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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-03-05; Traffic Safety Commission; MinutesMINUTES MEETING OF: DATE OF MEETING: TIME OF MEETING: PLACE OF MEETING: TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMISSION March 5,2007 (Regular Meeting) 3:00 p.m. City Council Chambers CALL TO ORDER: Chair Gardner called the Meeting to order at 3:00 p.m. ROLL CALL: Present: Absent: Staff Members Present: APPROVAL OF MINUTES: February 5,2007 ACTION: VOTE: AYES: NOES: ABSTAIN: Chair Susan Gardner Vice-Chair Guy Roney Commissioner Steve Dorsey Commissioner Bonnie Bradshaw Commissioner Gordon Cress Robert Johnson, Deputy City Engineer, Transportation Debbie Fountain, Housing & Redevelopment Director Lt. Don Rawson, Carlsbad Police Department Motion by Commissioner Dorsey, and duly seconded by Vice-Chair Roney, to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of February 5, 2007 as presented. 3-0-1 Roney, Dorsey, Bradshaw None Gardner ITEM 4 - ORAL COMMUNICATIONS:II None. March 5, 2007 Traffic Safety Commission Meeting Page 2 ITEM 5 - PREVIOUS BUSINESS: None. ITEM 6 - NEW BUSINESS: ITEM 6A: Status Report on the City of Carlsbad Pedestrian Action Plan. Bob Johnson, Deputy City Engineer, informed the Commission that this item concerns an update on the Pedestrian Action Plan and was initiated by Thelma Hayes, a long-time Carlsbad resident. The five elements of the Pedestrian Action Plan are listed below and were shown on the screen for all to view. Each of these elements has essentially been completed since the Plan was approved in 1988 by the City Council. The elements have been discussed at previous Traffic Safety Commission meetings over the years. Mr. Johnson informed the Commission that there are a number of items that continuously address pedestrian issues throughout Carlsbad. The following is an update of some of those items. Mr. Johnson then introduced Debbie Fountain, Housing and Redevelopment Director, and stated that she will address and update a number of issues that are ongoing in the Village area of Carlsbad that pertain to the Pedestrian Action Plan. On March 1,1988, the Carlsbad City Council established the Pedestrian Action Plan that included the following five key elements of the plan: Key Element No. 1 - Expand the Pedestrian Section of the Circulation Element at the time revisions to the General Plan take place. Insert a policy statement(s) that relates to pedestrian needs and objectives. Key Element No. 2 - Develop an action plan for adopting and expanding the Downtown Pedestrian Circulation Study prepared by Willdan Associates in 1984. This action plan will inventory, evaluate, and prioritize locations within the City where sidewalks or other pedestrian facilities are missing or in need or repair and identify areas where it is necessary to complete pedestrian linkages. Funding for the study will be requested from SANDAG. Key Element No. 3 - Develop a Pedestrian Education Program. This program will focus on providing guidelines and information to pedestrians on a variety of subjects such as crosswalks, traffic signal pedestrian push buttons and signal indications, ways to provide input to the planning • process, pedestrian safety, designated City department to report maintenance problems, pedestrian - vehicle relationship and funding availability hi the yearly Capital Improvement Program for pedestrian facilities. New articles, leaflets, post cards, information meetings, and other resources would be used to accomplish this objective. March 5, 2007 Traffic Safety Commission Meeting Page 3 Key Element No. 4 - Develop a program to provide attention to the pedestrian planning and implementation process. This program will focus on the steps to ensure follow-through on the entire pedestrian process and facilities implementation, from initial design concepts to construction. Key Element No. 5 - Designate an engineering and/or planning staff member to have specific pedestrian related responsibilities. An employee(s) of the City of Carlsbad will have responsibilities to oversee the comprehensive planning for pedestrian needs and ensure that the overall planning process meets the needs of the pedestrian, but not necessarily as a full-time responsibility. Mr. Johnson explained that walking is one mode of travel in the City and pedestrian needs receive the attention of Engineering staff, the police, and other departments, just as staff devotes time to bicyclists and motor vehicles. With respect to the Pedestrian Action Plan, it has been a number of years since the General Plan was updated and the Planning Department will be pursuing an update to the General Plan very soon. There is no immediate timeframe, but once started the appropriate sections as they pertain to pedestrians will be updated and addressed. Currently, the livable street standards that were approved several years ago by the City Council are being implemented with new construction such as in the Bressi Ranch and the future Robertson Ranch that just went to the Planning Commission and City Council late last year. Robertson Ranch will incorporate the livable streets standards, which includes traffic calming, narrower streets, sidewalks, and the appropriate design elements for the residential units. These actions provide for a safer, more pleasant pedestrian environment. Mr. Johnson indicated that staff is initiating development of a Pedestrian Master Plan for Carlsbad. Staff is currently in the consultant selection process. Once the consultant is retained, it will probably be an eighteen month process to develop that Pedestrian Action Plan. There will be public scoping meetings throughout the course of developing the Pedestrian Action Plan so