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HomeMy WebLinkAbout5/10/20071 1 CITY OF DIAMOND BAR MINUTES OF THE TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION MEETING MAY 10, 2007 CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Shay called Management/Governrr California 91765. PLEDGE OF ROLL CALL: Also Present: meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. in the South Coast Air Quality Center Hearing Board Room, 21865 Copley Drive, Diamond Bar, E: Commissioner Shah led the Pledge of Allegiance. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Commissioners Liana Pincher, Jack Shah, Vice Chairman Kenneth Mok and Chairman Michael Shay Commissioner Jimmy Lin arrived at 7:10 p.m., David Liu, Public Works Director; Rick Yee, Senior Engineer, and Marcy Hilario, Senior Administrative Assistant. Minutes of the Malrch 8, 2007 meeting C/Pincher moved and VC/Mok seconded to approve the minutes as presented. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: CO MISSIONERS: Pincher, Shah VC/Mok, Chair/Shay NOES: CO MISSIONERS: None ABSENT: CO MISSIONERS: Lin II. PUBLIC COMME TS: Phil Kisor, 1467 Copper Mountain Drive, spoke about the Diamond Bar Boulevard/Mountain Laurel Way crossing and read from a letter dated April 21, 2006 for which he claimed to have been given no response. He said that students ave been hit crossing Diamond Bar Boulevard and he requested a crossing guard to ielp Chaparral students when crossing Diamond Bar Boulevard. Deanne Charles, 11502 Farnden Avenue, Chino said her daughter was hit while crossing Diamond Bar Boulevard at Mountain Laurel Way and did not understand why there was no crossing guard at the crosswalk. Jeanaya Wall said her son Avery was hit on April 5th while crossing Diamond Bar Boulevard at Mou tain Laurel Way on his bicycle. For their safety, the children need resolution today. MAY 10, 2007 PAGE 2 T&T COMMISSION PWD/Liu referred to the June 8, 2006 T&T Meeting minutes when Mr. Kisor appeared before the Traffic and Transportation Commission to request a crossing guard at Diamond Bar Boulevard at Mountain Laurel Way. At that time, staff indicated the City had begun the design for a left -turn signal on Diamond Bar Boulevard at Mountain Laurel. Based on Mr. Kisor's input, the City extended the green time from the previous 20 seconds to 22 seconds. The total walk time, adding 4 seconds at yellow, is 33 seconds. The City will follow up with a legal warrant study for a crossing guard. Typically, when a crossing guard warrant study is done, it looks at only two criteria — the vehicular traffic counts and school-age pedestrian counts. Assuming thatthere is insufficient volume to warrant a crossing guard, the City would work more closely with the Sheriffs Department to seek remedy because public safety is the City's number one concern. However, at the same time the City has to be careful because this is a very busy signalized intersection and the City cannot put crossing guards in all locations throughout the City. The City needs to investigate the situation and consider all possible remedies. PWD/Liu said he would meet with parents and school officials to discuss possible solutions and talk with the Sheriff's Department to get their involvement as well. C/Shah asked if the Sheriff's Department could be at the interesction during peak hours on a daily basis for a time and thereafter on a random basis. Individuals who run red lights should be stopped. PWD/Liu said the City could request additional enforcement but the difficulty was that deputies could not be present every day. Chaparral is one of the busiest schools in terms of pedestrian traffic and the Sheriff's Department conducts enforcement in the area. However, the City needs to look at the possibility of an alternative solution. Based on the information regarding the most recent accident, there are other factors involved. C/Shah recommended that the Commission request daily or random checks and report at the next meeting about the number of citations issued and the kinds of citations issued. VC/Mok asked if a crossing guard fell under the jurisdiction of the school district, City or Sheriffs Department. PWD/Liu responded that in D.B. the City provides resources for crossing guards and the two school districts have no role in providing financial support for the 14 schools in the community. C/Mok asked if it were determined there was an urgency to provide a crossing guard, how long would it take to implement the service and is there any way to expedite the matter. PWD/Liu responded that crossing guard warrant studies could be done within a week or two. Staff would then bring its recommendation to the Commission and the Commission would forward its recommendation to the City Council for approval or denial. C/Pincher recalled Mr. Kisor from last year and felt it would be good for staff to pursue the matter with all due diligence. C/Lin asked if staff had pedestrian -vehicle related accident statistics forthe past three years and PWD/Liu responded that he did