CMABS News: April 11, 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 ⤵️
If you have been looking for ways to get directly involved in active transportation and safe street advocacy, we have not one but TWO immediate action items we are asking our members to dive into:
OCTA wants to spend over $1 BILLION to WIDEN our freeways. Tell OCTA “NO”!
On Monday, April 13, at 9:30am, the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) will meet to approve spending over a billion dollars to widen the 5 Freeway, the 55 Freeway, and the 91 Freeway. If you think our freeways are already wide enough, and that precious transportation infrastructure spending can be better spent elsewhere, now is the time to act. What to do? Take a look at this action guide: we’ve put together a summary with instructions about when to show up, what the issues are, and even what to say if you need inspiration. Questions? Reach out to CMABS board member David Martinez.
The Costa Mesa city budget is facing funding cuts: we need YOUR VOICE to support active transportation!
It’s budget season and the City of Costa Mesa is facing serious budget headwinds. So when the Active Transportation Committee gives its annual presentation at the City Council Meeting on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, starting at 6:00pm, we’d like to pack the house with people that care about this issue. We want staff and Council to hear that safe streets, comfortable bike lanes, and slower traffic isn’t just a pet project for a handful of the noisy few, but an important issue that many Costa Mesans want prioritized! There are three concrete steps you can take, and we urge you to take as many of them as you can. Questions? Reach out to CMABS board member Jenn Tanaka:
Write an email and submit it to the City Clerk before 12:00pm on Tuesday, April 14, 2025. We’ve made it easy for you: click here and send our form email, or start there and add your own thoughts and projects! The more personalization, the better!
Show up in person and make a public comment. If you don’t want to stay too long, you can make general comments towards the beginning of the meeting. If you can stay longer, you can speak again (for another three minutes!) on the issue after the ATC’s presentation. It doesn’t have to be flashy or eloquent!
Call in via telephone or Zoom and make a public comment. If you aren’t able to make it to the meeting, consider joining and giving public comment from Zoom or via telephone. Instructions are contained in the first few pages of the agenda.
More Community Bike Skills Workshop
s!
🚲 We’ll be tabling at the Costa Mesa Bicycle Safety Education Program’s Community Bike Skills Workshop on Saturday, May 10, from 10am–2pm at Tewinkle Park (970 Arlington Dr.). Come say hi, grab a free helmet (while supplies last), and learn about our work to make Costa Mesa safer and more enjoyable for people who walk, bike, and roll. The event includes: Family-friendly bike skills courses 🚦Free bike repair 🔧Free helmets* 🎁 (*while supplies last)
More info: 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.
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/
New ATC Members
🚧 Active Transportation Committee Appointments
At its April 1, 2025 meeting, the Costa Mesa City Council appointed three members to serve on the Active Transportation Committee. Congratulations to the reappointed and newly appointed members! We’re excited to see this committee continue its important work advocating for safer streets and more transportation options for all. Fun fact: the committee was formed on April 7, 2015, meaning that it turned ten years old last week!
Learn more about the committee here: ATC Website
Mark your calendars for the upcoming local meetings of interest:
OCTA Board Meeting
Date: Monday, April 14, 2025
Time: 9:30 AM
Location: OCTA Headquarters, 550 South Main Street, Orange, CA
As discussed above, this one is definitely worth your time to speak out against the freeway widenings. But there are many items on the agenda worth looking at:
Item 9: Authorize the use of $789.1 million for freeway widening projects. This item would recommend allocating $789.1 million to widen the 5 (from the 405 to Yale), the 55 (from the 5 to the 91), and the 91 (from Acacia to the 55). The Staff Report and project descriptions go into further detail.
Item 15: Approve a $269.5 million contract with CalTrans to widen the 91. This item would recommend approving a contract with CalTrans to widen the 91 between the 55 and La Palma. The Staff Report goes into detail.
Item 20: Approve $25.7 million for 9 local "capacity" projects and $12 million for traffic signal sync projects. 15 projects will receive OCTA money to improve capacity and synchronize traffic signals. There are few details about what the projects actually entail, with only two specifying that they have active transportation components. “Improvements” is usually a code word for “widening.” The Staff Report is here.
Item 12: Allocates $10.1 million for the Youth Ride Free Program. $10.1 million in Low Carbon Transit Operations Program funds will be used to continue to Youth Ride Free Program for approximately 30 more months. The Staff Report is here.
Item 11: Amending OCTA’s master road plan to allow certain roads to be narrower. The OCTA Master Plan of Arterial Highways (MPAH) dictates how many lanes certain roads should have in the county. This item would amend the MPAH to reduce the number of lanes on Merrimac (from Harbor to Fairview) in Costa Mesa, on Yale (from Michelson to University) in Irvine, and on Orangewood (from Santa Rosalia to the city border) in Stanton. It would also remove a planned bridge over the Santa Ana River on Garfield/Gisler in Fountain Valley/Costa Mesa. The Staff Report is here.
Item 10: And receiving an update on active transportation in Orange County. The Committee will be receiving a presentation on active transportation updates. A Staff Report is here.
Costa Mesa City Council Meeting
Date: Tuesday, April 15, 2025
Time: 6:00 PM
Location: Costa Mesa City Hall
As discussed above, the Active Transportation Committee will be giving their annual presentation at this meeting. Budget cuts are looming so this is a great opportunity to get educated about what the city is doing on the active transportation front and the great projects that we need to continue to support!
That’s all for now. Have a great week!
