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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-12-03; Traffic Safety Commission; MinutesMINUTES MEETING OF: DATE OF MEETING: TIME OF MEETING: PLACE OF MEETING: TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMISSION December 3,2007 (Regular Meeting) 3:00 p.m. City Council Chambers CALL TO ORDER: Chair Roney called the Meeting to order at 3:00 p.m. ROLL CALL: Present: Absent: Staff Members Present: Chair Guy Roney Vice-Chair Gordon Cress Commissioner Steve Dorsey Commissioner Jack Gumming Commissioner Susan Gardner Robert Johnson, City Engineer Jim Murray, Associate Engineer, Transportation John Kim, Associate Engineer, Transportation Lt. Don Rawson, Carlsbad Police Department APPROVAL OF MINUTES: November 5,2007 ACTION: VOTE: AYES: NOES: ABSTAIN: Motion by Chair Roney, and duly seconded by Commissioner Gumming, to approve the minutes of the regular meeting on November 5, 2007 as presented. 4-0-0 Roney, Cress, Dorsey, Gumming None None ITEM 4 - ORAL COMMUNICATIONS: None. December 3,2007 Traffic Safety Commission Meeting Page 2 ITEM 5 - PREVIOUS BUSINESS: Bob Johnson, City Engineer, reported that based on previous actions and recommendations by the Traffic Safety Commission on November 5, 2007, the City Council will consider introducing ordinances on December 11, 2007 to revise the prima facie speed limit on Armada Drive from Palomar Airport Road to Legoland Drive and to revise the prima facie speed limit on Matron Road from El Camino Real to the City limits at Highway 78. At the November 5, 2007 meeting, the Traffic Safety Commission made a recommendation to establish priority ranking of two candidate streets - Donna Drive and Sierra Morena Avenue - in accordance with Phase II of the Carlsbad Residential Traffic Management Program. Adoption of a resolution regarding this item is tentatively scheduled for December 18 for City Council consideration. ITEM 6 - NEW BUSINESS: ITEM 6A: Establish multiway stop control at the intersections of: • Sierra Morena Avenue/Chestnut Avenue (N) • Sierra Morena Avenue/Chestnut Avenue (S) • Sierra Morena Avenue/Valewood Avenue Mr. Johnson informed the Commission that the staff report will be presented by Associate Engineer, Jim Murray. Mr. Murray began by indicating that this item is a request to establish multiway stop signs on Sierra Morena Avenue at the intersections of Chestnut Avenue (north), Chestnut Avenue (south), and Valewood Avenue. The request was made by Chad and Nancy Hensch, who live on Sierra Morena Avenue. Staff initiated the Caltrans Multiway Stop Warrant Analysis and none of the three intersections met any of the warrants. The Hensch's requested that this matter be brought to the Traffic Safety Commission for review. Mr. Murray said that Sierra Morena Avenue is a public street that is not classified on the Circulation Element of the General Plan. It is fully improved with curb, gutter, sidewalks and street lights. It meets the California Vehicle Code definition of a Residence District, and has been posted with "Speed Limit 25" signs at three locations and "25" legends going up and down the hill of Sierra Morena Avenue. Sierra Morena Avenue is 0.93 miles in length and has centerline grades up to 11.98 percent. Staff previously prepared an Engineering and Traffic Survey for Sierra Morena Avenue and found the 85th percentile speed (the speed at which 85% of all vehicles traveled at or below) to be 32 miles per hour. Mr. Murray explained that warrant criteria have been formulated for use in the evaluation of need for an all-way stop sign location. The City of Carlsbad follows guidelines and warrants established by the California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), which lists the warrants that December 3,2007 Traffic Safety Commission Meeting Page 3 must be met to justify the installation of a stop sign. In general, stop signs are used to assign the right of way at an intersection, and are not intended for use as a speed control device. The warrant criteria consider the traffic collision history at an intersection. A problematic intersection would have five or more traffic collisions in a twelve month period with a right of way violation issue. Minimum traffic volumes are also considered. Major streets need to have a minimum of 300 vehicles per hour during any eight hours of an average day. The major street would be Sierra Morena Avenue. The minor street would be the side streets intersecting Sierra Morena Avenue, which are Chestnut Avenue and Valewood Avenue. Each would need a minimum of 200 vehicles per hour for the same eight hours, with an average delay to minor street vehicular traffic of at least 30 seconds per vehicle during the highest hour. Mr. Murray explained that when staff conducted the warrant analysis of the three intersections, none met any of the warrant criteria. Referring to the overhead exhibit of Multiway Stop Criteria for Chestnut Avenue (N), no traffic collisions have been reported at this intersection in the last two years. For major street volume, the minimum needs to be 300 vehicles per hour, and the actual average was 107 vehicles per hour. The minor street volume needs a minimum of 200 vehicles per hour, and the actual average was 103 vehicles per hour. Therefore, the intersection fell short of meeting the warrant criteria. In addition, there were no minor street vehicle delays at this intersection. Referring to the overhead exhibit of Multiway Stop Criteria for Chestnut Avenue (S), no traffic collisions have been reported at this intersection in the last two years. The average major street volume was 146 vehicles per hour, and minor street volume was 58 vehicles per hour. Therefore, the intersection also fell short of meeting the warrant criteria. When the delay analysis was performed, there was 2.54 seconds delay per vehicle when a minimum of a 30 second delay is required. The overhead exhibit of Multiway Stop Criteria for Valewood Avenue showed no traffic collisions reported at this intersection in the last two years. The average major street volume was 81 vehicles per hour, and minor street volume was 25 vehicles per hour. The delay analysis found no delays at this intersection resulting in no warrant criteria being met. Mr. Murray added that staff also investigated the corner sight visibility at the three intersections from the side streets. Sierra Morena Avenue has a design speed of 25 miles per hour, which has a minimum required corner sight visibility of 275 feet. Staff measured corner sight visibility in both directions at all three of the side streets and 275 feet was exceeded in all cases. At Chestnut Avenue (N), the corner sight distance looking north is 450 feet and looking south is 580 feet; at Chestnut Avenue (S), the corner sight distance looking north is 380 feet and looking south is 600 feet; and at Valewood Avenue, the corner sight distance looking north is 490 feet and looking south is 580 feet. Peak hour vehicle turning movement counts from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. were conducted to determine how many pedestrians might be crossing the major uncontrolled street. There was one adult pedestrian observed crossing at Chestnut Avenue (S) during that peak hour and no pedestrians crossed at Chestnut Avenue (N) or Valewood Avenue. December 3,2007 Traffic Safety Commission Meeting Page 4 After obtaining the traffic data and analyzing the mulitway stop warrants criteria, it was found that none of the four warrants are satisfied to establish a multiway stop at the three intersections. The Carlsbad Residential Traffic Management Program, approved by the City Council in May 2001, does not authorize the installation of unwarranted stop signs as a traffic calming measure. The recommendation of the Traffic Safety Coordinating Committee is that a multiway stop not be established at the intersections of Sierra Morena Avenue/Chestnut Avenue (N), Sierra Morena Avenue/Chestnut Avenue (S), and Sierra Morena Avenue/Valewood Avenue. For the record, Mr. Murray added that 10 days ago staff sent out notices to all 134 residents on Sierra Morena Avenue notifying them of today's Traffic Safety Commission meeting. He received two telephone calls from residents stating that they could not attend today. One resident was Linda Ireland at 3816 Sierra Morena Avenue and she stated she did not feel that multiway stops should be installed on Sierra Morena Avenue. A call was also received from Linda Skinner at 3818 Sierra Morena Avenue, and she stated that she was opposed to the multiway stops. Ms. Skinner also stated that motorists typically don't stop at stop signs on the side streets. Public Testimony; Chair Roney called for Public Testimony. Chad Hensch, 3807 Sierra Morena Avenue, stated that he was one of the residents that initiated the request to establish the multiway stop controls. He was been working with Mr. Murray since November of last year about traffic calming ways to help the residents in his neighborhood be safe. He feels that installing stop signs on Sierra Morena Avenue at the intersections of Chestnut Avenue (N), Chestnut Avenue (S), and Valewood Avenue would help slow down traffic on their 12% downgrade. When you're on Sierra Morena Avenue going down the grade, even if brakes are being applied, you wind up speeding. He has gone down the street multiple times, and he is always speeding beyond 25 miles per hour if you don't apply the brakes. He has lived at this residence for the past ten years and he has had two cars totaled. It is a very fast hill and he lives at the bottom of the hill at the curve at Valewood Avenue. The 12% is its steepest there. Ten years ago he didn't have two kids. Now he does. He wants them to be safe along with all of the other pedestrians. It is scaring him to let his children go outside to ride their bikes. He built a fence in his front yard to keep his children in