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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/11/2015 - AGENDA - Regular MeetingJune 11, 2015 7:00 P.M., Regular Meeting Diamond Bar City Hall Windmill Community Room 21810 Copley Drive Diamond Bar, California Vice -Chair `'/ Carrera Surendra Mehta Ed Pechy / / ' Written materials distributed to the Traffic and Transportation Commission within 72 hours of the Trak and Transportation Commission meeting are available for public inspection immediately upon distribution in the City Clerk's office at 21810 Copley Drive, Diamond Bar, California, during normal business hours. Copies of staff reports or other written docinnentation relating to agenda iteins are on f le in the Public Works Department located at 21810 Copley Drive, and are available for public inspection. If you have questions regarding an agenda itein, please call (909) 839- 7040 during regular business hours. In an effort to comply with the requirements of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the City of Diamond Bar requires that any person in need of any type of special equipment, assistance, or accommodation(s). in order to communicate at a City public meeting must inform the Public Works Department at (909) 839-7040 a inininnrn of 72 hours prior to the schedtiled meeting. Please refrain fi•oin smoking, eating or drinking The City of Diamond Bar uses recycled paper in the Community Room and encourages you to do the same 1_&ArV:W,#W I A AGENDA June 11, 2015 Ki 13111111*] a 14 Wd a] :4 LIM B A 0 0 CALL TO ORDER: 7:00 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Chair Carrera ROLL CALL: Commissioners Mehta, Pechy, Sulakhe, Vice -Chair Mok, Chair Carrera I. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Minutes of May 14, 2015 111. PUBLIC COMMENTS This is the time and place for the general public to address the Commission. Items to be discussed here are those which do not already appear on this agenda. 111111. ITEMS FROM STAFF A. Traffic Enforcement Update * 1. Citations: March, April & May 2015 2. Collisions: March, April & May 2015 3. Street Sweeping: March, April & May 2015 IV. OLD BUSINESS V. NEW BUSINESS V1. STATUS OF PREVIOUS ACTION ITEMS VII. ITEMS FROM COMMISSIONERS r-Awk 11-:11-61 A. Traffic Signal Infrastructure Upgrades Project B. Comprehensive Groundwater Drainage Study C. Willow Heights Construction Update D. Morning Canyon Rehabilitation Project E. Area 3 Road Maintenance Project F. Gas Company Upgrades on Golden Springs G. Reagan/Peterson Park Parking Lot Construction H. Grand Avenue Beautification Project I. Lemon Avenue Interchange Project J. SR -57/60 Confluence Project IX. SCHEDULE OF FUTURE CITY EVENTS A. CITY COUNCIL MEETING — Tuesday, June 16, 2015 — 6:30 p.m., AQMD/Government Center, 21865 Copley Drive, Auditorium B. PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING — Tuesday June 23, 2015 — 6:30 p.m., Diamond Bar City Hall Windmill Community Room, 21810 Copley Drive C. CONCERTS IN THE PARK "Southland Band" (R&B, Classic Rock) — Wednesday, June 24, 2015 — 6:30 p.m. — 8:00 p.m., Sycamore Canyon Park, 22930 Golden Springs Drive D. MOVIES UNDER THE STARS "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" — Wednesday, June 24, 2015 — 8:30 p.m., Sycamore Canyon Park, 22930 Golden Springs Drive E. PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING — Thursday, June 25, 2015 — 7:00 p.m., Diamond Bar City Hall, Windmill Community Room, 21810 Copley Drive F. INDEPENDENCE DAY HOLIDAY — Friday, July 3, 2015 — City offices will be closed in observance of the holiday G. 4T" OF JULY BLAST — July 4, 2015 — 5:00 p.m. — 9:30 p.m., Diamond Bar High School, 21400 Pathfinder Road H. CITY COUNCIL MEETING — Tuesday, July 7, 2015 — 6:30 p.m., AQMD/Government Center, 21865 Copley Drive, Auditorium I. CONCERTS IN THE PARK "The Kings of 88" (Piano Rock) — Wednesday, July 8, 2015 — 6:30 p.m. — 8:00 p.m., Sycamore Canyon Park, 22930 Golden Springs Drive J. MOVIES UNDER THE STARS "Maleficent" —Wednesday, July 8, 2015 — 8:30 p.m., Sycamore Canyon Park, 22930 Golden Springs Drive K. TRAFFIC& TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION MEETING —Thursday, July 9, 2015 — 7:00 p.m., Diamond Bar City Hall, Windmill Community Room, 21810 Copley Drive * THIS INFORMATION WILL BE PROVIDED AT THE JUNE 11, 2015 MEETING CITY OF DIAMOND BAR MINUTES OF THE TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION MEETING MAY 14, 2015 Chair Carrera 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: Vice Chair Mok led the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL: Commissioners Surendra Mehta, Ed Pechy, Manisha Sulakhe, Vice Chair Ken Mok, and Chair Ted Carrera Also Present: David Liu, Public Works Director; Kimberly Young, Senior Civil Engineer; Christian Malpica, Associate Engineer; John Beshay, Associate Engineer; Sterling Mosley, Assistant Engineer; and Marcy Hilario, Administrative Coordinator. Consultant Anna Luo, Fehr & Peers UTO"o -TOITIFANIUSIZT111010 A. Minutes of the April 9, 2015 Regular Meeting. C/Pechy moved, VC/Mok seconded, to approve the Minutes of the April 9, 2015 regular meeting as presented. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COMMISSIONERS NOES: COMMISSIONERS: ABSTAIN: COMMISSIONERS: ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: PUBLIC COMMENTS: Pechy, Sulakhe, VC/Mok, Chair/Carrera None Mehta None Chair/Carrera welcomed students from the City of Diamond Bar. He asked how many believe the traffic in Diamond Bar is bad and needs to be improved. He stated that this is the night the students will discover how some of the mitigation measures have been implemented. May 14, 2015 PAGE 2 T&T COMMISSION 111. ITEMS FROM STAFF: A. Receive and File Traffic Enforcement Updates for: 1. Citations: February, March and April 2015 2. Collisions: February, March and April 2015 3. Street Sweeping: February, March and April 2015 C/Pechy moved, C/Sulakhe seconded, to receive and file the Traffic Enforcement Update reports for February, March and April 2015. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COMMISSIONERS: Mehta, Pechy, Sulakhe, VC/Mok, Chair/Carrera NOES: COMMISSIONERS: None ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: None SCE/Young reported on an inquiry made by C/Pechy during the April 9th meeting regarding signage in the City. She indicated that she spoke with CDD/Gubman to obtain information. He identified a Code Section that requires English characters on signs to be a minimum of 4 inches in height; however, there is no percentage requirement as far as how much of the sign must be in English. C/Pechy thanked SCE/Young for her response. IV. OLD BUSINESS: None V. NEW BUSINESS: A. Diamond Bar Arterial Performance Report Card AE/Malpica presented a Power Point presentation preceded by an overview of the City's Traffic Management System. The Traffic Management System was implemented in early 2009 for the purpose of enhancing communication and coordination of traffic signals along major arterials. This system also enables staff to proactively monitor traffic conditions through a communication network and signal components that include 63 interconnected traffic signals via underground fiber optic cable, closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras, video detection cameras and a live wall of monitors that was installed in 2013. The live wall contains eight (8) monitors that allows for display of live video images from the CCTV and video detection cameras and allows staff to display diagrams from the traffic signal network. In order to continue to improve and take advantage of the system's capabilities, staff decided to add additional systems to the Traffic Management System which included a Traffic Response May 14, 2015 PAGE 3 T&T COMMISSION System, which was deployed in 2012 and is comprised of three (3) traffic signal timing plans. Eventually, staff will add the adaptive system. Staff retained on-call consultant KOA to develop a Traffic Signal and Operational Maintenance Master Plan to evaluate the current traffic signal system, which was completed in 2014. The plan enabled staff to develop a three -phased traffic signal infrastructure upgrade program. He added, in order to measure the effectiveness of the Traffic Management System, staff retained Fehr & Peers to develop an arterial performance report card. The Report Card was presented using the Power Point Presentation, the results of which showed an overall improvement in operations and reduced travel time delays since implementation of the system. The return on investment indicates an improvement on traffic delays and improvement of fuel consumption. The Traffic Management System continues to benefit the City and the community to help improve the City's traffic signal infrastructure benefits. VC/Mok stated, in looking at the facts and figures, it is apparent that the traffic has improved; however, he found it interesting to note in Table 5 that a lot of the figures have improved but he would like to see the figures improve for the three arterials that carry the cut -through traffic — Grand Avenue eastbound, Golden Springs Drive eastbound and Diamond Bar Boulevard northbound. C/Mehta asked how often the traffic counts are taken. AE/Malpica responded that the last time the overall counts were taken was in 2008. He went on to explain that before the end of the next fiscal year, the City will conduct another citywide count. From that point forward, staff hopes to conduct a bi-annual citywide collection. C/Mehta inquired about the cost. AE/Malpica replied that the cost ranges from $25,000 to $35,000. Chair/Carrera referred to Slide 9, which shows a dramatic improvement from 2009 to 2013 and asked at what point staff would have a minimal amount of delay and a minimal amount of fuel consumption. In