staff can receive input from the residents as to what their thoughts are on the various pedestrian issues and walking areas. The Coastal Rail Trail was completed last year, and it provides a route for bicyclists to use the Coastal Rail Trail from Oak Avenue to Tamarack Avenue, in addition to the pedestrian amenity associated with the trail for walkers. Mr. Johnson said one of the areas that he and Lt. Rawson spend a considerable amount of time on each year are the school areas, especially the school pedestrians. They discuss issues with the principals of virtually every school throughout the school year. In the past few years, one concern that has received attention is providing and analyzing intersections for adult crossing guards to assist the school pedestrians, especially the elementary schools, when they cross the street. The Police Department is responsible for overseeing the adult crossing guard program. Almost every elementary ' school in Carlsbad has a least one adult crossing guard. An ongoing program that is handled by the Streets Department to improve the safety for the pedestrian and to reduce liability to the City is the identification and correction of trip and fall March 5, 2007 Traffic Safety Commission Meeting Page 4 locations. A list is maintained when the trip and fall locations are reported and there is a correction program to address those sidewalks that are causing the problem. In addition, there is also an annual Concrete Replacement Program that addresses the locations that need some maintenance or corrections. New signs per the California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, adopted by the State of California to replace the CALTRANS Traffic Manual, have been placed at various pedestrian crossings throughout the City, including Carlsbad Boulevard and in the downtown area. We still use the florescent yellow-green color on signs, but there are some new pedestrian crossing signs that depict the pedestrian and include a downward pointing arrow at the crosswalk that draws attention to the pedestrian crossing in a very visible manner and it alerts the driver to the presence of a pedestrian crossing the street. There have been several requests for audible pedestrian indications at the traffic signals where the visually impaired pedestrian crosses the street and these have been ordered. They will be installed as soon as maintenance staff receives the audible indications. Each year in the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) funding is provided for sidewalk design and installation at various locations. This will be pursued in the upcoming CIP after the City Council approves the CIP in June of this year. Continuing, Mr. Johnson stated that the trails system in Carlsbad continues to expand through the efforts of staff in the Recreation Department and citizen volunteers. Staff is building more trails throughout Carlsbad, which is a nice amenity for the pedestrian in a safe and pleasant walking environment. In residential areas, staff receives numerous complaints about speeding and how that speeding relates to concerns for the pedestrian and that it can be an unsafe environment. Engineering Department staff and Lt. Rawson and his staff are addressing those concerns for pedestrian safety. This is ongoing and requires a considerable amount of time and attention. Traffic signals continue to be installed and they assist pedestrians when they cross the street. In the past several years, more than ten traffic signals have been constructed. Those traffic signals, in addition to assigning right of way to the vehicle, provide an opportunity for the pedestrian to cross the street with the right of way assigned. Locations on some of the busier arterial roadways, such as El Camino Real, have been expanded and with the expansion, bicycle lanes and sidewalks are included. This is a program that is active and more sidewalks are being built through road widening. Arterial streets in Carlsbad are the ones that need sidewalks so that pedestrians are not walking in the street. Debbie Fountain, Housing and Redevelopment Director, stated that she would like to update the Commission on some of the Village/downtown issues. She said that programs in her department could be categorized more as improving the pedestrian experience rather than a number of different improvements related to pedestrian walkways. They are working on the Village Development Standards, reviewing them to determine if they are causing any types of constraints to further development in the Village area, as well as producing the types of spaces that they think are helpful March 5, 2007 Traffic Safety Commission Meeting Page 5 in the revitalization efforts downtown. That might include answering do we have a pedestrian type of orientation with our downtown area. Also addressed is if it encourages pedestrians to walk from one place to another, or is it really encouraging them to get in their cars and go from one place to the other. Some of the things they would like to see in terms of the pedestrian experience improvements are the uses at the ground level being more pedestrian friendly and inviting so as to bring people in to retail or restaurant uses. They want to encourage more residential units downtown so there is more of a 24/7 type of environment where there are people not only shopping and working in the downtown area, but also living in the downtown area, trying to create a more vibrant type of community that really has eyes on the streets at all different times of the day. When businesses close up at 5:00 or 6:00 p.m., you are going to have residents coming into the area that continue that type of activity. Some obvious inherent problems are the compatibility with some of