HomeMy WebLinkAboutREDwalterbochumhudsonb8RED FILE
MEETING AGENDA
DATE,G///I oITEM #b 8 '
council memoRanOu m
June 1st, 201 0
TO :
City Counci l
VIA :
Katie Lichtig, City Manage r
FROM :
Jay Walter, Public Works Directo r
Tim Bochum, Deputy Public Works Dir ctor
Jake Hudson, Traffic Operations Manage r
SUBJECT : Pismo & Buchon Neighborhood Traffic Managemen t
Staff has received several questions regarding the Pismo & Buchon Neighborhood Traffi c
Management Plan that is scheduled for consideration at Today's Council meeting . Many of thes e
questions mirror specific issues we have identified in the current NTM process that are currentl y
under consideration in the update to the NTM Guidelines . Staff is in the process of updating thes e
guidelines and will be bring these recommendations forward for Council consideration later thi s
year. Postponing the Pismo & Buchon NTM until these revisions were completed was considered ,
however because it had been postponed since 2005 first due to the Residential Parking Distric t
effort and then the Mitchell Park / Senior Center parking lot, staff did not feel it was appropriate t o
postpone this NTM for Council consideration any longer .
The following are questions and responses regarding the Pismo & Buchon NTM have been receive d
since the staff report was published .
1) Its not clear from the staff report what the staff recommendation would be in the absence of th e
NTM process . Is what the neighborhood voted on was based on a laundry list of possibl e
alternatives staff gave them or on a uniform staff recommendation that just happened to hav e
multiple parts ?
The action plan does represent a uniform staff recommendation, the recommendations are specifi c
measures at strategic locations developed to address neighborhood concerns and to adjust traffi c
volumes and speeds down towards the desired values as established in the circulation element . As
set up in the NTM guidelines the proposed list of solutions is a joint effort between staff and th e
Area Action Team that prioritizes issues on behalf of the neighborhoods . Due to the grid type stree t
system of the neighborhood any potential change in traffic characteristics on one street has th e
potential effect to divert traffic to adjacent streets — hence a larger than normal list of potentia l
changes to be addressed . If the improvements were to be completed at staffs' discretion outside o f
the NTM program staff would most likely implement, incrementally, the measures shown on th e
left side of Table 1 in the staff report and as provided below .
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Table 1 : Action Plan- 1 "Draft Calming Measure s
Staff Proposed Action Pla n
Johnson Ave . Speed Feedback Sign s
Johnson Ave . Striping Reconfiguration
Johnson & [3uhcon Intersection Reconfiguratio n
Pismo Street Road Die t
Pismo Street Speed Humps (3)
Pismo & Toro Raised X-11~`alk & l3uldhout s
Buchon Street Edge Lines
Buchon Street Speed [-lumps (3 )
* Measures Added by Action Team as allowed by NTMGuildeline s
2)On the surface the recommendation seems a bit "over-the-top ." Perhaps a "belt & suspender "
approach such as feedback signs and new striping and road diet and three speed humps in on e
block and raised sidewalk . Is this overkill ?
Due to the layout of the neighborhood and the effect of traffic calming on one street potentiall y
diverting to adjacent neighborhoods the "toolbox" is larger than other NTM programs that hav e
recently been completed . In comparison, while it is not of the same size as the Broad/Chorro
neighborhood area, it certainly has similar issues due to the parallel nature of the neighborhood an d
adjacent arterial streets . On the surface it does look like overkill, however these measures ar e
actually spread across 8 different blocks along four different streets within the neighborhood . It's
important in a grid type street network to have good coverage ; otherwise traffic would just b e
diverted onto other streets within the neighborhood and the problems displaced into other areas .
3)Would it make more sense to put stop signs at Toro instead of all the speed humps and the raise d
sidewalks, particularly with both Pismo & Buchon serving as emergency routes for
Police/Fire/Ambulance ?
