That’s what the advisory commission rumor mill is saying anyway. I hope we can ensure that the gossip is wrong.
In February the Pasadena Department of Transportation said that we would have four (count ’em: 4) public meetings or workshops throughout the spring to get input on the Pasadena Bicycle Master Plan, and that a draft would be finished by around June. I posted a summary of the meeting.
We have so far had one workshop, in May, which many people felt was not adequately publicized beforehand (the City did not, for instance, send an e-mail to the list of interested parties it had collected at the first meeting, which it did use to get more than 1000 responses to the online Pasadena cyclists survey). At the workshop we were told that a second draft of the new plan’s goals, objectives, and actions would be posted on the web within one week, incorporating our feedback from the workshop. I posted the first draft of these items with commentary.
It’s been more than 2 months and a revised draft has never been posted. We have only had one meeting (two if you’re generous and count the intro meeting in February), and it’s now August. It is unclear that the plan will be finished by the end of the year (the deadline for eligibility to apply to the Caltrans bicycle account). It is unclear whether the City intends to get any more feedback from Pasadena cyclists, or even to re-convene its own appointed advisory board (who has not, it is rumored, met since the workshop in May). City representatives at the Rose Bowl last week claimed that the increased expense of the environmental impact report that would be required by the one-way-traffic Rose Bowl Loop option was a significant deterrant to pursuing that option, when the obvious thing to do would be to simply roll that EIR into the one being done (and paid for) already in connection with the BMP revision.
If you feel as I do that this level of transparency (opacity?) and public participation is unacceptable, I encourage you to contact Rich Dilluvio and the members of the advisory commission (contact info below, or you can just e-mail everyone for whom I could find addresses) and tell them that you want to see the revised list of goals, objectives, and actions posted on the City website ASAP, that you want more public participation in the BMP revision process, that you would come to a workshop if it were publicized, and that the expense of the Rose Bowl Loop EIR is not a valid excuse for not fully considering the one-way-loop option, because it can be done as part of the BMP revision EIR.
I hope that this rumor is false, but if it’s true we should do whatever we can to make sure it becomes false.
Rich Dilluvio
Pasadena DoT
rdilluvio@cityofpasadena.net
(626) 744-7254
Ryan Snyder
Planning Consultant
ryan@rsa.cc
ryansnyder@ca.rr.com
(323) 571-2910
Shay Sanchez and Liz Elliot
Advisory Commission
C.I.C.L.E.
info@cicle.org
Diane Trout
Advisory Commission
(also on Transportation Commission)
diane@caltech.edu
Brian Sims
Advisory Commission
(and City GIS coordinator)
(626) 744-6816
bsims@cityofpasadena.net
Tom Purnell
Advisory Commission
(and owner of Pasadena Cyclery)
(626) 795-2866 (Pasadena Cyclery #)
Can be contacted via Pasadena Cyclery website and Facebook
Or you can go talk to him in person at the shop at:
1670 E Walnut St
Pasadena, CA 91106-1699
Felicia Williams
Advisory Commission
(also on Transportation Commission)
Can be contacted via Meetup and Facebook.
Here’s an update from Rich. All links have been added by me.
I would like to clarify any rumors or false statements in Mr. Selvans e-mail.
First of all, as with many city departments, DOT does not hold many public meetings in the summer for obvious reasons (i.e. summer vacations), but we will be starting up again by September. Fred Dock, Director of Transportation, would like the Bicycle Master Plan process to parallel the General Plan’s Mobility Element update as much as possible. They begin their process in early fall. I suggest everyone be involved in that process as well since it really drives what are the City’s Transportation priorities. It is to our benefit to have our
goals and objectives for the new BMP to be consistent with the City’s General Plan Mobility Element.
The BMP Advisory Group will be meeting again soon and we will have more public outreach meetings beginning in the fall. I will post the goals and objectives for the BMP as soon as possible.
In regards too the second public meeting, I advertised the meeting the same as the first. This included the City’s website, local newspapers, flyers at Bike shops, Libraries, etc, and through some of the Bike related blogs/chat rooms. I was under the impression that we did send out a notice to our e-mail list. I will make sure the list is used for the third public meeting.
After the BMP Advisory Committee has had a chance to review and comment on the new proposed DRAFT map and plan we will have a public meeting/workshop to discuss the draft map and gain everyone’s input.
With regards to the Rose Bowl Loop this project as many people know came as a result of the City Council’s direction to work on some type of solution to all the issues of traffic safety at the Bowl. One of the options Mr. Selvans mentions includes a separate lane for Bikes and a one-way loop for motor vehicles. This option if chosen by City Council as the preferred option would entail a significant EIR that would take several mounts if not more than a year to accomplish. Any time you change a roadway to a one-way street it generates a full blown EIR/CEQA study which is also very expensive. Thankfully this is not the case for the EIR that is done for the BMP.
I hope I have addressed most of Mr. Selvans issues and I would be happy to discuss the BMP with anyone at anytime. I can be reached at (626) 744-7254 or at rdilluvio@cityofpasadena.net
Rich Dilluvio
Senior Transportation Planner
Department of Transportation
City of Pasadena
Hmm… so it sounds like the EIR for the BMP is cheap because we’re not really going to change anything. That’s too bad.