the uses that we have downtown in trying to make sure that there is a good balance in that we're all being respectful to each other in terms of noise that might come from the bars or restaurants at night and how that impacts residents. Staff is trying to -take a number of different components and meld them into something that continues to revitalize the Village area. Some of the key points they have been looking at are moving buildings closer to the sidewalk, so if there is retail on the bottom floor, they are sitting up closer to the sidewalk. They also want to require more enhanced landscaping at the pedestrian level so it is a nice place to walk as well as to shop and live. That experience, in terms of design, would be enhanced. They are looking at the height of buildings, how tall should a building be, and how far back it should be set back from the right of way so it doesn't overwhelm the pedestrian. They encourage public parking in very strategic locations rather than requiring every use to park itself. They want visitors to get out of their cars and walk around and not just drive up and park right in front of the businesses they want to go to. That is a change in the ways things have been done in the past in the Village area, so it isn't something that will happen overnight. Ms. Fountain mentioned they want to encourage people to get out and walk around at the same tune making them feel safe. They need to look at lighting and locations of public parking lots, the relationship with the Police Department and how the police are helping in terms of enforcement. It is not a single department working on this.* There are a number of different departments involved, including Public Works, Police Department, Fire Department, and the Housing and Redevelopment Department. Continuing, she mentioned that in addition to the physical built environment, they are also looking at what types of uses should be in the Village area, so another study related to business development has been conducted on retail analysis and completed last year. This study looked at the needs and desires of the community in terms of types of uses in the downtown area - not just retail, but more restaurants and more types of commercial service uses. They developed a business development and .marketing plan that tries to focus on the positives in the Village area, that it is a nice place to get out and walk around, is friendly to pedestrians, and what projects would be needed to be successful in that. It would include more public parking structures, having underground utilities expedited, more March 5, 2007 Traffic Safety Commission Meeting Page 6 landscaping, trees, and benches in the Village area so that when people are walking around, they have a place to rest. Housing and Redevelopment staff received positive responses when they did their survey on the retail analysis about the Village itself and how it looks now, and how friendly it is in terms of pedestrian environment. Respondents felt the downtown was clean and attractive. Some suggested that some of the buildings might need to be improved a little bit and activated at that ground level so that it encourages pedestrians to window shop or to go into the building. It doesn't mean that there might not be ways to improve or enhance upon that, but they received very favorable comments from the survey. Ms. Fountain concluded by saying these are some of the projects that the Housing and Redevelopment Department have going on. She commented that she brought copies of the Development Standards Revisions presentation for distribution to the Commission. All of this information is on the City website including the Retail Analysis, the Business Development and Marketing Plan, and all of the documents related to the development standards review. DISCUSSION: Vice-Chair Roney asked if most of the shoppers hi the Village are residents of Carlsbad or are most of the people coming from outside of Carlsbad. Ms. Fountain answered that there was a mix of shoppers. The northwest and northeast quadrants are probably more representative downtown than the southwest and southeast quadrants. Staff found that when Carlsbad residents were going into those other communities, it may have been more for convenience rather than something is not being offered in the Village or hi the northwest or northeast quadrant. It may just be a proximity type of issue. Staff didn't find anything specific that shoppers were saying wasn't available that they were going elsewhere to find. There is a mix of both tourist and residents, and it depends on the time of year you're talking about. There tends to be more visitors during the summer than other times of the year. It was actually a little bit surprising because most felt that it was probably going to be more tourist oriented than residents, and staff found it was a good mix, except it felt like there was some deficiency hi trying to get people from the southwest and southeast quadrants into the Village area. Commissioner Bradshaw stated that under Key Element No. 2 that Willdan Associates prepared a report in 1984. How valid was that? Mr. Johnson answered that the Pedestrian Action Plan was approved by City Council in 1988 and the 1984 study at that time was very valid. However, it has been more than twenty years now and that is why staff is moving on to other types of reports. The Carlsbad Residential Traffic March 5, 2007 Traffic Safety Commission Meeting Page 7 Management Program, the livable streets concepts and policies, and now embarking on the Pedestrian Action Plan are examples. It served its purpose in the early 1980's, but now in 2007 it's time to move on. With the additional updated studies, new thinking the Planning Department is