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HomeMy WebLinkAbout9/19/2000CITY OF DIAMOND BAR CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION JOINT MEETING WITH THE TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION SEPTEMBER 19, 2000 1. CITY COUNCIL CALL TO ORDER: Mayor `O'Connor called the study session to order at 5:04 p.m. in the South Coast Air Quality Management District Room CC -8, 21865 E. Copley Drive, Diamond Bar, California. 2. ROLL CALL: . Council Members Chang, Herrera, Huff, Mayor Pro Tem Ansari and Mayor O'Connor. TRAFFIC & TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION: Commissioners Istik, Kung, Vice Chairman Virginkar and Chairman Morris. Commissioner Leonard -Colby was absent. Also present were: James DeStefano, Deputy City Manager; Mike Jenkins, City Attorney; David Liu, Public Works Director, Bob Rose, Community Services Director; Linda Magnuson, Finance Director; Lynda Burgess, City Clerk; Sgt. Bill Flannery; Sonya Joe, Development Services Assistant and Linda Smith, Development Services Assistant. 3. GENERAL DISCUSSION (Matters of concern): 1. Traffic and Transportation Commission Meeting Attendance: M/O'Connor stated that the Council is concerned about attendance because there has not been a full contingency of Commissioners at a regularly scheduled meeting during 2000. The Council needs the assurance of each Commissioner that he/she will be able to continue representing the City on an ongoing basis. There was no comment on this matter by Commissioners. 2. School Traffic Study Update: DPW/Liu conveyed to the Council that the Commission wants the School Traffic Study to be a dynamic document. Prior to the summer session, staff contacted the school principals to seek their input in addition to input from the Sheriffs Department to determine whether there are areas that could be improved with respect to circulation and on/off-site improvements. Because of school constraints, all of the mitigation measures that were recommended by the previous report could.not be implemented. Chair/Morris stated that it is necessary to get the school leadership's commitment. School principals and views change. The document has assisted schools and positive changes have resulted.. SEPTEMBER 19, 2000 PAGE 2 JOINT STUDY SESSION — CITY COUNCIL AND TRAFFIC & TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION C/Istik suggested that the City's traffic engineer look at the school study and discuss the document with the Commission. C/Kung offered to work with staff to study the problems associated with school ingress and egress. C/Istik responded to M/O'Connor that the study is a dynamic document and the Commission could conduct a review of the document with the City's traffic engineer, which would not require a new traffic study. DPW/Liu indicated to M/O'Connor that most of the principals concurred with the recommendations set forth in the traffic study and the improvements that have occurred at their schools. Some schools are looking beyond the improvements that have been made and are expecting the City to provide assistance with further improvements. An update of discussions with school principals is agendized for the October 12 Commission meeting. - Sgt. Flannery indicated that there appears to be fewer traffic problems in and around the schools this year. VCNirginkar stressed the need to have parent involvement and education. M/O'Connor indicated that, unlike the Pomona School District, Walnut School District involves its teachers and principals. Chair/Morris expressed concern that in spite of the outstanding job of traffic enforcement by the Sheriffs Department, parents blatantly disregard traffic laws and do so when officers are present. Staff has been working with schools to establish crossing guards based on need and attendance. Diamond Point has established that crossing guards will not be within so many feet of each other. There are numerous crossings at Golden Springs Rd., Sunset Crossing Rd., etc. and each situation needs to be monitored individually and totally to establish consistency of service. VCNirginkar stated that throughout the year, the Commission has attempted to relieve congestion in certain areas such as Lorbeer Middle School with the installation of the left turn signal, u -turns, etc. This is an ongoing issue. C/Chang asked DPW/Liu if the no u -tum at D.B. Blvd. and Gold Rush Dr. is working to staffs satisfaction. SEPTEMBER 19, 2000 PAGE 3 JOINT STUDY SESSION — CITY COUNCIL AND TRAFFIC & TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION DPW/Liu indicated that the u -tum seems to be working. The City recently converted to maintaining the City's traffic signals through a private contract. Staff is in the process of collecting data on all of the traffic signal information from the County, which previously maintained the signals. Until all of the data is available, the City has to be careful about making any adjustments. C/Chang said he has received positive input about the new street (Diamond Crest) in the area of Southpoint Middle School. Still, there is a lot of traffic, which creates a bottleneck. M/O'Connor suggested "No Right Turn on Red" during peak school traffic hours similar to what is done at Lorbeer Middle School. DPW/Liu responded to C/Herrera that traffic has been dramatically reduced on the other side of South Pointe since the opening of Diamond Crest. C/Chang asked if a second lane could be added at the Grand Avenue/SR 60 west entrance on ramp. DPW/Liu responded that on-ramp lane re -striping would need to be done by CalTrans. C/Chang asked if the Grand Ave., turning left onto westbound Golden Springs Rd., would be lengthened. DPW/Liu responded that one of the identified projects in this fiscal. year budget is