Caltrans District 12 Active Transportation Plan

Welcome

Welcome to the 2022 Caltrans District 12 Active Transportation Plan! This Story Map provides an interactive way to view existing conditions and needs for people walking and biking in District 12, Orange County. The Plan’s main outputs are lists and maps of location-based needs, prioritized highway segments, and prioritized highway crossings, which are also mapped on this site. We encourage you to use this map to view conditions and needs in your community.

The Caltrans statewide plan,   Toward an Active California  , envisions that by 2040, people in California of all ages, abilities, and incomes will be able to safely, conveniently, and comfortably walk and bicycle for their transportation needs. The Caltrans District 12 Active Transportation Plan (Plan) aligns with that vision by identifying needs along and across the State Highway System (SHS). It is guided by the four goals in  Toward an Active California:

  • Mobility: Increase walking and bicycling in California.
  • Safety: Reduce the number, rate, and severity of bicycle and pedestrian involved collisions.
  • Equity: Invest resources in communities that are most dependent on active transportation and transit.
  • Preservation: Maintain a high-quality active transportation system.

This Story Map is a companion to the Active Transportation Plan Summary Report, a more detailed written document that is available on the District 12 page of the  Caltrans Active Transportation Plans website . The Summary Report includes background about this project, its process, and next steps for meeting the needs of people walking and bicycling in District 12. 

The Plan uses the terms pedestrian and walking broadly to include people of all ages and abilities, including those walking and those using assisted mobility devices like wheelchairs. It uses the term bicycling to include traditional bicycles and a wide variety of other human-powered and electric-assisted devices that use typical bicycle facilities, including devices adapted for use by people with disabilities. 

The Story Map sections below provide a guided narrative of key active transportation topics in District 12, sometimes using examples of locations throughout the district. The interactive "Explore the data" feature provides all available data about any location in District 12. This site is best viewed on a desktop in  Chrome  or  Firefox . 

Please note that the geographic and mapping information presented on this web page is for informational purposes only, and is not suitable for legal, engineering, or surveying purposes. Mapping products presented herein are based on information collected at the time of preparation. Toole Design Group, LLC makes no warranties, expressed or implied, concerning the accuracy, completeness, or suitability of the underlying source data used in this analysis, or recommendations and conclusions derived therefrom. 

Existing conditions

The following maps describe general conditions of the SHS, the network of roadways across the district operated by Caltrans. A more detailed exploration of these measures is available in the Summary Report; key highlights are summarized here. See the “Explore the data” section of this page for additional existing conditions measures. (Note that all plan data sources provide a snapshot in time, and conditions on the ground can vary due to changes in travel behavior, local development, and infrastructure aging, maintenance, and improvements.)

Surrounding land use context

The SHS in District 12 includes 278 miles of roadway, most of which travels through urban areas. Every SHS segment in the district is designated as one of the following four types according to its access control and land use context:

  • Urban and rural conventional highways, which are at-grade highways that allow direct private property access and include intersections rather than interchanges.
  • Main streets, which are a subset of conventional highways that serve as primary corridors for daily activities in many communities, making up 24% of the SHS in District 12.
  • Urban freeways, which are highways with full access control, interchanges providing connections to other routes, and two or more motor vehicle lanes in each direction.

Walking and bicycling prohibitions

People are prohibited from walking and bicycling on some parts of the SHS. In District 12, no main streets and very few conventional highways prohibit walking and bicycling, but nearly all freeway segments prohibit both. As freeway segments that prohibit walking and bicycling make up 68% of the SHS in District 12, many communities in the central part of the district rely on non-SHS facilities as their means to travel by walking and or bicycling.

Walking and bicycling trip potential

Land use, demographics, built environment characteristics, and distance influence the extent to which a person can or will choose to walk or bicycle for daily needs or recreation. Many people can make trips of less than 1 mile by walking or less than 2.5 miles by bicycling. The Plan identified locations where people are making short trips today by any travel mode. The majority of short trips on the SHS occur on main streets, as these roadways are most likely to connect users to varied and closely spaced destinations. Investing in walking and bicycling improvements on the SHS in these kinds of locations has the greatest potential to shift people from vehicle trips to active travel.

Bicycle facilities

Bicycle facilities are divided into four classes: 

Class I bicycle facilities are off-street paved bikeways that separate users from vehicle traffic.  

Class II bicycle facilities are on-street bike lanes that may be separated from traffic by a single paint stripe or buffered by a double stripe to create greater separation.  

Class III bicycle facilities are on-street travel lanes shared with cars, typically marked with symbols indicating that bicyclists may be present.  

Class IV bicycle facilities are cycle tracks or protected bikeways separated from traffic by a range of designs, such as wide striping with barriers, a parking lane, or a curb. 

Most bicycle facilities on the District 12 SHS are Class I or Class II, while local and regional facilities include a wider range of facility types.