other words, how close is the City getting to its maximum benefit and how much better can it get. PWD/Liu indicated that going forward, the City has the baseline information starting with the year 2009. The first two comparisons for the cost benefit analysis between 2009 and 2011 show that for every $1 spent, almost $4 was saved. The next comparison from 2011 to 2013, the ratio is almost 1:1. Chair/Carrera is correct that the City is "almost there"; however, what does that really mean? Part of the problem is in order to do this more comprehensively, staff is looking at other indicators and performance measurements. To do that means looking at other indicators including levels of service, queue lane and servicing measurements. In order to do some of those additional performance measurements, it will require another set of comprehensive traffic volumes. Also, of course, no matter how one looks at the technology in place today and with additional plans such as the Adaptive Traffic Control System, there is no such decision that will be perfect. There will always be variables and there are conditions and constrains as well. Diamond Bar streets continue to be used as cut -through streets, which has been the case since 1989. Until there are May 14, 2015 PAGE 4 T&T COMMISSION drastic improvements to the freeway system, the City's roadways may not be able to perform any better. Chair/Carrera stated that the idea of the City's streets and flows were not based on the cut -through traffic aspect and the streets are now being expected to over -perform from their original design. PWD/Liu went on to explain another example being the intersection of Grand Avenue and Diamond Bar Boulevard. These are two main arterials coming together which has proven to be the main "choke point" in the City. Staff has been monitoring that intersection since the early 1990's. To this day, that intersection continues to be at a service level "F" because there are way too many cars. Things are being done and additional tools are being considered in order to maintain some minimum quality of life issues. Anna Luo, consultant from Fehr & Peers, added that PWD/Liu makes a very good point. The City is seeking the best solution; however, not everything is perfect. Other agencies have done similar things, but Diamond Bar is one of the few cities that has been looking at its return on investment and benefits of the system. The City of Diamond Bar has taken the lead on this and Fehr & Peers is happy to be a part of the study. It is possible that with the 1.1 benefit, the City is close to saturation of the benefits; however, the results do not really show the safety benefits. While we understand the reduction in traffic congestion means a reduction in potential collisions, there is no industry standard to measure that potential. However, we can definitely see the benefits and the City feels it is important to continue with the process to show residents how much has been invested and how much has been gained from this system. PWD/Liu continued that there will be additional criteria/performance measures to consider going forward, including greenhouse gas emissions (quality of life issue) for example. The City should not be satisfied with the current numbers, but considering the overall speed increase from 29 to 31 for example, other similar cities in the OCTA are in the mid 20's in terms of speed. When we compare the Diamond Bar statistics with similar cities, PWD/Liu said he believes the City is doing fairly well. While it may not be optimal, staff is very comfortable in saying that Diamond Bar is one of the very few cities that has attempted to quantify and explain to the general public that this is just the beginning. Ultimately, a brochure explaining these facts will be available to the general public, which will explain that with respect to traffic management, Diamond Bar does things very differently by looking at the total picture and its affect on the quality of life for the residents. C/Mehta conveyed that looking in from the outside, his perception is that most of the traffic problems arise from vehicles traveling north on the SR -57 and exiting north on Diamond Bar Boulevard which, as PWD/Liu said could originate from the freeway congestion where the SR -57 merges with the SR -60 east freeway. He asked if there is any kind of study that can be done about what happens when there are accidents, why accidents happen and why the freeway is blocked and people choose to get off on Diamond Bar Boulevard. As a result, people are exiting the freeway on Diamond Bar Boulevard and it May 14, 2015 PAGE 5 T&T COMMISSION requires the City to adjust traffic on Grand Avenue, both eastbound and westbound. C/Mehta suggested the City spend a little money on a concentrated study that focuses on this issue and, in doing so, the City might find another solution that might help. PWD/Liu responded