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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-02-06; Traffic and Mobility Commission; ; Traffic Calming Project on Tamarack Avenue from Adams Street to Skyline RoadMeeting Date: Feb. 6, 2023 To: Traffic and Mobility Commission Staff Contact: John Kim, City Traffic Engineer John.Kim@carlsbadca.gov, 442-339-2757 Tom Frank, Transportation Director/City Engineer Tom.frank@carlsbadca.gov, 442-339-2766 Subject: Traffic Calming Project on Tamarack Avenue from Adams Street to Skyline Road Recommended Action Support staff’s recommendation to the City Council on the revised proposed traffic calming concept plan consisting of two raised crosswalk and three speed tables on Tamarack Avenue from Adams Street to Skyline Road. Background Tamarack Avenue from Adams Street to Skyline Road is located in the northwest quadrant of the city, east of Interstate 5, or I-5, see Exhibit 1. It is designated as a Neighborhood Connector Street in the General Plan Mobility Element. The roadway has a constant width of 48 feet to accommodate one vehicular lane, a bike lane and on-street parking in each direction. This segment of Tamarack Avenue has a posted speed limit of 30 miles per hour and the primary surrounding land use is single family homes, which directly front the roadway. There are all-way stops at the intersections of Skyline Road, Park Drive and Highland Drive and a traffic signal at the Adams Street intersection. A new High-Intensity Activated Crosswalk, or HAWK, signal has also been installed at the intersection of Tamarack Avenue and Valley Street to facilitate pedestrian access. Residents along Tamarack Avenue between Skyline Road and Adams Street have expressed concerns about traffic safety due to speeding. The city is planning a long-term project to redesign the entire Tamarack corridor in a way that meets the needs and priorities of people of all ages and abilities who live, walk, bike or drive in the area. Because this project is still several years away, on July 5, 2022, the Traffic & Mobility Commission recommended that City Council direct staff to expedite short-term solutions to reduce speeding. City staff included the short-term project in the Semiannual Transportation Report presented to City Council on July 26, 2022. Feb. 6, 2023 Item #5 Page 1 of 7 The Semiannual Transportation Report highlighted a three-phase plan for traffic calming on Tamarack Avenue. This three-phase plan included 1) an accelerated short-term traffic calming project on Tamarack Avenue between Skyline Drive and Adams Street; 2) data collection and observation and an after report of the newly installed intersection improvements at Tamarack Avenue and Valley Street including the HAWK signal; and 3) implementation of a longer-term Sustainable Mobility Plan transformative corridor project along Tamarack Avenue. The short-term traffic calming project would focus on cost-effective traffic calming solutions that can be implemented quickly. For the longer-term transformative corridor project, staff will look into redesigning Tamarack Avenue corridor to enhance mobility for all users and may consider features like traffic circles, roundabouts and curb extensions., consistent with the General Plan Mobility Element, approved by the City Council in 2015. Discussion Staff started the effort on the short-term traffic calming project for Tamarack Avenue between Skyline Road and Adams Street after the City Council presentation on July 26, 2022. Conceptual designs included three raised crosswalks and six-speed cushions. Speed cushions and raised crosswalks use vertical deflection to reduce vehicle speeds and have been implemented successfully and quickly in other neighborhoods in the city. Community outreach Once conceptual designs were developed, the city shared them with the community for feedback. This included: • A direct mail post card sent to residents who live along Tamarack Avenue or would be likely to be regular users of Tamarack Avenue. The post card notified the community about the project and how to get involved, including signing up for email updates. • Staff notified the broader community about the project through emails to city lists, NextDoor posts, social media, banners near the project corridor, a news release and a project website. • City staff held a public meeting on Oct. 12, 2022, at Valley Middle School, attended by approximately 55 community members. • City staff then promoted an opportunity for those who did not attend the meeting to watch a video of the presentation and provide feedback through an online comment form. The online form