HomeMy WebLinkAbout1990-07-10; City Council; 10708; Appeal of Traffic Safety Commission Recommendation to Not Provide Centerline Striping on a portion of Christiansen Way.A
MTG. 7/10/90
DEPT. ENG
CIT`—)F CARLSBAD — AGEND/'`'ZILL lop
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TITLE: APPEAL OF TRAFFIC SAFETY DEPT. HI
COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION TO NOT
PROVIDE CENTERLINE STRIPING ON A PORTION OF CITY ATl
CHRISTIANSEN WXS� CITY MG
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
The Traffic Safety Commission (TSC) and staff are recommending that the City Council
deny the appeal and uphold the TSC decision to not provide centerline striping upon
Christiansen Way between Carlsbad Boulevard and Washington Street.
ITEM EXPLANATION:
On March 5, 1990 the Traffic Safety Commission considered the request of Mr. Pete
Biltchik to provide centerline striping upon Christiansen Way from Carlsbad Boulevard
to Washington Street. In numerous letters to staff, Mr. Biltchik has stated that he
believes that because Christiansen Way is used by 64 busses over an 18 hour period
each day traffic safety can be improved by providing centerline striping.
Christiansen Way is a low volume roadway approximately 415 feet in length between
Carlsbad Boulevard and Washington Street. Until recently this segment of roadway
varied in pavement width from 20 to 24 feet. The Utilities and Maintenance
Department completed roadway widening of Christiansen Way to provide a uniform
24-foot pavement width from Carlsbad Boulevard to Washington Street. In addition,
to maximize the pavement width for vehicles travelling on the road, PARK OFF
PAVEMENT signs were installed. Sight distance was improved at the Christiansen
Way/Washington Street intersection when the Parks and Recreation Department
trimmed the shrubs and bushes on the comer that were restricting the driver's line of
sight. A STOP sign was also installed on Christiansen Way at Washington Street to
assign right of way to vehicles at this T' intersection.
Staff has observed that the low speed, low volumes of traffic currently utilizing this
segment of Christiansen Way do not have operational problems when using the
roadway. Because of the 24-foot width, some vehicles will drive near or on the center
of the roadway when a vehicle is parked adjacent to the road or if a pedestrian is
walking on the edge of the roadway. The absence of centerline striping permits
vehicles to negotiate Christiansen Way in a safer manner than by forcing the vehicle
into a 12-foot lane adjacent to a parked vehicle or to share the lane with a bicycle or
a pedestrian. There is no collision history on Christiansen Way to suggest the need for
a striped centerline. The North County Transit District has requested bus drivers to
obey all traffic laws and not speed.
The Traffic Safety Coordinating Committee unamimously recommended to the Traffic
Safety Commission that no centerline striping be established on Christiansen Way due
to the narrow roadway width, low traffic volumes, absence of collision history and
current policy to not stripe low volume, narrow roadways. After consideration of all
the site specific information, including letters from Mr. Biltchik, the Traffic Safety
Commission recommended by a 5-0 vote at the March 5, 1990 meeting that centerline
striping not be placed on Christiansen Way between Carlsbad Boulevard and
Washington Street.
PAGE TWO OF AB#
Mr. Pete BiltcYuk has indicated that he is appealing the June 4, 1990 recommendation
of the Traffic Safety Commission to not provide centerline striping on Christiansen
Way. However, at that meeting the Commission recommended by a 2-1 vote that the
issue of providing centerline striping did not need to be considered at a future TSC
meeting. The Commissioners stated that the traffic volumes and conditions have not
changed significantly in the past several months to warrant reconsideration of the
issue. The Traffic Safety Commission did not recommend denial of centerline striping
at the June 4, 1990 meeting since that recommendation had previously been made at
the March 5, 1990 meeting of the Traffic Safety Commission.
i
FISCAL IMPACT:
No impact if the roadway is not striped.
EXHIBITS:
1. -- Condition Diagram.
2. " Minutes of March 5, 1990 Traffic Safety Commission meeting.
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3. Appeal form and attachments from Mr. Biltchik.
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LOCATION MAd
BEECH AVE.
PARK OFF PAVEMENT SIGN
(TYPICAL)
24' CHRISTIANSEN �a
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EXISTING -BUS STOP = •����•
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CONDITION DIAGRAM: EXHIBIT
CHRISTIANSEN WAY 1.
MINUTES
TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMISSION March 5, 1990 Page 5
---------- COMMISSIONERS
NEW BUSINESS: ;Continued)
B. Christiansen Way, Carlsbad Boulevard to Washington
Street - Request for centerline striping.
Bob Johnson gave the staff report, using a transparency to
show the area. He stated that a petition had been submitted
with this request, and added that it was not city policy to
provide centerline striping unless there was a problem.
This street is extremely narrow, only 24 feet and narrowing
to 20 feet at Washington Street, and if this were striped,
that would make the traffic lanes ten feet wide. Ten feat
is not wide enough for traffic lanes, and the City does not
stripe a street that narrow. Mr. Johnson continued, stating
that forcing traffic to stay in that narrow a lane is less
safe than without a stripe.
