Lab # 2: San Luis Obispo South

Report Due: November 30, 2005

Group # 4

Group leader: Brian Meichtry

Ben Larson

Jhay Delos Reyes

Alberto Garcia

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables………………………………………4

Executive Summary………………………………………………5

Background and Approach.................................................................6

Results and Discussion…………………………………………...…7

Land Use……………………………………………………...……...…..7

Road Systems……………………………………………...……………..8

Buses and Light Rail…………………………………..…………………9

Bikes and Pedestrians………………………………..………………….11

Activity Centers…………………………………………..……………..12

SLO South Transit Center (Special Project)………………..…...……...13

Bibliography.......................................................................................................17

Appendix A: Maps…………………………………………………………….18

Land Use………………………………………………………………..19

Road Systems…………………………………………………………...20

Buses and Light Rail……………………………………………………21

Bikes and Pedestrians………………………………………....………..22

Activities Center………………………………………………...……...23

List of Figures and Tables

Figures

TC-1: SLO South Transit Center

Executive Summary

The goal of our team of engineers was to make a proposal for a transit oriented and highly sustainable model city for the southern part of the city of San Luis Obispo for the year 2050. By the year 2025, it is projected that the county of San Luis Obispo will grow in population by 100,000 people to 350,000. A reasonable estimate for the year 2050 could be a population in the area of 500,000 people and because of the beauty of the city of San Luis Obispo, and the fact that it is already a popular town; we can expect a significant population increase.

There is an obvious need for a new transit oriented community and in the city of San Luis Obispo that community would be located in the generally undeveloped area that is bordered by South Street, Broad Street, Buckley Road, and South Higuera Street.

Our solution to this demand for this new community is install a network of new roads, bike lanes, and pedestrian zones that will encourage people to use alternative modes of transportation to get to work and or around the city. Our project is called Southern Sustainability and we tried to incorporate our plans to our project name as much as possible. A light rail system is also part of our solution that would run from Cal Poly all the way to the southern part of town, and back. This light rail system would make a stop in our newly proposed southern transit center which is our special project that is a transit oriented development with high density housing and commercial that would be very pedestrian friendly and have restrictions to private vehicle access and parking as well.

Background and Approach

When designing our new optimum community for this project there were a few main goals that needed to be accomplished. First and foremost there was the need to accommodate plenty of housing for the increase of population. However, in doing this, a transit oriented community with heavy emphasis on alternative modes of transportation is very important. In forty- five years from now there could very well be a shortage of oil in this country and a well designed community with plenty of alternative modes of transportation available is needed. Also, a very pedestrian friendly environment helps to promote a healthy style of living and makes the neighborhoods more appealing and active.

Although we were planning for the year 2050, and anything could happen by that point, we were hindered in our creativity by a few issues. The Airport Area Specific Plan and the Margarita Area Specific Plan were already approved as of August 2005, and the city has laid out the general land uses in these respective areas. The Airport Area Specific Plan was the most difficult to deal with, as it provided a significant zone of our area that restricts many housing and commercial areas due to a need for an emergency crash area. Also, the Margarita Specific Plan currently does not include our plans for a transit oriented development right off of Prado Road, but we assumed that the high density area of the plan would allow for us to make this change in the plan, especially by the year 2050.

Results and Discussion

In this section we present our results and solutions to our vision of the southern part of San Luis Obispo in the year 2025.

Land Use

The issue of how to develop land in a sustainable and responsible manner has sparked many debates among planners and the public. In our land use plan we have focus on the idea of transit oriented development, or TOD. This will have emphasis of public transportation links to all major activity centers and homes, with most new homes being mixed use for these of walking to where one needs to shop, eat or conduct daily business. Our phasing plans consist of five steps toward our SLO South area. First we will use existing plans that have been approved in order to not waste time and move forward quickly. These plans in the Margarita Area and the Airport Area will be modified to accommodate more TOD style land use. It is important for our communities to keep a green belt and cherish the open land existing in our city. To make a sustainable SLO South and to keep San Luis Obispo growing more industrial and office parks will be built along with state of the art transportation facilities to ensure that people can live and work here without relying on the personal automobile. All new neighborhoods will also be created in away that people living in those areas can access daily needs throughout the city without the need for an automobile.

