Merced Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Meeting - October 28, 2025

This meeting of the Merced City Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission (BPAC) was called to order at 4:05 PM on October 28, 2025, in the City Council Chamber. Five voting members were present (Gonzalez, Ewing, Shu, Kaiser Grant, and an acting chair) along with three ex-officio members; two voting members and one ex-officio were excused, achieving a quorum. The commission discussed the City's General Plan Update, deferred a roles-and-responsibilities briefing, and addressed future agenda items and commissioner reports.

Discussion Items

• G.1 – BPAC Roles and Responsibilities (Deferred): Staff proposed postponing this informational item to the December meeting to coincide with mandatory Brown Act training, as several new members were absent. The commission voted unanimously to defer the item.
• G.2 – Merced Comprehensive General Plan Update and Downtown Station Area Plan: Acting Planning Manager Johnny Lann presented an overview. The last comprehensive General Plan update was in 2012; the current update is expected to take about two years. Embedded within it is the Downtown Station Area Plan (focused on a quarter-mile radius around the planned high-speed rail station), which must be completed by June 2026 due to grant requirements. A public workshop was held October 23, and a Citizens Advisory Focus Group (CAFG) is meeting regularly. Staff shared a draft Existing Conditions and Trends workbook (approximately 200+ pages) and requested commissioner feedback via www.imaginemerced.com. The next CAFG meeting is November 10, followed by a joint study session with City Council and Planning Commission. The report highlighted active transportation goals, including connecting rail to UC Merced for non-vehicle travel.
• H.1 – Requests to Add Items to Future Agenda: Commissioner Ewing requested that the city engineer provide a prioritized list of capital improvement projects relevant to bicyclists and pedestrians, as the commission meets every other month. Staff agreed to work with engineering to compile a BPAC-focused list and distribute it before the December meeting, allowing commissioners to select projects for updates. This process was accepted.
• H.2 – Commissioner Comments: One commissioner reported attending the Measure V Citizens Oversight Committee meeting in October. Measure V is a county transportation tax, with 20% designated for active transportation. The commissioner expressed concern that some projects (e.g., replacing streetlight poles on Main Street and traffic signal synchronization) were being allocated active transportation funds without clear justification, arguing the money should be saved for dedicated bicycle-pedestrian projects. Staff noted the city engineer would review the categorization and that MCAG will also audit; they offered to provide the commission with the relevant website link.

Key Outcomes

• Deferral Vote: The commission voted unanimously (5-0) to postpone agenda item G.1 (BPAC Roles and Responsibilities) to the December 9, 2025 meeting.
• Capital Project List: Staff will produce a BPAC-tailored list of capital improvement projects and send it to commissioners within the next month. Commissioners may then request specific project updates for future meeting agendas.
• December Meeting Date: The regular December meeting (scheduled for the fourth Tuesday, December 23) will be cancelled and replaced with a special meeting on Tuesday, December 9, 2025, to accommodate Brown Act training and other items (UC Merced Safe Streets for All grant update, deferred roles-and-responsibilities discussion, and possible project updates).
• Upcoming Events: The Merced Bicycle Coalition announced a Holiday Lights Ride on December 6, 2025, at 5:30 PM (start at 6:00 PM), starting from Bob Hart Square; details on ride location will be posted on mercedbicyclecoalition.org.