Friday, Jul. 03, 2009
Enhancing Grover Beach streets: In proposed road design, less is more
By narrowing a too-wide street and adding bike and pedestrian lanes, the city hopes to increase the ‘quality of life for local residents’
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closeGrover Beach has developed a conceptual design to narrow one of its main streets, while at the same time providing road enhancements for locals.
The proposed design is part of a long-term city goal of trimming pavement on other local streets to help reduce high repair costs and promote cycling, walking and healthy watersheds.
The San Luis Obispo Council of Governments gave Grover Beach a $50,000 grant to develop a design for a “demonstration project” on Longbranch Avenue.
The Wallace Group firm completed the design that cuts more than 26 percent of the roadway and includes plans for bike lanes, pedestrian zones, sidewalks, landscaping and drainage.
“These improvements are geared to transportation alternatives and improving the quality of life for local residents,” City Manager Bob Perrault said.
The estimated cost for the Longbranch project is between $600,000 and $1 million — which would require the city to seek funding via grant or loan assistance.
City officials already have grant funding sources in mind, including the Safe Routes to Schools program, Proposition 84, the Clean Water Act and the Council of Governments.
The community’s streets were laid out as part of a grid system in the 1890s. The right-of-way for many, including Longbranch Avenue, is in excess of 80 feet.
The city has more than $30 million worth of needed street repairs and spends between $800,000 and $1.2 million per year fixing its roads.
The Wallace Group design focuses on Longbranch Avenue from Fourth Street to Oak Park Boulevard, which is used by students, cyclists, pedestrians and many vehicles because it’s close to shopping, restaurants and Grover Beach Elementary School.
If funds are pulled together, the project could spark similar improvements elsewhere in the city, Grover Beach officials said.
The city will host a neighborhood meeting in late July to receive feedback from local residents about the options suggested by Wallace Group for the project, Perrault said.
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