| Highlight | Section | Topic |
| [The circulation system] is a generator of physical settlement patterns, and its location, design and constituent modes have major impacts on air quality, plant and animal habitats, noise, energy use, safety, visual appearance, social interaction, land use, and open space, and economic activity within a community. | Circulation Element § A | |
| … Increased automobile traffic congestion on City streets during peak commute periods and summer and holiday weekends is a major concern. With no change in transportation behavior, traffic volumes and congestion are projected to increase to 2005. Regional population growth, increasing numbers of visitors, growth of UCSC, increased car miles travelled per person, and development and population growth within the City are all factors with the potential to increase traffic. With these potential traffic increases come increased fuel consumption, air pollution, noise, traffic accidents and impacts upon residential neighborhoods. | Circulation Element § A | congestion quality of life |
| The circulation system is a network of roads, rail lines, bikeways, and pedestrian paths designed to move people and goods from one place to another. | Circ El § A | definition |
| Increase the size of the road system only as a last resort (when alternate strategies have not proven effective). | Circ El § B | road expansion |
| POL/PGM C 1.1.2b: With the exception of approved baseline roadway improvements, implement no arterial street widening/expansion projects that focus solely on relieving peak-hour automobile congestion problems. | Circ El § B | road expansion |
| Road widenings / expansions will only be considered when [Pedestrian, Bike, Mass Transit, Road System, and Transportation Systems Management] strategies have not proven effective. | Circ El § B | road expansion |
| Circulation planning will focus specifically upon the development of viable pedestrian, bicycle and mass transit systems, ride sharing, traffic operations improvements, and other TSM strategies. Where deficiencies in the road system exist, alternative transportation improvements and TSM programs will be used to mitigate the deficiencies. … (See Pedestrian, Bike, Mass Transit, Road System, and Transportation Systems Management Sections of the Circulation Element for specific policies and programs.) |
Circ El § B | transit walk/bike TSM |
| Develop effective travel demand management strategies. | Circ El § B | transit walk/bike TSM |
| Develop viable pedestrian, bicycle, and mass transit systems, ride-sharing, traffic operations improvements, and other TSM strategies. | Circ El § B | transit walk/bike TSM |
| Improve alternative transportation modes. | Circ El § B | transit walk/bike TSM |
| POL/PGM (Policy / Program) C 1.1.1: Establish and monitor modal-distribution percentage goals for all constituent modes of travel and number of trips per person consistent with achieving a no net gain in the daily number of automobile trips. Strengthen alternative transportation improvements and TSM measures as necessary. | Circ El § B | transit walk/bike TSM |
| POL/PGM C 1.1.2: Evaluate and phase circulation system improvements to ensure that the goal of reducing use of the automobile is being met. | Circ El § B | transit walk/bike TSM |
| POL/PGM C 1.1.2a: Reduce automobile travel demand through education, transit-oriented and mixed use development pedestrian, bicycle, and mass transit improvements and TSM measures. |
Circ El § B | transit walk/bike TSM |
| POL/PGM C 1.1: Strive to achieve no net gain (beyond the 1991 level) in the daily number of automobile trips within the City by 2005. | Circ El § B | transit walk/bike TSM |
| POL/PGM C 1.3.1 Work with SCCRTC and other agencies to develop a Countywide origin destination study analyzing major trip origins, destinations and modes. | Circ El § B | selection criteria |
| POL/PGM C 1.3.2 Work with the University to develop and implement strategies to reduce congestion along City to University travel corridors. | Circ El § B | congestion UCSC |
| POL/PGM C 1.3.3.3 Work with the County/Live Oak area to develop and implement aggressive strategies to improve transit efficiency and reduce congestion along the City's east-west travel corridors. | Circ El § B | congestion |
| POL/PGM C 1.3.4 Develop and implement strategies, such as coordinated signs and street naming, protected turn lanes, and remote parking / shuttle programs, to reduce traffic congestion along, the Visitor/Beach Area travel corridors. | Circ El § B | congestion |
| POL/PGM C 1.3.5 Work with the SCCRTC and Transportation Management Association (TMA) to develop strategies and incentives such as community and employee ridesharing boards to encourage commuters living within 10 miles of their work-places in the City to utilize alternative transportation. | Circ El § B | transit walk/bike TSM |
