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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSafety Commission mins 1993/05/13 MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE CHUlA VISTA SAFETY COMMISSION - - Thursday, May 13, 1993 7:00 p.m. Counci I Chambers Public Services Building CALL TO ORDER 1. Roll Call: Present: Chair Thomas, Commissioners Braden, Koester, Matacia, and Pitts MSC (Koester/Matacia) to excuse Vice Chair Padilla and Commissioner Chidester. Approved 5-0-2 with Vice Chair Padilla and Commissioner Chidester absent. Excused Absences: Vice Chair Padilla and Commissioner Chidester Also Present: Harold Rosenberg, Traffic Engineer; Frank Rivera, Associate Traffic Engineer; Sgt. Tom Schaefer, Police Sergeant; Shirley Buxton, Recording Secretary 2. Pled2e of Alle2iance/Silent Prayer 3. Openin2 Statement Read by Chair Thomas 4. Approval of Minutes August 13, 1992; March 11, 1993 . MSC (Thomas/Koester) to change Commissioner Pitts's status from "Unexcused" to "Excused" on the March 11, 1993 minutes. Approved 3-0-2-2 with Vice Chair Padilla and Commissioner Chidester absent, and Commissioners Braden and Pitts abstaining. No action taken on either set of minutes. MEETING AGENDA S. REPORT - Request for an all-way stop at Paseo Entrada and Paseo del Cerra Frank Rivera presented staff's report. Mr. Michael Y...., 1083 Pas..o Entrada, Chula Vista, CA 91910 said that he knew the intersection did not have a high pedestrian count, and that was not his main concern. Paseo Entrada was a long street on which motorists constantly accelerated. He was concerned that children who played in the area would be hit trying to crass the street. He knew stop signs were not designed to slow motorists down, but felt the intersection had a "special condition" which justified waiving the warrant system. Mr. Yee knew of an accident at the intersection, but did not know why it was not reported. He said if the Commission were to deny the stop sign, he was open to suggestions on how to help the situation. He invited the Commissioners to come look at the area. Commissioner Matacia said that he had been in the area on the previous day. He said that many times in the past, the Commission responded to the request of one neighbor and installed a stop sign, only to have many other neighbors upset and ask for its removal. He encouraged Mr. Yee to have a community meeting with his neighbors. . Mr. Yee responded that he would be happy to have a meeting and said if a petition would help, he would bring that to the Commission and asked that they delay their vote until such time. Commissioner Matacia said he felt installing all-way stops challenged the drivers and that they would make "California!! stops and not a complete stop at the intersection. Safety Commission Minutes May 13, 1993 Page 2 Mr. Yee said he would settle for a "California" stop in order to make the area safer. MSC (MatacialKoester) to deny the request for an all-way stop at the intersection of Paseo Entrada and Paseo del Cerra. Approved 5-0-2 with Vice Chair Padilla and Commissioner Chidester absent. 6. REPORT - Request for speed reduction on 300 block of East Palomar Street Frank Rivera presented staff's report. MSC (Braden/Pitts) to deny the request for an all-way stop at the intersection of East Palomar Street and Nolan Avenue. Approved 5-0-2 with Vice Chair Padilla and Commissioner Chidester absent. 7. REPORT - Request for speed reduction on East H Street east of Buena Vista Way Frank Rivera presented staff's report. Ms. Cheryl Ferraro, 1410 Summit Drive, Chula Vista, CA 91910 said that when the development was built, East H Street was two lanes in each direction and 35 mph. She said that shortly thereafter, the road was widened to three lanes with no buffer in front of their complex and the on-street parking was removed. The development had 60 units and motorists could not exit onto East H Street because the traffic volumes and speeds were high. If the speed reduction could not be enforced, then she would ask that East H Street be reduced to two lanes to provide a buffer between the street and the residences. Ms. Ferraro said that since Telegraph Canyon Road had been widened, most of the EastLake traffic would shift onto Telegraph Canyon Road and East H Street would not be as busy. Commissioner Matacia commented that there were only two driveways exiting from the development. Ms. Ferraro responded by saying that even though there were only two driveways, there were over 60 families in the development. She said there were a lot of people who walk in the area and that they do not have any buffer zone with the street. Ms. Roxanne Whitwere, 1472 Summit Drive, Chula Vista, CA 91910, Vice President of the Eucalyptus Ridge Homeowners Association, said the parking issue had always been a concern for the Board of Directors. She said that when the condominiums were first built, residents were allowed to park on East H Street. There was a problem with the time that the survey was done, 11 :15 a.m. was not an accurate time to perform the study and the early morning or early evening was a better time. She said that the area was dangerous and the residents and children needed protection. She didn't understand why the speed limit couldn't be reduced. Commissioner Pitts asked if the 35 mph could be extended further west to approximately 1/2 mile west of the subdivision. Frank Rivera stated the problem would be enforceability since the 85 percentile speed justified the 45 mph speed limit. The posted speed limits did not keep speeds down, it was the enforcement. Mr. Rivera said that police officers would not write a ticket because the 35 mph speed could not be justified by the traffic speed surveys. Hal Rosenberg said there was a transition traveling east