Good afternoon, and welcome to the Active Transportation and Infrastructure Committee meeting of February 19th, 2026.

Our committee liaison, Sarah Jordan will provide information and infrastructure for the public to participate in today's meeting.

Sarah, please proceed.

Thank you, Chair Whitburn.

While members of the public are able to attend the meeting in person, this meeting is being televised and live streamed on the city's website, and council administration will continue to make arrangements for the public to comment using the Zoom webinar platform.

Members of the public who wish to provide testimony via a call-in or internet-based service option must enter the virtual speaking queue within five minutes after conclusion of in-person public testimony or before the virtual cue is exhausted, whichever occurs first.

This will allow for better meeting management between the two platforms and ensure the committee is able to manage and conduct city business.

We appreciate the public's cooperation.

Council Member Von Wilpert.

Present.

Council President Pro Tem Lee.

Here.

Also attending the meeting today is attorney City Attorney Representative Ryan Gardy.

If you are in person, please complete a speaker slip located at the entrance of chambers and place it in the speaker slip box at the lectern in 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 160-229-4290 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.

Please note that if you're watching via City TV 24 or online, there may be delay.

Please participate via the audio on your phone and mute your TV or computer when it is your turn to speak.

And if you wish to speak to a particular item, please wait for that item to be called and then raise your hand to speak by tapping the raise your hand icon, or if you're calling participant by pressing star nine on your phone.

If you raise your hand during the non-comment period, your hand will be lowered.

A quorum is now present.

We will take up not agenda public comment.

The council members respect and appreciate the public's input and are fully committed to protecting every participant's free speech rights at council and committee meetings.

Per Rule 2.7 on agenda public comment as an opportunity for members of the public to comment on items that are not on the agenda but are within the subject matter jurisdiction of this committee.

Each speaker will have two minutes.

And again, if you're watching on City TV or the live stream online and you'd like to call in, please dial 1669-2545252.

Inputting webinar ID 160-229-4290 pound.

We have not received any speaker slips for non-agenda public comment here in chambers.

So I will begin the five-minute timer for all those in the virtual queue to indicate if they wish to provide their non-agenda public comment.

Each speaker will have two minutes, and we will begin testimony with Blair Beekman.

Please unmute and provide your comment.

Hi.

Uh Blair Beekman.

Uh thanks for the meeting this afternoon.

Uh hopefully my Zoom will be okay.

I'm calling from Hawaii.

As I said, um here listening and communicating with whales as much as I can.

It's limited, but uh it's good to hear them speak and talk to each other nonetheless.

Um I wanted to comment on uh the area seems healthy, by the way.

Um I wanted to comment on um two items.

One, you at your rules committee yesterday, you spoke of uh possibly uh ending uh a five-minute uh space for virtual public comment time before it is cut off and have uh cutoff times uh right at the end of in-person public speaking.

Um I want to be uh I know you guys want a clean house, and we're entering an era post-COVID uh that we don't have the same stresses that our Zoom was first invented, uh, and why we had uh, you know, five minutes additional time.

It was great of you guys to manage that in the past.

I know you guys want a clean house now.

Um, but it's a real convenience for the public to have that additional time before uh you know they can they can uh depress their hand to raise their voice to speak, raise their hand to speak.

It really helps uh a lot for the public.

I know it helps with neatness and and meeting efficiency, but uh just a reminder.

I I hope you can keep it just for that.

It it it's a really helpful tool for the public itself.

Good luck on addressing that.

And with my remaining time, uh Paul Kruger yesterday tried to make an analogy that uh with the parking issues at Bower Park.

It's like we get a free cookie to understand what is possible in in new fees that was appealing, but now we're realizing it's not so appealing now.

And we're trying to address it.

Good luck that we continue to work on it.

And I really think that if we cut cheese in half, that would help a lot.

Thanks a lot.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Jason B.

Please unmute and begin.

Hi, uh, my name is Jason.

I'm a resident of downtown.

Uh, my family, we own a car, but we try to walk and bike everywhere we can.

Uh, but one big problem we are facing is with uh construction or road work blocking the bike lanes on dangerous highways without providing a safe detour.

Uh the latest one we encountered was on Washington Street, just up the hill from Pacific Highway.

The bike lane is closed without a detour while two car lanes remain open.

Uh, this creates a real death trap for bicycles, which are going slow up the hill, uh, are now forced in front of 50 mile an hour or more cars.

And it's really you know unacceptable for people who rely on our bike lanes for transportation.

Uh, in fact, the city has already paid a 2.95 million dollar settlement to the family of the cyclists killed two years ago by a city uh obstruction in the bike lane.

Um, so to fix this, I ask you to please consider an ordinance that would stipulate that uh whenever a bike lane has to be closed for construction or road work, that a temporary safe detour, for example, a temporary bike lane made out of cones be provided.

Thank you.

Thank you for your testimony.

Our next speaker is Richard Stennis.

Richard, please unmute and begin.

Uh I don't know if this is a non-agenda item.

I wanted to speak to the speeding issue on Colin DeLoro and Prestwick.

Is that a later thing or can I speak now?

That is an agenda item, but if you wanted to speak to it overall in general, you could provide your non-agenda public comment at this moment.

Okay, uh Laura Eaton has been working on this.

I live in College Del Oro 2533, and the speeding issue is notable, uh, particularly as they come down 50, 60 miles an hour along here, and people who back out of their driveways have a real risk.

And so I'm looking at it from that perspective.

As an emergency physician in this town for 50 years, I certainly have seen the victim end.

And uh as director of the jails for 10 years, I've seen uh the people who sometimes are guilty of accidents such as that.

And so I've experienced it from many sides in the tragedy of working in the emergency department when you see people who are involved in speeding accidents.

And I would like to have Collideral and Presswick included, as I understand it, it's not included in the addressing the speed issues on streets in La Jolla right now.

And I would like to have it included in many of my neighbors.

I sent out about 40 emails to them yesterday and ask you, ask them to write to the Lacava.

So that's the issue.

It's speeding, and I'm sure they go 60 miles an hour down College Little Hole sometimes.

And some way of slowing it down would be good from a risk management position as well as a health position here.

And I really appreciate your taking the time to listen to my comments.

Thank you very much.

Thank you for your testimony.

The five-minute timer has also concluded here in chambers.

We have nine hands remaining in the virtual queue.

We will take no other callers beyond these remaining nine hands raised.

Terry Ann Skelly, please unmute and provide your comment.

Good afternoon, Active Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

My name is Terry Ann Skelly.

I'm a planning group member, a parent, and a public health educator.

The conditions of many of our roads warrant careful consideration by this committee because of the backlog in repairs.

And of course, rainy weather puts all of us on high alert because we know the number of automobile accidents increase with the rain.

The number of drunk and drug impaired traffic crashes also increase during rainy weather.

We are wisely reminded that driving under the influence doesn't just refer to alcohol.

Prescription medications, over-the-counter drugs, and marijuana can also impair, especially in combination with alcohol and other drugs.

Recently, the National Safety Council fact sheet repeated that, and I quote, it is unsafe to be under the influence of cannabis.

He's central to driving.

End quote.

Like all my neighbors and planning group members, we salute the San Diego Police Department for their clear messaging.

Drive high, get a DUI, the campaign.

And respectfully, the city council should post the programs from the UC San Diego Health website regarding their marijuana impaired intervention programs.

Steer clear for younger populations, 15 to 20, and higher education driving high is DUI for adults.

Thank you for hearing my concerns this afternoon.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Becky Rapp.

Good afternoon, Chair and members of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

My name is Becky Rapp, and I'm here to speak about marijuana impaired driving and the importance of evidence-based prevention.

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety released a report titled Development and Validation of Messaging to Deter Cannabis Impaired Driving.

Researchers interviewed marijuana users, including individuals who had a history of driving while high.

And what they found is really important.

The most effective messaging was simple.

Driving high isn't just reckless, it's selfish.

Think twice before getting behind the wheel.

When participants were exposed to that messaging, their willingness to drive after using marijuana dropped significantly.

So this tells us that what we communicate does matter.

And as this committee oversees transportation safety, marijuana impaired driving should be part of the traffic safety conversation, just like alcohol impairment.

I encourage you to consider incorporating evidence-based marijuana impaired driving messaging into transportation safety initiatives and any future public awareness campaigns.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next caller is phone number ending in 8700.

You can unmute by pressing star six.

You will have two minutes.

Even though we're the voice uh prompt does tell me to do it.

So I don't know why.

I just can't get used to doing that.

Um the uh bike lane intersection lights.

I finally have gotten used to them and I like them.

Petty cabs downtown.

Gas lamp would lose some of its sparkle without them.

Believe me, they just add sparkle.

And I know uh I don't know for sure, I don't have the facts, but the ordinance uh is working, I imagine, and thank you for that.

Uh one of the petty cab drivers did ask me if they could play music uh low enough for the passengers to hear.

So I know that's not in the ordinance, but I think that would be super duper if they were allowed to do that.

We all love music, don't we?

Now, Market Street repaving.

I don't know if it was Flurry Seal or what they put on Market Street.

Uh, it was a long piece of market street, and it was closed to traffic and pedestrian intersections were closed.

It was on Valentine's Day, which was Mardi Gras weekend, and a convention was in town.

So uh I understand that you wanted to beat the heavy rains that were coming, yet it is really appreciated to give a notice to the public.

The mayor's weekly update works really well for me.

So thank you.

Thank you so much for all you do for our roads and uh noticing and helping the public adjust to that would be super duper.

And thank you.

This does conclude your car time.

Thank you for your comment.

Our next speaker is Peggy Walker.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, committee members.

According to the New York Times, 20 million Americans get high daily on pot in an editorial that marked a notable shift in the New York Times prior support of marijuana.

Editors wrote, America has a PUP problem and the outcomes of legalization are quote worse than expected.

The article cited special concern over increases in marijuana related DUI incidents, injuries, and fatalities.

As a mom, grandmom and public health advocate, I'm here to encourage you to please take a closer look at marijuana impaired driving.

You see San Diego's Transportation Research and Education for Driving Safety Program notes that one cannabis users often aren't aware that Prop 64 prohibits driving under the influence or of how long THC impairment lasts.

And two, cannabis DUI enforcement presents a major challenge.

Unlike established tests for alcohol intoxication, there's no universal roadside standard for THC impairment.

And three, marijuana is now one of the most commonly detected substances among drivers involved in crashes.

Nevertheless, users are making subjective judgments about whether they're impaired enough to drive.

This is a serious safety concern considering nearly 60% of drivers who use marijuana admit to driving high.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Judy String.

Good afternoon.

Active transportation infrastructure.

I came because I wanted to thank the staff for the PowerPoint presentation for item two regarding vision zero.

I was very impressed with the graphics on the whole slide presentation, but particularly on slide four regarding that pedestrian deaths are the most serious concern we have regarding severe accident and death.

And I'm reminded as uh a parent and a grandparent how when I was younger, pushing pushing a stroller felt hazardous to my health.

And now that I'm older, it feels hazardous to my health.

So it's a good reminder to all of us how important pedestrian safety is.

So thank you for this wonderful PowerPoint.

I plan to use slide four in a presentation I have to give for PTA.

I also want to call to your attention the work that's going on.

Some have mentioned regarding spreading the word for those who are impaired by marijuana driving.

The latest from the ad council in association with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

These are the people who in the past were very much behind the phrase friends don't let friends drive drunk, that almost became a bit of a joke and found its way into comedy.

But their newest ad campaign is meant for marijuana impaired drivers in a scholar.

If you feel different, you drive different.

One wonders if that's really something that someone who's impaired by marijuana would recognize, but certainly those of us who are around them would.

And so we have that same responsibility to limit, if not stop anyone in that's been smoking pot, inhaling pot from driving.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Michael Lowry.

Please unmute and begin.

Michael Lowry, I see you have unmuted.

We cannot hear you.

Okay, Mr.

Lowry.

If you we'll give you one final opportunity, and I can come back to you at the end.

I see you have unmuted again.

We cannot hear you.

I will come back to you.

Mike McCormick, please unmute and begin.

All right, can you hear me?

We can hear you, please begin.

Okay, thank you.

So I'm uh on the La Jolla Traffic and Transportation Committee, so follow some of these issues closely.

And I appreciate your taking the time to uh include us in this process here.

Um two items that are not on the agenda.

First is the speeds that we're uh residents are talking to us about unprecedented La Hoya Scenic side, uh Lahoya Scenic South and Nautilus and speeds that are being measured or well, well, well above safe in the 60, 70 mile an hour range.

The agenda today does not uh and the way you overlaid how to reduce speed limits does not take that into account.

So my suggestion to you is that and has been uh in the meetings is that we consider um getting ourselves the city of San Diego a part of the five-year pilot program that AB645 allows, where uh speeds are told and not ticketed.

So it's a it's a monetary incentive to slow people down.

So I really encourage you to do that.

The other one is your overlay algorithm for how you address where speeds are reduced beyond the uh uh 20 below 25 miles an hour in many cases, did not take into account places that have a huge amount of pedestrian use.

And in this case, it's La Jolla Shores between Princess Street and Scripps Institute of Oceanography, bounded by La Jolla Shores Drive and Tory Pines.

That area has a huge amount of use by elderly people and kids and people coming down to the beach where they park.

That entire area needs to be considered for slower speeds.

There's one sign that has 15 miles an hour.

There's many intersections that don't have stop signs.

That whole area needs to be included in what you're analyzing.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Our next speaker is Zach Sturgeon.

Please unmute and begin.

Thank you.

Um, I just wanted to second a comment uh that was made by Jason about um construction workers and city workers providing alternate paths when their work blocks the bike lane.

I frequently ride up and down Sabre Springs transit or parkway to get to the transit center.

And there's been a lot of construction work going on there, and pretty much every day there are workers uh doing landscaping work there too, and that they always park in the bike lanes.

So it's a road that people go 40, 50 miles per hour on.

And it doesn't feel safe to merge with traffic, but I also don't have a choice.

Um I I would love to see an ordinance or some kind of way that these workers could provide an alternate pathway for cyclists and for pedestrians when they block the sidewalk.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Sarah Clements, please unmute and provide your comment.

Thank you.

Can you hear me?

We can hear you, please proceed.

Great.

Great.

This is Sarah Clemens.

I'm a resident of La Jolla.

I'd like to add my support to lowering the speeds on Prestwick Drive, Dunaway, and related roads in Law, some of which um Mike McCormick referred to.

In our neighborhood, these are roads that lead from arteries, such as Torrey Pines Road to the beach, and cars on Tory Pines Road drive 60, 70, sometimes 80 miles an hour, often running red lights, and continue to the coast at dangerous speeds.

This is a residential neighborhood with driveways, cyclists, dog walkers, older strollers, and children walking to school.

It feels like only a matter of time before a deadly accident takes place.

So I ask the committee to reconsider the inclusion of these streets as well as add enforcement of speed limits and traffic laws in this area.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Katie Gordon, please unmute and provide your comment.

Katie Gordon, I have given you permission to speak.

Please unmute and provide your non-agenda public comment at this time.

Hi, right?

We can hear you.

Please continue.

Yes, I want to express my support for the city's speed management plan and highly urge the city to adopt a formal policy prioritizing implementation in school zones as a widow.

