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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1988-10-03; Traffic Safety Commission; Minutesr? MINUTES Meeting of: TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMISSION Time of Meeting: 3-00 p.m. Date of Meeting: October 3, 1988 Place of Meeting- City Council Chambers COMMISSIONERS CALL TO ORDER: - --- Chairperson Melideo called the Meeting to order at 3 00 p.m. ROLL CALL: ~- Present -- Commissioners Melideo, Fuller. O'Day and Ward. Absent -- Commissioner Herring. Staff Members Present Bob Johnson, Principal Civil Engineer Officer Kates, Police Chris Salomone, Director of Housing and Redevelopment Department Frank Mannen, Assistant City Manager APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes of the Meeti 3 held August 1, 1988, were approved as presented. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS: There were no requests to address the Commission. OLD BUSINESS: Bob Johnson announced that two Agenda Bills would go to Council tomorrow night: the "no parking" zones on Marron Road and Avenida Encinas. NEW BUSINESS : --- A. Carlsbad Boulevard - Information item regarding requests for improvements on Carlsbad Boulevard at Cannon Road, Cerezo Drive and Manzano Drive. --- Bob Johnson gave the staff report as contained in the Agenda, referring to the letter dated August 31, 1988, from Bailey Noble. Mr. Johnson stated all requests received by staff are set up for proper engineering studies. He stated the signal at Cannon Road and Carlsbad Boulevard is being designed at this time and should be installed by the summer of 1989. Mr. Johnson stated the results of the traffic engineering studies will be presented at a future meeting. An analysis of accident data would also be included with that report. He stated the problems must be identified and appropriate recommendations made to mitigate the problems. However, staff has no recommendations to make at this time. Mr. 3ohnson concluded his report, stating there had not been 32 accidents between Manzano Drive and Palomar Airport Road this year. end of August there were five accidents in that area. There had been more accidents between Tamarack and Manzano Drive. This year from January to the Melid' Fuller 0 'Day Ward X X X X MINUTES Octob y \\ 3, 1988 TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMISSION Page 2 COMMISSIONERS NEW BUSINESS: (Continued) Bailey Noble, 5470 Los Robles, Terramar, gave a history of the accidents along Carlsbad Boulevard in the Palomar Airport Road vicinity and his appearances before the Traffic Safety Commission. Mr. Noble stated this corner is the second worse corner in Carlsbad and is known by the neighbors as "coffin corner". He stated that other areas get signals, but that area has received nothing. Mr. Noble stated the citizens in that area want to be able to cross Carlsbad Boulevard safely and the traffic needs to be slowed down. He recommended the traffic signal at Cannon Drive be completed as quickly as possible; a traffic signal at Manzano Drive with warning lights, and a stop sign be installed at Cerritos and Carlsbad Boulevard with a painted crosswalk. 3erri Wolder, 5460 Carlsbad Boulevard, stated it takes her 15 to 20 minutes to get her car out of her driveway, and she told of being hit recently while trying to turn left into her driveway. Ms. Wolder had two photographs to show the $4,500 damage to the rear of her car. Ms. Wolder stated there is also a bike lane to add to the traffic congestion, and said there is a need for a traffic signal to slow the traffic in the area. Deborah Zizzo, 3845 Nautical Drive, stated she has three teenagers and it was a friend of one of her sons who was killed in July. She stated she conducted a survey on Labor Day, and within ten minutes 148 cars had passed by the Palomar Airport Road/Carlsbad intersection. In one hour, 176 pedestrians crossed the street there--with 141 young children. stating Carlsbad Boulevard deserves a lot more attention from the City. She concluded, L. 0. Brockmann, 5511 Los Robles Drive, Terramar, stated he supported the recommendations by Mr. Noble, and he related an incident that happened on Manzano Drive where a truck driver lost control of his vehicle. Mr. Brockmann stated it takes 15 to 20 minutes to cross Carlsbad Boulevard in the afternoon in order to walk to the beach, and then it is very hazardous. Mr. Brockmann stated it is a matter of traffic and pedestrian safety which needs attention before more lives are lost. Margaret Erhart, 5300 Carlsbad Boulevard, held up two signs she uses in order to get across Carlsbad Boulevard safely, and stated more traffic signals and stop signs are needed. Patrick Johnson, 5431 Los Robles, stated he became an American citizen 25 years ago and chose to become a resident of Terramar four years ago. He said he is concerned about the tremendous number of fearful neighbors he has in Terramar and because nothing has been done about the traffic safety in that area, the people just become