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HomeMy WebLinkAbout6/16/2026 Item 7d, See Daniel See <daniel.w.see@gmail.com> Sent:Tuesday, To:E-mail Council Website; Cruce, Greg; Floyd, Aaron; Nelson, Brian; Rice, Jennifer Cc:Wesley Thompson; Caltrans Tyler LeSage Subject:King Ct / South St. Intersection Improvements - Amendments to PHB Project Attachments:King Ct - South St Intersection Safety Improvements Letter.pdf; King Ct South St Intersection Safety Improvements Slideshow.pdf Follow Up Flag:Follow up Flag Status:Completed Hello City Councilmembers and Engineering Staff, We (Wesley Thompson, Tyler LeSage, and myself) are writing you about the upcoming Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon project at the intersection of King Ct and South St. We are 2 engineers and a planner employed at Caltrans and have personal interest in the safety and operation of this intersection. The upcoming planned project at this intersection is inadequate and leaves out a vital component in its consideration of safety and operability. We believe it is in the best interest of the City to amend this project rather than waiting multiple years to program a new project to fix the oversights of the current planned project. We are not seeking to eliminate the PHB, but rather enhance it. We have detailed a proposal in the attached letter and PowerPoint to amend and enhance both safety and operability for all users. We look forward to discussing further with you. Thank you for your time in consideration of this matter. Dan See, MS, PE, Caltrans, Cal Poly Wesley Thompson, PE, Caltrans, Cal Poly Tyler LeSage, Transportation Planner, Caltrans 1 Esteemed Councilmembers and City Engineering Staff Members, My name is Daniel See. I am a Registered Professional Civil Engineer working full-time for Caltrans and am also an adjunct faculty member in the Civil Engineering Department at Cal Poly. I recently learned via Facebook post of an upcoming project at the King Ct / King Stand South St intersection. I live at 2221 King Ct. #20, one of the two condo complexes on King Ct. There are 130 units total and likely over 300 frequent drivers affiliated with the two complexes on King Ct (2221 King and 2250 King). I have asked several neighbors about the upcoming project, and no one knew anything about it. No public notice was sent to us about the planned operational changes to the one and only way in and out of our homes. I am joined in writing to you by Wesley Thompson, a long-time Civil Engineer, and Tyler LeSage, a Transportation Planner, both employed alongside me with Caltrans, and both also personally affected by the upcoming project at the King Ct and South St intersection. Residents and visitors of these two complexes are completely hemmed in by the above intersection and the often high -volume, high-speed environment that is South St. This intersection is our sole means of ingress and egress to our homes, and it is often very difficult and precarious in waiting for a gap in both directions of travel along South St to synchronize in order to turn left and head westbound on South St. Our exit, particularly the left turn movement out is further compounded by vehicles turning left into and out of King St directly across South St from us, and also by pedestrians and cyclists crossing South St on both our left and our right when we're attempting to exit. Every movement at the intersection pre-empts our left -turn exit movement. These factors create an anxiety producing situation with all the above -mentioned potential conflicting movements of 3 different modes of transportation. There have been several vehicular accidents and close calls at this intersection (occasional tires screeching / horns being sounded), likely due to misjudgment or impatience after waiting and hoping for an opportunity to turn onto South St. I have reviewed the crash data on the City's website, and have photographic evidence of a couple collisions not present in the City's data. While the upcoming Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon (PHB) project at this intersection will improve conditions for pedestrians and cyclists, it leaves a major vehicle -to -vehicle conflict wholly unaddressed. The project will make vehicular safety and accessibility / ease of use for residents of King Ct worse, and consequently, the intersection less safe. The City's promise to deliver the "Vision Zero" initiative includes the consideration of vehicles, which the proposed project does not, particularly not those emanating from King Ct. The currently proposed changes with the PHB project will have negative impacts on residents of King Ct: • Prevent all vehicle movements at the intersection when the system is activated; • Take away departing residents' ability to turn when pedestrians are on our right (east side of intersection), something currently permitted with the Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon (RRFB); • Allow more cars to queue along South St; • Further reduce opportunities to safely exit King Ct, leading to riskier maneuvers. We propose that the project be modified to better