A 10-part series celebrating the people and milestones in and around Great Park Neighborhoods as the community celebrates its 10th anniversary.
The Beauty of Having Great Ways to Get Around
September 7, 2023
Beacon Park resident Chris Scholl has a bike for every occasion.
On weekends, you might see him riding his road bike with family or navigating a lengthier route through neighboring cities with friends. Or find him tackling rougher terrain on his mountain bike.
Scholl also leaves the car in the garage during the week and commutes from his home in Beacon Park to his workplace near John Wayne Airport on his e-bike.
Nearly 85% of his 10-mile commute each way is by trail. The rest is within designated bike lanes.
“It's a beautiful ride, I'm outdoors, not in traffic and I actually get to work a little quicker on my bike,” Scholl said. “Using gas and emissions feels unnecessary. I have a hard time justifying driving a car (to work) designed for six people as one person.”
“Nearly 85% of Chris Scholl’s 10-mile commute is by trail. The rest is within designated bike lanes.”
Utilizing alternate forms of transportation is a lifestyle that’s shared by his family. His wife, 7 year-old son and 9 year-old daughter frequently bike to Wild Rivers in the summer, and Beacon Park School is a short walk from their home as well.
“We prefer to find ways to walk or ride our bikes whenever possible rather than driving, and we can do so pretty efficiently and safely.”
Getting around easily by bike, foot or car is one of the many reasons Irvine is celebrated as one of the nation's most successful master-planned cities. It has been recognized as one of the most desirable places to live in the country by organizations ranging from the U.S. Conference of Mayors to MONEY magazine.
Since its inception, Great Park Neighborhoods has been planned and designed as a walkable and bikeable community that builds off of Irvine's strengths. People are connected to a larger network of nearby parks, trails, schools, sports and recreation facilities, and open spaces - all within close proximity to each other.
A bridge to pedestrian- and bike-friendly adventures
To enhance the pedestrian-friendly and walkable nature of the community, FivePoint’s joint venture (Heritage Fields El Toro, LLC) also built and/or participated in funding two pedestrian bridges in 2016 and 2022, respectively. The first extends over Irvine Boulevard at Ridge Valley, thus connecting the first neighborhood (Pavilion Park) with adjacent neighborhoods. The second crosses over the 133 toll road, and was built in collaboration with the Irvine Company and City of Irvine.
As part of its public-priviate partnership with the City of Irvine, FivePoint’s joint venture also designed and constructed Great Park Trails and an adjacent children’s playground. The trail, which is owned and maintained by the City of Irvine, made its debut in 2019.
“To encourage GPN residents to utilize pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, every new household is offered a signature GPN-branded orange bike.”
The 1.5-mile trail extends along Bosque street between Irvine Boulevard and Magnet (just north of Great Park Boulevard), thus connecting residents from surrounding neighborhoods to each other and to the adjacent Great Park. Extra safety precautions were employed to include multiple street undercrossings into its design, which provide contiguous trail use and a safer alternative to street thoroughfares.
To further encourage residents to utilize pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, every new household at Great Park Neighborhoods is offered a signature Great Park Neighborhoods-branded orange bike as a welcome gift from FivePoint’s joint venture, as part of a unique homebuyer program.
Intentionally-wider sidewalks and bike pathways within Great Park Neighborhoods have multiple benefits as well.
Sharing is Caring
The Irvine Station, which is located in the Irvine Spectrum Area and adjacent to Great Park Neighborhoods, provides accessible public transportation options by bus, train and rideshare. As the county’s most active transportation hub, Irvine Station serves more than a million commuters annually.
To reduce traffic impacts and further incentivize alternatives to one-driver-only commutes to businesses within Great Park Neighborhoods, commercial property owners contribute funds annually toward a nonprofit transporation management organization called GPN Go.
GPN Go uses commercial property owners’ assessments to provide employers and their employees benefits such as free rideshare and carpool coordination, as well as discounts on bus and train passes.
Charting a New Path
FivePoint’s joint venture is initiating the latest phase of a Marine Way Extension project that includes a new road, sidewalks and related infrastructure connecting Bake Parkway with Alton Parkway. The new segment of this road extends through currently-undeveloped land zoned for commercial or industrial use, among other uses. The extension will connect to a road, sidewalks and underpass that currently exists between Alton Parkway and Barranca Parkway.
The Marine Way Expansion is also intended to open pathways and alleviate traffic in and out of the Great Park through the planned construction of an underpass to be built under the train tracks, just east of the Irvine Train Station, in collaboration with government and transportation agencies.
Once completed, the Marine Way Expansion will expand multi-modal mobility and further connect Great Park Neighborhoods to the Great Park, Irvine Train Station, and FivePoint Gateway (home to the recently opened City of Hope Orange County Lennar Foundation Cancer Center, and the future hospital that is under construction and slated to open in late 2025).
In addition to reducing vehicle miles traveled (and the associated greenhouse gas emissions), the pedestrian-friendly, bike-friendly and public-transportation infrastructure helps people lead healthier lifestyles, connect with fellow residents, enhance climate resiliency, and contribute to a more sustainable transportation culture.
Fun Fact: According to the City of Irvine, there is a 113.24-mile system of off-street bikeway trails and 286.42 lane miles of on-street bikeways to encourage bicycle use as a safe and convenient means of transportation for both commuting and recreational purposes. The City of Irvine has been designated as a Bicycle Friendly Community at the Silver level by the League of American Bicyclists for creating safer streets, improving bikeways, ensuring pathways are accessible.
