Title
Connecting Howe Avenue Safety and Mobility Plan (T15180417)
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FileID
File ID: 2026-00455
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Location
Location: District 6
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Recommendation
Recommendation: Adopt a Resolution: 1) approving the Connecting Howe Avenue Safety and Mobility Plan; and 2) amending the Streets for People Active Transportation Plan to reflect the Connecting Howe Avenue Safety and Mobility Plan.
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Contact
Contact: Charisse Padilla, Transportation Planner, (916) 808-6788, cpadilla@cityofsacramento.org; Jennifer Donlon Wyant, Mobility and Sustainability Division Manager, (916) 808-5913, jdonlonwyant@cityofsacramento.org; Department of Public Works
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Presenter
Presenter: None
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Attachments
Attachments:
1-Description/Analysis
2-Resolution
3-Exhibit A - Connecting Howe Avenue Safety and Mobility Plan
4-Exhibit B - Streets for People Plan Amendments
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Description/Analysis
IssueDetail
Issue Detail: In July 2024, the City of Sacramento kicked off Connecting Howe Avenue Safety and Mobility Plan (The Connecting Howe Avenue Plan or The Plan). The purpose of The Plan is to identify a data-driven, community-supported plan that identifies future transportation investments to improve safety and mobility along the Howe Avenue corridor from Fair Oaks Boulevard to the Power Inn Light Rail Station.
The Final Draft Plan is a result of a two-year long community engagement and transportation planning process.
This is an action item to pass a Resolution approving the Connecting Howe Avenue Safety and Mobility Plan and amend the Streets for People Active Transportation Plan to include these bicycling and walking facilities. The timeline for the recently adopted Streets for People Plan was just ahead of the Connecting Howe Avenue Plan efforts. Community input specifically for this corridor resulted in modifications that differed from the Streets for People Plan. The adopted Plan components will be incorporated into the Streets for People Active Transportation Plan.
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PolicyConsiderations
Policy Considerations: The project is consistent with specific Sacramento 2040 General Plan goals and policies of promoting mobility, safety and enhancing livability, sustainability, and economic vitality:
M-1. An equitable, sustainable multimodal system that provides a range of viable and healthy travel choices for users of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities.
M-1.2 User Prioritization. The City shall prioritize mobility, comfort, health, safety, and convenience for those walking, followed by those bicycling and riding transit, ahead of design and operations for those driving.
M-1.3 Healthy Transportation System Options. The City shall plan and make investments to foster a transportation system that improves the health of Sacramento residents through actions that make active transportation, nonmotorized modes, high-occupancy, and zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) viable, attractive alternatives to automobiles that use internal combustion engines.
M-1.4 Designing to Move People. In planning, designing, and managing the transportation system, the City shall prioritize person throughput to shift trips to more efficient travel modes and upgrade the performance of limited street space.
M-3. Streets designed and maintained as places that contribute to quality of life.
M-3.2 Street Design. The City shall ensure street design and potential redesign opportunities for existing streets minimize driver speed as appropriate within residential neighborhoods and incorporate street trees wherever possible without compromising connectivity for emergency access or people bicycling, walking, and using mobility devices.
M-4. A safer transportation system.
M-4.1 Application of Safety. The City shall design, plan, and operate streets using complete streets principles to ensure the safety and mobility of all users.
M-4.2 Safer Driving Speeds. The City shall work to maximize the safety of the transportation network by designing streets for lower driving speeds and enforcing speed limits in an unbiased manner as well as promoting safer driving behavior.
M-4.3 Vision Zero. The City shall utilize a data driven, “vision zero” approach to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries by 2027, while increasing safety, health, and equitable mobility for all.
Additionally, this is in accordance with the following Council approved plans:
Vision Zero: This plan supports the City’s Vision Zero goals to utilize a data driven, “vision zero” approach to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries by 2027, while increasing safety, health, and equitable mobility for all. This corridor is part of the City’s Vision Zero High Injury Network.
Climate Action & Adaptation Plan (CAAP): This plan will support the City’s mode shift goals in the CAAP to achieve 6% active transportation mode share by 2030 and 12% by 2045, as well as support public transit improvements to achieve 11% public transit mode share by 2030 and maintain through 2045.
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EconomicImpacts
Economic Impacts: None.
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EnvironmentalConsiderations
Environmental Considerations:
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA): The action requested is review of a citywide planning study to be used as guidance for future engineering, design, and analysis. Projects consistent with the Plan will be subject to review pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act during the Preliminary Design and Environmental phase. The City Council will be asked to review and approve the Plan’s conceptual approach and provide general direction, an action which is covered by CEQA Guidelines Section 15262. That section provides an exemption from CEQA review for a project that involves "...only feasibility or planning studies for future actions which the...agency...has not approved, adopted or funded.”
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Sustainability
Sustainability: The Connecting Howe Avenue Plan will provide for improved active transportation support, to reduce the necessity for trips by automobile and related air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, consistent with the goals outlined in the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and vehicles miles traveled by increasing active mode share citywide to 6% by 2030, 12% by 2045. The Plan will also help improve access to transit, helping achieve the CAAP goal to increase public transit mode share to 11% by 2030.
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Commission/Committee Action
Commission/Committee Action: At its January 15, 2026 meeting, Active Transportation Commission passed a motion to forward a recommendation to City Council to adopt the Connecting Howe Avenue Safety and Mobility Plan.