that staff understands C/Mehta's observation and how the general public agrees that the problems are directional, whether it is the westbound SR -60 and south on the SR -57 in the morning, or northbound SR 57 and eastbound SR -60 in the afternoon. The same problems residents see along the freeway are the same problems the City observes on its roadways. There is a jurisdictional issue and when it comes to the freeway system, the City has no control. It does not mean that staff is not monitoring those conditions and, as part of this effort, staff has the freeway information; however, it is not included in the report card. Staff has collected the information along the freeways and going forward, there will be opportunities for Diamond Bar to coordinate with Caltrans. When the City set up its Traffic Management System, staff attempted to get Caltrans on board. When it comes to freeway conditions, staff continues to believe that if the confluence project can begin toward the end of the year and drivers begin to see the benefits, they will remain on the freeway which is when the City will begin to realize greater traffic improvement on arterial roadways. C/Sulakhe thanked staff for the presentation. She referred to Table 3, Citywide Corridor Operation Performance. If one rounds out the numbers for fuel consumption per peak hour and per annual between 2009 and 2011, there is an awesome improvement; however, between 2011 and 2013 it is pretty much status quo, which is great. Looking into the future, considering there are many construction projects coming up within Diamond Bar, she wondered if the criteria could be changed for the quality improvement to gain a better visual number to allow residents to see the numbers reflecting better in the next two reports. C/Pechy stated that none of the reports show a vehicle count during the travel corridor times and, to him, it would be more helpful to see those numbers. There is nothing to compare to as far as whether the volume of traffic has increased or decreased. AE/Malpica responded that the analysis included the p.m. peak hours of 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Tuesdays through Thursdays because it was the most congested time collected during the month of September when school is in session. The analysis also included the volume data from 2008. Once new data is collected by the end of this year, more information will be available to address C/Pechy's concerns. PWD/Liu reinforced that, as part of this report, the 2008 citywide traffic counts were used to provide a very comprehensive set of traffic volume counts. Prior to 2008, staff conducted limited traffic counts throughout the City; however, those statistics are not as comprehensive as 2008. With respect to C/Pechy's question, there are certain locations where staff sees increases in volume. For example, for Grand Avenue and Diamond Bar Boulevard, staff can provide traffic counts going back to 1989. However, in the past few years, the traffic May 14, 2015 PAGE 6 T&T COMMISSION volume has decreased somewhat. Going forward, with the economy back to normal, the next set of counts for 2015 will provide a more accurate assessment in comparison to 2008. Over the past 20 years Chino, Chino Hills and Corona have grown in population and the housing opportunities continue to be to the east in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. The employment opportunities remain to the west of the City in Los Angeles and Orange Counties; therefore, the travel patterns show that people still like their cars and it is fair to say that it will be likely Diamond Bar will see even more cars coming through the City. This is why it is critical to get people to stay on the freeways rather than use Grand Avenue and Diamond Bar Boulevard to cut through the City. Until the freeway confluence is fixed, it is very unlikely traffic counts will decrease in the City. It is very telling that after peak hours and on weekends, there is no traffic problem in Diamond Bar. Weekdays provide a totally different picture, which tells a very good story about how the City's streets are being used as cut -through streets. Chair/Carrera felt the takeaway was that in spite of the cut -through traffic, improved economy, and people leaving the City to shop in other areas, the City is showing an improvement and the investment in this program has demonstrated an improvement. Even though the confluence project is scheduled to commence soon, it is likely that looking forward, it will be 2025- 2029 when it is completely re -done, which will result in less cut -through traffic. In his opinion, the biggest mistake the City could make would be to do nothing. C/Mehta moved, VC/Mok to concur with staffs recommendation for the Commission to Receive and file the Diamond Bar Arterial Performance Report Card. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COMMISSIONERS: NOES: COMMISSIONERS: ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: Mehta, Pechy, Sulakhe, VC/Mok, Chair/Carrera None None B. Capital Improvement Five -Year Program (FY 2015-16 thru 2019-20) PWD/Liu stated that this tool enables the City to strategize the use of its revenue resources as well as, to help coordinate the timing of its public infrastructure improvements. By considering all of these projects in one forward looking document, it provides a comprehensive view of the community's capital needs. The five-year CIP also provides the City Council a means to determine their priorities and provide continuity in carrying out those priorities. Project selection is based on various sources including citizens' input, data from the Pavement Management System, Parks Master Plan, City Council Priorities, General Plan Goals and information from City staff. The five-year plan represents an investment of $44 million over a five- year schedule with about $2.2 million (5.5 percent) expected to be paid from the City's General Fund. The City Council recently approved the budget for May 14, 2015 PAGE 7 T&T COMMISSION FY 2015-16, which will fund the projects during that fiscal year only. The remaining projected numbers for years 2016 through 2020 are not yet approved for funding. PWD/Liu explained the 5 -Year CIP Plan through 2020 via a Power Point Presentation. C/Pechy asked for details about the Lorbeer Middle School Improvement Project slated for FY 2018-19. SCE/Young explained that the Parks and Recreation Department is currently looking at school district facilities in an attempt to work together to develop some sort of cooperative agreement, for use of fields. Schools have what the City needs, which is open space/parks/fields and Lorbeer is one such school the City would like to work with to improve its facility for use by the school and City programs. Currently, the City is responsible for reseeding the field at Lorbeer. In fact, this year the Lorbeer field will be reseeded because the 4th of July blast will be held at Diamond Bar High School, which gives the City an opportunity to put resources into that field without having it disrupted for any of the City's programs. Chair/Carrera stated he believed that some of the line of sight improvement projects made along Diamond Bar Boulevard were pretty significant and had vastly improved safety at the certain intersections. VC/Mok moved, C/Pechy seconded, to Receive and File the Capital Improvement Program Five -Year (FY 2015-16 to 2019-20) report. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COMMISSIONERS: Mehta, Pechy, Sulakhe, VC/Mok, Chair/Carrera NOES: COMMISSIONERS: None ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: None V11. STATUS OF PREVIOUS ACTION ITEMS: None V1111. ITEMS FROM COMMISSIONERS: VC/Mok reported that earlier this evening, there was a huge queue of vehicles on Grand Avenue from the entrance to The County Estates down to Chili's (at Golden Springs Drive). He asked if this issue was recognized on the monitoring system prior to tonight's meeting and whether someone intervened to correct the signals and get the cars through Diamond Bar. VC/Mok said he believed this was due to a traffic accident near the entrance to The Country Estates/Diamond Bar Center. PWD/Liu said that staff was not made aware of any issues. Staff will follow up. C/Sulakhe asked what should be anticipated to be done with traffic with this type of occurrence. PWD/Liu explained that staff makes every attempt to look at a situation proactively and will request Deputies' assistance, as warranted, to manage key intersections. May 14, 2015 PAGE 8 T&T COMMISSION Chair/Carrera shared that as he was traveling northbound on Diamond Bar Boulevard last night at Cold Spring Lane and noticed a flashing/flickering LED light on one of the traffic signal heads. He asked who he should call in a case such as that. AE/Malpica explained that staff relies on the Sheriff's Deputies and residents to notify us. In turn, we request a repair. If it is after hours, the technician will make the repair on the next day. Otherwise, the Sheriff's Deputies will usually spot the problem and report it directly to the traffic signal maintenance contractor. VC/Mok stated that it seemed that the City of Industry is always included in traffic conversations. Subsequently, he asked if Diamond Bar should keep them on its radar in light of their internal struggles and in light of them putting the Tres Hermanos parcel up for sale because of the possible impact on the City's traffic. PWD/Liu replied that VC/Mok was absolutely correct that Diamond Bar and the City of Industry share many issues of mutual interest, whether including land use decisions and/or traffic issues. CM/DeStefano keeps a close watch on land use issues and serves on the Tres Hermanos Conservation Authority, along with the Cities of Chino Hills and Industry. At this point, it is uncertain whether the land will continue to be owned by the City of Industry or another developer/entity. Even if the land is sold to a developer (commercial or residential), the new owners will have to work closely with Diamond Bar and Chino Hills to develop a land use plan. Diamond Bar and the City of Industry share traffic and freeway related concerns via ongoing dialogue and meetings, which include discussions of the SR -57/60 confluence project, Lemon Avenue project and other mutual interests. VIII. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS: A. Traffic Signal Infrastructure Upgrades Project — AE/Malpica reported that as mentioned in his presentation this evening, these upgrade projects will improve traffic signal coordination and monitoring of traffic throughout the City. Staff issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) on March 6th and proposals were received on March 231d. After reviewing the proposals, staff will recommend that the City Council award the contract to Iteris, Inc. in the amount of $88,790 at its May 19th meeting. B. Comprehensive Groundwater Drainage Study — AE/Malpica conveyed that the purpose of this project is to develop a priority list to address some of the City's drainage issues. The consultant is finalizing the report that is scheduled to be delivered to staff on May 18th. Once completed, accepted and approved, improvements will be recommended for construction in future fiscal years. C. Morning Canyon Rehabilitation Project — AE/Mosley updated the Commission on the Morning Canyon Rehabilitation Project, the parkway improvement project that intends to retain as many of the existing pine trees as possible from Diamond Bar Boulevard to Stonepine Drive. Staff is recommending modifications including new striping and parkway extension into the roadway by approximately eight (8) feet. This would minimize travel lane width and eliminate parking by half. Staff posted exhibits along the project limits to give the HOA's notice of City Council's direction for mitigation. May 14, 2015 PAGE 9 T&T COMMISSION Recently, the Community Services Department performed tree trimming along the project limits to maintain the health of the trees as much as possible. Chair/Carrera asked how many trees would be retained. AE/Mosley responded as many as possible. With the current design and depending on the adjustments, it appears that 11 or 12 of the existing 16 trees can be retained. VC/Mok asked if staff met with the HOA boards and whether there was any input. AE/Mosley responded that staff has contacted the management groups and sent notifications, including a very descriptive visual of what the project would entail. To date, staff has not heard back from the HOA about the possibility of a joint meeting. PWD/Liu added that yesterday, staff received a letter from the nearby church asking staff to work with them to save all of the trees. This would mean that instead of having the parkway expansion going into the street, the church is asking that the sidewalk be re-established on the church property side. The street is higher than the church parking lots; however, it could be done with retaining walls and earthwork. Staff will need an opportunity to discuss this matter. This morning PWD/Liu spoke with CSD/Rose and they are both confused about the churches"request and whether it includes them giving the City the land so that public funds can be expended to complete the project. The City cannot spend public funds on private property; therefore, in order for this proposal to move forward, the church would need to dedicate that strip of land to the City. In addition, cost for such a project will also be a consideration. It is pretty clear that while the City Council had directed staff to pursue the current option on the table, the church staff and congregation are looking at this very differently and want to save all of the trees. Staff will need to discuss this further and meet with the church to work out the details. D. Area 3 Road Maintenance Project — AE/Mosley explained as part of the City's 7 -year Roadway Maintenance Program, this year includes the Area 3 Roadway Maintenance Project. On Page 3 of the five-year CIP report provided, there is an exhibit showing the outline of this year's rehabilitation project at the southern end of the City. On May 19th, staff will recommend City Council approval of an award of contract to the lowest bidder, All American Asphalt. Construction will commence in late June and conclude by late August with minimal impacts to school related traffic. E. Reagan/Peterson Park Parking Lot Construction —AE/Beshay reported that this project is in the design phase and under review for final approval. Once the specifications and plans are approved, the project will be advertised within the next two weeks with the bid opening to following in May/June and construction commencing in July. May 