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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/16/2012 - MINUTES - Regular MeetingCITY OF DIAMOND BAR MINUTES OF THE TRAFFIC AND.TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION MEETING FEBRUARY 16, 2012 Chairman Pincher called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Diamond Bar City Hall Windmill Community Room, 21810 Copley Drive, Diamond Bar, California 91765. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Commissioner Mahlke led the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL: Commissioners Kevin House, Jen "Fred" Mahlke, Kenneth Mok, and Chair Liana Pincher Absent: Vice -Chair Ted Carrera was excused. Also Present: David Liu, Public Works Director- Rick Yee, Senior Civil Engineer; Kimberly Young, Associate Engineer; Christian Malpica, Associate Engineer (Traffic), and Marcy Hilario, Administrative Coordinator. I. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: A. Minutes of the January 12, 2012 regular meeting. C/Mahlke moved, C/Mok seconded, to approve the January 12, 2012 minutes as submitted. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COMMISSIONERS: House, Mahlke, Mak, Chair/Pincher NOES: COMMISSIONERS: None ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: VC/Carrera 111. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Frank Chang asked if bike striped lanes could be added from the SR -60 to Longview Drive on south and northbound Grand Avenue. SE/Yee had previously responded to Mr. Chang via e-mail that, after previous consideration of this matter, the City's Traffic Engineer decided not to add these bike lanes. Mr. Chang asked the Commission to request another evaluation of the situation due to increased bike traffic. He also requested speed bumps on Summitridge Drive and he was told by staff that he needed to collect 50 signatures in order for the City to consider the request. Mr. Chang felt this to be unreasonable. FEBRUARY 16, 2012 PAGE 2 T&T COMMISSION SE/Yee responded to the speaker's comments. He confirmed that he responded to the speaker's e-mail regarding his request for a Class 11 bike lane (a striped lane). This request was considered in 2008 when the City's Traffic Engineer conducted a study to determine whether Class 11 bike lanes would be appropriate to install on Grand Avenue. As a result of the study, and staff's research involving design guidelines for bike lanes on arterial roadways including examining slope conditions on Grand Avenue, the Traffic Engineer's recommendation was to not install Class 11 striped bike lanes on the street. This was due to studies indicating that when striping is installed, it gives a false sense of security for bikers who are less experienced. Under the current conditions, there is signage that allows for biking on Grand Avenue. As a result of the Engineer's study and in regard to the design guidelines, staff felt it was best to follow the Traffic Engineer's recommendation to not install any type of permanent striping on Grand Avenue. PWD/Liu added that, with respect to the speaker's request to have "speed bumps" installed on Summitridge Drive, the City has a very successful Neighborhood Traffic Management Program (NTMP) and staff will be happy to work with the residents along Summitridge Drive to determine whether the residents want to pursue traffic calming devices installed. As everyone knows, when traffic calming devices are installed, it impacts the residents along the street as well. Collaboration of residents is needed and staff will provide the speaker and residents with the necessary information. Mr. Chang requested to speak again. He questioned what kind of false impression bike lanes would create with respect to bikers feeling protected within the bike lanes. SE/Yee explained his understanding of the reason the City has Class 11 bike lanes on Diamond Bar Boulevard and Golden Springs Drive. The grades on Grand Avenue are higher than the grades on Diamond Bar Boulevard and Golden Springs Drive and because of that fact, there are concerns about bikers picking up unsafe speeds — especially inexperienced bikers. Mr. Chang again took exception with staff's explanation and decision. SE/Yee offered to discuss this matter with Mr. Chang at a future time. ITEMS FROM STAFF: A. Received and Filed Traffic Enforcement Updates for: 1. Citations: November, December 2011 and January 2012 2. Collisions: November, December 2011 and January 2012 3. Street Sweeping: November, December 2011 and January 2012 IV. OLD BUSINESS: None FEBRUARY 16, 2012 PAGE 3 T&T COMMISSION V. NEW BUSINESS: A. Diamond Canyon Road On -Street Parking SENee presented staff's report which included seven written responses. Four of the responses were from carpoolers who park on the street and asked that staff retain the