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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/12/2019 - Minutes - Regular Meeting CITY OF DIAMOND BAR MINUTES OF THE TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION MEETWG WINDMILL COMMUNITY ROOM , DIAMOND BAR CITY HALL 21810 COPLEY DRNE, DIAMOND BAR SEPTEMBER 12 , 2019 CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Garg cailed the meeting to order at 6 : 31 p . m . in the Diamond Bar City Hall Windmill Community Room , 21810 Copley Drive, Diamond Bar, California 91765 . PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE : Commission Quan led the Pledge of Allegiance . ROLL CALL : Commissioners Cynthia Quan , Andrew Wong , Vice-Chair Michael Gonzalez and Chair/Mahendra Garg Absent: Commissioner Surendra Mehta was excused . A1so Present: David Liu , Public Works Director; Christian Malpica , Associate Engineer; Fabian Aoun , Associate Engineer; and , Marcy Hilario , Administrative Coordinator. I . APPROVAL OF MINUTES : A. Tra�c and Transportation Commission Meeting Minutes of June 13 , 2019 . C/Quan moved , VC/Gonzales seconded , to approve the Meeting Minutes of June 13 , 2019 . Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote : AYES : COMMISSIONERS : Quan , VC/Gonzalez , Chair/Garg NOES : COMMISSIONERS : None ABSTAIN : COMMISSIONERS : Wong ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS : Mehta B. Tra�c and Transportation Commission Meeting Minutes of August 8 , 2019 . Due to lack of quorum , approval of the August 8 , 2019 Meeting Minutes was continued to the next regular meeting . II . PUBLIC COMMENTS : None SEPTEMBER 12 , 2019 PAGE 2 T&T COMMISSION III . ITEMS FROM STAFF : ' A. TRAFFIC STATISTICS — July 2019 : C/Wong moved , C/Quan seconded , to Receive and File the July 2019 Traffic Statistics . Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES : COMMISSIONERS : Quan , Wong , VC/Gonzalez , Chair/Garg i NOES : COMMISSIONERS : None ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS : Mehta B . MONTHLY UPDATES OF VARIOUS PROJECTS/PROGRAMS : a) Adaptive Traffic Control Signal System (ATCS) — AE/Malpica — The contractor is installing and replacing equipment necessary to activate this system within the next few months . Field work is expected to be completed in the next two weeks and the network system upgrades will be completed shortly thereafter. This project is expected to be fully completed by end of December. b) Copley Drive/Golden Springs Drive Intersection Improvement — AE/Malpica — Upon completion of the striping plan staff determined that it will be bundled with one of the upcoming CIP's . c) Lemon Avenue Interchange Project — AE/Malpica — Staff will close out this project as soon as the paperwork is completed . d) Grand Avenue/Golden Springs Drive Intersection Improvements — AE/Malpica — The City of Industry awarded the construction contract on August 22 "d . The project will provide improvements on Grand Avenue/Golden Springs Drive , inciuding widening one lane, sidewalk widening , traffic signal modification with decorative poles as well as , streetscape enhancements . Construction is scheduled to commence SeptembedOctober. e) Diamond Bar Boulevard Complete Streets Corridor — AE/Aoun — The consultant continues to work on the design plan with staff and staff continues to pursue additional funding for the construction . Staff will update the Commission when construction is scheduled . fl TR63623 — South Pointe Residential Development/Larkstone Park — AE/Aoun — The last phase continues which includes 14 homes that are currently under construction . The contractorwill complete slurry seal of ali streets within the project to finalize construction . SEPTEMBER 12, 2019 PAGE 3 T&T COMMISSION g) Diamond Ranch Shopping Center (Sprouts/Chipotle/Coffee Bean/Ross/The Habit) and McDonald's Redevelopment — AE/Aoun — Staff will update the Commission when information becomes available about who will occupy the empty tenant spaces . C/Quan moved , VC/Gonzales seconded , to receive and file the updates on Various Projects/Programs . Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote : AYES : COMMISSIONERS : Quan , Wong , VC/Gonzalez , ChaidGarg NOES : COMMISSIONERS : None ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS : Mehta IV. NEW BUSINESS : 1 . PANTERA DRIVE NEIGHBORHOOD TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT PROGRAM (NTMP) . AE/Malpica presented staff's report and recommended that the Traffic and I Transportation Commission receive public commerts regarding the proposed Pantera Drive NTMP . Stephanie Lubian , 823 Re�ord Court, stated that not only is speeding a problem , but in her opinion , the signage wili not help at all because 90 percent of the traffic on Summitridge Drive and Pantera Drive run the stop signs . Erica Ramirez, 674 Pantera Drive , said that her s#reet is curved and children crossing the street are in jeopardy because drivers flying down the street do not have a clear line of sight. In the evenings, the park is extremely busy and vehicles are coming down Pantera Drive at increased speeds . She also does not believe signage will help . This is a growing community with an elementary school and lots of traffic. Candi Hoiden , 608 Sky Court, has back injuries and finds it difficult to drive on streets with speed humps . If the problem is speeding and stop signs , this is a law enforcement issue . She would favor increased patrol in the area instead of parking humps . In addition , it might help for the school to have a crossing guard . Rhonda Mekhail , 909 Pantera , asked for speed humps several years ago due to speeding traffic and failure of drivers to stop at the stop signs . She felt that a crossing guard would not help , nor would blinking lights or