The groundhog may be a harbinger of an early thaw in colder climes, but here the ring of free trolleys has for years served as the local warm weather indicator that signals the unofficial start of summer. That is about to change.
And as anyone who braved the traffic of the President’s Day weekend knows, they can’t start too soon.
A recent mobility study, to be presented to the City Council next week, draws a similar conclusion. After two years of gathering data and extensive public outreach, a team of consultants hired by the city has compiled an Enhanced Mobility and Complete Streets Transition Plan that analyzes Laguna’s current network of roadways and sidewalks and presents ideas for calming the traffic, alleviating congestion and making it friendlier to pedestrians and cyclists.
Given the limited room for expansion of Laguna’s roadways, the report suggests that the best way to improve transportation is to improve conditions for bikes, pedestrians and public transit, thereby encouraging people to leave their cars in the driveway or peripheral lots.
Ideally, offering free trolleys will reduce congestion during summer-like off-season weekends when visitors increasingly flock to Laguna. But the mobility plan outlines a number of other measures to help keep traffic flowing and to make it safer and more practical for people to walk or ride bikes around town. These range from a policy to create optimal crosswalks throughout town to reducing the travel lanes in favor of something like a dedicated bike lane or pedestrian islands. Glenneyre Street, Broadway Street and Alta Laguna Boulevard, among others, could benefit from such treatment, the report suggests.
Other possible improvements include widening narrow sidewalks and adding new ones to fill in gaps; a connecting trail between Top of the World and Laguna Canyon Road; and traffic calming measures such as curb extensions and crossing islands.
In some instances, the city has gotten a head start. For example, an alternative bike route to Coast Highway is now marked with signs and sharrows, funds have been earmarked for installing sidewalks in certain areas, and plans are in the works to improve access to the fire road from Top of the World and to create a path from the canyon ACT V parking lot to Laguna College of Art and Design.
The mobility plan is not meant to be incorporated into the city’s municipal code or general plan as is, according to Principal Planner Scott Drapkin. Rather it provides a general framework for creating a mobility element in the general plan to comply with the state mandate that cities update their circulation element and incorporate transportation plans for pedestrians, bikes, and public transit, as well as cars.
To that end, the staff will recommend next Tuesday that the City Council approve the mobility concepts as a basis for planning and as guidelines for capital improvement projects.
In the meantime, if residents like the idea of free weekend trolleys in the off-season, they need to start riding. At least 10 people an hour need to hop aboard for the grant to be renewed annually.
Visit Laguna Beach has been working with the city over the last year on a marketing plan to ensure ridership, said Ashley Johnson, director of marketing.
They have disseminated information, along with special postcards, to hotels, restaurants and retailers to encourage patrons to ride the trolley. Advertising in local newspapers is planned as well as in outside markets to push visitors to leave their cars in peripheral lots or at hotels and to take the trolleys. They even created a hash tag, #LagunaFreeTrolley, for use on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the like, in addition to putting up a dedicated blog entry and an official web page. There anyone can download their Laguna Beach Travel Info app, which has a Trolley Tracker allowing would-be riders to see real time when the next trolley will arrive at their stop.
The Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce participated in creating the marketing strategy, said Cindy Stalnaker, marketing manager. And they have been promoting the non-summer weekend trolleys in their newsletters and in-house to anyone who drops by, she said.
The weekend trolleys will run along Coast Highway as far north as Cajon Street and as far south as Mission Hospital. Hours will be from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturdays, and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sundays.
