CA’s Complete Streets Bill of 2024: Senate Bill 960

9/27/24 update to the post below: Today California’s Governor signed SB 960, a bill in the making since 2017. Celebrate the win!

Safer and more comfortable streets for all—including people biking, walking, rolling in a wheelchair, and taking transit, as well as people driving cars, trucks, and other motor vehicles—takes public support.

Your support is needed now for California’s Complete Streets Bill of 2024, CA Senate Bill 960!

The California Department of Transportation / Caltrans oversees maintenance, repair, and upgrades for many state routes that run through communities as main streets. These state roadways are often deadly, forcing people biking, walking, and taking transit to mix with fast-moving traffic.

California’s Complete Streets Bill of 2024, SB 960, mandates adding elements to make biking, walking, and taking transit safer as part of planned maintenance and repair projects. 

Take action today!

Join Bicycling Monterey and other California Bicycle Coalition / CalBike partners in voicing your support for Complete Streets on Caltrans corridors. How? Go to:

https://www.calbike.org/our_initiatives/streets_for_everyone/complete_streets/

Spread the word about SB 960

If sharing this info on social media, e.g., Mastodon or Instagram, be sure to include a link to https://www.calbike.org/our_initiatives/streets_for_everyone/complete_streets/. Relevant hashtags include #SB960, #CompleteStreetsCA, and #CalBike.

Doesn’t Caltrans have a Complete Streets policy?

Yes, and Caltrans has failed to follow its own Complete Streets policy (https://dot.ca.gov/programs/transportation-planning/division-of-transportation-planning/complete-streets), often downgrading needed safety features or eliminating biking and walking infrastructure during road projects, as reported by CalBike. For example, see a 7/31/24 article by CalBike Policy Director Jared Sanchez, “Incomplete Streets Part 3: Even When Caltrans Is Right, It’s Wrong,” in Streetsblog Cal: https://cal.streetsblog.org/2024/07/31/incomplete-streets-part-3-even-when-caltrans-is-right-its-wrong.

Support California’s
Complete Streets Bill of 2024
(SB 960)

ICYMI, see how to support SB 960:

https://www.calbike.org/our_initiatives/streets_for_everyone/complete_streets/

Examples of some Caltrans-controlled streets in Monterey County:

• Route 68: South Main Street in Salinas
• Route 146: Metz Road in Soledad
• Route 183: Market Street in Salinas and Merritt Street in Castroville
• Route 198: John McVeigh, Jr. Memorial Hwy in San Lucas
• Route 218: Canyon Del Rey Blvd in Del Rey Oaks and Seaside

SB 960 is critical to making some of California’s deadliest streets safer for all.

Protected bikeways, a key element of many Complete Streets, have been shown to reduce fatalities and injuries for road users in all modes of transportation.

Below: The site of a truck-bicycle collision on Market Street in Salinas. Here the driver of a truck made an unsafe turn, with the result that the truck struck Rogelio Vásquez López on his bicycle. Rogelio died that day from his injuries.