accommodate residents of King Ct, but we do not seek to eliminate the Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon project; rather, we seek to enhance it. Another look at the intersection from a more holistic and inclusive perspective for the residents of King Ct would benefit all users and improve safety. Bike and pedestrian safety will be even further improved by our proposed changes to the city's soon upcoming Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon project. The specifics of our proposal are provided in the included attachment below and PowerPoint sent along with this letter. The City has very recently completed a project at Tank Farm and Poinsettia with a 3-sided crosswalk setup (2 crosswalks across Poinsettia, but only 1 crosswalk across Tank Farm). Our proposal seeks a similar configuration and operation at King Ct and South St (1 crosswalk across South St - on the east, and 2 crosswalks across King Ct / King St). Reducing the number of crossings across South St will reduce the number of conflict points and lead to a safer intersection for all users. On behalf of the two complexes on King Ct, we request the City reconsider some elements of the preferred alternative and consider incorporating a few additional low -effort, low-cost elements to provide greater safety benefits for all users. Taking a brief step back to evaluate how this project can be strengthened for all users will be more cost effective, less disruptive than additional future construction, and have better public optics than considering these elements at a future date. We are in the process of conducting a survey to gather data and collect concurrence from the residents of both complexes on King Ct to better determine the number of drivers affected and demonstrate support for our proposed changes to the planned project. To date, responses from 33 units have been collected (-25+% of the 130 units) representing 67 drivers. Extrapolating to the full occupancy of all 130 units, this would yield approximately 270 regular drivers negatively affected by this unsafe and difficult intersection. • 94% of the respondents rate the left turn out of King Ct as unsafe (42% very unsafe, 52% unsafe) • 97% of respondents rate the left turn out of King Ct as difficult (67% very difficult, 30% difficult) We would be more than happy to meet and discuss with City Council and the City Engineering Department. Thank you for your time in considering this matter. -Daniel See, MS, PE, Caltrans, Cal Poly daniel.w.see(c�amail.com, 805-878-9875 -Wesley Thompson, PE, Caltrans, Cal Poly wesleythomp gmail.com -Tyler LeSage, Transportation Planner, Caltrans lesage.tyler(cDgmail.com Attachment A: Proposal for Safety Improvements beyond the programmed Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon Project (2001059) We would like to propose some simplifying measures to increase both the safety and the operation of this intersection for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers. 1) The first element of proposed improvement would be to condense all pedestrian and bicycle traffic to the east side of the intersection (the side closest to Broad). This same configuration was just established by the City at the intersection of Tank Farm and Poinsettia. This change to the proposed project would reduce the number of conflict points at the intersection, and make it more predictable, functional, and safer for all users. As it currently stands, cyclists and sometimes pedestrians, will cross South St on both the east and west sides of the intersection. This makes for a more chaotic operation of the intersection, causing drivers to look in more places for potential conflicts and increasing the likelihood that a conflict is misjudged or missed completely. When drivers exit left out of King Ct, they have to hope for openings in both directions of vehicular traffic on South St to sync up, check for pedestrians and cyclists on all 4 corners, and also hope that no one exiting King St will interfere with their ability to leave. Reducing pedestrian and cyclist crossings to the eastern leg of the intersection will eliminate 3 conflicting movements, greatly simplify operation, and improve safety. The PHB signal should be updated to not preclude left turns out of King Ct during pedestrian / cyclist movements (except across the southern leg of the intersection), similar to the existing Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon (RRFB) system installed at the intersection. 