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Home My WebLink About08-14-2002 - Minutes TC CITY OF ORANGE CITY TRAFFIC COMMISSION Minutes of a Regular Meeting: Auqust 14, 2002 t. OPENING A. Fiag Pledge B. Roli Cail: Present—Commissioners: D. Yarger, J. Fortier, F. Sciarra, F. Petronella, M. Burkhardt Present—Staff: R. Hohnbaum, C. Glass, Sgt. J. Burton, D. Allenbach, G. Sheatz, P. Then Absent- Staf�: W.Winthers C. Approval of Minutes: ♦ June 12, 2002 ACTION: Approve as published by the Recording Secretary MOTION: D. Yarger SECOND: F. Petronella AYES: Unanimous ♦ June 27, 2002 ACTION: Approve as published by the Recording Secretary. MOTION: J. Fortier SECOND: F. Sciarra � AYES: Unanimous I1. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Request to remove 25 ft. of red curb markings from the west side of the driveway servicing Thompson Building Materials located at 141 W. Taft Ave. Tony VanDeWalle Thompson Building Materials 141 W. Taft Ave. Orange CA 92865-5406 Oral presentation is based on the wriiten� staff report; please refer to your copy. Chairman Yarger opened the public hearing for the following discussion: Tonv VanDeWalle. 141 W. Taft Ave. — We initiated this request because the building next door is vacant and has been for about 8-10 months. We would like this area so our 8 female employees can park closer to our facility and not have to cross the street. �� Tape#CTC-22.06 of this City Traffic Commission meedng is available for your review. `�. Please contact the Recording Secretary at(714)744-5536 in this regaid,advance norice is appreciated. �Printed on Recvcled Pauer �'��•'! i i<�::;�: t;�� F • _�..,� ., �,:;�:�'� �::;�::;::�.�,"""'.�..;;;. ,.;,:::,�::;�':� f:;�::•:� : �:::: ;�:.?-;.'-:; ,(�:`<:� -^�,;'�"��x �r;�,,'t'_�r'::::a� , �t a.SFK e��:.PS'. r.¢_y!tk_�'gzm,,. Minutes of a Regular Meeting—City Traffic Commission—August 14,2002 Pg.2 Chairman Yarger — How many on-site parking spaces to you have, and how are they used? Tonv VanDeWalle — Probably 25-30 spaces and we do not use them for storage, they are available for parking. With the amount of customers and traffic we have through the store its always full, sometimes doubled up, and creates traffic jams inside the parking lot as well. Vice Chairman Fortier—You realize this 25 ft. is only enough room for 1 parking space? Tonv VanDeWalle — The interest in that spot has been tremendous from the other employees, and every little bit will help. � Commissioner Burkhardt — You know that eventually someone will lease that building next door and the sight distance problem will reoccur? Tonv VanDeWalle—i understand where the problem came from. There being no other speakers, Chairman Yarger closed the public hearing and returned the item to the Commission for fina!comments and a motion. Vice Chairman Fortier — That building will eventually be leased� in the future and the reason for the vision zone to enhance safety will continue to exist. As the removal of this red curb is only enough space for 1 car to park it wouldn't really help that much. ACTION: Denied the request to remove 25 ft. of red curb markings from the west side of the driveway servicing Thompson Building Materials located at 141 W. Taft Ave. MOTION: M. Burkhardt SECOND: J. Fortier AYES: Unanimous B. Request for the installation of a driveway vision zone at 138 E. Meats Ave. John Zomer BASF Corporation 138 E. Meats Ave. Orange CA 92867 Oral presentation is based on the written staff report; please refer to your copy. There was no discussion of this item. ACTION: Approved the request #o install 30 ft. of red curb markings on both sides of the finro driveways. MOTION: F. Sciarra SECOND: F. Petronella AYES: Unanimous �� End of Consent Calendar �� ,� Tape#CTC-22.06 of this City Traffic Cornrnission meeting is available for your review. `'� Please contact the Recording Secretary at(714)744553G in this regard,advance notice is appreciated. �Printed on Recvcled Pauer . Minutes of a Regular Meeting—City Traffic Commission—August 14,2002 pg.3 111. CONSIDERATION ITEMS 1. Request for the installation of an "All-Way" STOP control device at the intersection of Hewes St. and Rancho Santiago Blvd. (continued from the 6-26-02 CTC meeting). Shirley Khorey Laurie Hamburg 982 N. Sonora Cr. 1070 N. Antonio Cr. �range CA 92869 Orange CA 92869 Oral presentation is based on the written staff report; please refer to your copy. Chairman Yarger opened the public hearing for the following discussion: Shirlev Grindle. 5021 E. Glen Arran — I was amazed to see this request because there is adequate vision here, I notice all these addresses on this list and if this is representing to you we are in favor of this request you are being misled. It seems to me there are bigger problems in the city than putting in a STOP sign at this intersection. I've never had a problem either entering or exiting Hewes St making a left turn. There being no other speakers, Chairman Yarger closed the public hearing and returned the item to the Commission for final comments and a motion. Comrnissioner Burkhardt— You mentioned earlier that during the test period there were only 2 hours when this location didn't meet the warrants, is that correct? Dave Allenbach, Transportation Analvst — That is correct it was towards the end of the day. We measure for an 8-hour period when considering this boulevard ST�P. We take the 8 highest traffic hours of the day, and in addition we performed peak hour turn counts at the intersection, which is