The Walnut Creek City Council unanimously approved a five-year transportation strategy plan this week that city officials say will encourage more residents to utilize public transit options in lieu of personal vehicles.
The city’s “Rethinking Mobility” plan places targets for reducing the congestion of vehicle traffic moving into, out of and around Walnut Creek.
In turn, the plan is intended to increase the use of BART, ride booking services like Uber and Lyft, dockless scooters and bicycles and the city’s bus network to reduce superfluous short vehicle trips.
City planning officials began outreach for the plan in 2018 and made the draft Rethinking Mobility plan available to the public in January 2020.
The council was expected to give its final approval of the plan in the spring, according to associate city planner Ozzie Arce. That timeline was ultimately pushed back due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
“However, the goals of reducing vehicle miles traveled and managing parking demand are still very much the same, so it’s more a matter of adapting to the times,” Arce told the council at its Tuesday night meeting.
Among the plans 13 goals are working with businesses to offer special discounts for transit riders, adding dedicated bus lanes that will cut down peak travel times, adding more amenities for cyclists like bike
lockers and public bike repair stations, modifying parking pricing based on location and demand and reducing the number of parking spaces required for new housing developments.
Arce framed the pandemic as something of an accelerant for the city’s new transportation plan, citing the several parking spaces in downtown Walnut Creek that have been refashioned into outdoor dining areas since the
pandemic began.
City officials indicated over the summer that they would consider implementing a similar outdoor dining program post-pandemic, even on a seasonal basis.
Multiple cities in the Bay Area have also closed sections of some streets to vehicle traffic, allowing residents to safely walk and bike along them, and added dedicated curb space in front of businesses that can accommodate the rise in delivery services wrought by the pandemic.
“In light of this, the proposed strategies in Rethinking Mobility have become more relevant as a way to support economic recovery while also encouraging active transportation and a reduction in vehicles miles traveled,” Arce said.
“Now, the ability of cities to adapt to the constantly changing conditions will be what allows them to thrive moving forward,” he said.
While the council unanimously approved adopting the plan, City Councilwoman Cindy Silva suggested the plan’s effectiveness could be hampered depending on where workers who live outside the city are commuting.
“If I lived in Antioch, I would not ever get on BART to go to downtown Walnut Creek to then have to get on another means of transportation to go out to Shadelands Business Park,” Silva said, adding that “knowing the
origin and the specific employment center destination is going to better inform the likelihood of behavior change.”
The plan also outlines the how the city can encourage local students to choose more sustainable transportation methods when they return to in-person classes.
City and school staff, the plan suggests, could perform walking audits to improve pedestrian infrastructure near school campuses to ensure students are safe if they are walking or biking to school.
While the plan compares a potential school bus program to the bus program serving the cities of Lafayette, Orinda and Moraga, which served nearly 1,500 students during the 2019-2020 school year, Silva noted that the circumstances for Walnut Creek are not the same.
“I think we need to understand why they do that and why those kids don’t walk or ride a bike to school in those communities, it’s not because they’re higher-end communities but they have a lot of very narrow and very hilly roads with no infrastructure that would make it safe,” she said.
In approving the plan, the council added a requirement that city staff give an update on the plan’s implementation by June 2021, given the variables that could change as the pandemic continues.
ok people eyes open now
city officials say will encourage more residents to utilize public transit options in lieu of >>>personal vehicles<<<
so it’s more a matter of adapting to the times……green new deal
taking away your vehicles ……trapping you in a union based travel world
monopolizing your transportation ….and your freedoms
they are making it plain and clear …..your freedoms are being taken away
but i bet you allready knew that ….and voted to take them away ….
congrats your owned
wow
@ RANDOM TASK~
Yep,…getting ready for the green new deal. Oh, and if you do drive your car there, there will be no Right turns, just Left turns to add to the frustration.
