Item 32 - Santa Ana Vision Zero Plan

Home Browse Search

In order to make recommendations to change the built environment in Santa Ana, a clear picture of current conditions must be painted. This chapter attempts to describe the existing conditions in the City of Santa Ana, with subsequent chapters describing the analysis, counter- measures, and recommendations that the City of Santa Ana needs to reach Vision Zero. 2.1 Land Use Figure 2-1 showcases the existing land use pattern in Santa Ana is dominated with single-family residential development interspersed with pockets of low -medium and multi -family residential, institutional, commercial, and industrial. Commercial, professional, and administra- tion offices are primarily along major thoroughfares like Tustin Avenue and Grand Avenue. Activity areas are located in places such as Down- town and areas designated as District Centers in large land use blocks that are distributed along the perimeter of the city as well as the core area of central Santa Ana near the City Hall. Urban neighborhoods are usually near these activity centers east of downtown, along Har- bor Boulevard, Bristol Street, and Main Street. Open space is scattered throughout most of the City, but a large dedicated area is provided around Santa Ana River running north -south near the east edge of the city. Commercial and office activity centers are mostly concentrated along major and secondary arterials including Bristol Street, Main Street, Har- bor Boulevard, 1st Street, 17th Street, and Tustin Avenue. Public sites, such as schools and parks, are more evenly distributed throughout Santa Ana. 2.2 Roadway Network The City of Santa Ana maintains over 400 centerline miles of streets. The streets in Santa Ana are classified into six different categories, which is consistent with OCTA's Master Plan of Streets and Highways. The street network consists of principal arterials, major arterials, pri- mary and secondary arterials, collectors, divided collectors, and local streets. Most of these streets are not interrupted by the railroad cor- ridors and highways that traverse and surround the City. The minor streets primarily service the residential neighborhoods near railroad, highways, and utility right-of-way corridors. Nonetheless, Santa Ana has a substantial grid network and, for a suburban community, rela- tively few cul-de-sacs, but enough that main roads require bike facil- ities to allow cyclists to get through neighborhoods. The prevalence of major arterials within Santa Ana underscores the need for defined facilities along the wide roadways with higher lane counts as they typ- ically experience higher traffic volumes and collisions. It also identifies connector streets that may be good alternatives for bicycle facilities given that they have fewer lanes. The roadways were analyzed further to determine suitability as part of this study. Street Classification Primary arterial streets are limited to connections from the freeway to downtown and short segments through industrial zones at the east edge of the city. Major and secondary arterial streets follow a typical city grid pattern while supporting commercial, industrial and residential uses. A limited commuter classification runs along Broadway Boule- vard, Civic Center Boulevard, and Chestnut Avenue. As shown in Fig- ure 2-2, most streets are classified as local streets at more than 75% followed by major arterials at 12% of all roadways in Santa Ana. Speed Limits All speed limits in the City of Santa Ana comply with the California Ve- hicle Code and California Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices. While more than 75% of Santa Ana's roadway network has a speed limit of 25 mph, these low speeds are primarily located in residential neighborhoods, as shown in Figure 2-3. Though none of the streets have posted speeds over 45 mph, Santa Ana's busiest corridors along major arterials, such as Fairview Street and portions of Grand Ave- nue and 1st Street, have the highest posted speeds with nearly 80% marked at 45 mph. When factoring in primary and secondary arterials as well as major arterials, nearly 70% are marked 40 to 45 mph. The City's lowest speed streets have a posted speed limit of 25 mph, which makes them conducive to bicycle facilities, such as bicycle boulevards, also known as neighborways, while streets with more lanes and higher speeds should have physical separation if bicycle facilities exist with additional enhancements at the intersections. 22