Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutSafety Commission mins 1993/07/08 . MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE CHULA VISTA SAFETY COMMISSION Thursday, July 8, 1993 7:08 p.m. Council Chambers Public Services Building CAll TO ORDER 1. Roll Call: Present: Chair Thomas, Vice Chair Padilla, Commissioners Braden, Chidester, Matacia, and Pitts MSC (Chidester/Braden) to excuse Commissioner Koester due to a family emergency. Approved 6-0-1 with Commissioner Koester absent. Excused Absence: Commissioner Koester Also Present: Harold Rosenberg, Traffic Engineer; Frank Rivera, Associate Traffic Engineer; Shirley Buxton, Recording Secretary 2. Pled!!e of Alle!!iance/Silent Praver 3. Ooenin!! Statement - Read by Chair Thomas . 4. Aooroval of Minutes: June 10, 1993 MSC (Matacia/Padilla) to accept the minutes of June 10, 1993 as presented. Approved 5-0-1-1 with Commissioner Koester absent and Commissioner Chidester abstaining. MEETING AGENDA 5. REPORT on all-way stop at Second Avenue and C Street Frank Rivera presented staff's report. Vice Chair Padilla asked staff to clarify procedures for establishing Trial Traffic Regulations. Mr. Rivera clarified the procedures for Trial Traffic Regulations and indicated that all regulations must be made permanent by the City Council. Hal Rosenberg added that Trial Traffic Regulations allowed staff to expedite installation of a traffic control device where they felt it would be warranted. He said there had not been any accidents since the installation of the stop sign at Second Avenue and C Street. . Donald Stell, 210 Sea Va/f'Strf'et, Chula Vista, CA 91910, thanked the Commission for their concern and the installation of the all-way stop. He spoke to the Commission in order to have the installation made permanent. He said in the twelve months prior to the installation of the stop sign, there had been three accidents, and since the stop signs there were no accidents. The intersection was now much safer. He witnessed enforcement of the stop signs by the Police Department and he felt safer now traveling on Second Avenue. Safety Commission Minutes July 8, 1993 Page 2 MSC (Thomas/Braden) to recommend that the City Council adopt a resolution to make the Trial Traffic Regulations permanent at Second Avenue and C Street. Approved 6-0-1 with Commissioner Koester absent. 6. REPORT on Request for Installation of an Audible Pedestrian Signal at the Intersection ofThird Avenue and E Street Hal Rosenberg presented staff's report. He said that at the time staff made its evaluation of the intersection, staff did not have available the warrant system used by the City of San Diego which was very comprehensive. The City of San Diego developed criteria in order to limit the number of locations where the audible signal was installed. The City of Chula Vista did not have an audible signal warrant system and wanted the audible signal used only where the demand was high. He said the decision for the installation was based on judge- ment. MOTION: (Thomas) to direct staff to apply the City of San Diego's warrant system to this intersection to determine if the City of San Diego's warrant system applied to Chula Vista's needs and to decide whether Chula Vista should adopt the City of San Diego's warrant system as presented. Vice Chair Padilla asked staff to clarify in the staff report that they wanted to recommend to the City Council that the signal be installed based on Council's previous comments on the issue and that the location met several of the City of San Diego's warrants. He said it was his understanding that the location was not compared to each of the warrants, only several of them. Frank Rivera said when staff first received the request, staff did not have the warrant available to them. Staff spoke with the City of San Diego who verbally told them some of the criteria they used to evaluate candidate locations. Based on telephone calls, staff felt they had similar situations and the location would meet some of the warrants. Mr. Rosenberg said that one of the warrants of the San Diego City Council Policy was pedestrian usage in proximity to facilities for blind or visually impaired persons. The policy stated that "Special consideration may be given to senior citizen complexes or public housing facilities that have one or more blind or visually impaired person." He said with Frederika Manor near the intersection, the intersection met that condition. Staff was concerned