| POL/PGM C 1.3.5.1 Improve direct transit and bicycling linkages between Felton, Scotts Valley, Live Oak, Capitola, Soquel and Aptos and major employment and destination centers. | Circ El § B | transit walk/bike TSM |
| POL/PGM C 1.3.6 Work with the SCCRTC to develop strategies, such as mass transit, ridesharing and telecommuting, for commuters further than 10 miles, to reduce the number of automobiles commuting to and from Santa Clara Valley, Watsonville and South County. | Circ El § B | transit walk/bike TSM |
| POL/PGM C 1.3: Work with SCCRTC, UCSC and other agencies to devise strategies to reduce automobile travel and traffic congestion by enhancing TSM, bicycle, pedestrian, mass transit services along major traffic routes and to major and educating employees and residents about the benefits of using alternative forms of transportation whenever possible. | Circ El § B | transit walk/bike TSM |
| POL/PGM C 1.5.1 Use the Five-Year Capital Improvement Program to implement pedestrian, bike, mass transit, and road system improvements. Priority should be given to projects that: 1. Protect air quality, open space and community character; 2. Reduce single occupancy automobile use; 3. Provide the best long term improvement in circulation patterns; 4. Are most cost effective based on life-cycle costs. |
Circ El § B | quality of life |
| POL/PGM C 1.5.3 Urge the appropriate agencies to consider establishing a county-wide impact fee to mitigate impacts of regional growth on Highway 1, 9 and 17 corridors. Mitigations such as the development of rail transit/fixed guideways and improved bus transit services should be considered. | Circ El § B | transit walk/bike TSM |
| POL/PGM C 1.5.5 Work with appropriate agencies to seek funding for pedestrian, bicycle, mass transit and TSM projects, using revenue sources such as Clean Air Transportation Improvement Act funds, a local gasoline assessment district financing, AB2766 (Vehicle Registration Surcharge Fee) Grant Program and also to lobby state and federal legislators to provide a secure base of revenue for the mass transit providers, TSM and other alternative transportation improvement projects. | Circ El § B | transit walk/bike TSM |
| POL/PGM C 1.5.5.1: Seek out various forms of private investment capital for the development of fixed guideway development. | Circ El § B | UCSC |
| POL/PGM C 1.5: Circulation funding shall emphasize the priorities of develop a viable alternative transportation system, creating disincentives to and reducing automobile use, and improving the efficiency of the existing circulation system. | Circ El § B | cost |
| POL/PGM C 1.6: Reduce automobile trips and promote alternative transportation through the integration of land-use and circulation planning. Strategies should include: high-density, mixed-use, and/or transit oriented land use patterns, telecommuting, locating child care centers near employment centers, development of neighborhood commercial and home delivery services. | Circ El § B | transit walk/bike TSM |
| POL/PGM C 1.7.1 Reduce automobile parking requirements for developments/land-uses that provide effective incentives for alternative transportation (mixed-use/neighborhood commercial areas, bus passes, subsidies, preferential carpool parking and shuttle services) and investigate ways to mitigate potential impacts on neighborhoods, possibly through residential parking permit programs. | Circ El § B | transit walk/bike TSM |
| POL/PGM C 1.7: As a condition of development, expansion or change of land use, developers or employers shall mitigate their impacts on circulation (consistent with circulation planning policy and the CMP), provide incentives to enhance the use of alternative transportation and when necessary shall prepare transportation impact studies, and phase improvements to reduce traffic impacts and ensure that circulation facilities are adequate to serve the development. | Circ El § B | transit walk/bike TSM congestion |
| POL/PGM C 1.8.1 Improve the City's computer transportation model and ensure it is consistent with the SCCRTC’s regional transportation model. | Circ El § B | selection criteria |
| POL/PGM C 1.8.3 Assign a high priority to rail transit projects in local and regional transportation plans. | Circ El § B | transit walk/bike TSM |
| POL/PGM C 1.8.4 Implement the Congestion Management Program (CMP) level of service standards and also evaluate project recommendations in the County Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) and CMP to ensure they are consistent with City circulation and land-use objectives. | Circ El § B | congestion |
| POL/PGM C 1.8.5 Coordinate with the Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District (MBUAPCD) on conformity issues related to level of service and local development. | Circ El § B | congestion |
| POL/PGM C 1.8.5.1: Implement MBUAPCD transportation control measures (TCMs) for the 1992 AQMP including: Trip Reduction Ordinance (Employers, Schools and New Development), Commuter Transit Service, Transit Improvements/Continued Service Levels, Tourist Transit Shuttle, Traffic Signal Synchronization, Bicycle Facilities Maintenance and Construction, and Park Ride Facility Construction. | Circ El § B | transit walk/bike TSM |
