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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-02-06; Traffic and Mobility Commission; MinutesPage 1 of 23 Council Chambers 1200 Carlsbad Village Drive Carlsbad, CA 92008 Feb. 6, 2023, 4 p.m. CALL TO ORDER: 4:04 p.m. ROLL CALL: Penseyres, Coelho, Newlands, Garcia and Kohl Absent: Proulx and Fowler PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Transportation Planning and Mobility Manager Schmidt led the Pledge of Allegiance Commissioner Proulx joined the meeting at 4:07 p.m. Transportation Planning and Mobility Manager Schmidt asked the Traffic & Mobility Commission to move Item 1 up to elect the Chair and the Vice-Chair. 1.ELECTION OF TRAFFIC AND MOBILITY COMMISSION CHAIR AND VICE-CHAIR – Appointment of one member of the Traffic & Mobility Commission to serve as Chair and one member to serve as Vice-Chair for a term ending in December 2023, or until a replacement is appointed. (Staff Contact: Nathan Schmidt, Public Works Department) Staff’s Recommendation: Appoint a Chair and a Vice-Chair. Motion by Commissioner Newlands, seconded by Commissioner Penseyres to appoint Commissioner Coelho to serve as Chair of the Traffic & Mobility Commission. Motion carried 6/0/1 (Fowler - Absent) Motion by Commissioner Penseyres, seconded by Commissioner Newlands to appoint Commissioner Fowler to serve as Vice-Chair of the Traffic & Mobility Commission. Motion carried 6/0/1 (Fowler - Absent) APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes of the Regular Meeting held Jan. 3, 2023. Motion by Commissioner Penseyres, seconded by Commissioner Proulx to approve the minutes of Jan. 3, 2023, regular meeting as amended. Motion carried 5/0/1/1 (Kohl – Abstain; Fowler - Absent) Chair Coelho made a correction of the sentence “trucks width would reach ten and a half feet”, instead of ten feet, page 2. Chair Coelho also made a correction of the sentence “We have members of the public who are concerned”, instead of Not concerned, page 4. Page 2 of 23 Commissioner Penseyres made a correction of the sentence “the narrow section on Carlsbad Village Drive and the sharrows”, instead of Cannon Road, page 3. PUBLIC COMMENT: Bob Lawrence commented on the work that is being done at Palomar Airport Road and he would like to see what is being proposed for the route all the way to downtown. He also would like to see parking along the beach area. Carol Scurlock spoke about roundabouts along Carlsbad Boulevard. In 2019 City Council voted 5- 0 to not allow a roundabout at Cerezo Drive but to allow one at Cannon Road. This was the result of many meetings between staff, residents, and City Council. Please don’t allow the change at Carlsbad Boulevard and Cerezo Drive. CONSENT CALENDAR: None DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS: 2. POLICE REPORT REGARDING TRAFFIC & MOBILITY-RELATED MATTERS DURING THE MONTH OF JANUARY 2023 – Received a presentation from a representative of the City of Carlsbad’s Police Department that provide an overview of traffic and mobility-related police matters during the month of January 2023. (Staff Contact: Lieutenant DeVelasco, Police Department). Staff’s Recommendation: Receive a presentation Lieutenant DeVelasco presented the report and reviewed a PowerPoint presentation (on file in the Office of the City Clerk) Commissioner Kohl stated that as of January of 2023 it is no longer illegal to jay walk. So, if a vehicle is at a signalized intersection and people start walking even though they are not supposed to, how would this be handled? Lieutenant DeVelasco said that the Police Department received a training bulletin in regard to the new law which is being referred to as “Freedom to Walk”. The training bulletin explained that people can now cross in between intersections and not be stopped or sighted as long as they are not causing a hazard to an approaching vehicle. This law does not relieve their responsibility of crossing safely. For example, if there is gridlock traffic, this law does not give a pedestrian the right to start walking between the cars in gridlock traffic. The pedestrian still has the duty to cross the roadway in a safe and prudent manner and not interfere with traffic that has the right of way. Commissioner Penseyres said that in January six of the officers became league certified Page 3 of 23 instructors by the League of American Bicyclists. Has the Police Department had the ability to use any of these officers yet in training programs with e-bike riders? Lieutenant DeVelasco said that they have already been tasked to start integrating what they have learned with the schools. There are already a few events on the calendar throughout the city where the officers will provide this much needed education. Commissioner Penseyres spoke about another new law that was passed which requires a motorist that is overtaking a cyclist in a lane that does not have a bike lane to change lanes to pass the cyclist. He inquired if the police officers received any training in regards this new law. Lieutenant DeVelasco said that the language stated that the vehicle has the obligation to move over to the next lane when overtaking a cyclist if feasible. 3. UNDERSTANDING ROAD DESIGN ITS EFFECTS ON HOW PEOPLE USE THE CITY’S TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM – Present an overview of how street design best practices have changed since Carlsbad’s road system was first built. (Staff Contact: Tom Frank, Public works Department) Staff’s Recommendation: Support staff’s recommendation. Transportation Director Frank presented the report and reviewed a PowerPoint presentation (on file in the Office of the City Clerk). Commissioner Kohl inquired about buffer lane between bicycle lane and active lane. Does the city has plans to add a buffer lane between the bicycle lane and the active lane? Transportation Director Frank responded that staff prioritized putting in that buffer against the door zone if we don’t have space for a buffer on both sides of the bicycle lane. The door zone issue is a higher priority as there is greater risk to the bicyclist to be hit by a door. As seen in the graphic, where we do have the room, and we do implement that two-foot door zone, then we would use that space for a buffer between the vehicle lane and the bicycle lane. 4. CARLSBAD BOULEVARD AND TAMARACK AVENUE INTERSECTION, CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM PROJECT NO. 6058 – 1) Receive a presentation regarding the Intersection Control Alternatives Analysis for the Carlsbad Boulevard and Tamarack Avenue Intersection Improvements Project, Capital Improvement Program Project No. 6058; and 2) Receive input from the community; and 3) Support staff’s recommendation to the City Council to implement a modern-day roundabout at the intersection of Carlsbad Boulevard and Tamarack Avenue. (Staff Contact: Lauren Ferrell and Hossein Ajideh, Public Works Department) Staff’s Recommendation: Support staff’s recommendation. Page 4 of 23 Engineering Manager Ajideh and Associate Engineer Ferrell presented the report and reviewed a PowerPoint presentation (on file in the Office of the City Clerk). Vice-Chair Fowler joined the meeting at 4:50 p.m. Chair Coelho stated that this item has over 20 public speakers and he wants to know if the commission would like to reduce the minutes allowed for each speaker from three minutes to two minutes. Commissioner