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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/18/1989, C-11 - SPECIAL CONCERNS DOWNTOWN MEETING DATE: 0lQQJJJ$11W J City Of San LUIS OBISPO April 18, 1989 Wo COUNCIL A SNDA REPORT 'N - FROM: David F. Romero Wayne A. Peters rr- Prepared by: Barbara Lynch Public Works Director City Engineer Engineering Assistant/Traffic. J SUBJECT: Special Concerns Downtown RECOMMENDATION: By Motion Direct Staff to Follow Through on Recommended Actions. BACKGROUND: In November, the Council requested that staff look into the possibility of controlling traffic downtown, more specifically, regulating truck traffic and speeding. Staff initially spoke with Dodie Williams of the BIA and Peg Pinard of the City Council to get a better feel for the problems they saw in the downtown. DISCUSSION: Trucks - One of the problems discussed was the presence of large trucks downtown. Concerns: 1 . Trucks are too large to be in the downtown. They cannot negotiate the streets and are unable to fit into loading areas. 2. Trucks double park and congest traffic. They are often from out of town and arrive in San Luis Obispo during the day when activity downtown is high. 3) Trucks decrease pavement life. Vehicle Code Laws Regulating Trucks: 1 . City is allowed to set up truck routes which designate those streets on which trucks may travel through the City. 2. Ordinance may not prohibit a truck from using a restricted street when necessary for making deliveries.. What Other Communities Are Doing: We contacted five other communities to discuss their experience with trucks. The majority have truck routes in place and have: commercial loading areas. The City of Walnut Creek provides a combination comrercial/metered space. This does not limit the times the trucks can come in. only the time when the space is for the exclusive use of commercial vehicles The remaining time it can be used by passenger vehicles as a metered space. None of the cities contacted had delivery hour limitations in place. / 11111111111 ��11 city of san iuis osispo COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT Special Concerns Downtown Meeting of April 18, 1989 Page Two. Discussion with the BIA indicated they would like to see: 1 . Truck delivery times limited to morning; or 2. A truck transfer point established where large vehicles can unload to a smaller delivery vehicle which brings the goods into town. The Vehicle Code does not specifically address hours of delivery. The ability to preclude trucks from entering downtown at certain times is available through the police powers. To the best knowledge of the City Attorney, delivery hour limitations has not as yet been challenged in court. He understands some large communities with major congestion problems have some restrictions. Limiting delivery times may make it more difficult for local businesses to get merchandise. Shipments generally come from the larger cities and San Luis Obispo constitutes only a small portion of the truck's load. A transfer point would be a voluntary program to keep trucks out of town. The transfer point must have good freeway access to make it attractive when compared to bringing a truck into the downtown. The BIA has done some research with one of the local trucking firms to provide such a service. The results, according to Mike Spangler of the BIA, hove been positive. He feels all the pieces are there and only need to be put together to make it work. RECOMMENDATION: i 1 . Encourage the BIA to pursue providing a transfer point outside the downtown for the purpose of unloading large vehicles and reducing truck traffic downtown. 2. Somewhat related, direct staff to review and report back to the City Council the negative and positive aspects, and chances of success, of restriction on delivery hours. 3. Direct staff to study existing loading zones to determine whether they are properly placed and are sufficient in number. 4. Direct staff to investigate the provision of off-street facilities for truck loading for major new developments in the downtown. Speed: The second problem identified was the characteristics of traffic on Higuera Street. Concerns: 1 . The cars are traveling too fast on Higuera Street. 2. Pedestrians are exposed to vehicle traffic which is uncomfortable and dangerous. 11111►1VIIIII1PA111 city or SM Luis oBispo AONG4 COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT Special Concerns Downtown Meeting of April 18, 1989 Page Three. Higuera Speeds: Staff performed two radar studies during the daytime to determine speeds when businesses were open and pedestrians afoot. One, during the Christmas shopping season was in the vicinity of Chorro, and the second, after Christmas, was in the area of Garden Street. The results indicate speeds average about 16 mph and that over eighty percent of drivers travel below 20 mph. Over ninety-nine percent of the drivers are traveling below 25 mph. One driver, in the over two hundred surveyed, was traveling 34 mph. Staff then discussed the findings with Dodie Williams of the BIA who felt the speed that the majority of drivers were traveling was reasonable. The signals on Higuera Street are set for a vehicle traveling at 17 mph to get through each green light in progression. The signals have been operating with this progression for approximately 15 years and it is the primary factor in stabilizing speeds downtown. Traffic on Higuera moves slower than other local streets. The signal timing could be modified to provide progression at 15 mph rather than the current setting of 17 mph. Decreasing the progression speed will tend to increase the congestion on Higuera. When the City completes the new traffic signal controller installation downtown, such changes in progression could be tried to see what the actual effects on traffic would be. Pedestrian Conflicts: The physical characteristics of the downtown are such that at corners, pedestrians are close to vehicular traffic. This closeness is aggravated by the no parking areas near the corners which allow drivers to turn closer in to the curb, and by the narrow streets and traffic lanes. In some areas parking has been removed to add travel lanes to manage traffic. These lanes are adjacent to the sidewalk. It was suggested that either parking be returned to the streets to improve the pedestrian atmosphere or if it were necessary to eliminate all the parking, a barrier should be installed to replace the buffer provided by the parking. These barriers could be in the form of planters or benches. To provide barriers in sidewalk areas, the sidewalk would need to be at least 10 feet in width to provide adequate clear area.' Barriers installed in the sidewalk area would have no effect on traffic. Returning the parking to the street would have a very definite impact. - In some cases, such as at Garden Street, parking was removed at the intersection to provide safe visibility for vehicles and pedestrians entering and crossing Higuera Street. In other areas, such as along Chorro, parking has been removed to provide additional traffic lanes. In general these lanes increase interesection capacity and help Higuera Street run smoother by storing vehicles which are unable to move due to other \ vehicles or pedestrians who have right-of-way in the intersection. The return d-d 1111111%111111$pJWJJ l city of san tins owpo =04COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT Special Concerns Downtown Meeting of April 18, 1989 Page Four. of parking will, in the former case, make it more hazardous for vehicles and pedestrians entering the intersection and in the latter case, may result in congestion which may lead to safety problems. Cars would back up through adjacent intersections.. This might discourage shoppers from coming to the downtown.. Special intersection treatments such as corner bulbouts may impact traffic if they are not carefully located. Bulbouts should be located where they will not interfere with needed travel lanes. They may impact some safe movements of traffic and increase congestion downtown. They also bring the pedestrian out into the street to the curb. RECOMMENDATIONS: 1 . Direct staff to experiment with slower signal progression downtown, working with the BIA to observe the effects of this change. 2. Direct staff to continue to include tree planting, bulbouts planters and benches in the ongoing Downtown Beautification program, as consistent with the updated Downtown Plan. 3. Direct staff to continue ongoing program for sidewalk repair and high level maintenance of public facilities in the downtown. 4. Direct staff to refer these concerns to Phase II of City's Circulation Element Study. b16/concerns by i ���-*4