On September 20, 2018, the Planning Commission recommended approval of General Plan Amendment No. GPA-003-2018, by a 6-0 vote with one Commissioner being absent, for the adoption of the Garden Grove Active Streets Master Plan into the City’s General Plan Circulation Element along with Active Transportation goals, policies, and implementation measures replacing Exhibit CIR-7, the Master Plan of Bikeway Facilities map, amending the Existing Circulation System and MPAH Designations map (Exhibit CIR-1) and the Master Plan of Streets and Highways (Exhibit CIR-4), and adopting the Garden Grove Active Streets Master Plan as an appendix.

Bicycle & Pedestrian Master Plan and Community Outreach

The City of Garden Grove, in partnership with SCAG, hired consultants Alta Planning + Design and Iteris Engineering to create the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan. Alta and Iteris began work on the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan in the summer of 2015. CARS, too had been hired and partnered with the City to produce an Open Streets Event, “By Day & By Night” on October 10, 2015. Alta and the project team were at the Open Streets event and hosted a fun, interactive planning workshop on Historic Main Street for attendees to provide input on walking and biking conditions throughout Garden Grove. The Alta team also installed a temporary pedestrian crossing and green bicycle shared lane markings so the public could test these treatments in a comfortable, car-free environment.  The project team hosted a total of three Advisory Committee meetings. The Advisory Committee was established to provide detailed input and feedback on plan components and review the document. The Committee was composed of individuals interested in active transportation and biking and trails. Members on the Committee included local residents, the Garden Grove Parent Teacher Association (PTA), high school students, a Cal Poly Pomona graduate who worked on the earlier “Community in Motion” plan, City staff (including an IT staff person who commutes to work by bike from Long Beach), a UCI professor, and a planning commissioner.  The public was also invited to suggest specific improvements for Garden Grove’s bicycle and trail network by using an online interactive mapping tool. Over 220 suggestions were mapped. Of these suggestions, participants identified over 37 gaps and barriers to biking or walking. Once the draft document was completed, Alta and the project team held a second community workshop at the 60th Anniversary – Golden Jubilee Celebration held in Village Green Park (June 18, 2016). Over 230 people participated in the Garden Grove Active Streets booth, which featured interactive display boards showing the bicycle and pedestrian recommendations. Community members were encouraged to give feedback on the recommendations by sharing their experiences with the current bicycle and pedestrian network, adding comments to the proposed recommendations, and showing support or providing criticism to the proposed priority projects.  On April 1, 2017, the City held a  third Open Streets event, which was produced in partnership with a “Go Human” grant from SCAG.  A key component of the Event was creating pop-up bike lanes on West Street and a “neighborhood greenway” on Dorada Avenue. These pop-up bikeway improvements created a route that allowed bicyclists to make a loop between Acacia Parkway, Garden Grove Boulevard, West Street, Dorada Avenue, and 9th Street. SCAG and the project team had informational booths and a passport program that had participants provide feedback on the bikeways. The passport survey had a total of 174 respondents and asked if they supported making the pop-up changes permanent in the community. The participants voted yes to the separated bike lanes on West Street by 91% and yes to the neighborhood greenway shared street by 85%.

OCTA Bicycle Corridor Improvement Project (BCIP)

In the midst of preparing the Master Plan, now officially christened the Garden Grove Active Streets Master Plan, Alta and City staff identified certain bikeway improvements that would be a good fit for the OCTA BCIP grant program. Alta wrote the grant and the City of Garden Grove submitted the request for $1,201,978 to improve the on-street bicycle infrastructure by 75 percent and to create a more consistent network by creating 14.85 miles of comfortable bikeways. The proposed improvements on West Street and Gilbert Street required approval from OCTA to modify the Master Plan of Arterial Highways (MPAH). The changes to the MPAH were approved by the OCTA Board of Directors and will be completed upon approval by the City. The City was awarded the BCIP grant for the bikeway improvements in August of 2016.

General Plan

The current General Plan Circulation Element, written in 2008, includes key themes and vision that have to do with active transportation including “Bikeways”, “OCTA Right-of-Way”, and “Interjurisdictional Transportation Planning”.  As stated in the 2008 Bikeways section,

“Bikeway facilities promote health and wellness in the community. Currently the City has limited bicycle facilities and amenities. The County of Orange and the City of Garden Grove have both proposed new routes throughout the City. Securing funding and completion of these routes will provide local and regional connections and create mobility options for residents, which will also contribute to relief of traffic congestion citywide.”

