CMABS News: May 8, 2026
Hey everyone! There’s a lot going on—let’s talk about our streets! 🌳🌳🌳
Love Costa Mesa Day is upon us
This year, CMABS will be painting three former parking spaces near Sonora Elementary School in an effort to increase visibility and therefore safety at an intersection (and to comply with AB 413, the new “daylighting” law). Daylighting is prohibiting parking so close to an intersection that it precludes safe visibility for people trying to get across.
We’ll need help painting it, and if that sounds like your kind of project, please join us! Sign up right here, and we’ll see you next Saturday! Email us or DM us on Instagram if you have any questions.
Time to meet up in person again!
Sometimes we have meetings with PowerPoints and sometimes we just have social meetings. This is one of the latter, where you can just swing by when you can and say hi, share ideas, and just help us keep the momentum going. This movement depends on all of us maintaining interest in the topic of improving Costa Mesa streets and dedicating some energy to the cause. We need YOU! 🫵
See you there!
Cruise the Loop was awesome!
Cruise the Loop was a great glimpse into the amount of space we have on our streets. For a few hours on April 12, the outer lanes of Mesa Verde Drive East were opened to people walking, biking, and scootering, connecting Early College High School to Mesa Verde Plaza nearly a mile away.
One of the most interesting things about events like this is how quickly distances begin to feel smaller once streets feel safe and welcoming outside a car. What might normally seem too far to walk or bike suddenly becomes easy, pleasant, and social. The event also showed how calmer streets can support local businesses and create more opportunities for casual neighborhood interaction.
Huge credit goes to the City of Costa Mesa, OCTA, and the many local businesses and volunteers who helped make the event happen. We hope this is the beginning of more small-scale experiments that help residents experience the different ways our streets can function.
Bike to School Day was amazing as always
Elementary school kids around the city have been celebrating Bike to School Day, as they do every year (and many kids do every day). These are great reminders that 1) biking is active and fun, and 2) when the conditions are improved to make biking feel safer, LOTS of people are ready for it.
Shoutout to Costa Mesa PD for once again escorting the kids and keeping them safe from cars!
May is Bike Month!
We’re in full swing! Local fun and casual biking group Lillördag has put together a series of rides and events to join. Follow them on Instagram for more info and updates!
Also be sure to follow our local leaders Council Member Arlis Reynolds and Planning Commissioner David Martinez, who have been posting bike-related videos EVERY DAY on their social media. Let’s see if they can keep it up for the rest of the month! 😅
That’s all for now. Stay safe!
