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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1981-07-07; City Council; 6660; Landscape Median Design Standard? LE :mmt CITY OF CARLSBAD In; tial: AGENDA BILL NO. 6660 Dept. Head € DATE: July 7, 1981 City Atty vw DE PA RTME NT : Engineering City MgrK 4 SUBJECT : LANDSCAPE MED I AN DES I GN STANDARD STATEMENT OF THE MATTER On October 28, 1980, City Council adopted a set of revised standards for use in the design of public improvements within the City. At that meeting staff indicated they were not prepared to recommend a median design without further investigations into the matter. After a detailed study, staff narrowed the range of possibilities to three alternatives. Alternate A with 'full landscaping, Alternate 6 with 30% land- scape and 70% colored texture concrete, and Alternative C which is the deletion of the raised median and its replacement with a painted stripe island. The alternatives were presented to the Parks and Recreation Commission which recommended median type B. On December 2, 1980, the City Council considered the Parks and Recreation Commission recommendation. Council discussed the features of each alternative, as well as the differing maintenance costs of each. cost would be reached at buildout, which would be gradual. It was noted that the projected maintenance Council recognized Mr. Bob Ladwig of Rick Engineering. Mr. Ladwig questioned the accuracy of the maintenance costs projected for Alternate B, and suggested that an option be available for developers. Council approved the complete staff recommendation as contained in the Agenda B The City Manager ha5 requested that the median design standard issue be again p before the Council. FISCAL IMPACT When all 35 miles of medians are installed, the annual maintenance costs will be approximately $52,000. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT Exemp t RECOMMENDATION File the report. EXHIBITS 1. December 2, 1980 Agenda Bill 2. December 29, 1980 letter from Bob Ladwig 3. June 15, 1981 memo from the Traffic Engineer on Safety Capac 4. Exerpt from the minutes of the December 2, 1980 Council meet of Raised Medians ACTION: ty Merits 11. aced 7-7-81 Council referred the matter to the Parks and &creation and Planning Carmissions for further report and recarmendations . i 43 -\ . , *‘ I2 (&& ‘I1 Or; O<tohei. 28, 1983, City Cciiici 1 adopted a sc,t of revised standaids for use in the dcsIgn of pub1 ic, improverxmts kiithin the City. At that ri~eiing staff indic2ted ~hcy \vert not prepsred tg r-,xuiwcr?d a nizdiarr desigri 1;;ithwt furt.i-:er- invcstigativcs into t1;c nxtter. After a detai ’ed stucly staff na:-roxed the r-znse of possibl ities to three r\ltc:rrstes. A1 ternat:: I; with ful 1 landscaping, Alrernate E, with 30% landsczpz arid . . c!ediar, and its replacemat with a painted stripe islarid. The attached Engineering li:!?Klorn!7duin ftii-tlisr dztai IS these de.signs and esplairis soilif-, cf the issues to be coil- side~-c:.ii iji rnalr.ing a dzci’sion on the matter. The alter!:atives were prcsznteci to tire Parks hnci Ikci’tmt ions Ccmiision and the! r rticoli;:nenda!:lon i c presei-iced bclow. 7 /t.d ?O cvlorcd tctxture concrete and Alterrxte C, w!Iic.h is the dcietion oi’ the raised .- ihe primary fiscal irzpact tc the City, however, will be the ongoing minccnrtncc. cr;sr_. !Ifien all 35 rliiles of the rne.ciians are co!rq>letcly built out, approximats totial cost: in todays dol lnrs to maintain them v~oulcl be $181,100 for- Alternate A, $S1,700 for Ai tc!--- na.te b, arid$18,600 for Alternate C. EXH 1 D I TS ~ --.- 1. l-tentorandurii to C i ty Eng i r;ecr 3.. !ilc;!mr-anduin to Ci t-y thnagc:r-. 