Adams Avenue/Pinecreek Drive Intersection Multimodal Improvements Project

 

Location

Adams Avenue/Pinecreek Drive

City or County Responsible for Project

City of Costa Mesa

Category

Complete Streets Projects

Description

The Adams Avenue/Pinecreek Drive Intersection Multimodal Improvements Project (Project) implemented innovative pedestrian and bicycle safety improvements at the primary entrance to Orange Coast Community College (OCC), one of the city’s busiest bicycle and pedestrian crossing locations.

Historically, the City has consistently received citizen safety concerns at this intersection, related to motorist speeding and bicyclist and pedestrian crossing. Unfortunately, in February 2024, traffic violence occurred when a woman was killed by a motorist as she was crossing Adams Avenue to access a bus stop. This fatality and other crashes demonstrated the need for pedestrian improvements at the intersection. The City-adopted 2018 Active Transportation Plan and 2024 Pedestrian Master Plan documented a disproportionate number of collisions in the area, with a high occurrence of collisions involving people walking and bicycling at the key intersection.

To address safety and demand needs, the City engaged the local community to identify potential engineering solutions at the intersection. During engagement activities, the City received substantial public support for redesigning the intersection to better accommodate multimodal needs for people accessing OCC and the nearby residential community.

The planned Adams Avenue pavement rehabilitation project was reimagined as a Complete Streets project to increase safety and active transportation mobility at the intersection with recorded crashes affecting people walking and bicycling. The Project utilizes best practices in pedestrian and bicycle facility design with the implementation of ADA compliant sidewalks and curb ramps, reduced pedestrian crossing distances, narrowed travel lanes to manage motorist travel speeds, low-stress bicycle facilities suitable for users of all ages and abilities, and green conflict zone paint at motorist/bicycle weaving areas to enhance visibility. The project also addresses community concerns regarding the separation of pedestrians and cyclists on the multiuse paths by designating bicycle and pedestrian spaces separately using pavement legends and green pavement markings. A tally of Project totals include:
• 1,256 linear feet of green Class I path
• 8,174 square feet of high visibility green pavement markings
• 600 linear feet of Class II Buffered Bike Lane
• 2,374 feet of new sidewalk
• 20,022 square feet of new or updated sidewalk
• 4 new accessible (ADA) curb ramps
• 2 high-speed free-right (slip lanes) removed
• 1 new pedestrian crosswalk across Adams Avenue
• 3 crosswalks restriped for high visibility
• 1 green high visibility two-stage-left-turn box
• 8 accessible pedestrian signal (APS) pedestrian push buttons
• 16 signal housings with retroreflective bordered backplates
• All approaches upgraded to video detection including bicycle detection

The City worked diligently to make sure stakeholders provided input during the design process, and to minimize impacts during construction. The City worked directly with Coast Community College District staff in the design and construction phasing of the project to enhance the outcomes of the multimodal project for OCC students and faculty. The project was paid using City funds and financial participation by OCC. A second phase will begin construction in early 2026 to integrate the intersection improvements into a continuous separated cycle track bikeway along Adams Avenue between Harbor Boulevard and Fairview Road.