Proulx said that she is in favor to give the public the three minutes allowed. PUBLIC COMMENT: Larry Tinnerstet commented that on the drawings when going south on Carlsbad Boulevard that there is a turn lane that goes into Sequoia Avenue. He objects to this turn lane as it is a narrow street and at one point you can only get one car through at a time. Andy Hanshaw, the Executive Director of the San Diego County Bike Coalition is in favor of the roundabout option on Carlsbad Boulevard and Tamarack Avenue. He had a few recommendations which included eliminating the slip lane to increase bicycle and pedestrian safety. Another suggestion is to widen the multi-use path adjacent to the roundabout to allow for clear striping and separation of bicyclists and pedestrians. Don Thorstenson is in support of the roundabout option on Carlsbad Boulevard and Tamarack Avenue. Noted that he believes roundabouts safe lives, improve traffic flow, reduce exhaust and noise from idling cars. Suzie Concors is in support of the city adding a pedestrian crossing at the Agua Hedionda Lagoon and the Hubbs Trail. On the other side of 101 from the end of the trail head there is a staircase going down to the parking lot at the beach and people are constantly running across 101 to get over to the top of the staircase. She suggested that there is a barrier that needs to be removed at the top of the stairs. She also suggested that the median striping needs to be reduced so people can cross there safely. She added that there needs to be an on-demand light and crosswalk so people can cross when they want. She also recommended that the speed limit be reduced. Stephen Bell said that if the presented roundabout option is produced and put into use that residents will see gridlock on Tamarack Avenue at certain times of the day. He believes there will be issues at Sequoia Avenue that will be worse than what we see now. Jeffrey Tucker agreed that roundabouts are a more efficient way of moving traffic. However, most studies don’t include pedestrian and bicyclists. Concerned with the volume of pedestrians and bicyclists at this intersection. On Tamarack Avenue they are taking six lanes of traffic and Page 5 of 23 two bike lanes and reducing it down to four lanes of traffic. He believes traffic will back up to Carlsbad Boulevard. Bob Sukup spoke about the roundabout option and he does not think that Tamarack Avenue and Carlsbad Boulevard is a good spot for one. This is due from the additional turn movement coming out of the State Parks parking lot/beach access road. This is a main access to the beach for families and the safest way to cross the street is when the signal says to walk. The bike lanes are going to share one lane with cars, trucks, buses and motorcycles. He can’t imagine families trying to cross the street in this location with cars coming from all directions. He would rather see the signalized intersection remain with some improvements. He also commented that Sequoia Avenue is a tight street and that he agrees with the previous speaker about limiting cars taking that turn to avoid the light. Ralph Nelson said that as a cyclist he is in full support of the roundabout in this location. They have had great experiences on the State Street roundabout and the newest one on Leucadia Boulevard. Jason Oziel said that he is not in favor of option 2 – Roundabout on Carlsbad Boulevard and Tamarack Avenue. He does not feel this roundabout will be similar to the one at the north end of town (State Street) where there are no pedestrians. This intersection is so busy at all times with pedestrians and cyclists crossing. Noted that the State Parks parking lot backs up. He would like to keep the signal and make improvements. Barbara Segal said that she is not in support of option 2 – Roundabout at Tamarack Avenue and Carlsbad Boulevard. She would like to see some improvements made like moving the bus stop but leaving the signalized intersection. Jonnie Johnson spoke about option 2 – Roundabout at Tamarack Avenue and Carlsbad Boulevard that she does not believe it to be a good fit for this location. She would like to see an overall master plan for Carlsbad Boulevard from north to south. She commented that she does not see any regulation on speed. She also commented that the city now plans to install a fire station on Carlsbad Boulevard intersection with Cannon Road less than 1,000 feet away from the proposed roundabout. Stephen Stewart spoke in favor of the roundabout in general, but he is concerned about the through way traffic and the narrowing of the lane which in his opinion needs to be addressed. What volume of traffic will the roundabout support. However, as a cyclist and pedestrian he supports the roundabout option that will have fewer conflict points. Jean Hsu spoke about the city needing a master plan. Every morning when she exits Garfield Street she has a hard time because the cars parked on the side of the road block her view of oncoming traffic. What is the city’s parking policy in this location? Page 6 of 23 Pam Corbin inquired about the plan to add parking spaces. Will it be across from the Vigilucci’s restaurant? She would oppose having added parking in that location. She also commented that the Police have been doing a better job controlling the speed and noise of the traffic in this area. Steve Clark spoke against option 2 – Roundabout at Carlsbad Boulevard and Tamarack Avenue. He strongly opposes the roundabout as he would never be able to get in or out of his driveway located on Carlsbad Boulevard. Garry Nessin spoke in support of the option 2 – Roundabout at Tamarack Avenue and Carlsbad Boulevard. He suggested that the city have a workshop so that we can review the engineering design details between the Commission and the City Council. There we can work out parking issues and other details that residents are concerned. Michael Hedrick spoke in favor of option 2 – Roundabout at Carlsbad Boulevard and Tamarack Avenue. The safest option hands down will be a roundabout. He would feel much safer having his children and himself cross the intersection at Tamarack if there was a roundabout in this location. Noted the roundabout is more efficient and environmentally friendly. Jeff Adams spoke against option 2 – Roundabout at Carlsbad Boulevard and Tamarack Avenue. If we implement the roundabout then we will have gridlock from Harding Street west to Tamarack Avenue, from Tamarack Avenue north to Carlsbad Village Drive and from Tamarack Avenue south to Cannon Road. Muhammed Fathi commented that he lives off of Highland Drive near the Lagoon. He believes that for a roundabout to work we would need to close the exit for Tamarack Avenue to stop the traffic from coming off the highway 5, and we would also need to shut the parking down at Tamarack Avenue so there is not traffic there and you would have a perfect flow at the roundabout. Eldein Fathi commented that he spends every day at Tamarack Avenue walking his dog or surfing. He thinks the crosswalk at the trail is a great idea. He thinks widening at the bridge is a good idea. However, he is totally opposed to the roundabout. Darcy Eaton, spoke against the roundabout at Tamarack Avenue and Carlsbad Boulevard. The residents are asking for a master plan to see consistency all the way through Carlsbad Boulevard, to see better number of lanes, flow and a reduction in speed. Commissioner