BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
AB 819 (Wieckowski) - Bikeway design standards.
Amended: August 6, 2012 Policy Vote: T&H 8-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: August 6, 2012
Consultant: Mark McKenzie
This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 819 would require the Department of
Transportation (Caltrans) to establish procedures to permit
exceptions to bikeway design standards and specifications for
specified research and experimental purposes by January 1, 2013.
Fiscal Impact: Potential Caltrans staffing costs in the range of
$100,000 to $150,000 in 2012-13 to develop procedures and
administer a process for reviewing requests for non-standard
bikeway designs. Actual costs would depend upon the number of
local agency requests for implementing non-standard bikeway
designs.
Background: Existing law requires Caltrans, in cooperation with
cities and counties, to establish minimum safety design criteria
for the planning and construction of bikeways and roadways where
bicycle travel is permitted. These criteria are updated at
least biennially and included in the California Highway Design
Manual (HDM). Existing law also requires Caltrans to establish
uniform specifications and symbols for signs, markers, and
traffic control devices to designate bikeways, regulate traffic,
improve safety and convenience for bicyclists, and alert
pedestrians and motorists of the presence of bicyclists where
bicycle travel is permitted. These specifications are included
in the California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices
(MUTCD).
Existing law also requires local agencies that are responsible
for the development or operation of bikeways or roadways where
bicycle travel is permitted to utilize all minimum safety design
criteria and uniform specifications and symbols for signs,
markers, and traffic control devices as adopted by Caltrans.
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Although existing procedures of the California MUTCD provide for
experimental traffic control devices upon consideration by the
California Traffic Control Devices Committee, there is no
similar process expressly for the consideration of experimental
or modified bikeway designs.
Proposed Law: AB 819 would require Caltrans to establish
procedures by January 1, 2013 to allow exceptions to the minimum
safety design criteria established in the HDM and to the uniform
specifications adopted in the MUTCD for purposes of research,
experimentation, testing, evaluation, or verification. The bill
would also require Caltrans to submit a report to the
Legislature by April 1, 2014 on permitting exceptions to
established design standards and specifications, including: (1)
the number of local agency requests received by Caltrans in
2013; (2) the number of exceptions granted by Caltrans in that
period; and (3) the reasons for rejecting any requests.
Staff Comments: This bill would allow local agencies to
experiment with innovative bikeway planning, design, and
construction features, as well as non-standard signage, markers,
and traffic control devices, upon approval from Caltrans. It is
unclear how many cities and counties may be interested in
seeking exceptions to established bikeway standards and
specifications. To the extent that demand exceeds available
staffing resources to review and approve proposals, Caltrans may
require 1-1.5 PY of additional staff to handle increased
workload, including the establishment of procedures for
consideration of exceptions to established bikeway standards and
specifications. Costs could be in the range of $100,000 to
$150,000 in the first year, with ongoing costs of up to
$100,000.
Staff notes that the timelines in the bill appear to be
inappropriate. Specifically, Caltrans is required to establish
procedures by January 1, 2013, the same day in which the statute
goes into effect. In addition, the administrative process
related to producing a report for the Legislature typically
takes up to four months to complete.
Recommended Amendments: Staff recommends that the bill be
amended to change the due date for Caltrans to establish
procedures for consideration of non-standard bikeway proposals
to June 30, 2013, and change the due date of the report to the
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Legislature to November 1, 2014. This amendment would provide
sufficient time to establish a procedure, allow for a full year
of data collection over the 2013-14 fiscal year, and provide
sufficient time for Caltrans to submit a report to the
Legislature.