And a mom of seven-year-old twin girls who lost their father to a hit and run um on the Fatal 15.

My hope is that my girls can walk to school safely as well as other residents in the neighborhood.

I also want to express um support for the crosswalk policy.

Um similarly, um, hoping that it can be placed in locations where people feel unsafe or community requests it.

Um just want to thank you all for your work to keep residents safe in San Diego.

Thank you so much.

And I'm part of the families for Safe Streets.

Thanks.

Thank you for your comment.

And providing Michael Lowry one final opportunity to give his non-agenda public comment.

Michael, I have given you permission to speak.

Please begin.

Hello, can you hear me this time?

We can hear you.

Please continue.

Oh, lovely.

Thank you, uh committee members for taking the time to host this public forum.

It's much appreciated.

Um, I'll try to keep my comment quick as um thank you, Sarah, for submitting an email that I had written for the official written comment from this meeting.

I would like to speak to the quality of some roads uh in the San Carlos neighborhood, especially San Carlos Drive, which runs through the front of Pershing Middle School.

Um, according to data from San Diego get it done.

The road has gone from the PCI score of very serious to severe, and it is in need of a complete uh repaving project.

Um my main reason for bringing this up at the committee today is to bring attention to this particular road as it is frequently traveled and um runs in front of a school.

So many children are driving vehicles on a road that is very poor quality.

Um I'm hoping that by bringing attention to this particular road, um, it can go from the unfunded status to potentially funded in the future.

Um according to the streets.sandiego.gov website.

Um, not only is the PCI score very um low, it is uh not scheduled.

It's it's not even just unfunded, it's not scheduled for any um funding in the future, and I would like to change that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And chair, this concludes non-agenda public comment.

Thank you, Sarah.

Let's see if there are any committee or mayoral or independent budget analyst or city attorney comments.

Seeing none, uh, do we have any requests for continuance?

Seeing none, uh, we will move on to our agenda for today.

Uh, we will start by dispensing with the approval of our consent items.

Uh, do we have well there's one item, so we would like nobody's gonna pull it.

All right.

Uh so we will now move forward with public comment on the consent agenda.

Thank you, Chair.

The consent agenda includes item number one, the approval of the committee minutes from January 29th, 2026.

Each speaker will have one minute.

We have not received any speaker slips here in chambers for item number one.

So I will begin the five-minute timer for all those in the virtual queue to indicate if they wish to provide comment beginning with Blair Beekman.

Please unmute and begin.

Hi, uh Blair Beekman.

Uh, I wanted to comment uh from the previous meeting minutes on the annual transportation uh department update.

Um you have uh very nicely parking issues.

Mr.

Beak, Mr.

Beekman.

Just to clarify, this is on whether or not you approve of the committee minutes as they are presented.

Um yes, sir.

I understand what you're saying, but uh within that I'm allowed to offer a few words uh to update to update the minutes process, don't I?

If you want to speak to the minutes themselves, you're free to do so.

This is just not an opportunity to expand upon topics that were covered in the previous meeting.

That very much hurts that you want to practice that.

I understand fully what you're saying, and it was my intention to uh just offer uh a few words to a few sentences if that if I can be allowed to do that to update the uh the transportation report.

Is that possible?

Do you do you support or do you oppose the city uh the the committee adopting the minutes as presented?

No, this is not about the process.

This is not about the process that was discussed at the last meeting.

If you'd like to speak to whether or not we are you support us adopting the minutes as they are presented, that's what this item is.

If you want to elaborate okay, we're gonna move on.

Let's move on.

Sir, I'm allowed to offer a few minutes to all right.

Next speaker.

Our next speaker is phone number ending in 870.

You can unmute by pressing star six, and you will have one minute to speak to the minutes.

Uh before you start me, uh Sarah, uh, Chair Whitburn.

Uh, we'll see how we go with me.

Uh I think I'm gonna be okay.

So here we go.

Uh Joyce and Yada C D3.

I approve the minutes with one question and one addition, perhaps on item six.

The convention center modernization.

Uh, here's the question.

Is the large canary covered with band-aids, also known as the boiler, covered in the backup and the plan.

Thank you for listening.

Make that a top priority.

Love to all.

Thank you.

And this concludes public comment on item number one.

Thank you, sir.

We will now move on to our discussion agenda, Sarah.

Please introduce the next item.

Oh.

Uh yeah, now that we had that big discussion on whether or not to approve or not the consent agenda, we should probably vote on that.

All right.

Uh Sarah, please call the roll.

We have a motion and a second to approve the consent agenda, Sarah.

Please call the roll.

And the consent agenda passes unanimously four zero.

Thank you, Sarah.

Thank you to the team.

Uh we will now move on to our discussion agenda.

Sarah, please introduce the next item.

Thank you, Chair.

Item number two, determine and declare posted speed limits throughout the city of San Diego.

Vision zero update and findings of speed management plan.

If you're watching on City TV or the live stream and you'd like to dial in to speak, please call 1669-2545252.

Inputting webinar ID 160-229-4290 pound.

Please introduce yourselves for the record and let us know how much time you would like for the presentation.

And please begin when you're ready.

Good afternoon, Chair Whitburn, committee members.

My name is Alex Zibaldo, interim deputy director with the Transportation Department.

I'm joined with my colleague here, Everett Hauser, Program Manager, and Maggie McCormick, um, interim assistant director, also with transportation department.

We'll need 15 minutes.

Good afternoon.

Today I'll be presenting a vision zero update and present the findings from the citywide speed management plan.

By way of establishing a background, the city adopted a Vision Zero policy in 2015.

The goal of Vision Zero is to eliminate severe injuries and fatalities from traffic related crashes within the city.

Vision zero is a citywide effort with contributions from many different departments listed on the photo here, including police, planning, communications, development services, engineering capital projects, and transportation.

The city has tracked the numbers of severe injuries and fatalities each year since the adoption of Vision Zero.

There's clearly a lot more work to do, but this data here shows that total fatal and severe injury crashes have decreased since 2018.

This progress stands in contrast to national trends, which have seen increases in fatalities and injuries in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic.

All crashes matter, but this data here shows that people walking are overrepresented in serious crashes.

And that's because they are the most vulnerable when interacting with the vehicle traffic.

We'll be reviewing these elements in more detail in the next few slides.

The city's Vision Zero engineering efforts are at work every single day.

We respond to citizen requests, which total nearly 7,000 requests annually, along with evaluating crash history at high accident locations.

We review fatalities, we conduct proactive system-wide analysis.

We implement over 2,000 traffic safety improvements annually, and we also develop additional plans, including the upcoming speed management plan.

Despite our best efforts, the department doesn't have the resources necessary to respond to all of the needs throughout the city.

There is currently a need of 212 million dollars annually to build the Vision Zero CIP projects.

We currently have a backlog of 2300 traffic service requests for engineering evaluations and a backlog of nearly 2,000 traffic improvement installations.

A lot of what we've discussed so far has been related to engineering, but there are two other components that are critical to help us meet our Vision Zero goals, and that is education and enforcement.

This slide illustrates just briefly the role of enforcement and dealing with speeds on our roads.

We partner with the police department and communications department to perform traffic enforcement in targeted areas and educate the community on roadway safety.

Education, community, and creating a culture of safety make up the remaining portion of the strategic plan, focusing on how people experience the city's efforts, apply them into their daily lives, and know where to go for more information.

Again, the city's communications department works collaboratively with transportation engineering and police to provide these updates and services to residents and the community.

To give additional background on how speed limits are set, uh TD Transportation Department is responsible for performing the speed surveys to establish the speed limits citywide.

The speed surveys are done on a seven to 14 year cycle.

About 842 miles are surveyed, that's a quarter of the city street network.

Speed limits are based on the 85th percentile, that's the speed at or below which 85% of drivers are traveling under free flow conditions.

Not all of our street networks are surveyed.

Any unsurveyed streets are set at 25 miles per hour by default.

These are mostly our residential streets.

And then California Vehicle Code does require that speed limits be established by city resolution, so any reductions that we're proposing as part of this plan will have to go to city council for adoption.

This slide is a reminder that effective speed management is more than just about the posted speed.

The photos shown are our most prominent Vision Zero projects and their evolution from traditional capital programming to our quick build installation of safety improvements, the quick build roundabout, something that transportation department can build quickly in-house and significantly cheaper than the traditional build projects.

The urgency that we're all feeling with Vision Zero really pushes our department to move faster with less resources, hence, the department is actively working on more quick build facilities in addition to finishing up several of these traditional build projects.

The speed management plan is very data-driven.

It's using data and information from the city's systemic safety analysis, and that evaluation essentially looked at 10 years' worth of injury crash data to find patterns and common characteristics where these crash sites are happening.

By doing so, it allows the city to be more proactive in programming improvements rather than reactive and waiting for these crashes to occur.

I think it's important to emphasize that the speed management plan relies in part on the systemic safety analysis to help narrow those candidate locations for speed reductions within the select categories of AB 43.

So State Assembly Bill AB 43 allowed for a number of changes to the vehicle code, which has allowed cities to be more flexible in setting the speed limits.

The table here shows the four major categories that we'll review and what they mean for speed reduction.

AB43 allows for an additional five miles per hour speed limit reduction for safety corridors, ped bike generators, business activity district.

It also allows further reduction at school zones, and we'll go over each of these categories in more detail.

Safety corridor is defined as the highest number of severe fatal injury crashes, and only a fifth of the network can be in this category.

The plan focuses on reducing speed limits along the systemic safety corridors where fatal or severe injury crashes have occurred, and where these common patterns or roadway characteristics are present.

Speed reduction is important, but as I've mentioned, we also want to pair them with improvements to maximize the safety benefits.

We are proposing in fiscal year 27 a CIP budget request for a handful of quick build projects to support these speed limit reductions at the safety corridors with additional requests planned in future years.

The second criteria is the pedestrian bike generators.

This is defined as land use that generate high pedestrian or bicycle use.

This triggers a lot of locations, features like crosswalks, sidewalks, bikeways can trigger the criteria, so a lot of street segments can qualify.

So instead of being over-inclusive, the plan's approach is to focus on where these measures are going to be most effective, which is within the systemic safety corridors, particularly on transit routes that generate those high pedestrian and bicycle activity.

So in summary, the safety corridors and the ped bike generation generators are essentially being combined, and we're proposing to reduce speed limits that would include all 488 intersections that's been identified through the systemic safety analysis.

Business activity district is another category where speed reductions are allowed.

So transportation department previously brought a package to council in April 2025, last year that reduced speed limits along 17 street segments and 11 business corridors.

The state regulations sets a very specific criteria for what qualifies as a business activity district.

And through this plan, we evaluated the rest of the city to identify the additional corridors that meet this criteria and are eligible for speed reduction.

As a result, qualifying business activity district streets across the city will see speed limits reduced down to 20 or 25 miles per hour, depending on the street design and how that street functions.

Finally, we have the criteria for school zone.

The plan recommends speed limit reductions at schools citywide, lowering speeds at 15 miles per hour within 500 feet of a school and 25 miles per hour between 500 and 1,000 feet of schools.

The 15 mile per hour sign would typically have that standard when children are present condition applied as part of that signage.

And this approach is being proposed and applied consistently throughout all of the schools in San Diego.

We do receive a significant amount of requests from stakeholders, advocates to lower speeds, especially near schools.

This slide brings everything together.

The mileage is broken down by the criteria shown.

The key takeaway here is that through this plan, the city is proposing speed limit reductions on roughly one-fifth 20% of the overall roadway network.

That's nearly 680 miles.

We can't emphasize enough that the plan also recommends funding for future safety improvements along this corridor and pairing speed reductions with traffic calming measures to make them most effective.

And as I've previously previously mentioned, the speed limits would require adoption by the city council as required by the vehicle code.

Implementation is expected to begin in fiscal year 27, and that's contingent on funding.

The same crews that would install these speed limit signs are fully dedicated to parking operations and our normal routine traffic service requests that they perform throughout the city.

To support implementation, we are requesting $2.4 million in fiscal year 27.

That funding would cover for the materials and installation of approximately 3,000 new speed limit signs, including 1,200 new polls.

3,000 signs exceed more than half of our sign shops capacity annually.

So an external fabrication vendor will be needed to avoid impacting day-to-day operations.

That costs is about 180,000.

The remaining funds primarily uh covers staff overtime that's needed to deliver this work efficiently within one fiscal year.

If overtime funding is not approved, we do expect impacts to routine traffic service requests and other traffic safety improvements simply because this work would be competing for those same limited staff resources.

With this funding in place, the department will be positioned to deliver the speed management plan in a timely manner, minimize impacts to our core services, and accelerate safety benefits for communities in San Diego.

Thank you, and we are happy to answer any questions.

Thank you for the presentation.

Sarah, please proceed with public hubit.

Thank you, Chair.

We've received seven speaker slips here in chambers.

We will begin in-person testimony with Aria Grossman.

You will be followed, excuse me.

You will be followed by Ethan Embry, Chris Roberts, and Gail Freed.

If those individuals can please move to the front reserve seats, each speaker will have two minutes.

Good afternoon.

My name is Aria Grossman, and I'm the policy manager at Circulate San Diego, and I'm here to speak in strong support of this plan.

It is a fact that reduced speeds reduce deaths and serious injuries on our streets.

This plan is a very important part of reforming our system to achieve vision zero.

I look forward to this plan and the other traffic calming measures that were mentioned, which together will make a real meaningful impact on reducing deaths in San Diego streets.

I also want to urge the adoption of a formal policy to prioritize implementation in school zones.

Councilmember Whitburn, you and I were together a couple of weeks ago at a school memorializing a six-year-old boy who was killed in traffic violence.

This is happening far too much across the city.

I think we can all agree that it should be the city's priority to make streets safer for children as soon as possible.

So I urge you to adopt and fund this policy at 2.4 million dollars with a formal policy of prioritizing school zones as this is implemented.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Ethan Embry.

Good afternoon, Chair and members of the Active Transportation Infrastructure Committee.

My name is Ian Hembry, and I am the advocacy and community manager with the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition.

I'm speaking in favor of the implementation of the speed management plan and its associated speed limit reductions.

We're very thankful for the city of the city's transportation department's work on this comprehensive plan.

We know that speed is one of the biggest determinants of the results of a crash, and that slow speed save lives.

We hope that this plan is approved and that the funds needed to implement the plan are allocated as part of next year's budget.

The speed management plan, however, does not outline a prioritization for where the process of changing speeds changing speeds will start.

Um and so to follow Arya's comment, the Vision Zero Coalition hopes that the city begin this effort by reducing uh speeds and school zones first to protect San Diego's children.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Chris Roberts.

Good afternoon.

I'm Chris Roberts from Carmel Valley, and I'm a volunteer with San Diego 350, which is a member of the Vision Zero Coalition.

I'm an avid bicyclist, and on a daily basis, I bike past schools and I often witness motorists driving at elevated unsafe speeds during school hours.

AB 43 is a critically important law that enables cities to lower speed limits, especially in school zones.

I'm speaking in favor of implementation of the speed management plan and its associated speed limit reductions.