2) The second update proposed here is a reconstruction of the center median to provide a left turn receiving pocket / merge lane in the center of the road for vehicles exiting King Ct onto westbound South St, providing us the ability to turn when clear from eastbound traffic, and then merging into the flow of westbound traffic when safe. The nearby Exposition Dr. / South St intersection provides vehicles turning left from Exposition onto westbound South St the ability to pull out halfway into a center turn lane and then merge into the flow of westbound traffic when able. The center median installed to the west of the King Ct / South St intersection precludes this type of safer, more user-friendly maneuver. This change will completely eliminate the need to wait for the two directions of travel on the very busy South St to sync up, and will help prevent drivers from making potentially risky maneuvers in exiting. This same configuration was also just established by the City at the intersection of Tank Farm and Poinsettia. The receiving / merge lane will allow left turning vehicles exiting King Ct to westbound South St to only navigate one direction of vehicular travel on South St at a time, and lead to a huge improvement in service and safety at the intersection. 3) In order for item 2 to be feasible, the left turn movements into and out of King St at the north leg of the intersection must be modified, as South St is not wide enough to accommodate both a left turn pocket and left turn receiving/merge pocket in the center of the road. Limiting movements into and out of King St will further reduce the potential conflict points at the intersection, leading to a better performing and safer intersection for all users. As for King St to the north and its connection to this intersection, 3 alternatives are explored here: A) The 1st alternative (safest) would be to close the northern King St leg of the intersection off to vehicles completely, similar to what exists at the south end of Morro St near the train station and Del Monte Cafe. This would create a much quieter King St and a much safer protected bike and pedestrian corridor. The handful of residents of this block of King St would have very easy access to Branch St 100 or so feet to their north (at a much lower speed and lower traffic volume than South St), which would continue to easily connect them to Broad or Higuera, very similar to what South St provides them. Bicycles and pedestrians could also more easily be directed to the eastern side of the intersection to cross South St (more info on this topic below). B) The 2nd alternative (2nd safest) would be to close the northern King St leg of the intersection to all vehicle movements except for right turns out. This would allow bicycles and pedestrians to more safely and easily navigate to the eastern side of the intersection for the crossing movement noted in item 1 above. C) The 3rd alternative (still safer than the proposed PHB) for this leg of the intersection would be to limit it only to Right -In / Right -Out (RIRO) movements. This could be accomplished with the addition of a small splitter island at the King St connection to the intersection, and would preclude left turns both into and out of King St. The reduction of these movements would make for a safer and more functional intersection and reduce the number of potential conflict points with pedestrians and cyclists than the existing and currently proposed PHB condition provides. There are only 2 duplexes on King St between South St and Branch St (on the east side) and a multi -unit apartment (on the west side). The duplexes have driveways and garages on King St. The multi -unit apartment only has street parking on King St, and its off-street parking lot is only accessible via the driveway on South St and would not be impacted whatsoever by any of the proposed changes here. The residents of these addresses have alternate means of ingress/egress, and would only face a slight inconvenience by the proposed changes. They would also benefit from reduced traffic volumes and a calmer street by our proposal here. Please refer to the PowerPoint for visuals to accompany these descriptions above. fet ySout _ 4 L A s jat w -i; . l► � � r A ill nters ion mS p roveme�`� South St * *Modifications to the Planned low. 't_ i � � w Pedestrian Hvbrid Beacon Pro e W ,r 0 South St 0. 'ftg JN ' �1IL I ark Introduction •There are 2 condominium complexes on King Ct, to the south of South St, with a combined 130 units and approximately 270+ drivers. •The King Ct / South St intersection is the soli means of ingress / egress for residents of these 2 complexes. •South St is a fairly high-speed environment, and exiting left from King Ct to go westbound on South St requires a synchronized gap in both directions of travel on South St., which is often an infrequent occurrence and consequently a difficult and risky proposition. •There have been a number of accidents and close calls for vehicle collisions at this intersection, some of them undocumented by the city's collision data. 2221 King Ct and 2250 King Ct I South St - M., No, boum si -. Sc SouffsSt Existing Intersection Safety and Operability • Currently utilizes a "Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon" (RRFB), • Vehicles exiting King Ct westbound (left) onto South St must wait for all other directions of travel to clear, and ensure no pedestrians or cyclists are crossing on the western side of the intersection, an often lengthy wait and unsafe endeavor. The RRFB can aid in allowing vehicles turning left when pedestrians and/or cyclists are using the eastern crosswalk to do so. It provides a break in traffic on South St to allow a safe left turn. Existing Intersection