets in Alameda, not a specific plan for each street. The Active Transportation Plan (ATP) is more detailed and a more specific plan for how certain streets should be modified to improve the safety, comfort and convenience for people walking and bicycling in Alameda.
It is therefore important that the guidance provided by the General Plan Appendix not conflict with the ATP proposed bikeways. The Street Classifications and ATP avoid potential conflicts in a number of ways. First, the Street Classifications make clear that the role of a street is to provide mobility for all users of the public right of way, including pedestrians, bicyclists, automobile drivers, and transit. Second, the ATP does not propose a “Neighborhood Greenway” (which are local, traffic-calmed streets prioritized for walking and bicycling) on any street designated in the Street Classifications as Neighborhood Connector, Main Street, Business Commercial or Gateway Street. Neighborhood Greenways are critical for creating the citywide, connected “low stress” bicycle network. As described in the ATP, to be effective, a Neighborhood Greenway must be designed to be a relatively low automobile volume and speed street. A General Plan Neighborhood Local Street is typically a lower volume street and may be well suited to be a Neighborhood Greenway. Not all Neighborhood Local Streets are good candidates for Neighborhood Greenways. Neighborhood Local Streets may have traffic volumes of up to 4,000 Average Daily Trips (ADT) which exceeds the target of 1,500 ADT for a Greenway. In contrast, a General Plan Neighborhood Connector, Gateway, or a Main Street is expected to carry higher automobile volumes and would not be well suited to serve as a low-stress Neighborhood Greenway.
The proposed street classification for Gibbons Drive has generated a number of community comments. Staff and then the Transportation Commission Subcommittee spent quite a bit of time debating the proper classification for Gibbons Street. Due to its unique orientation connecting the High Street “gateway” to the Park Street “main street”, Gibbons is a convenient “neighborhood collector” for automobiles, but it is also an important segment creating a citywide, connected, low-stress bicycle network. Therefore, the ATP shows Gibbons as a “Neighborhood Greenway” and the Street Classifications Appendix shows Gibbons as a “Neighborhood Local Street” and not a “Neighborhood Connector”.
These designations are proposed with the understanding that to be an effective low-stress, all ages and abilities facility, physical changes will be needed on Gibbons to reduce automobile volumes and speeds in the future. It should also be noted that while the ATP includes Gibbons (from Lincoln Ave to High St) as a Neighborhood Greenway on the longer-term Bikeway “Vision Network, it does not prioritize the project for completion over the next eight-years, as part of the 2030 Infrastructure Plan.
Complete Streets General Plan policies and the draft Classifications guide future decision making to be efficient with the limited space available for transportation and mobility in Alameda. The General Plan policies assume that the City’s roadway network and its bridges and tubes and the regional roadways such as Interstate 880 and State Routes serving Alameda will not be widened over the next 20 years to make additional room for automobile trips. Therefore, General Plan policies support more efficient use of the existing roadway space so that it can accommodate more people and their diverse mobility needs. To achieve this higher efficiency, it is essential to support people walking (a person walking takes up very little space relative to that same person driving a car), people bicycling (a person on a bike takes up much less space than that same person in a car), people in buses (50 people in a big bus take up much less space than 50 automobiles with one person in each.)
25 Mile an Hour Speed Limit. The General Plan policies recognize that not all streets in Alameda are limited to 25 miles per hour (e.g. Doolittle, Constitution, and Harbor Bay Parkway.) The General Plan also recognizes the need to slow speeds on high injury corridors and throughout the city, which would be a policy basis for a future decision to reduce a speed limit on a specific street. That street may be a Gateway street that has a speed limit higher than 25 mph or it may be a neighborhood street adjacent to a school, or a Neighborhood Greenway, where a speed limit less than 25 miles per hour may be appropriate or needed.
Truck Routes. The General Plan and Street Classifications recognize that all streets in Alameda, even truck routes, should be “complete streets” that provide for all modes of travel. For example, Clement Avenue is a long standing truck route. It also must provide for the Cross Alameda Trail and a protected two way cycle track. In addition, truck routes are also necessary to serve Park Street and Webster Street, but these two streets are also two streets that must support a wide variety of other modes as well. For these reasons, the classifications do not assume that all other modes will be limited or restricted on designated truck routes.
Approval Process. State and local law requires that the Planning Board hold public hearings on all General Plan amendments prior to making a recommendation to the City Council on the amendment. The City Council cannot hold its required public hearings, without a recommendation from the Planning Board. Staff believes that the Planning Board should not consider the proposed Street Classification Appendix General Plan amendment without a recommendation from the Transportation Commission.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
This report provides an update on a project; on its own it has no financial impact.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
State of California Government Code section 65302 requires that the General Plan Mobility Element include “the general location and extent of existing and proposed major thoroughfares, transportation routes, terminals, and other public transportation facilities”. The transportation facilities and maps should “correlate” to the Land Use Element.
The Street Classification is intended to replace the appendix adopted in 2008 and fulfill the requirements of Government Code 65302.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
On November 21, 2021, the City Council adopted the General Plan Environmental Impact Report. No further environmental review is required.
CLIMATE IMPACT
Since vehicle miles traveled in Alameda is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Alameda, City staff expects that multimodal transportation improvements consistent with the street classifications will have a positive climate impact.
RECOMMENDATION
Review, discuss and adopt Street Classification Mobility Element Appendix General Plan Amendment (Exhibit 1).
Respectfully submitted,
Andrew Thomas, Planning, Building, and Transportation Director
Exhibits:
1. November Draft Street Classification Appendix
2. Summary of Changes to September Draft Appendix
3. 2009 Street Classification Appendix