on East H Street from 50 mph to 45 mph to 35 mph approximately 1/4 mile apart each. He said that was a standard practice in accordance with the State traffic manual. The point staff was making was that the placement of the speed limit signs did not alter the behavior of the motorists. The motorists still drove a prudent speed according to the roadway conditions. He said if the speed limit were made 35 mph, it would not alter the 85 percentile speed of the motorists. He reviewed Safety Commission Minutes May 13, 1993 Page 3 . a case on Rutgers Avenue where staff was mandated to change the speed from 35 mph to 25 mph and after the change, the 85 percentile speed did not decrease, but increased 1 mph. The City Attorney then determined that the Police Department could not enforce the area because it was considered a speed trap. He said that if there were unusual circumstances within the area, for example a high accident rate, an unusual road alignment, or a sight distance problem, there could be a reason to justify lowering the speed limit. He said East H Street was carrying approximately 30,000 cars per day and required a six lane street. If the street were reduced to four lanes, it would cause congestion and could possibly result in a higher accident rate. The road was not wide enough to provide a buffer as the residents requested. Staff felt as development continued on the south side of East H Street that a buffer might be possible, since traffic would be shifted to the south which could create a bike lane, but said that would not slow traffic down. Chair Thomas asked what would happen if the 45 mph sign were moved in order to slow traffic down sooner. Frank Rivera said that traffic engineering surveys had boundaries because the roadway conditions were different between Buena Vista and Southwestern College than it was west of Buena Vista. The traffic survey indicated that west of Buena Vista Way should be speed of 50 mph. Commissioner Pitts asked about moving the 45 mph sign 1/2 mile to the west when motorists were traveling in an eastbound direction. He asked if that would be enforceable and if it would slow motorists down. Frank Rivera reported it would not be enforceable and most likely not slow motorists down. He said moving the speed limit signs would not make a difference, since most motorists felt they were driving a safe speed. . Commissioner Matacia asked what would happen if the Commission decided to try and lower the speed limit to 35 mph. Hal Rosenberg said the City Council would have to direct staff to install a 35 mph sign with the understanding that it would not receive the enforcement for 35 mph. Sgt. Schaefer said he understood the situation. However, under the California Vehicle Code, there was no way that the Police Department could enforce 35 mph on this portion of East H Street. The police department was bound by the Vehicle Code which defined a speed trap. When an electronic monitoring device was used to enforce speed, there must be a valid engineering traffic survey which indicated the speed limit that the officer was enforcing was backed up by scientific evidence. If an officer enforced a speed limit that was not backed up by a survey, the officer would be held as an "incompetent witness" in court. That meant that a police officer was not believed when he was in court. He said he would like to be able to help the residents, but by the way the laws were written, there was not anything they could do. MSC (Braden/Koester) to retain the existing 45 mph speed limit on East H Street east of Buena Vista Way. Approved 5-0-2 with Vice Chair Padilla and Commissioner Chidester absent. 8. REPORT - Additional stop sign at the intersection of Bay Boulevard and L Street MSC (Braden/Pitts) to establish a Trial Traffic Regulation adding stop signs for southbound Bay Boulevard at l Street. Approved 5-0-2 with Vice Chair Padilla and Commissioner Chidester absent. . 9. REPORT - on left turn from Telegraph Canyon Road to Apache Drive Frank Rivera presented staff's report. Safety Commission Minutes May 13, 1993 Page 4 Chair Thomas asked staff had heard from the Charter Point Homeowner's Association after their most recent meeti ng. Frank Rivera stated he had received some comments from homeowners. He was contacted by one resident and discussed at length the possibility of Apache Drive becoming a private street. The resident wanted to know what it would take to have gates installed at both ends of Apache Drive. He received another call from a resident concerned that after the sign was removed, it would encourage the traffic patterns as were previously experienced. Staff did not feel that would be the case. Chair Thomas asked if staff's recommendation included the possibility of prohibiting left turns 24 hours per day. Frank Rivera said that staff did not feel that was necessary. During the construction period staff counted 236 vehicles northbound on Apache Drive from Telegraph Canyon Road during the 7:00 a.m to 9:00 a.m. period. Since the construction had been completed, there had only been 23 cars or 10% of previous traffic entering Apache Drive. Staff observed that of those 23 cars and only two cars exited the Charter Point subdivision onto Otay Lakes Road which gave the indication that most of the vehicles making the turn were residents. Chair Thomas asked how long the signal at Otay Lakes Road and Telegraph Canyon Road had been activated and asked if this was enough time for traffic to establish new patterns. Frank Rivera said the signal had only been in operation approximately four weeks. Southwestern College was in session and so that was probably the heaviest traffic until the fall session in September. Chair Thomas pointed out that with the most recent speed survey it would appear that most