HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/09/2020 - Minutes - Regular MeetingCITY OF DIAMOND BAR
MINUTES OF THE TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION MEETING
JULY 9, 2020
Consistent with COVID-19 regulations, all Commissioners and staff are participating
via teleconference and there is no physical location for public attendance. The public
has been invited to join the meeting online or by phone at the numbers printed on the
agenda.
CALL TO ORDER: Chair Gonzalez called the meeting to order at 7:05
p.m.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Vice-Chair Wong led the Pledge of Allegiance.
ROLL CALL: Commissioners Kim Hsieh, Surendra Mehta,
Cynthia Quan, Vide-Chair Andrew Wong, Chair
Michael Gonzalez
Also Present: David Liu, Public Works Director; Hal Ghafari,
Public Works Manager/Assistant City Engineer;
Christian Malpica, Associate Engineer; Fabian
Aoun, Associate Engineer; Nicholas “Nick”
Delgado, Engineering Technician; and, Marcy
Hilario, Administrative Coordinator.
I. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
A. Traffic and Transportation Commission Meeting Minutes of March 12, 2020.
C/Quan moved, VC/Vice-Chair Wong seconded, to approve the Meeting
Minutes of March 12, 2020 as edited by PWD/Liu. Motion carried by the
following Roll Call vote:
AYES: COMMISSIONERS: Hsieh, Mehta, Quan, VC/Wong,
Chair/Gonzalez
NOES: COMMISSIONERS: None
ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: None
II. PUBLIC COMMENTS: None
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III. ITEMS FROM STAFF:
A. TRAFFIC STATISTICS – April and May 2020.
VC/Wong moved, C/Mehta seconded, to receive and file the April and May
2020 Traffic Statistics. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote:
AYES: COMMISSIONERS: Hsieh, Mehta, Quan, VC/Wong,
Chair/Gonzalez
NOES: COMMISSIONERS: None
ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: None
B. ADOPTED FY2020-2021 CIP (CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM)
BUDGET
A PowerPoint presentation was provided to the Commission by PWM/Ghafari.
Chair/Gonzalez moved, C/Quan seconded, to receive and file the adopted FY
2020-2021 CIP Budget. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote:
AYES: COMMISSIONERS: Hsieh, Mehta, Quan, VC/Wong,
Chair/Gonzalez
NOES: COMMISSIONERS: None
ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: None
C. MONTHLY UPDATES OF PROJECTS/PROGRAMS:
a) Adaptive Traffic Control Signal System (ATCS) – AE/Malpica – The
project has been completed and the system is currently running at the
48 intersections. Staff will continue to monitor and fine tune the system
for the rest of the year.
b) Pantera Neighborhood Traffic Management Plan – AE/Malpica –
Staff launched an on-line petition process on June 19, 2020 for the
residents to obtain a 67% (103 households) majority approval of the
residents along the affected streets for implementation of the proposed
traffic calming tools. On-line survey responses are due on July 8, 2020.
c) Castle Rock NTMP between Cold Spring and Fountain Springs
Road – AE/Malpica – The collection of traffic counts is on hold due to
the COVID-19 Pandemic. Counts collection will resume once everything
returns back to normal on the streets.
d) Traffic Delineators at Grand Avenue and Cleghorn Drive –
ET/Delgado – Staff is preparing to deploy delineators along the
dedicated right turn lane to prohibit westbound vehicles from making
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illegal maneuvers. A conceptual design has been prepared.
C/Quan and the Commission recommended installation move forward
while traffic is minimal. PWD/Liu responded that staff will work with the
maintenance team to proceed with installation.
e) Street Name Sign for Niagara Bottling Company (Niagara) –
ET/Delgado – Niagara Bottling Company has recently moved into their
new headquarters at 1440 Bridgegate Drive in Diamond Bar. Niagara is
the sole-tenant of this property. The City owns and maintains the public
street and the signalized intersection that services the private driveway
to Niagara’s facility. Niagara’s development team has requested the
personalization of the street name signs at the traffic signal to read
“Niagara Way.”
Staff has thoroughly reviewed this request and has determined that it
will improve wayfinding on Bridgegate Drive for employees, visitors,
couriers, and emergency services. Niagara will be responsible to pay for
the labor and materials costs to order and install the new street name
sign panels.
Staff will recommend approval of this item at a future City Council
meeting once Niagara Bottling Company is recognized as “New
Business of the Month.” Staff will also retain the existing street name
signs that read “1440 Bridgegate Drive,” should this property be vacated
by Niagara Bottling Company in the future.
f) Grand Avenue/Golden Springs Drive Intersection Improvements –
AE/Aoun – As a prerequisite to the intersection improvements, the
construction on hole number three at the golf course is scheduled for
late September/early October 2020.
g) Diamond Bar Boulevard Complete Streets Corridor – AE/Aoun –
Staff submitted review comments for 90% of the PS&E to the
consultant. Staff continues to pursue additional funding for the
construction of the project.
h) Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church/School Driveway Line-of-Sight Study
– AE/Aoun – After the last Commission meeting in early March, staff
contacted Mt. Calvary’s Principal, Dr. Steven Christopher, to meet at the
school and discuss how to best implement the recommendations from
the line of sight study that was prepared by the City’s traffic engineering
consultant. Unfortunately, this coincided with the State and County’s
Stay-At-Home orders due to COVID-19. Dr. Christopher suggested to
wait until things improve before meeting in the field to move forward
with the improvements. Staff is in communication with Dr. Christopher to
meet at a future date.