The Active Streets Master Plan implements this General Plan theme and the policies and implementations found in the Bikeways Goal CIR-6, including CIR-IMP-6D - “Update the Master Plan of Bikeways to comply with Caltrans standards in order to qualify for funding of new bikeway facilities.”  The Active Streets Master Plan adds to and implements goals from other Elements of the General Plan including: Air Quality, Parks, Recreation, and Open Space, Land Use, and Community Design. The Active Streets Master Plan provides a needed update to the General Plan, based on current active transportation practices, the latest infrastructure design, and current grant opportunities.

The Garden Grove Active Streets Master Plan

The Master Plan provides a level of analysis and concentrated effort on improving active transportation that is new for Garden Grove. The Active Streets Plan is 141 pages that includes careful study of the local factors influencing biking and walking conditions. These findings were used to develop a long-term vision for biking and walking in Garden Grove and setting priorities to help the City in achieving this vision. The Alta team reviewed the existing conditions for bicycling and walking unique to Garden Grove, conducted bicycle and pedestrian counts at nine locations across the City, and analyzed bicycle and pedestrian collision data.

The data indicated that there was a significant need to improve the bicycle and pedestrian safety in Garden Grove. Between 2009 and 2014, 754 collisions were reported in Garden Grove that involved a bicyclist or a pedestrian and 20 pedestrians and 5 bicyclists died as a result of a collision with a motor vehicle. In addition to direct injury and crash reduction benefits, providing safe and convenient bikeways for residents to make biking more a part of their lives, helps to increase physical fitness, reduce obesity, and provide mental health benefits.  Riding a bicycle on a sidewalk is a very common and dangerous activity in Garden Grove. During bicycle counts, 95% of all bicyclists riding in the City were riding on the sidewalks. Furthermore, approximately 40% of the bicyclists rode on the sidewalk in locations where a bike lane was present.

The public outreach for the Active Streets Master Plan included six major components including an Open Streets event, two community workshops, a Community Advisory Committee, a project website with interactive online map and online survey, and the previous community outreach from the 2015 “Community In Motion” plan. The community workshops engaged 100 participants at the “By Day & By Night” Open Streets event and 230 participants at the 60th Anniversary-Diamond Jubilee Celebration. The online interactive map received 220 citywide suggestions mapped by residents, commuters, and visitors.  The major themes and community priorities identified through these outreach efforts are in keeping with the broader benefits of active transportation and include:

>Provide sustainable, alternative transportation options for the City;

>Enhance the regional bikeway network;

>Promote quality pedestrian facilities for transportation and recreation.

The Active Streets Master Plan summarizes the planning process and describes the biking and walking conditions in Garden Grove. It recommends policies and tools for the City and its partners to use in implementing programs and infrastructure improvements, and provides implementation strategies to create better connectivity throughout Garden Grove and to the surrounding region.  In total, the plan recommends 55.3 miles of new bicycle facilities, as well as 9.3 miles of updated existing facilities. The plan also recommends 20.4 miles of Complete Streets and Separated Bikeway potential study corridors. Recommended projects were prioritized using feedback from City staff, the Advisory Committee, and the community.

General Plan Goals

The following goals from the Active Streets Master Plan will be added to the Circulation Element of the General Plan:

Goal CIR-14: MOBILITY AND ACCESS. Increase and improve pedestrian and bicycle access to employment centers, schools, transit, recreation facilities, and other community destinations across the City of Garden Grove for people of all ages and abilities. (Goal 1 – Active Streets Master Plan).

Goal CIR-15: SAFETY. Improve the safety for active transportation users through the design and maintenance of sidewalks, streets, intersections, and other roadway improvements such as signage, lighting, and landscaping, as well as best practice non-infrastructure programs to enhance and improve the overall safety of people walking and bicycling. (Goal 2 – Active Streets Master Plan).

Goal CIR-16: INFRASTRUCTURE AND SUPPORT FACILITIES. Maintain and improve the quality, operation, and integrity of the pedestrian and bicycle network infrastructure that allows for convenient and direct connections throughout Garden Grove. Increase the number of high quality support facilities to complement the network, and create public pedestrian and bicycle environments that are attractive, functional, and accessible to all people. (Goal 3 - Active Streets Master Plan).