My freedom is riding my bicycle safely in my city. So Mr. Random that means less cars at lower speeds with wider lanes. You can keep clinging to your smog belching behemoth for as long as you can, but you are on the wrong side of history and will be discarded to the side as you should be.
@JoJo Potato
That’s a pretty neat trick……you riding your bicycle safely when you clearly can’t see what is staring you in the face.
Wow., Potato is sensitive today.
JoJo, typical Let-them-eat-cake liberal. I’m glad you have the luxury of riding your bike everywhere you want to go, but some people (most) don’t. When you ride your expensive bike down to the grocery store, guess what? Almost all of those employees drove in from Concord, Pittsburgh, and Antioch to serve your needs. I guess they should just get up two hours earlier and ride in, and then take another two hours to ride home, right? Maybe take BART all the way to the WC station, and then a bus all the way back up Ygnacia just to get to work, then reverse to get home. I don’t even have room to store a bike in my little place, but oh well. Not your problem.
The sheer arrogance of authoritarians that feel virtuous in making your decisions for you is enraging. JoJo knows better than you do how to live your life. And if you don’t like it, tough.
Never gonna happen, public transportation sucks especially in WC, I will never use it that’s for sure even if it was free.
If people don’t like the local traffic they can move or only get out non traffic hours and that’s easy to figure out.
… agree +1…. this is as of their own doing as there was little to no regional transportation planning letting growth develop unfettered… and we now pay for it not only monetarily
There is also the small problem that Walnut Creek sits right at the crossroads of 680, 24, and Ygnacio. No amount of busses and scooters are going to stop people from Brentwood commuting through to the city.
Ill help out by no longer shopping in walnut creek. Oh wait i have already been doing this.
funny, huh? i could swear OG or HP or someone was writing about how cities are going to do this very thing.
if you are out there, what are this weeks lucky numbers? i am tired of paying the stupid tax and would like to win for once. 🙂
I know most on here will hate this, but I am all in favor. No we just need to make sure that Prop 22 passes to keep Uber and Lyft going.
This is why I am having such a hard time picking out who to vote for on WC city council. They are all airheads.
So true.
Does anyone has any insight as to who to vote for Walnut Creek City Council? Have you read their “mission statements” ?
Woke. Woker. Wokest.
Definitely not Ayres, Darling, Samson, Talbert or Reese. They all want to defund the police. Samson said his most honorable Walnut Creek moment was blocking 680 (during rush hour) during a protest. Silva wants to defund the police as well but she’s less vocal.
Agenda 21/2030 moving forward: Denser housing, pushed public transit, getting rid of fossil fuels, only allowing electric cars to be sold in CA by 2035, burning out open space living to push people into dense living, distance learning/working push, social distancing for more successful tracking. The complete breakdown of society for the One World Order. European’s are aware of this, why aren’t American’s?
Because they think you’re wearing a tinfoil hat if you mention it even though if you also included a link to the 2030 UN document. But their attention spans aren’t long enough to read beyond the first two paragraphs if even that far. So they loaded those paragraphs with pie in the sky wonderful sounding stuff.
Let me get this straight. People can’t be close to each other because of a virus that according to our glorious Democrat leaders “is not going away anytime soon” yet the city of Walnut Creek wants to push people into highly dense, highly enclosed spaces like public transportation?
LOL.
Time for these freeloading, airhead puppets that do as their told by their handlers from China to kick rocks and gtfo here.
It’s not all your local officials pushing dense housing.
Do some research and you’ll see that it’s the Association of Bay Area Governments and your elected officials in Sacramento.
Enjoy the Democrat/Liberal majority!
As California goes, this will result in them putting up some signs with pictures on it and a maybe develop some mascot about public transit they will slap on the side of busses. No real or meaningful change.
Maybe stop building high rise apartments all over town? Derrrrrrrr
yes and blowing gas and dirt with loud machines daily!
