Second Bikeways/Walkability Workshop

 SMALLER TURNOUT THIS TIME
A small turnout - 23 people, less than half the number who turned out for the first one - attended the final Bikeways/Walkability Workshop conducted Wednesday evening in the Emergency Operations Center by Costa Mesa City staff and consultants hired to do the work.

RAJA TO JOHN...
Transportation Services Manager Raja Sethuraman kicked it off, then handed over the meeting to consultant John Holloway of the firm KTU+A, who spent the next hour guiding us through the presentation, which will be available for viewing online shortly.

THE EASTERN SEGMENT
This meeting covers the second segment of what might become the East/West Multi-Use Trail system, taking users from the Santa Ana River Trail across Costa Mesa past Orange Coast College on eastward to the Back Bay on the far East side.  Holloway told us that OCC is the geographical center of this trail layout, so the segment studied today went from that point eastward.  The western segment was discussed last month in the first of these workshops, which I covered for you HERE.

NOT JUST FOR BIKES...
Holloway reminded us that this trail system is not just for those on bikes, but would be used for any non-motorized form of transportation - walkers, runners and including folks in wheelchairs.

THE ROUTE
As you can see from this image, this half of the trail includes segments on Fairview Road, the Paularino Channel, Bristol Street, the Santa Ana Delhi Channel, Mesa Drive and a possible alternate to that segment along Santa Ana Avenue and University Drive.

LOTS OF BIKE COMMUTERS, NO FUNDING YET
We were reminded that Costa Mesa has the highest percentage of bicycle commuters in Orange County, and that this process is simply to gather input from the community regarding their ideas for further enhancement of the bikeability/walkability of our city.  The City has no funding to do the design and construction of any new trails at this time.

WHAT ABOUT THE NEW COMMITTEE?
A member of the audience asked how this process, using consultants to take the pulse of the community, will differ from the scope of work to be handed to the about-to-be-formed Bikeability Committee - 15 members of the community that will probably be selected at the council meeting on April 7th.  Sethuraman indicated that the committee's work would be broader in scope, covering the entire city.

WHAT ABOUT BIKE RACKS?
There was a brief discussion about the dearth of bike racks throughout the city.  It seems curious to create a system and processes that encourage greater bike use when there are so few bike racks in town.  (I was amused to find three bikes chained to poles and a tree outside the EOC when I left.)  We were told that more bike racks would be placed around town, and that new retail and commercial projects would be required to provide them.

TOOLS FOR INPUT
Following that hour long presentation/discussion the audience broke into groups to study city maps and make notes on them regarding concerns, desires and preferences.  There were also some charts on the walls to which participants could affix colored stickers in response to questions posed, plus a place for inclusion of other unanticipated issues.

ONCE AGAIN, NO FITZPATRICK
Although the turnout was smaller this time, it still seemed like a worthwhile exercise.  Once again, former Planning Commissioner Jim Fitzpatrick - the guy who fancies himself as "Mr. Bikeability" - failed to show at this meeting, just as he was absent from the first on.  I thought it was curious, but he's probably too busy making money shilling for medical marijuana interests to attend these meetings.

PRESENTATIONS WILL BE ONLINE SHORTLY
The data collected from these two workshops will be compiled by the consultants.  Both presentations will be available on the City website soon, for those of you interested in this process.