Please allocate funds to enable speed limit reductions and please prioritize school zones, especially in those areas where with the most fatal crashes and injuries.

Reducing speed limits by as little as five miles per hour will increase the safety of roads around schools, school zones significantly.

Thank you for considering this important plan.

Thank you.

Gail Freed.

Hi, thanks.

Gail Freed, a resident of District 3 and co-founder of Vibrant Uptown.

Thank you, Chair and Committee members for all your hard work.

I walked here today from Hill Christ to voice my own support for lowering speed limits along key safety quarters, school zones, business districts, and pedestrian and bicycle corridors.

I agree with everybody that's uh spoken so far.

This is a huge step in the right direction.

I hope more streets will be targeted for slowing in the future.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Casey.

And Casey will be followed by Harry Bobbins, our final in-person speaker.

Hi, my name is Casey.

I'm 17 years old and I'm a high school student and the youth transportation lead for San Diego 350.

I'm speaking here today in strong support of the speed management plan and the general efforts to reduce speed limits citywide with an urgent focus on school zones and the streets that everyday students like me use.

A few miles per hour isn't a small change when you're the one walking or biking cross intersection.

It's the difference between a close call and a tragedy.

Too many children are dying on our streets.

Lower speed limits make streets calmer and safer for everyone.

Kids walking to school, families, seniors, transit riders, and drivers too.

San Diego should use the authority given by state law proactively, especially around schools, business districts, and high injury streets.

And I'm urging the city council to put forth a policy to prioritize school zones first and commit to implementing lower safety-based speed limits across the city.

Students like me deserve to get to school safely.

Speed should never manage.

Speed should never matter more than lives.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Harry Bubins.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

My name is Harry Bubins with Respect Bird Rock to support this agenda item.

I want to thank Chair Whipburn and all the committee members and the staff for their enormous work to bring this forward.

Uh, and thank you to the local state officials who supported AB 43.

Speed determines whether someone walks away or is carried away.

If this plan is implemented, it will make San Diego the leader in California.

We're especially grateful that La Jolla Boulevard is included, particularly the stretch between Lorne and Kalima, a dangerous corridor our community has long advocated for.

We also support the inclusion of other District 1 streets championed by the local community groups.

Recently there have been a number of pedestrian deaths from car crashes in D1.

Not accidents, but car crash violence.

These streets matter not just to our neighborhoods, but to everyone, traveling to work, school to see a doctor, or visiting to enjoy our common coast.

Lower speeds save lives for all street users, drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists.

They protect children walking to school, seniors crossing streets, and families biking to the beach.

They make driving a less harrowing experience.

They reduce emergency response costs and liability for the city while cutting noise and improving the quality of life, quality of life for everyone.

We also know safe streets are good for business.

In Bird Rock, traffic calming and improved street design increase retail sale by 20 to 30 percent, adding many new businesses and creating numerous jobs.

Safety and economic vitality go hand in hand.

Speed limits work best when the street itself encourages safe driving.

The cost of implementation is modest.

The cost of doing nothing is measured and lost lives.

And if Congress sends less money for bombs abroad, they can help fund this to save lives in San Diego.

We respectfully urge you to support this plan and include District 1 streets submitted through the web form in the final version.

Thank you again for the enormous work from the committee to bring this forward in phases and to the city staff's work.

Thank you.

Thank you.

This concludes testimony here in chambers.

So I'll begin the five-minute timer for all those in the virtual queue to indicate if they wish to provide comment on item two.

Each speaker will have two minutes and we will begin testimony with Becky Rapp.

Good afternoon.

Um my name is Becky Rath.

And first, I want to thank you for your commitment to reducing injuries and fatalities on our streets.

Vision Zero is an important public health goal.

And lowering speed limits is a meaningful step.

We know that speed directly affects crash severity.

And when drivers are attentive and sober, reduce speed limits can absolutely help to save lives.

But we also need to acknowledge another major factor in severe and fatal crashes, and that's drug and alcohol impairment.

Nationally, about one in three traffic fatalities involves drug and or alcohol impairment.

Speed limits are helpful if a driver is not under the influence.

But if the driver is impaired, a posted sign alone will not change behavior.

An impaired driver is less responsive, more likely to speed, and more likely to ignore traffic signals.

And in those cases, speed management depends on prevention efforts that reduce impaired driving before someone gets behind the wheel.

If we're serious about vision zero, we need to combine speed management with drug and alcohol prevention strategies, public education campaigns, and enforcement.

Reducing posted speeds is part of the solution, but without addressing impaired driving, we leave a significant gap in our vision zero strategy.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Our next speaker is Christina Giorgio.

Hello, can you hear me?

Yes, please proceed.

Good afternoon, committee.

I I want to also echo people's um thanks to the committee for taking this uh issue so seriously.

I just want to remind the committee and our council members that you know the most important thing that an elected official can do is trying to figure out how to do that is can seem intractable.

But with respect to speed limits, this is something that's highly achievable.

It will save lives, it will make our neighborhoods and obviously our school children much safer.

So I fully support the passage of the speed management plan.

And um, I also really want to echo the importance of including the strip between Kalima Street and Loring because this uh fairway, this fairy is used highly by our visitors to the beach, and it's uh you know very dangerous just to cross the road there, and also it's very, very close to our elementary Red Rock Elementary.

Um, so thank you again so much for your work.

And I know that this is going to be a great win for motorists, pedestrians, and cyclists.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Jason B, please unmute and begin.

Hi, my name's Jason.

I'm a resident of downtown.

I fully support uh the speed limit plan, and thank you to the city staff for putting it together.

Uh I would ask that you please include East Mission Bay Drive as a safety corridor and reduce the speed limit is a bike and pedestrian generator because of the large Mission Bay Park, and is also a key bike route for commuters to UTC and US UCSD, but it's very dangerous because there's no bike lanes and cars speed down it at over 45 miles an hour, trying to skip traffic on the parallel five freeway.

Please also include Nimitz Boulevard, which is a bike generator, since it's the only bike route to the beach from downtown.

And last year alone, two pedestrians were killed on nimits by speeding drivers.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Phone number ending in 870.

You can unmute by pressing star six.

You will have two minutes.

Yeah, the CD3.

Uh big yes on uh posted speed limits.

There is no price tag too high for saving a life.

Now, this is my opinion.

Uh there's 50%, 50% 50% of the people are a problem.

50% of the city is a problem.

Now, number one with the people.

We have DUIs and so forth, lack of attention, people walking and hurrying against light.

I see it all the time downtown.

Drivers running the yellow light just as it turns red.

Hollywood stops.

Now moving to the government to our city, red tape, bureaucracy, budget imbalances, structural budget deficit, ignoring red flags.

Now, this statement made by uh in the backup.

Affirming safety as the city's highest transportation related policy priority.

I love that statement.

I love it.

I cannot say how strongly I love it, and I know the IBA is so for that.

Uh, I would replace the word affirming with the word implementing, since I am certain we all agree on the principle of this, the principle of it.

made by uh in the backup affirming safety as the city's highest transportation related policy priority I love that statement I love it I cannot say how strongly I love it and I know the IBA is so for that uh I would replace the word affirming with the word implementing since I am certain we all agree on the principle of this the principle of it we need implementation condolences to the family of the child who died on the street while simply walking love and blessings to all if you heal thank you thank you the five minute timer has concluded we have eight hands remaining in the queue we will take no other callers beyond these remaining eight individuals with their hands raised Sally Small please unmute and beginning thank you uh hi I'm uh Emerald Hills resident uh in D4 and first I'd like to say thank you very much uh for continuing to push on the vision zero and the street management plan uh overall the priority does need to be on the routes to schools a thousand feet is good uh further is better um I've personally been hit uh by a vehicle while riding my bike uh on my way to school and I don't recommend it for anyone and it was a matter of of uh high speeds uh crossing over and the people couldn't see me because they were distracted.

Um distracted driving is definitely an issue as well as speeding in our neighborhoods uh we've also got the people doing donuts but that's another another ball of wax uh we do need to make it easier for people and I know it will come up later uh regarding making the traffic requests I understand that the budget is non-existent and in the whole but we need to let people have an opportunity to notice what is not safe like in Emerald Hills uh speed limits for Roswell has been increased to 30 miles an hour um towards old memory lane which is gonna be uh right near where uh we have issues already as well as on uh Kelton Road the speeds need to be lowered uh we've got a lot of activity on those roads and these days it's a cut through and once they build the stupid radio towers uh project uh off of 60th it's gonna be that much harder for us to survive with everybody cutting through as well as from the Live Well Center.

Uh thanks again for your help and please put safety first.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Blair Beekman please unmute and begin.

All right thank you Blair Beekman thank you for the reminder from council person Whitburn about the approval and meeting minutes process.

I hope we can have ongoing conversations about uh that I feel it can be okay to add a few additional words and information about uh a previous minutes uh item good luck in those conversations we can have for this item um vision zero wow it sounds like you guys are doing some really good work um I I in reading the statistics uh traffic deaths are down considerably and traffic uh accidents themselves are down uh considerably so you guys are like succeeding something's really working um so so thank you for that um it it's um vision zero is something that uh it it takes a lot to understand as not necessarily um uh it's not about uh you know getting all the latest law enforcement and surveillance technology practices it it it's it's a real cumulative effort of community and and really how to invite all the community to understand we have to reduce things and and lessen things and we seem to be doing that at this time we're coordinating together everyone is and that's really nice to hear I I would love to hear more on those sort of practices as a community how we do that together as a community and it's a lot to just simply talk about that in the open space.

I wish we can more it takes a lot to do that good luck in these sort sort of continuing good efforts.

Cities like San Jose they're trying to be the technology king and they're bringing in a ton of new technology for their issues uh and how to address vision zero and and their speed and safety issues you're not doing that so much in San Diego.

You're taking a softer approach and uh it seems to be working well thank you for that immensely and uh good luck we can continue in in such good terms thanks.

Thank you.

And that's a pretty fast road.

A lot of kids ride their bikes to get to school.

And because parents frequently park in the bike lane during pickup, kids are forced into 40 mile per hour traffic on their bikes.

And just every time I see this, it looks like it looks like a tragedy waiting to happen.

So I'm really grateful to see work being done to slow down traffic in school zones and business corridors and other bike generators.

And uh to the point uh made during the presentation.

I do hope that it becomes paired with infrastructure changes, um, such as adding chicanes, narrowing lanes, adding protected bike lanes, and uh other things to um slow down traffic, slow down the speed that people want to drive, in addition to just slowing down the legal speed limit.

Thank you.

Thank you.

With five hands remaining up, we'll continue with John Eaton.

Please unmute and begin.

Hi, my name's John Eaton.

I live on Prestwick Drive in La Jolla.

Prestwick is a residential street that is a shortcut between Torrey Plains Road and La Jolla Shores.

And I'm gonna add some data since you said you were data driven.

The street is used by an average of over uh 2600 cars per day.

It's the home to many families with kids and a lot of seniors.

It's also a regular route for recreational cyclists, and it's heavily used for parking, both for La Jolla shores on the west end and for the soccer fields on the east end.

The police department record the speeds of all cars driving on Pressbook during three separate one-week periods.

And I uploaded a chart summarizing the data, some highlights.

Over those three weeks, they measured three over nearly 3,000 cars exceeding 40 miles per hour, 282 exceeding 50 miles per hour, 17 over 60 miles per hour, and the winter, one car going 80 miles per hour on a residential street.

Now it doesn't take a traffic engineer to understand that these speeds are unsafe and that something needs to be done here.

Our neighborhood traffic committee has been bringing this situation to the attention of the city for over a year with no results.

And uh Perry Bobbins, who sparked who spoke earlier, coordinated traffic advocates from various La Jolla neighborhoods, submitted a list of eight heavily traveled residential streets with speed problems.

Um, and those were not included in the uh vision zero plans for things.

So we realize that speed limits are just one measure to reduce speeds, but we would really request that our street be included as one as this first step to reduce the uh the speeding on our street.

Thank you very much.

Thank you for your comment.

Laura Eaton, please unmute and begin.

Hi, my name is Laura Eaton.

I live on Prestrick Drive.

Denoite Prestrick and Kelle de Oro between Tory Pines and La Jolla Shores Drive is dangerous.

While we're grateful for the work done by this committee, I'm disappointed, frustrated, and angry that the stretch was not included in the speed limit reduction plan.

Pleasing, please include this stretch.

It qualifies as a high pedestrian and bicycle activity quarter.

Many pedestrians park on Dunaway and walk to Allen Field on Tory Pines Road.

Parking for the beach can extend more than half mile up Kelle de Oro to Prestwick.

Sidewalk end at Westway Drive, which is dangerous for pedestrians.

The street is used heavily by recreational bikers with cars zooming past them, including me.

The speed limit was 25 miles an hour until the 1990s when it was increased to 30 without any input from the residents.

This was a huge mistake that need correcting.

Traffic has significantly increased over the years, especially since people used the section to avoid La Jolla Parkway and Torrey Pines to go to the beach.

In January 2025, we had a single car accident due to speeding that resulted in a car explosion causing damage to two front yards during fire season.

Fortunately, nobody was killed.

Please help us before there is a serious injury or death.

Thank you.

Thank you for your testimony.

Our next speaker is David.

Please unmute and begin.

Good afternoon.

I'm David Catel, uh PB resident and co-president of Beautiful PB.

Uh, we also support the Vision Zero coalition's call to adopt a formal policy and speed management plan that will prioritize school zone implementation first.

Lower speeds around schools, protect children and families, and are one of the fastest actions the city can take to improve traffic safety citywide.

And PB, the urgency is particularly clear.

Uh, the site of one of the recent lethal hit and runs was in within 500 feet of a school zone.

We also asked the city to include more local input when defining pedestrian and cyclist corridors.

Uh in PB, we have PB pathways, a local shared streets network that has been established from walking and biking patterns, existing traffic conditions, community input, and has been approved by the PB planning group.

While some of the PB pathway segments overlap with the identified safety corridors in the report, uh, those safety corridors alone uh do not fully capture how non-vehicle traffic gets around town, at least not in PB.

Please consider expanding the pedestrian and cyclist corridors to include local networks like PB pathways and actual pedestrian and cyclist use in order to make the meaningful change that our community is looking for right now.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Mike McCormick, please unmute and begin.

Thank you.

Uh once again, I'm uh from the Law Shores area.

And I would encourage you to expand your uh analysis to include uh basically grid zones like La Jolla Shores, which every day goes from uh nighttime where there's almost no no cars in the street to daytime, and particularly on weekends and of course on holidays, where all of the parking fills up for the beach community, and the beach community is walking pedestrian related, walking down to the beach with kids.

Uh and yeah, it's just it's an amazing amount of people that use these roads.

These roads have um a lot of bikers, scooters, runners that actually use the road, and a lot of the local neighborhoods use the road.

And there's several locations that do not even have stop signs.

So as you look at this in this type of zone, I call it a coastal high impact zone or chill zone.

I really encourage you to add La Jolla shores between between Princess and Scripps Institute of Oceanography and uh Victory Pines Road and La Jolla Shores Drive.

The other thing I do want to say as well is that I support the passage of this street management plan.

You also need some level of enforcement.

An AB 645 with its pilot program gives you the ability to provide some level of enforcement via these uh uh tolling cameras.