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RationaleforRecommendation
Rationale for Recommendation: Howe Avenue is one of the City’s Vision Zero Top 10 corridors. The City applied for, and was awarded, a Caltrans Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant in late 2023 and started the planning effort in Spring 2024. Through engagement with the community, a two-year long planning process has resulted in the Connecting Howe Avenue Plan. The action requested is to pass a Resolution adopting the Connecting Howe Avenue Safety and Mobility Plan.
The recommended improvements included in this Plan enhance the transportation safety and mobility options for all modes of transportation along the Howe Avenue corridor. The recommendations in the Plan are captured in the attached amendment to the Streets for People Active Transportation Plan (attachment 4).
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FinancialConsiderations
Financial Considerations: The planning level estimated cost to implement the Connecting Howe Avenue Plan is approximately $48,800,000, which includes conceptual design and environmental clearance, as well as final design and implementation.
Approval of this Plan does not obligate funding for the recommendations, and no funding for implementation of the Plan has been identified at this time.
No General Funds are obligated with this recommendation.
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LocalBusinessEnterprise
Local Business Enterprise (LBE): Not applicable.
Background
Background: In 2018, the City’s Vision Zero program identified the Vision Zero top 5 and top 6-10 corridors for transportation related fatalities and serious injuries. Howe Avenue between Fair Oaks Blvd and the Power Inn light rail station was in the top 6-10 corridors. From 2018-2021, staff developed, finalized and Council approved the Vision Zero Top 5 Corridors Plan. In 2023, staff focused on corridors 6-10 and applied for a planning grant. The Howe Avenue Safety and Mobility Plan received funding and began planning work in 2024.
The planning effort began with a review of relevant adopted plans, followed by an analysis of existing operations and infrastructure. This data was supplemented with robust community engagement that included digital and printed surveys, virtual and in-person workshops, pop-ins at community association meetings and other community events and destinations.
Throughout community engagement and plan development, the following common community priorities emerged for Howe Avenue:
• Improve corridor safety, particularly by slowing car speeds and increasing driver awareness
• Remove barriers for people walking, rolling, and biking to key destinations
• Create low stress facilities that improve safety for people biking
• Create low stress, accessible travel paths for people walking, rolling, and
bicycling to reach transit
The Plan was created with communities on and around the Howe Avenue corridor. Engagement included community listening and collaboration, meeting residents where they are in their neighborhoods, as well as hosting in-person and virtual workshops and interactive resources on the project website. The planning process also included frequent presentations to the City’s Active Transportation Commission.
Development of the Connecting Howe Avenue Plan Final Draft included three distinct phases of engagement:
Phase 1: Listen & Learn- Community Vision, Goals, and Information Gathering
October - December 2024
To establish community vision, the project team hosted an in-person and a virtual community workshop, a Community Advisory Committee meeting with community members interested in taking a larger role in the engagement process, as well as an interactive web map and survey (Social Pinpoint) on the project website. Staff also attended a Folsom Boulevard Coalition meeting by Zoom.
Additionally, staff sent out notifications through the City Minute Blog and Transportation Planning monthly newsletter, as well as a presentation at Active Transportation Commission in November 2024.
Phase 2: Alternatives Analysis, Develop Recommendations, and Build Consensus
June - July 2025
In phase 2, the project team developed a set of alternative recommendations and presented them to the community for feedback. The recommendations were a result of several data analyses combined with community input the project team received during Phase I community engagement.
Engagement was led by City Staff with support from the consultant project team. This included meeting with the Community Advisory Committee, a presentation to Sac State students, hosting a virtual workshop and two (2) in-person community workshops, and pop-ins at community events, locations, and meetings (Oki Park Food Truck Event, Power Inn Light Rail Station, Sierra Oaks Neighborhood Association Meeting).
Additionally, staff sent out notifications through the City Minute Blog and Transportation Planning monthly newsletter, the Connecting Howe Avenue mailing list, as well as a presentation at Active Transportation Commission in August 2025.
Phase 3: Public Draft Plan Review and Comment
October - November 2025
Phase III community engagement sought to encourage community members to review and provide feedback on the Public Draft Plan. Engagement efforts included an interactive document review portal (Konveio) on the project webpage where community members could review the Draft Plan and leave comments in the document, City hosted virtual and in-person workshops, and pop-ins at community destinations and events (Power Inn Light Rail Station, Sac State Network Café Event, Neighbors of College Glen Trunk or Treat Event, and a Sac State presentation/ mini workshop).
Additionally, staff sent out notifications through the City Minute Blog and Transportation Planning monthly newsletter, the Connecting Howe Avenue mailing list, as well as a presentation at Active Transportation Commission in October 2025.
The Connecting Howe Avenue Safety and Mobility Plan Final Draft was developed with input from area residents, community partners, Active Transportation Commission, and analysis of existing conditions data.
The Final Draft Plan features the following:
• Adding a shared-use path along the east side of Howe Avenue
• Adding a landscaping buffer with shade trees and lighting on the east side of Howe Avenue
• Filling sidewalks gaps
• Lowering posted speed limits
• Adding a shared use path through University Park and an enhanced crossing on University Avenue
• Adding signalized crosswalks at US 50 ramp crossings
• Adding a cantilever bridge on the east side of the American River Bridge and the US 50 overpass
The plan will also include additional key elements in response to community input, such as:
• Removing a travel lane in each direction between American River Drive and the American River Bridge
• Speed Diverters north of the University Ave/ American River overpass
• Optical Speed Bars (where appropriate)
• Adding an at-grade connection south of the river between shared use path and existing trail connector
The Connecting Howe Avenue Safety and Mobility Plan Final Draft is included as Attachment 3.
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