about funding for audible signals, since the signal cost is approximately $7,500. He felt that there needed to be guidelines before installation of the device at numerous intersections. Chair Thomas said that was an important decision since the City did not have a warrant system and that the Commission should make a recommendation to adopt a warrant system. He asked staff to include in their report how the signal fit into the budget schedule and where would it rank in priority with other ADA improvements. Mr. Rosenberg said the City of San Diego used Block Grant funds which were set aside for handicapped purposes and were limited resources. However, staff's recommendation was that Council appropriate General Fund monies for the signal. Motion died for lack of second. Vice Chair Padilla clarified that the discussion would be on staff's original recommendation. . Safety Commission Minutes July 8, 1993 Page 3 MOTION (Thomas) to deny staff's original recommendation for further discussion. Motion died for lack of second. Commissioner Matacia stated he felt it was not feasible to install audible signals at every traffic light in the City. Audible signals needed to be controlled carefully by staff and warrants needed to be clearly stipulated. He had seen many elderly people step onto Third Avenue or E Street that were nearly struck by a vehicle and said that anything the Commission could do to help the situation was incumbent upon them to do so. MSC (Matacia/Padilla) to recommend that the City Council appropriate $7,500 to install an audible pedestrian signal at the intersection of Third A venue and E Street. Approved 5-1-1 with Chair Thomas voting no and Commissioner Koester absent. 7. REPORT on speed reduction for Halecrest Drive Frank Rivera presented staff's report. Commissioner Braden asked if the mid-block crosswalk was installed to accommodate school children and if there was school patrol at the crosswalk. . Mr. Rivera said it was installed to shorten the distance to Halecrest School and that the safety patrol was not located at the crosswalk. Commissioner Matacia asked about the speed limit in the area. Hal Rosenberg said that the California Vehicle Code specified that prima facia speed limits in residential areas was 25 mph for streets 40' wide or less. Halecrest Drive widened as it approached Telegraph Canyon Road and, therefore, staff was obligated to perform a traffic speed sUNey which usually showed that motorists drove at a higher rate of speed. Staff was obligated to post the speed limit at the 85 percentile in order to not create a speed trap. He clarified that staff was not proposing to change the speed limit in the area, only to paint traffic legends on the pavement around the crosswalk. Chair Thomas asked if there were any traffic studies to show what the 85 percentile speed was around areas where pavement legends were painted to show that traffic slowed down after seeing the legends. Mr. Rivera said there were no such studies. However, pavement legends were used in other areas of the City. The legends were found to decrease the speed limits in those areas approximately 3 to 5 mph. He said a beneficial aspect, was when motorists were stopped for speeding, they were aware of the speed in the area because of the legends on the road. Staff was attempting to get the motorists to become more aware of the speed limit and crosswalk area on Halecrest Drive. . Joy Short, 839 Ha/ecrest Drive, Chu/a Vista, 91910, said she had lived on Halecrest Drive for 32 years and had seen the street change from a quiet residential street to a major thoroughfare. She had seen drivers develop bad habits over the years such as straddling the center of the street and speeding. Painting legends on the street may help, but she also asked that the Commission consider painting a double yellow centerline stripe on Halecrest Drive, or place flashing lights in the area of the crosswalk. She was upset by the fact that children were afraid to the cross the street in a single family residential area. Safety Commission Minutes July 8, 1993 Page 4 Mark Jasper, 831 Ha/ecrest Drive, Chu/a Vista, CA 91910, said a lot of traffic in the area was not residential but was being used by residents of l Street, East J Street and H Street. His concern was the children in the neighborhood who get in groups of four or five and look along Halecrest Drive to check for speeding cars. A police officer one evening clocked a motorist at 45 mph and the