Title
Public Hearing to Consider Adoption of Resolution Adopting a General Plan Amendment to Update the Mobility Element Street Classification Appendix.
CEQA Determination: The Alameda General Plan 2040 Final Environmental Impact Report, State Clearinghouse #2021030563, Certified by the City Council on November 30, 2021, Evaluated the Environmental Impacts of the General Plan Update and Subsequent Actions to Implement the General Plan policies, Including the Adoption of the Street Classification Appendix. None of the Circumstances Requiring Further CEQA Review are Present (Planning, Building & Transportation 20962710)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The General Plan provides policy guidance for future public decision making regarding land use, transportation, open space, safety and other issues of general importance to the community. The General Plan Mobility Element Street Classification Appendix provides an additional layer of policy guidance for decisions by City of Alameda (City) staff, the Transportation Commission, the Planning Board, and the City Council regarding the interpretation and implementation of General Plan Mobility Element policies.
The updated Street Classification Appendix (Exhibit 1) replaces the 2009 Appendix (Exhibit 2). The Street Classification Appendix was unanimously recommended by both the Transportation Commission in November and the Planning Board in December of 2022.
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 that it would be completed in 2022.
On September 20, 2022, the City published a Draft General Plan Mobility Element Street Classification Appendix (draft Appendix) for public review and comment. The draft document was presented and discussed at the September 28, 2022 Transportation 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 20, 2022, the staff/consultant team prepared the revised draft Street Classification Appendix.
On November 16, 2022, the Transportation Commission unanimously recommended that the Planning Board recommend that the City Council adopt the draft Appendix to replace the 2009 Appendix.
On December 12, 2022, the Planning Board unanimously recommended that the City Council adopt the draft Appendix to replace the 2009 Appendix without any additional clarifying amendments.
DISCUSSION
General Plan and Appendix Purpose.
State of California Government Code section 65302(b) 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 proposed General Plan Mobility Element Street Classification Appendix is intended to replace the 2009 appendix and fulfill the requirements of Government Code section 65302(b).
The General Plan Mobility Element Street Classification Appendix provides an additional layer of policy guidance for decisions by City staff, the Transportation Commission, the Planning Board, and the City Council regarding the interpretation and implementation of General Plan Mobility Element policies. The appendix provides a classification for every street in Alameda and a set of design standards for each classification. Each street is classified as either a Main Street, Gateway Street, Business Commercial Street, Neighborhood Connector Street or Neighborhood Local Street. The classifications also include an additional designation for any street that serves as a Transit Street, a Truck Route, or Bikeway Street.
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 Avenue 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 Avenue. 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.
Complete Streets. General Plan policies and the Street Classification Appendix 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).
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.
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 Drive, Constitution Way, 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 (a designation defined in the Active Transportation Plan and described in more detail below), where a speed limit less than 25 miles per hour may be appropriate or needed.
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 does not conflict with the ATP proposed bikeways. The Street Classifications and ATP complement each other and 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 Neighborhood 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.
ALTERNATIVES
The City Council alternatives include:
• Adopting the Appendix as recommended by the Transportation Commission and Planning Board,
• Adopting the Appendix with modifications, or
• Remanding the Appendix back to the Transportation Commission and Planning Board for consideration of additional issues or City Council concerns.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
There is no financial impact from adopting the recommended Appendix.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
The draft Appendix was drafted to support and supplement the adopted Alameda General Plan Mobility Element policies.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The Alameda General Plan 2040 Final Environmental Impact Report, State Clearinghouse #2021030563, certified by the City Council on November 30, 2021, evaluated the environmental impacts of the General Plan update and subsequent actions to implement the General Plan policies, including the adoption of the Street Classification Appendix. None of the circumstances in CEQA Guidelines sections 15162 or 15163 requiring further CEQA review are present.
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
Hold a public hearing and adopt a resolution adopting a General Plan Amendment to Update the Mobility Element Street Classification Appendix.
Respectfully submitted,
Andrew Thomas, Planning, Building, and Transportation Director
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Margaret O’Brien, Finance Director
Exhibits:
1. Draft General Plan Mobility Element Street Classification Appendix
2. 2009 Street Classification Appendix
cc: Jennifer Ott, City Manager