MONTEREY — An award-winning project along North Fremont Street in Monterey has come under fire by the Monterey County Civil Grand Jury, which has dubbed the project “a bike path to nowhere” in the report’s title.
The
report’s key complaint is that the city failed to adequately inform the public
of design changes relating to a bicycle path incorporated into the overall
upgrades of North Fremont Street between Casa Verde Way and Canyon Del Rey, as
well as not finishing the project’s vision when funding became scarce.
“The
report by the Monterey Civil Grand Jury has been received by the city and we
are preparing the required responses,” said Monterey City Manager Hans Uslar in
an email Tuesday. “This award-winning project was completed below budget and
followed a thorough public process, which kept stakeholders such as businesses
and neighborhoods well informed. We are grateful that the report highlights
these facts.
“We
are looking forward to responding to the findings in order to help the civil
grand jury to gain further insights into the success of this project,” Uslar
said.
Indeed,
Caltrans awarded the city with its “Excellence in Transportation” award last
year for “providing safe, sustainable, integrated and sustainable
transportation,” the state agency said in a statement.
The
project, called the North Fremont Bicycle and Pedestrian Improvement Project,
was launched in 2014 with the idea of connecting the North Fremont bike path
with the $31 million Fort Ord Regional Trail and Greenway, a 30-mile loop for
walkers and bicyclists that is funded by a combination of state and local
funding through the Transportation Agency for Monterey County.
As
the North Fremont project design moved along, at some point the city of
Monterey changed the bike path design from one where bicyclists share the
street with traffic to one where bicyclists are physically protected from
traffic. The grand jury believes the city should have better communicated that
change with the public.
But
as far back as 2017 and then again in 2018, the Monterey Herald reported on
these design changes as well as the fact that budget overruns, which happen
frequently in public works projects, resulted in the bike path not connecting
to Canyon del Rey and instead stopped at Casanova Avenue.
The
city is just waiting on a funding source to finish the connection, the grand
jury report stated.
There
are four types of bike paths recognized by Caltrans. The original design called
for a Class 2 bike lane, which is the one where a line is painted on the side of a street. But
as the project moved forward the city decided to construct barriers between
bicyclists and cars and run the lane between the traffic lanes.
That
change drew criticism from some members of the public as voiced through letters
to the editor in the Herald. Letters to the editor would indicate the public
was aware of and involved in the process. The city held several meetings with
neighborhood groups and others updating them on the design, including changes.
The report even acknowledged that fact.
“The
City of Monterey is to be commended for a comprehensive effort to communicate
with local stakeholders, including the business community, neighborhood
associations, and nearby residents domiciled near North Fremont throughout the
planning and construction project,” the report reads.
The
Herald reached out to the Monterey County Council’s Office requesting comment
but a call was not immediately returned Tuesday.
The
report also aimed at a May 2018 resolution to start construction, “but its
language did not include anything stating the fact of that the City had changed
the plan for construction of Class 4 bike lanes,” according to the report.
However,
even as far back as September 2017, the Herald reported that “the plan itself
includes the implementation of Class 4 bike lanes in the median of North
Fremont Street and is intended to make the intersections between Casa Verde Way
and Canyon Del Rey Boulevard both pedestrian-friendly and Americans with
Disabilities Act compliant.”
Then
again on May 3, 2018, the same month the report said the city failed to notify
the broader population of the design change, the Herald reported that the
“project, which will include the implementation of Class IV bike lanes in the
median of North Fremont Street …”
The
report, however, maintained that for there to be adequate communication with
the public, designs should go before the city’s Architectural Review Committee
so the public would have an opportunity to observe the process before coming
before the City Council.
Finally,
the report criticized the bike path portion of the project for only being “the
tip of the iceberg,” because the project also included other badly needed
infrastructure improvements, such as replacing storm drains, pedestrian
crosswalks and improved stoplights.
Those
improvements were also reported in the Herald in 2018.
At
the end of the report, the findings included both compliments and criticisms of
the way the project was communicated to the public and recommends:
For
all city projects that contain design elements, the city should hold public
hearings before the Architectural Review Committee. This process should begin
by Aug. 1,
On
future city projects, the governing body of record should approve revised
resolutions to document changes to a project. This process should begin by Aug.
1.
The
city should begin holding public hearings before the Architectural Review
Committee for their input on the Gap Project design. This should begin by Aug.
1,
The
city should create a maintenance plan addressing routine and long-term
maintenance, as recommended by Caltrans.
Monterey
Herald
By DENNIS L. TAYLOR
May 4, 2021
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