his yard. There are a lot of neighbors who don't allow their children outside because of the speeders on that street. A lot of the drivers probably live on Sierra Morena Avenue, but he can't stop that. What he can do, however, is try to help his family and everyone else slow down the momentum on that street. If you're coming down that hill at 25 miles per hour at Valewood Avenue right at that intersection, the momentum that the hill is carrying you in a 5,000 pound vehicle is very tough to stop that momentum. Putting a stop sign there would help slow that momentum down - maybe not necessarily help them completely stop the speeding problem, but if a child runs out in the street they may be able to be saved. He doesn't want that to happen to his children, or anyone else or the pedestrians. He is asking the Commission that if all three stops can't be installed, then at least one to help slow down what is going on on their street. December 3,2007 Traffic Safety Commission Meeting Page 5 Nancy Hensch, 3807 Sierra Morena Avenue, stated that it has been suggested that stop signs be put on Sierra Morena Avenue at North Chestnut Avenue, South Chestnut Avenue, and Valewood Avenue. It may seem unreasonable to put stop signs at all of those intersections, but in the interest of all of the vehicle and pedestrian safety, it may be a logical solution. Sierra Morena Avenue from Trieste Drive to Valewood Avenue is a continuous downhill grade. By the time cars reach Valewood Avenue, they are speeding. If you do not use your brakes while driving south on Sierra Morena Avenue, chances are you are going faster than the posted 25 mile per hour speed limit. A stop sign at Chestnut Avenue (N) would not only slow cars down, it would make it safer for cars to turn onto Sierra Morena Avenue. Further, a stop sign at Valewood Avenue would slow cars down and make it safer for cars to turn onto Valewood Avenue, which also has a downhill grade. At the current time, cars turning onto Valewood Avenue cut the corner, meaning they rarely slow enough to take the corner safely. Even with the double yellow striping, cars are cutting over and whipping around the corner. Screeching can be heard because the cars make the turns so fast. It is her assertion that a stop sign at this intersection will be most beneficial because a Stop Ahead sign could be posted before the stop sign, reminding drivers to slow as they are approaching the stop and require them to stop at the turn. This would also reduce speed on the street by requiring drivers to stop before they reach the part of Sierra Morena Avenue that is a long straight stretch that is also conducive to speeding. Ms. Hensch added that it was her understanding that Sierra Morena Avenue did not meet any of the requirements needed for stop signs to be erected. She felt that pedestrian safety is the only requirement that is needed for a stop sign. There are young children that can't play in their own front yards because their parents don't feel it's safe. Children on bicycles and skateboards are not safe, even on the sidewalk when cars are speeding on Sierra Morena Avenue. If a child falls or loses control of the bike or skateboard, a speeding car will not have time to slow down to avoid hitting that child. She asked that the Commission take time to consider stop signs with regards to safety, not only for those of them that live and drive on Sierra Morena Avenue, but for those of them who aren't old enough to stand here to speak before the Commission today. Amy Bastien Attenbury, 4006 Sierra Morena Avenue, stated their neighborhood has children playing on the sidewalks, mothers jogging with baby strollers, kids bicycling back and forth to school, retired couples walking their dogs after dinner, and herself- who is known as "the walker" in her neighborhood because she walks that street at least twice a day. It sounds like a wonderful neighborhood, and it is. It is a real nice snapshot of what Carlsbad is as a community. It is a family neighborhood. However, there is more and more of a problem with cars speeding down their street oblivious to the danger they create. Some of the cars are taking shortcuts through their neighborhood and barely brake at the stop signs on Chestnut Avenue and Valewood Avenue, which are cross streets, and many of these cars are high school students. Other cars are simply accelerating because of the steep grade, either caught on the downgrade or they are pushing their accelerator to make that grade. As a snapshot of a small neighborhood caught up in Carlsbad's increasing development and increasing population, Sierra Morena Avenue is a representative area of how Carlsbad will be December 3,2007 Traffic Safety Commission Meeting Page 6 handling residents' concerns. This is a chance to really take a look at how much traffic you want in these small neighborhoods. Ms. Attenbury stated that the grade may be 12 percent, but she can attest that walking it feels like its 