North Fremont Street Corridor

The City has been looking for multiple grant opportunities to fund the construction of the North Fremont Gap Project, officially the "North Fremont Bike and Pedestrian Improvement from Casanova to Canyon Del Rey (North Side)" Project. The City is currently applying for the Clean California Local Grant Program and California Department of Parks and Recreation Proposition 68 grant program. These programs allocate funds for local communities to beautify and improve local streets and roads, tribal lands, parks, pathways, and transit centers to clean and enhance public spaces as well as improve access to regional parks, such as Laguna Grande Regional Park.

The North Fremont Gap Project will construct a multi-use ADA accessible bicycle and pedestrian path along North Fremont Street between Casanova Ave and Canyon Del Rey Blvd (SR 218). These improvements include a Class 1 multi-use path with a bridge that links the existing pedestrian sidewalk and Class IV bicycle infrastructure on North Fremont to future planned trail projects (FORTAG – Fort Ord Trail and Greenway, for more information visit: https://www.tamcmonterey.org/fort-ord-regional-trail-greenway).

The project will complete this critical gap and increase pedestrian safety; bicycle access to and through the mixed-use neighborhood; increase access to neighborhood shopping and transit; reduce vehicle trips; and complete a major piece of the Citywide Bicycle Network. The adjacent neighborhoods would greatly benefit from having a safe and convenient alternative to the use of an automobile to commute to such destinations.

The City of Monterey is hosting and outreach event on Thursday, June 24th at 6:00 regarding the North Fremont Bike and Pedestrian Improvement from Casanova to Canyon Del Rey, referred to as the "North Fremont Gap Closure Project". The Transportation Agency for Monterey County will also be in attendance to discuss the FORTAG project, the goal of the the North Fremont Gap Closure Project is to "bridge" the gap between the median bike lanes and the much larger future FORTAG network.

Please fill out our survey regarding the project, included in the link below anytime before or after the meeting. The survey will be kept open until July 9th.

Look forward to seeing you there!

Meeting Link: https://kimley-horn.zoom.us/j/91061020175

Survey Link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/nfremontgap

**Updated July 1, 2021**

In case you missed it! You can listen in to the recording using the link below, finding it in the video widget or on the City of Monterey's Youtube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLwtHv4oDNI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLwtHv4oDNI

There are many factors considered when determining what kind of bicycle facility will be implemented during the design process. Factors such as roadway conditions, parking, speed, and driveway access. The following is a list of items the City took into consideration when determining the bicycle facility type.

Parking Maneuvers Parking maneuvers introduce a potential conflict point between bikes and vehicles, when pulling in and out of a parking space.
Speed The speed limit on North Fremont Street is currently 35 mph, higher than a typical lower volume residential roadway. Selecting a option like a Class IV separated bikeway provides a physical barrier, in the case of the project railing and a grade separation, between vehicles and bikes. This provides a safer and more comfortable experience.
Driveway Conflicts North Fremont Street has several driveways throughout the corridor, roughly one every 250 feet. At every driveway there are two potential conflict points between bikes and vehicles, one when the vehicle enters and exits the driveway.
"Dooring" "Dooring" refers to a potential collision between a parked car and a bicyclists when a motorist opens the car door to exit their vehicle. This is especially of concern as it can result in the bicyclist falling into a travel lane.
Right Turn Conflicts This potential conflict point occurs at intersections, when a vehicle crosses into the bike lane to make the right turn movement.
Left Turn Conflicts Left turns can have several more conflict points than a right turn, as bikes must move to the left crossing vehicle traffic to make a left turn. On North Fremont, there would be multiple travel lanes a bike must traverse to make a left turn.

When looking at the corridor as a whole there is a potential conflict point between bikes and vehicles about every 20-30 feet, by placing the bike facility in the median the majority these conflicts were eliminated.

The North Fremont Bicycle and Pedestrian Project is the “kick-off” to realizing many of the goals outlined in the City’s Multi-Modal Plan “Monterey-on-the-Move”. The North Fremont project is an improvement for people of all-modes and will allow the City to make necessary ADA improvements along North Fremont as well. The goal of this project is to make North Fremont a safer and more accessible place for people of all abilities and travel modes. This is also a part of the vision for the North Fremont Specific Plan. For more information please see the North Fremont Specific Plan Website: https://monterey.org/planningnorthfremont

As part of the project, Median Protected Bike Lanes (Class IV) were implemented to improve access for bicyclists. As illustrated in the image above, bicyclist fall into several categories of comfort levels. In order to improve comfortable access for the majority of bicyclists rider types the City selected Class IV facilities. For more information on the safety benefits for Class IV facilities, check out our other Facts About North Fremont article, "Why not just do Traditional Bike Lanes (Class II)?"