incorporating into their latest planning concepts, Debbie Fountain's mentioning the various studies that are being down downtown, and so on. At the time, the 1984 document was a very helpful study. Chair Gardner asked about one particular area, the street that fronts along the ocean where there are several residences. When tourists are here, they use the street as a sidewalk because there isn't an easy way to walk there - behind the Carlsbad Inn. People walk on it five abreast down the middle of the street in the summer and that is not uncommon. Are there any plans to do something to try to protect the pedestrians from the cars? Maybe the problem is there is not enough real estate in there to do much, but are there any plans? Ms. Fountain responded that the area is interesting because much of it is outside the redevelopment area as a specific request from the property owners at the time to be excluded when the redevelopment area was set up. There are portions of it, like the Carlsbad Inn area and Army/Navy Academy that have portions that are inside the redevelopment area. The Army/Navy Academy are currently working on a master plan for all of their property and as part of that they are planning on enhancing the sidewalk area and creating a better environment for pedestrians crossing at Ocean Street locations. The Army/Navy Academy has part of their project in streets like Pacific View which is one of the alternative street design streets, so they have to go through a process to actually put in sidewalks in that area. It is a process that staff is recommending that they go though because it is pretty critical around the school to have your sidewalk improvements in. Mr. Johnson added that on other portions on Ocean Street, outside the redevelopment area, there are no active plans to try and modify the street. There has been talk over the years about trying to get the property owners together, but right now there is nothing moving forward. Chair Gardner stated that people drive in to use the post office on Roosevelt Street and drive out, and it'is not a good area for pedestrian use. Are there plans to have any kind of parking garage or structure built that the post office and the Coaster and others all within one block of one another could use, it seems like it would a good idea. Ms. Fountain answered that right now the sites that staff is looking at for a parking structure do not go that far north on Roosevelt Street. They are actually looking more at the commuter rail station to build a parking structure at that location, and then potentially across the street from the Redevelopment office, which is more towards Carlsbad Village Drive between Carlsbad Village Drive and Grand Avenue, because there is already some surface public parking lots. Building up from those existing lots seems to make some sense. They are aware of the situation at the post office, March 5, 2007 Traffic Safety Commission Meeting Page 8 and a few years ago staff tried to work out a plan with the post office to add more parking and better circulation. The post office doesn't actually own the property there. They lease the property. Because they didn't have any money for improvements, Redevelopment staff couldn't get any additional land around the post office for expansion. The post office did some modifications to the site, but it is a little compacted on site. For it to improve, the post office would probably have to relocate to some other location, which maybe is impossible to do and is not something that is in the works right now to do. Mr. Johnson commented that at the post office about a year and a half ago, there was a complaint from a disabled person in a wheelchair regarding the mailbox location on the south side of the post office. The sidewalk was very narrow and staff sent a letter to the post office. Post office staff worked with the property owner and they were able to move the boxes and widen the sidewalk just a little to help get the clearance that was needed for the disabled. If it is a relatively minor improvement, then it appears they are amenable to trying to make some improvements, but a big overall plan is not in the works and hasn't been and doesn't appear that it ever will be, unfortunately. Public Testimony; xMario Monroy, 749B Magnolia Avenue, Carlsbad, stated that the gas station causes a great deal of jaywalking on both sides of Jefferson Street going into the gas station for people going in to buy things. In his location on the south side of Magnolia Avenue, people buy their goodies inside the gas station and there is a place there to sit down and eat and drink. He picks up garbage all the time to help clean up. Another issue regarding traffic that he called Bob Johnson about was about the corner on the west side of Jefferson. Jefferson is an old street that is not very wide. The street is parked on both sides. There is a school there and there are a lot of driveways on that corner. There are times where traffic going to school in the mornings and afternoons becomes a little hectic. His biggest problem is when he is going west and he wants to make a left turn into Jefferson. There are people coming out of the gas station and there is parking on the east side of Jefferson south of the driveway. The street is being used on both sides as a used car lot. There are car sales posted there for several cars every day of the week. He's had to stop at least three times and slowed down several times for people coming out of the gas station. There is no room because there is parking. He'd like to suggest that the red line for no parking on the west side of the street be extended back to the driveway to the apartments and also on the east side all the way from the corner stop light to the