modification of the Grand Ave. and Golden Springs Rd. intersection. MPT/Ansari asked when the traffic signal would be installed at Pathfinder Rd. and Fern Hollow Dr. DPW/Liu responded that it is not budgeted for this fiscal year. Therefore, the matter will have to be brought back to Council for consideration during the next fiscal year budget discussion. MPT/Ansari- said she noticed that there is double parking on Fern Hollow near Pathfinder Rd., which brings traffic to a standstill. The traffic pattern with the installation of the traffic signals at Bella Pine and Crooked Creek Drs. seems to have slowed down the traffic. SEPTEMBER 19, 2000 PAGE 4 JOINT STUDY SESSION — CITY COUNCIL AND TRAFFIC & TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION 3. Review Traffic Patterns at Grand Ave. and D.B. Blvd: Chair/Morris stated that this item was high on the Commission's priority list. Specifically, there are problems at this intersection that were inherited from L.A. County. The Vineyard Bank driveway is almost in the intersection. The traffic pattern between the Pic -N -Save driveway and the Ralph's Center driveway is dangerous. The City likely needs to look at solving the entire problem area. Sometimes the Commission is forced to recommend band-aid solutions, which tends to move problems to other areas. C/Istik asked if Council could close off the driveways and force a reciprocal agreement between property owners so that the bank patrons would have to drive through the center to exit the center. DCM/DeStefano indicated to C/Herrera that it would be advisable to discuss the matter with the property owners to determine the best way �m to improve the traffic patterns while not disrupting the businesses. One of the problems with the Vineyard Bank area is that the project, as approved by the County, was developed with a 50% parking variance, which puts pressure on the adjacent properties and the issue of ingress/egress. 4. Standardized Traffic Mitigation Procedures Policies: Chair/Morris related the Commission's concern for a consistent, city- wide striping procedure. C/Istik believed that a consistent policy would provide a greater measure of safety for drivers. VCNirginkar expressed concern about a consistent parking procedure/policy. He cited the recent decision to allow permit parking in front of First Mortgage Corporation on Fallow Field Dr. adjacent to a residential area. DPW/Liu responded to M/O'Connor that due to downsizing, First Mortgage is not fully utilizing the 15 spaces. M/O'Connor did not believe double yellow stripes belong in residential neighborhoods. She would like to see a City policy established with respect to what type of streets get what type of striping. SEPTEMBER 19, 2000 PAGE 5 JOINT STUDY SESSION — CITY COUNCIL AND TRAFFIC & TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION Chair/Morris suggested that the City consider parking restrictions for older, narrower streets. WO'Connor said that it is even more critical that the City looked at the matter of recreational vehicles parked on City streets because Walnut Valley Trailer is closing and about half of the trailers/RV's parked in that storage lot belong to D.B. residents. One of the City's goals is to look at RV parking on City streets. She would like the Commission to look at this issue. She believed RV's should be parking on the owner's property and not on the City's streets where it presents a sight safety issue. When she was campaigning for Council, one of the primary complaints from residents was the issue of RV's parked on City streets. MPT/Ansari stated that three RV's are continuously parked on Morning Canyon Rd. at D.B. Blvd. In addition, his business vehicle (a meat truck) is parked in that location nights and on weekends. C/Huff suggested that the City set up a hotline where individuals do not have to identify themselves. Code Enforcement could monitor the situation and take appropriate action. Chair/Morris said that the Sheriffs Department favors the overnight parking ordinance. He believed that Council gets a very vocal minority speaking against the ordinance. The City needs to have participation by the majority, who favor an overnight parking ordinance. C/Istik asked if a citywide survey would be helpful in determining what the residents want. Chair/Morris stated that a homeowners association came to the Traffic and Transportation Commission meeting to request a meeting to discuss their traffic concerns. He believed it was a great compliment to the members who feel that there is a possibility of solutions, which involves a very controlled setting.- It is a hilly area with narrow streets and outspoken residents. We can have them survey their association members for possible solutions. Active homeowners associations would be a very good area to survey because the responses would likely be a reflective view of the entire community. C/Huff said he noticed that there are some areas where bike lanes are used as queuing lanes such as the morning school traffic going to Chaparral Middle School on D.B. Blvd. toward Mountain Laurel SEPTEMBER 19, 2000 PAGE 6 JOINT STUDY SESSION — CITY COUNCIL AND TRAFFIC & TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION Way). He suggested that those types of areas be skip -striped to indicate what vehicles have to do to turn right. MPT/Ansari asked if the bike lanes on Brea Canyon Cutoff are regulation size because if the bicycle ever touches the gutter, an accident will occur. c DPW/Liu said the lane size includes the gutter and they are regulation size. He will look into the matter. i 5. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to conduct, Mayor O'Connor adjourned the Study Session at 6:00 p.m. i LYNDA BURGESS, City Clerk ATTEST: i Mayor Debby O'Connor