Road Systems

The road system in the SLO South area will need to be improved in order to accommodate the huge development we have proposed for the year 2050. There are 7 steps we will take in order to improve flow of traffic and limit the use of the personal automobile. Our focus with this site and road system will be to allow access to the entire area and to do that with improvements for pedestrians, bicycles and public transportation. First in order to alleviate the congestion of flow in the east to west direction Tank Farm Road will be widened and extended all the way across the freeway to connect with Los Osos Valley Road. This will link the city and its surrounding communities in the south and to the west. Buckley Road will extend to South Higuera Road to enhance the flow and circulation in that area by the airport. Small roads will run through the neighborhoods and industrial parks with an emphasis on public transportation use to have a minimum waling distance to and from work and home. At the new SLO South Transit Center and outer ring will be created for automobile traffic and the inside will be completely for pedestrians, bicycles and public transportation. This outer ring will connect via Prado Road and create another east to west link in the SLO South area. All new roads will have an emphasis on circulation and not on automobile use. All roads will have low speeds and round a bouts to improve safety. The main reason for each new road will be to link the community in the city to the all areas of work and shopping via public transportation.

SLO South Public Transportation System (Buses and Light Rail)

To further enhance the Southern Sustainability project, two areas of public transportation examined: Busses, and Light Rail. Currently San Luis Obispo has only two routes serving the southern region. Route 2 serves only South Higuera and route 3 serves only Broad Street, no other roads are serviced by either route. No light rails exist in the city currently, but existing Union Pacific tracks run parallel to California, Santa Barbara streets and cross Tank Farm road in the SLO South area. In the proposed 2050 vision for SLO South we would like to see increased bus service to the region as well as a light rail line connecting SLO South to Madonna, Downtown, and Cal Poly.

Essential to the public transportation aspect of the Southern Sustainability Project is the proposed SLO South Transit Center. This transit center would be the only hub in San Luis Obispo where Light Rail, Busses, Bikes and Pedestrians all meet. In the center of the Transit Center would be the new light rail system. Adjacent to the facility, less than five minutes away, would be the bus depot with roads only accessible to busses to increase their efficiency.

Continuing with the idea of sustainability, additional routes will be created to serve the SLO South area. All new developments within SLO South will be built with a bus stop within a quarter mile of residence, business, and pubic services to promote use of the bus system. Four main routes are expected to serve the SLO South region, those are the SLO South Circular, SLO South Higuera, SLO South Broad, and the Cal Poly Express Route. The SLO South Circular would operate in a fashion similar to the current routes 4 and 5, moving in opposite directions. The SLO South Circular would operate along South Street, Madonna Road, Los Osos Valley Road, Buckley Road, and Broad Street. The SLO South Higuera route would serve the new business park and housing developments around Higuera and the areas to the west of the airport. To better serve residents off Broad, the SLO South Broad route would operate along Broad, East Tank Farm Road and the Airport. Finally the Cal Poly Express Route would be created to provide a direct bus link for Cal Poly students living in the SLO South Region creating a stronger relationship between SLO Transit and Cal Poly. All of these proposed routes would pass through the SLO South Transit Center to provide connections to other modes of transportation or take them to other parts of San Luis Obispo. These routes are were created with the hope of easing congestion on main arterials, helping decrease the dependency of the automobile and preserve the natural environment through reduced pollution.

One of the more financially based concepts is the Light Rail System. This system is designed to compliment the existing bus system providing more direct links around San Luis Obispo that buses cannot do based upon service and rider-ship. The SLO Light Rail would connect Cal Poly, Downtown, SLO South, and the Madonna areas together. To save on some rail construction, we would use the existing right-of-way on the Union Pacific rail that currently runs parallel to California and moving along the eastern portion of this city crossing on Tank Farm Road. Major construction will be required on Tank Farm road to allow for a light rail line down the median, as well as constructing an underpass under Highway 101 to connect SLO South to the Madonna shopping center. The Madonna shopping area already sees a lot of traffic moving along Madonna Road, with increased residential development more congestion would occur along Tank Farm, Higuera, South Street, Los Osos Valley Road for residents trying to access the area with their cars. The Light Rail would not only supplement the proposed bus system but provide a direct link from East Tank Farm Road to the Madonna Shopping center creating an incentive for residents in SLO South to use it. In addition residents in SLO south can also access Downtown via stops at the Amtrak Station and Marsh Street. The Light Rail system looks to connect many of the activity centers and encourage public transportation use a whole.

While looking far into the future the implementation process of the project will see many additions by 2020. We expect the completion of the SLO South Transit center by that year allowing for construction of the Bus Hub within the area. While it is uncertain right now the pacing for development in the SLO South Region two of the bus routes will be implemented: SLO South Circular and SLO South Broad. Light Rail stations along California, as well as one at the Amtrak station and one on Tank Farm Road hoping to reduce congestion on Broad Street for people moving traveling to Cal Poly or Downtown.