parking. Letters were received from the following persons who spoke in favor of keeping the current parking: James Inouye, Rowland Heights; Chris Floursch, Chino Hills; Thomas Chen from Diamond Bar. Three responses against the current parking were received from Brian S.Sim, Qimei Tang, and one from Evelyn Chu of Diamond Bar. A petition was also submitted that included the signatures of 45 residents. Staff recommends that the Traffic and Transportation Commission receive public comments. Peter Valter, 3503 S. Oak Valley Place, spoke against parking on Diamond Canyon Road based on safety issues. He said he did not receive a written notice from the City about this matter and, therefore, did not have an opportunity to respond in writing. Eric Chang, 20608 E. Oak Meadow Lane, spoke against parking on Diamond Canyon Road based on safety issues. There are no sidewalks and people have to walk in traffic lanes. Jill Chang, 20608 E. Oak Meadow Lane, speaking for herself and on behalf of Qiang Ni, 20602 E. Oak Meadow Lane, spoke against parking on Diamond Canyon Road due to safety concerns for service vehicles and children. Marlene Seng, 3503 S. Oak Valley Place, spoke against parking on Diamond Canyon Road stating her main concern is for pedestrians. Most days there are 20-24 cars parked on the street. There are no sidewalks and also, people throw their trash in the street. She also believed it was close to impossible for the Sheriff's Department to respond to calls on the street in a timely fashion. She said -she did not sign the petition because she did not know about it. Anna Ching, 3528 S. Diamond Canyon Road, spoke against parking on Diamond Canyon Road stating her concern was u -turns, lack of accessibility for service vehicles, double parking and trash in the neighborhood. Victor. Lee, 853 Pinefalls Avenue, Walnut said he understands the pain of the residents. Because he is a carpooler, he needs a solution because there is not enough room to park on Pathfinder Road. He does not dump trash and tries to be respectful of the residents and he believes those who dump trash should be penalized. No one should be permitted to park close to or at the curve; however, along the street are safe parking areas. He understands that people may be walking but because they do not have sidewalks, people should not be walking in the area. He asked if the City could leave parking spaces on the street. He also asked if it was possible to request use of church parking. FEBRUARY 16, 2012 PAGE 4 T&T COMMISSION Jack Phone, 3502 S. Oak Valley Place, spoke against parking on the street due to safety concerns and the amount of trash left on the streets. PWD/Liu thanked residents for their comments before the Commission for their consideration. Staff's goal is to continue soliciting comments until the next Traffic and Transportation Commission meeting in March. At that time, staff will offer its recommendation. The Park'n Ride lots in the City are owned and maintained by the State of California (Caltrans); therefore, the City has no jurisdiction over the lots. The City has little opportunity for input as to what occurs at those lots. However, staff has observed that these lots are fully maximized. The City streets are public streets and because the City is at the crossroads of freeway intersections, individuals utilize this area more frequently and on a regular basis to carpool. This presents a balancing act opportunity for residents and the City. Staff hopes to come back to the Commission with workable solutions. B. Centerline Striping on Palomino Drive and El Encino Drive. AE/Malpica presented staffs report and recommended that the Traffic and Transportation Commission receive public comments and concur with staff to install approximately 50 feet of double yellow centerline striping. Ben Mayorga, 23843 Palomino Drive, spoke against the centerline stripping. He feels throughout the day there are different volumes of traffic and the issue is not people crossing over the raised crosswalk; the issue is the speed drivers are traveling. Some of the mitigation efforts have helped with the speeding, but unfortunately, there is too much ground to cover for cars to slow down and drivers use the crosswalk as a launching pad. In his opinion, centerline striping will do nothing to mitigate the problem of speeding cars. He suggested installing a stop sign instead. SENee stated that as part of this analysis, the City's Traffic Engineer conducted a stop sign warrant analysis for this location and visited the location during peak hours when children are being dropped off, picked up and when they are walking home from school. Based on the analysis, the stop sign was not warranted. Stop signs are not meant to be used for traffic calming; they are meant to be used for traffic control purposes. When stop signs