Safe and Healthy Streets program coordinator Colin Bogart reported this week to Glendale City Council on initiatives underway in the first six months of the LA County PLACE (Policies for Liveable, Active Communities and Environments) Grant Program.
The program for improving mobility and safety of bicyclists and pedestrians is off to a running start in a very short time:
• A website is up and running
• Outreach to several community groups got only positive responses on the program and its goals
• Several city departments and commissions are coordinating with Bogart on the grant work
• Public Works is coordinating Federal Recovery Act funded street improvements with Safe and Healthy Streets to create pedestrian and bicycle enhancements along Riverdale Drive and Maple Street, linking Pacific, Maple, and Carr Parks
• The city’s Safe Streets Initiative, UC Berkeley’s pedestrian safety initiative in Glendale, and Safe Routes to School are progressing in tandem and raising visibility of these issues in the city.
In the fall, the program will conduct a baseline count of bicyclists and pedestrians, hold public input meetings, develop pedestrian walking maps, and assist in an update of the city’s Bicycle Master Plan.
Bogart’s report (beginning at 1 hour into the meeting – video link here) was very well received by City Council. Traffic Engineer Tom Mitchell presented the next agenda item, an update on Glendale’s Safe Streets Initiative established at Council member Ara Najarian’s suggestion, which held a half-day fully-booked pedestrian safety training seminar for residents and a three-day Pedestrian Safety Action Plan training seminar for city staff, both in May.
The three-day staff seminar dealt with engineering, design, and land-use tools to create safe environments for pedestrians. Mitchell praised the seminar and its presenters effusively, saying that staff were very impressed both with the material and the professional approach to these issues. Council member Laura Friedman urged all city staff to incorporate the seminar’s “policy-practices-design” elements into their evaluation processes for all proposed projects.