Bikes and Pedestrians

The bicycle and pedestrian networks were carefully designed to encourage people to either bike or walk to work, or to a nearby bus stop or transit center. One main goal was to connect existing bike paths to the new ones that we developed to make a thorough bike network that connects all of the southern part of San Luis Obispo. The Bob Jones bike trail is one of the main existing bike trails that we wanted to make sure was connected in many areas to new paths and lanes that we propose. With main connectors to Prado Road, and Tank Farm Road, it is feasible to believe that the Bob Jones bike trail will become a main bike arterial that will transport many people to work during the week, and become an enjoyable ride for those looking for a weekend bike ride. Through careful planning we have placed easily accessible pedestrian zones in all the neighborhoods that are no further than a quarter mile, and or a five minute walk to a bus stop or a major road. The same goes for bike lanes that also lead to bus stops, or other major roads that have in many cases class II bike lanes, all of which are shown in the map in appendix A. The thought process for bikes paths and pedestrians zones is that if they are aesthetically pleasing and easily accessible, then they will be used, and this of course leads to less congestion on the roads and a cleaner environment.

Activity Centers

The activity centers chosen were places that a significant impact on the trips generated to and from the new developments in the SLO South area. The new development involves a new transit center and a large industrial park with mixed use housing all centered on transit oriented development or TOD. This new area will be linked to activity centers that exist in the City of San Luis Obispo. The activity centers in the city are the downtown commercial area along Marsh Street and Higuera Street, the San Luis Marketplace off of Madonna Road, the Cal Poly campus and the airport. Recognizing these activity centers is important in order to know where people will go to shop, live and travel. Downtown San Luis Obispo will remain the center of town with its night life, restaurants, and history and community involvements. San Luis Marketplace will remain the site of big box retail stores. The Cal Poly campus is important because over 20,000 students attend and live in the surrounding areas. The airport is a vital link to Los Angeles and San Francisco. Linking all of these areas is important for sustainable growth. The map of the activities center can be found in appendix A of this report.

Special Project

SLO South Transit Center

The SLO South Transit Center will be located just south of the South Hills in between Broad Street (CA227) and South Higuera Street. Not only will it act as a major transit hub for San Luis Obispo (SLO), it will be the center of the developmental plan of SLO South. The transit center’s main goal is to promote sustainability by encouraging alternative modes of transportation in a friendly and comfortable environment.

Core

The plan for the SLO South Transit Center is circular in nature. This idea was based from the methodology of comfortable walking distances. The core of the center will have a diameter of approximately a quarter mile. This area will be strictly a pedestrian zone, highlighted in red in Figure TC-1, outfitted with high-density mixed-use buildings, a bike station, and a light rail station. The green circle represents a pedestrian courtyard around

Figure TC-1: SLO South Transit Center

the light rail station highlighted in blue. The center’s core will strive to be a one-stop area including restaurants, retail, and a market fed by all modes of transportation. Above these stores will be office space and ultimately residential. A five story limit will be set to withhold the small town charm of San Luis Obispo. A highly integrated Class I bike/pedestrian system will enter the core from all directions. Bicyclists can utilized a bike station conveniently near the light rail station.

Secondary Ring

At the border of the pedestrian zone lies a “busses only” street. This will allow for a bus zone. With the low traffic and low speeds that will result on this street, a “semi-pedestrian zone” can be created by having the pavement at sidewalk grade and painted or imprinted. Medium-density mixed-use can be accessed on the other side of this street. Under the medium density buildings will lay parking garages for residents and visitors; they can also be used for park and rides. Access to these parking garages, however, will not be located here. Tertiary Ring

Acting as a bor

use development will be the tertiary ring. This perimeter road will be the personal automobile deterrent. It will connect West Prado Road to East Prado Road without allowing it to become a thoroughfare. It will also allow a connection to Margarita Avenue and Santa Fe Road. The perimeter road will have four access points, all of which are roundabouts.

This design will allow residents of San Luis Obispo to shop, work, and live with ease without the use of the personal automobile. Alternative modes of transportation will clearly be more attractive to use.

Bibliography

▪ Airport Area Specific Plan, (City of San Luis Obispo)

http://www.slocity.org/communitydevelopment/docsandforms/draftdocs.asp

▪ Margarita Area Specific Plan, (City of San Luis pment/docsandfrom

http://www.slocity.org/communitydevelo

▪ Regional Transportation Plan 2025 (SL

http://www.slocog.org/projects/rtp1.html

▪ San Luis Obispo Circulation Elem