Uh interestingly enough, San Diego is not a part of this.

However, a number of uh major cities were three up in San Francisco, Air Bay Area, Glendale, and Los Angeles, and uh I believe um another one in Northern California.

San Diego needs to be a part of it.

Go ahead and make it happen.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And as a reminder, the five-minute timer had concluded some time ago.

We have one hand remaining in the queue.

And for any other hands that have been going up, you can submit your comments at councilcommittee at Sandiego.gov.

And our final speaker with the hand raised before the queue had exhausted is John S.

Please unmute and begin.

Thank you.

Thank you, Sarah, and thank you to the committee for um its great work on this comprehensive uh speed management plan.

Uh I'm a resident of Dunaway Prestwick Drive, Calla de Oro Residential Corridor.

I'd like I'd like to add my strong support to my fellow neighbors who've spoken in support of including this corridor in the um speed reduction plan for the city.

Uh it seems to me that under under AB 43, you already have the authority to reduce the speed to the default 25 miles per hour.

And even a five five mile per hour reduction is significant in reducing reducing uh the speed at which uh drivers drive down the street.

It is essentially used by a lot of people as an alternative to the Tory Pines.

Uh make they make the turn off Tory Pines and then just speed down uh the Dunaway press Donnaway Brestwick uh drive to the beach.

Uh that said, I would also second Michael Cormick's comments about enforcement by speed cameras.

If uh San Jose, Glendale, Oakland, and others cities can take advantage of AB 645 to install speed cameras to improve enforcement.

Uh I don't see why San Diego cannot join that pilot program or take steps to be added to it.

To make our streets safer for all uses pedestrians, bikers, and drivers.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And Chair, this concludes testimony on item number two.

Thank you, Sarah.

Well, I'll start off by thanking the Transportation Department for all of the work that has uh gone into uh the effort over the past few years to get us to the decision point that we're at today.

Um I also want to thank the residents and advocates who spoke on this issue today, both those who are supporting the speed limits uh reductions that are in front of us uh with this item and those who uh called in to request speed limit reductions in problem areas in their neighborhoods.

It is our neighborhood residents and traffic safety advocates who have inspired many of the improvements uh that we have seen and that we are seeing.

Uh and as a result, the city has put a lot of focus uh on reducing traffic deaths over the past several years and has made a number of safety improvements that have undoubtedly saved lives.

Uh, needless to say, however, uh there continue to be too many crashes with fatalities and injuries and 2024 uh crashes in San Diego killed 24 pedestrians and severely injured 41 other pedestrians.

That same year, crashes killed four bicyclists and severely injured 14 bicyclists.

So clearly there is much more that has to be done.

And as we heard today in the presentation and from many of those uh speaking uh vehicles traveling at unsafe speeds are a big part of the problem.

Today's action will reduce speed limits in school zones, business districts, areas where there are lots of pedestrians and bicyclists, and places where there have been a lot of crashes.

Uh speed limits in school zones will be reduced to 15 miles an hour.

That'll make it much safer for children and especially young children who may not be paying attention to traffic.

Uh to that end, I have a question for staff.

Uh several speakers have requested that uh if the reduced speed limits are approved by this committee and approved by the city council, uh, when it comes to implementing the speed limit reductions, uh they're asking that we prioritize the speed limit reductions in school zones.

Uh that sounds like a good idea to me.

Uh is that something we could do?

Is there any reason that we would not be able to prioritize the speed limit reductions in school zones?

That's correct, Chair Whitburn.

We we do plan to prioritize um school areas first because that's the feedback that we receive from many stakeholders and advocates.

Um schools near, especially uh schools near safety corridors, um, safety corridors do carry higher volumes and and have more severe crashes, but would you plan on prioritizing schools?

That's great to hear.

Well, thank you.

But there you have it.

Thanks to your advocacy, uh, the city will be prioritizing speed limit reductions in the uh school zones.

All right, with that, I'll make a motion to approve the recommended resolution to establish the speed limits for the streets and limits described today and specified in attachment S.

Uh and uh we will now go uh to my colleagues on the committee, beginning with Councilmember Von Wilbert.

Thank you, uh Chair, and thank you for the the work in the presentation on this.

Um thank you to everybody who has called in and showed up and including our bicycle coalition and circulate and our youth.

Thank you for being here as well.

It's important to hear from you.

And um and thank you to the people who call in consistently who have lost loved ones to traffic death.

Um know that we uh I I know we are all very deeply moved by the fact that you still call in to make roads safer for other families, um, even though you've experienced such tragedy.

So I appreciate everybody and I'm happy to second the motion uh to make sure that we implement this quickly.

It's been a great amount of work that's been done.

Uh, I'm also didn't realize until we had this item that state law limits our ability to set our own speed limits in cities, which seems quite silly.

Uh I think we know our our our city streets much better than folks who up in Sacramento all they love our partners in Sacramento.

They should really be letting us set our speed limits ourselves.

It shouldn't take a state law to allow us to lower the speed limit in areas which we know are high uh volume in traffic.

So uh that's for our government affairs folks in the mayor's office to maybe think about uh talking to the state.

Um in District 5.

I am glad to see that we are lowering speed limits in high traffic, high pedestrian areas.

I get so many concerns from folks um Rancho Bernardo, Carl Mountain, Penosquitos, Scripps Ranch about um people speeding down the roadways, and so this is very helpful in addition to the school zones.

Uh so councilmember, you just asked a question right at the end, and I missed the answer about are we going to be prioritizing school?

Uh and the answer was that in response to uh community requests and uh requests from the advocates, uh the city is going to prioritize the implementation of reduced speed limits in school zones.

Okay, fantastic.

I thought so.

I'm so sorry.

I was reading my briefing document, and I thought that's what you said, but I wanted to make sure I agree with that completely.

Uh we've had quite a few requests for stop signs just outside of elementary schools in my district, and it's taken a while to get them.

I know the next item is about stop sign policy.

Um I do have a question though about um the signage we're gonna be required to produce.

So I saw in here in the budget request part of the discussion is to go for an outside vendor to produce some of the signs.

Is that because our internal city shop can't hide into this volume?

That's correct.

3,000 signs is more than half of what our sign shops capacity annually, so to not impact those um work that they do for the rest of the city.

Would you plan on uh having uh fabrication vendor do the signs for us for um 180,000?

Okay.

I mean, I it's always hard to bring things outside the city because it usually costs more, but if we don't have the capacity in-house, then okay.

We've we've spoken to the workers about this, the folks in the shop.

Yeah, uh so a couple of caveats here.

So we have an FY27 budget request to request for an outside to request funding for an outside vendor to be able to do this.

Um we have an existing contract currently uh for an outside vendor who helps supplement our our sign shop in the work that we do.

So we have an existing contract that we would utilize if we were to receive the the funding for this.

Um so yeah.

Okay.

I it's always helpful to ask the teams that do this if they have more efficient ways to do it.

So I just request you uh talk, and I know Bethany uh does that all the time, talks with the folks.

I know they're also working in pretty ridiculous conditions in the um uh the parking lot that is falling apart.

So okay.

Um I also uh wanted to ask about you know partnering with the school districts around this.

You know, we've gotten requests up in my area for um our local police officers to do traffic control in school areas, but we do not have the capacity to do that.

And so we've been working with Powell Unified quite a bit to see can you have your own traffic patrol during school hours?

And so have we talked to school districts about this about how we're gonna implement all of this.

Uh Randy Wilde, senior policy advisor in Mary Gloria's office.

Just to chime in, we we have um initiated some discussions with the school district very recently.

I think some of you uh on the committee and on council have probably received a list of um traffic safety improvement requests that the school district has recently put together as part of uh um safe routes to schools grant that they received.

We're gonna be sitting down with uh um administrative officials at the school district level to talk more about that.

Um definitely want to include a lot of discussion about speed management, um, certainly uh a need for more traffic control, especially during kind of those busy pick up and drop-off hours.

I think will be a big topic of discussion as well.

Okay, so you will implement the school zones with partnerships from the school districts.

Absolutely.

Fantastic.

Uh, we don't need to duplicate efforts and want to make sure we're all on the same page.

Okay.

All right.

Thank you very much for the timeline and for the presentation on this.

And for the uh the quick build work, I think it's a great idea.

And I love that you put in the photos and the slide presentation about the cost differentiation and how long it takes us to build up that amount of money to do the work.

Let's just get it done sooner.

So I think that's a very good idea.

Thank you for adopting it.

And we're we're a fan of quick build in the city, so I appreciate it.

And I'll second the motion.

Thank you, Councilmember Von Wolpert.

Councilmember Lee.

Thank you, Chair.

Uh thank you for the presentation.

Um, of course, we talk quite a bit about vision zero being a goal that the city continues to try to achieve um year over year.

And uh when I looked at the chart, I I think maybe what I'll note is the progress we've made in the last um two years relating to fatalities and severe injuries.

Um, but as you noted, there's a lot more to do.

I I will admit that when I look at the tenure chart, it's hard for me not to just acknowledge that we're literally at the same place we were in 2014.

So um, but we we saw an uptick obviously for a couple of years and to see that come back down as a significant improvement.

But um again, as you noted, there's uh a long way to go.

Um I do look forward to the expansion of AB 43 beyond the business activity districts um to the other speed reduction categories and would like to see that continue uh to additional areas.

I I think especially as we look at the city expanding uh its adoption and implementation of future community plan updates uh under blueprint.

Um it's gonna be important that we also uh you know adapt to the changing environments that we expect to see in the communities.

Just just for some clarification for me, I I know our our focus today is approving uh what's listed in table um S, correct?

And that those are the segments that have been identified to be implemented given funding, signage, et cetera.

Um and in the priority that you had noted, focusing first on school school segments.

Yes, that's correct.

And and then tables one through seven, is that meant to be a more detailed uh breakdown of which category those segments are in?

Yeah, so the way the staff report is organized is tables one through seven have the specific citations of the vehicle code.

So you'll find those references in the staff report, table one, the safety corridors, the vehicle code reference corresponds to table one, table two, bike and pad, and that's what makes up tables one through seven, and then that's all summarized in table attachments, which is ultimately the speed limited.

Okay.

I know I I I was trying to uh I was looking for some specific corridors in tables one through seven that I uh found in table S, but not in one through seven.

So it was just wanted to make sure I confirmed which ones were the ones that we were looking to implement.

Um I I think since you noted the priority being for schools, I'm just gonna note one segment in particular that I think at least spark some, I hope some interest even amongst the community about how we think about priorities because school zones, as we have identified them, are within that 500 foot uh range uh around a school, it's marked for when children are present, um, certainly makes sense.

Um I have a stretch in University City uh and very conveniently I just did a safety walk with a number of planning group members along Governor Drive, which happens to about three different schools along governor, and the stretch um uh between regents and Genesee is actually marked in the list.

It's not a school zone because it's not the street that is directly uh where the entrance of the school is, but in many cases is right next to it.

And um, and so I think just one thing that is important for our district and perhaps for others is if there's an opportunity for us to allow uh offer some feedback, if there are other segments that may not be categorized as a school segment, but is this our safety corridor because of that high pedestrian um bicyclist traffic that we might at least have that in consideration when we're also doing signage for the abutting schools?

Yeah, we'd be happy to take a look at that if you want to send us the street you're thinking of.

Yeah, absolutely.

And it's just one where it was just very obvious that even though the posted speed limit is 35, folks are clearly driving beyond that.

So a reduction there uh certainly would be helpful.

And and I I just want to acknowledge that, of course, reducing and posting updated speed limits is gonna be a cost and time efficient strategy that improves pedestrian mobility um safety.

Uh and then also just to be realistic, that a reduction of five miles per hour is gonna certainly have an impact, but also will only have an impact if we have the ability to enforce it and to show the community that that change is is happening uh because in some of the stretches that I I think all of us can think of stretches in in the city where folks are driving far beyond the posted speed limit and especially if they're in your schools.

Um also very supportive of the the use of rapid low-cost interim strategies, as you said, the quick build strategies.

I think that's come up quite a few times in ITI.

And um, and if that's a way for us to implement in the resource scarce environment that we've been in, um certainly that's something I want to encourage that the city uh moves forward.

Um for educational purposes, if I could just request that uh for both the community and the council, it would be helpful, I think, for us to understand a list of the uh various types of traffic calming and vision zero tools that we do have available and the associated cost that's associated with them.

I think at least for us, we we've always included on our budget priority report, you know, a number of segments um where we would like to see traffic calming, and frankly, these days, given given the challenges the city has from a budgetary standpoint, I think knowing what options might be available so that we can be realistic in our conversations with community members would be helpful for us to advocate for the right uh tools for the right segments.

Um I think that's it for me, so I'm happy to support the item.

And thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Councilmember Lee.

Vice Chair Foster.

Uh yes, thank you.

Um Chair and thank you, um staff for the presentation.

Um I do think this is a much needed um document.

Um just listening to my colleagues' questions, I just want to make sure we're clear as we have um completed the document.

Um the funding still has to go through the budget cycle, correct?

So uh I just want to repeat it one more again that as we have identified um the areas of concern, um now it becomes a question of um allocating the dollars through the budget process and looking how efficiently we can make our way through the um identified areas.

One question I do want to ask is we do have safe routes in here and we're looking at those.

Can you help me to understand your process of working with say Standing Go Unified as you put this together?

Were they involved at all, or was this just simply a an analysis in regards to traffic study request, right?

Our analysis of fatalities and certain things of that nature.

And once those improvements were done and we got the striping done, added bike lanes and so forth.

I immediately got a call from one of the schools saying we just impacted their pickup and drop their drop-off and pickup and how they do things.

And I know each school the principals kind of work within their own plans and what works most efficiently for their location.

So I guess can you help me to understand how that collaboration works or or if there is any collaboration?

I can take a first crack at that and then let staff uh chime in.

Um I would say this is largely been a data and consultant-driven process, and so for the the safety or the um school zones.

I mean, we're looking at all of the school zones.

We aren't necessarily looking to exclude any of the school zones, and so there wasn't much of a question mark, I guess, as far as is it in or out we want to do this across the board at school zones, and because this is simply the speed limits, um I I think it's still worthy of more discussion with the school district as we get forward and move uh this forward, hopefully, to council and then hopefully get it funded and implemented in this next fiscal year.

Um I think there is more work to be done on on uh coordination and more so like you were referencing in the example when there's an actual like physical change to the street weight design or how the function of that roadway.

Um that's not necessarily the case for the speed limit reduction, but absolutely I think more coordination with the school districts is warranted.

I appreciate that, and I did just sit down with um our board of trustee, um Dr.

Sharon Whitehurst Pain.

Um I did send over um a pretty comprehensive list of um items that they have identified as concerns, not only just for district four, but they also did share the entire study that I sent over that.

I think they'll be releasing here shortly.

Um and thank you for already um getting some meetings scheduled so we can sit down and have some further discussions on those.

So I do appreciate that.

Um the I just want to make sure and just to again reiterate um the enforcement side of this.

Um I always say you know, speeding signs, chain link fences are full of that are for those who like to follow the the uh the regulations as as they are there.

Um and I see we have PD here.

Can you talk about how you per se interact and collaborate?