Mr. Johnson stated that Mr. Bilchik was concerned about the
buses traveling down the middle of the street.
Mr. Johnson said that Tom Lichterman of North County Transit
District was present to answer any questions. He said that
"yield" signs had been requested for vehicles on
Christiansen Way, and staff would investigate that request.
In reply to Commission query regarding any stipulations
about Village Fair* doing any work on Christiansen Way, Mr.
Johnson said there were no conditions to improve that
street. He commented that the commuter station should be
open in 1992, and that will alleviate this situation.
Tom Lichterman, Operations Manager, NCTD, stated that only
on* route uses Christiansen Way, and there are four buses an
hour. Any other routing for that bus would result in
traffic lights and going through the downtown area. He
reiterated that the problem would be resolved in the !uture
with the development of the commuter rail system.
Cheri Sato, 2747 Washington, stated she i:,;uld like to see a
stop sign or something to help make People realize they
should yield to a main street. she said she was almost hit
head-on by a bus.
Mr. Johnson said that "park off of the pavement" signs had
been requested by Mr. Bilchik in the petition, and that will
be evalu.t:ed.
The Traffic Safety Commission approved the recommendation of
the Traffic Safety Coordinating Committee that no centerline
striping be established on Christiansen Way, due to the
narrow roadway width, low traffic volumes, absence of
collision history and current policy to not stripe low
voiuma, narrow roadways. The Commission further recommended
that "park off of pavement" signs be considered for
Christiansen Way and the City check into the possibility of
improving the street to allow Christiansen Way to meet
minimun; standards.
Herring
Fuller
M*lideo
O'Day
Stachoviak
1200 ELM AVENUE
CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA 92008
Office of the City Clerk
DATE: June S, 1990
k�OF. CAq�B
5
TELEPHONE
(619) 434.2808
TO: Bob Johnson, Engineering
FROM: Karen Kundtz, Clerk's Office
RE: Appeal of Traffic Safety Commission Decision — Request for
Centerline striping on 300 Block of Christiansen Way
THE ABOVE ITEM HAS BEEN APPEALED TO THE CITY COUNCIL.
According to the Municipal Code, appeals must be heard by the City Council
within 30 days of the date that the appeal was filed. (REMINDER: The item
will not be noticed in the newspaper until the agenda bill is signed off by
all parties.)
Please process this item in accordance with the procedures contained in the
Agenda Bill Preparation Manual. If you have any questions, please call.
The appeal of the above matter should be scheduled for the City Council
Meeting of
Signature Date
R
1200 ELM AVENUE
CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA 92008
Office of the City Clerk
CITY C(fli's� i�;(; TELEPHONE
,(619) 434.2808
90 JUN, _ I. Pli 4: 47
Titu of Wow CITY OF CARLSBAD
APPEAL FORM
I (We) appeal the following decision of the
/,f tt23,1TO V° to the City Council:
Project Name and Number (or subject of appeal) :
191 kr QqA r3_07)
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Date of Decision: (49
Reason for Appeal:
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May 29, 1990
RE:
Christiansen Way,300 Block �07LMEf7F+ Traffic Safety Commission Second Request for
Ca
1200 Elm SCenterline Striping
Carlsbad, Ca 92008
Gentlemen:
I'd like to thank You for your help in improving Christiansen Way.
The street is now a full 24 feet in paved width, plus signs (Park
Off pavement" and'ttop") have been installed.
We still have a problem with buses barreling down t /
street however. That was 4he problem prior to the widening, asfyoue
may remember.
There are 64 buses using this street daily , an increase of 100%
since completion of the Village Faire and relocation of the bus stop
on Grand Ave.
I believe centerline skip striping (possibly held back from each cor-
ner 20 or 30 feet) would solve the problem. The street is now stan-
dard width and the buses are st:;ll unnecessarily straddling the un-
marked center line.
It seems a logical and reasonable final step to complete the project
by marking the centerline.
I thank Ybu for your cooperation,
Sincerely:
Pete Biltchik PC& 041U L
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Feb 27, 1990-
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Carlsbad T.S.C. 3/5/90
Ite,..�. B : Bus traffic on Christiansen Way
(Carlsbad Blvd to Washington St. - 300 block)
Due to a 100% increase in busotraffic after moving the
Grand Nlt,*
us stop, plus the change in direction of the
buses west to westA►east) the traffic
situation has deteriorated drastically do Christ.kdnsen Way.
The buses, which now number 64 per day all move in a down-
hill direction on the street and often rapidly accelerate.
Most buses unnecessarily straddle the inmar ed center ine.
My suggestions to improve safety on the street are:
OtPost signs reading " PARK OFF PAVEMENT"
as are used on the PCH Hwy 101 .
#2: Mark the centerline with intermittant ".-Ski
striping.
hank You,
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