Goal CIR-17: NON-INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAMS. Increase awareness of the value of pedestrian and bicycle travel for commute and non-commute trips through encouragement, education, enforcement, and evaluation programs that support walking and biking. (Goal 4 – Active Streets Master Plan).

Goal CIR-18: EQUITY. Improve accessibility for all people walking and biking through equity in public engagement, service delivery, and capital investments. (Goal 5 – Active Streets Master Plan).

Goal CIR -19: IMPLEMENTATION. Implement the Active Streets Master Plan over the next 20 years. (Goal 6 – Active Streets Master Plan).

OCTA BCIP Grant

The Active Streets Plan conducted a  thorough analysis of existing bicycle and pedestrian conditions identifying challenges and proposed improvements. Garden Grove’s on-street bike network is hindered by gaps in network connectivity, narrow bike lanes along streets with high speeds, and a high bicycle collision history. Based on the analysis from the Active Streets Plan, the City proposed bikeway corridor improvements and was awarded an OCTA BCIP grant at the end of 2016. (See Map 1 of the attached CC Memo Exhibit "A").   The City of Garden Grove’s Bicycle Corridor Improvements project is to design and construct 6.5 miles of new bikeways and improve 8.35 miles of existing, but underutilized bikeways. Bicycle facility improvements include creating new bike lanes through road rebalancing (2.66 miles on West Street and Gilbert Street), striping buffers to existing bike lanes (6 miles on Brookhurst Street and Chapman Avenue), striping bike lane network gaps (1.2 miles on Brookhurst Street), and providing bicycle wayfinding signs along all the proposed corridors (14.85 miles).  The City selected a network of 5 priority streets identified in the Active Streets Plan as follows:

North-South Corridors:

1. Brookurst Street between Katella Avenue and Westminster Avenue

2. West Street between Orangewood Avenue and Garden Grove Boulevard

3. Gilbert Street Corridor between Katella Avenue and Westminster Avenue

East-West Corridors:

4. Chapman Avenue between Valley View Street and the City Limit

5. Lampson Avenue between the City Limit and Haster Street

All of the BCIP improvements are proposed within the existing public right-of-way; within the width of the existing streets. On Brookhurst Street and Chapman Avenue, there is an opportunity to add a 3-foot buffer in the wide outside vehicle lane to existing bicycle lanes and to create new bicycle lanes with buffers where there are gaps.  To accommodate the 3-foot buffer, vehicle travel lanes will be reduced in width. Street parking will remain. (See Map 2 of attached CC Memo Exhibit "A").

Lampson Avenue is the only continuous east-west corridor central in Garden Grove that is not a truck route, making it a great candidate for additional bikeway improvements. The right-of-way (ROW) through the corridor varies widely and has intermittent bike lanes. The improvements will use striping to create a consistent bicycle lane width across the corridor and slow speeding vehicles. Other improvements include adding buffers to existing bike lanes, striping new bike lanes to fill gaps, improving bikeway striping at intersections, and providing wayfinding signs.

West Street is an ideal candidate for active transportation and can provide needed access for bicyclists heading north to the employment center of the Anaheim Resort District/Disneyland. The improvements to West Street and the portion of Gilbert Street north of Chapman Avenue, will change the roadways from a Secondary undivided (four-lane) to a divided collector (three-lane). The restriping of Gilbert Street between Chapman Avenue and Katella Avenue to a divided three-lane collector with a buffered Class-IV bike lane facility, will connect to the north with bike lane improvements constructed by the County. Orange County Public Works supports the project and agreed that the project will improve vehicular safety and improve pedestrian and cyclists safety.  The General Plan designates West Street in the MPAH, as a four-lane undivided with a capacity of 25,000 average daily traffic (ADT). The volumes for the segments of West Street ranged from 13,000 to 15,000 ADT in the 2008 General Plan. Since that time, traffic volumes have decreased from 11,000 to 13,000 ADT making a reclassification suitable. Such a road rebalancing has proven safety benefits including a 19 to 47 percent reduction in overall crashes on previously four-lane undivided roadways (FHWA, Road Diet Informational Guide, 2014). Creating new bike lanes on West Street and Gilbert Street will provide dedicated space for bicyclists on the street and help to reduce collisions. The addition of a center turn lane will provide a center refuge for pedestrians crossing the street and the addition of a bike lane will increase the buffer between pedestrians and moving vehicles.