And I know we have the um I'm gonna call it our traffic division or motorcycle division that specifically goes out and does traffic enforcement.

Um how do you guys identify locations?

Because my understanding you kind of rotate areas on a on monthly basis, I guess I'll say how do you take into account and prioritize, say, school zones versus um typical intersections where we have issues and so forth.

Uh excuse me.

You are right that we have uh the motorcycle officers that sort of spearhead that effort.

Um each of the squads is assigned to a different um uh basically command, so eastern, northeastern, southeastern, and they'll rotate through that command uh based generally on community complaints.

Um they've been and and then they can move as a whole unit.

They spent a lot of time in northern division at the request of northern division, the recent hidden runs that we've had.

So it's based on uh community input and uh uh collisions that we're seeing.

As far as school zones, um every school since I've been here for 22 years has requested speed enforcement.

Uh we just don't have enough officers uh as you know, so they have to rotate as they can.

Okay, understood.

Um I think it's something that we'll have to work on.

I know my um my staff is highly engaged in um the captain's meetings at Southeastern.

Um and maybe there's a way we can incorporate um some dialogue there to really identify the areas that we need to look at in regards to speeding and so forth.

So um I do appreciate the study.

I'll be supportive of this and look forward to our conversations as we continue through the budget cycle and see um just exactly where we land and what we can implement.

Um, just really quick one last thing.

Um I I do want to put in a very specific ask, um, and I guess this will go to to Randy and to um Bethany.

Um I don't know if it's so much of a of a speeding issue, but we do have uh uh an issue office 69th and Imperial um views crest, where we've had a recent fatality, um, but we've had a few fatalities um at that location, and I think is just something as we talk about vision zero, um, some things that we need to fall back and look at.

I'm not sure that I um can say that I agree with the um initial feedback that we received uh from staff, but I would like to make a request that we uh pull that back out, look at that and see what we can do there in regards to mitigations and making that location um a bit safer and mitigate any future fatalities.

So um, if we can do that and add that to our list of things to talk about as well, I appreciate it.

So thank you.

That concludes my um comments, Chair.

Thank you, Vice Chair Foster.

Let's go back to Councilmember Von Wolpert.

Um thank you.

I do have one more question for our traffic division, who is doing a fantastic job, Sergeant.

Thank you for being here.

Um of the issues we face all over the city is people doing drag racing on our streets, and it has been horrendous.

It has resulted in traffic deaths, pedestrian dress.

It's been horrible.

So I know in January um our team work with the district attorney to arrest 21 defendants, take their cars.

But is there anything we can do in terms of uh construction or quick build or anything to help with the infrastructure to prevent these folks from speeding and drag racing, or is it really just an enforcement we have to supply for PD?

Um the enforcement, and we've really taken the lead in the county.

Uh we developed our own and uh created our own street racing team.

I don't know anybody else that has that other than the highway patrol.

Um and you can see the results.

Um that was a very long uh investigation, it's not an overnight thing.

So we are uh doing a good job.

Um, but I understand what you're saying, and uh I see it.

Um the the organized street racing that that we see, I think we've made a big impact on that.

So the smaller one-off ones uh we still need to address.

Um I'm not aware of any infrastructure other than uh some other agencies use their uh their cameras to um go after them later.

Um but uh we really do uh are fortunate to have that dedicated team that that goes on at least uh on the back end to investigate and then hold them accountable later.

Got it.

Thank you.

I really appreciate your work on that.

I did an incredible ride along with the traffic division to address street racing, and what I saw I was completely appalled by, including people driving while streaming social media about how they are fleeing from law enforcement.

It is horrendous.

And then it's used against them in court, of course, but um just anything we can do to support you in that.

Uh, when I was at Scripts Ranch High School back in the year 2000, one of my classmates died in a drag race on Mira Mesa Boulevard.

It was horrendous.

And so I just um this is near and dear to my heart, so I appreciate all the enforcement you're doing.

Um, but it's just anything we can do to stop the drag racing and deaths on the streets is something I'm focused on.

So thank you.

You're welcome.

Thank you, Councilmember Von Wilpert.

All right, we have uh a motion that I made uh seconded by Councilmember Von Wilpert uh to approve the recommended resolution to establish the speed limits discussed today and specified in attachment S.

Sarah, please call the vote.

And item two passes unanimously, four zero.

Thank you.

Thank you again for the presentation.

Thank you uh to everybody who uh provided comments on this item, but thank you to my colleagues.

All right, we will now take up our information agenda.

Uh Sarah, please introduce item three.

Thank you, Chair Whitburn.

Item number three is the informational presentation on council policy 200-07.

Marked crosswalked criteria at uncontrolled locations and council policy 200-08 criteria for the installation of stop signs.

And if you're watching on City TV of the live stream online and you'd like to call in to speak, please dial 1669-2545252.

Inputting webinar ID 160-229-4290 pound.

Chair.

Thank you, sir.

Before we begin, I'd like to say a few words to kick off this item, which will be presented by my director of policy, Jordan Latchford.

Uh Jordan will discuss these policies in more detail.

But Council Policy 200-07 sets forth the requirements for installing crosswalks at uncontrolled locations in the city.

And council policy 200-08 sets forth the requirements for installing stop signs.

In 2024, the City Council directed the Office of the Independent Budget Analyst to draft a report containing recommendations for increased street safety, including analysis of these council policies specifically.

The IBA published its report and recommendations last year.

Uh is on the line with us should there be any questions.

Before the city considers making updates to these policies, our office wanted to bring this informational item to ATI today to let advocates and stakeholders know that we want to hear from you.

We want to know if people think that these policies should be updated, and if so, how?

Before Jordan begins her presentation, I also want to thank her for all her time that she spent researching these policies, studying the IBA report and contacting street safety advocates proactively so that they were aware that this item is coming to ATI today.

So thank you very much, Jordan.

We appreciate that, and we'll pass it off to you to begin the presentation.

Thank you, Chair Whitburn, and good afternoon, committee members.

My name is Jordan Lachford, and I'll need about 10 minutes.

As Councilmember Whitburn shared, Council Policy 200-07 marked crosswalk criteria at uncontrolled locations was first adopted in 1962 and most recently updated in 2015.

The policy establishes that the main function of marked crosswalks is to channelise pedestrians to desirable paths of travel across streets at intersections or mid-block locations.

Council policy 200-08 criteria for the installation of stop signs was also first adopted in 1962 and most recently amended in 1997.

Stop signs are installed to establish right of way at intersections, reduce vehicle delay, and decrease accidents.

There have been many changes in technology and practice related to pedestrian safety since the adoption of both council policies.

The council policies are based on California Vehicle Code standards at the state level.

However, other cities in the county have updated their local policies, most recently Escondido in 2022.

So as Chair Whitburn explained, um, we first started looking at the council policies in September 2024 when the council unanimously approved a resolution affirming safety as the city's highest transportation related policy priority and directed the independent budget analyst to analyze current policies and provide recommendations.

As a result of this action, the IBA published report 25-15 in May 2025, which provided several recommendations for both council policies.

This informational presentation is the next step before updating the council policies.

So to give a little bit of more a little bit more detail, Council Policy 200-07 provides the requirements, uncontrolled pedestrian crossings must meet to be considered for a marked crosswalk, how a crosswalk must be marked, and the process of removal if necessary.

It consists of basic warrants, point warrants, crossing treatments, and removal requirements.

The first criteria to be met for installation of crosswalks is basic warrants.

The basic warrants to be evaluated include the pedestrian volume warrant, which requires 10 or more pedestrians per hour during the peak pedestrian hour.

Children, elderly, and or disabled persons count as 1.5 pedestrians.

Illumination warrant requires existing lighting.

And lastly, the accessibility warrant requires existing accessibility to disabled pedestrians or have accessibility improvements programmed.

If all six of the basic warrants in the previous slide are fulfilled, the proposed location will then be evaluated by the point warrants.

A minimum of 16 points are required with 38 points possible.

Point warrants are determined by pedestrian volume or latent pedestrian demand, general conditions, and gap time warrant.

Pedestrian volume warrants warrant points are awarded by the number of pedestrians during the peak hour.

Since this can sometimes be restricted, restrictive due to not having a current controlled path, the council policy also offers another option, latent pedestrian demand warrant.

This warrant awards points based on conditions such as high density areas, the current path interrupted by a restricted crossing, and adjacent to a pedestrian attractor or generator, such as a transit stop, school, or park.

General condition warrant points are awarded by the distance to another crosswalk, pedestrian visibility, bus stop location, and vicinity to pedestrian attractors or generators.

And lastly, gap time warrants are determined by gaps between vehicles in five minute periods.

Once the basic warrant and point warrants are met, the council policy provides criteria to evaluate the most appropriate crossing treatment to be installed with a marked crosswalk.

This can be anything from a marked crosswalk alone to a pedestrian hybrid beacons.

The level of crossing treatment is determined by the average daily traffic at the location, and you can see the details in the tables on the slides.

A stop controlled intersection is any place where cars have to stop, like at a stop sign or a traffic light.

According to the council policy, it's the stop signs that really shape how both drivers and pedestrians behave at these intersections, not the painted crosswalk lines.

Because of that, the usual criteria for when to add a marked crosswalk don't apply here.

Instead, the stop bar where cars stop is what's meant to guide where pedestrians cross.

That said, the city can still choose to paint a crosswalk at one of these intersections, but only if there's a clear benefit for pedestrians.

And those decisions are made case by on a case by case basis.

And lastly, remove removing a marked crosswalk has to follow the process laid out in the California Vehicle Code, and the law says the city can't remove an existing marked crosswalk unless the public's given notice and a chance to comment at least 30 days before the plan removal.

So to sum it up, installing a new crosswalk requires meeting all six basic warrants, earning at least 16 points from the point-based warrants, and then selecting the appropriate crossing treatment based on the average daily traffic.

So now moving up, moving on to the council policy 200-08 criteria for installation of stop signs.

The main function of stop signs is to establish right of way at intersections, reduce vehicle delay, and decrease accidents.

Stop signs must be installed for traffic on every street that intersects a designated through street.

So council policy 200-08 lays out how stop signs are evaluated and installed.

The policy uses four criteria listed here worth a total of 30 possible points.

A minimum of 15 points is required to justify installing a stop sign.

The four criteria are accident experience.

Each crash in the past three years that a stop sign could have prevented is worth three points.

If there have been three or more of these crashes, the city can skip the 15-point requirement altogether.

Visibility conditions, points depend on how fast cars are approaching the intersection.

Traffic and pedestrian volumes, this looks at the 24-hour traffic on the main street and the busiest hour of traffic on the side street.

Special conditions that includes things like schools, fire stations, playgrounds, hospitals, libraries, and can add points based on engineering judgment.

For all way stop installations, the council policy uses a slightly different scoring system.

There are five criteria worth up to 50 total points, and an intersection needs at least 25 points to qualify for an always stop.

The points are determined by accident experience, just like before.

Each crash in the past three years that a stop sign could have prevented is worth three points.

If there have been five or more of these crashes, the city can waive the point requirement altogether.

Special conditions, those are evaluated using engineering judgment.

Traffic volumes, points depend on how many vehicles enter the intersection from the main street and the busiest side street during the four highest volume hours of a typical day.

And pedestrian volumes, these points are based on how many people cross intersection during the same four busiest hours.

If an intersection doesn't meet the criteria we just went over, there's still the another option, the alternative process.

When that happens, staff will take another look at the intersection using the new details provided.

If the intersection doesn't meet the criteria after the reevaluation, the community planning group can hold a public hearing to discuss the issue and formally support adding the stop sign.

After that, the council member can submit a written request asking to install the stop sign or to provide a report explaining why it isn't recommended, and the same process applies if a stop sign is being considered for removal.

Along with the IBA's recommendations under review, Council District 3 is inviting community members and stakeholders to share their feedback on the two council policies and your input will help shape draft amendments that we will that will be presented at a future active transportation and infrastructure committee meeting.

You can provide feedback by completing the linked survey here, uh scanning the QR code or contacting the district three office by email or phone.

We also want to express our appreciation to the transportation department for their collaboration and commitment to updating these policies.

So with that, I want to invite the transportation department up to say a few words.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

Naomi Chavez, interim director, transportation department.

Transportation appreciates the presentation from Council District 3 and is ready to work with the members of this committee to revise the stop sign and crosswalk policies.

The council policies for stop signs and crosswalks have been carefully developed over many years based on traffic engineering standards and have been carefully are intended to protect the traveling public from improper installations that would compromise public safety.

Any updates to these policies must consider state and federal engineering standards and must consider the resources needed to implement these changes.

As you heard today, our vision zero commitment is worked on every day by our staff on our dedicated employees.

Performing duties ranging from engineering evaluations and analysis to installation and maintenance of traffic safety measures.

In fiscal year 2025, the transportation department received nearly 7,000 requests for safety improvements in our right-of-way and implemented over 2,000 improvements as a result of these requests.

However, additional resources are needed to keep up with our growing backlog of over 2300 outstanding requests for engineering evaluations and over 1900 locations pending installation of new traffic safety improvements.

Many of the items on our backlog include requests for stop signs and crosswalks.

We ask the committee to consider the state and federal engineering standards and resource needs when recommending future updates to these policies.

We are happy to continue to work with this committee on updates to these council policies and continue to advance the city's vision zero goals.

Thank you.

All right, thank you very much to the Transportation Department.

Thank you, uh Jordan.

And uh Sarah, do we have any public comment on this item?

Thank you, Cheris.

We've received two speaker slips here in chambers and we have a few hands raised in the virtual queue.

So we will begin with Casey.

You will be followed by Chris Roberts.

Each speaker will have two minutes.

Good afternoon, Active Transportation Committee.

I first of all want to thank Stephen Woodburn's office for taking decisive action to update these antiquated policies and also Jordan for the absolutely amazing presentation.

My name's Casey, and I'm here in strong support of a progressive pro-safety overhaul of San Diego's crosswalk and stop sign policies.

This needs to urgently happen because the way that we design streets right now is failing people in predictable, preventable ways.

Every day San Diegans are trying to do the most normal things imaginable.

Walk to school, reach a bus stop, get to work, visit a friend, cross to a grocery store.

But too often the city's policies make these basic trips feel like a risk.

And when people don't feel safe walking, they drive more.

So this is directly connected to our climate goals, transit riderships, and neighborhood quality of life.

We also need to recognize how these policies communicate values.

When safe crossings are treated like a special request, when we rely on no crossing signs at every intersection, and when pedestrians are forced to use a bed button just to cross the street, it sends a message that walking is secondary.

Imagine if drivers had to get out of their cars to press a button to proceed.

None of us would accept that.

Thank you.

Chris Roberts.

Okay, Chris Roberts is not present but has submitted a speaker slip in favor of item number three.

We'll begin the five-minute timer for all those in the virtual queue to indicate if they wish to provide comment.

Each speaker will have two minutes, and we will begin with Jason.

Please unmute and begin.

Hi, I'm Jason.

I'm a resident of downtown.

Thank you very much for this.

I do have a concern about was briefly discussed, namely crosswalk removal.

San Diego is the only city in the country that I've seen do this to this extent, where at almost every large controlled intersection, the crosswalk has been removed on one side of the intersection in order to speed up the turning movement of cars.

