Related Plans & Programs

Monterey Park is part of a large metropolitan area and of necessity, must integrate its local street system with existing and planned regional systems. Transportation planning and management require cooperation and coordination among many state, county, and regional agencies. Relevant agencies include Caltrans, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), and the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), which addresses air quality issues associated with vehicle traffic. These agencies have federal and state mandates to adopt transportation-related programs affecting Monterey Park and other jurisdictions throughout the area.

Regional Transportation Plan

The Regional Transportation Plan is a component of the Regional Comprehensive Plan and Guide prepared by SCAG to address regional issues, goals, objectives, and policies for the Southern California region into the early part of the 21st century. The plan, which SCAG periodically updates to address changing conditions in the south land, has been developed with active participation from local agencies throughout the region, elected officials, the business community, community groups, private institutions, and private citizens. The plan sets broad goals for the region and provides strategies to reduce problems related to congestion and mobility. Goals of the Plan relevant to Monterey Park include:

  • Improving the levels of service for the movement of people and goods.
  • Ensuring that transportation investment provides the greatest possible mobility benefit.
  • Serving the transportation needs of everyone.
  • Developing regional transportation solutions that complement subregional transportation systems and serve the needs of cities and communities.

In recognition of the close relationship between the traffic and air quality issues, the assumptions, goals, and programs contained in the plan parallel those used to prepare the Air Quality Management Plan.

Downtown Parking Management Program

The Downtown Parking Management Program is a city program that provides a variety of parking strategies for commercial businesses (retail, office, and restaurants) in the downtown area. A toolbox of options is provided to address parking issues at a site and a project may decide to use one strategy or a combination of multiple strategies. A few of the parking options included in the program are:

  • Joint Use - A parking arrangement that serves two or more land uses.
  • Clustered Parking - Combines several parking uses in a facility to better use parking spaces, maximize land use, and to reduce overall development costs.
  • In-lieu of Parking Fees - Offers the developer the option of building the required parking or contributing funds for future parking or transportation improvements.
  • Demand Based Parking Requirements - Bases parking requirements on actual local demand levels. Requires current and future parking demand study.
  • Preferential Parking for Ride-share Vehicles - Reserve conveniently located parking spaces for carpools and vanpools.

Parking management strategies can be combined with transportation demand management options (transit, carpools, bicycles, etc.) to better use parking resources while reducing solo occupant commute trips.

Congestion Management Plan

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), is responsible for planning and operating regional transit facilities and services in Los Angeles County. The MTA prepares the Congestion Management Plan (CMP) mandated by state law. The Los Angeles County CMP identifies the transportation network, establishes services levels for network routes, identifies strategies to reduce congestion, and sets forth requirements for local jurisdictions to ensure CMP compliance. Individual cities within Los Angeles County are responsible for implementing the CMP.

CMP Implementation

To implement the CMP, Monterey Park must:

  • Conform to the established level of service.
  • Adopt and implement a transportation demand management ordinance.
  • Implement a program to analyze land use decisions on the regional transportation system.
  • Track development and implement measures to accommodate new traffic resulting from new development, and if the measures fail to balance growth with mitigation, then prepare annual deficiency plans for portions of the CMP system failing to meet the established service level of standards.

Freeway / Interstate Model Traffic

If desired, adopt its own sub-county traffic model. The CMP includes the following freeways in Monterey Park:

  • San Bernardino Freeway (Interstate 10)
  • Long Beach Freeway (Interstate 710)
  • Pomona Freeway (State Route 60)

Air Quality Management Plan

The federal Clean Air Act requires preparation of plans to improve air quality in any region designated as a non-attainment area. A non-attainment area is a geographic area identified by the Environmental Protection Agency and/or California Air Resources Board as not meeting state or federal standards for a given pollutant.

The plan must outline specific programs, strategies, and timelines for bringing the area into compliance with national and/or state air quality standards. The Air Quality Management Plan prepared by the South Coast Air Quality Management District, first adopted in 1994 and updated on a three-year cycle, contains policies and measures designed to achieve federal and state standards for healthier air quality in the South Coast Air Basin. Many of the programs address circulation improvements, since fossil-fuel-powered vehicles account for more than 60 percent of the NOx emissions and 70 percent of the carbon monoxide emissions within the basin.