was available from Oct. 17, 2022, to Oct. 24, 2022, and 73 people provided input. Most survey respondents and meeting attendees liked the proposed plan. Some had suggestions for additional features to consider, either for the short term or long-term project. The main reasons community members favored the concept plan were: • Can be done quickly • Low cost/investment • Doesn’t reduce parking • Will slow traffic Feb. 6, 2023 Item #5 Page 2 of 7 Of those who expressed concerns, the main reasons were: • Don’t think speed cushions will work to slow traffic • Do not think speeding is an issue on this street • Concern speed cushions would damage cars • Concern plan would push traffic to other streets • Prefer increasing enforcement instead • Don’t think plan will slow down e-bikes In terms of locations, community members shared the following feedback: • Move speed cushions closer to stop signs so people don’t roll through stop signs • Add raised crosswalks at all stop signs • Convert speed cushion at James Drive into a raised crosswalk • Only one speed cushion needed between Adams Street and Highland Drive • Too many speed cushions. Raised crosswalks between Skyline Road and Valley Street would help, but no need for enhancements on the rest of the street. • Use speed cushions without breaks in them to prevent speeders from swerving to avoid them City staff refined the concept plan based on the input and presented the project to the Traffic and Mobility Commission on Dec. 5, 2022. The commission voted to support staff’s recommended plan. Emergency vehicle considerations Before proceeding with the project, city staff reviewed the latest designs with the city’s Fire Department. Speed cushions are designed with gaps allowing fire engines to straddle the bump without significant slowing. However, because the Fire Department utilizes Tamarack Avenue to access I-5 and the region’s trauma centers, the potential delay and patient movement associated with speed cushions needed to be weighed against the improved safety speed cushions would provide. In assessing the relative risk, city staff developed a revised design using speed tables instead of speed cushions. Speed tables are longer than speed cushions and have a flat-topped height of 3-3.5 inches and a typical overall length of 22 feet, with no gaps. Studies have shown speed tables are preferred for ambulance routes because they cause less delay and patient disruption, while still being effective in reducing vehicle speeds. Because these measures are only going to be in place until a longer term plan for Tamarack Avenue can be completed, city staff believe the change in approach provided the best balance between reducing speeding in the neighborhood and allowing emergency vehicles to pass through with minimal delay. Revised design The revised plan includes two raised crosswalks at Valley Street and at Sunnyhill Road along Tamarack Avenue. The raised crosswalks will be enhanced with rectangular rapid flashing beacons to improve pedestrian access. In addition, three speed tables will be placed at Adair Feb. 6, 2023 Item #5 Page 3 of 7 Way, between Crescent Point Road and Alder Avenue and between James Drive and Valley Street. See Exhibit 3 for the revised proposed traffic calming plan. Although the number of proposed traffic calming measures have been reduced, the proposed raised crosswalks and speed tables working in conjunction with the existing STOP signs, traffic signal and pedestrian signals along Tamarack Avenue will provide traffic calming and encourage slower speed to help address resident’s concerns while staff develops the scope for the longer- term transformative corridor project for Tamarack Avenue. Staff recommend that the Traffic & Mobility Commission support the revised proposed traffic calming concept plan, which consists of two raised crosswalks and three speed tables on Tamarack Avenue from Adams Street to Skyline Road. In addition to these vertical displacement traffic calming improvements, the East-West Corridors Emergency Resurfacing and Restriping Project is targeted to begin construction in late spring and may also provide some traffic calming to this segment of Tamarack Avenue. This project includes proposed striping modifications intended to improve safety for bicyclists along the city’s roadways by providing greater separation between vehicles and bicyclists, identifying and minimizing potential areas of conflict, increasing visibility of bicycle facilities, reinforcing priority to bicyclists in conflict zones, and slightly slowing motorized speeds along the corridors due to the reduced travel lane widths. The