are placed in locations where they are not warranted, driver behavior would change. For example, drivers would feel that they would lose time by having to stop at Palomino Drive and El Encino Drive so they would speed up on the approach or on the departure. A stop sign was considered; however, for this reason, it was found to be not warranted for this location. C/Mahlke responded to the speaker that the City has no control over school parking issues. The City has been advised about what the school is doing but it is not the City's property and we therefore do not have a say in the matter. However, she imagined that once the new traffic pattern is implemented at Golden Springs School, the City would then re-evaluate the issue. FEBRUARY 16, 2012 PAGE 5 T&T COMMISSION AE/Malpica expla'ined that the recommendation was an incremental approach which would allow staff to further monitor the traffic patterns. C/House moved, C/Mahlke seconded, to approve staff's recommendation to install approximately 50 feet of double yellow centerline striping on Palomino Drive and El Encino Drive. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COMMISSIONERS: House, Mahlke, Mok, Chair/Pincher NOES: COMMISSIONERS: None ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: VC/Carrera C. Centerline Striping on Evergreen Springs Drive at Harmony Hill Drive AE/Malpica presented staff's report and recommended that the Traffic and Transportation Commission receive public comments on this matter. C/House stated that there has recently been red curb painting installed at the location. He observed the crossing guard experiencing problems with cars parking at the red curb locations and behind cones that were placed to block parking. Drivers do not obey these traffic barriers and should be cited by law enforcement. Striping or additional red curb painting will not solve this problem. The Sheriff's Department needs to provide enforcement in the area. AE/Malpica responded that he and law enforcement have been to the site many times and the moment drivers see law enforcement presence, they start behaving. The deputy has written a couple of tickets and people complain about receiving tickets when others are not cited. The proposed striping improvements would open up the corner which would make it easier for drivers to see oncoming cars. C/House stated there is already a red curb. He believes the Sheriff's Department needs to put more time into working these hot spots. The City needs to stop people from parking in the red zones and no -stopping zones and the City needs to change the behavior of drivers, not just with signs and striping. AE/Malpica -responded that -staff -has- asked the -school -to -remind -the -------- parents that they should not park at a red curb and that they should not double park. Chair/Pincher asked if the striping beyond Harmony Hill Drive down on Evergreen Springs Drive where the street turns into Castle Rock Road would be repainted at the same time. She stated the yellow paint is pretty faded. AE/Malpica said he believed this location was included in the maintenance schedule together with all of the other area striping. He did not have specific information about when it was scheduled to be repainted. C/Mok asked if the restriping would impact any of the nearby residences. AE/Malpica said he did not believe it would, since no residents currently park in that area. FEBRUARY 16, 2012 PAGE 6 T&T COMMISSION C/House moved, C/Mok seconded, to approve centerline striping and add 55' of red curb on Evergreen Springs Drive at Harmony Hill Drive. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COMMISSIONERS: House, Mahlke, Mok, Chair/Pincher NOES: COMMISSIONERS: None ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: VC/Carrera D. Evergreen Springs Drive Lane Striping SE/Yee presented staff's report and recommended that the Traffic and Transportation Commission receive public comments and concur with staff to install the proposed lane striping and red curb. C/Mok asked if the striping included the wide striping letting traffic know that in the left lane, drivers can either move forward across Pathfinder Road or make a left turn, and that the right lane is strictly a right turn lane. He also asked if there will be signage that indicates "right turn only." SE/Yee responded that all of C/Mok's statements are correct. Legends will be painted on the pavement and there will be signage to compliment that legend as well. C/Mok asked if staff had any comment from the resident who lives on the corner about painting the curb red. SE/Yee responded that the City notified the resident and did not receive a response. i C/House moved, C/Mahlke seconded, to concur with staff's recommendation to install lane striping and red curbing on Evergreen Springs Drive at Pathfinder Road. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COMMISSIONERS: NOES: COMMISSIONERS: ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: VI. STATUS OF PREVIOUS ACTION ITEMS VII. ITEMS FROM COMMISSIONERS: House, Mahlke, Mok, Chair/Pincher None VC/Carrera None C/House asked if staff would put him in contact with the person in charge of traffic enforcement at the Sheriff's Department. VIII. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS: A. Traffic Signal Battery Backup System Project — AE/Malpica stated that staff has completed testing of all of the units and conducted a project walk on February 2nd . During the field inspection, staff noticed that a couple of units were faulty. Staff is working with the contractor and vendor to resolve these FEBRUARY 16, 2012 PAGE 7 T&T COMMISSION issues. Initially, staff felt some of the intersections needed to be upgraded with LED's which are more energy efficient. As a result, the contractor is currently upgrading those intersections. Once the upgrades are completed, staff will schedule a final project walk to make certain that the upgrades were correctly completed. The final punch -list will be done two weeks after the final project walk and a Notice of Completion will be filed in March. Once the current project is finalized, 11 locations will be added and the same process will be followed. B. Tin Drive and Bridle Drive Striping Improvement -AE/Malpica reported that the City installed the four -inch channelized line and staff continues to monitor the site. Staff has not received any complaints and is assuming that the striping is doing what it was intended to do. Staff will continue to monitor the striping and make certain it is well-maintained. C. Median Modification - Diamond Bar Boulevard/Clear Creek Canyon Drive - AE/Malpica stated that a pre -construction meeting was held on Monday to discuss with the contractor how this project should be approached, since construction was scheduled to happen on a main arterial. Construction start date is set for February 27th. The contractor will engage message boards to inform residents and other motorists when construction will begin and that the left turn lane will eventually close. When the lane closes, the contractor will provide detour signage. Residents in the area have an option to use Rapidview Drive, which turns into Clear Creek Canyon Drive. Construction is anticipated to take 30 -days or legs. D. Silver Fir Road and Windwood Drive Stop Sign - AE/Malpica reported that the stop sign legend was installed on January 25th. Staff has received no comments and continues to monitor the site. E. "The Rock" Move - SENee reported that there has been significant progress since staff's last update to the Commission. The hauling company notified staff that they now have a target date of March 2nd and 3rd for moving. This move will occur in the middle of the night between those two dates, with temporary -lane GI-cysuras-an-C-h-in-o-A-venue;-C-h-ina-Hills-Parkway, Grand Avenue, Diamond Bar Boulevard and Pathfinder Road. The hauler will be accompanied by a fleet of CHP vehicles and notifications to affected businesses will be out at least 72 hours prior to the move. In addition, notification boards will be posted along the route three days prior to the move. Chair/Pincher asked if there would be restricted parking on Pathfinder Road during the move. SENee responded affirmatively. C/Mok asked how many lanes the hauler would occupy during the move and about how much time the hauler would spend on DB streets. SENee responded two lanes for the transport vehicle and time is estimated to be about six or seven hours beginning at 11:00 p.m. or midnight on March 2nd and be out of DB by about 6:30 a.m. on March 3rd. PDVV/Liu explained that the FEBRUARY 16, 2012 PAGE 8 T&T COMMISSION vehicle travels at about 2-3 mph. C/Mok asked if any traffic would be allowed to pass the vehicle and CHP. SE/Yee responded that most likely, only emergency vehicles would be permitted to go around the transport vehicle(s). All other vehicles will be detoured to other routes. Message boards and the CHP will advise and monitor all vehicles. C/Mahlke said she would like to witness the transport and asked if anyone has been tasked with documenting this historical event for the City. SENee said staff believes that either National Geographic or Discovery Channel will complete a video of the move. He said he would personally be present because he is concerned with the move and is sure there will be video footage to capture the event. F. U.S. Post Office Parking Lot (Diamond Bar Boulevard/Montefino Avenue) — SE/Yee reported that staff met with the branch manager to discuss circulation issues. He explained that changes were made due to a significant amount of cut -through traffic coming through Montefino Avenue and