The Grand Boulevard Initiative announces the launch of the online Street Design Toolbox, based on the 2010 Grand Boulevard Multimodal Transportation Corridor Plan. The Toolbox contains the guidance from the Corridor Plan in a more user-friendly online format, including the Street Design Guidelines, Street Design Prototypes, and a Caltrans Design Guideline Matrix. The Street Design Guidelines promote the basic elements of the Grand Boulevard vision, while remaining consistent with Caltrans and regional agency standards. They encourage multimodal access and a boulevard street environment, and are intended to spur locally-initiated street improvement projects.
The goal of the ECHO Phase I is to define the overall development potential for the El Camino Real Corridor and make the case for why new development, if carried out well, will benefit individual communities as well as the region. The findings from the completion of Phase I, as presented by Sujata Srivastava of Strategic Economics at the December GBI Task Force Meeting, showed that the Corridor does have the capacity to accommodate future growth and can accommodate significant employment growth. The study demonstrated the fiscal 
benefits of infill development, such as increases in tax revenues and lower municipal and infrastructure costs, as well as fiscal benefits from conversion of low-performing retail sites to higher intensity uses, such as multi-story residential or office buildings. The final report will be presented to the ABAG Regional Planning Committee in February 2011 and coordinated with an event of the ABAG and MTC FOCUS Program.
Download the Final Report (PDF, 3MB)
Click here to read more about ECHO and to download the report by chapter
Open the document below to view recent news articles that highlight and/or reference the Grand Boulevard Initiative.
Grand Boulevard Reading File: October 2010 - December 2010 (PDF)
Open the document below to view recent news articles that highlight and/or reference the Grand Boulevard Initiative.
The Grand Boulevard Initiative recently won a $1.1 million federal TIGER II Planning grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation as well as a $1.7 million grant from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. The GBI's TIGER II application was one of only 33 successful planning applications out of hundreds and only 3% of the funding that was requested by all TIGER II applicants was awarded. Both of these wins are a major contribution towards advancing the GBI vision. A hearty congratulations to all Grand Boulevard Initiative project sponsors, Task Force members, Working Committee members, and staff.