Arco gas station so that people can see one another. It is a narrow street and the only way to get north and south. He doesn't know what the solution is but he thinks it would help if the City would prevent parking on both sides. Then there would be two lanes, and people going west and south could make a turn. , Chair Gardner assured Mr. Monroy that this matter would be referred to the Traffic Department for further study. March 5, 2007 Traffic Safety Commission Meeting Page 9 Thelma Hayes, 580 Laguna Drive, Carlsbad, representing the Pedestrian Action Group, stated that she was in the process of moving to 2855 Carlsbad Boulevard. Her apartment overlooks Ocean Street. She was a part of the study in 1984 which was necessary for them to have before the City Council could take action, which turned out to be the Pedestrian Action Plan. Not only did the City Council adopt the plan, but they gave $200,000 to implement it. After the third year, she was not aware that anything had been done and she checked, and that was the case. But the money had been added each of the two years, and it was still there. She decided, with her little group of which Marge and Mario Monroy were a part, that every year they should get an annual report which is continued until this year which is the 19th anniversary. It occurred to her that next year will be the 20th anniversary and since there was such a good start that she would like to see the next year be a banner year. She heard Debbie Fountain tell about the redevelopment revamp and she was on the redevelopment committee the first ten years. She has been working with Bob Johnson ever since he became the staff person for the committee. If the Commission could consider an ad hoc committee of the citizens and merchants they could make it a banner year as far as the pedestrian is concerned. Ms. Hays stated that she is now a disabled person. She walks with a white cane and she has applied for a seeing-eye dog. To do this she had to be evaluated where she walks. For three weekends a mobility expert from the Braille Institute or the San Diego Center for the Blind came and took her over to where she walks in Carlsbad and found the things that she didn't know were a danger to a pedestrian. So it made her again alert to the fact that their job just doesn't end. Ms. Hays explained that they have had these ideas over the years. You pick up somebody's voicing of an idea that you or someone else may have had ten or twenty years ago. The rub is that the implementation of the idea —that's where things slow down. Eventually, things do come to happy ending, sort to speak. She is on the Buena Vista Lagoon Foundation and they have been promoting a safe way to cross the lagoon. One of their members, Don Jackson, came up with the idea of a floating boardwalk. So they have been working on it. Since her allotted time was almost up, Ms. Hayes wrapped up with asking the Commission to consider how they can work next year at a great speed. Margie Monroy, 749B Magnolia Avenue, Carlsbad, stated that she has been associated withThelma Hayes since 1978. The first knowledge of her that she had was an article in the Carlsbad Journal about this lady that was trying to get sidewalks downtown. They became acquainted through the League of Women Voters and under her leadership, and it never would have happened without her leadership, they formed this committee to deal with pedestrian issues. They didn't even have a pedestrian element in the General Plan, it was just part of the traffic element. So a lot of work has been done with this, and when they started out there were several things that were their goals. Many of them have been implemented. Ms. Monroy stated that one thing that still bothered her was that one of the first things they started out to do was to ensure safe routes from school, because many of the kids and parents walk to school. Her problem is with Highland Avenue. There are four schools in the area of Carlsbad High March 5, 2007 Traffic Safety Commission Meeting Page 10 School, Magnolia Elementary, Valley Junior High, and the new alternative education high school. Those are all right in one area around Valley and Magnolia Avenue. Most of the children from those schools walk up Magnolia Avenue and down Highland where there are no sidewalks on a narrow street. The ones from the high school walk up Chestnut onto Magnolia Avenue. If you go up there when school is letting out it will be a revelation to you what is going on. She used to pick up grandchildren there and you have to do a lot of things right to survive that journey. There are four way stop signs, places without sidewalks, kids wandering across the street, and she thinks a great way to celebrate this 20th anniversary of the Pedestrian Element Plan would be to fill in that one — she thinks that most of the new schools have been provided for - the access and what have you for the new schools like Pacific Rim Elementary School. But they still have this situation in the heart of town. There is a lot of resistance to it... lots of politics involved. But it just cannot stay this way, because it is not getting better; it's getting worse. This would be a wonderful way to celebrate our 20 anniversary. There is another important occasion taking place in 2008. Thelma Hays will be turning 90 years old. She has worked on this ever since she knew her and before that. We need to revisit this. It comes up every once in a while and everybody says "Oh no, we can't do it, it can't happen." But she thinks this bad situation needs to be revisited that is in the very heart of our town, the oldest part of the City, the place where the city began. They deserve a safe route to school. Chair Gardner responded that Commissioner Bradshaw