Complete Streets Draft Plan is Out!
City of Beverly Hills has finally released a draft Complete Streets plan! Transportation consultant Iteris and bike-planners at Alta have posted a two-parter for our review: a 43-page executive summary and a 200-page technical report. Now is time to get busy! Sharpen that pencil and get ready to provide your hard-won local knowledge so that the final complete streets plan is as good as it can be.
The Beverly Hills Complete Streets Plan draft report comes eight months after last August’s “draft plan progress” public workshop. That workshop used a powerpoint presentation and some poster-board maps to suggest the direction the plan was taking.
If that workshop was intended to gauge the public’s interest in new solutions to old mobility problems, the lack of enthusiasm from the smallish crowd suggested only ambivalence. Was it the reheated presentation? Or were the “enhanced network” maps too much to take in? The workshop was a disappointing coda to that summer’s public outreach phase.
What then followed was quiet. Months and months of quiet. Consultant teams were reportedly reorganized. A new councilmember rotated in as mayor. And now the draft plan comes a bit too late to tee-up first-year projects in time for the budget process.
Next Up: Plan Feedback Workshop
Next we look ahead to the May 8th draft plan feedback workshop where Traffic and Parking commissioners will receive public feedback on the plan and the technical report posted on the project website. Also posted are maps for these “enhanced” travel networks (linked are the PDF documents):
We will have plenty more to say about the plan and these proposed networks soon. But don’t wait on us. Give these documents your attention. Download the combined summary and technical report here and be prepared to add your voice to the discussion.
Heck you can put your feedback right on the plan! The most engaging aspect of the presentation is the interactive comment feature. Both the executive summary and the technical report accept comments. (Downloadable PDFs of the plan and report are available there too.)
Mark your calendar for the Draft Plan Feedback Workshop on May 8, 2019 at 6 p.m. in City Hall (Room 280-A). If you can’t make it do add your comments online through Friday May 17, 2019. We need all the support from the pro-bike community we can get!