signage. Ms . Mekhail feels speed humps are important and she was told years ago that they would impede safety vehicies and fire trucks from being able to get to the school in time , in case of an emergency. She is thankful this program has been initiated because she cannot let her children play outside for fear they will be hit by a car. SEPTEMBER 12, 2019 PAGE 4 T&T COMMISSION A speaker asked for statistics on the speed humps on Leyland Drive and wanted to know if they had made any changes in traffic behavior. PWD/Liu explained that the speed humps were done as a pilot project and ultimately , staff determined that speed cushions were just as effective , which siows tra�c. Staff concluded that speed humps were not something that should be done in Diamond Bar and as a result, guidelines and tools were established for the NTMP , one of which was the speed cushions . They are constructed with the spacing to accommodate the service vehicles to respond within their requirements . 'i AE/Malpica stated there is a difference in design between speed humps , speed bumps and speed cushions. As PWD/Liu explained , the speed bumps and ', speed humps are based on different heights and extend the entire width of the street. Speed cushions have divisions between them to allow emergency vehicles to pass through unimpeded . With the NTMP guidelines, the City is no longer considering gutter to gutter speed humps and speed bumps . Adam Tran , 751 Pantera Drive , (next door to Pantera Elementary School) , asked if there would be foliow-up meetings after tonighYs discussion . He is disappointed that more families (from the affected area) are not participating this evening . It is a challenge to get people to open their doors to discuss this program because he and his wife went door to door in their neighborhood attempting to promote tonighYs meeting . Mr. Tran 's number one concern is speeding , which is something he and his wife observe in the morning when they leave to d �op their kids off for school and in the middle of the day when parents pick up their kids . It is not only that people are speeding , many parents park across the street from the school waiting to pick up their kids and the kids tend to rush across the street to get to their parents . Heading north down Pantera Drive , there is a blind spot and he has observed parents rushing across the street to prevent the kids from being hit. He spoke to the principal of the elementary school last year but has not spoken with the new principal . His wife spoke with the new principal and was told the school had been trying for years to get a crosswalk for the parents and students . From 6 p . m . to 10 p . m . there are young people speeding out of the park and up and down the street. Trichia Tran , 751 Pantera Drive , said she was the person who initiated this process . When she and her husband were going door-to-door, they encountered a big language barrier. Many residents speak Chinese or Mandarin and her husband speaks neither. Also , many residents did not want to answer the door or, if they did , they answered it by yelling at her and telling her to get off of their property through their doorbeli security system . Therefore, Ms . Tran and her husband began walking together with their children and encountered a problem with dogs rushing out of houses and going for her baby in its strolier. There is quite a curve on Pantera Drive and , as a stay-at-home mom , she has a view from her bedroom window of the entire street and said that for her, it is more about speeding than tra�c and quite often , cars speed right through the stop signs . A coupie of Ms . Tran's goals led to her initiating this program : 1 ) A speed bump to help slow traffic going SEPTEMBER 12, 2019 PAGE 5 T&T COMMISSION down Pantera Drive to Bowcreek Drive at the curve where the elementary school ends, and 2) protection for families trying to cross the street to take • advantage of programs in the park. In addition , there are skateboarders that come to the area at about 3 : 00 a. m . who start at the top of the hill , hang onto the back bumpers of cars and let go to speed down the hill . She feels the speed humps will help in this instance as well . She wished the signage would help but does not believe it wiil . Richard Young , 675 Bowcreek Drive, shared he has called the Sheriff's Department and sent them an email to let them know that, as a neurosurgeon he sees trauma with high speed injuries and kids getting hit. He has a 4-year oid and 2-year old and does a lot of yard work out in front of his home and since sending the email he has noticed an increase in police presence. The issue is that everyone is rushed and everything people have said happens on a daily basis because of all of the activities at the park. Safety is number one and when his 2-year old ran out into the street to retrieve a ball , he felt that was the last straw and he needed to take action . He believes speed bumps and street narrowing are a great deterrent. However, with all of the street parking , the street is narrower and it is already essentially a two-lane street. Fire I Station 121 is just down the hill and he did not believe speed humps would ! appreciably delay them in getting to Pantera Elementary. Another option is speed dips which he has seen �n the City of Los Angeles . Larry Holden , 608 Sky Court, stated that he concurs with everything that has been said and the bottom line is that traffic needs to be slowed down on Pantera Drive. As previously stated , speed bumps wili be an issue for his wife as they have already changed their path of travel from Leyland Drive to Summitridge Drive . He felt that enforcement could be increased and asked if it costs more for the City to ask for patrols on Pantera Drive and