Safety and Operability - King Ct Resident Survey • A community survey is being conducted to assess the safety and difficulty of exiting King Ct onto westbound South St. • Of the 130 units in the 2 complexes, 33 responses have been received so far, representing 67 drivers. This extrapolates to ^'270 drivers, potentially making multiple trips per day. • The overwhelming consensus of the responses is that the intersection is both difficult and unsafe. • 94% of responses indicate it is unsafe (42% very unsafe, 52% unsafe) • 97% of responses indicate it is difficult (67% very difficult, 30% difficult) ***4 choices were presented for each question (very safe/very easy, saf%asy, unsafe/difficult, very unsafe/very difficult) Inadequacy of planned King/South Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon (PHB) Project *The PHB project plans to install crosswalks and bike routes crossing South St on both the east (Broad) and west (Higuera) side of the intersection which creates more conflict points for vehicles and pedestrians/ cyclists. • Safe intersection design seeks to eliminate conflict points. • The PHB project only addresses pedestrian and bicycle traffic, but omits vehicle safety and ease of use, particularly for residents of King Ct. • The PHB will shut down all directions of traffic when activated, allowing more vehicles to queue along South St, and further limiting vehicles from exiting King Ct, already a difficult and often unsafe endeavor. The PHB will eliminate the opportunity presented by the RRFB when pedestrians or cyclistsre crossing on the eastern side of the intersection. • If exiting King Ct is made more difficult for vehicles, it will in turn deteriorate the overall safety and operability of the intersection for all users. • Will cause additional delay beyond current poor service for residents of King Ct. King/South Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon Proiect-New Confl*lct P .-YELLOW RETROWLECTNE STRIP ON SACKPLATE 12' RED � � 12' RED a 12' YELLOW New conflic points introduced by PHB project , DETAIL A. 3-SECTION PEDESTRM HYBRID BEACON SEE SKAAL CA&M OETAL WTTOY CENTER flAe elan NTS EXCEPT C� DETAIL B CUSTOM R3-tAt12 SLAWOUT SIGN Wr R11e SIGN NTo ., STOP RfD FAD • • wx moan r cam WTA&a_MTA a�o-��+► sue+ SOUTH STREET \C Recent Tank Farm Poansettea Intersection Improvements *The Tank Farm/Poinsettia intersection was very recently made safer with several of the same changes proposed for King Ct/South St. Intersection maintains only 1 crosswalk across Tank Farm, on the eastern side of the intersection. • A left turn / merge pocket was created to receive vehicles from the southern segment of Poinsettia (French Park neighborhood). *These same features would greatly improve the functionality and safety of the King Ct/South St intersection. j t% AV% Ar IONE \INENEW Ah - T i r � • 0 � ■ � 1 vi Ah 1 rM ST0 "ry Nt i 'f HEADCO Ip THE DIREC71ON'I'^, An Aiqwin • Proposed Modifications to Existing PHB Project at King Ct /South St Intersection • Limiting pedestrian and bicycle crossings to the east side of the intersection will reduce the number of collision points, improvine both operability and safety for all users. • A left turn receiving / merge lane allows vehicles exiting King Ct to go halfway and merge when able, like the adjacent intersection of South Stand Exposition, improving access and safety. • Due to space limitations, providing this receiving lane will require removing the concrete median and eliminating the left turn into and out of King St to the north of South St. Residents of that neighborhood have alternate means of ingress/egress via Beebee and Branch or Sandercock, with very minor or no delay. • The reduction in these allowed movements at the intersection will further increase overall safety of the intersection for all users. �prnna :is / •I• JILILIFIS tc No Veh'i not Pliminata iL. Ab It t Probe g r%c c SOUTH ST SOUTH ST MERGE LANE NO CHANGE — PROPOSED ® Sot NO LEFT TURN MOW •1� �,`i,�=. � 1. - - �`.t������,,. � NO CHANGE, ,• �r ! _ _ , PROPOSED Proposed moui-tications to Existing Probe Dption 2 ( ) -Right Out only s .; Y IA l 11 Awl.' SOUTH ST MERGE LANE ® NO LEFT TURN I go; FIF X gig cn 1 1 � SOUTH ST NO CHANGE PROPOSED NO CHANGE PROPOSED Proposed moclitications to Existing Proje( 1)ption 3 (Safe) -Right in, Right Out RIRC l am a1 .. rm:lWEl: Wert IIL Z ) r M 40• SOUTH ST MERGE LANE ® NO LEFT TURN ok1�1� � V !• i • �" �' '',e,. NO CHANGE ,3t PROPOSED •OG SOUTH ST NO CHANGE PROPOSED t Alternate westbound path for residents of King Ct • 1 mile added to every westbound trip to circle entire park and neighborhood OR make undesirable, unsafe U-turn on South St. Send directions to your phone c-D Copy link via Woodbridge St 3 min 3 min without traffic 1.0 mile Details Preview 4 Explore nearby 2220 Exposition Dr 0 00 Restaurants Hotels Gas Parking More stations Lots South Hills 0 Natural Reserve n Caudill St Alternate Routes for King St Residents • Westbound and Eastbound trips are Branch St, with next to no to using South St. additional High Street I M functionally equivalent via distance or delay, as compared