30%. It feels like a very steep grade at the upper north end of Sierra Morena Avenue. When people start down that grade, they are accelerating before they even get halfway down. Looking at this location map, she pointed out that Chestnut Avenue on the westside and eastside are not connected. What happens is that people don't have visibility in that area. That is a very poor area of visibility. Picture being on the right side of that map coming up Chestnut Avenue, which is a grade going up to meet Sierra Morena Avenue. You are breaking, but what do you see? You certainly can't see around that corner to the upper half of Sierra Morena Avenue. You certainly can't see anyone pulling around from the westside on Chestnut Avenue onto Sierra Morena Avenue. Those visibility points are not able to see each other. As a pedestrian, she stated that is the most dangerous area of the street. That is the area where she has to jump lively. She would be crossing the street and someone is coming up the eastside of Chestnut Avenue. Coming up that grade, they are not going to break at the top because they want to hit Sierra Morena Avenue at full speed. If she's on that street, she is in danger. The same thing is true for the downhill on Chestnut Avenue on the westside. Drivers are coming down the grade, and they are not going to break either. Ms. Attenbury concluded that the Commission had a chance today to make a difference. Stop signs are not permanent. They can be used as a trial to see if this makes a difference to the community. Seeing no others wishing to testify, Chair Roney closed Public Testimony. DISCUSSION: Chair Roney asked Mr. Murray to elaborate on the procedure for traffic calming. Mr. Murray responded and said there are two parallel tracks going on. Last month was the point analysis for Donna Drive and Sierra Morena Avenue in the Residential Traffic Management Program. The Residential Traffic Management Program does not allow stop signs to be installed as a traffic calming measure, so it is outside of that program. The item today is a separate request, but deals with the same concerns and issues. Chair Roney asked how soon something will happen. Mr. Murray answered that he was going to be preparing Capital Improvement Program submittals on both Sierra Morena Avenue and Donna Drive and submitting them in January 2008. Those CIP December 3,2007 Traffic Safety Commission Meeting Page 7 forms will go to the CIP program and reviewed by CIP committees, and may move on to City Council in June. Chair Roney asked if staff would be working with the community on this. Mr. Murray stated that staff would not be working with the community in the CIP portion of the traffic calming program until City Council sets money aside, assuming that's what Council decides in June. Staff is in a holding pattern in the Residential Traffic Management Program until June 2008 for the CIP process. However, the residents of Sierra Morena can still contact the Police Department by phoning in license plate numbers of drivers speeding and generating letters, requests for speed sentry installations temporarily, or any request for enforcement. Staff has exhausted all of the Phase I traffic calming measures in the Residential Traffic Management Program. Commissioner Dorsey asked if the City Council decides to install stop signs at the locations, will it require the passage of an ordinance to accomplish it? Mr. Johnson explained that if this matter went before the City Council, the Council would have to adopt an ordinance to establish an all-way stop at one, two or three of the intersections. Commissioner Dorsey asked if assuming that was the case and at some point in the future traffic calming measures were implemented that made those stop signs unnecessary, would City Council have to repeal that ordinance in order to remove those signs? Mr. Johnson stated that was correct. Commissioner Cumming stated that he found this item difficult because everyone has the specter of having young children running out into a street. He has driven the neighborhood and he has seen the hill that has been described. It is a tempting hill. The speed limit is 25 miles per hour, and if vehicles are adhering to the speed limit, there shouldn't be a problem. He drove it at a steady 25 miles per hour and it is possible and actually comfortable driving it at that speed. He also tried driving it at 40 miles per hour to see what the worst case would happen. He stated that it was pretty hard to drive that fast. He was struck that the measured critical speed was 32 miles per hour. He suspects that a lot of traffic moves through there at around 30 miles per hour. It would be wonderful if everyone could live on cul-de-sacs. Sierra Morena Avenue simply isn't a cul-de-sac. He is sure that some drivers try to take it at a higher speed than is desirable, but it seems to him to be principally a matter of enforcing what is, in fact, a very reasonable speed limit for a