Politics & Government

City Looking for Consultant on Downtown Transit Plan

Walnut Creek received a $450,000 grant from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission; Almond-Shuey steps project will get a look.

The city is moving forward to plan public transit, pedestrian and bike improvements for downtown under the terms of a Metropolitan Transportation Commission grant.

In late summer, the city is due to start the consultant selection process to organize community outreach and environmental review preparation, said Andy Smith, project manager for the city, in an email.

The project will include a look at the logistics of building a nice set of pedestrian steps from the dead end of Stow Avenue down to North California Boulevard, city officials said. for such steps to link the residential Almond-Shuey neighborhood (which is central to the study area, Smith said) with the commercial corridor bounded by California Boulevard.

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In the spring, the city of Walnut Creek was awarded a $450,000 grant from the MTC to create a Specific Plan to look at transit alternatives. It calls for a cash match of $150,000 from the city, plus city staff time, Smith said.

"In addition to identifying locations where new infill development could be intensified, we expect that the Specific Plan will be used to create specific development regulations intended to implement our City’s General Plan policies that call for the preservation of the Almond-Shuey neighborhood," Smith said. "With this Specific Plan in place, we expect that the city would be very competitive in seeking additional grant funding to build the new transportation infrastructure identified in the plan." 

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