Kohl inquired about the software used for the simulation as presented. Engineering Manager Ajideh responded that the software used for the analyses was Sidra. Commissioner Kohl inquired if this study and public outreach was done many years ago, what prompt staff to do it again? Page 7 of 23 Transportation Director Frank replied that several years ago the city did public outreach and at that time staff was not able to bring it forward to the Traffic and Mobility Commission and ultimately to City Council. Staff received an extension for the grant to continue with the public outreach and finish the alternatives analyses. We are now ready to bring the two options to the Commission and ultimately to City Council. Associate Engineer Ferrell added that this location is part of State Parks right-of-way and required a lot of coordination with them on how to contractually move the project forward. Contractual mechanisms between the city and State Parked for them to do plan reviews, construction inspections, and a long-term maintenance and operation plan. Commissioner Kohl asked if the Coastal Commission is also involved. Associate Engineer Ferrell replied yes, the Coastal Commission are involved, and that city staff has met with them on this project as well. Commissioner Newlands inquired if staff took in consideration the impacts of Option 2 – Roundabout at Carlsbad Boulevard and Tamarack Avenue to the residents and businesses. Transportation Director Frank shared that during public outreach they talked to the property owners who live along the impacted area and businesses, specifically the owner of Vigilucci’s Restaurant and the adjacent neighbors. The owner of Vigilucci’s is strongly in support of the roundabout option. He believes this option will provide greater space with the walkway and it is a safer alternative. Staff also met with residents of the condominiums along the southeast corner of the intersection and all attendees were in supported Option 2 for the same reasons. Both options will have no different issues tied to people getting in and out of their driveways. Regarding construction, staff will focus on minimizing the impactful on the residents and users during construction. Commissioner Proulx asked if this is a highly traveled intersection? Transportation Director Frank answered yes, it is a very highly traveled intersection. If you look at the traffic data, it shows about 20,000 vehicles. It is one of the busiest bike corridors in the county. There is also high pedestrian use, especially on the weekends. Commissioner Proulx expressed her concerns about a roundabout on a highly traveled intersection and cannot comprehend how we would not have major back-up of traffic on this intersection. Transportation Director Frank showed in his PowerPoint the graphic with a crosswalk on the eastern side crossing Tamarack Avenue, and another one that crosses all of Carlsbad Boulevard. Director Frank explained that the high level of pedestrian traffic is better served by the roundabout options and will have the least congestion of the two options. Most of the Page 8 of 23 pedestrians travel north and south along the west side of the road. Both options include an added crosswalk on the south side of the intersection which will help with the pedestrian demand. The roundabout option will provide a 10’ wide shared pathway for inexperienced bicyclists that do not want to take the lane through the roundabout. The pedestrians will cross at the crosswalk which is only 14 feet versus the 40 feet that they are crossing now. The crosswalk with be ADA accessible. Drivers can continue moving through the roundabout that are not affected by the pedestrian crossing at the same time and therefore the efficiency of the intersection improved, and drivers and all users will experience less delay. When you have a traffic signal, and a pedestrian pushes the button then everything stops and you get delay at the intersection. You have to time the pedestrian phase based on the pedestrian speed of crossings and therefore the longer crosswalk lengths lead to greater vehicular traffic delay. Traffic backs up and then another phase will start and only that phase can operate at that time. Roundabouts are so much more efficient as all modes of travel can continue in unison. Commissioner Proulx said that when Transportation Director Frank pointed out the path of travel for the majority of the pedestrians it shows that many are crossing over to the entrance to the parking lot. We know this parking lot gets backed up in the summer. This is a major concern as when the lot gets backed up the traffic will back up and now you add all the pedestrians crossing at the same time. Transportation Director Frank mentioned that the traffic back up from the beach parking lot won’t change with either option. The gridlock would stay the same for roundabout option and for traffic light option. Commissioner Proulx inquired about the backlog of traffic that she thinks will not clear with all of the pedestrians continuing to cross around the intersection. Transportation Director Frank replied that the congestion is there due to people looking for parking in the beach parking lot. So, with either the traffic signal or the roundabout the traffic situation will be the same. With either option there are yield signs and cross-walks and people should not be blocking the pedestrian crosswalks with either option Commissioner Proulx asked about putting a sign at the top of the ramp to the beach parking lot saying how many spots are left or if the lot is full. Transportation Director Frank replied that staff will consider the comment. Commissioner Proulx inquired how come that city is not making a comprehensive plan for the whole corridor versus the one off. We have approved the roundabout at Cannon Road, do you know the impact of the Cannon Road roundabout to this intersection? Do we have studies showing the impact? Transportation Director Frank answered that the city does not have a master plan for the entire Page 9 of 23 Carlsbad Boulevard. There is not a master plan for the Village area yet although there have been improvements at State Street. City Council have not given us direction to create a master plan for the entire area. Commissioner Proulx inquired if staff thinks it is important to have a master plan when doing work of this magnitude. Transportation Director Frank replied that there are benefits of doing master plans as you get a more uniform look for what you are planning. However, there is a significant distance between these areas so he doesn’t think that either of the options that are presented today will have an impact on the performance of intersection control at Cannon Road or going north into the Carlsbad Village. Associate Engineer Ferrell commented that for this intersection that was studied, we looked at three traffic scenarios. The cumulative does include near term future projects, like the roundabout at Cannon Road and Carlsbad Boulevard was included in the cumulative analyses that was provided. Commissioner Proulx inquired what is the variance in cost between Option 1 and Option 2? Transportation Director Frank replied that staff does not have a cost estimate at this time, but he believes that the two options will be very close in cost. If we look at long term maintenance and operations costs, roundabouts are shown to be more cost effective