residential area bearing in mind cars and children simply don't mix. He wanted to get a sense from the Police Department what is going December 3,2007 Traffic Safety Commission Meeting Page 8 on with enforcement of speeds in that area. Is it enough that people who drive that road regularly are well aware of the possibility of enforcement in the sense that it is desirable to try to maintain the posted speed there? Lt. Rawson responded that the Police Department has not been in that area for several months. There have been no collisions in the last two years, and only three collisions in the last five years on that particular stretch of road. The critical speed on the roadway is 32 miles per hour. Their findings and the speed survey result is consistent with their intuitive efforts. The average speed is usually between 31-34 miles per hour on every 25 mile per hour street, no matter what the survey indicates. This street is consistent with that, as well as every other street in the City. The fact is people aren't significantly speeding when the Police Department is present, they are not speeding when the surveys are taken, and 85% of the drivers are going less than 32 miles per hour. The fact is there are no collisions related to speed in the last 5 years, compared to the hundreds of miles of other streets in the City where Police resources have been deployed elsewhere. The Police Department is aware of complaints from citizens over the years. He observed the area himself several times and only wrote one ticket himself for a speed of 37 miles per hour. He is in a marked police car and uniform, so it makes a difference. He understands that if you live there and look out your window, you notice drivers speeding. Regarding enforcement efforts, Lt. Rawson said there is nothing consistent to what they are doing currently. It is the sentiment of staff that there is not a speeding problem compared to other streets where there is. Where the accidents are occurring is where people are truly exceeding the speed 15, 20, and 30 miles over the posted speed, and that's where enforcement efforts are underway currently. Commissioner Gumming indicated he understood that one of the Police Department's real concerns is a mix of young children and the street with traffic moving through it. Drivers are traversing around 30 miles per hour in a 25 mile per hour zone and that is not uncommon citywide. To what extent have there been problems with young children on City roadways. Have children been lost or injured as a result of that citywide? Lt. Rawson explained that there have been a few incidents with children around the school, not the result of the factors of the drivers. There are probably less than 2 or 3 over the last five or six years, and all were where children have darted out in front of cars and the drivers weren't at fault. Mr. Johnson added that over the last 20 plus years, he can recall pedestrians that have had accidents that have resulted in a fatality to what would be considered a child, someone under sixteen. In those instances, the roads were arterial roads. There have been children struck by a vehicle or the child ran into the vehicle on the local residential roads. There has been darting between parked vehicles, skateboarders come off the sidewalk into the path of a vehicle, but fortunately there have been only injuries and no fatalities in those instances. Any time you have pedestrians and vehicles on the roadway, it is to be expected, unfortunately, that there may be an incident if one or the other is not December 3,2007 Traffic Safety Commission Meeting Page 9 paying attention. So, yes, there have been children struck by vehicles over the years. There have been some fatalities on arterial roadways. As Lt. Rawson mentioned, the unfortunate situation on residential streets is that the critical speed is in the low 30's. That's the way people drive on residential streets. The majority of the vehicles on the street are those residents that live on the street. They are the ones driving 30 plus miles per hour. It is an unfortunate commentary on the way the public views speed limits and how they can drive on their own streets and in other areas of the City which may not be their street. It results in the Police Department doing the best they can with enforcement. It results in situations where a traffic calming program needs to be developed. That program was developed and approved by the City Council in 2001, specifically because the City Council wanted to address speeding issues. The Council recognized that installing stop signs is not the answer. The highest collisions in the City occur where there is all-way control at an intersection via either a traffic signal or an all-way stop. Staff is never able to say that by installing all-way stops or a traffic signal they are going to eliminate accidents. It simply is not the case. They generally run into the situation where there are accidents because