Active Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Meeting - January 24, 2024
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Active Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Meeting - January 24, 2024
The Active Transportation and Infrastructure Committee of the San Diego City Council met on January 24, 2024, at 10:00 AM. The committee reviewed and approved past actions, heard public testimony on a range of infrastructure and transportation issues, and received detailed presentations on the Pavement Management Plan and the Five-Year Capital Infrastructure Planning Outlook. The meeting highlighted the city's significant infrastructure funding gaps and the need for sustained investment to maintain and improve streets, stormwater systems, and other critical assets.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Committee Actions (November 8, 2023): Passed unanimously (4-0) after public comment. Speakers raised concerns about LED streetlights, complete streets, and shared mobility devices.
- Consent Agenda Items (1-3): Approved unanimously (4-0). Items included: amendment to agreement with Garnett Fleming Inc. for the OTA Second Pipeline Phase 3 project; no-cost extension for North University City Fire Station 50 design-build contract; and sole-source agreement with SOMAS for Tecolote Canyon Trunk Sewer Improvement and Golf Course Water Connection.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Non-Agenda Public Comment: Six speakers addressed topics including surveillance technology, drug-impaired driving, the draft Mobility Master Plan, scooter regulations, stormwater flooding, smoke-free multi-unit housing, and infrastructure needs in Southeast San Diego. Speakers expressed both support and criticism of city policies, with several urging greater investment in historically underserved communities.
- Consent Agenda Public Comment: One speaker (original DRA) criticized contract extensions, lack of infrastructure maintenance, and the city's focus on electric vehicles without addressing road damage from heavier vehicles.
- Item 4 (Pavement Management Plan): Three speakers testified. The original DRA argued that the city fails to coordinate street maintenance with stormwater management and that electric vehicle weight will accelerate road deterioration. Carmina Paz (Urban Collaborative Project) emphasized the need for sidewalk expansions and street repaving in District 4 to enable bus shelters. Andrea Hetheru was unable to unmute.
- Item 5 (Five-Year Capital Infrastructure Planning Outlook): Four speakers testified. A speaker from District 4 criticized the equity scoring matrix, stating that District 4 remains at the bottom despite high needs. Another speaker praised the grant funding and asked for clarity on the reduction in the funding gap. The original DRA questioned the representativeness of community surveys and raised concerns about water rate increases and construction quality. Blair Beekman discussed technology and flood funding.
Discussion Items
- Item 4: Transportation Department Pavement Management Plan
- Bethany Bizak (Transportation Director), Maggie McCormick, and Patrick Hadley presented. Key findings: San Diego has the second-largest street network in California (6,600 lane miles). The 2023 Pavement Condition Index (PCI) is 63, down from 71 in 2016. The goal is PCI 70. To achieve this over 10 years, $1.9 billion is needed, with a projected funding gap of $1.25 billion. The plan recommends a
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon, everybody, and welcome to the Active Transportation and Infrastructure Committee meeting of January twenty-fourth, two thousand twenty-four. Our committee liaison, Sarah Jordan, will provide information and instruction for the public to participate in today's meeting. Sarah, please proceed. This meeting is being televised and live streamed on the city's website, and the council administration will continue to make arrangements for the public to use to comment using the Zoom webinar platform. Members of the public who wish to provide testimony via a call-in or an internet-based service option, must enter the virtual speaking queue within five minutes after the conclusion of in-person public testimony or before the virtual speaking queue is exhausted, whichever occurs first. Councilmember Von Wilper. Council Member Lee. And Councilmember Chair Whitburn. And also attending the meeting is the City Attorney Representative Ryan Garretti, Mayor Representative Randy Wilde, and IBA Representative Aaron Knoll. If you are in person, please complete a speaker slip located at the entrance of chambers and place it in the box indicated at the speaker's lectern at the front of the room. Please do so in a timely manner to ensure proper meeting management. Members of the public can join the webinar by computer, tablet, or smartphone by accessing the link which is listed online in the preamble language of the agenda on the city's webpage. To join the Zoom webinar by telephone, please dial 1669-2545252. And when prompted, input webinar ID 160-976-1371 pound. This information is also available on the agenda and it will appear on the screen during the public comment period for each agenda item. Chair. Thank you very much, Sarah. A quorum is now present. We start the new year in good shape. Uh, thanks in no small part due to the uh excellent chairmanship of uh council member Lee of this committee over the past year. So thank you for uh chairing the committee and I'll do my best to keep us moving in the right direction. We will now take up the approval of the committee actions of November 8th, 2023. Sarah, please proceed with public comment. Thank you, Chair. The public comment period for the past committee actions is now open. If you're watching on City TV or live stream online and would like to dial in in the meeting, please call 1669-2545252. And when prompted, input webinar ID 160-976-1371 pound. Chair, we don't have any slips here in chambers, but we do have a hand up in the virtual queue. So I will begin the five-minute timer for all those to indicate if they wish to speak to the past committee actions. We will begin with the original DRA. Please unmute yourself and provide your testimony. You will have one minute to speak to the past committee actions. So the task order for the citywide street lights as you're getting ready to pass these committee actions. We need to be mindful that LED streetlights and whatnot. Um, it's like Wi-Fi, but it's li-fi and it transmits data and it also emits EMF radiation, and so we need to be thinking about that. Um, in the complete streets update, um, it's anything but complete streets. So I don't know if you guys need to find another term for that because um what we're doing is just densely populating people into a 15 minute city, is what you really need to call it. Um, and these shared mobility devices with all of the um you know uh injuries and settlements that have come forward that the city and the people actually have to pay for. Um, we need to be mindful when we're trying to put forward any actions like this and thinking about just making revenue when it has nothing to do with um saving the climate and uh nor does anything in the mobility master plan. Thank you for your testimony. Our next speaker is Blair B. Please unmute yourself and share your comment. Hi, Blair Beekman. Uh thanks for this item. I'm assuming uh you're approving the minutes of the previous uh committee meeting uh that that included uh subject matter on complete streets. Uh I'm going off of uh DRA's queue uh at this time. Uh if this is correct, I just wanted to offer that uh you know, we with complete street projects, a lot of new technology is coming in from uh federal and state agencies. Uh ALPR use, you know, the smart street light is uh program is a good example. Um they want to add a lot more technology to current technology that's already in place in local streets. Uh that I feel we need to acknowledge.
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