as they don’t have electrical components and they are more sustainable. Engineering Manager Ajideh added that about fifteen years ago the city looked into preparing a master plan for the whole corridor. However, a major portion of the corridor is owned by the State Parks. There were long discussions between the city and the state regarding land swaps that became complex. Ultimately there was no masterplan presented to the City Council. Commissioner Proulx inquired about coordination between Coastal and State Parks. She is concerned about the ability to actually perform with both entities. Engineering Manager Ajideh said that staff is in direct communication with State Parks for the past three years. We engaged them in the preliminary process and State Parks provided a concurrence letter to the city supportive of the design approach. We are also working with them in preparing a right of entry agreement which allows us to construct in the right of way, and we are working with them on preparing long term operation and maintenance. Commissioner Proulx asked if right of away is required for the roundabout and the traffic light. Engineering Manager Ajideh replied that we already have the right of way, but we need to get a permit in order to construct these facilities for both options. Page 10 of 23 Commissioner Penseyres asked to view the slide for the traffic light option going northbound on Tamarack Avenue. His concern is that with e-bikes and faster speeds there will be right hooks. How will we prevent the right hooks in this situation? Transportation Director Frank replied that right hooks are prevalent throughout all streets and he isn’t sure if there is any alternative which we can design into this project that would prevent right hooks at a traffic signal intersection. He explained the curb extension at this location will shorten the crossing distance for the pedestrians, and by doing that it shortens the phase for the pedestrian crossing and actually helps with the efficiency of the traffic signal. Also, the City Traffic Engineer pointed out that the dashing would go all the way up to the stop bar to the intersection. Roundabouts are statistically safer for the cyclists than signalized intersections. Commissioner Penseyres asked if staff would consider a bike box for the traffic signal option? Transportation Director Frank replied that staff will take the comment under consideration. Commissioner Penseyres mentioned a previous option to have a tunnel under Carlsbad Blvd at the bridge which the Commission voted against simply because of cost. There is a difference in safety for a tunnel that goes under versus an on-street crosswalk. With the focus being on safety, I wonder if this option could be considered again as part of this project. As he recalls it was about $2 Million. Transportation Director Frank replied that the tunnel option was a separate capital project and not an option for this project. However, we will note your comments. Commissioner Penseyres asked if staff has had any meetings with the residents that live near Sequoia Avenue? Transportation Director Frank said that they did have a neighborhood meeting with the residents of Sequoia Avenue and surrounding areas. Vice-Chair Fowler inquired if it is the assumption that a cyclist coming down Tamarack Avenue would dismount and walk the bike to the crosswalk and then walk the bike across the intersection. Transportation Director Frank answered that if they are inexperienced bicyclists or young children or just don’t feel comfortable taking the lane then they could go onto the shared pathway which has been widened to ten feet and then go slowly and use the crosswalk. More experienced bicyclists can take the lane and ride through the roundabout intersection in unison with vehicles. Vice-Chair Fowler asked about the bicyclists coming down Tamarack Avenue. Page 11 of 23 Transportation Director Frank said that the cyclists coming down Tamarack Avenue will have to slow down a little and then go through the roundabout at approximately 15 mph or go up the ramp at a 45-degree angle onto the shared pathway. The ramp is specifically designed at a 45- degree angle and five feet wide to discourage high speed use of the shared pathway. Vice-Chair Fowler asked how wide is the proposed shared pathway? Transportation Director Frank said that the objective is to make the shared pathway approximately ten feet wide. Chair Coelho inquired if staff did a tally of responses on who is in favor of Option 1 versus Option 2? Transportation Director Frank answered that staff did not do a formal tally. Chair Coelho inquired if the Carlsbad Fire Department have reviewed both options? Transportation Director Frank said that the Fire Department along with other departments have reviewed the alternative analyses and the options. Staff specifically looked at the Fire Department largest design vehicle and made sure that it can travel through the roundabout option without having to go up onto the truck apron. Chair Coelho said that after the concrete spill on the I-5, Mayor Blackburn brought up the roundabouts on the southern part near Island Way and how there are some areas of the city where there is only one path for emergency vehicles to get around due to the lagoon. He wants to make sure emergency situations have been considered for both options. Chair Coelho inquired about the signage on the shared pathway. How to communicate with residents and visitors about the shared pathway to avoid confusion. Is there a planned city standard? Transportation Director Frank said that staff will look to the California MUTCD for guidance regarding signage. He encourages the public and the Commission to spend some time in the roundabouts that are built to see that the bicyclists and the pedestrians are using the roundabouts as designed. Chair Coelho asked if there is a plan to add more parking lots to eliminate parking in this space along coast highway? The parking situation right along there on the west side is much more complex and there are more people. Is there any thought to acquire property or expand public parking? Transportation Director Frank said that he believes there is a CIP project which looks at parking in the Carlsbad Village area. There is an action to look at the existing parking configurations Page 12 of 23 along the right of way. Transportation Planning and Mobility Manager Schmidt said that they are kicking off a study to evaluate parking in the Carlsbad Village area. He also asked staff to address the public comments that inquired about adding parking. Associate Engineer Ferrell replied that because we are relocating the bus stop, it has created space to add additional parking. The parking that will be added for either option will be about eight or nine spaces in the same location along Carlsbad Boulevard. Commissioner Kohl said that he is in favor of roundabouts, but he has concerns. Do the pedestrians take a chance and start to cross the crosswalk and hope that the cars stop? We do not have this problem at a signalized intersection. Staff talked about reducing the number of conflict points when using a roundabout versus a signalized intersection. However, when he looks at the roundabout it appears that we are creating four conflict points. He took a nonscientific survey of the comments and there were 300 letters. Of those there were 135 for the roundabout