people don't pay attention to the traffic signal indications and they don't pay attention to the stop signs. Drivers run the stop sign. An intersection may not have fatalities, but there are injury collisions because someone was inattentive. Installing all-way controls at an intersection is not always the best solution, and that's why the City Council approved the Carlsbad Residential Traffic Management Program, which Sierra Morena Avenue is moving through at this time. MOTION: ACTION: Motion by Commissioner Dorsey, and duly seconded by Vice-Chair Cress, that a multiway stop not be established at the following intersections: • Sierra Morena Avenue/Chestnut Avenue (N) • Sierra Morena Avenue/Chestnut Avenue (S) « Sierra Morena Avenue/Valewood Avenue VOTE: 4-0-0 AYES: Roney, Cress, Dorsey, Gumming NOES: None ABSTAIN: None Chair Roney encouraged the residents to continue working with Mr. Johnson and Mr. Murray. December 3,2007 Traffic Safety Commission Meeting Page 10 ITEM 6B: To modify the existing striping on eastbound Camino de los Coches between Calle Timiteo and Maverick Way, increasing the number of eastbound through lanes from one to two. Mr. Johnson informed the Commission that the staff report will be presented by Associate Engineer, John Kim. Mr. Kim stated that this item is to modify the existing striping on eastbound Camino de los Coches between Calle Timiteo and Maverick Way, increasing the number of eastbound through lanes from one to two. This request was initially brought forward by the Police Department Traffic Division based on their observations of the illegal use of the existing parking and bike lane area of eastbound Camino de los Coches as a vehicle through lane to access the school at the start of school. Based on those observations and considering the high volume of vehicular traffic entering the La Costa Canyon High School in the morning, the Police Department has requested that the Engineering Department Transportation Division investigate the possibility of re-striping this portion of Camino de los Coches, increasing the number of eastbound through lanes from one to two. Mr. Kim indicated that Camino de los Coches is classified as a secondary arterial and has a curb to curb width of 64 feet. The roadway is fully unproved with curb/gutter, sidewalks and streetlights on both sides of the road. There are two travel lanes in each direction from Rancho Santa Fe Road to Calle Timiteo. East of Calle Timiteo, eastbound Camino de los Coches transitions from two travel lanes to a single travel lane with a parking lane and bicycle lane provided. The eastbound parking lane and bicycle lane ends approximately 300 feet west of Maverick Way in order to accommodate a Right Turn Only lane that serves the high school. In the westbound direction, there is a single travel lane, a parking lane, and a bicycle lane from Maverick Way to approximately 335 feet east of Calle Timiteo. From approximately 335 feet east of Calle Timiteo to Rancho Santa Fe Road, there are two westbound travel lanes. Mr. Kim stated that traffic control on this portion of Camino de los Coches is provided by traffic signals at Rancho Santa Fe Road, Calle Timiteo, Calle Acervo, and Maverick Way. The average daily traffic volume on Camino de los Coches east of Rancho Santa Fe Road is 9,790 vehicles as measured on May 9,2006. Camino de los Coches serves as the only access to Stagecoach Park and as the primary access to La Costa Canyon High School. The normal school hours for La Costa Canyon High School are from 7:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The mid-block collision rate is approximately 1.68 accidents per million vehicle miles. This compares favorably to the statewide averages of 2.03 and 2.14 accidents per million vehicle miles for two lane roadways and four lane divided roadways, respectively. On a typical school morning, vehicles from the west utilize the parking/bike lane area of eastbound Camino de los Coches to access La Costa Canyon High School at Maverick Way. As typical of most schools, the majority of this congestion is confined to a relatively short period of time, with the peak being observed to be approximately 7:15 a.m. to 7:45 a.m. Vehicles from the east use the westbound left turn lane on Camino de los Coches at the traffic signal to enter the school grounds. A number of December 3, 2007 Traffic Safety Commission Meeting Page 11 students also access the school from Stagecoach Park. The majority of these students turn right into Stagecoach Park from westbound Camino de los Coches and either use the parking lot to make a u- turn and access the school from the southbound approach of the Stagecoach Park driveway, or they park in the Stagecoach Park parking lot and walk to school. Mr. Kim stated the proposed re-striping would encompass approximately 1,400 linear feet of roadway and require the removal of existing striping, new striping, signing modifications and reconfiguration of the