3. Letter to City Er.cjiriccr for kick Enginscring ii. \h11 Exhibit A. 1. AdopI Alternative B Band Median Design as outlined by the visual aid. EXHIBIT 1 f * 1 EN G I N E E R I NG CO M PAN Y 1 K:%%%'2%?i% 3088 PJO PIC0 DR. SUlTE,202 - CARLSBAD, CA 92008 P.O.BOX1129 PHONE * AREACOOE714 0 729-4987 December 29, 1980 Mayor Ron Packard City of Carlsbad 1200 Elm Avenue Carlsbad, CA 92008 RE: CARLSBAD STANDARDS FOR RAISED M2DIANS ON MAJOR THOROUGH- FARES Dear Mayor Packard: Recently the City of Carlsbad has adopted the standard for raised medians for the major thoroughfares within the City.. ards consist basically of two raised curbs, a 20 foot landscape section and a 50 foot starrped concrete section, This section was the alternate "B" as recomxtended by the staff and the Parks and Recreation Commission. I appeared at the Parks and Recreation meeting and also addressed -__---- -__ - . - - ---I- _" - -. a letter to the City Engineee, Mr, Les Evans, suggesting that Carlsbad adopt a standard eliminating raised medians and only using them in areas necessary for traffic control. Originally the Council was concerned about the cost far the hsta2- lation and maintenance of raised meeians and directed the Planning Commission and staff to provide them with a reco-xnendatidn- How- ever, at the Parks and Recreation Cozmission meeting, it was 05- vious that the Commission was concerned mainly with aesthetics and appearances and not as concerned with cost as I had thought, At the City Csuncil meeting discussion also centered primarily on aesthetics and the maintenance cost were, in my opinion, a secon- dary concern. No one will argue with the Council that beautifully landscaped medians are not aestheticzlly pleasing and more attrac- tive then a fully paved street with the painted medians, Engineer has indicated that from a traffic standpoint, he feels there is no benefit from a raised meciian versus a painted median, I do feel that from a maintenance standpoint, the painted medians are obviously less of a burden and eqense on the City and they also do provide an area for emergency or stalled vehicles to get' out of the flow of traffic in the travel lanes, These stand- --_-- Your City EXHIBIT 2 n Ma9or Ron Packard *' December 29, 1980 Page Two I do have one further suggestion for you to consider, however, first of all I would like to point out that if you feel I ara beating a dead horse here, please ignore this letter completely. I did a quick estimate on the cost of improving a raised median as defined in alternate "B" versus a fully paved median with striping. The alternate "B" median improvements averages, ovex a 70 foot section to be $49 per running foot, The paved median. with pavement over a select base runs about $15 per foot. As you can see, there is a $34 difference per running foot for the initial installation cost. I understand that this would be paitt for by the developer and not the City, but if you multiply the $34 per foot times the 31 miles of inedians that your staff has indicated needs to be constructed, you are tzlking a cost of approximately five and a half million dollarsc this cost is passed on to the people that corns to our City to work and to live- maintenance that is required. I do believe that your staff has underestimated the maintenance cost of the rnediz~r~s reflected by the alternate "B", As we all know, The significant savings is in the perpetual Tostillprovide pleasing street scenes along our major thorough- fares, I have the following suggestion. Why not, on all the major - -.'--.--.- arterials, require the adjacent development-to put in ZR addition- a1 10 feet of landscaping- This 10 feet could be added to the landscaping required within the right of way, and not interfere with any building setback areas. from the regular standards, irrigation systems could be installed and the maintenance would become a part of the adjacent develop- ments requirements- This way,' the City would have the aesthetic corridors and not be burdened with the extreme cost for maintenance, It would also provide benefits for the adjacent development, in that it would provide screening froa the major streets, and en- hance the fronts of the adjacent development- This system wo~3.d be used in lieu of providing the raised mediszns as is currently the City standard, -*:z3*-*-* - Your standards could be usgraded Again, I would like you to reconsider your previocs approvals of the median improvements. Where medians are required for traffic control, such as at intersections and areas where cross traffic is a probler,, the standard for alternate "B" can be used, You may also want to include special 1ar.dscape medians at scenic areas or entrances to the City. EXHIBIT 2 c Mayor Ron Packard December 29, 1980 Page Three Thank you for your consideration in this matter, If you wou1.d like, I would be happy to discuss this with you or your staff, Sincerely, Robert C. Ladwig RCL:rc cc: Mrs. Mary Casler, Vice Mayor Mr. Claude Lewis, Councilmember Mr. Girard Anear, Councilmember Mrs. Ann Kulchin, Councilmember . . . . .- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,_i ’ . ’ 5 EXHIBIT 2 TO: Les Evans FROM : Kent Whitson MEMO RAN DUM DATE : June 15, 1981 SUBJECT: SAFETY AND CAPACITY MERITS OF RAISED MEDIANS The necessity of raised medians is 'closely related to the functional classification of a roadway. Carlsbad's standards require raised medians only on Major and Prime Arterials. The more important functions of raised medians are as follows: 1.' Medians provide an insulating area between opposing streams of moving traffic. 2. Medians provide protection and control of cross and turning traffic. 3. In some cases, medians provide a refuge for pedestrians (this might be most appropriate along a beach area where there is considerable pedestrian activity). Setting the aesthetic value of medians aside, this report.will address strictly: A) the safety, and B) capacity merits of raised medians. A. Using local examples, it can be seen that raised medians have had' a very serious impact in minimizing or reducin? accidents. Elm Avenue, between Interstate 5 and Harding Street has' had nine accidents during the past year, while El Camino Real between State Freeway 78 and Marron Road has had only five. Yet, the traffic volumes on this section of El Camino Real are almost 30,000 vehicles per day compared to Elm Avenue's 16,000 vehicles per day. Therefore, the accident rate for the street without a raised median is nearly four times higher than the street with the median. Another example is: The raised median that was constructed iii front of Denny's Restaurant on Palomar Airport Road between Interstate 5 and Paseo del Norte has virtually el iminated the accidents 'at that point (none reported since the median was installed); and, there ha.s been no increase in the number of accidents per year at the adjacent intersection of Palomar Airport Road and Paseo del Norte. Since, however, the traffic volumes have dramatically increased at this intersection, the accident rate has actually decreased (accident rates are a function of both traffic volumes and the number of accidents). By looking at the City's accident records, one can see that accidents have also been minimized along 6ther street segments that have raised median dividers: El Camino Real between Swallow Lane and Alga Road, Alga Road between Alicante Road and El Fuerte Street. Even the raised median on Paseo del Norte (whose roadway classification is-less than a Major Arterial) has been effective in minimizing accidents: . EXHIBIT 3 -2- SAFETY AND CAPACITY MERITS OF RAISED MEDIANS June 15, 1981 6. The second major benefit from raised medians is increasing the capacity of a roadway. This is done by greatly reducing the points of conflict (or interruption of continuous flow) to the through traffic on the major roadway. This objective is further accomplished by directing the locally generated traffic to collector streets, which thereby can access the major arterials at well-spaced signalized intersections. All of this is an attempt to get through traffic to use the'arterials and not impact neighborhood streets. Also, as traffic.steadily increases over the years, it will be very important to get as much capacity out of the limited number of arterials as possible. .Regarding emergency vehicles, the additional time it would take to go to the nearest median opening could be more than made up by the improved travel times on the arterials with higher capacity. Also, direct access to local properties is discouraged from major arterials, if proper design is utilized. All of these design concerns are necessary to maximize efficiency and minimize accidents on the City's major arterials. KW:mmt C: Larry Dossey EXHIBIT 3 .* 97) ogriizecl i. John Gray, 5451 Los Robles DrLve, the Association of Carlsbad Taxpayers. Mr. Gray as to the sewer scrvice surcharge imposed by Council Res He stated the Ass on belief that the surcharge is a tax such, can only be levi voters, in accordance w cle 13 of the California State Constitution. Ilr. Gray a that the Association does not object to the expansion of th Water Pollution Control Facility, but they object to er in which it is being financed. cil requesting that f porn their attorney vkich relate to the opinion that Mayor Pzckzrd advised Xr. Gray that Council woul - Engineering The staff report was presented by the City Engineer, who, with the aid of wall exhibits, explaized the 3 types of medians and the costs associated wjth each qpe. He also displayed a slide presentation showing esisting sxples of the dif fercnt types of medians. He concluded by stating that the Parks and Recreation Cocmissio;i reviewed the Ratter and reconmended median type designated as Alternate B in the report. In response to Council query, he explained safety considerations for all three types of medialis. Council recognized Nr. Bob Ladwig of Rick Engineering. Nr. Ladicig questioned the accuracy of the maintenance costs proj ec te for Alternate B, and suggested that an option be available for developers. Couacil discussed the features of each alternative, as well as the differing mainrenance costs of each. It vas noted that the projected milintcnance cost would be reached at buildout, which would be gradual. In response to further Council ir,Guiry, Mr. Evans stated the prime arterials would contain medians, and while many would be instal led by developers , the City Tcould be required to build SOi:lC which would be budgeted in t5e Capital Improvement Budget. Council approved the conlpletc staff recommendation as contained in the Agenda Bill. EXHIBIT 4 Not ion Ayes N@t3 ! 1 'I .I 'I , yn.is medizn concists of a 20' x 14' 5C'. landscaped planter arza every The unplanted part of the median is to be tcxitured concrete. Total Kurnher Of Square Feet Total Sq. Cost/ Yrly Maintenance .. cost 35 2G40 280 733,200 5.05 $36 950 35 2640 280 . 739 230 $.07 $51 700 35 2640 280 739 , 200 $.lo $73,900 - _^_-I_- ~:i].cs Plantrrs @ lJ70' Pe-r Plaiztcr FDDCS~~ Sa .Ft. --.- I -2&.....----- , .. .. The cost- to nalntain one square foot of landscapec! r.:edLans varies from $ .04 to $ .46. Several other public agc:lcLes aid privacr? lanclscape m2i.ntenance fi-rms were contacted ;is to their costs 01: inain- taining mzdiins. Upon review of these c~sts the Parks Divisiori I-~CLE. that the figure af $ .07 per squzre fooz is am equiteblc figure to use in, determining maintenance costs fc-r Cc?i;lsb~.ci ' s riedia1>s . The $ .07 figure irrcludcs : trash removal, vater , fer-t;LI izer , pcsticidcs, equipmefit, feel, irrigation supplies, labor and adxinistvat$.ve over- head.. . The foll.o1cir,g chert shovrc the cities coztzcted end. t5eir rcsporise to. c ?--. .. I TtlainteTiallCc COStS : An ah e in Hun I: ingt on rjca ch $.,.IO - .12 Shrubs trees, gronnc7 co-r?:: Ful. 1 er t 011 $.05 Xrviii e El Cajoil No figures available r 'San Diego Varies with 1a.r.dscape Long Beach $.22 shrubs, trees and turf - In addition to the public agencies a large private firm (EnvI lronmcn'ial Care Industrics) 1.m~ contacted. They stated that their most rcccnt SLrl (June) to the City 01 Snn Diego was $. 043 per square foot to tnaintaaifi landscape inctli.ans. Ilowcvcr t1ij.s cost only 1-cflccts labor, rnatcrialc. and occasj.ona1 irrigntj on head ndj~~sti:ent~ or clcaniiig. It docs not COVC'I: rmtcr, repairs due to vaiiclalsj.r,J vchiculnr damage or acts of Gcc! . i. .. -3- Another source of ma5 ntainiag medians is requiring business and .industry to bc responsible for the mai.ntenmce 02 the medians front4.ng 011 their property. 1.xvinc w't~ci-e ciedians fronting on their property are maintaiiled by the private sector. This is currently the case in the city of - . .. .. .. Because. the nicdTans arc in the pub:lic 'right of :fays, another possible altcrziati.ve to explore for furlding is gas tzx funds. ' Trip Parks L\i.v:ision staff, along. with Engineering, feeis that khe use of 1.0~ pressure bubbler heads, aloz>g with clrought tolerant aid native qlxlt rriatc:ri.~.I.s ,. vilJ. result in ?_OW cost n!sintenance. earlier, the squzrc footage of landscaping should be kept minirtiaZ, yet be adecluatc?ly aesthetic, safe .and provi-de visual relief. As stated .. . .. -. .. - . .. ... . .. . .-, - .. . --. ,# .. .. .. Fir. Les Evans CITY ENGINEER CITY OF CAIUSBAD 1200 Elin Avenue . CarlsSad, CA 92008 October 30, 1980 RE : CARLSBAD STANDI;R.DS [RAISED MEDIANS ON MAJOR THOROUGHFARESI Dear Les: A question has come up recently at the City Council relative the installation of raised medians on the prime and major arterials within the City of Carlsbad. The concern of sore oE the Council menberrs and the staff were the increased cost for installatj-on of med izn i.n:provcmcnts and the perpetual maintenance and upkeep .. - Because of the ever increasing concern to "hold the line" on expn- diturc of public money for capitol improv&nents and ma?-ntenancc , I icoalct usggcsk that you consider tnc! following, Q El Cc;nino Real is a sceniqcorridor and 1 believe should maintain and develope with the scenic corridor character. that where exj-sting medians area, that they should bc enharrccb and maintained with public money. medians should be planted with drought resistance and 1.0~ main-. tenancc type planting. that are hard to maintain, you may want to consider some kind of hard sureace thk. there is virtually no maintenance on. In az:cas alon<t F;L Ccmino Real that are yet to be developed, I wo~ld sngcjc:st that raised medians only be used at intersections fox traffic control, and that all other- areas contain painted med.icms, I think the planting in the new nicdians where acccptable shauld be kept to a rnininium and again, some kind of hard surface be used in the narrower ends of the left turn pocket and xaiscd median X wouLd thhk Where possibk , those existing In addition to tb.e planting, in areas City Engineer should retain the optisn, or the ability, to requj-re adeveloper to pxt in mzdians to discourage left turns across the painted medians into drivexzy areas or P-rezs that arc restricteG to left turns. This probably would cmly occur where existing dc- velopment is and not in newly dcvelc-,,ecl areas, You imy also want to consider putting in raised rw5iar.s only ak intersections as sac_!- ycsted along the new soctj-ozs of El Carr?ino Real. - - There are sone definite advantages, I Eeel, for- eliminating the raj.scd medians other than the o5vioxs cost savings. Quite oEten, if a raised median is installed alozg a curved razd that do3s have supcr elevation, you do have tfi- problem or drainagz ~ccuim- Inting along the curb line adjacent to the high. speed 3_a1ie, the end of thc cxve, i.f the watcr is iiot picked up in a storm drain, it will cross back again cver the travei lanes 2nd can ciluc,~ a serious traffic pwoblen. In either case, the installation of a storm drain is probably n2ccssary 2nd does again add to a&3iLlorznL cost of street improvements. ;4t X think a. very important fac:tor to cmsider is that if yoa'h-sve ar,y kind of iticzjor accidcsts, or events that. would block traffic up, and also hsvt' the raised mdians, th=ere i.s EO accessible area. within the txavel lanes for emexcjenc:: vehicles. k?i.t!i tl3.s phii1.ted ncdi.;?lns, the fire trxcks sild e;..crger,::y v~hiclcs can easily tr~vc.l if traffic is stopped in both directions. The painted mcdian al.sc, provides an energency area for sta.ll-?d vehicles XL the traffic is heavy and the car in trohlc cannot get over to the right hand si.~;~ of the road. .r -- There are going to be areas within thr? City where developers nay want a raised median opposit-e his project and vhcre he would be tJillirlg tc p3.ant attractive plantinri, provide j.i.rigation systems, arid. provicik money for the ma.intenanc2 of those areas, I tmu1.ct thin'k that a standard could be writtcn to allox that subjecl; to the City Er.ginez.rs approvzl. Sincerely, Robert C, 1,adwig r' .- !I€.MO RAN DUM TO: CITY ENGINEER FROM: DATE : November 19, 1980 SUBJECT : MEDIAN LANDSCAPES ASSCCIATE CIVIL ENGINEER, ENGINEERING DESIGN SECTION The City btanager has requested that staff incorporate a median deisgn into the recently adopted City Standards. The Engineering Design Section and the Parks and Recreation Department have developed two alternates, A and B, for a mediiin design. Alternate A consists of full landscaping with a two-faot concrete strip along the sides for maintenance and safety purposes. Alternate consists 6 of 20-foot bands of landscaping separated by 50 feet of textured concrete. The Alternate E: landscape areas will also contain the two-foot concrete stips along each side. A Landscape 6ncrcte It has also been srigqested by SGIW staff members that there be an alter- c nate C which consist.s cf the elirnjnation of the raised median and replace- ment with a painted stipe median on an asphalt surface. desi yn ww1 d require soine rcvi sion of the Carl sbad General PI an Ci rcul a- tion Element. This alternate paifit Staff feels the issues to bt?considered in making a decision on the matter are safety, economics, aesthetics and envi ronrnent. brief discussion of each of these issues as they relate to the three a1 ternates. Safety Primary safety considemtions are provision of adequate sight distance, traffic separation, and keeping obstructions away from the roadway. nates A and r3 are a!?out equal in these regards. scaping sufficiently away from the intersection to provide adequate sight distance. sent about the saw amount of obstructions to out'-of-control vehicles. However, 1jot.h alternate A and i3 v;ill have their trees set ahcut seven feet off the roadway within raised lriedians which would reduce the likeli- hood of this type of collision. Alternate C has excellent sight distance arid presents no traffic obstructions; hom?vcr, it is not an effective means of traffic separation. , of head-on collisions for out-of-control vehicles, but would also increase the nunibcr of' cross traffic turns frorri adjoining properties. experience wi t.h projects such as Anckrsm's Ped Soup, Car Country and Paloinat- Airport I~usiness Pdrk have sho\vn how difficult it is to restrict developers' acccss rights onto Arterial Roads. Raised medians serve as an ef-*fcctiw ricans to nii tigate ttww access .effects by el im-inctting the (Iossibility of vehicles rmking cross traffic turns. The fo11 owing is a --_-I .- A1 ter- Both teriiiinatc the lad- Both serve to effectively separate traffic and both pw- F!ot only wou'td it increase the likelihood Recent One advantage Alter- i _- 'L {,- I 1 nate C would have \-KILJ~~ be to allow merger!zy vehicles to b~vc 6 ft-e? lane to travel in shotiid the road beconre congested. Econmi cs __-- Ecor;omic cmsiderations should take into account both initial cost and 1 ong-ienr.; nai ntmance cost. A1 ternate C ~rcti~l d obviously 02 thc- cheapest to install and maictain. All it would requjre is to extend the roaduay through th2 median zrea and the paintina of lines. The o~ly maintenance would be the rzpainting of the lines and the sweeping of th? roadmy. cluding Alternative C, Alternative A with the full ian5scagiricj will -ini t- ially cost the least to develop. However, Alternatjve 6 :.:ith the greater' amount of concrete will provide a substantial savings in the ovcra!l Rain- tenance cost ktweer; these two a1 krnativcs. Please refci- to thc attachtd Chart A .far a. detai 1 ed breakdown of the es-iiixted CGllSti*LlCtiOfl arid mi r;te- nance cost. staff has atteripted t.o reduce maintenance cost by rcqui ring native and other drought-toterant piantinys and by utilizing 1ovr Flow bubbler or drip ii-rigation syste-is. evid2n.t econonic imp:?ct is the effect attractively 1anriscapt.d rcedians would have On dracring additional shoppers into the City thereby iccreas- iny the City's econoinic base. Ex- For both 1 andscape a1 ternates A less Aesthetics _.-- Aesthetics is a difficult con;iderction to objectively discuss. Aesthetics is gencrally a matter ~'f person21 prefercncs. It could bz assuriied that the more concrete or aspila1 t usec! (evcn c~l ore6 text.ur& concrete) the 'I ess aesthetic .eii:ll bz tnc! appearance, but not r-t;cryone would zyee viith that statenetit. Beyond the iriitial aesthetic cc':sideration, the City co!rid pur- sue a thematic apiJroach to the median 1andscsFing: Tc~ exmpie., Spariish and California native plants along the El Czn?ino Real Scet:ic Route; Cali- . fornia coastal along Carl,sb&d Eo~l evard; arid Pledi terranean afor?g I?,aricho Santa Fe. Such 1a.ndscape designs could becorne a un<que and distinctive asset to the City. Etivi ronrnantal considerctions are generally iqnored in aaki:-iq decisions such as th.ir,, but their crfscts, though very subtle in nature, can greatly affect the spirit of i: local co;nmunity. As Carlsbad evalves from th? peaceful sprene beach covcmity it once was into a fast-paLcd urban suburbia, we irtust cecide whEit it is that qives a community a seiist' of being and direction. Is it solely tk population density of the concrcte-covered urban junGl es that rmI;es City dkiel Iers emotionally detached and crime rztes soar cr is it that past City planners didn't recognize the importance of the himn need for contFct with nature on a daily basis? Staffcannotanswer that question, but it is a fact that plants do play a significant role in systainiiq the ecology of the local envircni:\cnt. Not Gnly do plants provide rrfugc and forage for in- sects and wildlife, they also help control the local atmos?heric environ- ment by redlicincj thc hcatitig effrct of the roaclvay pilvewwt, by releasing oxygen and by filteritjg o!tt atnmspkric pollutsnts, ificlrrdirig that of autcrriobflt? c.xlt,iust. A well-landscaped wdjiin cai) also reduce local noise levels. ,e-' i- f A. _- A1 ternative A rns.xiriiizes these Deriuf-icia! en!;< ronmenta? and comilrni ti effects while Alternative B only n~inii~ially does so. As additional background, we hav? included a fevi statecients front the City of Carlsbad's General Plan elenienis that concern landscape planting: Scenic Highway Element, Section 3c, Paps 12-13 - 'I. . .?/here applicable establish r.egulat.ions and guide; ines resarding.. .prcsermtion and restor- ation of plant materials.. ." Traffic Circulation Elenient, Paragraph 14, Page 7 - "iksicjn rozds to enhance scenic areas ; encourage roadsi d:! and niedi s.n 1 andscapi ng . '' Traffic Circulation Element, Section 4, Paragrs.ph. 3, Pzge 1C - "A d.ividd arterfal provides an outstanding opportunity by attractively landscaping the dividing median." Open Space and Conservation Elezient, Section 11. of Cwls and Policies, ,Subsection A7, Page 7 - 'I.. .to consDrve and encouwge the us2 of all forms of vegemtion need to ...( b) protect air water resources and IC) protect and enhance visilal resources. 'I RecoKmendati on --II-__ The Engirwei-ing Gesign Section recommends a cornpromi se sol ution betwcn the full landscapfcg design (Alt. A) and the par-;:ia'l lacdscapinS3 desigi-1 (Alt. E). E? Camino Real shocld be .fully landscaped with an Early Cal ifornia thematic ilpp.raach in keeping with its scenic route designation. Ful: landsct.;;ifig should also occur for a distance of 200 - 35'3 feet ixide 2.11 arteria! entrances into the City and 8.t spcial fccati.ms thro~~gb~~it the City as d2ter- mined by the Council at the planning phases ~f adjacent developm2nis. Alterr!ati. U partial landscaping design ~~ii'ld then b? used at all other locations in the City. Carlsbad Boulevard Scath of Paioniar Airport Road i..:hich is also designated scenic route and which should be excluded frcrni these design alternates and treated separately ai a later date. L The pt-esently has full landsccping This cornpi-omis? reconmendation would seelil to be the best way to adeqvAtely balance all the cconcmic, safety, aesthetic End environmntzl factors while keeping to the high standards of quality set Tor the City. -3- L" cn :.' i n h Q * 3% 0 e 0 0 0.s w m P- 0'