New county transportation plan takes on bike and pedestrian questions for American Canyon
Should Highway 29 be safer to cross? Should there me more crosswalks, especially along Highway 29/Broadway in American Canyon? Should there be better signage to identify bike lanes on Newell Drive? Should there be bicycle pullouts on hilly roads?
These are among the questions raised in Napa County’s new “active” transportation plan. The draft, released Monday, is a countywide planning document to develop a network of bicycle lanes and pedestrian paths.
The document will serve as guide on active transportation planning and investment, Patrick Band, associate program planner/administrator at the Napa Valley Transportation Authority, said on Sept. 25 as he presented the proposal to the American Canyon Planning Commission. The Napa Valley Transportation Authority is a county-wide agency focusing on transportation and transit with representatives from every Napa County jurisdiction.
All jurisdictions have to review and adopt the document. A draft plan is expected to come before the NVTA board in January. Each jurisdiction will then review the document in February and March.
A goal is to develop a plan that is consistent across jurisdictions, Band said. At the same time, the document allows for “local discretion.” NVTA wants to make sure future projects are eligible for state or other sources of funding.
The document includes existing data on existing infrastructure. Among the statistics, American Canyon now has 18.4 miles of bike lanes – about 5 miles more than in 2019. Nearly 25 miles of bike lanes are proposed in the plan for Napa County’s fastest growing jurisdiction.
Planning Commissioner Eric Altman asked about the “last mile,” referring to the difficulty of reaching transportation hubs from home. “How do you get to the station – whatever the station may be — from home?” he asked.
He asked whether the community could have a public, solar-based, driverless vehicle that’s on call for everyone. What’s the status?
Band answered autonomous, on-demand vehicle systems are “not quite there yet” in terms of cost effectiveness. These vehicles may also not meet the public’s need though they may become more mainstream over the next 10 to 15 years, particularly in large, urban areas.
Various resources are now available, including carpools, vanpools and a transit system, Band said. NVTA provide $250-a-month subsidy for van pools via Enterprise, the car rental company. That’s in addition to $500-a-month subsidy from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the Bay Area’s agency that coordinates transportation-related and other planning issues.
These vanpool subsidies are available to group of employees commuting to American Canyon or the Airport area, for example, from such areas as Fairfield, Suisun City or Vacaville.
So far this year, NVTA has received about 200 public comments, countywide, on Napa County’s active transportation needs as it prepared the draft document, according to the agency.
Shelby Goss, another planning commissioner, asked about the community outreach to make more people aware of the proposal.
“Engagement is always challenging,” Band said, particularly when it’s for a niche topic like this. That is why NVTA has led in-person events as well as virtual outreach. NVTA has done “its best” to reach out to businesses, agencies and other organizations, including chambers of commerce, schools and bicycle coalitions, he said.
NVTA participated in Meet in the Street and a career fair at American Canyon Middle School, where about 200 students gave their input, Band said.
A virtual open house on the draft document is scheduled 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 21. Breakout rooms are planned, Band said. NVTA wants as many people as possible to attend, he said. The Zoom link can be found at https://ghd.mysocialpinpoint.com/napaatplan.
The active transportation plan is expected to be updated every five years, Band said. “This is definitely an ongoing process.”
Planning Commissioner Charles Plummer asked about safety measures at nighttime. The document recommends pedestrian lighting near transit stops.
NVTA wants to make sure that these improvements – whether they are in the cities on in unincorporated areas – are appropriate, Band said.
The document is available at napaatplan.org
