A Bike Plan is blueprint for future bike friendly projects in your community. Bike Plans are required to be updated every five years, approved through public hearings by advisory committees and the City Council. You want your dream project in the Bike Plan and made a high priority in order to be completed on the short term.

ACTION:

• Support funding Bicycle Master Plan Update through advocating for general fund investment or providing support with grant applications.
• Engage in the Bike Plan update to be sure all dream projects make it onto the blueprint.
• Advocate for Bike Plan approval when on agenda of advisory committees, Planning Commission, City Council or Board of Supervisors.
• Research the map or list of proposed projects in the Bike Plan to determine if your dream project is already on the blueprint.

WARNING:

• Advocating directly to city council to highlight need for projects not in the plan and have them added through a bike plan amendment or at the next update can be difficult but will result in further dream project discussion.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Bike Plans also contain great information about city policies pertaining to bikes, project cost estimates, design standards, potential funding sources and more.

The General Plan contains policy and governance rules that the Council, Board, and Staff are held accountable to. The Circulation Element is the section of the General Plan that provides a blueprint for transportation projects.

ACTION:

• Advocate for Bike Plan to be integrated into General Plan when Bike Plan update is being approved.
• Engage in the Circulation Element update process to be sure all Bike Plan projects make it into the General Plan.
• Advocate for General Plan approval when on agenda of advisory committees, Planning Commission, City Council, or Board of Supervisors.
• Advocate for General Plan update if outdated.

WARNING:

• General Plan update is a large-scale city project and will only occur when city resources are available. Advocate for General Plan update if outdated.

City staff, advisory bodies, and decision makers evaluate projects to determine their priority and ensure that the right projects are being built at the right time to best serve the needs of the community. High priority projects have the greatest likelihood of being completed in a timely manner. Small-scale projects of high priority may skip the Feasibility, Environmental Impact, and Land Acquisition stages of the process and skip directly to Final Design and Construction.

ACTION:

• Get your dream project set as a high priority through Bike Plan and Capital Improvement Project list.
• Help set project priorities by working with city staff during bike plan development or update.
• Advocates can go to advisory bodies, City Council, or Board of Supervisors to emphasize the need for dream project to be made a higher priority.

WARNING:

• Project priority is determined by evaluating safety concern, bikeway network connectivity, cost, and feasibility.
• Changes to priority ranking outside formal Bike Plan update process are more difficult and may require approving changes to Bike Plan.

If a project is proposed in the Bicycle Plan, General Plan, and/or other governing documents a preliminary study of the project to determine scope, general design concepts, and feasibility may be necessary.

ACTION:

• Support funding feasibility/project study through general fund investment or provide support with grant applications.
• Engage in public workshops to emphasize support and influence project scope.
• Emphasize community wide value of project to win stronger broad reaching support.

WARNING:

• Proceed with caution around voices of opposition, careful to account for opposing points of view and develop strong counter arguments.

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires projects with significant impact to the environment to produce an Environmental Impact Report (EIR). The National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) requires any project that receives federal funding, work, or permits to produce an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Once prepared, the environmental documents, EIR and/or EIS, must be certified by the City Council before the project can enter its final phases. Public hearings are held throughout the certification process.

ACTION:

• Support funding environmental work through advocating for general fund investment or provide support with grant applications.
• Engage in public workshops to emphasize support, influence project scope, and successfully establish project details.
• Advocate for approval of EIR approval when on agenda of advisory committees, Planning Commission, City Council, or Board of Supervisors.

WARNING:

• EIR’s that fail to assess full environmental impact may be challenged in court.
• Project details and alternatives approved in EIR set requirements for final project design, projects must be built within EIR scope or may be otherwise challenged in court.
• Overarching project details are approved through EIR approval; community engagement is essential to maximize success of project.

After the environmental studies are completed the City will need to acquire the right-of-way for the project. This is most common with bike paths but is not typically needed for bike lanes or routes unless road widening is necessary. Typically the City will acquire land through purchase at fair market value or through an easement granted by the landowner through their generosity or as a condition of a needed permit.

ACTION:

• Support funding for land acquisition through advocating for general fund investment or provide support with grant applications.
• Private fundraising efforts are sometimes utilized to help local jurisdictions provide matching funds required of state and federal grants.

WARNING:

• Land acquisition hopes are sometimes dashed when owners choose not to sell, encourage staff to get willing to sell commitments as early in the project process as possible.

City staff or consultants will prepare the final design documents for the project completing plans and engineering work. Final documents will be made available to the public for review. The Planning Commission, City Council or Board of Supervisors must approve final design before the project can be constructed and public hearings are sometimes held throughout the final approval process.

ACTION:

• Support funding for final design through general fund investment or provide support with grant applications.
• Advocate for the best possible project by working with city staff or attending advisory body, Planning Commission, City Council or Board of Supervisors meetings as final design is completed and approved.

WARNING:

• Specific project details are approved during final design; community engagement is essential to maximize success of project.

City staff or hired contractors will perform the construction work required to complete the project. If contracted, the firm performing the work is responsible for the quality of the work and will be subject to inspections performed by city staff.

ACTION:

• Support funding for construction through general fund investment or provide support with grant applications.
• Celebrate commencement of project construction publicly.
• Notify the public of project completion, emphasizing big picture of future project plan if current phase is underwhelming.
• Attend ribbon-cutting events focusing on praising decision makers, allies, and staff in working to complete the project.

WARNING:

• Necessity to complete projects in phases when funding is available results in ribbon cuttings that celebrate what appear to be incomplete, problematic, or inconsequential projects.
• Projects are not always constructed according to final design, expressing concerns regarding discrepancies must occur immediately in order for staff to hold construction crews responsible for flaws.