A Solution for North Lake Ave
At the recently held virtual meeting for North Lake Ave, the Pasadena Department of Transportation (DOT) presented three different design options for N. Lake Ave. Because of community support and at the behest of District 5 Councilmember Jess Rivas, two design options included protected bike lanes. Both of the protected bike lane options, the buffered bike lane and the sidewalk-level bike lane, placed the bike lanes on both sides of the street. DOT’s stance is that because of this design feature, ADA accessibility and other curb access issues prevent DOT from recommending either of those protected bike lane design options. So, as of now DOT is not recommending any bike facilities be included into the North Lake Ave project.
This would be a major loss for Northwest Pasadena, given that Lake Ave station is Northwest Pasadena's primary Metro station and it does not have dedicated parking like other Metro stations in Pasadena. Furthermore, other Metro stations in the City already have bike facilities (Sierra Madre Villa Station), are planned to receive bike facilities (Allen Station and Del Mar Station) or may potentially receive them in the future (Memorial Park Station with the Arroyo Link proposal). Without the inclusion of bike facilities into the North Lake Ave project it is conceivable that the project would not score high enough to qualify for an Active Transportation Program (ATP) grant and thus funding for the project would prove difficult for the city.
So why can’t Northwest Pasadena receive the same type of infrastructure that other neighborhoods already have, or are planned to receive? Why can’t Northwest Pasadena have a design for North Lake Ave that would increase its likelihood that it could actually receive funding? Northwest Pasadena bore the brunt of the 210 freeway construction, does it not deserve the best engineering designs that modern transportation professionals have at their disposal to address the chronic safety issues facing North Lake Ave? Shouldn’t North Lake Ave be a safe, sustainable street that can help Northwest Pasadena thrive?
TLDR? Please take direct action now to support Northwest Pasadena!
Even if you’ve already sent an email to City Council, please click the link below to send a new one. DOT has not looked at a two-way cycle track, and a two-way cycle track design would alleviate the issues that DOT cited as to why they will not recommend bike lanes in the North Lake Ave project.
One reason why, is two separate plans
The North Lake Ave project was largely conceived by District 5 Councilmember Victor Gordo, now Mayor, in response to the ongoing efforts by the Playhouse Village/District to implement improvements for Colorado Blvd and Lake Ave south of the 210. Instead of looking at Lake Ave as a transportation corridor centered around the Lake Ave Metro Station, it has been broken up into two separate plans: one for Lake Ave south of the 210 and one for Lake Ave north of the 210. These two separate smaller corridor plans prevent DOT from looking at the corridor holistically. They neglect first-mile last-mile solutions for the Lake Ave Metro Station, they also ignore the future NoHo-Pasadena BRT station that will be located at Lake Ave and Colorado. These two separate plans for Lake Ave will hold Lake Ave Metro Station back and prevent Northwest Pasadena from getting the same infrastructure improvements that other parts of the City have or will receive.
The Pasadena Street Design Guide (PSDG) adopted in 2017 sets guidelines for the City when designing or more accurately, redesigning its streets. Within the PSDG North Lake Ave is defined as a “Connector-City Street.” The context assigned to it is “Suburban Commercial.” A "Freight Overlay" exists for North Lake Ave as well; however as the PSDG states “There are several circumstances in which two modal overlays appear in the same corridor... In these cases, bike and transit design elements should take priority over freight due to the vulnerability of those system users.”
With that framework, there are specific guidelines within the PSDG that apply to North Lake Ave. If those guidelines are followed, NACTO’s best practices are utilized and with consulting Walk San Francisco “Getting to the Curb”, a sidewalk level two-way cycle track on one side of the street with landscaping and a second row of street trees could be included into the North Lake Ave project while retaining on-street parking where necessary and ensuring designated access for paratransit where necessary.
A sidewalk level two-way cycle track on one side of the street would presumably alleviate the issues regarding curb access and ADA accessibility that we were told were present in DOT’s consultant’s designs. We say "presumably" because Pasadena DOT only shared a “concept illustration” of the two protected bike lane options. We sent DOT repeated requests for detailed information regarding the designs and as of yet have not received this information. If DOT’s consultant utilized the PSDG guidelines the main issue in their design would have been that the protected bike lanes located on both sides of the street would require a wide enough buffer between the on-street parking and bike lanes to accommodate ADA accessibility. This would not be feasible and would conceivably exclude the option of preserving on-street parking in their designs.
Fortunately, the solution for North Lake Ave is not a new concept to Pasadena. The City is in the process of implementing a two-way cycle track on Union St from Hill Ave to Arroyo Parkway. According to NACTO’s Urban Bikeway Design Guide, a two-way cycle track should be considered “on streets where there is not enough room for a one-way cycle track on both sides of the street.” While we are supportive of the Union St project, it should be mentioned that Union St was conceived by the city, it does not and will not connect the city east to west, does not connect to any Metro Stations, and currently there are no dedicated separated bike lanes that would connect it to Northwest Pasadena.
Let’s talk about the placement of the two-way cycle track. While there are two access points on both sides of the 210 overpass for Lake Ave Station, the actual platform is located on the northbound/east side of Lake Ave. The placement of the sidewalk level two-way cycle track should acknowledge this and be located on the Northbound side/east side of the street to connect to the main Lake Ave Station access point.
