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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1991-05-06; Traffic Safety Commission; MinutesMINUTES Meeting of: TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMISSION Time of Meeting: 3:OO p.m. Date of Meeting: May 6, 1991 Place of Meeting: City Council Chambers I CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Fuller called the Meeting to order at 3:OO p.m. ROLL CALL: Present: Commissioners Fuller, Blake, Melideo, O'Day and Stachoviak. Absent : None. Staff Members Present: Bob Johnson, Traffic Engineer Sgt. Don Metcalf, Police Department Lloyd Hubbs, City Engineer I APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The Minutes of the Regular Meeting held April 1, 1991, were approved as presented. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS: There were no requests to address the Commission on a non- agenda item. OLD BUSINESS: Bob Johnson reported Council will adopt the prima facie speed for El Camino Real from Lisa Street to the south City limits at tomorrow night's Meeting. NEW BUSINESS: A. Pontiac Drive, Victoria Avenue to Elm Avenue - Request for STOP signs at Victoria and Spokane intersections, installation of speed humps and/or other measures to reduce speeds. Lloyd Hubbs, City Engineer, gave the staff report, stating this item has been before this Commission a number of times, with staff looking at a number of measures to address this speeding issue. This has been an issue for many years, and the request has been made to install STOP signs at Victoria and Spokane and speed bumps and other diversionary types of action to divert traffic. Mr. Hubbs stated that Sgt. Metcalf of the Police Department, Bob German of Risk Management, Brian Watson from the Fire Department, are all present to answer questions. There was a petition mailed to the Commission and included in the staff packet. The request has been made for speed humps--not speed bumps. Transparencies were shown of the area in question and the residences in the area; also tables showing the traffic volumes and a spot speed survey. Council did establish Pontiac as a through street on the recommendation of the Traffic Safety Commission, as it did qualify for that designation. Also, no parking was established on Pontiac to allow for bike lanes. Fuller Blake Melideo 0 ' Day Stachoviak MINUTES .A LY 6, 1991 Paae 2 COMMISSIONERS ' Ma - -. NEW BUSINESS: (Continued) The section to Pontiac being considered today is between Victoria Avenue and Elm Avenue, which is a 0.5 mile portion. There are six intersections, and since 1987, only two collisions have occurred on the street- -one was a hit and run where a parked vehicle was hit with one in 1988 and one in 1989. There have been no collisions at the intersections. Pontiac is a residential collector street, and is built for a capacity of 1,200 to 5,000 ADT. There is no doubt that there is speeding on Pontiac, as on most of the streets of the City. The portion of Pontiac Drive from Victoria Avenue to Elm Avenue qualifies as a residential district with a prima facie speed limit of 25 miles per hour. Signs are posted and legends are striped on the roadway surface. The most recent speed survey was done in January and April at Chestnut, and the critical speed was 36 miles per hour. Sgt. Metcalf stated that with the critical speed at 34 to 36 miles per hour, this is approximately 10 miles over the speed limit. There has been selected enforcement in the City based on accidents. There are ten streets where over 60 percent of the injuries occur. Traffic enforcement in those areas has resulted in a reduction in accidents. Radar is only for the critical speed, or above. Sgt. Metcalf said that on Pontiac, they issued 52 citations, with 48 of them to local residents of that area. There have been only two accidents and Pontiac is not a unique street. Sgt. Metcalf continued, stating that the last three months the Police have focused on Pontiac Drive, and when the Police are present, the speed slows down, but if they leave, within 48 hours the speed returns. Bob Johnson stated that staff had checked license plates to determine whether the speeding was local people or those passing through. When they checked those entering and leaving the area, only abut 15 percent of the traffic was passing through, with the rest being local. Mr. Johnson said that STOP signs to slow traffic are not an unusual request from the public. However, they do not do the job. The warrants are not met for STOP signs at Spokane or Victoria. Several things have been done in this area to