El Molino Avenue Demonstration Project

Purpose The City of Pasadena is advancing the El Molino Avenue Demonstration Project, which involves the implementation of traffic calming utilizing quick-build materials. El Molino Avenue is identified in the Bicycle Transportation Action Plan (BTAP) as one of the City's four (4) priority Greenway corridors to enhance safety and improve walking and biking connections. The El Molino Avenue Demonstration Project area is on El Molino Avenue from Atchison Street to Bonita Drive (Figure 1). Ultimately the completion of this effort will help inform the permanent design of improvements on El Molino Avenue, which are part of the larger Greenways Implementation project currently underway. Figure 1: El Molino Avenue Demonstration Project Area Shown highlighted in red relative to the broader Pasadena Greenways network The Project will build on the framework developed in the BTAP and be informed by the data from the Greenways Feasibility Study – February 2021. Additionally, findings, community feedback and any information developed by the wider Greenways Implementation will help guide and identify recommendations for the El Molino Avenue Demonstration Project. The Consultant shall consider these identified recommendations to develop the concept and advance the design, but the City would encourage the Consultant to incorporate new best practices in Greenway design, and as appropriate recommend design elements that deviate from the prior studies. The design shall be informed by the NACTO Urban Bikeway Design, Designing for All Ages & Abilities: Contextual Guidance for High-Comfort Bicycle Facilities. The overall purpose of the project is to develop and demonstrate potential traffic‑calming treatments that can be easily installed using quick‑build materials, allowing the community to experience and provide feedback before permanent installations are considered. El Molino Avenue Demonstration Project and Relation to Greenways Implementation The City was awarded U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) funding through the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program to implement a demonstration project on El Molino Avenue utilizing quick-build materials. To manage and address Federal funding requirements, the El Molino Avenue Demonstration Project is required to be a separate effort from the larger Greenways Implementation project. The demonstration aspect allows the use of quick‑build materials to test various design treatments through temporary installations, helping to support community engagement, collect community feedback, and evaluate changes in travel patterns and traffic operations. The Project will inform the final design for ultimately completing permanent improvements on El Molino Avenue. Relationship to City Planning Documents and the General Plan This Project is consistent with the BTAP, which identifies the four (4) proposed Greenways including El Molino Avenue, which shall be guided by complementary planning documents including the Greenways Feasibility Study, Pasadena Pedestrian Plan, and Pedestrian Transportation Action Plan. The City's Mobility Element provides the overall policy framework for this project and transportation in the City. This project is consistent with the Mobility Element Objective of Enhancing Livability through the following policies: Policy 1.7 – Design streets to achieve safe interaction for all modes of travel particularly for pedestrians and bicycle users. Policy 1.10 – Continuously evaluate the operation of the City's transportation system to manage the speed of travel at or below the speed limit, manage queues at intersections and develop improvements to increase safety of all transportation services. Policy 1.11 – Design Streets to reflect the mobility needs of the adjacent land use context to support healthy activities such as walking and bicycling.