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HomeMy WebLinkAbouttecm_051215TRAFFIC ENGINEERING COMMITTEE MINUTES May 12, 2015 Minutes MEMBERS PRESENT Dan Baxter, TEC Chairman John Lampi, TEC Vice -Chairman Rick Seanor, Staff Ben Kageyama, Staff Trent Taylor, UPD Dan Hunt, Staff OTHERS PRESENT Maureen Mulheren, Council Member Jennifer Seward, Fairgrounds CEO Justine Frederickson, UDJ Elna Gordon, Charter Academy Selah Sawyer, Charter Academy James Switzer, Redwood Academy MEMBERS ABSENT STAFF PRESENT Roger Vincent, Public Representative Lory Limbird, Public Works Department Kevin Thompson, Staff Andrew Stricklin, Public Works Department Tim Eriksen, Director of Public Works 1. CALL TO ORDER The Traffic Engineering Committee meeting was called to order by Chairperson Baxter at 3:08 pm in Conference Room No. 3, Ukiah Civic Center, 300 Seminary Avenue, Ukiah, CA. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES — April 14, 2015 Motion/Second: Taylor/Lamp! to approve April 14, 2015 minutes. Motion carried by an all AYE voice vote of the members present. 3. AUDIENCE COMMENTS ON NON -AGENDA ITEMS Staff Eriksen asked the TEC to consider how TEC meetings are noticed. He wants TEC to come up with recommendations for noticing of both the meeting and the action taken by the committee. Member Seanor explained that typically the person who requested the item, the property owner, the adjacent property owners and/or occupants are notified that the item has been placed on the TEC agenda and the date and time of the TEC meeting. Council Member Mulheren announced that this was not the case concerning the no parking zone on the south side of W. Standley Street and the intersection of Barnes. The current owner and nearby residents were not notified that it was decided to put the no parking zone in this location. Chairman Baxter explained that once an item has been placed on the agenda, it should be understood that alternative ideas could be considered. This will be put on the agenda for the next meeting. 4. OLD BUSINESS a. Discussion and Possible Action Regarding a Request for No Parking Zone on South State Street at Gobbi Street. (Continued from April 14, 2015 meeting) Member Seanor explained that he recently talked to the owner of the corner parcel of Gobbi and South State Street. The owner is considering options for that property and asked for this item to be continued to next meeting. This item will be put on the agenda for the next meeting. MINUTES of the Traffic Engineering Committee May 12, 2015 Page 1 5. NEW BUSINESS a. Discussion and Possible Direction Regarding the Crosswalk on North State Street at the Redwood Empire Fairgrounds. Member Seanor presented this item. The TEC received a request from Tim Eriksen, Director of Public Works/City Engineer, to discuss and provide recommendations regarding the crosswalk on North State Street at the Redwood Empire Fairgrounds. On North State Street at the main entrance driveway to the Redwood Empire Fairgrounds, there is an existing yellow school crosswalk with diagonal yellow crosswalk markings. For southbound traffic, there is an existing 25 mph school zone sign on the west side of State Street north of Garrett Drive. There is a School Crossing sign also on the west side of North State Street located between Garrett Drive and the crosswalk. For northbound traffic, on the east side on North State Street adjacent to Pacific Outfitters, there is an existing 25 mph school zone sign. A School Crossing sign is located on the east side of North State Street just south of the intersection of North State Street and the main entrance driveway to the Redwood Empire Fairgrounds Member Seanor, Member Kageyama and Public Works Director Eriksen attended a Community Pedestrian Safety Workshop last week and several methods to enhance pedestrian crossings were reviewed. Bulb Outs/School Crossing Signs Curb bulb outs with school crossing signs and activated flashing LED lights have been constructed along South State Street in the vicinity of Grace Hudson School. The curb bulb outs shorten the crossing distance and make pedestrians more visible to motorists. The flashing yellow light is activated for about 20 seconds after the pedestrian pushes the button. Even though the yellow light is flashing, the pedestrian needs to wait for all cars to stop and make eye contact with the driver before starting to walk across the street. This option costs around $6000. At the Grace Hudson School location on South State Street, a sign has been added below the push button which says: Push button to alert motorists. Wait for motorists to stop. Cross carefully. Below this verbiage, these instructions are repeated in Spanish. In the area around the entrance to the fairgrounds, the north bound traffic is next to the curb so there is no room for a bulb out. It would be possible to construct a bulb out on the west side of the street. Jennifer Seward explained that the location of poles along State Street would obstruct the visibility of a flashing sign on the east side of State Street. Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon The pedestrian hybrid beacon is a pedestrian -activated warning device located on the roadside and on mast arms over midblock pedestrian crossings. The beacon head consists of two red lenses above a single yellow lens. When the pedestrian pushes the button, the beacon displays brief red flashing and steady yellow intervals. It then displays a steady red indication to drivers and a "WALK" indication to pedestrians, MINUTES of the Traffic Engineering Committee May 12, 2015 Page 2 allowing them to cross a major roadway while traffic is stopped. After the pedestrian phase ends, the "WALK" indication changes to a flashing orange hand to notify pedestrians their clearance time is ending. The hybrid beacon displays alternating flashing red lights to drivers while pedestrians finish their crossings before going dark at the conclusion of the cycle. This cost of a pedestrian hybrid beacon is approximately $100,000 per location. Pedestrian Median Island A pedestrian median island is a raised curb island in the center of the street to protect pedestrians from moving traffic. This island allows pedestrians an opportunity to cross one half of the roadway with a safe place to stop before crossing the second half of the roadway. A median island at the fairgrounds crosswalk location would require special design consideration due to the existing left turn lane at the crosswalk. Jennifer Seward stated this is not a good place to put island in middle of State Street because of all of the semi -trucks and RVs that turn into the fairgrounds. Flexible School Pedestrian Crossing Sign Flexible school pedestrian crossing signs are mounted on the street in the middle of the crosswalk and are spring loaded so they spring back to an upright position when bumped or hit. A flexible pedestrian crossing sign could be installed in the crosswalk by the fairgrounds to call attention to the crosswalk. These flexible signs require regular maintenance and replacement since they are damaged by vehicles on a frequent basis. The cost of this kind of flexible sign is about $300. Advanced Yield Lines Advanced yield lines are used on multi -land roads before mid -block crosswalks. This line instructs the driver to stop far enough away from the crosswalk so other drivers can see around the stopped vehicle making pedestrians in the crosswalk more visible. The layout for these lines is made of white triangles that look like shark teeth pointing toward the driver indicating where the motorist should stop. Director Eriksen indicated the cost of painting stripes and signs can be pulled out of the maintenance budget. The city council would have to allocate funds or grants can be applied for to purchase the more expensive measures. Jennifer Seward asked the TEC to go to council and ask for flashing lights with a curvature in the pole toward the middle of the street on both sides of State Street. Council Member Mulheren agreed with her and added she would also like the instruction sign to be placed on both poles and the advanced yield shark teeth to be included. Director Eriksen pointed out that bulb outs protruding all the way out to the lane of traffic make passage by bike riders very dangerous. Bulb outs are not visible at night. If the bike lane is inserted through the bulb out, this makes the bulb out less effective for pedestrians. MINUTES of the Traffic Engineering Committee May 12, 2015 Page 3 Selah Sawyer of Charter Academy emphasized that there are 4 lanes of traffic and the middle merge lane in this area. Drivers in the inside traffic lanes will not notice lights on the side of the road. At a minimum she would prefer a stop sign. Elna Gordon of Charter Academy stated that the overhead arm would be the most effective way to stop all lanes of traffic. Member Seanor indicated that the flashing LED beacon with the advanced yield shark teeth would be the most effective route to take at this time. Funding for the overhead arm would require a grant which could take a long time to acquire. Member Kageyama suggested the advanced yield lines with rapid flashing LED beacons could be put up readily and would not be overly expensive. The City would be able to install them in a reasonable amount of time. Member Taylor pointed out that there is no violation for drivers who cross the advanced yield sharks teeth line. The advance yield line is just a warning or a guide line. He suggested using radar speed signs that display the vehicle speed as motorists approach to slow cars down by making drivers aware when they are driving at unsafe speeds. The radar speed signs are relatively mobile so they could be moved to a different location after a permanent arm sign is installed. The radar signs would be located half way between where the speed limit is reduced and the crosswalk. The ideal location needs to be evaluated. Radar speed signs cost about $1500. Motion/Second: Taylor/Lamp! to install advanced yield shark teeth lines with rapid flashing LED beacons on both sides of the street and north and south bound radar speed signs. He also wants arrows painted on the street to indicate where the merge lanes are. Motion carried by an all AYE voice vote of the members present. 6. COMMITTEE MEMBER REPORTS None 7. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS None 8. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4:29 p.m. Lory Limbird c rding Secretary MINUTES of the Traffic Engineering Committee May 12, 2015 Page 4