cliff drive / an opportunity

Cliff Drive, with 4-6 lanes of traffic and a right-of-way width of 100 feet, has served as a State Highway since the 1960’s.  Under the control of CalTrans, it has been focused on automobiles, with no concessions to bicycles or pedestrians.  The current design encourages speeding, and the road has been the scene of many traffic accidents, including some fatalities.   Hazardous and unattractive, Cliff Drive divides the Mesa neighborhoods.  The inefficiency of the design has forced Mesa residents to make thousands of short drives to schools, shopping, and parks that could otherwise have been accomplished on foot, bicycle, or by public transit.

With the acquisition of Cliff Drive, the City has a tremendous opportunity to improve the character of the street and the Mesa.  Instead of remaining a high-speed highway, Cliff Drive should become the “Main Street” of the Mesa, a central artery that connects the Mesa neighborhoods and brings residents together.  With increasingly high fuel costs, it is more important than ever that residents have viable options for walking, cycling, and taking public transit to their destinations; accordingly, Cliff Drive must provide more balanced opportunities for all of these forms of transportation.

The speed limit on Cliff Drive should be reduced to 35 mph, and the redesign of the street must discourage speeding.  Along many parts of the street, two vehicular lanes and a median with turning lanes will be adequate to handle normal traffic. The wide existing right-of-way of Cliff Drive, along with Repurposing Lanes in Selected Areas, can provide space for Safe Bike Lanes, Comfortable Sidewalks and Increased Landscaping for the length of the street.  Landscaping should include means to reduce storm water run-off, such as bio-swales; and native plants and trees.  Stop signs, pedestrian-activated stops and frequent crosswalks will make the street safer and more pedestrian-friendly. 

As the focal point of the Mesa, the Cliff Drive / Meigs Road Intersection needs functional and aesthetic improvements.  The existing multiple curb cuts and opportunities for cars to cross perpendicular to traffic flow should be reduced or eliminated. 

The Cliff Drive / Flora Vista / Mesa Lane Intersection should be reconfigured to reduce the existing six lanes of traffic and allow space for continuous bike lanes and comfortable sidewalks.  A realignment could also provide space for a neighborhood serving commercial use.

Specific suggestions for individual sections of Cliff Drive are outlined in the following pages, and a typical design can be reviewed at the Cliff Drive Proposal page.  They are keyed by number, two or three sections to a page.  Click on the numbers on the map, or the menu links at the top of the page, to go to each section.  Please review the proposals, then help us refine them with your comments on our circulation feedback page.