Something in the way
A lot is being written and said, and passed along about the proposed policy changes for the Alameda General Plan, Transportation Element update.
In the interest of providing a full understanding of the issue, an issue that directly affects every street in Alameda, I decided to create a repository of information and links about the Transportation Master Plan here at SD&R.
Now you might say to yourself, “self, isn’t there already a city website devoted to this information?” and of course you would end up patting yourself on your own back, because you were correct. Great job Self! You can visit the official TMP website yourself.
The trouble, is there is a lot of information, though not everything is housed on this site, and there isn’t a lot of explanatory information about what it means. There’s no real discussion as to where things are or where they are proposed to go. In the coming week, I’m hoping to create a useful tool that will be usable no matter where you live (Grand or Gibbons or Santa Clara and beyond) and no matter what your concerns are.
I have posted an overview at the Alameda Transportation Master Plan page. This is a static page and will remain available on the front page of SD&R
For those whom a quick mouse click is too difficult, I am posting the entire contents right here:
Alameda Transportation Master Plan
The goal of this Transportation Master Plan page is provide a comprehensive overview of the Transportation Master Plan process as the plan works its way through the city planning process. The city of Alameda maintains its own, official TMP website. The goal of this page is not to supplant that, but to augment it with background and additional links that are not currently provided there.
Background for the Transportation Master Planning process:
On March 2, 2004, the Alameda City Council on a vote of 4-1 (For: Johnson, Daysog, Gilmore, Matarrese. Against: Kerr) , approved the creation of a citywide Transportation Master Plan (TMP). On August 25th, Mayor Beverly Johnson, in announcing the program described the goal this way:
“The City-wide Transportation Master Plan (TMP) will address how the City can accommodate future growth, maintain Alameda’s unique character, and protect the quality of life we currently enjoy. The first step is to develop an overall policy framework for how the various transportation modes (cars, trucks, buses, ferries, bicycles, and pedestrians) can interrelate safely while providing Alamedans with viable transportation choices.”
General Plan/Transportation Element Overview:
Glenn County California has a great general plan, outlined in this overview page.
The State of California Government Code mandates that “Chartered cities [which Alameda is] shall adopt general plans.” The legislature goes on to explain the intent as:
“…to provide an opportunity for each city…to coordinate its local budget planning and local planning for federal and state program activities, such as community development, with the local land use planning process, recognizing that each city and county is required to establish its own appropriate balance in the context of the local situation when allocating resources to meet these purposes.”
Furthermore, the legislature specifically spells out (section 65302) that:
“The plan shall include the following elements:…land use…circulation…housing… conservation…open-space…noise element…[and] safety…”
The code defines the Circulation Element (what Alameda calls the Transportation Element) as “consisting of the general location and extent of existing and proposed major thoroughfares, transportation routes, terminals, any military airports and ports, and other local public utilities and facilities, all correlated with the land use element of the plan.”
The City of Alameda General Plan was adopted in February 1991 and was intended to cover planning/development issues from 1990-2010. Many of the policies in the plan are outdated, obsolete or inconsistent with other adopted city plans, which necessitates updating the general plan.
At the time the general plan was written, the Naval Air Station Alameda was still going strong and the Beltline railway ran regularly through Alameda. The landscape has changed tremendously. During the past 17 years, transportation planning has also changed, with a growing recognition that prevailing transportation planning practices work well for keeping automobile traffic flowing smoothly, but do little to encourage safety, minimize noise, and promote a variety of transportation choices. Further, there is a growing body of evidence that the environmental review process has become myopic in its planning, often exacerbating traffic concerns in its untiring zeal to keep cars moving at any given intersection.
In this setting, the purpose of Transportation Master Plan process is to look at the changed planning landscape and to attempt to address the concerns that Alameda residents were bringing to the Transportation Commission and City Council. At the direction of the City Council, and with the support of city staff, the Transportation Commission began work on the TMP with the ultimate goal of having the policies of the TMP becoming the update for the General Plan Transportation Element.
{Editor’s note: Links will be added in the coming days to more specifics about the TMP}
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