not. C/Lin said that generally, crossing guard studies are associated with uncontrolled intersections. If the intersection is already signalized and the City wants to add additional protection without changing the traffic control mechanism, it is an advisory type of recommendation and no warrant study is required. PWD/Liu agreed and said there are two locations at which MAY 10, 2007 PAGE 3 T&T COMMISSION the City provides (crossing guards — one at Diamond Bar Boulevard and Golden Springs Drive, in front of Lorbeer. This service has been provided since the County days and the histo�y of the warrant pre -dates the City's incorporation. If the City were to move forward with a crossing guard at any signalized intersection it would be setting precedence for providing such service in the City of Diamond Bar. Mr. Kisor said when he was before the Commission last year, he was told about the crossing guard at orbeer. However, there is probably twice or three times the traffic there was in 1989 Basically nothing has been done except the left turn signal. He never received a written response and if he is seeing what might have been done, it is not working and the situation is worse. Chair/Shay agree that enforcement was away to solve the problem but there were not enough officet to cover all locations all of the time. Also, criteria must be present to justify mitigation. The City wants to communicate with residents and he encouraged speakers to call the City and ask for feedback. He said the City needs to move on this situation as quickly as possible. III. CONSENT CALE DAR: None IV. ITEMS FROM STAFF ' A. Traffic En f rcement Update - Received and filed on the following items: 1. Citat ons: February, March & April 2007 2. Collisions: February, March & April 2007 3. Street Sweeping: February, March & April 2007 C/Lin commentedlthat in April the citations were up which to him indicated more enforcement. C/Pincher asked if the Sheriff's Department was still on its scheduled patrol of the schools. PWD/LiL said he would invite Sgt. Blasnek to make a presentation at the next meeting. C/Pincher said her understanding was that it took three officers to catch red light run ers and PWD/Liu said that was correct. C/Pincher asked if the Sheriffs Department could be asked to hit the Diamond Bar Blvd./Mountain Laurel intersection heavy until school was out for the summer. PWD/Liu said he would convey the Comm ssion's report to the Sheriffs Department. V. OLD BUSINESS: I None IVI. NEW BUSINESS: A. Neighborhood Traffic Management Program (NTMP) for Sunset Crossing Road and Prospectors Road. MAY 10, 2007 PAGE 4 T&T COMMISSION SENee presented staff's report including a PowerPoint presentation that was a recap of the presentation given at the neighborhood meeting on Monday, April 23rd. Staff recommended that the Traffic and Transportation Commission review the proposed action plan, receive public comments and concur with staff to forward the proposed action plan to the City Council for approval. PWD/Liu asked that the Commission forward staff's recommendation to the City Council for consideration and approval. Approximately 1300 residents were invited to tonight's meeting as well as the City Council meeting next Tuesday night. Kathy Chavez, 300 South Rock River Road, said that she was very concerned about her neighborhood. Apparently the community is not communicating. She was also very concerned that the City had so many Council meetings and other meetings and the people need to be heard. SENee went through a plan and she pointed out that she spent four nights visiting all corners of her street on Prospectors to notify her neighbors that this meeting was being held tonight and only two individuals are present. There is a stop sign in front of her house and it does not stop traffic. Her major concern is that all of the mitigation measures are proposed from an engineering standpoint and not from the residents' point of view. Also, it is very difficult to get her neighbors involved and she needs for the City to help in that respect. If the City puts a bulge in at the end of her street it may cause even more accidents because of the viaduct. She felt the bulges would work on Beaverhead and the median would not. There is no problem with trucks, only with cars and if the City begins reducing the width of the street there will be no place for parking. Speed humps might be better during this review time. She said she understood there was grant money to pay for the installations but wondered who would pay for the taking -out and repair. She wanted the Commission to know how grateful she was to SENee for his attention and concern and said she was ashamed of her community for not participating. Greg Margalese, 22735 Dry Creek Road, thanked Ms. Chavez for going door to door because like everyone else he ignored the City's mailings. He said that SENee was outstanding during an hour-long telephone conversation about the proposal. He said he hated the idea of a traffic circle because it would give drivers room to speed around