BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING Senator Jim Beall, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Bill No: AB 810 Hearing Date: 6/30/2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Author: |Ridley-Thomas | |----------+------------------------------------------------------| |Version: |5/28/2015 | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Consultant|Eric Thronson | |: | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUBJECT: State Highway Routes 1 and 187 DIGEST: This bill authorizes the California Transportation Commission (CTC) to relinquish to the City of Los Angeles a portion of State Route (SR) 1 as well as all of SR 187. ANALYSIS: Existing law: 1)Identifies the California state highway system through a description of segments of the state's regional and interregional roads that are owned and operated by the Department of Transportation (Caltrans). Technically, a state highway is any roadway that Caltrans is legislatively authorized to acquire, lay out, construct, improve, or maintain. Existing law specifies that it is the intent of the Legislature for the routes of the state highway system to connect the communities and regions of the state and that they serve the state's economy by connecting centers of commerce, industry, agriculture, mineral wealth, and recreation. 2)Provides a two-step process for the state to expand or delete a section of the state highway system that begins with the Legislature amending existing law and then CTC making findings that it is in the best interest of the state to include or delete a specified portion of roadway from the system. This is known as the state highway relinquishment process. AB 810 (Ridley-Thomas) Page 2 of ? This bill: 1)Authorizes CTC to relinquish to the City of Los Angeles a portion of SR 1 between the southern city limit of Santa Monica and SR 105 as well as all of SR 187, upon terms and conditions approved by CTC. 2)Provides that the relinquishment will become effective immediately following the county recordation of the relinquishment resolution. 3)Specifies that following the effective date of relinquishment, the relinquished segment will no longer be a state highway and may not be considered for future adoption as a state highway. 4)Requires the City of Los Angeles to maintain signage directing motorists to the continuation of SR 1. COMMENTS: Purpose. According to the author, SR 187 is also known as Venice Boulevard and serves as an important thoroughfare, shopping and dining destination, and public gathering place for several communities in the City of Los Angeles. A portion of Venice Boulevard has been selected as part of the city's Great Streets Initiative, which aims to activate public spaces, provide economic revitalization, increase public safety, and enhance local culture through roadway and streetscape improvements. Los Angeles is currently performing extensive public outreach in the Mar Vista neighborhood to develop a community-led plan for these improvements, which will include creative solutions to address safety and mobility issues that may not necessarily be in line with Caltrans' design guidelines. This project will be used as a model for further improvements along additional sections of the Venice corridor. The City wishes to gain ownership of Venice Boulevard to allow for a locally controlled, streamlined Great Streets Initiative project, while maintaining flexibility to experiment with innovative solutions that can be adapted to meet the community's changing needs over time. SR 1, also known as Lincoln Boulevard, is an important north-south thoroughfare through several communities on the west side of Los Angeles. The City of Los Angeles envisions focusing AB 810 (Ridley-Thomas) Page 3 of ? on a series of roadway improvements for this corridor. Foremost among those improvements is the need to address a critical multi-modal chokepoint as Lincoln crosses the Ballona Creek between Fiji Way and Jefferson Boulevard. Local residents also hope to see Lincoln Boulevard treated more as a local street than a highway, with special attention paid to safety issues for people traveling by foot or bike, in addition to those traveling by car or bus. While future plans for Lincoln Boulevard are in the early stages of development, the city seeks to begin a locally controlled engagement process with communities along the route regarding roadway maintenance and improvement projects concurrent with the relinquishment process. Relinquishments. Each session, the Legislature passes and the governor signs numerous bills authorizing CTC to relinquish segments of the state highway system to local jurisdictions. Relinquishment transactions are generally preceded by a negotiation of terms and conditions between the local jurisdiction and Caltrans. Once an agreement has been established, CTC typically approves the relinquishment and verifies its approval via a resolution. Of interest, the administration proposed budget trailer bill language this year intending to streamline the state's relinquishment process. According to the governor's budget summary, a number of routes are still part of the state highway system that no longer serve an interregional purpose, and instead serve primarily regional or local purposes. The proposed trailer bill language broadens and streamlines the state process for relinquishing these portions of the statewide system that primarily serve regional or local purposes. This could be a win-win proposal, with both locals and the state benefiting. On one hand, shifting ownership of these segments, many of which run through a downtown area, will increase local flexibility to add stoplights and make better use of valuable real estate to support transit-oriented development. Meanwhile, additional relinquishments reduce the state's long-term costs for ongoing maintenance and repair of the state system. There is merit in a proposal streamlining the relinquishment process; however, it seems that such a proposal should be considered through the policy bill process and not as an add-on to the state's annual budget. Luckily, Senator Allen has authored Senate Bill 254, which proposes a similar streamlining process and is progressing as a AB 810 (Ridley-Thomas) Page 4 of ? regular policy bill. SB 254 is pending in the Assembly Transportation Committee. Related Legislation: SB 254 (Allen) - streamlines the state's highway relinquishment process to not include legislative approval of each relinquished segment. SB 254 is pending in the Assembly Transportation Committee. SB 461 (Hernandez) - authorizes the CTC to relinquish to Los Angeles County a segment of SR 164 south of Temple City. SB 461 is pending in the Assembly Transportation Committee. AB 652 (Cooley) - authorizes the CTC to relinquish segments of SR 16 in the City of Rancho Cordova as well as in the unincorporated portion of Sacramento County. AB 652 is pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee. Assembly Votes: Floor: 78-0 Appr: 17-0 Trans: 16-0 FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on Wednesday, June 24, 2015.) SUPPORT: None received OPPOSITION: None received -- END -- AB 810 (Ridley-Thomas) Page 5 of ?