20 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY march 9-15, 2023 www.montereycountyweekly.com The traffic lights lining Fremont Boulevard in Seaside don’t appear to slow traffic down—if anything, they seem to incentivize speeding in hopes of beating the next red light: stop, speed, stop, speed, again, again and again. They also don’t seem to make the road safer: Fremont has the highest number of accidents of any street in the city (72 in 2022, compared to 44 on Del Monte Boulevard), and if you see someone riding a bike, it’s either crossing Fremont in a hurry or riding alongside it on a narrow sidewalk usually bereft of pedestrians. And if a pedestrian does choose to cross the thoroughfare outside of a protected crosswalk, it’s safest to do so while running. But in the current paradigm, there is at least one good thing about the stoplights on Fremont: They give drivers and passengers a chance to see what businesses are lining the street, instead of simply speeding by them. Unfortunately, however, visiting one of those businesses might require parallel-parking while a car behind you is approaching at 40mph. Fremont is a road with an identity crisis, and for understandable reasons: It used to be part of Highway 1, and it feels like it—cars drive fast, until the next red light—but there are also more businesses on its two-mile stretch than any other street in the city. And yet, it’s neither good for business, nor travel times—it’s a classic “stroad,” and there are no plans to change that anytime soon, or more precisely, any time. But Seaside has made progress in the last dozen years in revitalizing Broadway Avenue to make it more pedestrian-, bike- and business-friendly. The transformation started in 2010, when the City Council approved the West Broadway Urban Village Specific Plan, which culminated in a transformation of the street—between Fremont and Del Monte boulevards—in 2018, when the plan was finally realized. Instead of four lanes, there is now only one lane each way, the sidewalks are wider and the street now has bike lanes that actually feel safe to ride on. There is just one stoplight—and several stop signs—but traffic moves slowly enough to make it feel safe for pedestrians to cross. But the street doesn’t yet have a “downtown” feel, at least in part because none of the businesses have apartments upstairs, which is a key feature in any “urban village.” But apartments are coming to the neighborhood: Doug Wiele, who built the Trader Joe’s development in Monterey, is moving forward with a mixed-use project at the derelict Seaside Market location on Del Monte Boulevard, just south of Broadway, that will include 32 workforce housing units on the upper three floors of the planned four-story development. The coming 106-unit Ascent project on upper Broadway, near the Seaside Post Office, also promises to add more density to the “downtown” core. When it comes to Broadway, Seaside officials envision expanding the transformation for another 1.3 miles. On March 2, City Council approved its Broadway Avenue Complete Street Corridor Improvements Project, which will take all of Broadway from Fremont to General Jim Moore boulevards down to one lane in each direction. The plan calls for roundabouts at seven intersections and adding bike lanes. It will, per the plan, “create the only continuous citywide east-west bicycle facility in Seaside which will serve as a strong backbone for future safe bicycling and walking infrastructure projects throughout the city.” It will also include various infrastructure improvements like ADAcompliant ramps on sidewalks, and those improvements will branch out north-south along Yosemite Street between San Pablo and Wanda avenues, where there are three schools. The project, which is budgeted at just over $13.6 million, is fully funded, mostly through state grants. The Transportation Agency for Monterey County is kicking in another $1.58 million, some through grants, and $855,000 through Measure X funds. Nisha Patel, Seaside’s public works director, says construction is expected to start in November 2025, and that construction will take about two years. On the subject of stroads, Patel acknowledges there remains much work to do to revitalize the city’s commercial corridors from a transportation perspective, including perhaps synchronizing the traffic lights on Fremont. But for now, she says, Broadway is the “low-hanging fruit,” adding, “You can’t solve all the problems at once.” When it comes to fixing Fremont, Seaside’s main north-south thoroughfare, the city will have to reach higher. Streets & Roads Red Light District Seaside’s commercial core continues to be defined by a former highway, and will remain so indefinitely. By David Schmalz Fremont Boulevard used to be part of the old Highway 1, and cars drive like it, often traveling at high speeds until the next red light, which is sometimes the only way drivers can see the many businesses lining the street. The redesign of lower Broadway, completed in 2018, widened the sidewalks, added bike lanes and, most notably, reduced the total lanes from four to two. Traffic now moves slower and cycling feels safe. Fremont is a road with an identity crisis. Daniel Dreifuss Daniel Dreifuss
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