What this does is it forces a pedestrian crossing it at spot to cross in a semicircle three streets instead of one just to get to the other side.

So this is exposes pedestrians to triple the risk of getting hit by a turning car just for the minor increase of a slightly faster turn for driver convenience.

So I urge you to reverse this practice and to strike crosswalks on all sides of controlled intersections.

Similarly, I also urge you to consider this allowing right turns on red citywide.

We've had many pedestrians hit by drivers turning right on red without yielding many times without even looking for pedestrians.

A citywide ban on right turn on red would solve this problem without incurring the costs of signing individual intersections, and would also have a greater compliance rate than doing it intersection by intersection.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is phone number ending in 8700.

You can unmute by pressing star six, and you will have two minutes.

Thank you for this.

Well, I'm just so proud to be uh part of C D3 and everybody that makes up that district.

Jordan Latchford, that was a great presentation.

It was absolutely excellent.

Uh so thank you, everybody.

Um the criteria, wow, that that really went over my head.

But uh it it certainly feels uh technically correct and it's needed.

Uh, but it just was uh amazing uh what's required to make a decision.

Uh but we must move forward and and do our best.

Uh I wish I don't think it qualifies, but second and J Street.

Uh, take a look at that.

That I I just could talk about five minutes about that intersection, uh, which of course I won't even try to do, but uh it's not a priority.

Uh certainly other intersections are much more dangerous and needed your attention promptly.

But there there are many concerns about uh stop sign uh and and uh crosswalks.

Uh but as I said, I don't know that it fits into what you're doing here.

But thank you again for everything.

Uh let's see what else I wanted to say.

I love policy updates.

Uh I think this one is needed.

We need safety uh policy updates quite a bit.

So thank you for listening and appreciate you so much love to all.

Thank you for your testimony.

Our next speaker is Blair Beekman.

Please unmute and begin.

Hi, thank you.

Uh, thank you for the words of Joyce.

Nice to hear.

Um I wanted to comment.

Uh, this is a very nice item.

Uh it compliments what you're doing on the previous uh item.

Thank you.

Uh I should learn to better say that uh as traffic deaths are down, uh, traffic accidents seem to be much reducing.

Uh so thank you for those efforts.

Uh on this on the previous item and on this item, you seem to be talking about uh traffic policies that don't so much involve technology, but that is the uh connection and relationships between government and community.

Um that involves communication and dialogue and and and shared understandings between each other.

And you're choosing that route is how to address you know our our current speed issues as opposed to just uh relying on technology to take care of everything.

So thank you for that.

Um we're we're trying to, it sounds like employ practices uh where we can solve issues that don't have to fully overly depend on technology.

Thank you.

I I can't thank you enough.

That that seems to be a philosophy that these items uh have today.

Uh, I hope we can continue those efforts.

If you will need to be using technology for these crosswalk and stop sign items, um, it it could be a really clear time to try to practice best practices with the technology.

And that means you know, open public policies, good explanations with the public, not cheating the public of explanations, but giving them honest information and sharing and and creating policies and structures that are that are genuine and sincere and honest and really good efforts from all of us.

That's how we build our community future.

And um it isn't lying to each other, it's being straightforward and honest and and growing from there.

Good luck how we can do that in San Diego.

Thank you.

Thank you for your concluding remark.

The five-minute timer has expired.

We have two hands remaining in the queue.

We will take no other callers beyond these remaining two hands raised.

Mike McCormick, please unmute and provide your comment.

Thank you.

I definitely appreciate the update on stop signs and crosswalks.

Here in the Showers, I've already mentioned that we have a zone that has a lot of uh pedestrians, cyclists, uh any anybody on wheels and cars.

And one of the most uh dangerous places that we do have, uh, there are a few, several actually, but are any uh intersections, four-way intersections that do not have stop signs.

We just completed our undergrounding project and repaving is about to reoccur in uh 2027.

So I encourage you to add in to that repaving project, uh adding stop signs to every corner in the area.

As you know, uh putting stop signs is is one of the best ways to reduce not just accidents but unexpected jerk stops and uh jerk meaning you know sudden application of the brakes.

Um so yeah, we need stop signs at every intersection to slow the traffic down.

The average stop spying speed, as you know, is is uh somewhere about four to five miles an hour, and uh that's a reasonable number.

You're typically not gonna kill anybody at four or five miles an hour at a stop sign.

So I would appreciate that that happens.

The other area that's critical is on La Horace Shores Drive and all of the side streets or all the side streets that approach it.

Uh the comment has been that we don't want to put those crosswalks there because it gives pedestrians a false sense of security.

There are many, many uh beach users that cross those streets.

And I think we need to get out of the habit of saying we don't put them in because of a false sense of security and put them in so that drivers understand that these are cross points, critical cross points for people using and crossing La Jolla shores.

So thank you for your update.

I appreciate it.

Thanks.

Thank you.

And the final caller in the queue is Zach.

Please unmute and provide your testimony.

I I just wanted to add support.

I do think these uh existing policies are antiquated and don't reflect the needs of our cities today.

Um, there are multiple places, as uh Jason said in his comment where if I want to get to the nearest bus stop um along Carmel Mountain Road, I need to cross the three street there.

I need to cross the road three times instead of just once because only three sides of the intersection have uh crosswalks and um it adds like five minutes to the time I need to budget to walk to the bus nearby.

I complained to the city once about this, and I I think the actual real response I got from a traffic engineer was, oh, there should be a sign there saying no pedestrian crossing along that side.

Um, which was not exactly what I was looking for.

So I I would be very happy to see that updated and uh see more policies making it easy for people to get around our city by walking.

Um I also feel like it's especially important that we update the warrants, uh especially the ones stating that you need a certain amount of pedestrian traffic in order to justify a crosswalk or uh the implementation of a safe crossing, just because if there's no crosswalk, if there's no safe way to cross, of course, there's no people crossing this.

It's kind of like justifying the uh building a bridge by the number of people that are swimming across the channel.

Uh so I I would love to see that updated and uh see latent pedestrian demand made as uh more important part of the warrant policy for justifying the creation of crosswalk.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And Chair, this concludes testimony for item three.

Thank you, Jordan.

Uh, we will open it up to committee members for any questions and comments.

This is an informational item, so no motion is required.

Uh, we'll begin our conversation with Council Member von Wilbert.

Uh thank you very much um for docketting this today.

And Jordan, thank you for the excellent presentation.

This has been something that my constituents have asked about multiple times, especially how long it takes to get a stop sign or a crosswalk sometime.

Um, and so I'm really glad we are talking about this.

Sure.

From um our office standpoint, we're gonna solicit feedback for the next few months, and our hope is to bring something in the fall to the committee.

And so we're happy to meet with folks or um they can take the survey, but that's the tentative timeline.

We know that our transportation department has a lot on their plate, so we're trying to not uh take up too much of their time.

Fantastic.

Well, let us know how we can help uh push out the survey, put in our newsletters, anything we can do to help you, we're happy to, because this is a really good idea.

Um we shouldn't have to be backwards looking in terms of there's been so many accidents, so we need a stop sign.

We need to change the policy to prevent accidents from happening.

I I do also understand it's a balance because if you put stop signs everywhere, that could back traffic up into residential neighborhoods, and then you have cars lining the streets and exhaust going off.

And so I I understand the balance, and I'll leave it to our very smart traffic engineers to do that.

However, there are instances in which community has raised their voices enough to say, hey, this is a desire path in terms of where we want to cross, um, where we need a stop sign.

So I think making that easier rather than harder is great.

I also want to thank um the caller from Carl Mountain who wisely pointed out sometimes you won't have any pedestrian demand at an intersection if there is no crosswalk.

So uh it makes sense to um not have to count against an intersection, having a crosswalk just because no one is currently crossing there yet.

Um I just I think this is a really good idea.

Um, very much so about just how we're going to look forward rather than backwards, and I just fully support your vision zero goals here, and we're happy to help your office, so thank you.

Thank you very much, Councilmember Von Wolpert.

Councilmember Lee.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Jordan, for the presentation.

And uh I want to thank Chair Woodburn for uh really encouraging this committee to continue having some open discussions regarding pedestrian safety.

Uh wanted to thank the mobility board for their recommendation letter uh for council policy 200-07, and then of course, always to the IBA for their analysis and recommendations uh of both policies uh 200-07 and 08 uh for council's consideration.

Um I know in the last item I just talked about uh a corridor in my district that has a pretty significant amount of both uh pedestrian cycling and and still car traffic as well with very little calming infrastructure.

Um we've just been having discussions in our district as well on Mira Mesa Boulevard, which uh I will just note even at controlled intersections, we have three of the most um typically the most dangerous intersections uh listed year over year uh for pedestrians.

Um but we have uh one of the biggest high schools in the region, Mira Mesa High School, um, without a clear uh pathway across where there's been discussion about um how to meet some of the pedestrian safety needs that have been expressed by community members and the school.

And and this is all just a reminder.

I I don't know that we have this conversation enough sometimes, uh, and really want to share my agreement with many of the recommendations that both the IBA and the mobility board have put forward, um, and very much open to having discussions on all of the recommendations that they've provided.

Um, just to highlight a few that I thought were uh really helpful from our perspective for policy 200-uh seven, de-emphasizing the 16-point minimum um within the criteria if there are significant risk factors beyond what the points warrant uh presents, um, giving higher points to proposed crosswalks located within a quarter mile of pedestrian attractors or generators, such as schools and parks, um, integrating more bicycle and micro mobility infrastructure needs within the policy, um, removing or amending the visibility, illumination, and accessibility warrant language.

Um, office thought that as currently written, those requirements can easily be a barrier to installing uh marked crosswalks when no other infrastructure may currently be located there.

Um, and then reducing crosswalk removal risks by requiring a vision zero safety audit before any removal.

Uh for policy 200-um 08.

I did have a clarifying questions, and I don't know if this is more for uh transportation, but in in that policy under section A number four, um, any idea how staff came up with the 24-hour volume numbers and the point system when it comes to the total of main street approach pedestrians crossing site vehicular volumes.

Hi, Maggie McCormick, interim assistant director with transportation department.

And so that provides guidance on things like number of pedestrians, um time between vehicles and crossing distance and whatnot.

So I I can't confirm here that that specific number came from the California MUT CD, but I will say that majority of what's in these policies comes from that document.

Maybe that's another helpful reminder that as we're looking at these policies, part of the challenge we're we're always addressing, like the last item is what limitations we have to address things locally versus what's mandated to us from the state standpoint.

And it's tough for us often to understand that and to express that to community members who oftentimes just look at something and think why can't we make a change or um fix something that we're seeing when it's not um necessarily our local jurisdiction to do so.

So and then I think similar to what council member foster said in the last item.

Um even with the current policies as they exist, there are probably areas where there have been requests or recommendations that we have not been able necessarily to fulfill uh despite them meeting the criteria because again, funding resource, there are other needs that have to line up to ensure that we actually um are able to implement infrastructure.

So I think as we talk about this, also thinking about the lack of resources that we have and how we can still um adjust the policies in a way that that allows us to take action when necessary would be helpful.

So looking forward to future conversations.

Thanks, Chair.

Thank you, Councilmember Lee.

Let's go to Vice Chair Foster.

Uh yes, thank you.

Um Chair, and thank you to you and your staff, Jordan, for um taking this on.

Um I think it is um uh room for improvement, I guess I'll say in our in our council policies that we're looking at.

Um also I just want to thank um transportation.

It's my understanding that um we've had about eight stop signs that went through the um process or requests that went through um the analysis and um were approved and um are in the process of being installed.

Um so I do appreciate that.

Um also I'm I must say um we have used these council policies quite a bit.

Um I did find it frustrating as we get denied and then we go back and have to work with the planning groups and and the community to um get things involved.

Um actually sent my staff out to um go out and knock on doors and get petitions signed um to make sure that as we um uh you know looked at installing stop signs um that we had um uh you know engaged community and and were inclusive in our decision as we move forward.

Um so I do appreciate this because I think there are some things on the front and that could be caught.

Um I also do appreciate um transportation's um reference to state um guidelines and manuals.

Um and um I mean this from a a a place of love.

Um those guidelines and manuals oftentimes are the floor as I call it.

Um this you know they don't take into all of the intimate details of our communities and the realities and the practical side of things is um as we're increasing densities and we're doing certain things what I call um on-site field conditions from the world that I previously um came from.

Um so I would like to um just make sure as we go through this that we understand that um leave some room in there so that when we do have that that we have a way to go above and beyond um and not necessarily just settle at that floor as as I understand the engineering side to this, but um I just want to make sure um that we um uh have some options there when we need them as we take into account fatalities, crashes, things to that nature as we continue to move forward.

So um thank you.

Thank you, Vice Chair Foster.

Um as it came up twice uh by the callers, I do want to ask about a circumstance that I think we've all encountered, which is that when you want to cross the street, sometimes there's a barrier there that says no pedestrian crossing, and instead you need to go across, across and across just to get to the other side.

Um one of the callers was, and that's more at controlled uh intersections.

This item is primarily about crosswalks at uncontrolled locations.

But in that situation, since it came up, um one of the callers uh suggested that they thought that that was because we were attempt the city was attempting to speed up vehicular traffic going through that intersection.

Is that the case?

Is it a safety thing?

I I does anybody here prepare to speak to that?

If not, that's okay.

Um I could find out more about that offline, but I was just wondering if anybody knows uh what tends to prop those situations where there are only crosswalks on three legs of the intersection uh as opposed to what.

All right, well, we'll circle back on that later.

Uh it's something I think we've all encountered, and it would be interesting to know uh what precipitates that.

All right.

Uh thank you again to my colleagues for the good questions to Jordan for all your work on this of the Transportation Department uh for uh uh fielding the questions and willingness to to work together with us uh to try to uh assess possible improvements uh to these council policies that of course the ploy to this item is to solicit um uh ideas, recommendations, and suggestions from uh the public on uh changes that they would like to see.

Uh Sarah, please introduce our final information item for today.

Thank you, Chair Whitburn.

Item number four is City of San Diego Fiscal Years 2027 through 2031 five-year capital infrastructure planning outlook.

And if you're watching on the live stream or on City TV, please dial 1669-2545252.

Inputting webinar ID 16029, 4290 pound.

Chair.

Thank you.

Please introduce yourselves for the record once you get settled in.

Uh let us uh know how much time you'd like for your presentation and begin your presentation whenever you're ready.

15 minutes, please.

Good afternoon, Chair Ritburn, members of the committee.

My name is Elif Chitin.

I'm the director of engineering capital projects department.

Here with me today, Karen Makriff, assistant director with the same department overseeing our CIP project management office, and also Michael Palayo, Financial Operation Manager with the Department of Finance.

Today we will present the 12th annual five-year capital infrastructure planning outlook covering fiscal years 2027 through 2031.

Before we start, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the city staff from various departments who contributed to this effort.

Many of whom are online and available to answer any questions you might have.

Without them, we could not possibly get all the data needed to prepare a meaningful report for your use.

This document is a planning tool to assist all of us in long-term capital infrastructure planning.

This report helps to monitor project and evaluate the ability of funding to meet long-term needs.