MPAH Amendment

OCTA reviewed the data for the reclassifications of West Street (Garden Grove Boulevard to Orangewood Avenue) and Gilbert Street (north of Chapman Avenue) and concluded that the MPAH amendment is appropriate from a long-range planning perspective. As stated in the OCTA staff report, future traffic volumes will be accommodated with the proposed changes and are forecasted to remain at generally acceptable levels of service (LOS). The existing traffic volume on Gilbert Street is between 11,000 and 13,000 average daily traffic (ADT), and on West Street is between 11,000 and 13,000. With the proposed reclassifications, future volumes are forecasted to be below 15,000 ADT for both facilities. These future ADT volumes can be accommodated with the proposed reclassifications within an acceptable LOS. The amendment to the Master Plan of Arterial Highways was approved by the OCTA Board of Directors (Board).

General Plan Amendment

A General Plan Amendment is required to modify the General Plan and in this case, the changes include modifying specific exhibits, adding additional goals, policies, and implementations, and in general, adopting the Active Streets Master Plan as an appendix that will update active transportation policy. This amendment will change the Circulation Element of the General Plan and will: add Active Transportation Goals, Policies, and Implementations; replace the existing “Master Plan of Bikeway Facilities,” Exhibit CIR-7, with the Active Streets Master Plan, “Bike Facility Network” map; amend the exhibits (Exhibit CIR-1 and Exhibit CIR-4) that are based on the amended MPAH (approved by OCTA) to change West Street (from Orangewood Avenue to Garden Grove Boulevard) and Gilbert Street (from Chapman Avenue to Katella Avenue) from a secondary (four-lane undivided) to a divided collector (three-lane divided); and adopt the entire Garden Grove Active Streets Master Plan as an appendix.  The Active Streets Master Plan adds to and implements many of the goals and policies in the Circulation Element of the General Plan. The existing goals that are implemented by the Active Streets Master Plan include: Goal CIR-4 Reduced Vehicle Trips; Goal CIR-5 Alternative Forms of Transportation; Goal CIR-6 Bikeways; Goal CIR-10 Interjurisdictional Transportation Planning; and Goal CIR-13 OCTA Right-of-Way.  Other Elements in the General Plan include goals about active transportation, the PE ROW, and benefits of bicycling and walking. These Elements will benefit from the addition of the Active Streets Master Plan and their goals will be furthered. These other Elements from the General Plan include: Air Quality; Parks, Recreation, and Open Space; Land Use; and Community Design.  By adopting the Active Streets Master Plan goals into the Circulation Element, decision makers will be providing specific policy recommendations to make Garden Grove a more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly community.  These goals implement the aim of increasing the use of active transportation (e.g., walking, biking, and using other non-motorized devices) by residents and visitors of all ages and abilities.  Goals, objectives, and policies in the General Plan direct the way public improvements are made, where resources are allocated, and how programs are operated. The Master Plan provides specific recommendations for the City to implement so that active transportation improvements will continue in Garden Grove. An example of a specific recommendation is “designate a City Active Transportation Coordinator responsible for coordinating pedestrian and bicycle transportation within the City and externally.”

If a City has hopes to be competitive in the pursuit of active transportation grants, an updated, thoughtfully considered bicycle and pedestrian master plan is a necessary document. A bicycle and pedestrian master plan shows that a City is committed to active transportation and has a clear vision for how to move forward and make improvements. For the City of Garden Grove, the Active Streets Master Plan is a part of moving Garden Grove forward into a re-imagined future.  To reach more of the community, the Active Streets Master Plan took community outreach out to an Open Streets event and the 60th Anniversary Celebration. The community was invited, at Open Streets 3, to participate in pop-up versions of the bikeway improvements on West Street (buffered bike lanes) and Dorada Avenue (Neighborhood Greenway) and then provide feedback.

To date, the City of Garden Grove has brought three Open Streets events to the community, opening up streets to thousands of bicyclists and walkers for fun-filled celebrations that encourage active transportation. The third Open Streets event held April 1, 2017 was the most successful so far, with 15,000 participants.  By adopting the bicycle and pedestrian master plan into the General Plan, decision makers are making policy recommendations to direct the way public improvements are made, where resources are allocated, and how programs are operated. By going further and receiving grant funding (BCIP) to make actual bikeway improvements on the streets of Garden Grove, the City shows a greater commitment to active transportation and the community should be encouraged that real infrastructure improvements are coming to make biking safer and more available in the near future.  The Re:Imagine campaign is a little hard to define as it involves all of the pieces that go toward making a place “GREAT.”  As the online Mindmixer taught us, people want places that are walkable and bicycle-friendly, with beautiful green spaces, lively activities, varied shopping, art to discover, interesting events, and a sense of community. Part of Re:Imagine is transforming Garden Grove into a City known for its walk and bicycle-friendliness, and as an active, healthy, prosperous place to live, work, and play. The City’s relatively mild year-round climate, off-road opportunity corridors such as the PE ROW trail, the concentration of commercial and workplace locations, and the well-connected street grid in the downtown area, are all characteristics that can push Garden Grove towards its biking and walking goals.