| POL/PGM C 1.8.5.2: Support, as a TCM, County-wide or air-basin-wide uniform paid parking at all major destination areas so long as fee structures do not place City businesses at a competitive disadvantage relative to other businesses in the region. Urge the air district, the County and other cities to implement such a parking management strategy. | Circ El § B | transit walk/bike TSM |
| POL/PGM C 1.8.6.1: Conduct a study to assess the real costs of auto transportation to people of Santa Cruz, including subsidies for roads and parking, safety and environmental degradation. | Circ El § B | transit walk/bike TSM congestion |
| POL/PGM C 1.8: Coordinate pedestrian, bike, mass transit, road and highway planning with local and regional agencies to assess regional impacts upon the City's road system, alternative transportation improvements, automobile disincentives, and parking management strategies; and educate people about alternative transportation and transportation safety issues. | Circ El § B | transit walk/bike TSM |
| [R]educe automobile trips and congestion by integrating land use and circulation planning, improving alternative transportation modes, developing effective Travel Demand Management (TDM) strategies, and wherever possible, improving the efficiency, rather than increase the size, of the road system. This goal is based on the premise that expanding the size of the road system will be the last resort approach to reducing congestion problems. This planning approach attempts to reduce dependence on the automobile and protect the scale, quality and character of life in the City. To achieve this goal, the City will refocus land use and circulation planning strategies and work with residents, property owners, employers and local and regional agencies to achieve this and parallel land use, circulation, and air quality management goals. | Circ El § B | transit walk/bike TSM |
| POL/PGM C 1.3.6.1: Conduct a survey of these commuters to identify the market for telecommuting, transit and ridesharing strategies. | Circ El § B | transit walk/bike TSM |
| POL/PGM C 1.3.6.2: Contact employment centers and employers to encourage them to increase the availability of telecommuting and/or ridesharing options to their employees. | Circ El § B | transit TSM |
| POL/PGM C 1.5.4 Use local revenues as a match to leverage federal and state funds to leverage circulation system improvements. | Circ El § B | cost |
| POL/PGM C 1.7.3 Design parking areas so that they have adequate lighting, landscaping, minimize amount of pavement for parking, adequate numbers of physically disabled spaces, and allow for safe pedestrian circulation. | Circ El § B | quality of life |
| POL/PGM C 1.8.6 Work with the TMA (Transportation Management Agency), schools, environmental and service organizations, the media, business, neighborhood groups, and others to support encourage alternative transportation use, bike-to-work day and rideshare awareness weeks, address local circulation safety issues, and also to educate people about the social, environmental, and economic costs of automobile use and the availability and benefits of alternative transportation. | Circ El § B | transit walk/bike TSM |
| Circulation planning and projects have traditionally focused on increasing the capacity of the road system to solve congestion problems during peak traffic periods … While such projects are effective in the short term, they often result in future congestion at a greater scale, a never ending spiral of negative fiscal and environmental impacts, and demands for new road projects. [SCCRTC brochure “Considering the Alternatives: Managing Traffic Congestion in Santa Cruz County” 1989] Other specific undesireable effects may include: even greater automobile use, lessened priorities to improve alternative transportation modes, increased air and noise pollution, demands on land and fossil fuel reserves, and the development of roads that are out of proportion with the character and scale of a community. | Circ El § B | road expansion transit walk/bike TSM |
| It is the City’s goal to reduce automobile trips and congestion. | Circ El § B | congestion transit walk/bike |
| GOAL C 1: Develop a comprehensive, multi-modal transportation circulation planning program that takes as its highest priority reduction of automobile trips by the creation of viable alternative transportation modes, effective transportation systems management programs, and integration of land-use and circulation planning. | Circ El § B | transit walk/bike |
| POL/PGM C 1.2.1 Establish level of service criteria for pedestrians, bicycles, mass transit and roads adequate to meet their modal distribution shares. | Circ El § B | transit walk/bike |
