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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSafety Commission mins 1993/08/12 . MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE CHULA VISTA SAFETY COMMISSION Thursday, August 12, 1993 7:05 p.m. Counci I Chambers Public Services Building CALL TO ORDER 1. Roll Call: Present: Chair Thomas, Vice Chair Padilla, Commissioners Koester, Matacia, and Pitts Unexcused Absence: Commissioner Braden Also Present: Harold Rosenberg, Traffic Engineer; Frank Rivera, Associate Traffic Engineer; Sgt. Tom Schaefer, Police Department; Shirley Buxton, Recording Secretary 2. Pledl(e of Allel(iancefSilent Praver 3. ODeninl( Statement 4. ADDroval of Minutes: July 8, 1993 MSC (Matacia/Padilla) to accept the minutes of July 8, 1993 as presented. Approved 4-0-1-1 with Commissioner Braden absent and Commissioner Koester abstaining. . MEETING AGENDA 5. REPORT on speed reduction for Halecrest Drive Frank Rivera presented staff's report and Commissioners viewed slides of the area. Mark Jasper, 831 Ha/ecrest Drive, Chu/a Vista, CA 91910, said that the Commission should remember that school was not in session when the pedestrian count was performed and consider that in their decision. Pedestrian counts were done on a good weather day and not in the rain, fog, or at night. He was disappointed and discouraged and said that at the last meeting he felt the direction from the Commission was to look for something different. What was left for consideration was line of sight and calculations. Speeding vehicles were not addressed. . Joy Short, 839 Ha/ecrest Drive, Chu/a Vista, 91910, had problems with the line of sight on Halecrest Drive. There was a palm tree in the line of sight. If there was to be a true line of sight, it shouldn't be something that needed to be looked through or around. Staff was concentrating on the safety of the crosswalk, which had a perfect safety record. The problem was with speeding which was a problem for the entire neighborhood. The problem couldn't be solved at the crosswalk unless staff addressed speeding at the top of Halecrest Drive and East J Street. If a three-way stop were installed at Lori Lane and at Douglas, it would give pedestrians a place to cross the street. Halecrest Drive was over 2000' long and the crosswalk was the on Iy place designated to cross the street. It was not safe to cross the street carrying grocery bags from the shopping center. Vehicles were travelling through the crosswalk at 46 mph and then going down hill, the vehicles picked up momentum and accelerated. Vehicles were going freeway speeds and residents had to back their vehicles out onto a freeway. She urged the Commission to do something about the speeds and said the residential character of Halecrest was being destroyed by people breaking the law. She asked the Commission to provide law enforcement and stop signs. Safety Commission Minutes August 12, 1993 Page 2 Commissioner Matacia asked staff to give the residents their opinion of all-way stop signs. Frank Rivera said that if staff were to install an all-way stop at Lori Lane and Halecrest Drive and another at Douglas and Halecrest Drive, the vehicles would almost come to a stop at those intersections. About five houses away from either stop sign on Halecrest Drive, however, they would have accelerated to the speed they were traveling before. The rest of the block would not see any speed reduction, because the motorist would try to make up lost time. The speed reduction would only be noticed around the stop sign. Hal Rosenberg said it was frustrating trying to solve a social problem of speeding with engineering solutions. Often times staff tried to solve the problem with an engineering solution and the situation worsened. Recently, a three-way stop was installed on Hilltop Drive and East Rienstra Street and a motorist ran the stop sign when a pedestrian had stepped into the street. The pedestrian thought the stop sign would stop all traffic and stepped out. The white lines of a crosswalk appeared to be a safety device and pedestrians felt the motorist would see them and stop. Speeding was a difficult problem and staff tried through enforcement and education to deal with it. When possible, staff would install reminders to motorist to abide by the law. Chair Thomas asked how the trees and shrubs were handled in the sight distance evaluation. Frank Rivera said that if the palm tree was a problem, it could be removed. It wasn't something that staff looked at, but was an available option. Vice Chair Padilla asked Sgt. Schaefer if Halecrest Drive was considered a high violator area. Sgt. Schaefer said the citations reflected on the report were from special assignments by motor officers to enforce the area. Halecrest Drive was not a street where the police department would regularly enforce. When