and 135 against the roundabout. If he could make the decision, he would turn off the signal. He would put in a temporary roundabout to see how it worked for six months. Commissioner Garcia commented that the sidewalk on the south side of the Highway 101 should be wider as it is currently very narrow, and the grass area on the north side should remain and no additional parking. The community does not want drastic change. She can’t imagine pedestrians crossing this roundabout at night when it is dark, and cars don’t want to slow down or stop for them to cross. She prefers Option 1 as the roundabout is too much of a drastic change. Commissioner Proulx asked if staff has an analysis of the response time in a highly trafficked roundabout area versus a less traffic roundabout like State Street. If the traffic is backed up and we have an emergency vehicle coming, how long will it take for them to be able to get through this intersection? Transportation Director Frank answered that he is not aware of any study done. He can tell us that the Emergency Services partners have said that gridlock and congestion at intersections is a major concern for delay. He wants to point out that the traffic study that was completed showed that the roundabout alternative is the option that has less delay, and less congestion. The more congestion, gridlock and delay is the option with the traffic signal. Both options will be addressed by emergency services and can be maneuvered with the largest emergency vehicles. Commissioner Penseyres commented that the safest way for a cyclist to get through a roundabout is to take the lane and get farther to the left or in the center. The worst thing they can do is right on the far right as they are at risk for being side swipe. However, when a side swipe does occur it will be at low speed, and it won’t be fatal. The people that are not willing to Page 13 of 23 do that have the option to use the ramp and shared walkway. People will not speed through the shared pathway with pedestrians all around them. He also went through the comments and letters and came to the same conclusion that the vote was split for half wanting the roundabout and half not wanting it. Usually when you poll a community about something new you only see about 20% for the roundabout and 80% against. If you poll them again later the vote will flip and people will see that it worked out far better than they thought it would. He asked for people to keep an open mind and think about the possibility that it does work. Vice-Chair Fowler said that if you look at the Traffic and Mobility Commission mission statement it shows that they are data driven. He said that community input is a very important data point, and we need to recognize that and take it seriously. The data is very clear in the increased safety of roundabouts. He strongly supports Option 2 which is the roundabout option. Chair Coelho commented that he believes that parking should be moved away from the beach. The crown jewel of the City of Carlsbad is the beach and making the beach accessible and safe for people to enjoy is most important. We need to get cars away from parking in this stretch and have parking garages conveniently located. Motion by Vice-Chair Fowler, seconded by Commissioner Penseyres to support staff’s recommendation to the City Council to implement a modern-day roundabout at the intersection of Carlsbad Boulevard and Tamarack Avenue. Motion failed, 3/4 (No: Proulx, Newlands, Garcia, and Kohl) Commissioner Newlands commented that the Commission could decide not to make a recommendation to the City Council in lieu of recommending either Option 1 or Option 2. Motion by Commissioner Newlands, seconded by Commissioner Proulx to recommend Option 1 to the City Council. Motion failed, 3/4 (No: Coelho, Fowler, Penseyres, and Garcia) Chair Coelho asked Commissioner Garcia if she could elaborate on her reasoning on voting No on both motions. Commissioner Garcia replied that she feels that the roundabout would not be good, but the display in Option 1 was not enough. She feels that there needs to be more of a change to Option 1 to meet the needs of the residents. Commissioner Proulx asked Commissioner Garcia to elaborate on what she thinks is missing from Option 1 that she believes that it does not meet the needs of the community. Commissioner Garcia replied that she feels that we need to keep the design simpler. She thinks that we need to expand the sidewalk on the south side. She does not feel that there is a need of adding so many parking spaces. She wants to keep the grass on the north side the way it is Page 14 of 23 currently. If there is too much change it won’t feel like the authentic Carlsbad. Vice-Chair Fowler said that he has talked about developing a consensus and how important that is. The truth is that everyone is divided by this just as the community is divided. Commissioner Kohl asked if staff is under a time constraint to present this project to the City Council? Transportation Director Frank answered yes, staff is under a time constraint due to the grant that is tied to this project. Staff will take all of the comments received from the public and the commission under advisement. Our intent is to consider everything and there will be another opportunity for public input when we present to the City Council. Chair Coelho stated to the public in attendance that sometimes the Commission will make recommendations to the City Council to help them make their decision. He thinks that the Commission should make some sort of recommendation to the City Council. Transportation Director Frank commented that at the Commissions discretion, they could appoint a speaker to come and present to the City Council. They could present on the comments and what they heard at the meeting tonight. Commissioner Kohl pointed out that the Commission job is to either support or not support staff’s recommendation to put in the roundabout. City Council will decide regardless. Commissioner Proulx understood that the City Council will receive all of the comments and rationale of why the Commission voted the way they did tonight. Chair Coelho said that the likelihood is there will be additional public speakers at the City Council meeting as well. He personally would like to go to City Council and present what happened. That is all that can be presented as it is evident in the two failed motions that the decision was split. Vice-Cahir Fowler said that a crafted one paragraph description of the events that is neutral to each of the options could be read by the Chair or other appointed commissioner. Chair Coelho inquired on when this is going in front of the City Council? Associate Engineer Ferrell said that they are planning to present this item to City Council on March 21, 2023. Chair Coelho asked if staff could create a letter and then the Commission could approve that at the next meeting. This would be included in the presentation to City Council in March. Page 15 of 23 Transportation Director Frank clarified that staff takes direction of the Deputy City Manager regarding their workload. Staff will take this request under advisement, but they can’t commit at this time. Chair Coelho said that one of the Commissioners could also write the letter and then the Traffic & Mobility Commission could vote on it at the next meeting. Transportation Director Frank said that staff will