(Please note that this facility map is a snapshot in time and may not reflect more recent bikeway improvements. Class III facilities are not included in project maps due to data limitations.)

Identifying needs

This plan identifies location-based needs, or specific locations along the SHS where infrastructure investments would most benefit people walking and bicycling and best achieve the goals of Toward an Active California. This section of the Story Map describes how and where those needs are located in District 12 and how they were sorted into prioritization tiers. 

Location-based needs

    Caltrans evaluated data about the SHS from its own inventories, from local and regional plans, and from extensive public input to determine where gaps and barriers in walking and bicycling infrastructure are present. Locations were identified as having needs if they met one or more of the following criteria:

    • Main Street sidewalk gaps 
    • Sidewalks in fair or poor condition 
    • Sidewalks along higher-speed highways 
    • Stressful pedestrian or bicycle crossings (accounting for the absence of median islands and marked crossings, posted speed limits, and other factors) 
    • Stressful bicycle segments (due to factors such as high speeds, high traffic volumes, and narrow or absent bikeways) 
    • Infrequent opportunities to cross under or over freeways 
    • Freeway crossings requiring upgrades of various kinds to be more comfortable for people walking or biking. 

This map displays where location-based needs exist in District 12 for people walking or bicycling along the highway (shown as lines) or across the highway (shown as dots). Dots also include freeway crossing needs. 

Public and agency input

Many of the location-based needs were identified in local and regional plans or are at locations that were the subject of public and agency comment. The map shown here illustrates locations where partner agencies and the public responded to interactive surveys to identify active transportation needs.

Prioritization

Locations with needs on the State Highway System were evaluated and prioritized according to how well they align with the goals of Toward an Active California. This helps assess the relative benefits of potential improvements. This involved three steps:

Step 1: The SHS was divided into smaller segments that approximate in scale the highway segments Caltrans might use to develop its improvement projects. 

Step 2: Each segment and freeway crossing were assigned scores based on measures related to mobility, safety, equity, and preservation performance. These measures reflect the goals of Toward an Active California, with weights assigned to reflect local active transportation vision and input. 

Step 3: Scored segments and freeway crossings were ranked and sorted into tiers; Tier 1 represents the highest intensity of need. 

This map shows highway segments and freeway crossings by prioritization tier, giving a relative sense of needs across the district. Active transportation needs at any given location should always be considered for incorporation into nearby projects regardless of their tier. Caltrans has access to additional details about needs at specific locations, which can be used to support project development. Click on any need to see whether it was identified in a local or regional plan. 

Explore the data 

Use the application below to explore existing conditions and needs data in greater detail. For a more detailed explanation about each layer, please refer to the Walking and Bicycling in District 12 Today and Needs for People Walking and Bicycling on Caltrans Highways sections of the Summary Report, which is located on the District 12 page of the  Caltrans Active Transportation Plans website . 

Next steps

The District 12 Active Transportation Plan serves as a critical step in implementing Caltrans’ statewide vision for improving the walking and biking experience along the SHS in Orange County. Caltrans and partners in local agencies and community-based organizations all have important roles to play in supporting highway improvement projects that meet the needs of people walking, including the needs identified in this plan. 

District 12 staff will carry forward implementation of the Plan’s recommendations. This includes:

Identifying and initiating projects that develop, evaluate, and advance walkway and bikeway improvements in priority need locations that emerged from the Plan. District 12 will collaborate with agency partners through planning, project design, community engagement, and site visits. 

Using resources to select improvements, such as the Caltrans  Complete Streets Elements Toolbox  and other state and federal resources that offer guidance for project development decisions. 

Fund projects using a range of funding mechanisms, which are described in more detail in the Summary Report. 

Local jurisdictions can help by coordinating with District 12, partnering with Caltrans to advance local priorities into projects, and seeking out Caltrans funding opportunities. To improve planning and coordination in District 12 and throughout the state, Caltrans commits to sharing data whenever possible and encourages other public agencies and organizations in the region to do the same.

Additional information about this planning effort can be found on the  District 12 Active Transportation Plan webpage . Caltrans District 12 staff can provide additional information about upcoming projects in your community, provide input, and coordinate on project identification, development, and implementation. Your District 12 staff contact for the Active Transportation Plan is: 

Irene Hou,  irene.hou@dot.ca.gov , (657) 328-6272

Data Sources

Bicycling trip potential: LOCUS, 2019

Bicycle facilities: Active Transportation Asset Inventory Pilot, District 12 Facility Inventory, District 12, Off-SHS Bicycle Facility Types: Orange County Transportation Authority

Land use context: Caltrans Transportation System Network

Walking and bicycling prohibitions: Caltrans Transportation System Network, OpenStreetMap

Walking trip potential: LOCUS, 2019