Photo source: FHWA Bikeway Selection Guide and for a full size image click the photo.

There are many references to bike facility types in various articles and presentations on bike facility types. The following is a list of the four bike facility types used in California.

Class I - Bike Path Bike Paths, commonly referred to as shared-use or multiuse trails, are fully separated bike facilities, exclusively for the use of bike and pedestrians. There is some interaction with vehicles which is limited to trail crossing with the roadway. The Monterey Peninsula Recreation Trail along the coastline in the City of Monterey is an example of this.
Class II - Bike Lanes Bike lanes, are a portion of the roadway that is striped for one-way bike travel. Buffered bike lanes also fall into this category, this is when a bike lane is accompanied by a painted striped buffer between the bike lane and parking or travel lane.
Class III - Bike Route Bike Routes are shared facilities with with pedestrian or motor vehicle traffic. The primary purpose is to provide a connection to other bicycle facilities (typically Class II); or designate preferred bike routes. Bike routes are indicated by bike route signs and shared roadway markings along the route.
Class IV - Separated Bikeway Separated bikeways, sometimes referred to as protected bike lanes or cycletracks, provides a bikeway for the exclusive use by bicycles. What differentiates this from a Class I or a Class II is that is that it cannot be used by pedestrians or vehicles and it must include a horizontal and/or vertical separation. These horizontal and vertical separators can include: flexible posts, on-street parking, grade separation, railing or planters.

These are an example of traditional bike facility types, for more examples including bike treatments at intersections take a look at Caltrans Bikeway Classification Brochure.

Source: Caltrans Classification Brochure, 2017.

In December 2020, the City installed four touchless pedestrian push buttons on North Fremont, at the intersections of Casa Verde, Airport/Dela Vina, Ramona and Casanova.

The buttons were installed recently, as this new touchless button technology was not available prior to the beginning of the Covid-19 Pandemic. The City was approached by a couple of manufacturers, after the pandemic to consider this new technology for use in the City.

The City selected the four signalized intersections on North Fremont, in part due to the significant cost savings. The North Fremont Bike and Pedestrian Access Project upgraded the pedestrian signals, all of the hardware, wiring and units installed for the Polara ped push button system was already in place. As a result only a simple button unit swap for the new button was needed. The cost for just the buttons we swapped out was $450 per button.

The City is considering this for intersection throughout the City, however the buttons on North Fremont will provide a test run on how the operate and reliability. There is not currently a list of next intersect, however when prioritizing the implementation it will consider the current state of signal wiring and pedestrian volumes.

The touchless technology provides the many benefits, including the reduction in need to touch high-use surfaces during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The biggest benefit of this technology is for pedestrians with mobility limitations. The new buttons also have a mobile application, Ped App, which can be used by pedestrians to activate the pedestrian phase via smartphone.

For more information check out our press release or the manufacturer's website and video.

Take a look at our Project Awards, as of January 2021 the North Fremont Bike and Pedestrian Access Project received the following Awards:

The Project was also featured in the Institute for Transportation Engineers (ITE) Infrastructure Week Public Agency Showcase.

Take a look at the future North Fremont connections, including the North Fremont Gap Closure Project.

Several of these connections, such as the connection to Mark Thomas Road via Casa Verde Way, are at a conceptual level only. Click the photo above for a larger version of the map.

Many of our infrastructure projects require major utility work and coordination with other utility providers, such as PG&E. As a result of North Fremont being relatively untouched by major infrastructure work for 50 years, there was a great deal of work that had to happen beneath the surface. Our construction team also had to use unique solutions to address issues of utility conflicts, such as the choice to vacuum up soil instead of drilling.

There is a great deal of work that goes on above the project as well, take a look at the coordination between PG&E and our contractors for the installation of new traffic signal poles and traffic signal heads.

Click the picture above for full size version.

Want to learn a few quick facts about the North Fremont Project? Check out our cool graphic!

For more information check out our Frequently Asked Questions.

Click the photo above to see a full size version.