to go down the side street off of Prospector Road. He liked the fact that the City was doing something. However, no matter how restrictive the mitigation measures become it will not stop traffic from coming through the City, it will only slow it down and make it harder on residents. Speed humps would be cheaper and easier to remove. Wendi Gudvangen, 450 N. Prospectors Road, was grateful to the City for attempting mitigation. The stop signs have helped even though some people continue to ignore them. However, the median will not work because it will push the cars closer to parked vehicles and children riding bicycles and skateboards. Speed humps make a lot more sense to her and she would personally slow down for them. MAY 10, 2007 PAGE 5 T&T COMMISSION Jack Istik, 2607 Dry Creek Road, felt that he would think twice about buying a house in his area if he had to arrive on a Saturday and see the bulges and medians on 36 -foot curb -to -curb residential streets and he would knowthat he was buying a house with a lot of problems. There is currently enough room for two lanes of traffic and parking only. He felt the measure for the median and bulges on Sunset Crossing Road was a great idea. If these measures are implemented and staff is directed to report back to the Commission he would like for the residents to be notified in the same manner so that they could return and rovide their input. LarryBelch r, 216 Gunsmoke Drive, said he was concerned about what would happen witi traffic if the golf course site was developed and felt the City should look at worst-case scenarios. Doug Renf , 329 N. Prospectors Road, said it would be okay to move forward with mitigation plans for Sunset Crossing Road but the proposal would not work for Prospectors Road. He wanted to know how much the City intended to spend on these measures. PWD/Liu stated that tonight's proposal is a conceptual plan and if the conceptual plan is approved, the design will be forthcoming. The federal grant and budget for this proposal is $220,000. ' Frank Sarti i, 509 Deep Hill Road, said that once a speed hump is put in place it is not taken out and it basically impedes neighborhood traffic. He does not like them. he traffic situation in D.B. will not be resolved. It is noble for the City to attempt to take measures to stop cut -through traffic but until the freeway situation is addressed it will not happen. There area great majority of homeowner's that do not favor speed humps and narrowing Prospectors does not seem like an effective proposal. There has been a lot said about effective communica ion with homeowners in the area but he has not seen that. Mailers have been spotty and the only meeting he was aware of was the last meeting held and he was here tonight because homeowners were encouraged to attend this Traffic and Transportation Commission meeting. C/Pincher s ated that CalTrans has done D.B. no favors using the City streets for on/off ramps and billions of dollars on the promise that cut -through traffic would be el minated. PWD/Liu said that the City is working with the State of California toward resolutions of regional traffic issues and the SR57/60 interchange and other stakeholders. C/Pincher said that during the past two years staff as worked toward this proposal and,if implemented, the City would monitor the mitigation measures for effectiveness. She wanted to know how wide themedians would be on Sunset Crossing Road and Prospectors Road and whethe they would be landscaped. SENee responded that the width of ' the proposed medians for Sunset Crossing Road and Prospectors Road are not known at this time. This is a conceptual phase only and the design process has not been completed. PWD/Liu said the typical width for a travel lane is be een 10 to 14 feet. Staff intends to landscape the strategically placed medians. C/Pincher said she noticed that during the neighborhood MAY 10, 2007 PAGE 6 T&T COMMISSION meeting residents did not select speed humps. At the request of C/Pincher, SE/Yee explained the differences between speed humps, speed bumps and speed cushions. Speed bumps are typically seen in shopping malls and parking lots. Speed humps and speed cushions are variations of speed bumps. The speed hump is usually 12-14 feet wide and about three inches high at its highest point and presents a gradual grade grossing. A speed cushion is the same thing as a speed hump but it has cut -through areas for emergency vehicles. C/Shah thanked residents for their participation and comments. He spent about 30 plus years as a transportation engineer and although the City is moving forward with this study, freeways are important and provide access to work and other destination points for residents as well as other travelers. The freeway design created problems for D.B. and other cities. D.B. has cut - through traffic and speeding vehicles that affect all aspects of residential life in the City. The residents need to decide what they want to address in their neighborhoods. There are side -affects to every solution and the