City of Chico Manzanita-Widening Proposal Analysis

The City of Chico has produced a draft of an environmental impact report and environmental assessment on widening of Manzanita Avenue. The City is considering-out of multiple options-one that would turn Manzanita Avenue from a two-lane road to a four-lane expressway. The stretch of road being considered begins at East Road and ends at State Route 32. After reading the environmental impact report and environmental assessment on the project, BEC's Executive Director and advocate Barbara Vlamis submitted comments on the environmental impact report and environmental assessment. The following are Vlamis's comments on the draft environmental impact report and environmental assessment.

The Butte Environmental Council (BEC), representing over 800 members in northern California, is submitting the following comments and questions regarding the Draft Environmental Impact Report and Environmental Assessment (DEIR/EA) for the widening of Manzanita Avenue, Chico Canyon Road, and Bruce Road between East Avenue and SR 32.

Safety and Design

Have traffic speed surveys been conducted on Manzanita at the different road widths to determine the difference in average and peak speeds? It would help demonstrate the well-documented influence of wide traffic lanes on speed and their negative impacts on law enforcement, pedestrians, cyclists, and wildlife. The surveys should occur before public hearings are held for the public and policy makers.

What role has safety played in the analysis of the project alternatives and design options? When will analysis be presented that illustrates the anticipated injuries and deaths to humans and wildlife from the project alternatives and design options? A model must exist to run such figures.

Alternative 3, which is the consultant's choice for the project, uses traffic signals for all the traffic modeling options. Signals are well know to increase risks, speeds, injuries, and deaths (U.S. Department of Transportation 1995). Signalized intersections encourage drivers to accelerate to get across the intersection quickly and prevent the wait through a red light. Roundabouts, however, are a beneficial solution to moving vehicle traffic while increasing safety. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that modern roundabouts reduce total crashes 39 percent and injury crashes by 76 percent when they replace a traditional intersection (Victoria Transportation Policy Institute). They also project that fatalities and incapacitating injuries may be reduced by approximately 90 percent (Persaud, 2000). These figures are in line with other international research on the topic.

Traffic

The use of modern roundabouts is the most efficient, cost effective, and protective of the environment. The City would not have to widen any roads except for the approach lanes to the roundabout. All forms of transportation are actually impeded by intersection traffic signals, while modern roundabouts promote movement of all users: pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles. Greater reflection and study must be conducted at all intersections regarding the traffic benefits of roundabouts as well as the safety features as mentioned above.

Vehicle lane widths should not exceed 12 feet. Traffic speeds increase with lane width and the goal of this project is not to increase speed.

Air Quality

Again, promoting an option eliminated by the consultant, modern roundabouts reduce vehicle emissions by maintaining the flow of traffic.

General Plan

Community Design Element Guiding Policy 7 states, "Design street and creekside improvements in consideration of their hierarchical role and function within the larger system." Placing traffic signals over important visual and wildlife corridors is not consistent with this policy. The use of a gateway is one possible option that could either be combined with a modern roundabout at the Vallombrosa intersection or a stand-alone possibility. Has there been any consideration of a unique artistic feature that could serve multiple functions at an intersection?

BEC encourages the City to also pay close attention to Community Design Element Guiding Policy 9. This policy states, "Place restrictions on the overall scale and size of major arterials, so as to avoid creating barriers within the city fabric." Expanding Manzanita and Chico Canyon Road into four lane expressways is not in keeping with this significant policy. Continuing with the concept is Community Design Element Guiding Policy 10 that requires "special design guidelines for scenic roads." Within the policy, as noted in the DEIR/ES, is the expression that many of our scenic roads, including Manzanita, remain two-lane routes. These two policies must be viewed as a priority while exploring more thoroughly the roundabout and gateway options that could move traffic more efficiently.

Process

It is unfortunate that the City of Chico chose not undertake a public traffic study charette with an outside professional guiding the process prior to the initiation of the DEIR/EA. There are a many areas of concern attached to this proposal, as the City well knows, including improving infrastructure for and/or impacts to: Bidwell Park, residential property, traffic, circulation, native habitat, recreation, alternative transportation, growth inducing impacts, pedestrians, noise, water quality, and much more. Listening, discussing, and analyzing more alternatives prior to the EIR would benefit both the City and its citizens. The alternatives discussed most are terribly limiting in vision and design: a cement solution to more complex issues. A charette could have enhanced the project and design alternatives in advance of the review process. BEC hopes that the City will still consider this for this particular project and future significant infrastructure projects.

This column originally appeared in March 2002 in the Chico Examiner.