motorist had no consideration for the crosswalk or that a chi Id might try to cross the street. He reiterated that something needed to be done in the area. Commissioner Pitts asked about the sight distance from the crosswalk on Halecrest Drive. Mr. Rivera said the sight distance with parked vehicles and looking south on Halecrest Drive was approximately 150 to 225 feet and the stopping distance along that stretch of road at 25 mph was approximately 200 feet. Commissioner Pitts said he had visited the area and discovered that pedestrians must look beyond, through, or over a parked car in order to see an oncoming speeding car. Painted legends on the street would not do enough for safety in the area and he asked if there was another option for the Commission to consider. Mr. Rosenberg said that staff only had engineering solutions to the problem and one of the best ways to handle the situation was to make the driver more aware of conditions that were ahead on the roadway. That was why staff was recommending the pavement legends. Commissioner Matacia said there was a similar situation that had to be handled recently on Corral Canyon Road. Because of construction, Corral Canyon was opened to a through street and motorists began to speed through the area, even though it was posted at 25 mph. The County installed pavement legends on the street and installed a series of botts dots or "rumble strips." After motorists went over the botts dots, traffic slowed down. He asked if the City would use botts dots in a situation like this. Mr. Rivera said the City had not installed botts dots, but they could be installed in the vicinity of the crosswalk. Another solution might be to eliminate some parking in the vicinity of the crosswalk to allow for more adequate sight distance, however, it might cause inconvenience to the residents who lived adjacent to the crosswalk. Mr. Rosenberg said he was not convinced that rumble strips were effective in reducing speed. A bicyclist might lose control going over the rumble strips and also it made a lot of noise. Residents who lived next to the rumble strips generally complained. A centerline stripe might indicate to the motorist that Halecrest Drive was a throughway and that they had protection. He said centerline striped streets were associated with right- of-way protection and that motorists tended to drive even faster on those streets. It was not wise to create a surprise for the motorist, because it may cause an accident. Commissioner Pitts said the situation already caused a surprise, since pedestrians did not have adequate sight distance and might step out in front of a car. He suggested removing at least one parking space in order for both driver and pedestrian to see adequately. Mr. Rosenberg said that once a crosswalk was established, staff had an obligation to make sure the pedestrian could be seen by approaching motorists. He was not aware of a visibility problem, and agreed that if parked vehicles caused a visibility problem, the parking should be removed. . Safety Commission Minutes July B, 1993 Page 5 MSC (Thomas/Pitts) to direct staff to address the concerns of the Commission, make the recommendation more aggressive, and return with a report at its next meeting. Approved 6-0-1 with Commissioner Koester absent. The Commissioners offered suggestions to staff for the area including red curbing, different signage, size and various types of botts dots, and centerline striping. B. REPORT affirming various Trial Traffic Regulations Frank Rivera presented staff's report. Earl Biggers, 677 G Street, Space 26, Chula Vista, CA 91910 supported staff's recommendation regarding the trial traffic regulation on the north side of the 600 block of G Street. MSC (Thomas/Pitts) to recommend to the City Council affirm the Trial Traffic Regulations listed below and make them permanent. Approved 6-0-1 with Commissioner Koester absent. . TTR# LOCATION SCHEDULE REGULATION 111 Point Robinhood Schedule III No Parking Anytime 112 Main Street/Otay Valley Road Schedule X 40 MPH 114 N. Fourth AVe. (West Side) Schedule V No Stopping SR-54 to "e" Street 115 Third Avenue (East Side) "H" Schedule VI 2 Hour Parking Street to "I" Street 116 Wueste Road, Otay Lakes Schedule X 35 MPH Road to SCL 117 Otay lakes Road, lane Ave- Schedule X 50 MPH nue to Wueste Road 118 Second Avenue and "C" Schedule II All-way Street 119 Quintard Street, Hilltop Drive Schedule X 30 MPH to Orange Avenue 123 600 block "G" Street (North No Parking of Vehicles over 6 ft. in height side) 9. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS . Saul Goldstpin, 976 Barrett Avenue, Chula Vista, CA 91911, spoke for the disabled. He complimented the City on installing sidewalk curb ramps for wheelchairs. His main concern was handicapped parking and making the spaces legal. There were many handicapped parking spaces, but some of them were not legal according to the letter of the law. In order to make the parking space legal, it needed to have the handicap logo, sign, and striping. If one, or any, of those items were missing, the ticket could be dismissed in court. He said that many shopping centers did not have adequate handicapped parking. Beside illegal parking, the City could use revenue generated from tickets being issued to violators. On another subject, he said that there Safety Commission Minutes July B, 1993 Page 6 was a stop sign on Nacion Avenue, north of Telegraph Canyon Road and that was difficult to see and he wanted to make staff aware of the situation. Chair Thomas asked staff to address the legal issue of handicapped parking. Hal Rosenberg said there were standards for handicapped spaces. He welcomed any comments from Mr. Goldstein on locations within the City of Chula Vista that he felt the parking spaces were not properly marked. He would be in touch with the Code Enforcement section of Building and Housing to inspect the spaces. Staff would be in touch with Mr. Goldstein and report any findings back to the Commission. Robert Moses, 978 Kittiwake Line, Chula Vista, CA 91911, said his concern was speeding traffic on Kittiwake Lane. Kittiwake Lane was a curved street and vehicles had failed to negotiate the curve and caused property damage. He also mentioned that there were missing sidewalks. Students used Kittiwake Lane to access both Chula Vista High School and Rice Elementary School and had to walk in the street. Also, vehicles used Kittiwake Lane to avoid the signal at Fourth Avenue and Moss Street. He indicated that residents also had trouble entering and exiting their driveways because of sight distance and the speed of vehicles. He asked the Commission to look at reducing the speed on Kittiwake Lane and to have enforcement in the area. Willard Brown, 970 Kittiwake Lane, Chula Vista, CA 91911, listed accidents that had happened on Kittiwake Lane over the last few years. He reiterated this street was used as a shortcut to other streets. He did not have an answer for the problem, but said something needed to be done. Georgia Ennis, 979 Kittiwake Lane, Chula Vista, CA 91911 was concerned for the chi Idren because of the shortcutters and speeders in the area. Kittiwake Lane was posted at 25 mph, but because of the curve and speed, it had become a dangerous situation. Moss Street would be widened in the future and she was concerned that more shortcutters would use the street. She requested either botts dots or "Chi Idren at Play" signs and a speed limit sign near the curve in middle of Kittiwake Lane. MSC (Padilla/Chidester) to direct staff to investigate the traffic and pedestrian problems on Kittiwake Lane and return with a report to the Commission. Approved 6-0-1 with Commissioner Koester absent. STAFF REPORTS 10. 1993-1994 ClP Status Staff Report - Distributed for Commissioner information. 11. Chula Vista Police Department Traffic Summary for April and May 1993 - Distributed for Commis- sioner information. OTHER BUSINESS 12. Annual Report to the City Council for FY 92-93 - Distributed for Commissioner information. 13. Annual Attendance Report FY 92-93 - Distributed for Commissioner information. . 14. Safety Commission Minutes July 8, 1993 Page 7 ADJOURNMENT to the Safety Commission workshop meeting - Proposed Changes to policies and Municipal Code at 8:52 p.m. The Commission reviewed the following Council Policies at the workshop. Policy #102-04 Block Parties Policy #1 10-06 Communications - Boards and Commissions Policy #110-09 Safety Commission Policy #465-01 Public Service Direction Signs on Public Streets Policy #478-02 Installation of Traffic Signals Policy #478-03 All-Way Stop Policy #576-07 Street Treet Maintenance & Monolithic Sidewalk Policy #576-15 Street Closing No Action Taken No Action Taken No Action Taken Staff to re-word the Policy in minor locations No Action Taken No Action Taken Definition of Regular Trimming discussed No Action Taken Respectfully Submitted, . -../ SB:5AFfTY/070893.MIN . { .' 090793