A Solution: let's do the math.
The image below (all images are facing north) shows a sidewalk-level two-way cycle track on the east side of the street. By utilizing the PSDG and NACTO principles it could ensure ADA accessibility where necessary adjacent to the cycle track and maintain parking on the other side of the street where necessary.
For reference, North Lake Ave is around 100' wide throughout the corridor except for at Maple St where it balloons to 125' wide.
Northbound side/East side of street
(Where parking on both sides of the street is necessary)
6' walking zone (narrowed)
Walking zone in a suburban commercial area can be 5'-8’ wide.
The walking zone can be narrowed to 5’ to accommodate bike lanes per the PSDG
“If the street in question is in a suburban context (commercial or residential) and not part of the bike emphasis network, the clear walk zone may be reduced to 5 feet in order to provide a wider or protected bicycle facility” PSDG, 10-3
8' sidewalk level two-way cycle track
We recommend 8’ wide (4’ for each lane) where paratransit drop offs are necessary. Walk SF recommends placing these islands midblock.
Cycle track should be widen to 12’ (6’ for each lane) where paratransit access is not necessary, one side of street parking design (OSOSP Design)
Cycle track can retain parking on both sides of the street where necessary but paratransit accessible loading islands are not necessary, Walk SF: raised buffer adjacent to parking minimum 4’ rec 5’.
8' buffer/amenity/curb zone
This has been moved to the new curbside between the sidewalk level cycle track and the parking lane.
8’ buffer ensures ADA accessibility.
5’ buffer can accommodate parking where paratransit loading zones are not necessary.
Can revert back to the existing configuration, adjacent to the walking zone where parking is not necessary. (OSOSP Design)
There can be two buffers, one between the walking zone and cycle track and one between the cycle track anf the outside lane where parking is not necessary; this would enable landscaping and a second row of street trees. (OSOSP Design)
7' parking lane
The standard is 7.5' but can be narrowed to 7' to accommodate bike facilities per the PSDG guidelines.
Where paratransit and or parking is not necessary this lane can be removed and the additional space can be added to the bike lane, landscape buffer etc... (OSOSP Design)
11' outside lane
PSDG recommendation
10' thru lane/left turn lane
PSDG recommendation
10' median/center turn lane
The median width takes up a lot of space along the corridor and if narrowed by only a couple of feet similar to the median width on South Lake Ave, it would unlock a lot of options.
10' thru lane/left turn lane
PSDG recommendation.
11' outside lane
PSDG recommendation.
7’ parking lane
Narrowed to accommodate bike facilities per PSDG guidelines.
12' total sidewalk (existing width)
Includes walking zone and amenity/curb zone and is ADA accessible.
Keep in mind, because of the gluttony of off-street parking (1,813 parking spaces or 97% of available parking on North Lake Ave is located off-street in parking lots) along the corridor on-street parking on both sides of the street is not necessary all the time and removing parking where not necessary unlocks different options and help provides facilities to other modes of transportation along the corridor.
8+8+6+7+11+10+10+10+11+7-12 =100
The math when you design a street based on the values of equity, safety and moral responsibility to face climate change all while utilizing Pasadena's very own Street Design Guide!
Option 1: The current DOT recommendation
Northbound side/east side of street
12' total sidewalk (walk zone and amenity/curb zone), existing width
Maximum width according to PSDG guidelines
11' parking lane
*Doesn't follow PSDG guidelines
11' outside lane
11' 'thru lane
*Doesn't follow PSDG guidelines
11' median/center turn lane
10' recommend by PSDG
11' thru lane
*Doesn’t follow PSDG guidelines.
11' outside lane
10' parking lane
*Doesn’t follow PSDG guidelines.
12' total Sidewalk(walk zone and amenity/curb zone), existing width
12+11+11+11+11+11+11+10+12 =100
This is the math of DOT’s current recommendation for North Lake Ave. It doesn't factor in equity, the safety of all vulnerable road users, climate change or even the Pasadena Street Design Guide. It may not look like much but a foot here and a foot there adds up and this prevents North Lake Ave from being a complete street.
Bus stops and a two-way cycle track
A sidewalk level two-way cycle track design can accommodate improved bus stops amenities as well.
Lake Ave L (Gold) Line Metro Station
There are no first-mile-last-mile solutions for the Lake Ave Metro Station in the current DOT proposal.
For comparison let looks what is recommended for North Lake Ave adjacent to the Lake Ave Metro Station
Below is DOT’s current recommendation
Below is complete streets version
This section of North Lake Ave is 125’ wide. DOT is proposing an 8’ painted buffer adjacent to the 29’ wide planted median. By narrowing the median to 20’ we could have a two-way cycle track on North Lake Ave directly adjacent to the Lake Ave Metro station. This would entail looking at Lake Ave holistically and including the overpass into the project as the entrances to the Metro station are accessed from the overpass.
There is a solution for North Lake Ave!
DOT has not looked at the possibility of a two-way cycle track for North Lake Ave because Pasadena is currently not looking at Lake Ave as a transportation corridor and not focusing on the Lake Ave Metro Station.
Please tell Mayor Gordo and City Council members to support a first mile last mile plan for the Lake Ave Metro Station with a two-way sidewalk level cycle track that will ensure ADA accessibility and on-street parking where both are necessary.