If these civic leaders really cared about global warming and social justice, they should turn Ygnacio from Oak Grove to Target/BART into a pedestrian mall, and employ those formerly “impacted” by San Quentin as traffic ambassadors who can assist those in need to John Muir and such. It would be a win-win.
What a sight to see.
Loella and Cindy riding their bikes to council meetings. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Five retirees on our block all drive to the gym during rush hours. Four blocks away. And not in the same car.
Lyft and Uber are cars. Usually not electric. That is what adds to traffic.
I think Justin has an EV.
Walnut Creek is a pass through. Build a highway through Blackhawk and Alamo.
Raise your hand if your locked secured bike was ever stolen downtown.
If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.
Ha…. JJ.. Vison of Miss Gulch with Todo in basket.
Fantasyland…
BART isn’t safe, and kids walking to school without an escort aren’t safe, especially with our DA’s soft on crime agenda. Perhaps they should address public safety before talking about behavior modification of citizens.
Mobile bike repair stations and public transit. Walnut Creek has a successful Maserati dealership. Do they really think these people will ride bicycles and take buses?
See?
It doesn’t matter what the people want, it’s what the government decides it wants for the people.
It’s Communism, pure, and simple.
And so many of you keep voting for it, every time.
Fools.
I will start now and not shop in Walnut Creek, that will help their traffic out.
The UN will not functionally exist by 2030
It is a new era of nation states and “civilizational realms” now
Just like Trump pulled US out of UN Paris Climate Accord the Agenda 2030 will not be implemented here.
The book “Clash of Civilizations” by Huntington is relevant
Our realm is US, UK, Canada, Aus NZ and there may be increased coordination on trade etc within the realm
China, Russia, EU, India, Muslim world, Latin America are some of the others
High-density lifestyle is not appropriate for WC especially since populations overall are actually decreasing
The council needs to get with the new times and stop following the policies of SF and Oakland and return to the WC of the 1970s- low-key but high quality
That ship (or train) has already sailed. They tore up the old rail and trolley tracks to make hiking trails. Nice but light rail might have been more useful.
After Covid, I will not be taking public transportation. It will only be a matter of time before the hobos start riding it like they do on BART.
Vote Silva out or don’t vote for her re-election. She’s anti-police and supports defunding her own department. (WCPD)
Too soon. Her term is not up for another two years.
I don’t think that is her son.
She has one daughter.
Pressure from the east causes all these pileups on YV. WC and Concord need to pressure the spineless county board to place residential growth restrictions from Bay Point to Brentwood which require transportation/job growth dollars that route to cities that absorb the rising traffic. Yes, you can add bike lanes, trolleys, free busing, and promote ride share ???, but the source is volume of cars generated by east co-co.
BFF Out!
From 7 yrs ago: But you all should know that this is the plan for every “village”. In fact, a sustainable development plan is to get you out of your car completely. Not just limit it but eliminate them. How will that be accomplished. Stay tuned, I’m going to post a couple of things to give you the flavor. This article from 7 years ago begins the conversation:
“We are seeing that more young people want smaller houses, closer to work, transportation and shopping,” she says. “Plus, with the aging of the Baby Boomers, who want to downsize, we’re not going to see the big suburban sprawl of the last 20 years or so. There won’t be as much a demand for single-family homes in the suburbs.”
She says that developments like The Mercer in Walnut Creek and mixed-use developments at the Pleasant Hill and Walnut Creek BART stations are just the sort of projects she expects to see more of in the coming decades.
“Our demographic projections show a huge shift in the make-up of who lives in the suburbs,” she says. “There is a ‘silver tsunami’ of Baby Boomers who want to be free of the constraints of big homes, and who want more flexibility to travel. Add that with a young workforce who doesn’t need or want a car, and these projects make a lot of sense.”
She also wants to focus on helping bridge wage gaps of workers, offering more vocational and specialized education to those without four-year college degrees.”