write a paragraph describing the action of the Traffic & Mobility Commission tonight, and the minutes will also capture the comments and actions taken on the item. 5. TRAFFIC CALMING PROJECT ON TAMARACK AVENUE FROM ADAMS STREET TO SKYLINE ROAD - Support staff’s recommendation to the City Council on the revised proposed traffic calming concept plan consisting of two raised crosswalks and two speed tables on Tamarack Avenue from Adams Street to Skyline Road. (Staff Contact: John Kim and Tom Frank, Public Works Department) Staff’s Recommendation: Support staff’s recommendation. City Traffic Engineer Kim and Transportation Director Frank presented the report and reviewed a PowerPoint presentation (on file in the Office of the City Clerk). PUBLIC COMMENT: Jason Oziel, expressed how disappointed he is with the revised plan. He recommends that staff take the options back to the community and figure out a different plan. Or we have the Fire Department speak to the public to answer some of these questions. Tim Morgan, came to support his neighbors by saying how disappointed they are with the decision to reduce the project from six speed cushions and two raised crosswalks down to only three speed tables and two raised crosswalks. We are asking staff to support the community to not decrease the number of speed tables and to help deconstruct the HAWK signal. Phillip Johnson, spoke to encourage the Commission on their important task of safety on the roads. He shared some figures that show in the USA for the year of 2022 that there were 31, 785 traffic deaths according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Chris Pinnel, shared that in October the residents were all in agreement with the speed cushions and were told by Public Works that they would be fine for emergency vehicles. Now the new plan of putting speed tables allow the cars to speed up where the speed cushions would have caused the vehicles to slow down. Commissioner Kohl mentioned that in the past Senior Engineer Mangohig worked for the City of Page 16 of 23 Encinitas and he conducted a study on speed cushions. He came up with the suggestion on the correct placement so that they would not interfere with emergency vehicles. Is staff using him to do that type of study in the City of Carlsbad? City Traffic Engineer Kim answered that the speed cushions were not developed by Senior Engineer Mangohig, but by Carlsbad engineering staff in cooperation with the Fire Department to get that spacing so that the large vehicles could traverse over the speed cushion without deflection. He pointed out that speed cushions are normally deployed on low speed, low volume residential streets. Driving down the center of a residential street is usually not an issue. Tamarack Avenue is different as it is a divided arterial that happens to have residential homes. He understands if the Fire Department has concerns about trying to straddle the middle of the speed cushion given that context. The Fire Department has no issue with our deployment of speed cushions on residential streets, but Tamarack Avenue is a primary response route. We want to provide safety to all in the City of Carlsbad and are working towards that goal. Transportation Director Frank said that when speed cushions were first designed with the concept of having the fire engine straddle them, it was in regards to trucks. At that time the fire trucks included the EMT’s and they were the first response to a collision. Now our Fire Department have an ambulance vehicle that has a shorter distance between the inside wheelbases. Therefore, it is not the same vehicle that the speed cushions were originally designed for. The new ambulances are the same width of other vehicles that use that corridor. We recognize that we came out with the preliminary plan that the residents approved, and we also recognize that having a lower number of treatments are not going to have the same impact as the nine treatments, but it is a very good improvement. It will have a quick impact on traffic calming for that corridor. We must look at what the right balance is between traffic calming on the neighborhood arterial which is a residential street for those who live there but it also serves other uses such as emergency response routes. We work closely with our Fire Department and believe that what is being proposed is the best balance for going forward in the short term. We will look at this as part of our transformative corridor project which will start workshops this summer. Commissioner Kohl asked if we are prohibited to use speed signs that give tickets? Transportation Director Frank said that it is a state law, and it does not allow the use of speed radar signs for citations. Commissioner Newlands asked why the Fire Department asked for a reduction in the number speed Tables? Transportation Director Frank said that the reduction is because when you look at the number of treatments, they have a cumulative effect on the delay for that corridor. So, when emergency vehicles are transporting a patient, they don’t want too many to where it is slowing Page 17 of 23 them down. Emergency response timing is critical. They have response goals and they felt that the nine that were shown in the preliminary plan was too many for their team to meet their response goals. Commissioner Newlands asked if there has been any more discussion on the HAWK signal? Transportation Director Frank replied that staff is going to bring back the after study for the intersection improvements at the T&MC April meeting. Commissioner Proulx inquired about the difference between a speed cushion and a speed table. City Traffic Engineer Kim replied that they are both essentially speed bumps. A speed cushion has two tracks cut into it to allow the wheels of a large fire truck to pass without deflection. A speed table is a little bit bigger because it often accommodates a raised crosswalk on top. It has a flat area where a whole vehicle can be level. In terms of dimensions, the length of a speed cushion that we install is twelve feet, and a speed table would be about twice of that. It would have a ramp, a flat section and then a ramp down. Commissioner Proulx asked why the changes were made? City Traffic Engineer Kim replied that the Fire Department concluded that the speed tables pose less of an impact to response time then the speed cushions. Transportation Director Frank added that the change was also due to the fact that the raised speed tables have less of an impact on the injured passenger that they are transporting. Vice-Chair Fowler asked what the likelihood that the transformative corridor project will have on this project down the line? Could things be changed then? Transportation Director Frank responded that they will look at the transformative corridor project with a fresh slate on what the issues are and what the stakeholders’ comments would be. It would be likely that some of the temporary project improvements may be revised or removed if something else was installed. The Fire Department team is very favorable on horizontal deflections. We will look in our tool box to see what we can do such as a mini roundabout. Chair Coelho asked about the timeline for when that evaluation will be? Transportation Director Frank said that this is a temporary measure for just this segment between Adams Street and Skyline Road. We will do the corridor study for all of