Streets and highways: pedestrian and bicycle facilities

Cities and counties must follow uniform rules that make it harder to reopen or abandon approved walking and bicycling safety improvements. The law also allows pedestrian malls to use an existing streamlined environmental-review exemption.

What the law does ​

• Bars cities and counties from holding public-input meetings to reconsider, delay, or prevent a pedestrian or bicycle safety project after it reaches 90% design, while allowing meetings on nonmaterial design and implementation details.
• Requires a public finding, supported by substantial evidence, before a city or county can cancel, materially delay, or remove a project after awarding its construction contract or directing staff to begin construction.
• Permits termination only when identified public benefits outweigh the project’s safety benefits or when the project cannot be funded within the relevant local budget.
• Caps traffic-calming petition requirements, where a local petition process exists, at a majority of residents living wholly or partly within 1,000 feet of the proposed measure.
• Exempts the establishment or expansion of pedestrian malls from CEQA, subject to the existing exemption’s applicable project, public-process, labor, and other conditions.
• Applies the city requirements to all cities, including charter cities.

Who it affects ​

• City councils, county boards of supervisors, and local staff planning or delivering pedestrian and bicycle safety projects.
• Residents seeking traffic-calming measures or participating in public discussions of local street-safety projects.
• Pedestrians, bicyclists, and users of pedestrian malls.

Breakdown ​

Protecting Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Projects ​

This bill limits when cities and counties can reopen or stop planned pedestrian and bicycle safety projects. Once a project reaches 90% design, local governments generally cannot hold a community meeting to reconsider, delay, or block it. They also may terminate a project after construction is authorized or begins only if they make at least one required finding at a public meeting, and they cannot set overly high signature requirements for traffic-calming petitions.

Key takeaways

• Cities and counties cannot hold a community input meeting to reconsider, delay, or prevent a pedestrian or bicycle safety project once it has reached 90% design.
• A city or county may end a safety project after a construction contract is awarded or staff are directed to begin construction only if it makes at least one required finding at a public meeting.
• If a city or county allows residents to petition for a traffic-calming measure, it cannot require signatures from more than a majority of residents living wholly or partly within 1,000 feet of the proposed measure.
• The bill creates additional duties for local officials, making it a state-mandated local program.

Pedestrian Mall CEQA Exemption ​

The bill exempts projects that establish or expand pedestrian malls from CEQA review. These projects must meet the same conditions that apply to other exempt transportation projects, including being carried out by a local agency and complying with applicable labor requirements.

Key takeaways

• Cities and counties may establish or expand pedestrian malls without completing CEQA environmental review.
• The exemption applies to both creating a new pedestrian mall and enlarging an existing one.
• Projects using this exemption must follow the requirements that apply to other CEQA-exempt transportation projects.
• Those requirements include local-agency implementation and applicable labor standards.

Statewide Application ​

The bill declares that its proposed changes concern the entire state, not just local municipal matters. As a result, the changes apply to every California city, including charter cities.

Key takeaways

• The bill makes findings that its changes address a statewide concern.
• The findings state that the changes are not solely municipal affairs.
• The bill's changes apply to all California cities, including charter cities.