
Watkins Dr Bike Lane Parking

Passing along from Yvette Sennewald, Project Manager of the City’s Neighborhood Engagement Division:
“The team from Tig/m is making their final push on the data collection on their [streetcar] surveys. They would like to be done with the surveys,” in the next few days.
Here’s the survey link:
Here’s a link to TIG/m the company doing the feasibility sturdy.
RTA is requesting community feedback on their conceptual mobility hub plan for Vine Street.
Mobility hubs consist of major transit stations and the surrounding area. They serve a critical function in the regional transportation system as the origin, destination, or transfer point for a significant portion of trips. They are places of connectivity where different modes of transportation – from walking to biking to riding transit – come together seamlessly and where there is an intensive concentration of working, living, shopping and/or playing.
One idea has been to link the hub and the Eastside Lincoln Park Neighborhood directly to downtown with a linear bike and pedestrian parkway over the 91 freeway. Not unlike the Highline in New York.
As it stands right now, air quality impacts from the mobility hub traffic will affect their neighborhood the most. Any increase in density as a multi-use destination will also be felt. There must certainly be some creative ways we can use this new mobility hub as a catalyst to actually improve the neighborhood for the neighbors.
We should be looking at separating the pedestrians, bikes, boards, and scooters from the University Avenue traffic at the 215/60 ramps. Long approach ramps emanating from the now stalled, on-campus mobility hub, made from structural steel would be a safe, inexpensive, immediate solution.
With some integrated lighting and artwork, it could become the start of a workable, alternative transportation corridor all the way to downtown.
Now that CARB is nearing completion and Iowa Ave is scheduled to become four lanes from University to Martin Luther King Drive, maybe it’s worth considering. We’re sure making it easier for cars to get around. How about everyone else?
What would it be like if we could bike and/or hike along the entire route?
Most critically, it includes the parcels necessary to build a tunnel and a bridge for safe trail access.
That’s the only safe option that thousands of residents and students have to regain their access to our neighborhoods’ best natural resource: Our trails.
The Friends commissioned a Master Trails Plan for the Box Springs Mountain Preserve, including a trail head at Islander Park.
The trail plan ringed the mountains at the base and at the top connecting dozens of Riverside and Moreno Valley neighborhoods with a variety of trail loop options.
The plan needs updating, but could be used to leverage transportation grant funding to develop alternative transportation networks. That’s taking mobility to a whole new level.
The Northside has been clear and vocal about preserving and restoring their Springbrook Wash trail.
That’s a key trail link to Fairmont Park and the Santa Ana River Trail.
Aren’t we already feeling the impacts of increasing density? More traffic, longer delays, degrading roadways, boring vistas are all part of the daily commute we’re being forced to live with.
We’ve sold our soul and best natural assets to warehousing and we didn’t even have a designated truck route planned for the city. Go figure.
What would it be like if getting around was fun, easy, exciting … and promoted good health?
What would it be like if we had a coordinated transportation agency response that leveraged resources for immediate community equity?
UCR will be holding the first of two community meetings to discuss a proposed parking structure on Monday, April 22. The meeting will be held from 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm in Room J-102 of the Bannockburn Housing Complex, located at 3637 Canyon Crest Drive, Riverside, CA 92507 – Note: Parking will be free, however please park in the North Bannockburn parking lot.
UC Riverside is proposing to build a new multi-story Parking Structure facility on the east portion of the existing campus Parking Lot 13, located at the north-east edge of campus directly south of Big Springs Road. This Project will construct a parking facility which will accommodate 1200 parking spaces (800 net new). This Parking facility will enhance the community and campus by creating a safe vehicle, pedestrian and bicycle friendly environment by addressing circulation along Big Springs Road and adjacent roadway alignments while effectively integrating safety amenities.
For more information on the project, please see the attached flyer.
If you have any questions, please contact:
Dave Bomba, Project Manager
UCR Planning, Design & Construction
(951) 827-1412
email: dave.bomba@ucr.edu
or
Jeff Kraus
UCR Office of Government and Community Relations
(951) 827-7073
Having a parking program acknowledges that cars have a major impact on city life. We design streets to handle various flows of traffic at optimal speeds.
Too bad we never seem to be able to get enough traffic lanes to keep things moving smoothly. When all those cars get home, they park somewhere. Sometimes that’s a problem.
Knowing how to solve that problem on your street is contained in Riverside’s New Parking Program Details. See links below.
Transportation is a part of our daily lives. It’s important that it works well for everyone. For those who remember the series of conversations with UCR and the City about how catering to cars, particularly at student rental units, caused the first neighborhood wide restricted parking opt-in zone to be created.
This basically leaves it to the neighbors to discuss and agree on what if any parking restrictions they might want to have posted on their streets. That included days, times, etc.
Our Neighborhood Specific Plan addressed these concerns as documented in the Circulation Element. It’s worth a review.
Watkins Drive neighbors immediately banned day time parking. The City posted signs and the problem was solved. That’s how it was crafted to work. It was resident friendly and FREE,
After all, we the residents are the impacted parties. Charging residents for permits is pennywise and pound foolish. Neighbors coming together to solve their problem shouldn’t be penalized for doing so.
It’s as if no one saw a campus growing to 23,000 wouldn’t have an impact. Cars in traffic, cars parked on our streets and in our driveways.
UCR has been working to reduce on campus parking by banning freshman from parking on campus unless necessary for work or care giving duties.
They are also building a Mobility Hub on camps to integrate multi modes of transportation which will help reduce car trips considerably. Bus runs every 15 minutes, some with express stops will keep ridership numbers rising.
See also: The 10 Best Car Sharing Programs In the US
RUSD is proposing a STEM High School on campus. This is going to cause a major increase in the already dense daily traffic volume at peak times.
Transportation will continue to impact our daily lives. It’s in our best interests to be paying attention to what’s being proposed for our neighborhood.
Check out the New Parking Program details. The devil’s in the details but here are some relevant public record resources: Traffic Review Board Minutes, Granfathered Permit Letters, Permit Issuance Letter, Council Presentation, Council Report
Don’t be shy about asking questions or sharing comments with your Councilman and city staff.
Community members, just a quick head’s up about a series of questions the City of Riverside will be posing to residents in the next four weeks regarding parking in the downtown area.
The first question is up and available for feedback here: http://bit.ly/parkingsurvey1
As stated in the explanatory text attached to the question, there will be new questions posted to the site each subsequent Monday – July 4, July 11 and July 18 – leading up to the next community meeting at the Convention Center from 4-5:30 p.m. on July 18.
If you could take the time to forward this email to your members so we can get their feedback, that would be greatly appreciated.
The entire listing of parking-related questions, and other questions about issues in Riverside, can be found here:https://riversideca.mysidewalk.com/
Sign-up for the mySidewalk tool being used to gather feedback is quick and easy.
Any questions about how to sign up, please go here: http://help.mysidewalk.com/hc/en-us/articles/215115307-Do-I-Have-to-Create-an-Account-
Finally, I have included a flyer for the next parking meeting on July 18th if you would like to include that information in one of your upcoming eblasts.
Thank you again for being involved in our civic dialogue.
Best regards
Phil
Phil Pitchford
Communications Officer
City of Riverside
951.675.6806 (cell)
Another milestone for the University Neighborhood in the saga of the Perris Valley Line. Our promised quiet zones are on order. Read the full report.Tuesday’s council item is the formal step required to make it real.