of the speeding vehicles were the residents. Commissioner Matacia commented that he had been on Apache Drive and noticed two motorhomes parked on Apache Drive directly across from each other which created a dangerous situation. John R. McGary, 1511 B Apache Drive, Chula Vista, CA 91910 responded to Commissioner Matacia's concern about the motorhomes. He said that the homeowner's association could not do anything about it because Apache Drive was a public street and the homeowners association could not enforce it. He felt 7 - 9 a.m. should remain because even if there were only two college students using Apache Drive, they were most likely late and therefore speeding. He said that for evening classes, the problem seemed to be worse, the students still used Apache Drive. He asked staff not to remove the sign and look at increasing the time that the left turns would be prohibited to include the evening. Commissioner Braden asked why the motorhome owners couldn't be made to park somewhere else since they could only park there for a 72 hour period. Mr. McGary said that Apache Drive belonged to the City and the homeowner's association could only enforce all the side streets off of Apache Drive. He said that before the 72 hour period was about to expire, the owners moved the motorhome a few feet in either direction. Commissioner Pitts asked why staff desired to remove the left turn prohibition sign. Frank Rivera said the sign affected the residents who had been cited. These were residents who worked at night and were coming home in the morning and it made it inconvenient for them. He said with the widening of Telegraph Canyon Road, the sign was no longer needed. The sign was placed as an interim measure during the construction phase. MSC (Matacia/Pitts)to allow the left turn prohibition at Apache Drive from 7:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. to remain. Approved 4-1-2 with Chair Thomas voting no and Vice Chair Padilla and Commissioner Chidester absent. Safety Commission Minutes May 13, 1993 Page 5 . Chair Thomas asked if a height limitation could be enacted on Apache Drive to prohibit motorhomes from parking on it. Hal Rosenberg said that if the motorhomes obstructed vision from driveways, then staff had the authority to post a height limit. He was not aware if there was a sight situation at that location. Chair Thomas asked staff to look into what could be done about the motorhomes parking on Apache Drive and asked if the height limit could be placed on the entire length of the street. Hal Rosenberg said if restrictions were installed, the motorhomes could move to a mid-block location. The entire length of the street could not be posted with a height limitation. Commissioner Braden asked Mr. McGary if the motorhomes were obstructing driveways. Mr. McGary said it could, however, the danger was that the motorhomes parked opposite each other which caused the street to narrow considerably and made motorists cross over the centerline striping to get around them. Chair Thomas asked Sgt. Schaefer if he had any ideas on what to do about the motorhomes. . Sgt. Schaefer said it was a problem throughout the City and the only enforceable law was "Vehicle Abatement" which stated that a vehicle could not be parked on a public street for more than 72 hours. He was aware of the situation and said that at 25 mph the driver could negotiate between the motorhomes but any speed over that would cause the motorist to go over the centerline stripe which was against the law. 10. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS - None. STAFF REPORTS 11 . 1992-93 CI P Status ReDort Chair Thomas asked on the "Freeway Interchange Ultimate Improvement" project, why the City had to pay for topographic maps to be given to Caltrans. Hal Rosenberg said the City was conducting a study to determine the future improvements at major interchanges along the 1-805 corridor. It was City traffic which caused the need for the interchange to be assessed and Caltrans required the City to provide the engineering data in order to analyze the situation. He said that if the City did not provide what Caltrans requested, then Caltrans could withhold funds from the local agencies for future projects. Chair Thomas asked what it took for an item to be placed on the Safety Commission agenda and have a report generated. Frank Rivera said that either a phone call or a letter from a citizen could cause the situation to be investigated. However, staff used discretion and did not bring everything before the Commission. . 12. Chula Vista Police Department Traffic Summary for Februarv and March 1993 - Distributed for Commissioner information. Safety Commission Minutes May 13, 1993 Page 6 OTHER BUSINESS 13. "Bumps in Road Stir Heated Debate" article from San Diego Union Tribune 4/10/93 - Distributed for Commissioner information. 14. Commissioner Comments- . June Workshop - Special Interest Projects - Chair Thomas Chair Thomas suggested a workshop in order to discuss re-evaluation of the traffic warrant system as well as a dinner honoring Commissioner Braden for her eight years of service to the Commission. MSC (Thomas/Koester) to cancel the regularly scheduled June meeting. Approved 5-0-2 with Vice Chair Padilla and Commissioner Chidester absent. MSC (Thomas/Koester) to hold a workshop session on June 10, 1993. Approved 5-0-2 with Vice Chair Padilla and Commissioner Chidester absent. 15. Nominations for Chair and Vice Chair FY 93-94 MSC (Koester/Braden) to retain Commissioner Thomas as Chair and Commissioner Padilla as Vice Chair. Approved 5-0-2 with Vice Chair Padilla and Commissioner Chidester absent. ADJOURNMENT Chair Thomas adjourned the meeting at 8:57 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, .~ SB:5AFETYI05 1393.MIN 052493