14, 2015 PAGE 10 T&T COMMISSION F. Grand Avenue Beautification Project — AE/Beshay stated that All American Asphalt completed handing out public notices with contact information to all of the nearby businesses on Grand Avenue and Diamond Bar Boulevard. Notices will be distributed to approximately 150 residences in the area of Grand Avenue and Longview Drive. Changeable message boards and permanent project information signs were installed this morning along Grand Avenue and Diamond Bar Boulevard. Also, additional signage indicating "Businesses Open During Construction" will be installed during the construction phase. Mobilization of equipment will begin on May 20th, with full construction activities commencing shortly thereafter. Full project completion is slated for late August. Major lane closures are anticipated during installation of the crosswalk pavers, including no left turns for about a week in all directions. Chair/Carrera asked about the pedestrian crosswalks. AE/Beshay replied that pedestrians will be redirected to the next intersection. SCE/Young directed the Commission to the exhibits which provide an aerial of the notification zones for both intersections as well as, an exhibit of the location of the changeable message boards and "Businesses Open During Construction" signs. In addition to those notifications, a general project sign will be placed in the median to identify that the project is federally funded. G. Lemon Avenue Interchange Project— SCE/Young stated that she was happy to report that of the 13 properties where partial acquisition is needed, 11 have settled. The two remaining properties are planned for Order of Possession hearings scheduled for June and July respectively. Caltrans is working with staff to obtain a 3W Right -of -Way Certification. This is a work -around certification that will allow the right-of-way phase to be completed and the ability to move forward with the Office of the Engineer review. Final plans have been submitted to the Office of the Engineer and are currently in review; however, the plans cannot be approved until the final Right -of -Way Certification is obtained. Staff expects to go out to bid and. begin construction no later than March 2016. In addition, SCE/Young and PWD/Liu attended a meeting at Metro last week to address the issue of $2.24 million in grant funds that are subject to lapse because the timeline was not met. Upon appeal to Metro, a one-year extension was granted which secures the funding and guarantees that both the federal funding and the other grant funds are secured and viable. Chair/Carrera asked if the final properties are headed toward condemnation and Eminent Domain. SCE/Young responded yes, the order of possession hearing states that the Court will order the property owners to grant the property to the state and separately the Court will determine the fair market value the State will be required to pay. H. Willow Heights Construction Update — SCE/Young relayed that staff is working on Phase I of each product. The Phase I Meridian family homes that are selling for just over $1 million were sold out in two weeks and the May 14, 2015 PAGE 11 T&T COMMISSION Olivecrest properties are also selling very quickly. The Sage development, detached condos, are doing well, but the single family homes and attached townhomes are doing quite well and the developer has increased the Olivecrest Homes (attached models) price by $30,000 between the first and second phases. Lennar anticipates continuous increases in each phase they release. The total project is doing very well and Lennar is quite pleased. While the first few phases are slightly behind schedule, they are more than making up the delay in the following phases and Lennar believes it will be ahead of their overall goal for releasing all of the products. VC/Mok asked if construction of the planned neighborhood park had begun. SCE/Young responded that PWD/Liu just signed the precise grading plans this week and the grading permits will be issued. There is a condition of approval that before the 99th Certificate of Occupancy (CO) is released, the park must be open to the public. VC/Mok inquired which street will provide access to the park. SCE/Young explained that there will be a parking lot off of Brea Canyon Road and pedestrian access off of Presado Drive, the cul-de-sac behind the Willow Heights Development. In addition, there will be a trail leading from Presado Drive to the park and along that trail, there will be play equipment for tots and exercise equipment stations as well. IX. SCHEDULE OF FUTURE CITY EVENTS: As stated in the agenda. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to come before the Traffic and Transportation Commission, Chair/Carrera adjourned the meeting at 8:45 p.m. The foregoing minutes are hereby approved this day of Respectfully Submitted, David G. Liu, Secretary Attest: Chair Ted Carrera 12015.