whetherthe City has input on where the Sheriff's Department patrois . VC/Gonzalez indicated that when the Sheriff's Department receives a complaint and the City makes a complaint directly to the Sheriff's Department, a patrol request is forwarded to the department and the units working that area pick those up on a daily basis. Mr. Holden continued that people are saying signage will not work; however, he agrees there should be a crosswalk at Pantera Elementary School and another stop sign between Rexford Court and Bowcreek Drive at the crosswalk, including increased enforcement. C/Quan added that she understands the speakers' concerns . She was a principal at Golden Springs Elementary and at Ranch Oaks and she witnessed instances of drivers that did not follow signage . Even with a crossing guard , there continues to be moments of anxiety. The crosswalk helps ; however, does not completely deter any speeding . The best thing is education and enforcement presence . C/Quan shared that every time she requested enforcement presence; drivers behaved themselves . Once the Sheriff's car moved out of the area , they returned to their old habits . SEPTEMBER 12, 2019 PAGE 6 T&T COMMISSION PWD/Liu reminded the Commission and the audience about the process the City must take in this effort. TonighYs meeting is an introductory meeting , the ' purpose ofwhich is to gather additional input from residents. Staff has been in conversation with some of the residents over the past few months. In addition , increased enforcement and additional signage were impiemented on that stretch of Pantera Drive . It is clear that whatever is agreed upon has to be done through this consensus building process , which means that staff will continue with outreach to the residents . Ultimately, in order to be successful , the majority of the residents will need to support the traffic calming devices . Bottom line , with respect to speeding , the only permanent solution that would I help address that issue would be the speed cushions. However, in order to ' implement speed cushions, certain standards have to be met. Also, everyone ' needs to keep in mind that they will be permanent roadway features , which can only be reversed through this same process and approved by a majority of affected residents. Staff sent out about 170 letters inviting people to tonighYs meeting and only about 10 are present. Based on past experience, however, tonighYs turnout is good , but there needs to be a continuing outreach effort. Crosswalks and stop signs will not work. Stop signs are traffic "regulatory" signs and are not meant to slow down traffic, but are designed and enforced to make sure there is proper traffic assignment (orderly movement of vehicles through intersections) . Without the presence of law enforcement, people will continue to roll through the stop signs . There will also need to be a dialogue with the school officials . PWD/Liu added that staffwill continue reaching out to residents . This program was initiated after staff talked with Mr. and Mrs . Tran . All stakeholders have to participate in this effort. This could be a phased or incremental approach . Staff will continue to work with the Sheriff's Department to make sure they are present; however, they cannot be on-site 24/7 . There is a dedicated black and white that visits each of the schools on a rotational baris . PWD/Liu believes the school district can play a very important part by educating parents and understanding what they need to do to create a safe environment for the students. Chair/Garg thanked residents for their participation . 2 . TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION MEETING SCHEDULE . Chair/Garg asked whether the Commissioners would prefer a bi-monthly or quarterly meeting . Staff's recommendation is to adopt Option A (bi-monthly) . PWD/Liu stated that the Parks and Recreation Commission discussed this at their August meeting and agreed 3- 1 to opt for bi-monthly meetings (January, March , May, July, September and November) . PWD/Liu said that if the Commission were to consider bi-monthly meetings, staff would move forv✓ard to provide bi-monthly packets . However, at any given time , if the Commission needs to discuss critical items , a special meeting can be scheduled . Ultimately, whatever option the Commission decides , the matter will be referred to the City Council for approval and adoption . In , SEPTEMBER 12 , 2019 PAGE 7 T&T COMMISSION discussing this matter with PRD/Wright, perhaps the T&T Commission could meet in alternating months of the Parks and Recreation Commission (February, April , June, August, October and December) or visa versa to provide better and continuous customer service and coverage. VC/Gonzalez moved , C/Quan seconded , to recommend that the City Council approves the meeting schedule for the Traffic and Transportation Commission to meet bi-monthly. Motion carried by the foilowing Roll Call vote : AYES : COMMISSIONERS : Quan , Wong , VC/Gonzalez , Chair/Garg NOES : COMMISSIONERS : None ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS : Mehta ' V. STATUS OF PREVIOUS ACTION ITEMS : None I VI . ITEMS FROM COMMISSIONERS : VC/Gonzales stated that just off the intersection of Gold Rush Drive and Chandelle Place near Pantera Drive , one of the stop signs is obstructed by tree overgrowth . Staff will look into this matter and rectify. VII . SCHEDULE OF FUTURE CITY EVENTS : As noted in the Agenda. ADJOURNMENT : There being no further business to come before the Traffic and Transportation Commission , Chair Garg adjourned the meeting at 8 : 06 p . m . The foregoing minutes are hereby approved this j'�� rY day of t?��t'�r�- , 2019 . Respectfully Submitted , Da ' G . iu , Secretary Attest: � � � ;�'l; , Mahendra ar ' rperson