City of Palm Desert seeks public input on “Walk and Roll” active transportation project
The City of Palm Desert is asking for public input on their Walk and Roll project which aims to improve active transportation access.
The project, which is connected to the CV Link project, was born out of a 2022 study which “assessed and identified gaps and recommended prioritized bike and infrastructure improvements.”
“CV Link came into play, and we connected PD link into that. But in connecting or creating some of those improvements, there were still gaps that needed to be filled in because it just doesn't really jive well with what's already out there. And so it's really just a combination of all of those together. So that “Walk and Roll” feeds into CV Link. And we have a very interconnected, multimodal transportation system within our city,” said Lucero Leyva, “Walk and Roll” project manager.
City officials say that phase one of the project of implementing shared roadways or “sharrows” is underway. Phase two of designing new bike lanes is still in the works.
“We had places like bike lanes that we saw and then there's no way for anyone to really go anywhere else... [the lane] would just be dropped off somewhere randomly throughout our city…we looked at the core of the city right there by basically went to live in Monterey, Portola and Fred Waring, and then looking to make sure that our sidewalks are complete," said Lucero Leyva.
Phase three of the project will cover pedestrian walkway improvements like sidewalk widening, ADA ramps and adding more crosswalks.
The city outlined some of the following active transportation goals:
- Adding sidewalks where there is no accessible pedestrian access
-Installation of combination bike/golf cart paths
-Installation of dedicated bike lanes
-ADA improvements to sidewalks, curbs, and ramps
“The idea is to get the feeder roads to feed into what's happening on Magnesia Falls behind the high school, behind Target and get it all connected throughout the city. So residents in South Palm Desert, in other words, can have a bike or pedestrian-friendly way to get to the CV link and just make it connect with the entire city," said Evan Trubee, Palm Desert city councilmember.
The city says they are looking for public input to identify additional improvements that could be made.
Palm Desert city council members will be hosting a public outreach meeting to gather feedback on this project on Thursday, February 29 at 5:30 p.m.