“I’d like to see more partnerships with big corporations coming into schools and colleges and helping train this next generation of workers. If we do it on a regional level, we’ll have a lot more success.”
http://pioneerpublishers.com/PPublishers/clayton-mayor-julie-pierce-ready-to-take-helm-of-abag/?fbclid=IwAR1kNO0IGtashTOfcuwYYhy-P_MJkW6tB97CdqljxrPKNt3jBE9LlUuU3rI
This project is just one project recently approved by our city council. Behind the Post office is the location of this monstrosity 81 unit pack and stack housing. There are many more in the works so to speak and likely coming up after this election. I understand the developer of this project has obtain 2 more adjacent lots and is planning to build on those as well. Nothing has been submitted as Olivia Project (3 story building) in our down town is in the courts after some citizens filed suit against the developer. https://ci.clayton.ca.us/fc/community-development/planning/SPR-04-17.NOD.FINALIZED.AND.DISTRIBUTED.pdf?_t=1576886199
However, I’m going to post a couple of article on ABAG (Association of Bay Area Government) because committees such as ABAG as well as the Air Quality Control Board and many other boards just like this across counties including CCC are usu raping your rights, your local control, and removing your “representative” form of government through regulation and intermediaries such as ABAG. https://abag.ca.gov/
Also to note are the “sustainable development goals” of a car-less society, a walk, bike, hike, public transit only lifestyle, working from home etc., as human impact must be limited. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/
This is not in the next 100 years but the year 2020-2035. The future is here now and all you have to ask is are you going to embrace the removal of your constitutional rights, your rights to property, your rights to free enterprise, your rights to “representative government”?
As for my city council (clayton) they are all in agreement with ABAG as our mayor sits as the former president and committee member of ABAG. Yes, one city council members says that abag isn’t in charge of our city (catalano; a land use attorney in her day job) but that couldn’t be further from the truth as I beg to differ. This “intermediary” committee is about removing our “local control” and our “representative government”. Sure ABAG administration is a bunch of unelected bureaucrats with city government officials and those elected sitting on their committee. The goal is and remains “sustainable development” and removing our constitutional rights, free enterprise rights, private property rights, rights to our body, and the rights of our “republic and representative government” (when I say this, think covid shut down too). These are the connections most people don’t know with rare exceptions. And, if the city council and the planning commission were ‘TRUTHFUL’ they’d tells exactly what I’m telling you. Now the only question, what can we do about it. Olivia is a done deal unless someone can talk to the developer and he would scale back the project. As for future project, the developer has now bought 2 adjacent properties but what will be built there. I’m betting women and I’m gonna bet more stack and pack housing (as many on our city council have said “the developer owns the land and he can build anything he wants to” both piece, catalano, clovin, as well as I believe tillman have said that). Again, the idea is to place 3 story buildings, if you listen to the tea leaves and our city officials like the city council/planning commission/ABAG and put the pieces together, they are telling the truth without admitting anything with words. You’ve got to look at the actions because actions speak louder than words. We as citizen of this town will have to decide how to handle it. But, I’m not sure we want proponents of stack and pack already in line before other projects hit their inbox and meeting agenda. The question is do the people of Clayton understand what is at stake and who is in control (people or government). If you’re like me, you want “local control” and that may mean compromise but we should NOT give away our position before the ink is dry on paper. The question is who is best suited to carry out the plans of the people of this city. Now that doesn’t mean that they give away our position to those who want to usurp our rightful place as the owners of our government. The government elected are the servants of the people. That means that they do NOT sell us out. Instead they are suppose to represent the “constitution” “local control” and “representative government” and any decision that is thwarting that is a denial of their sworn oath of office to defend the Constitutions against ALL ENEMIES FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC. Who best to choose? Well, the choice is yours. I know who I have in mind that will defend our rights as a city. You need to come to your own conclusions as well.
One proof of these plans is the very article here I’m commenting on.
