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HomeMy WebLinkAbout3/13/2003CITY OF DIAMOND BAR MINUTES OF THE TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION MARCH 13, 2003 CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Virginkar called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m. in the South Coast Air Quality Management/Government Center Hearing Board Room, 21865 E. Copley Drive, Diamond Bar, California 91765. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Commissioner Kashyap led the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL: Present: Chairman Virginkar, Vice Chairman Morris, and Commissioners Kashyap, Pincher and Torng. Also Present: David Liu, Public Works Director, Fred Alamolhoda, Senior Engineer; Sharon Gomez, Management Analyst; John Ilasin, Assistant Engineer, Debbie Gonzales, Administrative Assistant and Deputy Diane Dodd. I. REORGANIZATION OF THE TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION ChairNirginkar nominated VC/Morris to serve as Chairman for the ensuing term. C/Pincher seconded the nomination. There were no other nominations offered. Upon Roll Call vote, VC/Morris was unanimously elected to serve as Chairman of the Traffic and Transportation Commission Chair/Morris thanked ChairNirginkar for his thoughtful leadership and service to the Commission. C/Torng nominated C/Pincher to serve as Vice -Chairman of the Traffic and Transportation Commission. C/Kashyap seconded the nomination. There were no other nominations offered. Upon Roll Call vote, C/Pincher was unanimously elected to serve as Vice -Chairman of the Traffic and Transportation Commission. !I. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: A. Minutes of January 9, 2003. PWD/Liu explained that the January 9 minutes were revised from verbatim to action minutes. VC/Pincher moved, CNirginkar seconded, to approve the revised January 9, 2003 minutes as presented. Without objection, the motion was so ordered. MARCH 13, 2003 PAGE 2 T&T COMMISSION B. Minutes of February 13, 2003. C/Virginkar moved, C/Torng seconded, to approve the minutes of February 13, 2003 as presented. Without objection, the motion was so ordered. Ill. COMMISSION COMMENTS: VC/Pincher thanked Chair/Virginkar for his leadership and polite decorum during his tenure as Vice Chairman. She learned a great deal from him during the past year. C/Kashyap thanked CNirginkar for his leadership as Chairman of the Traffic and Transportation Commission. CNirginkar stated that earlier this week he rode to the airport in a yellow cab. As it happens, the cab driver was a former dispatcher for the City's Dial -a -ride program for six years. The driver said that the D.B. program is one of the best in which he has participated and very much appreciated by the participants. IV. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Yancy Yap, 449 N. Prospectors Road, complained about the speeding vehicles on his street. In addition, it presents a safety hazard to young people crossing the street in order to get to school. Placement of the radar trailer helped but once it leaves the area drivers speed up and down the street. He asked the Commission to consider placing speed humps on his street. Chair/Morris explained to Mr. Yap that there is currently a moratorium on speed humps. The City Council will reconsider the issue in the near future. He further explained that the radar trailer is scheduled to be back in his area two weeks from today. Deputy Dodd has noted the concern and will speak with her colleagues regarding this matter. He thanked Mr. Yap for voicing his concerns and asked him to pass along any vehicle license numbers of offenders to Deputy Dodd. PWD/Liu reported that the stretch of Prospectors Road referred to by the speaker has been identified in the current C1P program. The City is looking to resurface the roadway and incorporate traffic calming devices. Staff has been holding a series of neighborhood meetings to discuss these mitigation efforts and PWD/Liu encouraged Mr. Yap to attend and invite his neighbors to attend as well. Deputy Dodd said that when she was conducting a speed survey on Prospectors Road she noticed that vehicles were traveling faster than they should be traveling. As a result, she requested that Deputy Castro monitor the area in his free time. As of yesterday, Deputy Castro had written 11 speeding citations. She believed the area was used as a cut -through from the freeway to Golden Springs Drive. V. CONSENT CALENDAR: None MARCH 13, 2003 PAGE 3 T&T COMMISSION VI. ITEMS FROM STAFF A. Traffic Enforcement Update — Report by Deputy Dodd - Received and filed on the following items: 1. Citations: February 2003 Deputy Dodd reported that the majority of the high number (1557) of citations were a result of enforcement of street sweeping. 2. Collisions: February 2003 Deputy Dodd reported that collisions were up as a result of significant rainfall and wet conditions. 3. Radar Trailer Development 4. Results of Traffic Operations 5. Future Deployment of the Radar Trailer CNirginkar thanked the Sheriff's Department for their good work on behalf of the City. PWD/Liu explained that the increase in citations during the month of January was due in part to the fact that during January street sweeping was increased from bi-weekly to weekly. VII. OLD BUSINESS: None VIII. NEW BUSINESS: A. Traffic Concerns on Armitos Place. Chair/Morris explained that this item came to the Commission as a result of a concern from a resident living on Fern Place who is not present this evening. MA/Gomez presented staff's report. Staff recommends that the Traffic and Transportation Commission concur with staff to deny installation of multi - way stop signs at the intersection of Armitos Place and Fern Place. CNirginkar noted that there is a visibility obstruction at the intersection. According to the traffic study the majority of cars travel at speed in excess of 35 mph. He felt that although the vehicle volume might not warrant stop signs, the overall safety in the area should be considered and that MARCH 13, 2003 PAGE 4 T&T COMMISSION installation of the flashing beacon and multi -way stop signs would divide the entire stretch into three parts and help slow the traffic. VC/Pincher said she drove the area and found it difficult to access Armitos Place from Fern Place because it was difficult to see the oncoming downhill traffic and that it was very close to Golden Springs Drive and the fire station. She suggested "watch for cross traffic or watch downhill speed" because it felt unsafe to pull out onto Armitos Place from Fern Place. Chair/Morris noted that between Fern Place and Carpio there are no homes fronting Armitos. He agreed that there is a slight obstruction and recommended that the homeowners on the uphill side of Fern Place be asked to trim back the shrubbery or replace it with ground cover to increase visibility. He further recommended that the Commission wait to see how successful the beacon is at deterring traffic. He believed that installation of any traffic mitigation at that corner could adversely impact the fire station. C/Kashyap concurred with CNirginkar that there should be some mitigating action taken at the site. He did not know if multi -way stop signs would provide the answer. CNirginkar agreed that the Commission should postpone this matter to see if the flashing beacon mitigates the concern. CNirginkar moved, VC/Pincher seconded, to concur with staff's recommendation to deny installation of multi -way stop signs at the intersection of Armitos Place and Fern Place. Further, staff is directed to look into placement of warning signs and monitor the area for six months following installation of the flashing beacon and report back to the Commission on its degree of success or failure. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COMMISSIONERS: Kashyap, Pincher, Torng, VC/Morris, ChairNirginkar NOES: COMMISSIONERS: None ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: None IX. STATUS OF PREVIOUS ACTION ITEMS: PWD/Liu reported that at it's March 4 meeting the City Council approved the Commission's recommendation to install multi -way stop signs on Lemon Avenue and Willow Bud Drive. Staff ordered the signs and the installation should take place within a month. On March 18 the City Council will consider the following three items from Public Works: 1) The proposed traffic signal modification on Grand Avenue at Shotgun at "The Country Estates" ingress/egress and the new Community/Senior Center main entrance; 2) approval of design and construction for Area 5 slurry seal program and 3) additional signage for the City's street sweeping program. MARCH 13, 2003 PAGE 5 T&T COMMISSION X. ITEMS FROM COMMISSIONERS: Chair/Morris congratulated staff for being ahead of schedule on residential street name sign replacement. XI. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS: A. Clear Creek Canyon/Diamond Bar Boulevard PWD/Liu reported that in accordance with the Commission's recommendation for staff to consider a new circulation pattern from the Ralph's Center onto Clear Creek Drive, staff intends to discuss the matter with the City's planning consultant and the center's owner about forthcoming plans and possibilities. Chair/Morris felt there was room next to Great Western Bank for a driveway. If that did not happen, the area between Big Lots and Ralph's could allow turns into the center with modification to eliminate traffic across Diamond Bar Boulevard. B. School Safety Study MA/Gomez reported that at the end of January and February staff met with Diamond Bar High School and school district members to discuss the traffic circulation and devised a plan to mitigate current traffic problems. This week staff approved an agreement with the traffic engineer to conduct traffic studies based on the proposed plan and bring back his recommendation for mitigation of traffic circulation for approval by all parties. The engineer will also look at two traffic signal modifications, one at Evergreen Springs Drive/Pathfinder Road and the other side of Fern Hollow/Brea Canyon Rd/Pathfinder Rd. Council agreed not to approve the traffic signals until the overall traffic circulation plan was developed. C/Torng felt the traffic signal installation should proceed as quickly as possible for safety reasons. C/Torng conveyed a resident's concern that when the City conducts its study it should consider placing "No U-turn" signs on both Fern Hollow Drive and Evergreen Springs Drive. C. Request for Parking on Brea Canyon Road by Good Time Donut Shop MA/Gomez reported that at the Commission's request, staff spoke with the donut shop owner and their spokesperson. As a result, staff ordered special signage for placement on Brea Canyon Road that allows one-hour parking between 6:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. for about 60 feet of curb. The signage includes "No Parking between 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m." The donut shop owners are happy with the solution and the signs should be installed within the next two weeks. MARCH 13, 2003 PAGE 6 T&T COMMISSION D. Neighborhood Traffic Management Program PWD/Liu stated that prior to tonight's meeting staff distributed six sets of proposals along with the original RFP's to VC/Pincher and C/Kashyap for their review and recommendation. Staff proposes to interview three or four consultants. State law requires the City to select consultants based upon qualifications. Fee is a consideration but not the criteria. SE/ Alamolhoda asked VC/Pincher and C/Kashyap to have their evaluations to staff no later than March 31 so that staff could schedule interviews for the week of April 7. Staff proposes to forward its recommendation to Council on Tuesday, April 15. He asked to meet with VC/Pincher and C/Kashyap on April 2 at 4:00 p.m. E. Citywide Traffic Signal Timing Plan SE/Alamolhoda stated that the citywide traffic signal timing plan is ahead of schedule. He and PWD/Liu met with CalTrans recently and learned that the SR 57/60 HOV direct connector project was slated to begin shortly. Since the project affects traffic flow in Diamond Bar, staff and the traffic engineer asked CalTrans to modify the timing. As a result, commencement of the project has been pushed forward to May. CalTrans and the City's consultant will continue to work out the details. C/Kashyap recommended that traffic enforcement officers be kept apprised of project details and determine what fines should be imposed for individuals who break the law within the construction zone. Chair/Morris asked staff to reconsider how informational items are imparted to the Commissioners since they appear to consume the majority of the agenda. Perhaps they should be presented in written form as well as verbally. PWD/Liu asked for the Commissioner's support in seeking federal grant money for the Grand Avenue Beautification Project. if the Commission concurs, the Chair would be asked to sign a letter of support at the end of tonight's meeting. PWD/Liu explained that the purpose of the informational items is to update the Commission. In response to Chair/Morris's request, staff will attempt to provide more detailed information on pertinent items in the future. XII. SCHEDULE OF FUTURE CITY EVENTS — as agendized. MARCH 13, 2003 PAGE 7 T&T COMMISSION ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to come before the Traffic and Transportation Commission, Chairman Morris adjourned the meeting at 8:57 p.m. Respectfully, David G. iu, Secretary Attest: Chairman Roland Morris