and herself both live hi that area, so they are very familiar with the lack of sidewalks. Mr. Johnson commented that at the request of Ms. Hayes, staff gave the Commission this update. The issue of no sidewalks on Highland Drive is that it is an alternative street design per that policy approved in 2000 by the City Council. In 2000, there was a large citizen's committee that looked at sidewalk issues throughout Carlsbad and based on the overwhelming interest and comments from residents living on Highland Drive that did not want sidewalks, that street was placed as an alternative street design, meaning that the residents would have to come forward when they were ready to have sidewalks constructed on that street. Otherwise, residents would like to see Highland Drive left hi its current rural looking state. It is certainly a street that is not the best walking environment, but that is the decision that was made by the residents and the City Council approved Highland Drive as an alternative street design. Mr. Johnson stated that next year they should be able to bring to the City Council the Pedestrian Master Plan. That would be a good way to celebrate the 20th anniversary as Ms. Hayes had mentioned. There are a number of issues that are going to be incorporated into the Pedestrian Master Plan. A lot of these suggestions and information will be based on input from all of the residents in .Carlsbad through the workshop. He was sure Ms. Hayes and the Monroys will attend the workshop, too, to give their input and from that the consultant can move forward and develop the ideas, the conflicts, the strategies, future improvements and so. At the staff level, they are looking forward to March 5, 2007 Traffic Safety Commission Meeting Page 11 having the Pedestrian Master Plan completed. Completing the Pedestrian Master Plan will also allow staff to seek funding that is available at SANDAG. It will be a very important document. Mr. Johnson stated that staff would look into the red curb issue that Mr. Monroy mentioned and that they would get back to him. Anytime parking is restricted, all you do is push parking into some other part of the neighborhood, so it has to be looked at very carefully. Commissioner Bradshaw stated that one of the things she noticed hi the high school area and Magnolia and Valley is that there are a lot of cars that are parking on the street. She's noticed that kids have a tendency of stepping out in between the parked cars and they are in the line of traffic. She sees that as a potential safety issue. Can this issue be incorporated into the Pedestrian Plan? She wasn't sure how you'd restrict parking around schools. Maybe have the school district provide more onsite parking where you could get the cars off the street. Maybe that would improve the safety. Mr. Johnson explained that around the high schools, not only Carlsbad High School, but La Costa Canyon High School also, a large number of the students don't want to park in the parking lot. They want to be able to park on the street so they can get in then- car and get away quickly. The existing schools are pretty much constrained by their physical features, so that to expand the parking lot is certainly not something the City would undertake. It would be the school district that would have to initiate that. School districts and schools are very short on money. When Lt. Rawson and he go to visit with the principals, those kinds of issues are discussed. The key thing that staff keeps stressing is the safety aspect. Staff talks about how school officials can get the word out to the parents and students. Schools have their safety assemblies and the police attend some of those assemblies. There is a conscious effort to try and improve the safety around the schools. The attitudes of the drivers, which are mostly the parents taking the kids to school, cause a lot of the problems. Parking is always in short supply around not only the schools in this particular area, but every school throughout Carlsbad. It is a continuous issue that is attempted to be addressed on an annual basis. Commissioner Bradshaw responded that "what she heard him say is that somehow he would work that into the Pedestrian Action Plan? Mr. Johnson replied that there are things that can be worked into the plan, but the City cannot go in and expand school grounds or school parking lots. Certainly there can be a suggestion that school officials do that, but that occurs every year when staff meets with the principals. Staff always hears about how constrained the school is, not only with money, but the physical size of the school and what school officials can do and cannot do. School administrators would rather put the money into ,the amenities for the children - the books, the teaching and so on rather than doing something for the parking lot. Staff does what they can from an engineering side, the police side, the enforcement, and the education part - the three E's that they are always talking about - engineering, education, and March 5, 2007 Traffic Safety Commission Meeting Page 12 enforcement. Staff has a very good working relationship with all of the schools, but money is very tight for school officials to do anything over and above what they're doing right now. ITEM 7: REPORT FROM TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMISSIONERS None. ITEM 8: REPORT FROM TRAFFIC ENGINEER Mr. Johnson stated that the next regular meeting of the Traffic Safety Commission is scheduled to be held on April 2, 2007 at 3:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. ADJOURNMENT: By proper motion Chair Gardner adjourned the Regular Meeting of March 5, 2007 at 3:52 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Ruth Woodbeck Minutes Clerk