residents and staff need to carefully select what is palatable and does not necessarily offer a one hundred percent solution. VC/Mok agreed with C/Shah that when one considers all aspects of life, trade- offs come into play. The question is, "what will residents be willing to sacrifice in order to cut down on cut -through traffic and slow down speeding traffic?" Since the HOV lanes have opened there seems to be less traffic and fewer cars on Diamond Bar Boulevard, which would indicate to him that traffic is moving at a faster pace. Perhaps a compromise for less intrusive mitigation measures could be reached for Prospectors Road since it is a narrower street. C/Lin said the objective of the mitigation measures is to slow traffic and speed humps stop and start cars rather than slow the overall speed. He recommended that instead of installing medians the City could try setting in temporary cones to form what the medians and bulges would look like and run a six-month test to see whether the residents want the permanent installations. Chair/Shay commended the residents who attended tonight's meeting and suggested that those in attendance put together a flyer and talk to their neighbors because he felt it would get results. Residents talked about safety and have collectively wanted to know how any mitigation measures would impact their quality of life. The reality is that if medians go in on Prospectors Road, what happens when people park on the street? Speed humps seemed to be the most conservative and practical approach. He said he was concerned that the concept of putting something down and taking it back up is gratuitous and does not make sense even if it is so-called free money. He liked C/tin's idea of setting in temporary cones to see how it would work. He asked how many were at the last meeting and close to half responded. PWD/Liu said that this is a process and from the first two meetings, staff believed it heard that residents wanted something more aesthetically pleasing F 1 1 MAY 10, 2007 PAGE 7 T&T COMMISSION than speed humps and wanted to start slowly without getting into restrictive measures. This is a balancing act and staff would like to offer the recommendation that the City take a phased approach and proceed with Sunset Crossing Road as Phase I. With respect to Phase 11, staff appreciates the comments from C/Lin that the City could do something temporary because staff believes there should be more time for more residents to offer their comments. C/Shah ageed with moving forward on Phase I and recommending that staff bring back recommendation for Prospectors Road. VC/Mok asked if temporary cones could easily be moved and PWD/Liu responded typically no because they would be anchored with epoxy. If someone were determined to cause damage it could be remedied and staff would maintain the cones. VC/Mok asked that if temporary measures were implement d the residents monitor the devices for intentional damage. PWD/Liu s id it was likely that the residents would view the ugly delineators as eyesores aid complain about the temporary devices. The City makes every effort to reach out to the residents. However, he asked if tonight's attendees would please share with their neighbors that these would be temporary measures. C/Pincher suggested signs be placed within the residential areas to indicate a pilot project. C/Shah mo approve de the installai Prospector: carried by t AYES NOES: ABSTAIN ABSENT: VII. STATUS OF PRE' the City Council ap Golden Springs Dr Golden Springs Di Bar Boulevard. Or during which trans) and Recreation ne attended and pro, submitted to the C traffic calming con( ✓ed and C/Pincher seconded, to recommend that the City Council Sign for Phase I for the Sunset Crossing Road neighborhood with ion of medians and bulges; and, approve design for Phase II for Road to revisit the implementation of temporary devices. Motion ie following Roll Call vote: COMMISSIONERS COMMISSIONERS: COMMISSIONERS: COMMISSIONERS: Pincher, Shah VC/Mok, Chair/Shay None Lin None /IOUS ACTION ITEMS PWD/Liu reported that on April 3rd, proved a contract amendment for the design of the new signal on ive at Racquet Club and modifications for two existing signals on ive at Brea Canyon Road and Golden Springs Drive at Diamond April 21St, D.B. hosted "Envision Diamond Bar" forthe community )ortation issues, economic development opportunities, and Parks eds were discussed. There were more than 100 residents who tided valuable input. Staff is compiling a report that will be ty Council in the near future. On April 15tr', staff will present the :ept plan for Sunset Crossing Road and Prospectors Road and will MAY 10, 2007 PAGE 8 T&T COMMISSION ask Council to approve the notice of completion for Grand Avenue Phase II. In addition, staff is recommending that the City Council approve sale of $500,000 of Prop A Funds to the City of Commerce for the City's Traffic Improvements Fund. On May 15th, staff will also ask Council to approve a contract extension with Diversified Para -transit for the Dial -A -Ride