An aerial shot of a recently paved and striped San Luis Obispo street

2024 Paving Project

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Public Input Opportunity on February 29, 2024

The Active Transportation Committee will review the 90% level design plans regarding bicycle and pedestrian elements.

Date: February 29, 2024, 6:00PM - 8:00PM

Location: Council Hearing Room, City Hall, 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo CA 93401

Meeting Agenda

Staff Report

Project Map

90% Level Design Plans – All Sheets Combined

90% Level Design Plans - Grand Avenue Sheets

90% Level Design Plans – Johnson Avenue Sheets

90% Level Design Plans – Highland Drive Sheets

90% Level Design Plans – Mill Street Sheets

90% Level Design Plans – Chorro Street Sheets

90% Level Design Plans – Toro Street Sheets

Overarching Project Goal:

The goal of this project is to implement pavement maintenance treatments at selected public streets, while leveraging opportunities to advance high-priority active transportation, accessibility and safety features.

Design elements are selected as guided by the ATP, Traffic Safety/Vision Zero Report, and Neighborhood Traffic Management requests. Final designs will be refined based on input provided by the ATC, San Luis Obispo Fire Department, neighborhood residents, and other community stakeholders

Project Objectives:

Apply a maintenance seal coat to low-traffic streets to extend the life of existing pavement surface.
Provide maintenance and rehabilitation to damaged pavement and potholes on high-traffic streets to extend the life of the existing pavement surface.
Implement the highest-priority (Tier 1) Active Transportation Plan (ATP) projects as part of roadway sealing improvements, and advance lower-priority (Tier 2 and Tier 3) ATP projects as resources allow.
Implement transportation safety improvements as identified in the City’s Traffic Safety/Vision Zero Report as part of roadway sealing.
Advance traffic calming improvements as part of roadway sealing work for streets with approved Neighborhood Traffic Management (NTM) applications and where warranted based on existing traffic conditions and neighborhood support, as resources allow.
Minimize impacts to on-street parking.
Minimize inconveniences to residents and businesses during construction.

Project Features

The following complete street/safety features are proposed for all streets within the 2024 Roadway Sealing limits:

Pedestrian Crossing Treatments: Install high-visibility crosswalks at all existing and proposed new marked pedestrian crosswalks.

Intersection Daylighting: Remove obstructions to lines-of-sight at all marked and unmarked crosswalks to increase pedestrian visibility and safety at intersection corners and midblock crossings.

This is generally accomplished through vegetation trimming and installing red curb paint and/or signage to prohibit parking at intersection corners adjacent to crosswalks. California Assembly Bill 413 restricts parking within 20 feet of any marked or unmarked crosswalk, with enforcement permitted starting in 2025 regardless of whether signs or curb markings are present. The City will be proactively implementing curb markings and signed parking restrictions where appropriate as part of annual paving projects.

Map of Paving Plan area with callouts for active transportation elements

Grand Avenue (Monterey Street to Slack Street)

Complete street improvements are proposed for Grand Avenue to improve active transportation facilities and safety for all road users, including a five-lane to three-lane road diet between Slack Street and Monterey Street. These improvements are identified in the City’s Active Transportation Plan.

Road diets are one of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s proven safety countermeasures and have consistently demonstrated effectiveness in reducing illegal speeding, reducing crash frequency and severity. The City has implemented several successful road diets at other streets, such as South Street and Laurel Lane, where traffic demand did not require the excess lane capacity that was previously provided.

Traffic volumes on Grand Avenue are well within the thresholds recommended for road diets per state and federal guidelines. Additionally, the proposed road diet design would retain enough clear width to allow the roadway to be temporarily configured back to two lanes in each direction using temporary traffic control channelizers and signage to handle traffic demands during special events.

In addition to a road diet, additional design elements proposed for Grand Avenue include:

Installation of protected bike lanes where on-street parking does not currently exist, with a preference for concrete curb separation as funding allows.
Addition of striped buffers on both sides of bike lanes where on-street parking exists.
Installation of bike lane crossing enhancements at intersections, including green conflict markings, additional warning signage, and setback/protected corners where feasible.
Restriction of turning maneuvers (westbound through and left-turn) at the Grand/Loomis Street intersection to address ongoing broadside collision trends identified in City’s Traffic Safety Report.
Installation of enhanced pedestrian/bicycle crossings on Grand Avenue at McCollum Street and Mill Street as funding and right-of-way allow to improve crossing opportunities and access to existing transit stops on each side of the street.
Addition of a bike box at the southbound Grand Avenue approach to Monterey Street to improve bicycle access continuing south to the Andrews Street pedestrian/bicycle bridge.
Upgrade existing bicycle detection at Andrews Street intersection approach to improve ability for bicyclists to actuate Grand/Monterey traffic signal.

Grand Avenue – Proposed Transportation Elements

Setback “Protected" Intersection Corners

Johnson Avenue (Bishop to Orcutt)

The Johnson Avenue Road Diet pilot project was installed in 2023 and included reducing the number of lanes from two in each direction (four total) to one in each direction plus a center turn lane (three total).

After installing the pilot project, prevailing speeds have decreased from 43 miles per hour (MPH) to 37 MPH. Moreover, <1% of vehicles are traveling 10 MPH or more above the 35 MPH speed limit (93% reduction with road diet). One traffic collision with minor injuries was reported within the road diet limits in the four months since installation, compared to 13 collisions in the previous five years (6 injuries; 3 severe injuries). Following a successful pilot installation, the temporary road diet between Bishop Street and Laurel Lane is proposed to be made permanent, with addition of permanent thermoplastic pavement markings.

Johnson Avenue between Laurel Lane and Orcutt Road is also proposed for resealing as part of the 2024 Roadway Sealing project.

In addition to roadway sealing, the temporary rubber curb median will be replaced with a permanent concrete median refuge with landscaping at the Sydney Street school crossing (on Johnson both sides of intersection). Traffic calming measures will also be installed at the Southwood intersection to slow turning speeds, shorten pedestrian crossing exposure and improve pedestrian visibility.

East City Neighborhoods (Pavement Area 1)

Along with regular maintenance of neighborhood streets in this area, the Toro Street Neighborhood Greenway will be implemented per the City’s Active Transportation Plan.

The greenway implementation includes installing greenway pavement legends, guide signage, and traffic calming measures (where warranted based on existing speeds) along Toro Street between Phillips Lane and Pacific Street to encourage a low-stress, comfortable environment for those walking and biking.

Proposed improvements also include modifications to the existing RRFB crossing at Marsh/Toro Street to allow bicycles to activate the RRFB system without the need to dismount. Additional crossing improvements currently in construction that will also benefit the proposed Toro Street Neighborhood Greenway include a new neighborhood traffic circle at Toro/Buchon and a new bicycle/pedestrian crossing at Monterey/Toro, which will include raised medians, hi-vis crosswalk markings, and RRFBs with push buttons accessible to pedestrians and cyclists.

University Neighborhoods (Pavement Area 8)

Along with regular maintenance of neighborhood streets in this area, a striped bike lane will be installed on a short stretch of Highland Drive just west of State Route 1 where the roadway climbs a steep grade per the City’s Active Transportation Plan.

In addition, several Neighborhood Traffic Management (NTM) requests have been received from residents for streets in Pavement Area 8 at the following locations:

Highland Drive between Patricia Drive and Santa Rosa Street
Patricia Drive between Twin Ridge Drive and Highland Drive
Jeffrey Drive between Highland Drive and Westmont Avenue
Rancho Drive between Westmont and Clover Drive
Westmont Avenue between Patricia Drive and Jeffrey Drive

City staff are in the process of collecting speed and traffic volume data on these neighborhood streets to evaluate if traffic calming measures are warranted based the City’s adopted volume/speed thresholds. If traffic calming is warranted, staff will send a mail-in ballot to adjacent properties to inform residents and gauge support for proposed measures.

Typical elements included with NTM projects speed humps, speed tables, traffic circles, and traffic diverters. The preferred design elements will be selected after reviewing traffic data, soliciting input from the neighborhood, and conferring with the San Luis Obispo Fire Department.

Northwest of Downtown (Pavement Area 7)

Resurfacing sections of Broad Street, Chorro Street, and Murray Avenue was initially part of the 2022 Roadway Sealing project. However, these facilities were deferred due to conflicts with construction of a new sewer line and the North Chorro Neighborhood Greenway.

Key project elements on these facilities include:

Chorro Street Bicycle Lane (ATP Tier 2 Project): Installing northbound bicycle lane between Mission Street and Meinecke Avenue. This feature does not require any removal of on-street parking.
Broad Street NTM: Identifying and installing traffic calming measures on Broad Street between Mission Street and US 101 to encourage low vehicle speeds and discourage cut-through traffic. Additional discussion of the NTM process and elements is described in the Pavement Area 8 (University Neighborhoods) section above.

FAQ Box

When will construction begin and end for the transportation and mobility project improvements?

Construction is expected to start in late summer 2024 and continue through winter 2024.
Are there specific impacts our businesses can expect during the construction phases?

We know construction is disruptive, and the City is working hard to minimize impacts to businesses and customers as much as possible. However, some temporary impacts are unavoidable. We will do our best to inform businesses ahead of time of any potential impacts as work continues throughout the downtown area. Due to the variety of projects, businesses can expect temporary impacts and inconveniences due to construction noise, traffic delays, marked temporary detours for lane or road closures and odors as a result of paving and heavy construction equipment. However, the City will make it a priority to notify businesses of upcoming notifications at least 30 hours before construction and disruptions begin. Traffic updates and construction progress will be available for businesses through our online services. To help keep your customers informed about the upcoming work, please see the city’s business outreach toolkit.
Can I submit a request for additional transportation and mobility improvements in my neighborhood?

The SLO in Motion projects focus primarily on arterials or high volume traffic streets. The community is welcome to submit transportation and mobility requests to the City’s Transportation Division by contacting City Transportation Staff at traffic@slocity.org or (805) 781-7200. Please visit the City’s Traffic Safety webpage to find more resources.
I have limited mobility and am concerned about not being able to find street parking near my home. Can the City consider installation of an accessible on-street parking space on my block?

The City will address requests for on-street accessible parking on a case-by-case basis and generally follows this process:

1. Review the applicant’s property to confirm that an accessible parking stall cannot be properly accommodated based on site constraints.

2. Confirm that the applicant can verify that they have a legal right to park in a designated accessible space.

3. Confirm that the applicant has no viable access to accessible parking off-street on their property.

4. Provide notice to adjacent properties on the same block so that others are aware of the proposed change.
What can I expect during construction?

Noise, traffic delays, odors, heavy equipment, temporary detours and road closures. Construction activity will be given at a 30-hour advance notice and residential access will be maintained.