The report also helps to ensure alignment between the city's multiple asset managing and service providing departments to achieve the city's vision and objectives for community infrastructure.

Well, the report is not a budget, it does help to guide financial decisions on infrastructure priorities and to facilitate the development of the upcoming FI27 budget.

I'll turn it over to Karen to walk you through the key elements of the report report.

Thank you, Alif.

As previously mentioned, this is the 12th report that we have prepared.

In the report, we summarize citywide capital needs and expected revenues for the reporting period.

We quantify the asset management department's needs to meet their desired levels of service.

Because we recognize that not all needs can or should be met in the five-year period.

We have also begun to quantify the high-level needs for years 2032 and beyond, which are outside of the outlook period.

The needs identified incorporate input gathered from the community via the planning department's community input survey, as well as priorities identified in your council priority memos, both of which are incorporated into the asset management plans developed by the AMDs themselves.

ENCP and the Department of Finance work together to forecast the eligible CIP revenues that are expected to be available to the program.

Needs are matched with revenues to help us provide the final outlook shortfall or gap number.

Diving directly into the report results.

Over the next five years, the city CIP has an estimated 12.82 billion dollars of identified needs.

These needs are represented by the large blue bars on the graph.

We estimate that just over $5 billion of funding will be available to meet the identified needs over the outlook period.

The funding availability is represented by the smaller green bars on the graph.

And there's an additional $5.96 billion of needs identified beyond the outlook period.

Shown on this slide in blue are the revenues that were projected to be available for the CIP program for each of the last five fiscal years.

Shown in yellow are the actual budgets that were added to the CIP program.

I'm pleased to note that over the past five years, the funding anticipated for the CIP program has been available as projected.

Notable variances have come from windfall opportunities such as state or federal grants.

The green bar on this graph also shows the increased output production and project execution levels of the CIP program.

Fiscal year 26 is showing activity only through the first half of the fiscal year.

Both the yellow and green bars for this year will grow by fiscal year end.

We expect the positive execution trend to continue for several years as ECP continues to streamline delivery to increase cost effective production.

However, we also recognize that the industry has limitations and there are areas that are already starting to feel the strain.

Each year, we look for new ways to analyze the data.

This year we separated projects that were already in process somewhere in the delivery pipeline from those projects that still needed to be initiated.

We also prioritized matching revenues to existing projects, so our five-year plan emphasizes finishing the efforts that we have started.

What you see here shows the total CIP program on the white lines, where there is $12.8 billion in needs at the top, and this is funded with $5 billion of CIP funding in the middle, leaving a total programmatic funding gap of $7.8 billion at the bottom.

Existing projects are shown in light blue, and new projects are in the darker blue.

As you can see, in the first few years of the outlook, the needs are higher, and the vast majority of the available funding is planned to complete existing projects.

New projects have lesser funding needs and also funding programmed at the beginning of the outlook, but the needs ramp up significantly towards the end of the outlook period.

As we continue to break down the overall programmatic needs for the capital program, this table identifies the three and a half billion dollars of identified needs from our enterprise funded departments.

Enterprise funds operate similarly to private businesses and set rates charged to the end users.

These rates ensure that sufficient income is available to support all operations, maintenance, and capital investment activities of the enterprise fund.

Shown on this table in order from highest to lowest need are the city's enterprise funds.

This table shows the non-enterprise funded asset needs broken down by the various general fund asset types.

They are shown from the largest need to the smallest, with stormwater infrastructure making up the city's largest single asset need at over $5.5 billion.

Transportation pavement and parks are the city's next two largest identified needs.

Of the $9.3 billion of identified general fund asset needs, there is one and a half billion dollars of funding, or of roughly 16% expected to be available.

This leaves an overall gap of $7.8 million billion dollars.

Even though there is a sizable gap, we've identified over $1.5 billion in funding that is expected to be available for the general fund capital improvements program.

This table shows expected funding sources for the capital improvements program from largest to smallest.

The largest funding source is expected to be general fund financing.

A large portion of the $665 million is project in projected financing will be allocated to ensure compliance with the terms of the already executed stormwater WIFIA program.

Based on previous general fund monitoring exercises, it is anticipated that approximately $95 million of general fund financing could be added to the capital improvements program each fiscal year.

Citywide DIFs for mobility, parks, fire, and libraries are ramping up and are projected to bring in nearly $230 million over the outlook period.

There is no infrastructure fund contribution planned for the capital improvements program during the outlook period, consistent with the general fund five-year outlook.

And while we do project climate equity funds to be available, those funds are eligible to support infrastructure-related OM activities as well and may not be allocated to the capital improvements program, or the contribution may be waived, all as part of the upcoming, all our options as part of the upcoming budget development processes.

Shown here are the needs and anticipated revenue trends for the last five outlook periods, including this year.

Both needs and revenues have increased over time.

However, the increase in needs is outpacing that of revenues.

Additional revenue sources would need to be identified to close the gap.

You may have noticed the dip in needs in the middle of this slide.

This dip occurred in the first year that the beyond five years category was added to the outlook.

When we show all identified needs for both the five-year period and the beyond five year period, the city's current infrastructure needs outlook is 18.78 billion dollars.

Why do we continue to see a growth in needs?

Several factors contribute to growth, primarily the infrastructure itself.

In addition to the need for new infrastructure that addresses growth, existing infrastructure ages and goes through a cycle of rehabilitation and replacement.

Another major contributor is the rise in associated costs to design and construct these projects due to increased regulations, replacement to higher standards, and industry limitations on what can be delivered both from a materials and labor standpoint.

There is some good news.

As we look beyond five years or even 10-year horizon, we do see the completion of major efforts that ultimately result in lower needs in the far outer years.

Thank you, Mike.

That'll turn it back to Leaf.

Thanks.

Mitigating the gap will require continuing with a discipline, data-driven approach involving a critical analysis of needs by each asset managing department to ensure that plan investments are aligned with service priorities.

We are already shifting the conversation from individual projects to promote programmatic delivery, allowing us to deliver infrastructure more strategically, efficiently, and at scale.

This includes balancing funding between maintaining existing assets and delivering new infrastructure while advancing long-term affordable plans.

We will leverage centralized asset management and streamline CIP processes to maximize every dollar and accelerate delivery.

At the same time, we are continuing to pursue project design and construction grants, particularly for non-enterprise infrastructure.

A key focus is controlling the future growth of the rehabilitation backlog through preventive maintenance rather than just reacting to failures.

And finally, we will continue to closely monitor construction cost trends to adopt quickly and protect cities' project delivery capacity.

With a coordinated sustainable strategy, we can deliver projects effectively and responsibly to manage long-term infrastructure needs.

This concludes our presentation.

We'll open up for questions.

Thank you very much for the presentation.

Let's uh get some uh comments from the Office of the Independent Budget Analyst.

Thank you so much, Chair Whipburn.

Thank you.

Um my name is Julian Andalina from the Office of the IBA.

Our office is currently drafting a report reviewing the CIP outlook and will release that report prior to the item coming to council on March 10th.

However, I do want to offer some uh high-level remarks today.

As was stated in the presentation, the CIP outlook reflects total capital needs of 12.8 billion dollars over the next five years and projected available funding of 5 billion, resulting in a 7.8 billion dollar funding gap over the five-year period.

Compared to last year's CIP outlook, total capital needs increased by 8%, while total revenues decreased by 7%, and the funding gap increased by 1.3 billion or 20%.

The increase in funding gap is overwhelmingly driven by stormwater with an increase of 1.3 billion, where anticipated needs are growing much faster than funding available.

There's also $30 million per year assumed in the outlook to address anticipated new stormwater emergencies.

As is the case each year, the funding gap is attributed to non-enterprise assets which lack a dedicated funding source.

Without new revenue for general general fund capital needs, the funding gap will continue to increase and associated infrastructure will continue to deteriorate.

Also, as discussed in the presentation, there is greater emphasis being placed on prioritizing funding for completing existing projects rather than starting new projects.

This helps mitigate the number of projects stalling out for lack of resources and increased costs associated with project delays.

We think this is a positive development.

In closing, though the CIP outlook is not a budget, it serves as the basis for the development of the upcoming CIP budget.

City Council is the ultimate budget authority and can make changes to capital priorities reflected in the CIP outlook during its review of the CIP budget.

However, because funding for general fund assets is so limited, reprioritizing infrastructure needs will likely come with difficult trade-offs.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Sorry, do we have any public comment on this item?

Thank you, Chair Whitburn.

Yes, we've received two speakers subsidiary in chambers.

Patrick Ferrier, if you would please approach the lecture.

And you have been seated time by Crayden Friedman.

Each speaker will have two minutes, so I will place four minutes on the clock for you to manage.

Good afternoon, Chair Woodburn, distinguished members of the committee and public has come to comment today.

My name is Patrick Farrier.

I'm a member of San Diego Firefighters Local 145.

I'm an executive board member.

I'm here today to emphasize the $376 million in identified revenue needed for infrastructure for the fire department over the next five fiscal years.

And more importantly, the $310 million in budget gap has been identified to meet those needs.

I know that it's stated as a priority for the council and the mayor to fund public safety.

Currently, this funding and these strategic investments represent the short, medium, and long-term strategic goals of both our department and the city.

I'd like to say that the current state of infrastructure spending for our department is not acceptable.

Currently, we have the 2007 and 2011 City Gate studies.

They identified that we are 10 to 20 fire stations short to meet the five-minute travel time needed.

What does that mean to the public and you?

The modern fire ground continues to behave differently than it did long ago.

The new items we have in our home rapidly evolve into dangerous and deadly fire conditions.

This infrastructure spending these 20 stations goes a long way to addressing that gap and making it safer to serve our public.

Time now has become one of our greatest assets or one of our greatest enemies as a responding engine company.

Meeting this standard is one of the most important things we can do to address those concerns.

Currently, we have NTC where we train our newest firefighters.

We do incredible public outreach and we train the CERT program.

We have no identified replacement in the pipeline that's ready.

It is set to be closed when we start our pure water project.

We are without a replacement, and that leaves us very short as the regional academies are not ready to hold our fire department.

Our air operations.

We have several helicopters in our fleet.

One of our most expensive assets in the city.

Also one of our most important assets when it comes to fighting wildfires.

Currently, they have no hangar to sit in.

They sit exposed to the elements, an unacceptable way to treat such an important asset, an expensive asset to our citizenry.

Lastly, I'd like to talk to something very important to me and my members are fire stations.

We have fire stations with severe mold problems.

Air ductings in disrepair, carpets that need replacement.

We have some that need to be rebuilt entirely.

And this is not a new problem.

This is an ongoing problem.

Now, what does it mean for us members?

The health of our fire stations directly reflects the health of our members and our firefighters.

We have to live there for 24 hours.

That's our home.

For 10 days a month, we go there and we stay there.

So when those places are subject to conditions that are not perfect, that are not clean, that are not new, it affects us.

It affects our families and our home life because that is partly our home.

Lastly, we'd like to call on the council and the mayor to fund these infrastructure projects and make them a priority.

We understand that this is a hard deficit to face, but funding these projects is one of the most important things we can do to deliver the citizenry.

One, the fire department deserves the infrastructure it deserves and to keep our facilities new and updated.

I thank you very much for your time today.

Thank you for your comment.

That concludes testimony here in chambers.

So beginning the five-minute timer for all those in the virtual queue to indicate if they wish to provide testimony for item four.

We'll begin with Blair Beekman.

Please unmute and begin.

You will have two minutes.

Hi, thank you.

Uh Blair Beekman.

Uh, thanks a lot for this item.

Um where to start.

Um, I know back in October, um, you had a you've been actually bringing um these capital improvement items to committees frequently since October.

You gave a very good outlook uh in the October reporting, or maybe it was November, October, November reporting on um what to expect of the general fund, I mean of the um capital uh improvement program issues.

And um it was helpful, and I I I don't quite understand the process.

The first words spoken on it today was saying that it can separate itself a bit from budget deficits deficit concerns at this time.

Did I hear that correctly?

Uh in what was first presented today.

I hope that could be the case, and that something is positive in how we can work on our capital funds issues.

Paul Kruger has been reporting fairly regularly that the new recent parking fees uh are are going to the general fund.

They aren't going specifically to Balboa Park.

And I think we have to be clear on that concept as how we talk about uh our budget issues and how this concerns uh the future of this item and however um you know uh uh general fund issues intersect with with uh capital funds issues.

Um as always, uh the projects that will need technology, capital fund projects.

I hope uh you'll be wanting to take an open public policy approach and and best practices and good guidelines and and and good sharing with community.

And uh good luck that we're developing this item and our budget deficit issues that uh we I hope we can put up our budget deficit issues and we can stretch it out a bit over time and and solve our issues that way to maintain social services, and good luck how this item can help our social services.

Thank you.

Thank you for your testimony.

Phone number ending in 870.

You can unmute by pressing star six.

You will have two minutes.

Uh thank you, uh Joyce in out of District Three.

Uh thank you for the uh great, great report and for being real with us.

And Jillian, uh I'd love the IBA.

I know you're busy, but could you get your report out the sooner the better?

That would really be appreciated.

Um yes, this gap is just growing in and uh you know what is one to do.

So uh I want to look at something in a minute.

Uh anyway, I was shocked to see housing is next to the last on the long list of needs.

Uh so we've got to prevent major emergencies.

And of course, we're talking stormwater, aren't we?

And the perfect storm of 2024 and how we could have avoided that.

So as I've told you, my new word for the budget is opportunities.

Last year it was resilience.

So where is the opportunity in this?

So I see the opportunity is really big in this.

You know, we have this pie of our budget, and and we have people, people, people, people that make it up.

And we've got to ask everybody to join hands around the pie and help us decide how we're gonna cut that pie up.

There's gonna be cuts and it's gonna hurt, and people have to be more resilient to pull in the belt and cooperate and help us meet these needs.

So uh I can't express enough the opportunity we have here to look at stormwater and to to look at it to prevent the major emergencies there and to get the public to be together.

This is one people and one San Diego.

We're not there yet.

We're doing our best.

But people have to do that.

Thank you.

This concludes your time.

Thank you for your comments.

And chair with another hands in the queue.

This wraps up testimony for item number four.

Thank you, Sarah.

Let's begin our committee discussion of this item, and we'll start with Councilmember von Wolpert.

Uh thank you, Chair, and thank you for the work on this in the presentation.

Um, the good news is that the city is doing five-year outlooks for our CIP needs, which is important.

You know, when uh we all got to this diet in 2020, we learned that there was no rolling assessment or plan for roads.

We had no five-year outlook for our road repaving that would survive our terms in the mayor's term.

And so, thanks to leadership of Bethany Bizak and others, we finally have a five-year plan for roads that will outlast any one term of elected official, which it should.

And so I am also glad that we are doing this work to look at our overall CIP needs.

The bad news is we have a lot, and we have had a lot for a long time.

Uh, and we haven't had the funding we've needed to to fully fund all of these needs.

And I really want to thank folks for coming in, um, including our firefighters.

Thank you to the leadership of um local 145 for being here in person and raising this to our attention.

I know there are some firefighters who are working out of tents right now, just sleeping in a tent station.

It's made out of cloth.

It's just ridiculous.

