Reimagine W. 19th
Based on feedback from the community survey and community meeting that took place during the first week of August, our team has been hard at work (in their free time!) coordinating with the City to come up with a practical way to test a few possible fixes for the issues identified (like speeding and lack of greenery).
While we have designed some large-scale projects (“home runs”) for the future, we implemented some small-scale, week-long temporary interventions (“base hits”) between September 11 and September 18 to test out a few ideas while we still had our grant money. They were designed to help envision what a variety of solutions might look like, and to act as a starting point for a much larger, broader city wide conversation about traffic safety in Costa Mesa.
Many thanks to everyone who provided feedback through our survey, phone line, and e-mails. You can read all about what we did and our plans for the future in our final Reimagine 19th report.
This is just the first of many steps on the journey to Reimagine 19th.
Questions? Additional suggestions or comments? Send them to reimagine@CMABS.org or leave a message at 714-367-6874.
What did they look like?
Monrovia & 19th
Traffic circle with bulb outs.
Wallace & Center
Traffic circle with bulb outs.
Wallace & 19th
Bulbouts along the north side of 19th street to help people walking along West 19th cross more safely.
Who did the artwork?
The spray chalk artwork was designed and installed by Costa Mesa artist Salina Mendoa.
What did our renderings look like?
Monrovia & 19th
Traffic circle with bulb outs.
Wallace & Center
Traffic circle with bulb outs (bulbouts not pictured).
Wallace & 19th
Bulbouts along the north side of 19th street to help people walking along West 19th cross more safely. No renderings, sorry; there are only so many pixels a team of volunteers can fling around at once.
How can I share my thoughts?
Survey
The implementation survey closed September 25. If you still have input, please either call or e-mail us.
Phone
Leave a message at 714-367-6874.
Other Questions & Answers
Why West 19th?
West 19th has the potential to be a fantastic neighborhood spine where people feel comfortable walking and biking to and from local businesses. Thousands of residents live within the immediate vicinity, and many more within comfortable biking distance. One should not need to drive to get to W 19th. But because the street has been designed and maintained for maximum car-capacity, the comfort level is low for everyone else (and not great for drivers either!). We want to help address this issue, which many Costa Mesa neighborhoods share. But West 19th, more than many other places in Costa Mesa, is where many people are already trying to get around on foot and bike. For that reason, it is an appropriate place to start.
How did you obtain community input to inform this project?
We mailed this flier to everyone within a quarter mile of West 19th between Harbor and Monrovia. It summarizes our project in both English and Spanish. We have a high-resolution printable PDF here. We recorded more than 250 responses to our community survey, and had at least 45 people attend our community Zoom meeting. Thank you for your input and participation!
How are you obtaining community input during and after the project?
We distributed this flier to the neighborhoods adjacent to the three project demonstration sites (printable PDF available here). Posters with information of the project and survey are being posted around the project sites as well.
Do you have a report summarizing what you've done?
We have a our final report posted here. The full report is more than 100 pages long, but it has a quick summary at the front and we also have a summary presentation available as well. This report will be kept publicly available on this site, and delivered to SCAG, the City of Costa Mesa, the City of Newport Beach, OCTA, and Caltrans.
What does all this have to do with Covid-19?
As you know, many businesses are struggling, and many people are growing increasingly restless at home. Cities across the world have addressed this problem responsibly and creatively by repurposing private and public space that is normally devoted to the storage or movement of cars. This has been done in a variety of ways in a variety of contexts, but the intent is always to provide ample and comfortable room for people to venture outside for their own health and to patronize local businesses safely. Our demonstration project is intended to not only make a few intersections a little bit calmer for a period of time, but to move the local conversation forward about what kind of public spaces we want as a community, and what is needed to get us there. It may not be as complicated or expensive as we think.
See this Smart Growth America page on what U.S. cities have been doing, along with resources that we can use for our own community:
The National Association of City Transportation Officials has an entire guide dedicated to recommendations on how cities and local communities can respond to COVID-19.
From NACTO's Streets for Pandemic Response and Recovery Guide
Where is the funding coming from?
For this project, the Costa Mesa Alliance for Better Streets (CMABS) was awarded a $9,600 grant from the Southern California Association of Governments’ GoHuman Campaign, which is funded by the California Office of Traffic Safety. The aim of the "Local Community Engagement and Safety Mini-Grants" program is "to build street-level community resiliency and increase the safety of vulnerable street users, defined as those who depend on biking and walking."
Additional funding is coming from CMABS donors. Other than staff time, the City of Costa Mesa is not providing materials or resources for this demonstration project.
Who is CMABS?
The Costa Mesa Alliance for Better Streets is a group of local residents and community leaders working to create safer streets and a better city for everyone. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan public benefit corporation that in no way represents or is affiliated with the City of Costa Mesa. Learn more on our about us page.
How can I help?
We’re an all-volunteer organization, and we could really use your help:
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Share your thoughts with us: we know that those who live and work in the area understand its needs best, so we want to hear from you. E-mail us (reimagine@cmabs.org) or call us (714-367-6874 - it'll go straight to voice mail).
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Spread the word! We want to get feedback from the entire community, and especially in these times it’s tough to get the word out. Download and share fliers, link to our social media posts (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram), talk to neighbors, share with your favorite local business, and/or whatever else you can think of.
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Get involved: send us an email, and we'll bring you in the loop!
