Palm Springs moves forward with road safety study, fresh fixes for CV Link
From sorting out cyclist-pedestrian confusion on the CV Link to a deep-dive safety study on major corridors, city leaders are mapping out immediate and long-term fixes to make streets safer.
Palm Springs city staff and members of the Sustainability Commission’s Active Transportation Subcommittee outlined progress on several cycling and pedestrian projects at their meeting on Monday, including a grant-funded safety study, near-term infrastructure work along CV Link, an expansion of trailhead bicycle parking, and a neighborhood-driven effort to improve safety along Ramon Road.
The city is preparing a request for proposals (RFP) for a study and pedestrian master plan update backed by a $770,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Safe Streets for All program.
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Anthony Acosta, a civil engineer associate with the city, said the RFP is expected to be issued this month, with a consultant anticipated to be on board by the end of July or early August and community outreach expected to begin in November.
Subcommittee members suggested the downtown core — the corridor along Palm Canyon Drive and Indian Canyon Drive between Alejo Road and Sunny Dunes Road — be incorporated into the study. A city staff member said the corridor could become a significant component of the work.
On the CV Link front, Palm Springs public works staff plans to install a concrete pad connecting North Riverside Drive to CV Link as early as this month. Assistant City Manager Flinn Fagg said the work should be underway by the end of June.
The Coachella Valley Association of Governments is being consulted on signage improvements along the North Riverside Drive segment, where conflicts between cyclists and pedestrians have been a recurring concern.
“I’ve walked [that part of the CV Link] and the signage is super inconsistent and confusing,” one subcommittee member said, adding that proper signage would identify right of ways and private property.
“We want to encourage and direct bicycles onto Riverside so that we don’t continue to have those conflicts with pedestrians in the future,” Fagg said.
A stop sign for cyclists exiting the pathway onto Riverside Drive is among the safety measures under consideration.
Plans to add sharrows connecting Belardo Road to South Palm Canyon Drive via Mesquite Avenue and linking Sunny Dunes Road to Riverside Drive via Camino Real are on hold pending a citywide pavement study.
Acosta said though it would be relatively easy and fast to add the sharrows soon, he wants to wait for the results of the pavement report. “If we put the sharrows right before, and then we have to go and tear it all out,” he said.
That study, expected within the next month or two, will inform the city’s next five-year paving plan.
On bicycle parking, the subcommittee has selected three trailhead locations for new bike racks — the North Lykken trailhead at Ramon Road at La Mirada Road, South Lykken trailhead at Mesquite Avenue, and South Lykken Trail and South Palm Canyon Drive — but a formal vote cannot be taken until cost estimates and a funding plan are secured.
A staff member said cost figures will be brought to the subcommittee before its next meeting.
The Make Ramon Safe Committee — a joint effort by the Warm Sands and Baristo neighborhoods focused on the one-mile stretch of Ramon Road between Indian Canyon Drive and Sunrise Way — has a meeting set for June 17 with city engineering staff and Blue Zones representatives to establish a path forward and explore grant opportunities.
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