video detection zones on eastbound Camino de los Coches at Calle Acervo. The proposed re-striping would eliminate on-street parking on the south side of Camino de los Coches between Calle Timiteo and Maverick Way. Currently, there is approximately 565 feet of curb available for parking on the south side of Camino de los Coches. Assuming an average parallel parking space of 25 feet, this is equivalent to approximately 22 parked vehicles. The north side of Camino de los Coches would be unaffected by the proposed re-striping and the existing on-street parking would remain. There is approximately 915 feet of curb available for parking on the north side of Camino de los Coches between Calle Timiteo and Maverick Way, which can accommodate approximately 36 parking spaces. The on-street parking demand on the subject segment of Camino de los Coches is relatively light, especially on the south side. The only parking generators in the vicinity, Stagecoach Park and La Costa Canyon High School, both have off-street parking. Based on staff observations, the parking area along the south side of Camino de los Coches is minimally utilized. However, special events at Stagecoach Park do result in on-street parking to be fully utilized. Mr. Kim concluded that based on these findings, the Traffic Safety Coordinating Committee recommends that eastbound Camino de los Coches be re-striped between Calle Timiteo and Maverick Way to increase the number of eastbound travel lanes from one to two. This proposed striping will result in two eastbound travel lanes on Camino de los Coches, from Rancho Santa Fe Road to Maverick Way, with the new lane terminating at the existing Right Turn Only lane on eastbound Camino de los Coches at Maverick Way. DISCUSSION: Commissioner Gumming stated that it was too bad that technology hasn't yet reached the point where they can have electronic striping so they can change it by the time of day as needed. When he drove this area, the existing striping seems very anomalous. It's almost confusing, because you have this one block from Rancho Santa Fe Road to Calle Timiteo with two lanes, and then suddenly narrowing in a very awkward way and heading up toward the school. He's guessing that the problem is in the morning when people are arriving at the school and a related problem in the afternoon because leaving the school tends to be more phased. December 3,2007 Traffic Safety Commission Meeting Page 12 Mr. Kim stated that there was congestion in the afternoon hours, but the traffic is coming out of the school, so it is mostly relegated to the private property of La Costa Canyon High School itself, and not on the public streets. Commissioner Gumming stated there was an intriguing mention in the report that streets occasionally get slurried or some other resurfacing to protect the underpavement Mr. Kim explained that staff tries to find opportunities to do a proposed striping if an overlay or slurry seal project would be in the area. That was investigated but unfortunately, this area is not due to be overlayed or slurried in the next three or four years. Commissioner Gumming stated that it was obviously easier to re-stripe it that way. Mr. Kim agreed that if they waited for three or four years it would be easier to re-stripe. MOTION: ACTION: Motion by Vice-Chair Cress, and duly seconded by Commissioner Dorsey, that eastbound Camino de los Coches be re-striped between Calle Timiteo and Maverick Way to increase the number of eastbound travel lanes from one to two. This proposed striping will result in two eastbound travel lanes on Camino de los Coches, from Rancho Santa Fe Road to Maverick Way, with the new lane terminating at the existing Right Turn Only lane on eastbound Camino de los Coches at Maverick Way. VOTE: 4-0-0 AYES: Roney, Cress, Dorsey, Gumming NOES: None ABSTAIN: None ITEM 7: REPORT FROM TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMISSIONERS None. December 3,2007 Traffic Safety Commission Meeting Page 13 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 January 7,2008 at 3:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. He wished each and every one of the Commissioners and Minutes Clerk a happy holiday season. Commissioner Gumming asked Mr. Johnson if there was any word on the two available postings being filled in the Transportation Division. Mr. Johnson replied that the City is in the process of making an offer to a candidate for the Traffic Engineer position. Assuming that person accepts, they would expect that person would be starting next month, relieving Mr. Johnson from doing both the City Engineer job and the Traffic Engineer job. There is also a Traffic Signal Systems Engineer position and an offer is being made. If that individual accepts, they would start next month also. ADJOURNMENT: By proper motion Chair Roney adjourned the Regular Meeting of December 3, 2007 at 3:47 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Ruth Woodbeck Minutes Clerk