| POL/PGM C 1.2: By December 1993, develop and integrate Pedestrian, Bike, Mass Transit and Arterial Streets Master Plans recommending circulation improvements in areas with deficiencies (or inadequate levels of service) and develop plans to complete, or else improve the efficient utilization of existing circulation facilities. Update these master plans every 5 years. | Circ El § B | transit walk/bike |
| POL/PGM C 1.4: Develop a trial Circulation Report monitoring and evaluating the use, efficiency and safety of all components of the circulation system and TSM strategies. • Analysis of pedestrian and bike modes should include: bike and pedestrian counts, bike accident areas, bike parking problem areas, percentage of trips by bicycle and commuter trip patterns for bicycles. • Analysis of mass transit use may include: frequency of service, farebox cost and recovery, proximity of transit to home and workplace, commuter trip patterns for buses, transit vehicle delays, peak-hour transit ridership, average passenger load, major passenger boarding and deboarding areas, and percentage of bus transit trips. • Analysis of automobile use should include: average daily traffic level of service for arterial and collector streets, an accident location vehicle occupancy counts, average daily truck traffic counts, and percentage of automobile trips. • Analysis of TSM strategies should include: number of carpools/vanpools formed, number of carpool/vanpool applications received, park-and-ride lot occupancy counts, and percentage of ridesharing trips. |
Circ El § B | transit walk/bike |
| Areas where pedestrian travel is being inhibited must be identified and improved to encourage pedestrian travel. Additionally, road projects must be designed with the pedestrian in mind to avoid having negative impacts upon the pedestrian environment. | Circ El § C | wtransit walk/bike TSM |
| POL/PGM C 2.1: Increase the convenience of walking by encouraging high-density development, mixed uses, and land use supportive of pedestrian travel. | Circ El § C | walk/bike |
| POL/PGM C 2.2.2: Develop and time schedule and comprehensive funding program for the proposed pedestrian system improvements, prioritizing development of pedestrian improvements to and from community facilities, mass transit stops, pedestrian activity centers such as the Beach and Downtown, and those serving the needs of the physically disabled. | Circ El § C | walk/bike |
| POL/PGM C 2.2.4: Maintain the Downtown Central Business District as a pedestrian-oriented zone and consider the establishment of other pedestrian only or pedstrian-oriented streets and areas within the City. | Circ El § C | walk/bike quality of life |
| POL/PGM C 2.2.5: Annually update a sidewalk map displaying areas with missing sidewalks and curb cuts. | Circ El § C | walk/bike |
| POL/PGM C 2.2: Develop a Pedestrian Master Plan, prioritizing development of a complete, continuous, and structurally adequate system of pedestrian paths and walkways, taking people to destinations throughout the City. | Circ El § C | walk/bike |
| POL/PGM C 2.3.1: Revise standards for sidewalk width to develop minimum width in proportion to expected pedestrian usage, i.e., 12 ft along Pacific Ave., 7-8 ft in the Downtown and heavier pedestrian areas, and standard minimum of 5 ft throughout the rest of the City. | Circ El § C | walk/bike |
| POL/PGM C 2.3.2: Include paths for pedestrian use through cul-de-sac and loop streets where access will encourage pedestrian travel. | Circ El § C | walk/bike |
| POL/PGM C 2.3: Remove or reduce obstructions or sidewalk tripping hazards including poles, signs, benches, trees and branches. Ensure accessibility to the physically disabled and elderly and improve amenities along existing and potential paths and walkways. | Circ El § C | walk/bike |
| POL/PGM C 2.2.3: Where there are proposed or existing plan lines including pedestrian paths and walkways, require developments to dedicate land for rights-of-way and require that sidewalks be added or repaired within and in the area adjacent to a new development and that new developments and land-uses also retain or replace existing access to alleyways, arcades, or similar pedestrian pathways. | Circ El § C | walk/bike |
| POL/PGM C 2.3.3: Design and also modify intersections using striping, pedestrian crossing signs, pedestrian islands and possibly “scramble” signal phasing, to attract and not inconvenience pedestrian travel. | Circ El § C | walk/bike |
| POL/PGM C 2.3.4: Design driveway access ramps to not interfere with the safe use of sidewalks. | Circ El § C | walk/bike |
| POL/PGM C 2.3.5: Use standards as provided in Title 24 of the CA Admin Code, ADA, and other regulatory legislation and work with local organizations to ensure that a continuous set of access ramps and other improvements make the pedestrian system accessible to the phsycially disabled and elderly. Sidewalks should be a minimum of 4 feet in width with provision for safe disability travel. | Circ El § C | walk/bike |
| POL/PGM C 2.3.6: Install greater nuumbers of curb cuts in areas of high pedestrian travel such as the Beach and Downtown. | Circ El § C | walk/bike |
| Lack of sidewalks, inadequate width, nonlinear curb cuts and wheelchair ramps for the physically disabled, tripping and other hazards such as street lights, utility poles and signs, and the predominance, volume, and speed of automobile travel on many local streets, all lessen the desireability for pedestrian travel. Increased automobile speeds and mobility also affect pedestrian mobility and safety because noise and air emissions make pedestrian paths unpleasant places to walk. | Circ El § C | walk/bike |
| GOAL C 2: Develop and promote pedestrian travel as a viable transportation mode by developing and maintaining a safe, comprehensive, convenient, accessible and aesthetically pleasing pedestrian system. | Circ El § C | wtransit walk/bike quality of life access |
| The pedestrian system is an essential “human” element of the circulation system providing City residents and visitors with a form of relaxation and recreation as well as allowing for increased mobility. … Developing a comprehensive, convenient, linear, accessible, and aesthetically pleasing system is a key step in promoting pedestrian travel throughout the City … | Circ El § C | wtransit walk/bike quality of life access |
| … New streets should be designed to accommodate bicycles, the widening of existing arterial streets should be designed to include bike lanes … | Circ El § D | walk/bike |
| GOAL C 3: Develop a safe, convenient and effective bikeway system that promotes bicycle travel as a viable transportation mode and connects work, shopping, schools, residential and recreational areas. | Circ El § D | walk/bike access |
| GOAL C 4: Aggressively pursue development of a comprehensive and integrated mass transit policy …system including buses, paratransit and rail / fixed guideways to provide increased mobility in the community. | Circ El § E | transit walk/bike TSM |
| GOAL C 5: [Ensure that the existing road system] is not expanded unnecessarily. | Circ El § F | road expansion |
| In 1990, 1231 collisions were recorded. Through traffic and speeding in residential neighborhoods are also a problem. … | Circ El § F | safety quality of life |
| Other than the freeway portions of Highways 1 and 17, Mission St. between Chestnut and Bay Streets carries the heaviest traffic flow. In 1990, it had a peak month average daily traffic of 53,000 vehicles per day and peak hour traffic volume of 5,700 vehicles per hour. | Circ El § F | congestion |
| To identify potential road projects, an Arterial Streets Master Plan Study was prepared to analyze projected traffic conditions and growth through 2005. (… 3 types of traffic growth rates projecting future increases in traffic on City streets and State highways regardless of new development in the City were used. The first growth rate was related to regional growth and projected at 1.01% a year. The second background growth rate related to the historical increase in traffic due to increased driving per capita by City residents and was set at 0.76% annually. The third growth rate, affecting only traffic on State highways was set at 2.80% annually.) | Circ El § F | congestion |
| A 1991 traffic survey that while speed limits are typically posted for 25 mph, many streets cannot be enforced at that speed limit unless traffic control devices are installed because prevailing speeds exceed the limit. | Circ El § F | safety |
| In neighborhoods where these problems exist, traffic control devices such as median barriers, traffic circles, cul-de-sacs, channelization, turn prohibitions, diverters, one-way streets, and chokers may be used to divert traffic back to arterial and collector streets. | Circ El § F | congestion quality of life |
| Maximize the efficiency and safety of the existing road system while ensuring that it accommodates all modes of travel, operates at an acceptable level of service … | Circ El § F | congestion |
| POL/PGM C 5.1.1: Establish arterial level of service (LOS) goals for intersections that reflect more than congestion at peak travel hours, do not discourage intensification of land uses in the Central Core, and promote the use of alternative transportation. | Circ El § F | congestion |
| POL/PGM C 5.1.3: Strive to main level of service goals by improving the utilization of the existing road system and alternative transportation without major widening whenever possible. | Circ El § F | congestion |
| POL/PGM C 5.2: Develop deficiency plan and monitoring program when congestion management corridors and arterial street intersections reach LOS E. | Circ El § F | congestion |
| POL/PGM C 5.2.1: Utilize the Integrated Pedestrian, Bike, Mass Transit, Arterial Streets Master Plan Studies, and Triennial Traffic Report to identify areas where major deficiencies are projected. | Circ El § F | transit walk/bike TSM |