a complaint was received, an officer was assigned to enforce the area. Garry and Darlene Hummel, 829 Ha/ecrest Drive, Chula Vista, CA 91910, thanked staff for consideration to leave parking in front of his home. There wasn't a need to remove all parking in front of his residence. The traffic was heavy on Halecrest Drive and vehicles travelled faster in a southerly direction than in the northerly direction. When the radar unit was on the street, vehicles slowed down. He suggested flashing lights and botts dots on Halecrest Drive. Flashing lights would help give visual warning to the motorist. James Hlava, 818 Lori Lane, Chula Vista, CA 91910, presented a copy of a petition that was brought before the Safety Commission in 1989 which addressed the speeding problem in the area. Traffic on Lori Lane either came from Halecrest Drive or was going to Halecrest Drive. Recently, he and his wife noticed that some residential streets were being striped. His wife had spoken with Frank Rivera who informed her that the Halecrest issue would be on the agenda and even though he didn't live on Halecrest Drive, he wanted to support the residents. The speeding was a problem in the whole area and Lori Lane had the same problem as Halecrest Drive. Most of the traffic was from motorists trying to avoid the signals on Crest Drive and Telegraph Canyon Road. Don Wiltse, 820 Ha/ecrest Drive, Chula Vista, CA 91910, said he had served on a County Traffic Board and knew the difficulty in solving speeding problems. He didn't think an engineering solution could solve the speeding problem, but felt law enforcement would help the situation. He asked why staff was recommending a double yellow centerline stripe on a residential street. . Safety Commission Minutes August 12, 1993 Page 3 Frank Rivera said that at last month's meeting, the residents indicated there were motorists passing one another in the area. Staff felt the double yellow would prohibit vehicles from passing on another as well as help the motorist stay on the appropriate side of the street. The centerline striping would create a narrower lane which would slow down motorists. MSC (Thomas/Koester) to install 25 MPH pavement marking adjacent to each speed limit sign, add red curb to prohibit parking at 831 Halecrest Drive, allow driveway access at 829 Halecrest Drive, and add a double yellow centerline stripe. Approved 5-0-1 with Commissioner Braden absent. Chair Thomas asked staff to look at trees and shrubs in the area that could cause sight obstruction. 6. REPORT on Traffic Concerns for Kittiwake Lane Frank Rivera presented staff's report and viewed slides of the area. MSC (Koester/Pitts) to place the missing sidewalk project on the Block Act Program and add a southbound stop sign at Moss Street. Approved 5-0-1 with Commissioner Braden absent. . 7. REPORT Affirming No Parking any time on E Street between First Avenue to E. Flower Street and Toyon Lane to Bonita Road Frank Rivera presented staff's report. MSC (Matacia/Koester) to recommend to the City Council that the Council pass a resolution affirming the Trial Traffic Regulation and make the parking prohibition permanent. Approved 5-0-1 with Commissioner Braden absent. 8. REPORT affirming Time Limited parking on Shasta Street between Third Avenue and Del Mar Avenue Frank Rivera presented staff's report. Alberta Hartung, t545 Malta, Chula Vista, CA 91911, was interested in the item because her father lived on Shasta Street at Del Mar Avenue. She felt the trial traffic regulation was working and allowed residents to park on the street, but saw there was a problem being created on Del Mar Avenue. Ms. Hartung appealed to the Commission for assistance in receiving residential parking permits. Her father had alzheimer's disease and she, her brother, and a professional nurse took care of her father and needed residential parking permits. Since she did not live on the street, she could not get a permit. Frank Rivera said he would be in contact with Ms. Hartung and would try to assist her with a parking permit. MSC (Padilla/Thomas) to recommend to the City Council that the Council pass a resolution affirming the Trial Traffic Regulation and make the parking prohibition permanent. Approved 5-0-1 with Commissioner Braden absent. . Safety Commission Minutes August 12, 1993 Page 4 9. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS- None. STAFF REPORTS 10. 1993-1994 OP Status Staff Report - Distributed for Commissioner information. 11. Chula Vista Police Department Traffic Summary for June 1993 - Distributed for Commissioner information. OTHER BUSINESS 12. Letter of Resignation - Commissioner Frank Chidester 13. Commissioner Comments - None. 14. ADJOURNMENT at 8:00 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, .j)uA.~ &ux-}() ,'--" Shirley Buxton, ecording Secretary 5B:5AfETYI081293.MIN 082093