I know some of our police officers are operating out of trailers that were supposed to be decommissioned in the 80s.

And so, but then also we are growing city and we're permanent more housing, and so we also need more public safety infrastructure.

So we have a growing need for new buildings, but we also have a growing need for maintenance of our existing buildings.

And it just I see this chasm growing.

We need more housing, but we also need more public safety infrastructure to meet the needs of our citizenry.

So one question I do have is about when we have developer-funded projects that are going to come in and we allow developers to build housing, we often require them to pay into our citywide diff now for transportation, for fire stations, for libraries, for parks.

As a condition of development, oftentimes the developers will have to build the asset themselves.

But I have seen in my six years here on the DIES that developers will build the housing first and leave the infrastructure assets to the very end.

And then sometimes not build it at all.

And so right now with Fire Station 48, for example, which is the most needed fire station in the city of San Diego because 40 um what is it 44s and uh 37s and the one up in Rancho Bernardo or 33s are taking on such the bulk of the geographic area.

It was supposed to be developer built, they didn't build it, they didn't move the water main from underneath the ground that needed to be moved.

And so now the city is going to do it.

How can we require developers to actually build the assets before they build the housing that we need and then leave?

And that's a big question, Alif.

It's not on your shoulders.

I'm just maybe it's a question for our city attorneys, but we need to hold folks accountable for the promises they make to our communities.

Yeah, um, thank you for the opportunity.

I think the development conditions are monitored and by development services department, and I think we could be more stern on the conditions that were at this associated with the permit itself and see what is the best interest of the city, whether the city taking over at one point or the well for continuing to do that.

Um I will say that uh we could have a more robust coordination with the SD to be able to um get the best deal out of the development agreement, if you will, for the lack of better terms, but it's the coordination between the attorney's office and and everybody's working on those agreements, council member.

Okay.

Um we thank you that it's not on your shoulders at all.

Uh you are doing the best job you can to build out our CIPs, but um Randy, I'd I'd be happy to have our staff engage with the mayor's office about you know making sure we put conditions in in the development agreements.

I remember when we um approved the Juniper's uh development agreement in Carl Mountain Ranch in Penesquitos, we were required as a condition of them to sell a single home.

The fire marshal and the city engineer had to sign off on the fire evacuation road that they had to build.

And so I I think we need to build more of this in there because the longer they wait to build these assets, the more expensive they become, of course.

And then the money we collected in diff might not be enough to then fund the fire station, fund the park.

So we should be requiring them to build them.

I understand they may have to sell some houses to raise the money to build the asset, but it doesn't mean we have to wait till the end and then let them off the hook.

Um, in terms of the city gate study, I have been asking for a new city gate study for a long time now, and I'm glad you brought it to our attention.

Um, you know, I represent the two the district in this city that has experienced two massive wildfires in 2003 and 2007.

And so my residents have been asking for an updated City Gate study for a long time as well.

Um I haven't had a chance to bring it up with our our new chief who is wonderful and meets with me on a regular basis, but I will uh again and ask where that is.

Um I also do have a question about the status of fire station 48, which we have been hoping will be built for a very long time.

Um council member, I think we awarded the design build contract, and um, I think we are getting ready to break the ground, uh, which is uh as the second phase of the design build contract is monumental step for that project.

I know it's been a challenge to get here.

Thanks you for your patience.

But once the construction started, I think we can continue doing uh six months updates to your office, but construction is about to start soon within the next couple of months.

Okay, so got it.

Understood.

Um I also be very interested to have a discussion with our government affairs team about state grants for building um fire safety infrastructure.

I mean, I know the state is facing a budget deficit as well.

However, they have decided to take away land use control from local government, including mandating that a certain amount of housing be built, subdivisions of lots, all of these things that we can no longer control.

And so if they are going to do that and require us to build increased density, they should also be funding some of the public safety infrastructure to to take on that increased density.

So I just I don't know if that's in our legislative platform, but that's something they need to think about because wildfires now do consume multiple counties at this point.

So it really is a state issue to be taking on.

I also do have a question about the fire training facility that we are.

I know pure water phase two may not be at the same time we thought it was going to be, but eventually we are going to build over NTC.

So I want to thank 145 as well for bringing this up.

And I do believe that Chief Moran is here.

I also uh have been told by a little bird that it is your birthday today, sir.

So happy birthday uh to the fire chief.

We appreciate you being here on your birthday, but I'm wondering if you can answer uh questions about what the plan is for a new fire training facility.

I do know that um the city worked very hard to get the land that we hope to build it on, and we had a whole HOA vote around the surrounding property owners who voted yes to allow us to do that development, but what is the status going forward?

Uh yeah, so those that don't know me, Ted Moran, assistant fire chief uh overseeing business operations.

Um to my knowledge, what we have we do have the property identified, like you mentioned off of Copley Drive.

Uh it is a CIP project that is in process.

We have been reviewing it on how we approach it.

Um I know a leaf's team has been working hand in hand with our project team at logistics division to see how we can move this project forward with the impending money and and budget that it's going to require to see it through to the end.

Uh, we've looked at it in uh possible uh phased steps so that we can get the academy, which is the most important part, um, into that facility if and when we ever break ground on it in a more expeditious manner rather than waiting to get the entire thing completed before we move in.

Umside of the academy, it it's possible for the department.

We do have some satellite training facilities, so we can decentralize our training in that aspect and our day-to-day training of our personnel on duty.

But our our main priority is getting that academy, and we are open to looking at how we approach it.

Okay, and have we thought about public-private partnerships with this project?

I can say it has been discussed, but we haven't formalized anything.

Okay.

We did some uh market sounding studies, and there is interest.

There are other agencies and jurisdictions that did use P3 models for this type of facilities.

Um currently we are in the last phase of the feasible city council member.

I think that is our next uh critical path, which we intend to finish this fall, which we are finalizing all the C COREV compliances and with the after getting the land, and the next step afterwards is to focus on any delivery method available to to deliver this project and pending the funding.

But P3 is is of course an alternative in the lack of uh city funding available to or any other funding available.

Okay.

Um and this this project will be covered under a product labor agreement, I'm assuming, because it's such a large project, and those we need to make sure they're under the PLA.

That's correct, Council Member.

Okay.

Um the PLA is working incredibly well, the new terminal one airport has been working incredibly here with pro Pure Water, so I just want to make sure because those products are often on time and on budget.

Um, and my last question is I mean, I know there are so many maintenance needs in the city, but we do mean to make sure that you know firefighters are sleeping overnight at the facilities.

And so what is the plan to make sure we're remediating some of these issues with our current buildings.

And council member, I assume you're you're referring to the um statement regarding mold.

Yeah, so what I can tell you is uh fire rescue department, we obviously take very seriously the health and well-being of all of our employees, not just our sworn or civilian staff as well.

Um we respond to every identified molds, every suspicion of mold.

Those are often uh found in two ways either crews working in stations, identify what they believe is mold, and in you know, in a reasonable amount of time we um go through the city process, get the uh ALMP out there to do an assessment, and then oftentimes we get the county of San Diego to come out and do air quality assessments, and then we follow their guidance in working with DGS on how we uh abate those issues if mold is identified or any other issues that come about those inspections, and we work through the process to get those taken care of.

Um another way that they're found is just general maintenance.

Um, you know, before DGS crew digs into a wall, disturbs any surfaces, ALMP goes out and ensures that there is no mold.

There have been times when a water leak has been identified, and subsequently there was some mold identified in that area, and again, it's just going through the process, but I can assure you that all reports of mold or suspected mold are um approached and dealt with appropriately.

Okay, thank you.

Oh, I see Ms.

Bizakos also.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Um Bethany Bizak, Chief Performance and Logistics Officer, one of the departments in when my branch is the Department of General Services, which oversees uh the 1600 city facilities wide that we have to maintain.

I will say unfortunately, we are in a situation where we don't have proactive maintenance that is really scheduled and is planned as it really should be in terms of what are whether it be mold remediation, regular maintenance, regular cleaning, those types of activities.

So we are in a reactive type of mode in terms of how those are handled.

I would say that mold is one of the things that we absolutely prioritize when it is identified to make sure that that is a health and safety type of issue that we do address.

I I would like to mention the upcoming budget process.

One of the things I've been encouraged about in this new role is that we've started to have really frank conversations about how the back of the house services, which are typically not seen and heard by the public, are being considered programmatically, so that as we are servicing and we are prioritizing our SWARN officers, our public safety officers, that the facilities that they're in also have the resources that they need to be maintained.

So really looking at resources programmatically from a budgetary perspective, that's been something new, and I'm encouraged that we're having the right conversations about that to make sure that uh we're fully resourcing the programs that ultimately are prioritized to you and the public.

Okay.

Thank you.

I appreciate you.

And you know, it it takes our firefighters, also takes our our AfSNE 127 workers and our MEA workers to get a fire apparatus on the road.

All the maintenance we have to do, all the oil changes, and so we have city employees on every every department uh working hard to get our our 911.

And our dispatchers, for example, are working very hard.

So um I appreciate that very much.

I continue to public uh to prioritize public safety infrastructure is my you know number one budget request for this.

I know we have so many the roads, um, the storm drains, which I'm glad we got the WIFIA loans for to start especially doing storm drain maintenance into the Choice River bed and places we saw flooding previously.

I know we need more help and everything is more expensive, and so I'll leave it to my colleagues.

I have many, many more questions, but I'll wait till committee so my colleagues can ask questions.

My last question is how um oh, and also the um hangar for the helicopters heard and noted.

I'd like to know how much that is.

I'll bet you we can we can figure out a way to get that funded.

Um they're they're currently being rained on right now, or $18 million wildfire helicopters being rained on right now.

But um how are we is there a way we can work to reduce the cost of all these projects?

I mean, we just saw PUD do a spectacular job finally reducing the cost of bulk buying some of the chemicals we put in our water to keep it clean and safe.

The the price was skyrocketing during the pandemic, and we just saw it come, you know, they were able to negotiate a deal down, and so I know that you are working so hard with a million contracts out there for asphalt, gravel, you know, roofing materials, all of that, but just I'm always wondering if there's a way we can bring the cost down because sometimes I feel that when people bid to the city, they tend to bid higher for us because they seem to know that we are a public customer and things are harder, and so it just really frustrates me.

I know that is not your fault, and I know you've been trying very hard, and Ryan has been trying very hard and working with other government entities and agencies.

I just anything we can do to support you in bringing down the cost of these projects, let us know.

So thank you very much.

I appreciate it, and thank you for the time.

Sorry that I went on so long.

Thank you, Council Member Vod Wolpert.

This is an informational item, so no motion is required.

Uh, we will go to Vice Chair Foster.

Um, thank you in uh thank you for um the report.

Um and I too want to thank um local 145 for coming down.

Um, for us to have employees living in uh facilities that have mold is just unacceptable.

Um I can appreciate um being in the reactionary mode, but to have that ask I I just can't believe we're there.

Um and I think that's something we need to address.

Um, as my colleague mentioned, um, you know, I have fire fighters moving in a tent in District 4.

Um, and it's been like that for quite some time now.

And so I share in the concerns, especially when we are asking folks to come to work every day and to put their lives on the line and to serve the public.

We just have to figure out how to do better.

Also I think, and I've said this before, the longer it takes us to do projects, the more exposure we have to cost increases.

And so I think we need to look internally to see just how we are executing and delivering the CIP.

And that goes down to our consultants.

As I started down the road and just working on something that I think is simple sidewalks, I'm told the average time to take into account to get those done is five years to do PCC flat work, five years.

It's unacceptable.

And so I think we need to do some.

This is when you hear me say we need to do some internal checks to make sure that we are being as efficient as we can.

Also, I get questions quite a bit from community members about why one day the project is fully manned and work is taking place and then they disappear for three months.

And as I look at the projects, these are not complex projects.

And so I think there's just some things we need to do to make sure that we have some accountability, not only for our external partners, but also internally.

And so just even what we do on our design work and the cost overruns that come with design work.

I think in the short time that I've been working in District 4, we've seen what we typically do with the GDP, which was that you're talking the two-acre park where we anticipate 500,000, then we get a phone call and say, oh, you know what?

Now it's 800,000.

Those are things we need to do better and get done and and and really get good at what we do.

Um so um I'll leave that there for food for thought.

Um I will continue to um beat the drum.

Um because we just we we have an obligation, and as you can see, infrastructure is a big part of that obligation.

And so we need to make sure that we are prioritizing, that we're working efficient, we're have some accountability both externally and internally.

So again, thank you for the report and just look forward to as we move into the next uh budget cycle and uh looking at how we can um get some things done.

So thank you.

Thank you, Vice Chair Foster.

Let's go to Councilmember Lee.

Thank you, Chair.

Uh there's been a lengthy discussion already.

So I uh if I've got more, I can save it either for offline or when it goes to council.

Um I know every time we've we've looked at this document, we all we're always sort of stuck with um recognizing that that this tool is really just a tool to help us understand what the needs of the city are, mapped out across all these different business lines and different assets, um, and then and then only get a sense of what is already available and planned for from a funding standpoint.

Um I think what's what's much harder for us typically to grasp is that as we head into the budget, how much of this um is actually going to be accomplished in addition at all, um and what's actually realistic.

And I'm always torn because I think we need to know what's what's on the horizon in terms of what is needed for the city, but I also recognize that we have to be realistic about the resources that we have and how to line up the priorities accordingly, um, knowing that you know, appreciate hearing from Wilkins 145 about conditions of, for example, fire facilities.

That's actually something I talk to residents about all the time.

Um unfortunately it also comes up in conversations in part because I think every one of us spends time talking to residents who are standing with us in front of their house, looking at their street, asking why the city hasn't touched it in 30 years.

Um we have to acknowledge that that is as unacceptable as they feel it is, it's as unacceptable as uh any city staff might feel for the facilities that we put them in, and I challenge residents and constituents all the time to take a look at what they consider to be our city's facilities, and the needs are significant, and I think it that is why I think we've had a lot of tough discussions in each of our budget cycles, especially in recent years, to figure out how we close these gaps.

And right now I think the city is struggling to even figure out how to close its structural deficit from a day-to-day operational standpoint, much less determine how we put aside additional capital funding outside of you know getting additional resources to do just that.

So that's gonna be the challenge I think we continue to have as we have the budget discussions moving forward.

And um yeah, I I I think it's again certainly helpful to have it as a tool.

Um the challenge I think we always have had is figuring out how we use it as a benchmark to understand how things shift because if we include new things that weren't in it a year ago, that's gonna widen the gap, perhaps, but sometimes that's also because we're doing a better job identifying it.

Um so again, this isn't necessarily our five-year plan of what's gonna get done.

It's it's really a uh a tool to understand what's missing.

So anyhow, thank you, Chair, and thank you, team, for the update.

Thank you, Councilmember Bailey.

All right, again, this is an information item.

No motion is required.

Uh we will uh thank uh the team again for the presentation and thank you, everybody for the participation.

That brings us to the end of our agenda today.

Uh thank you to the members of the public and the staff for all the work that went into today's meeting.

Uh we will now adjourn this meeting of the Active Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to the next regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday, March 19th, 2026 at one o'clock in the afternoon.

We are adjourned.