But, here’s more proof of the plans as “transit villages” that means no cars.
https://www.claycord.com/2020/10/22/60-acres-being-auctioned-in-north-concord-starting-bid-for-concord-villages-is-15m/?fbclid=IwAR0H-s-TqEDuj9M5xtpNrmzbA4OVFFF2mMqsQ6qagYNLHfY4_kXbm0Q13pE
How do we get the globalists out of our city, state, and country?
How do we prosecute the traitors who sold us out?
How do we remove ourselves from the plans they have for us?
Oh Sammy Pie, if only we knew the answer.
Sam and Aunt Barbara,
First you have to understand what’s happening and education yourself. Then you have to understand the Constitution and the processes that allowed for removal of these individual before the next election. There is a way btw and the founding fathers built this process into the system (into the Constitution itself). A lot people think that’s waiting for an election but that’s not what I’m talking about. It’s a committee of the people (usually between 100-200 people county level by city if you want) but first you have to set the stage and the representatives have to be also informed. You have first educate them with this understand that they may not know. And, it’s quite likely they don’t. Most people don’t know about this process. Again, you have educate. Our constitution has personalities in the law. And, one such law is USC (United State Constitution) Title 18, 241 and 241. If you read those laws which are part of the Constitution and understand that the law that is the highest supreme law of the land is the Constitution and this code can be used in a process. Again, its first a process of understanding and education for both the citizens the representatives. Then the penalty carries with it some pretty hard consequences for our representatives. The founders always knew that the representative had to fear the people and this how they built that into the system. Those were not just some words (the government should fear the people) they came with power and penalty. The servant government takes an oath and that oath is attached to this penalty. Again, the people should be feared. Our tyrant government is out of control in this state and that includes city councils and board of supervisors, assembly, state senate and governor.
Well, Sam a lot of people with your political views have made threats about moving to a state with better conservative politics. Maybe like Idaho or places further east. Just to let you know my brother who lives in Montana is unlikely to be very welcoming to California refugees. But as he tells me he’s not really worried about it. A month or so of 40 below weather usually drives them away. He pointed out that on those days keeping a blanket in your car is for survival purposes, not comfort. Best of luck Californians.
Add Gene Simmons to list of people leaving CA.
Selling house he’s had since 1984.
“The legendary KISS singer and bassist has decided to pick up and move his family to Washington State, citing high property taxes in California as a motivating factor.”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-8870641/Gene-Simmons-puts-longtime-Beverly-Hills-mansion-sale-whopping-22M.html
Keep electing liberals and perhaps in another decade of their rule, can rename state to North Venezuela.
Gene Simmons (Chaim Witz) cracks me up, and his net worth is reported to be over $400M. Washington would be my last choice, but good for him getting ahead of the wealth tax. At the proposed rate of .4%, he just saved himself $1.6 Million per year!
There are still a good number of people in California with net worth over $30M. Once they leave the wealth tax will drop to $10M, then $5M…..our politicians are rather short-sighted………..
Mr. Potato
Cool story. I have several friends who left. It could be my group of friends but they have no problems. You should go there. I hear it’s nice in the winter.
Small electric bicycles are becoming more practical. I’ve seen some that are a combination of 3 or 4 wheel bicycle combined with an enclosed shell. They are much faster than golf carts. I believe they are allowed to use motorcycle parking spots. See https://www.google.com/search?q=electric+bike+cars&tbm=isch for pictures.
Today I saw what looked like a homeless guy riding a gasoline powered Razor style scooter through Walnut Creek. He had one of of those red plastic gas cans bungee strapped to the deck of the scooter. It was very noisy, pollutes like crazy, and seems like a fun ride for those with a death wish.
@WC Resident…Aunt Barbara is going to love the gas powered Razors.
Another ego stroker living in an altered state of mind. I don’t think I’ve ever seen more than 4 people on the county bus going past my home.
“The City is Killing America”, in Frontpage Mag, is worth reading. The comments from readers are also interesting.
Gene Simmons is leaving California?
Who?
Guess I should Google the name.