help enforce the speed limits, and Mr. Johnson explained what has been done and added that staff is trying to come up with an engineering solution to a residential problem. Mr. Hubbs stated that this is a neighborhood speeding issue and as traffic volumes increase it will become critical in urban areas. Shortcuts are initiated to avoid the traffic, and speeding is a factor similar to other conditions. To address this problem, experimental approaches are being tested. These do open cities to risk and must be done with detailed traffic studies and carefully implemented. MINUTES May 6, 1991 Page 3 \ \ NEW BUSINESS: (Continued) Slides were shown of barricades, road closures, raised medians and speed humps in various cities. Mr. Hubbs stated that some of the problems connected with these various types of experimental devices are government liability, noise going over the bumps, emergency vehicles access--particularly ambulances carrying a patient. Also, these devices are expensive to install and are somewhat unsightly. He said he did not feel any of these devices could be recommended for Pontiac Drive or any other street, without more discussion and research at the Commission level and throughout the community. Mr. Hubbs said staff wants to evaluate this uniformly throughout the City and develop a criteria, and review the legal and risk management aspects. Bob Johnson summarized the recommendations of the Traffic Safety Coordinating Committee and used an overhead to show them. Thomas Johnson, 3624 Pontiac Drive, representing Chestnut Hills Community Action Group, stated the neighbors are concerned about the speeding and their goal is to prevent a traffic fatality. He said the north Pontiac residents are different than those who use this as an access road. There are 44 houses with driveways on Pontiac on north Pontiac and no driveways on south Pontiac. Mr. Johnson showed a transparency of the street layout. He said the north portion is 25 miles per hour with no bike lanes and the south portion is 35 miles per hour with bike lanes. However, nobody drives at the speed limit, and north Pontiac is a shortcut for many people. Mr. Johnson said that safety is the main concern, and the speed must be controlled for safety. He reviewed the recommendations made by staff, and said that a solution is needed, not larger signs. A barricade would block the traffic and remove the problem. He added that speed humps did slow the traffic in Thousand Oaks. They want a device installed on the street. Tony Loeffler, 3555 Pontiac, explained about road humps, stating they protect public health, increase road safety and divert unnecessary traffic while retaining normal access and appeal to all users. Oscar Williams, 3429 Pontiac Drive, stated the residents there have a problem and don't know the answer. He asked the engineers and law-enforcing officers to do what they can to get it resolved. Rocky Natale, 3453 Pontiac Drive, stated that 90 percent of the traffic through Pontiac live on the lower end, and something must be done. Anthony Tyler, 3465 Pontiac Drive, stated he can't back out of his driveway because of the speeding. COMMISSIONERS MINUTES May 6, 1991 Page 4 NEW BUSINESS: (Continued) Yvonne Stargardt, 3625 Pontiac Drive, stated that before the street was cut through there was no speeding problem. The speeders are from the south side using their area, and something must be done. Robert Hoskins, 3558 Pontiac, asked for a show of hands of people who have had at least three dangerous incidents backing out of their driveways, and approximately 80 people held up their hands. He said the speeding is dangerous on Pontiac Drive. E. R. Hunter, 3623 Pontiac Drive, stated that a barrier is the ultimate solution. Mike Stevens, 3622 Pontiac Drive, spoke about the speeding and the danger in backing out of driveways. He was in favor of closing the street. Manya Bebieff, 3627 Pontiac, stated she has been writing to the City about the problem on Pontiac Drive since 1988, and has meet with staff. She said that north Pontiac and south Pontiac are different communities and something must be done. She said she favors speed humps or closing the street. Janet Jones, 2613 Banbury Court, stated she had some petitions signed by other neighborhoods that will be impacted if traffic control devices are installed on Pontiac Drive. Unwarranted traffic control devices deny easy access to Elm Avenue and cause inconvenience to anyone going through the area. Anna Vallez, 3621 Pontiac Drive, representing Residents for Pontiac, addressed the Commission in favor of placing a gate on