Repeated studies have shown stops signs are not effective speed deterrents and State and Federa l
code specifically state that stop signs should not be used for speed control . Reference document s
such as the California Vehicle Code, California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, an d
Federal Highways Administration Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices all comment on this .
Speed humps and tables have proven effective in the City in addressing high end traffic speed s
along local streets, thus their recommended use in this case . They will be designed to balance spee d
control with emergency vehicle access and engineering staff will work directly with fire departmen t
staff throughout design and implementation .
4)Why are raised sidewalks are proposed at Toro but not at Santa Rosa, Santa Rosa appears t o
have much more pedestrian traffic . Is that because there are already stop signs at Santa Rosa ?
The raised crosswalks at Toro are recommended because of limited sight distance, observe d
pedestrian & vehicle conflicts, and a relatively high volume of pedestrians . There is a fairly hig h
pedestrian demand between the two Housing Authority apartment complexes (approx 40-50 Units )
on Toro and Scolaris Market via their private pedestrian path that connects to Toro St . Th e
multiway stops along Santa Rosa Street do provide a logical break along Buchon and Pismo bu t
these stops used to facilitate vehicle operations at the locations and not intended to provid e
Action Team Revised Action Pla n
Johnson Ave . Speed Feedback Sign s
Johnson Ave . Striping Reconfiguratio n
Pismo Street Road Die t
Pismo Street Speed Humps (3 j
Pismo & Toro Raised N-Walk & Buldbout s
Buchon Closure *
Pismo Closure -Phase II *
Islay Street Speed Hump*
pedestrian access across the streets or to address speeding issues .
5)What are the designation (Arterial vs . Collector) for other nearby streets -- Osos, Mars h
(from Santa Rosa to California), Higuera (from Santa Rosa to Johnson).
Pismi & Osos are classified as Residential Collectors the Osos, Marsh, & Higuera are classified a s
Arterials in the City's Circulation Element .
6)Why is Pismo not counted as an Arterial . It's certainly being used in that way -- not just by
drivers, but in our circulation element . Why else have we made it one way ?
Pismo is designated as a Residential Collector in the Circulation Element, not an arterial . If Pism o
were designated as an arterial in the Circulation Element it would not have likely have bee n
included in the NTM process although residential arterials are allowed some forms of neighborhoo d
traffic control through the program . Pismo was historically established as a one way street to act a s
a one way couplet with Buchon which was previously a one way street as well . It functions both a s
a residential street as well as a connector street between arterials in the City . It also has through
volume issues created by the one way street configuration of Marsh Street — thus the competitio n
for users between residents and vehicles . The volumes on Pismo current exceed the desire d
maximum for its classification by approximately 22%.
7)The NTM process is concerning, specifically since it allows a neighborhood to propose th e
closure of a major street (Pismo) used by all citizens as well as a street (Buchon) used by Publi c
Safety as an emergency route, some things need to be off the table .
Comment noted . This is one of the issues that has been identified in the current NTM policies an d
should be discussed in the upcoming NTM policy revisions . The guidelines in the existing NT M
program do not offer sufficient language to prevent confusion over what is above and beyon d
neighborhood traffic control . Instead, residents can sometimes believe closures or significant
changes to street alignments are the primary solutions even though staff ultimately does not concu r
with the potential change to the circulation system . This is not always a negative thing . The premis e
was used a few years back in determining the appropriateness of closing Morro Street at Sant a
Barbara Street as part of NTM objectives as well as the focal point of the Bill Roalman Bicycl e
Boulevard . Overall, it's difficult to apply one toolbox item (such as street closures) to all cases an d
additional language and direction needs to be established for these major NTM elements . We
considered postponing the Pismo/Buchon NTM until the revision was complete, however because i t
had been postponed for so long we did not feel it was appropriate to postpone any longer . We don't
anticipate any new NTM projects being processed before the NTM revisions are considered b y
Council .
Any further questions can be directed to Traffic Operations Manager Jake Hudson at 805 .781 .7255 .
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