project includes reconfiguring Tamarack Avenue from a four-vehicle lane configuration to a three-lane configuration between Carlsbad Village Drive and Skyline Road. This reconfiguration will enhance conditions for all users of the road, improves the line of sight for side street users approaching the arterial and reduce the long- term pavement maintenance costs. The reconfigured arterial segments should experience a slight reduction in vehicle speeds. This reconfiguration and potential lower vehicle speeds may help dissuade commuter cut through traffic using Tamarack Avenue to avoid congestion on westbound State Route 78 associated with the traffic signal at the west bound State Route 78 at the Interstate 5 south bound on-ramp. Necessary Council Action City Council approval is required for the traffic calming plan for Tamarack Avenue from Adams Street to Skyline Road. Next Steps Upon receiving support from the Traffic and Mobility Commission, staff will work with a consultant to finalize the design and develop construction plans for the project. Exhibits 1. Location Map 2. Preliminary Tamarack Avenue Traffic Calming Concept Plan 3. Revised Proposed Tamarack Avenue Traffic Calming Concept Plan Feb. 6, 2023 Item #5 Page 4 of 7 1 LOCATION MAP EXHIBIT Feb. 6, 2023 Item #5 Page 5 of 7 STOP STOP PROPERTY LINE EXISTING TRAFFIC SIGNAL EXISTING PEDESTRIAN SIGNAL EXISTING SPEED FEEDBACK SIGN EXISTING ALL-WAY STOP PROPOSED SPEED CUSHION PROPOSED RAISED CROSSWALK DISTANCE BETWEEN FEATURES PROPOSED TAMARACK AVENUE CONCEPT PLAN Legend (310’)(360’) Exhibit 2 Feb. 6, 2023 Item #5 Page 6 of 7 STOPSTOPST O P STOPSTOPExhibit 3Feb. 6, 2023Item #5 Page 7 of 7 From:Jason Oziel To:John Kim; tom.frank@carlsbad.com Cc:tlmorgan20@gmail.com; Michael Zepeda; Melanie Burkholder; Traffic Subject:Fwd: Tamarack project update Date:Tuesday, January 31, 2023 8:19:01 PM Gentlemen, I received the below update from the city on the Tamarack project. To say I'm disappointed is anunderstatement. Cutting down from the planned 9 vertical deflections to 4 will certainly NOT havethe same effect on this corridor than what was originally intended and proposed. When consideringthe long stretch of road, the changes in elevation throughout that encourage speeding and the sheernumber of vehicles using this street as a thoroughfare, one doesn't need a traffic engineer to come tothe conclusion that there is no way the new design will have the same intended effect. Commonsense should prevail. While I have yet to see the design, you specifically call out keeping the raised crosswalk atSunnyhill, which is easily the most unused pedestrian cross point on this proposed stretch of roadwhile making no mention of the other raised crosswalks which are so desperately needed wherethey were proposed. I am praying that those are still in consideration (at Valley and James). Should those no longer be in consideration, I would have to wonder why the sense of urgency tokeep the raised crosswalk at Sunnyhill over these other two locations near the schools and expectthe city to back up their findings with facts that are made public. The speed tables that extend the entire width of the street pose potential parking issues as well ashave a negative impact to the many bikers that use this roadway. I'm interested to understand thepushback from the Carlsbad fire department on the cushions versus the tables that extend the widthof the roadway. The below excerpt is from the US Department of Transportation Federal HighwayAdministration on roadway safety: Field tests have shown speed cushions to reduce general vehicle speeds while providing little to no delay to fire vehicles.vi Speed cushions are being used in place of speed humps in many jurisdictions due to their positive reception from fire departments. The following are examples:vii Austin, Texas found speed cushions have only a minimal, if any, impact on emergency response times with a less than 1 second delay experienced by most emergency vehicles. In San Diego, California, fire vehicles can travel over the cushions at full speed with no delay (when driving in the middle of the roadway). I will plan to be at the meeting on the 6th to voice my concerns in person but I would love to hearback from you prior to the meeting. I guessing another community meeting should be in order as Ihave a strong suspicion the majority of the folks who showed up for the roundtables a few monthsago to support change will be very disappointed in what the traffic engineers have come back with. Regards,Jason Oziel John Kim, City Traffic Engineer Tom Frank, Transportation Director/City Engineer Feb. 6, 2023 Tamarack