Bikeway grant gets final approvals

Another step toward building a bigger and more complete bikeway system was taken by the Garden Grove City Council at its meeting on Tuesday night. With council members Kris Beard and Patrick Phat Bui absent, the council voted 5-0 to move ahead with accepting a $340,000 grant from the California Department of Transportation.

Garden Grove’s grant request was approved in December, but to make things final and official, the council must vote to provide the grant project title and authorize the city manager or his appointee to enter into the grant agreement.

Among the goals of the project will include:

• extending a bikeway from Nelson Street (just south of Acacia Parkway, near the Home Depot building) northwest along the old Pacific Electric right-of-way to Brookhurst Street;
• creating multi-use “spokes” along bikeways including a connection to the OC Streetcar, planned to begin construction soon and reach from Santa Ana to a new transportation center on Harbor Boulevard in Garden Grove, just north of Westminster Avenue;
• exploring “mobility tools” for the downtown area, including “micro-transit,” bike share, ride-sharing and other means.

Also on Tuesday night, the council agreed to extend for 30 days the permit for the Garden Grove Farmers’ Market. A waiver of the $1551.50 was requested, but council members agreed they wanted to see more supporting material with the requested, as well as a discussion of possible changes to the market, which is held on Main Street between Garden Grove Boulevard and Acacia Parkway on Sunday mornings and early afternoons.