Program. Also, the Public Works Department is forwarding a request from Waste Management for the annual trash service increase. VIII. ITEMS FROM COMMISSIONERS C/Shah commended SENee for his work with the community. He commented that the yellow cabs were poorly maintained and if the Dial -A -Ride company wants a contract with the City they should clean up their vehicles. VC/Mok stated that he was fortunate to attend the Commissioners Traffic Workshop on April 21St, a unique experience. He thanked the City for allowing him this great experience. Diversified speakers spoke about several issues involving traffic law, traffic around schools and enforcement. He said he learned a great deal and offered to share his written information. C/Pincher announced that this is National Public Works Week and staff made the news. She lives at the bottom of a hill and gets to pick up grass clippings from her neighbors up the hill. She wanted to know how the City could educate the gardeners and residents to pick up after themselves to avoid grass clippings in the storm drains. She felt proud when friends of hers who visited from Hawaii complimented the beauty of the City. C/Pincher said that four or five years ago the Commission brought up the red light traffic camera and wondered if the City would consider this type of mitigation as a pilot program for Diamond Bar Boulevard at Mountain Laurel. Chair/Shay credited staff for attempting to arrive at a helpful conclusion for the Sunset Crossing Road/Prospectors Road area. IX. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS A. Grand Avenue Improvements Project — Phase III SENee reported that Phase III includes the area from Rolling Knoll to the easterly City limits. Staff submitted a request to Caltrans for authorization to advertise and the project will be federally funded. B. Industry's Grand Avenue Bridge Widening/Interchange Project - PWD/Liu stated that this project is under advisement. One of the alternatives City of Industry is emphasizing now is that along with the bridge widening they would like to construct bypass collectors to address weaving issues along the interchange. Additionally, City of Industry is attempting to elevate the project to a regional level. Until D.B. determines the proposal serves the needs of the community and long-term improvements along the SR57/60 Interchange, there will be no endorsement of the project. MAY 10, 2007 PAGE 9 T&T COMMISSION C. Lemon AvOnue/On and Off Ramps Project SE/Yee explained that Metro staff has preliminarily approved the funding request for this $2.3 million project. If all goes well, the project will be adopted in July. D. Prospectors Road Street Rehabilitation Project. SE/Yee st ted that the design contract went to Council in April with an amendme t for the parkway design and additional survey needed to finalize the plans. Final design should be completed by mid-June with award of constructioi contract in July. E. Washington Street Cul -de -Sac SE/Yee reported that Dream Builders was awarded a $109,120 construction contract by the City Council at its May 1St meeting. Construction is slated to begin after relocation of a fire hydrant. F. ACE Grade Separation on Brea Canyon Road SE/Yee explained that utilities are being relocated and traffic is being interrupted. Staff is working with p g h the Sheriff's Department to address neighborho d traffic concerns and to improve signage on the freeway off ramps and along Brea Canyon Road. G. SR57/60 Feasibility Study PWD/Liu stated the study should be ready in about a month and staff will then present the information with the Commission and the City Council. H. Final Evaluation of NTMP Pilot Projects SE/Yee rep�rted that the plan is to conduct traffic data collection before mid- June in ord r to capture typical conditions during the school term. CDBG Curb Ramps at Various School Locations SE/Yee stat d staff would be installing approximately 68 new curb ramps near three schools — Golden Springs Elementary, Diamond Point Elementary and Walnut Ele entary. Bid opening is scheduled for May 22"d J. Annual Slurh y Seal Program (Exhibits A and B) i SE/Yee explained that during its annual slurry seal maintenance program, Area 3 would be the focus for residential roadways and zone 1 for the arterial MAY 10, 2007 PAGE 10 T&T COMMISSION roadways. These projects will be advertised on May 11th with bid opening May 31St PWD/Liu stated that as part of this year's effort, staff would be crack sealing the existing pavement along Chino Hills Parkway and come back in subsequent years to provide the corrective improvements with overlay and localized reconstruction work proposed for the 2007/2008 CIP program. Diamond Bar Boulevard from Temple Avenue to Grand Avenue will be slurry sealed during this fiscal year. X. SCHEDULE OF FUTURE CITY EVENTS: As listed in the Agenda. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to come before the Traffic and Transportation Commission, Chair/Shay adjourned the meeting at 9:32 p.m. Respectfully, Da id G. L , Secretary Attest: