CMABS News: March 17, 2025
Spring is here, and as always there is a lot going on in Costa Mesa. While celebrating local victories, we're also monitoring federal policy changes that could impact our work. Your engagement remains vital to ensuring our city continues developing safe, comfortable and inviting streets for all.
Read on for the latest news and opportunities to get involved! Let’s dive in ⤵️
More Community Bike Skills Workshop
s are coming up on April 5 and May 10
The first workshop on March 8 was a huge success, with almost 150 attendees! The next workshops will be held on Saturday, April 5 at 10:00am at Harbor Trinity Church and Saturday, May 10 at 10:00am at Tewinkle Park. We highly encourage those of you with kids or teenagers (especially those that ride e-bikes) to try to swing by.
And if you or your family members could use a quick tune up, there will be free bike repair–let the mechanics take a look!
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!!! There’s no better way to get involved than to volunteer to represent CMABS at these events. Even an hour of your time is incredibly valuable! If interested, contact jenn@cmabs.org.
And for more information about the events, check out: www.WalkMoreBikeMore.org/costa-mesa
Join CMABS for the Costa Mesa Earth Day Festival
Costa Mesa will be holding its annual Earth Day celebration at City Hall on Saturday, April 26 from 10:00am-2:00pm. CMABS will be there with our pop-up to talk to folks interested in learning more about how active transportation can support conservation, energy efficiency and reducing pollution of all kinds. This is always a fun event with lots of booths, demonstrations, food trucks, and swag.
Want to help out? We can always use volunteers to help man the booth, pass out swag, and talk to the public about CMABS! If you are interested in volunteering, reach out to jenn@cmabs.org.
Smart Cycling Class
Our friends at Walk n’ Rollers are hosting a Smart Cycling Class this coming Saturday, March 22nd, and it’s the perfect opportunity for anyone looking to boost their biking confidence and knowledge! This is not a bike rodeo like the one mentioned above—instead, this is a full day that combines both classroom learning and on-bike training to help you master road rules, bike handling, and bike safety.
It’s also a key prerequisite class if you’re interested in becoming a certified League Cycling Instructor (LCI) through the League of American Bicyclists. Whether you ride a standard bike or an e-bike, we encourage you to sign up, sharpen your skills, and take the next step toward becoming a bike safety leader here in Costa Mesa!
Love Costa Mesa Day is Back!
Mark your calendars: Love Costa Mesa Day is coming up on Saturday, May 17, 2025! This is an annual citywide day of service that brings together thousands of residents, businesses, nonprofits, schools, and faith communities to make a tangible difference for Costa Mesa residents. This year, CMABS will be proposing a clean-up, beautification and walk audit of the Joann Bike Trail as its volunteer project. Stay tuned for more details about this exciting event!
Join Lillördag - Costa Mesa’s weekly social bike ride!
When? Every Wednesday Night
@6:15pm meet up
@6:30pm ride begins
Where? Lions Park in Costa Mesa, meet by the restrooms on 18th street
What? Casual/Party pace bike ride, 10-15 mile rides around the area. 🚨Bring lights! 🚨
Follow them in Instagram for updates, pics, videos, and information on their monthly Saturday morning rides: https://www.instagram.com/lillordagbikeride/
Welcome to Costa Mesa, Paul Martin!
Paul Martin, formerly Active Transportation Coordinator for OCTA and Transportation Manager for the City of Placentia, has been appointed Costa Mesa's new Transportation Services Manager. Mr. Martin brings over 25 years of experience in both the public and private sectors. He will oversee the City’s traffic operations, transportation planning and active transportation programs, replacing outgoing Transportation Services Manager, Jennifer Rosales.
Mr. Martin is a fantastic addition to the Costa Mesa public works team. His deep knowledge of both transportation engineering and the inner workings of OCTA will provide invaluable support to the City as it strives to maintain its status as the leader in active transportation in Orange County. Welcome, Mr. Martin!
The Placentia walk audit was a success: thank you to everyone who participated!
A few weeks ago, a number of CMABS community members participated in a walk audit of Placentia Avenue, focusing on the stretch from W. 20th Street down to W.17th Street. While the City has done a lot of great things to make this stretch more walkable and bikeable, including adding street trees and bollard-protected bicycle lanes in the last year, there were still several issues that we spotted that need attention:
Bus shelters need attention, both in terms of maintenance and better bus furniture like shelters and benches
Some intersections would benefit from daylighting, as cars were parking right up to the crosswalk area and were blocking sightlines
Some overgrown vegetation that was blocking much of the sidewalk (especially troubling for wheelchair users)
Some speed signs and beg buttons to get walk signals weren’t working
There were a handful of lifted sidewalks that presented tripping hazards
Biggest concern: Lack of sufficient safe crossings with signalized crossings spaced too far apart
All of the maintenance issues were logged with the city using the Costa Mesa 311 app. If you don’t have the Costa Mesa 311 app on your phone, we would strongly encourage you to download and use it: it is a direct line to city staff for all maintenance and safety related issues.
One of our Board Members, David Martinez, put together an excellent recap video of the walk audit results. Check it out!
Want to get involved directly with City Hall on active transportation policy? Apply to join the Active Transportation Committee!
The City of Costa Mesa is calling for applications to join a number of city committees, including the Active Transportation Committee! There are three openings on the ATC this cycle. Several CMABS board members are past and present members of the ATC and we can’t speak highly enough of the experience. So if you are ready to take your love of active transportation to the next level and you want to work directly with the City Council and staff to bring active transportation projects to life, please apply! The deadline to apply is 5pm on Friday, March 21. You can find out more information about the process by clicking here.
CMABS California legislation endorsements are here!
The CMABS board has voted to endorse several key pieces of state legislation that would enhance active transportation in California, both by directly supporting safe street architecture and by encouraging walkable development. We’ve partnered with Streets for All, an all-ages-and-abilities transportation advocacy organization based in Los Angeles, to amplify the Streets for All slate of legislation.
Want to help makes these bills a reality? Stay tuned: a letter-writing campaign will likely heat up soon.
Federal Policy Alert: Active Transportation Funding Challenges
As you might have heard, the City of Costa Mesa recently announced that, due to sales tax headwinds, it expects to face a $3.6 million budget shortfall for FY 2024/2025. While staff did not propose cutting back on any active transportation projects, it did disclose that a number of such projects are funded via Federal grant funding (see the list in the image below).
Unfortunately, the current administration is signaling hostility to active transportation projects, including those already awarded. We are watching this story carefully as more information becomes available, so stay tuned for more updates here.
But before you get discouraged, remember that while infrastructure for certain types of transportation is very expensive (trains, planes, cars), we are advocates for better city streets–which we generally take to mean slower, quieter, and leafier. We are advocates for making walking and biking more safe and comfortable for more people. These simple human-scaled modes of getting around are obviously not inherently expensive, but they can and sometimes are expensive to accommodate within environments where the ability to drive fast is prioritized. This is an important fact to keep in mind.
When there’s money on the table, it’s great to invest it into big and permanent transformations that make our streets work better for everyone. But we can keep moving forward even when that money dries up––we love ideas that cost little-to-nothing but can still make a difference. If you’re curious about how small, simple changes can transform streets into places where people feel safe and welcome, check out these resources below. We’d love to hear which ideas you’d like to see in Costa Mesa!
Tactical Urbanist’s Guide. This guide by Street Plans is full of low-cost, high-impact interventions like parklets, painted curb extensions, interim bike lanes, and more, with case studies and photos.
Strong Towns: The Power of Making Small Bets. A great breakdown of the “small bets” philosophy with examples of incremental changes that improve streets and neighborhoods.
Better Block Projects. These guys show communities how easy changes to streetscapes using paint, planters, modular furniture, etc. can have a impact.
NACTO’s Urban Street Design Guide. While some treatments here can be capital intensive, they also highlight lighter, quicker, cheaper solutions like curb extensions, pedestrian islands, and street trees.
Mark your calendars for the upcoming local meetings of interest:
Costa Mesa City Council Meeting
Date: Tuesday, March 18, 2025
Time: 6:00 PM
Location: Costa Mesa City Hall
While there isn’t anything directly related to active transportation on the agenda, there are a couple of housing-related items (a report on the City’s progress on its Housing Element and an updated ordinance governing accessory dwelling units) that impact long-run walkability and bikeability in Costa Mesa. The long-anticipated development on the Costa Mesa Senior Center parking lot to build affordable senior housing will also be discussed. As this project will profoundly impact W. 19th Street it will definitely be worth tuning in to hear what is planned.
Fairview Road and Belfast Avenue Traffic Signal Neighborhood Meeting
Date: Wednesday, March 19, 2025
Time: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Location: Halecrest Park Social Room, 3107 Killybrooke Lane, Costa Mesa
Public Works is holding a neighborhood meeting to discuss the proposed installation of a new traffic signal at the intersection to aid vehicles entering and exiting Belfast Avenue. Proposed project details include:
The Belfast Avenue signal would be coordinated with the McCormack Lane traffic signal.
A dedicated left-turn signal from northbound Fairview Road to Belfast Avenue.
Construction of a new curb extension, curb ramps, and a new crosswalk across Fairview Road.
Addition of speed bumps on Belfast Avenue to slow vehicle speeds.
What do you think about this proposal? While the intent to reduce speeding, making turns safer, and crossing (on foot) safer are of course great, we tend to squirm a bit when the default solution is to add more expensive car-oriented infrastructure. The pressure to accommodate heavy traffic volume is one of the ways that Caltrans recent $2.16 billion “investment” into expanding the 405 negatively affects our city streets.
Like many past projects, we don’t have a view on this one. But we want people to know about it and to discuss the pros, cons, and possible alternatives. If you have thoughts, please consider attending and (civilly) telling our Public Works staff what you think!
OCTA Legislation and Communications Subcommittee Meeting
Date: Thursday, March 20, 2025
Time: 9:00 AM
Location: OCTA Headquarters, 550 S. Main Street, Orange
The Legislation and Communications Subcommittee of the Orange County Transportation Authority will be discussing how federal policy changes could impact OCTA projects and funding. This meeting is crucial for understanding how the proposed federal budget cuts might affect active transportation initiatives throughout Orange County.
CMABS will be represented at this meeting, and we encourage members to attend. Public comments will be limited to 3 minutes per person. If you cannot attend in person, the meeting will be streamed on OCTA's website and written comments can be submitted until March 19th at 5:00 PM.
Active Transportation Committee Meeting
Date: Wednesday, April 2, 2025
Time: 5:00 PM
Location: Costa Mesa City Hall, Room 1A
Join us in welcoming Paul Martin as the new Transportation Services Manager and hear updates on current projects.
That’s all for now. Have a great week!