JULY 9, 2020 PAGE 4 T&T COMMISSION
i) 2020 INFRA Grant Application for the SR-57/60 Confluence Relief
Program – PWD/Liu - On Monday, February 24, 2020, the L.A. County
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) submitted the grant
application for the SR-57/60 Confluence Chokepoint Relief Program
Project to the U.S. Department of Transportation seeking $50 million in
funding from the FY 2020 Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA)
discretionary grant program. The City of Diamond Bar actively
participated in the preparation of this application along with Caltrans,
the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments (SGVCOG), and the
City of Industry.
The Project has a total cost of $420,288,000. With 2020 INFRA funds,
or an early investment of Federal funds, Metro will be able to begin
construction in August, 2022 rather than July 2024. Most importantly,
an INFRA award will unlock a matching State commitment of $222
million in SB 1 funds.
Last week, announcements were made by USDOT regarding INFRA
Grant Awards. Once again, our SR-57/60 Confluence Project was not
awarded an INFRA Grant. Also, there were no projects awarded in
California. The Administration confirmed awards to 20 projects in 20
states, using all or most of the $906 million that Congress made
available. 8 of the selected projects were “urban” and 12 were “rural”.
The DOT received 173 eligible applications from 47 states, requesting
about $7 billion in funding.
This outcome is truly disappointing. We will continue to work closely
with Metro to maintain the Project’s momentum despite this temporary
setback.
j) Diamond Bar Golf Course Mitigated Negative Declaration –
PWM/Ghafari – Metro prepared a short PowerPoint presentation for the
SR-57/60 Confluence Project which also includes information relative to
the Grand Avenue/Golden Springs Drive Project and the Diamond Bar
Golf Course Renovation Project. They coordinated with Public Works
staff and had public presentation at our July 7th Council Meeting.
PWD/Ghafari also provided the Commission with a link to keep updated
on the project: https://www.metro.net/projects/sr5760/.
Additionally, Metro is also preparing an interactive map of showing the
freeway improvements together with a fact sheet that will be available
on the Metro website beginning in July. These materials are being
prepared to coincide with the release of the Initial Study/Mitigated
Negative Declaration (IS/MND) for the Diamond Bar Golf Course
Renovations at the beginning of a 30-day review period. SGVCOG is
the lead agency for this CEQA document.
The golf course renovation work is a mitigation for the upcoming
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freeway improvements. This renovation work will be publicly bid by the
SGVCOG, and expected to begin in January 2021.
k) Diamond Bar Boulevard Rehabilitation (Mountain Laurel Way to
Pathfinder Road)– AE/Aoun – Plans are in design for a pavement
rehabilitation project on Diamond Bar Boulevard beginning where last
year’s project left off on Mountain Laurel Way and ending at Pathfinder
Road. The Project will consist of a 2” - 6” pavement grind/overlay and
upgraded or newly constructed ADA curb ramps where the existing
ramps do not meet current ADA standards. The plans are expected to
be completed in the next month with construction tentatively scheduled
for September.
C/Hsieh moved, C/Quan seconded, to receive and file the updates on
Various Projects/Programs. Motion carried by the following Roll Call
vote:
AYES: COMMISSIONERS: Hsieh, Mehta, Quan,
VC/Wong, Chair/Gonzalez
NOES: COMMISSIONERS: None
ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: None
IV. NEW BUSINESS: None
V. STATUS OF PREVIOUS ACTION ITEMS: None
VI. ITEMS FROM COMMISSIONERS:
C/Hsieh asked if a stop sign was mandatory at a three-way intersection and whether
residents could request their removal. She also commented that street sweeping was
inadequate in her neighborhood.
PWD/Liu responded to C/Hsieh that effective July 1st, the City has a new street
sweeping contractor and staff will monitor the services in C/Hsieh’s area. Stop signs
are regulatory and require a formal traffic warrant study to justify installation.
Ignoring a stop sign is not basis for its removal.
C/Quan again requested trimming or removal of the bougainvillea in the median at
Shotgun and Grand Avenue. PWD/Liu asked AE/Malpica to have staff monitor the
landscape conditions.
VC/Wong thanked staff for clearing the brush near the stop sign at Chandelle Place
and Gold Rush. C/Mehta appreciated staff’s action.
JULY 9, 2020 PAGE 6 T&T COMMISSION
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/Gonzalez adjourned the meeting at 8:40 p.m.
The foregoing minutes are hereby approved this day of , 2020.
Respectfully Submitted,
______________________________
David G. Liu, Secretary
Attest:
_____________________________
Michael Gonzalez, Chairperson