Pontiac, stating then emergency vehicles would have access with no problem. She said that larger signs would not help the situation, and said she would like the number of tickets written by the Police on one day in that area. Rick Wagner, 3608 Pontiac Drive, stated he could not back out of his driveway and was in favor of a barricade at the top of the hill. David Woodward, 3413 Corvallis Street, spoke €or safe access to the homes. Chairman Fuller closed the public testimony portion at 4:55 p.m. He asked for a show of hands of those favoring stop signs, speed humps or road closure, and almost all those present responded. The next largest number of people favored closing of the street and smaller numbers favored the stop signs and/or humps. Commissioner Melideo commented that this is a public street, and the people seem to feel it is their private street. She expressed concern about hearing that type of testimony, as it means a division in the neighbors, rather than working together as a community. She said it is the neighbors themselves that are affecting the area by the way they drive, and they must work together to solve the problem. h MINUTES May 6, 1991 Page 5 v NEW BUSINESS: (Continued) In response to query regarding the speed humps, Lloyd Hubbs stated the City is studying them, but the hope is that it would not be necessary to resort to them. Commissioner O'Day also asked about raising the speed limit, but staff stated that due to the number of residences in that'area, it does quality for the 25 m.p.h. speed limit. Staff reiterated that stop signs cause accidents, particularly when they do not meet the warrants. Speeders are the most common complaint on most of the City streets. However, speed humps are not very good- looking. Blocking a street causes problems. Commissioner Stachoviak suggested that maybe this area would be a place to try speed humps, if and when the City decides it is feasible. Chairman Fuller stated he could not approve installing speed humps ahead of criteria being established by the City. He said it is not feasible to close a collector road. The Traffic Safety Commission accepted the Traffic Safety Coordinating Committee recommendation, as follows : 1. Provide additional visual reinforcement of the 25 mile per hour residential speed limit by the following act ions : A. Replace the existing 24"x30"' speed limit signs that are located on Pontiac Drive at Victoria Avenue and Olympia Drive with larger, 36"x45" - 25 mile per hour speed limit signs. B. Install one additional 24"x30" - 25 mile per hour sign in each direction on Pontiac Drive in the vicinity of Chestnut Avenue. C. Stripe a 25" legend on the pavement adjacent to the new speed limit signs to be installed. D. Replace the existing 24"x30" R2-4 "225 Zone Ahead" sign with a larger 36"x45" R2-4 "25 Zone Ahead" sign. 2. Continue to provide police enforcement of speeding vehicles on Pontiac Drive on a manpower available basis. 3. Send a letter, signed by the Police Chief, to all citizens (1,000+ homes) of the Pontiac Drive community asking for their cooperation in observing the 25 mile per hour speed limit. COMMISSIONERS Fuller B 1 ake Melideo 0 'Day Stachoviak \ \ MINUTES May 6, 1991 Page 6 COMM NEW BUSINESS: (Continued) 4. Establish a Pontiac Drive neighborhood task force. This task force is recommended to include local neighborhood volunteers, homeowner association representatives, Neighborhood Watch captains or their designated representative, a Police Department Traffic Division representative and an Engineering Department Traffic Engineering Division representative. The task force would initiate a Neighborhood Traffic Watch Program and begin to evaluate other appropriate control measures. The task force is to report back to the Commission within three months on its progress. REPORT FROM TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMISSIONERS: Commissioner Melideo inquired about bikes on the sidewalk along the fence on Carlsbad Boulevard, and staff stated bikes are not allowed on any sidewalks in Carlsbad. Sgt. Metcalf stated the Police Department is starting a bike patrol and three officers will be on bicycles by the Memorial Day Weekend from the north City limits to the south in the beach area. Staff was requested to bring the concept on the modified traffic management program to this Commission for discussion. Commissioner Stachoviak stated he felt the Price Club would be a disaster. ADJOURNMENT: By proper motion, the Regular Meeting of May 6, 1991, was adjourned at 5:23 p.m. ww Respectfully submitted, Harriett Babbitt Minutes Clerk