Tamarack Avenue. We are going forward with the transformative corridor project starting this summer. We can monitor the improvements after they are made and come back to the Commission in Page 18 of 23 eight months to give a report on how they are performing. Chair Coelho inquired on how the Fire Department creates a route plan. How do they designate that Tamarack Avenue is going to be the route. Fire Division Chief Metz said that they have been working closely with staff to evaluate all of the options and provide input on how they view emergency response. There are very few east-west corridors in order to get from the fire stations to other parts of the city, primarily Carlsbad Village Drive, Cannon Road and Tamarack Avenue. We just opened a new fire station on Carlsbad Boulevard, and we would come east up Tamarack Avenue on a regular basis. Fire Station 3 also responds to calls up El Camino Real and coming down Tamarack Avenue. We use automatic vehicle locaters to dispatch the closest emergency response unit. Also understand the fire stations could be anywhere in the city when dispatched. When there are multiple calls at once and we have to call in a unit that is farther away then Tamarack Avenue would be the main corridor to get them up and down. When evaluating the application of traffic calming devices for vertical deflection, we have to look at the type, size, amount of traffic and what type of road. Depending on the type of device we use, each one of those devices could add up to thirty seconds response time for the fire engine to slow down, go over a traffic calming device and then accelerate again. When we looked at the original plan, they were every 350 feet. Once the fire engine cleared the first one, they would not be able to accelerate before getting to the next one. It is highly unlikely to see so many speed cushions along an emergency response route. That is when we approached staff and asked what else could be done to try to limit the number and still achieve some traffic calming but take into consideration the people all over the city looking for emergency response. We ran some numbers for how many emergencies response calls we responded to on Tamarack Avenue between Adams Street and Skyline Road for the past five years. These are addresses on Tamarack Avenue alone, not including any of the side streets. We responded to 446 times during that span. That does not account for how many times we responded on El Camino Real or down towards the freeway to get elsewhere in the city. Tamarack avenue is a highly traveled and highly utilized emergency traffic route that we utilize as our only point of access from east to west. With the amount of traffic on Tamarack Avenue it is much safer for the driver to keep the fire engine on the correct side of the street rather than try to cut down the center of a street on a major arterial going east and west, to get the traffic to yield and to get the truck just perfect where the wheels will fit between speed humps. It is easier for a fire truck to glide over a speed table at a reduced speed but not have to completely stop like we would at a speed hump. Chair Coelho asked if there is a calculation regarding response time to specific areas? What type of delay are we talking about by adding two or three more speed bumps? Fire Division Chief Metz responded that they have response time maps that show how long it will take from point A to point B and they utilize those in order to place their fire stations in the most opportune areas. The response time that we are trying to manage on a national average is our first unit on scene within six minutes. Page 19 of 23 Chair Coelho asked what the impact would be if the average response time in this area was seven minutes instead of six? Fire Division Chief Metz said that they did not run any numbers, but he can say that any delay that we have could have an impact on patient survivability in extreme cases. Therefore, we look at all of the different things that are proposed and how it impacts response time. Chair Coelho asked how we balance the response time issues with the current conditions on Tamarack Avenue? do you have data that suggests that speed bumps every 350 feet versus every 700 feet would reduce the chances of a child being hit by a vehicle? Fire Division Chief Metz said that in terms of emergency response time, three minutes is the critical time for someone that is having a heart attack or not breathing. Our six minutes is twice that three-minute mark. That is why our emergency dispatchers will walk someone through the process in order to provide lifesaving intervention until the first responders arrive. Commissioner Proulx asked if the Fire Department was involved with the community meeting that took place in October 2022. Fire Division Chief Metz said that they were not aware of the community meeting when it took place. They provided comments and direction once staff brough the project to their attention. Commissioner Proulx said that one of the issues is that Tamarack Avenue is a unique road with it being both a residential neighborhood and a main thoroughfare. She asked if he feels given what the residents would like, and what he knows about fire and response that this is the best solution to try to address both issues? Transportation Director Frank responded yes. Commissioner Garcia believed that it is a great idea to have the speed tables as it is so important to have those around the school on Valley Street, and this will make it safer. Motion by Commissioner Kohl, seconded by Commissioner Proulx to support staff’s recommendation to the City Council on the revised proposed traffic calming concept plan consisting of two raised crosswalks and two speed tables on Tamarack Avenue from Adams Street to Skyline Road. Motion carried, 6/1 (No: Coelho) 6. ENDORSING THE VISION ZERO GOAL - Support staff’s recommendation to the City Council to adopt a resolution endorsing the Vision Zero goal. (Staff Contact: Nathan Schmidt, Public Works Department) Staff’s Recommendation: Support staff’s recommendation. Page 20 of 23 Transportation Planning and Mobility Manager Schmidt presented the report and reviewed a PowerPoint presentation (on file in the Office of the City Clerk) Commissioner Kohl mentioned that they received a letter from a former member of the Commission, Mr. Linke. The letter stated that the Vision Zero Goal has come before the Commission before, and it was recommended that some things were added but this was never done. He asked why the recommended additions were not done? Transportation Planning and Mobility Manager Schmidt said what staff intends to do is update the SMP which is in line with the original commission’s direction. They recommended that instead of developing a standalone Vison Zero action plan that we would integrate it with the Sustainable Mobility Plan which already has a lot of the data, background analyses, project and recommendations that would lead into a Vision Zero Plan. Commissioner Kohl asked if we should take the term Vision Zero and expand on it a bit to reflect the things that we want to incorporate? Transportation Planning and Mobility Manager Schmidt replied yes, and that is what we would do as part of the action plan in the SMP. We would work with the Traffic and Mobility Commission to accomplish this goal. Commissioner Penseyres said that one of the objections that