Other Active Transportation Grants

 In addition to the OCTA BCIP grant and the SCAG “Go Human” grant, planning staff has continued to seek grant funding for other active transportation improvements and studies/plans to further specific projects. These grants directly relate to the vision and recommendations for active transportation from the Active Streets Master Plan and include infrastructure improvements, plans that will analyze and recommend improvements on specific topics, and education and encouragement programs.  The following related grants have been awarded to the City of Garden Grove under the project management of retired Senior Planner, Erin Webb, and Senior Analyst, Alana Cheng:

• Caltrans Active Transportation Program (ATP) Cycle 2 2016, “First Mile, Bicycle and Pedestrian Trail Expansion of the PE ROW and Education/Encouragement Activities” $1.8 million. The project is to construct a bike/pedestrian trail between Stanford Avenue and Brookhurst Street.  Engineering staff are administering the infrastructure portion of this grant and have completed the environmental review and design phase. Construction will begin in the near future.

• Caltrans ATP Cycle 2 “First Mile of PE ROW Trail” includes a non-infrastructure portion that includes a Police mobile bike repair station (box trailer) that will go to schools, low-income neighborhoods, and after-school programs to teach kids how to repair their bikes and to ride safely. The City of Garden Grove is partnering with the Boys & Girls Club and Orange County Health Care Agency (OCHCA). The program is being developed by the partners.

• SCAG Sustainable Planning Grants 2016, Garden Grove Safe Routes to School: Phase 1 Plan, $200,000.  City staff partnered with the Garden Grove Unified School District (GGUSD) to work with KOA consultants to create the first Safe Routes to School Plan for Garden Grove. The SRTS Plan has focused on six schools, Cook Elementary & Jordan Intermediate, Paine Elementary, Brookhurst Elementary, Murdy Elementary, and Hill Elementary. The City’s stakeholders include staff from Santa Ana, Westminster, and Fountain Valley as several of the schools have students from these jurisdictions.  The draft plan is being prepared.

• Caltrans Sustainable Communities Grant 2017-2018, The Garden Grove Active Downtown Plan, $400,000. The Active Downtown Plan will identify needs, opportunities, and mobility strategies to create a vibrant, walkable Downtown that includes improving connectivity along bikeway spokes and specifically a multi-use path to the OC Streetcar. A major component of the Downtown Active Plan is an extensive, iterative community outreach process engaging the diverse and disadvantaged communities that may not participate in traditional planning processes. The RFP has recently been mailed to prospective consultants for proposals.

• 2018 Cal Fire Urban & Community Forestry Program, Forestry Grant, Garden Grove’s Urban Forestry Plan, $573,931.00.  The grant provides funding for the City to develop an Urban Forest Management Plan with the purpose of increasing the canopy cover from 8-10% to 18-20% over the next 40 years and to plant 363 trees along the PE ROW Trail being constructed between Stanford Avenue and Brookhurst Street. Community outreach conducted during the planning process of the Active Streets Master Plan has the “need for more trees in the City” as the number five priority. Grant awarded June 2018.

• CalTrans ATP Cycle 4 2019, PE ROW Link, Large Infrastructure Application, submitted by OCTA with City of Garden Grove, the City of Santa Ana, County of Orange and CalTrans as partners, $2,560,000.  A grant proposal to prepare the Project Approval and Environmental Document (PA/ED) to add 4 miles of Class I bicycle and pedestrian shared-use path on the OCTA-owned PE ROW and the Wintersburg Channel.  This portion of the PE ROW extends from Euclid Avenue in Garden Grove to Raitt Street in Santa Ana. Grant applications were submitted on July 31, 2018.

It is recommended that the City Council:

• Conduct a Public Hearing; and

• Adopt the attached Resolution approving General Plan Amendment No. GPA-003-2018.

By: Lee Marino, Planning Services Manager