more fearful. He stated he cared about people and assumed this Commission cared about them too. MINUTES October 3 /\\\ 4 8 1988 TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMISSION Page 3 COMMISSIONERS $ - - NEW BUSINESS: (Continued) George Awad, 5480 Carlsbad Boulevard stated he wanted something to be done about the vehicle and pedestrian safety on Carlsbad Boulevard Commissioner Fuller asked staff to include information on the status of the improvements to four lanes- how much right-of-way the City has between Cannon Road and Palomar Airport Road; feasibility of a two-way left turn lane; the southeast corner of Carlsbad Boulevard and Manzano Drive--what development is scheduled and the nature of the improvements on Manzano; where the access will be; right- of-way to be dedicated to Carlsbad and the type and volume of traffic that development wIl.1 generate. He also recommended liberal evaluation when applying CalTrans warrants to the accident reports in that area. existing width of pavement and the Commissioner Fuller commented further about the danger of traffic backing up onto the bridge with traffic from Palomar Airport Road coming onto Carlsbad Boulevard, if there were a signal at the corner of Manzano Drive. He also asked where the bus stops are in that area. Chairperson Melideo stated she realized Carlsbad Boulevard is a busy street with heavy traffic and the speed limit is not observed by the aeneral public. She added that this item has been before this Commission several times and she thanked the citizens for appearing before the Commission. Commissioner Fuller commented that the results of the signal at Cannon and Carlsbad Boulevard will not be known until after it has been installed and has been in use for some time. Commissioner Ward stated she was not in favor of a half- solution--but wanted a full solution to eliminate "fender benders" and other accidents. Bob Johnson explained the procedure that is followed in the installation of a traffic signal and the time it takes. Thelma Hayes spoke from the audience, stating it must be indicated to the pedestrians where they can cross safely and the message gotten to the motorists that pedestrians will be crossing in that area. B. Downtown Carlsbad - Location of Parking Lots Bob Johnson gave the initial staff report and introduced Chris Salomone, Director of Housing and Redevelopment, who continued the report, using a transparency to show the parking lot sites. Mr. Salomone stated there will be four lanes of traffic on Elm Avenue (Carlsbad Village Drive) and traffic signals at Jefferson and Roosevelt to tie in with the other signals on Elm. Staff was directed by Council to look at sites for parking lots to replace the onstreet parking to be lost on Elm Avenue. secured and are being designed at this time, with construction to begin in January. Three sites have been MINUTES October TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMISSION Page 4 COMMISSIONERS Y - NEW BUSINESS: (Continued) Mr. Salomone explained that staff is still searching for other lots at this time. He added there would be 81 spaces available in the proposed lot to support the Union Church new development program, that the City could use for long-term parking from 8:OO a.m. to 5:OO p.m., Monday through Friday. Mr. Salomone reported that the Housing and Redevelopment Advisory Committee had requested staff to begin a master plan for the downtown aea at this time, to determine where it will be ten years from now and at buildout. That proposal will go to that Committee and then to this Commission for consideration. A consultant is to be hired to consider the cirulation problems and parking problems and put this together in a complete master plan. Mr. Salomone said that it is possible that selecting the best locations for parking structures downtown will be the ultimate solution to the parking problem, as the land is too valuable to be used for one-level parking lots. There was a discussion about the parking in the railroad right-of-way, and the possible reluctance of some people to park too close to the railroad tracks. Mr. Salomone stated there would be a fence installed along the tracks, and some Commissioners felt that a wall would provide more security for people parking in that area. C. Ninth Annual Pedestrian Conference in Boulder, Colorad - Information report on the Conference. Bob 3ohnson reported on the Conference he attended September 22 - 24, 1988, referring to the report contained in the packet. by all speakers was that planning must be done up front to provide for pedestrian safety, and he felt Carlsbad was making progress on this by implementinq the Carlsbad Pedestrian Plan. He said that one thing stressed REPORT FROM TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMISSIONERS: There were no reports. REPORT FROM TRAFFIC ENGINEER: There was no report. AD30URNMENT: By proper motion, the Meeting of October 3, 1988, was adjourned at 4:18 p.m. Respectfully submitted, H&iett Babbitt Minutes Clerk