Mr. Linke had was related to going outside to get a consultant involved. What does staff plan to do? Transportation Planning and Mobility Manager Schmidt said that this will be brought back in front of the Commission. The Commission voted to adopt the original Sustainable Mobility Plan. Any changes to that will be brought back in front of the Commission for review. Commissioner Penseyres asked who will be integrating the new plan into the Sustainable Mobility Plan? Will it be done in house or by a consultant? Transportation Planning and Mobility Manager Schmidt replied that they don’t know yet. He thinks that staff could take on most of the work and could see if they need outside help to update the document. Commissioner Penseyres asked if we do hire a consultant would the Traffic and Mobility Commission have any involvement on who is chosen? Transportation Planning and Mobility Manager Schmidt replied no, the Commission would not have any involvement in the hiring of the consultant. Vice-Chair Fowler inquired if the City of Carlsbad have any actual legal obligation to meet Zero Vision goals or methods? Or is this a framework for doing business in such a way that we Page 21 of 23 achieve an overarching goal of eliminating traffic fatalities. Transportation Planning and Mobility Manager Schmidt said that there aren’t necessarily any legal obligations that go along with the Vision Zero action plan. The benefit that we would see is it would allow us to qualify for some active transportation funding, safety funding, and allow us to be better suited for grants. Vision Zero is essentially a planning framework. Commissioner Proulx recalled that on the Safer Streets document, that Vision Zero was listed as a zero dollar requirement. Transportation Planning and Mobility Manager Schmidt said in the Safer Streets Plan there was a cost, but that was for a standalone document, that would cost approximately $150,000. We clearly understand the Commissions direction on that point and that is why we have pivoted to making this an update to the Sustainable Mobility Plan. Commissioner Kohl said there will be cost as there will be several ticket items to this, one being police enforcement. Other items will be different type of control equipment such as red-light cameras. Transportation Planning and Mobility Manager Schmidt said this is correct and that all of those types of items will be reviewed by the Traffic and Mobility Commission. Transportation Planning and Mobility Manager Schmidt clarified that this item tonight is just about the resolution, it is not about the plan. City Council authorized the resolution, not the plan. Once we get to that step it will go in front of the Traffic and Mobility Commission and the City Council. Commissioner Penseyres brought up a statement that was made in the recommendation that doing this would allow for grants and other funding. This is one thing that Mr. Linke said was not a guarantee. However, we are in a state of emergency, and he does not think we will be able to get out of the declared emergency unless we adopt something like this. Chair Coelho mentioned that the wording is a little confusing. In the documentation it makes it sound like we are signing up for the full Vision Zero network plan. He is in support of the way it is written so as the language is cleaned up noting that we are trying to meet the goal which is zero fatalities. Then articulate that we will bring any projects as a result of trying to meet that goal that will come back as individual projects. Commissioner Proulx said that it should also address the fact that is going to be a part of the Sustainable Mobility Plan and not a standalone plan. Motion by Commissioner Proulx, seconded by Commissioner Kohl to support staff’s recommendation to the City Council to adopt a resolution endorsing the Vision Zero goal. Page 22 of 23 Motion carried, 7/0. 7. FISCAL YEAR 2021-22 GROWTH MANAGEMENT PLAN/GENERAL PLAN ANNUAL MONITORING REPORT CIRCULATION SECTION: ROADWAY LEVEL OF SERVICE ANALYSIS – Support staff’s recommendation to the City Council to receive and file the attached Growth Management Plan/General Plan Annual Monitoring Report Circulation Section, prepared pursuant to Carlsbad Municipal Code section 21.90.130(d) and Gov. Code section 65400. (Staff Contact: Nathan Schmidt, Public Works Department) Staff’s Recommendation: Support staff’s recommendation. Transportation Planning and Mobility Manager Schmidt presented the report and reviewed a PowerPoint presentation (on file in the Office of the City Clerk) Commissioner Newlands asked when the exempted streets will be revisited or will they always be exempt? Transportation Planning and Mobility Manager Schmidt said that they don’t have any requirements on when to review the exempted streets. Staff does not see a real benefit to remove the exemptions. What the exemptions allow us to do is when a project adds traffic to the exempt segments, it allows us to condition projects to implement Transportation Demand Management, or TDM, and Transportation System Management, or TSM, mitigations to address that impact. That is why we haven’t removed any exemptions to date. Motion by Vice-Chair Fowler, seconded by Commissioner Kohl to support staff’s recommendation to the City Council to receive and file the attached Growth Management Plan/General Plan Annual Monitoring Report Circulation Section, prepared pursuant to Carlsbad Municipal Code section 21.90.130(d) and Gov. Code section 65400. Motion carried, 7/0. CITY TRAFFIC ENGINEER COMMENTS: City Traffic Engineer Kim reports on the residential traffic calming projects. In the months of November and December we ran through six neighborhood meetings. We are in the process of moving them through the traffic calming process. We are in the survey stage and have sent out surveys to the community and they vote whether or not to support the plans. Once this has been completed for all of the streets we will bring them back to the Commission and give you the results of the community support. We are planning on four more neighborhood meetings in the next couple of months and then we will be caught up on our backlog of meetings that were delayed due to the pandemic. Transportation Planning and Mobility Manager Schmidt has one update in regard to the Safer Streets Program. We are excited that we officially launched the Safer Streets Together Community Pledge. So far we have nearly 500 people who have signed the pledge. To highlight commitment, we have window clings for cars, yard signs for lawns and you can pick up these materials at City Hall, Faraday or at any city library. As part of the Safer Streets Plan, we are also working with the San Diego County Bike Coalition and Circulate San Diego to offer a series of interactive traffic safety workshops. The first of these is this Thursday from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. Page 23 of 23 and is a class for new drivers who want to pick up quick tips on how cyclists and vehicles can share the road. Also save the date for a city cycling class on February 25, where you can bring your own bike and e-bike and ride Carlsbad streets with a certified instructor. TRAFFIC AND MOBILITY COMMISSION COMMENTS: None ADJOURNMENT: Chair Coelho adjourned the Traffic & Mobility Commission Regular Meeting on Feb. 6, 2023, at 8:50 p.m. ___________________________ Eliane Paiva, Minutes Clerk