Avenue Traffic Calming RECOMMENDED ACTION Support staff’s recommendation to the City Council on the revised proposed traffic calming concept plan consisting of two raised crosswalks and three speed tables on Tamarack Avenue from Adams Street to Skyline Road. ITEM 5: Tamarack Ave Traffic Calming •Tamarack Ave from Adams St to Skyline Rd •Designated as a Neighborhood Connector Street in the General Plan Mobility Element •Serves as a connection between El Camino Real and the I-5 freeway TAMARACK AVENUE ITEM 5: Tamarack Ave Traffic Calming •Roadway width of 48 feet •One vehicular lane, a bike lane and on-street parking in each direction •Posted speed limit of 30 miles per hour •Single-family homes fronting both sides of the street TAMARACK AVENUE ITEM 5: Tamarack Ave Traffic Calming EXISTING EXISTING TRAFFIC SIGNAL EXISTING ALL-WAY STOP EXISTING PED SIGNAL EXISTING SPEED FEEDBACK SIGN ITEM 5: Tamarack Ave Traffic Calming BACKGROUND •On July 5, 2022, the Traffic & Mobility Commission recommended to City Council that staff expedite a short-term traffic calming project to reduce speeding on Tamarack Ave between Skyline Rd and Adams St •At the July 26, 2022 City Council meeting, staff highlighted a three-phase plan for traffic calming on Tamarack Ave: 1.The accelerated short-term traffic calming project on Tamarack Ave 2.Data collection and observation of the newly-installed HAWK signal 3.Long-term Sustainable Mobility Plan transformative corridor project ITEM 5: Tamarack Ave Traffic Calming COMMUNITY MEETING •A community meeting was held on Oct. 12, 2022 at Valley Middle School –Direct mail postcards sent to residents living along Tamarack Ave –Various media platforms used to notify the public of the meeting ITEM 5: Tamarack Ave Traffic Calming COMMUNITY MEETING •Traffic calming strategies to achieve speed reduction •Effective traffic calming tools that have been successfully implemented •Concept plan for Tamarack Avenue consisting of speed cushions and raised crosswalks for public input ITEM 5: Tamarack Ave Traffic Calming ONLINE SURVEY •A recording of the public meeting and an online survey were made available to the public, Oct. 17-24, 2022 •Online survey allowed residents along Tamarack Ave and nearby neighborhoods, as well as people who live in different parts of the city but use Tamarack Ave to provide input ITEM 5: Tamarack Ave Traffic Calming ONLINE SURVEY •Most survey respondents supported the proposed plan: –Can be done quickly –Low cost/investment –Doesn’t reduce parking –Will slow traffic •Some residents expressed concerns: –Don’t think speed cushions will work to slow traffic –Do not think speeding is an issue on this street –Concern speed cushions would damage cars –Concern plan would push traffic to other streets –Too many speed cushions –Use speed cushions without breaks to prevent swerving to avoid ITEM 5: Tamarack Ave Traffic Calming TRAFFIC & MOBILITY COMMISSION •Dec. 5, 2022, staff presented a proposed concept plan based on the feedback from the public meeting and the online survey to the Traffic and Mobility Commission •Proposed plan consisted of 6 speed cushions and 3 raised crosswalks ITEM 5: Tamarack Ave Traffic Calming PROPOSED SPEED CUSHION EXISTING TRAFFIC SIGNAL EXISTING ALL-WAY STOP EXISTING PED SIGNAL PROPOSED RAISED CROSSWALK EXISTING SPEED FEEDBACK SIGN PREVIOUSLY PROPOSED CONCEPT PLAN ITEM 5: Tamarack Ave Traffic Calming EMERGENCY VEHICLE CONSIDERATIONS •Before proceeding, the project team worked closely with the Fire Department to ensure the plan would not slow down newer emergency vehicles. •The Fire Department uses Tamarack Avenue to access I-5 and the region’s trauma centers •Requested changes: –Reduce the number of proposed vertical deflection measures from nine features to five –Replace all speed cushions with speed tables due to concerns with response time and the potential impact on injured patients ITEM 5: Tamarack Ave Traffic Calming PROPOSED SPEED TABLE EXISTING TRAFFIC SIGNAL EXISTING ALL-WAY STOP EXISTING PED SIGNAL PROPOSED RAISED CROSSWALK WITH RRFB EXISTING SPEED FEEDBACK SIGN REVISED PROPOSED CONCEPT PLAN ITEM 5: Tamarack Ave Traffic Calming RECOMMENDED ACTION Support staff’s recommendation to the City Council on the revised proposed traffic calming concept plan consisting of two raised crosswalks and three speed tables on Tamarack Avenue from Adams Street to Skyline Road. ITEM 5: Tamarack Ave Traffic Calming NEXT STEPS •Upon receiving support from the Traffic and Mobility Commission, staff will work with a consultant to finalize the design and develop construction plans for the project ITEM 5: Tamarack Ave Traffic Calming