cutting through the post office drive to get to the Albertson's shopping center. The post office is Federal property and the City has no leverage to suggest particular changes; however, staff did suggest thatthey install more permanent regulatory type signage to replace the homemade signs currently in place. SE/Yee drove by the site today and discovered that proper signage had been installed for the "do not enter" portion of the driveway. G. Lemon Avenue On/Off-Ramps Project — AENoung explained that she has no additional information to report at this time. The E76 is still with Caltrans Headquarters and until staff receives further word from Caltrans staff, the project is at a standstill with respect to moving forward with the right-of-way phase. She received a call from a resident who received notice from Caltrans about the upcoming property appraisal, indicating that the notice phase is moving forward. H. Residential Area l(a)/Arterial Zone 6 Road Maintenance Project — AE/Young reported that design is currently underway by Onward Engineering and is expected to be completed by the end of March. The City will go out to bid shortly thereafter with a scheduled bid opening at the end of April. Assuming that the low bid comes in responsive and City Council awards the contract, staff anticipates construction will commence the beginning of June. I. CDBG Curb Ramp Project (FY 2011-2012) -AENoung stated that bids were opened yesterday. Nine bids were received and the apparent low bidder was Gentry Brothers with -a bid of $165,500. The engineer's estimate for this project was $195,000 for 82 curb ramps in the vicinity of Maple Hill Elementary and Chaparral Middle Schools. The high bid was $268,000. The award of contract for Gentry Brothers is expected to go to Council on February 21't. If approved, construction will commence the beginning of March. FEBRUARY 16, 2012 PAGE 9 T&T COMMISSION Chino Hills Parkway/Chino Avenue Street Rehabilitation Project — AE/Young indicated that this week staff received word that the City's right-of- way certification was approved for this project and the E76 was sent to Caltrans Headquarters. Staff hopes to have authorization in the next few months and be able to go out to bid shortly thereafter. K. Caltrans Slope Repair — Golden Springs Drive — AE/Young reported that staff met with the contractor and Caltrans inspector. All construction for this project is anticipated to be completed by next Wednesday. The anchors are installed, the netting along the face of the slope has been installed, and the next steps are to repair some broken sidewalk and hydro seed the slope which is expected to be done next week. L. SCAG East-West Freight Corridor Proposal — PWD/Liu reported that this week staff prepared and submitted written comments on the EIR for the draft 2012 RTP. SCAG staff continues to focus the truck lanes on the SR -60 and the San Jose Creek as part of the east -west freight corridor between the SR - 710 and the SR -15 freeways. Staff raised a few issues: 1) staff believes it is premature to identify these two alignments as a viable east -west freight corridor when the EIR indicates that further studies are necessary; 2) DB also believes SCAG has understated the environmental impacts by including three segments of the east -west freight corridor in the financially constrained plan and; 3) inaccurately assumed that all of the trucks that would be using this corridor would produce zero emissions by the year 2035. DB's ongoing effort is to request that SCAG continue considering all possible east -west routes in order to meet the demands of the growing regional goods movement. However, it appears that DB's ongoing efforts have proven futile because when he attended this afternoon's meeting of COG's Transportation Committee meeting, they voted "yes" on SCAG's proposal. DB was the lone negative vote. While the process is not over, SCAG will continue to receive public comment and the 2012 RTP will go before the Reg * ional Council of SCAG in early April, at which time SCAG will take formal action to adopt the RTP. copy was distributed to the Commissioners before tonight's meeting. This was in regard to memorializing the items and status of the new parking/drop off/playground construction project and status of last meetings updates to the Commission. IX. SCHEDULE OF FUTURE CITY EVENTS: As stated in the agenda with the addition of the New City Hall Open House, 21810 Copley Drive at 4:00 p.m. on February 21st. FEBRUARY 16, 2012 PAGE 10 T&T COMMISSION ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to come before the Traffic and Transportation Commission, Chair/Pincher adjourned the meeting at 8:50 p.m. The foregoing minutes are hereby approved this 9T -H day of 2012. Respectfully, Dked-G. liu, Secretary Attest: hairman]Ziana Pincher i I I