| POL/PGM C 5.2.2: Outline alternative transportation improvements, TSM strategies, road improvements and widening/expansion projects that can achieve an acceptable level of service and prioritize alternative transportation improvements and TSM strategies over road improvement and widening/expansion projects. | Circ El § F | transit walk/bike TSM |
| POL/PGM C 5.2.3: Analyze the origin /destination of vehicles to identify potentially effective alternative transportation improvements. | Circ El § F | transit walk/bike TSM |
| POL/PGM C 5.2.4.1: Evaluate road projects in terms of cost, neighborhood impacts, economic viability, safety, air quality and other environmental impacts, and the community's willingness to implement more stringent TSM strategies to reduce the need for a project. | Circ El § F | road expansion |
| POL/PGM C 5.2.4: Monitor deficient intersections and the success of alternative transportation improvements, TSM strategies, and amount of arterial spillover into neighborhoods and adjust these strategies and propose mitigations as traffic volume and collision data warrant. | Circ El § F | transit walk/bike TSM congestion |
| POL/PGM C 5.3: Develop plan lines, program and construct funded and approved baseline road projects and pursue funding options on the non-funded and nonapproved baseline projects commencing project development only after the project has been funded and also publicly reviewed and approved. (See Map C-22 and Table C-23) (See policies under goal CD 5, C 5.8.2, C 5.8.5, C 5.9.7) | Circ El § F | road expansion |
| POL/PGM C 5.3.1: Analyze baseline projects every five years and make additions to list in conjunction with findings from deficiency plans created as a result of policy 5.2. and consistent with policy L 5.4 and C 5.4.1. |
Circ El § F | road expansion |
| POL/PGM C 5.4: Add road widening / expansion projects to the list of baseline projects only when stronger alternative transportation system improvements and TSM strategies are not capable of solving congestion and deficiency problems and the community determines that a particular arterial road widening / expansion project is necessary. (See Table C-24) |
Circ El § F | road expansion transit walk/bike TSM |
| POL/PGM C 5.4.1: Do not adopt, approve or construct any Eastern Access alternative without a vote of the people in a Citywide general election. | Circ El § F | road expansion |
| POL/PGM C 5.5: Promote, as a City Policy, a preference for passenger rail/fixed guideway transit along the Watsonville - Santa Cruz - UCSC corridor above and before HOV or other land additions to Highway 1. (See policy C 1.83) |
Circ El § F | transit walk/bike TSM |
| POL/PGM C 5.6: Develop a Visitor/Coastal Access plan consistent with circulation planning goals and promote alternative transportation modes, to provide convenient and clear access into and out of major destination areas, reduce conflicts with residential traffic, and make Santa Cruz an 'inviting' place to visit. (See policy CD 5.5, C 13.4, C 4.4, and ED 5.6.4) |
Circ El § F | transit walk/bike TSM |
| POL/PGM C 5.6.1: Assess the feasibility and desirability of develop an Ocean Street Bridge. | Circ El § F | road expansion |
| POL/PGM C 5.8.1.1: Establish a hierarchy of streets that provides for pedestrian / bicycle dominance on those that warrant it. | Circ El § F | wtransit walk/bike TSM |
| POL/PGM C 5.8.1.2: Develop arterial and collector street carrying capacity goals and provide appropnate signs along arterial and collector routes to keep traffic out of residential neighborhoods. |
Circ El § F | congestion |
| POL/PGM C 5.8.2: Incorporate pedestrian, bicycling, and mass transit facilities in the design of bridges and road projects. (See policy C 5.3) | Circ El § F | transit walk/bike TSM |
| POL/PGM C 5.8.4: Develop neighborhood traffic control plans, where necessary, to traffic impacts on local streets and to enhance local access through the use of diverters, chokers, barriers, signs, and speed enforcement. (See policy CD 4.5) | Circ El § F | quality of life |
| POL/PGM C 5.9.7: Where possible underground utilities along the City's roads and prioritize utility undergrounding on streets scheduled for reconstruction. (See policies under goal CD 5 and C 5.3) | Circ El § F | quality of life |
| POL/PGM C 5.9: Improve the safety and physical appearance of the City’s roads. | Circ El § F | safety quality of life |
| POL/PGM C 5.8.1: Every five years beginning in 1995, review functional classification of City streets to determine if they are serving their designated function. | Circ El § F | |
| POL/PGM C 5.8.3: Examine existing road standards and, if feasible, modify them to reduce the percentage of land paved over for roadways. | Circ El § F | |
| POL/PGM C 5.8.5: Require setbacks, landscaping, soundwalls, and other measures to mitigate safety, noise, and air quality impacts from roadways upon adjacent land uses. (See policies EQ 6.3.1, CD 4.7 and C 5.3) | Circ El § F | quality of life safety environ- ment |
| POL/PGM C 5.1: Strive to maintain congestion management corridors and arterial highway/street intersections at an acceptable level of service. (See Tables C-19 and C 20.) |
Circ El § F | congestion |
| GOAL C 5: Maximize the efficiency and safety of the existing road system while ensuring that it accommodates all modes of travel, operates at an acceptable level of service, … | Circ El § F | congestion transit walk/bike safety |
| POL/PGM C 5.1.2: Strive to maintain all congestion management intersections at an LOS (Level of Service) of not less than D with the exception of the CMP (Congestion Management Plan) LOS standards in Table C-21. [which includes Bay & Mission at LOS D, and Chestnut-Mission-Hwy 1 at LOS F] | Circ El § F | congestion |
| POL/PGM C 5.8: Mitigate the impacts of existing and proposed roads on adjacent land uses, neighborhoomeantal quality and alternative transportation modes. | Circ El § F | transit walk/bike quality of life environ- ment |
| A 1991 traffic survey that while speed limts are typically posted for 25 mph, many streets cannot be enforced at that speed limit unless traffic control devices are installed because prevailing speeds exceed the limit. | Circ El § F.2 | quality of life |
| In neighborhoods where [collision, traffic, and speeding] problems exist, traffic control devices such as median barriers, traffic circles, cul-de-sacs, channelization, turn prohibitions, diverters, one-way streets, and chokers may be used to divert traffic back to arterial and collector streets. | Circ El § F.2 | quality of life |
| Develop a transportation systems management (TSM) program that reduces automobile use by reducing travel need, encouraging the use of alternative transportation, increasing the average number of persons per automobile and improving the operation of the existing road system. | Circ El § G | transit walk/bike TSM |
| GOAL C 6: Develop a Transportation Systems Management (TSM) program that reduces automobile use by reducing travel need, encouraging the use of alternative transportation, increasing average number of persons per automobile, and improving the operation of the existing road system. | Circ El § G | transit walk/bike TSM |
| TDM (Travel Demand Management) programs include Trip Reduction Ordinance (TRO), promoting ridesharing, telecommuting, and flexible / staggered work hours, managing the price and availability of parking, increasing the price of fuel and providing incentives (convenience, improvements, pricing, dedicated right of ways) to alternative transportation.3 | Circ El § G | transit walk/bike TSM |
| To ensure that TDM programs are proactive and effective, and not merely punitive, alternative transportation modes (walking, bicycling, mass transit), ridesharing, telecommuting, and land use policies must be enhanced and designed to minimize the need for desire for automotive travel. | Circ El § G | transit walk/bike TSM |
| POL/PGM CD 4.5.1: Reexamine remaining policies and programs in the Liveable Street Plan for the Downtown Neighborhood and consider developing plans for other streets and neighborhoods in the City. | Comm Dsgn El § F | quality of life |
| POL/PGM CD 4.5: Strive to protect neighborhoods from the effects of heavy through traffic and on street parking congestion while also providing neighborhood stores within walking and biking distance of neighborhood areas. | Comm Dsgn El § F | quality of life |
| POL/PGM CD 4.8: Require public and private development be designed to improve the character of existing neighborhoods and remove or discourage factors causing instability or creating urban barriers should be. | Comm Dsgn El § F | quality of life |
| POL/PGM CD 4.9: Develop neighborhood places for interaction among residents such as parks, community centers, schools, commercial areas, libraries, churches, and other gathering points and encourage festivities at neighborhood levels throughout the community. | Comm Dsgn El § F | quality of life |
| POL/PGM CD 5.2: Prepare and implement corridor plans for the Mission St. area addressing visitor serving uses, high traffic volumes, pedestrian and bicycle access, building and parking citing and design, landscaping theme, undergrounding of utilities, commercial-residential transition, comprehensive signs and other amenities. | Comm Dsgn El § G | quality of life |
| Many factors serve to define the quality of life within a neighborhood. For instance, when traffic increases through a neighborhood, it may disrupt the area by introducing barriers and changing the character of the area. Street improvements, street tree planting, neighborhood improvement projects and the preservation of natural land forms can all serve to reinforce valued neighborhood qualities and boundaries. | Community Design El | quality of life |
| … From 1990 to 2005, the City is projected to grow at an annual rate of 1.22% adding 9,959 new residents resulting in a population of approximately 59,670 people by 2005. This represents an increase of 20% in the City’s population. During the same 15-year time frame, the County, including cities, is projected to grow at an annual rate of 1.27%, adding 47,800 residents for a population of 277,500 by 2005 which is a 21% increase. |
Community Profile § B | congestion |
| … A large percentage of … [the employment] increase will be the result of University expansion [and] increased jobs within the City will result from development of the Downtown, South of Laurel, Beach, Mission St., and Eastside Business areas, and development in the Harvey West and Natural Bridges industrial parks. … | Community Profile § D | congestion UCSC |
| As a general trend, the percentage of the City’s and County’s labor force that commutes out of the County to work has increased over the past 30 years and in 1990 approximately 21.9% of workers living in the County commuted outside of the County to work. | Community Profile § E | access |
| … Heavy morning and evening commute traffic produced a noise level of approximately 71dB along Mission Street. … Comparison between existing noise contours and those projected for 2005 reveals that noise levels along arterial streets will not increase significantly. While this may seem surprising since more cars will likely be on the roads, the dynamics of noise depend more on traffic speed and truck traffic than on volume. Traffic speeds are not likely to increase and in fact, they may decrease somewhat. Thus future noise levels, although they are already significantly high along major arterials, will be similar to 1990 levels. | Environmental Quality El § G.1 | environ- ment |
| … Maintaining this compact urban form makes it easy for residents, workers, and visitors to circulate and promotes efficient land use by concentrating growth and development within already developed areas. | Introduction | urban sprawl |
| Reliance on the automobile has created patterns of development and employment that are often inefficient. | Land Use El § B.2 | congestion |
| Additionally, car trips between home and the grocery store, bank, dentist, restaurant, etc. are necessary because in many places residential and commercial areas are not convenient to each other. | Land Use El § B.2 | access |
| Santa Cruz residents have become increasingly concerned with worsening traffic congestion and deterioration of air quality related to reliance upon the automobile. | Land Use El § B.2 | congestion environ- ment |
| Some residents now routinely commute 30 miles or more from their homes to their places of employment in Santa Clara County. Jobs are dispersed throughout the region. | Land Use El § B.2 | access |
| [Job dispersion makes] the use of public transit problematic and inefficient. | Land Use El § B.2 | transit walk/bike TSM |
| Develop commercial corridors and mixed-use and high-density housing projects along or within close proximity to those areas. | Land Use El § C | access |
| POL/PGM L 2.2.9.1: Encourage nodes of commercial development, limited in size, with adequate transit, pedestrian, and bicycle access to encourage one-stop shopping and serving a cluster of neighborhoods. | Land Use El § C | transit walk/bike TSM access |
| POL/PGM L 2.6.5: Protect neighborhood quality through improvement of blighted areas, traffic management design guidelines, adequate buffers and other development techniques. | Land Use El § C | quality of life |
| POL/PGM L 2.7.3.1: Encourage the location of shopping and services near UCSC to service the local needs. | Land Use El § C | UCSC |
| GOAL L 3: … Inhibit urban sprawl. | Land Use El § D | urban sprawl |
| Develop Community Commercial areas along arterial streets. | Land Use El § H.2 | access |
| Develop Neighborhood Commercial areas. | Land Use El § H.2 | access |
| UCSC is a State institution with its own development plan; therefore, a distinctive land use designation is assigned to that portion of the campus withih the City boundaries, excluding Long Marine Laboratory. Land uses in the UCSC designation include: student dormitories, single-family homes, apartments, research laboratories, auditoriums, libraries, indoor and outdoor recreation facilities, an extensive natural reserve, classrooms, administrative offices, police and fire stations, an agroecology farm and grasslands for cattle grazing. | Land Use El § H.6 | congestion UCSC access |
| POL/PGM L 2.6.5: Protect neighborhood quality … | Land Use § C | quality of life |
| Concern about and commitment to quality of life The General Plan has defined this vision of a sustainable Santa Cruz as a compact, vital, urban place defined and enhanced by an ocean, greenbelt and diversity and quality of its natural and built environment, contributing to a satisfying lifestyle for all its residents and workers and offering an inviting experience for visitors. … striving for … a multi modal transportation system, …; protecting … open space land uses, biotic habitats and preserving the integrity of residential neighborhoods, historic areas, and landmarks. | § V.D [paraphrase] | selection criteria |