how we arrived at the left-turn volume. Based on an accident problem this intersection would not meet warrants. We're looking at this from a volume perspective but the downside to putting in a STOP, the street does run efficiently right now and if you put in an All-Way STOP it will interFere with that efficiency. We're making this recommendation primarily because it is close to meeting the volume warrant. The accident history is low and the types of accidents have primarily been run off the road type due to speed. � Chairman Yarger — 1 use this intersection a lot and personally I just can't see a STOP here at this time, I don't see the need for it. Commissioner Sciarra — I travel that area quite a bit also and I have to agree with you, f don't see any problems here at all as the vision is very, very good. As I understand it there is some vegetation being pulled back on one corner that will open vision more than it is now. I would think that it wouldn't warrant an All-Way STOP. Vice Chairman Fortier — Originally this item was initiated for a traffic signal which was supposed to save the city'�a lot of money in the long run, since that now has been cancelled I don't see where installing a 3-Way STOP sign is going to save any money. �„ Tape#CTC-22.0G of this City Traffic Commission meeting is available for your review. `�' Please contact the Recording Secretary at(714}744-5536 in this regard,advance notice is appreciated. �Printed on Recvcled Paver Minutes of a Regular Meeting-City Traffic Commission—August 14,2002 Pg.4 Roqer Hohnbaum, Mar. Transqortation Services — Staff is making the recommendation to approve the installation for finro reasons: 1) We're very close to the warrants. The larger project has actually been deferred 2 years or is being considered to be deferred for 2 years. 2) We can, in the interim, place a left-turn pocket for people to turn into Rancho Santiago, people are turning teft from the thru fane. We have performed turning counts and indicated that the left-turn volume in the peak hour versus the thru volume is 2:1 and we consider that to be significant. ACTION: Denied the installation of an "All-Way" STOP control device at the intersection of Hewes St. and Rancho Santiago Blvd. MOTION: D. Yarger SECOND: F. Petronella AYES: Unanimous .,,, Tape#CTC-22.06 of this Ciry Traffic Commission meeting is available for your review. °�� Please contact the Recording Secretary at(714)7445S3G in this regard,advance notice is appreciated. �Printed on Recvcled Pat�er Minutes of a Reguiar Meeting—City Traffic Commission—August 14,2002 Pg.5 2. Request for the installation of an "All-Way" STOP control device at the intersection of Cambridge St. and Maple Ave. Kevin Smith 326 N. Lincoln St. Orange CA 92866-1209 Chairman Yarger—What is the roadway classification for Cambridge and Maple? Dave Allenbach, Transportation Analyst — I believe Cambridge is classified as a secondary arterial; however, it is currently developed to residential standards. Oral presentation is based on the written staff report; please refer to your copy. Chairman Yarger opened the public hearing foa-the following discussion: Scott Montgomerv, 204 N. Waverly St. — Presents photos of the intersection showing obstructions to vision; there is foliage and a large power pole in your line of sight. Most of these photos were shot while there were no cars parked adjacent to the intersection but if there were it's virtually impossible to see down the street. I am aware that there are a number of accidents that have been reported, but I also believe there are minor accidents not reported and near misses all the time. Commissioner Burkhardt —When there are vision obstructions such as this power pole and shrubbery can we request their removal? Dave Allenbach, Transportation Analyst — If the shrubbery is on private property and it starts to encroach into public right-of-way, such as over the sidewalk, we can request the property owner to trim or remove if that's appropriate. In the parkway we do have, as noted, rather old growth oak or liquid amber trees. We could ask our Arborist take a look and see if they could be removed. Since we are in the Old Towne area, the removal of these old trees could be a problem. The right-angle accidents occurring at this location are not primarily coming from this side of the street. There is no predominant direction or time of day they occur, they seem to be occurring both in equal numbers from the east and westbound and northbound vs. southbound traffic. When we installed the supplemental signing the number of accidents that occurred at this intersection in a 1- year period were drastically reduced. Scott Montqomery — Because there is so much traffic on Cambridge there is a lot of hesitation when people are pulling out into the intersection because you have to pull out quite a way in order to see. In my opinion the least that could be done is to install red curb, in excess of 30 ft. in order to have a good line of sight. Monica Richards, 215 N. Cambridge St. — Two schools use this intersection as a bike and walking route for their students. There has not been any additional Police enforcement of speed since the last time a study was conducted here. I think efficiency is a poor reason to deny our request for a STOP sign. We hardly ever cross the street here when we're out walking because people can't see pedestrians. �Chairman Yarger — Sgt. Burton would you give us an update on your activities in this area? �,, Tape#CTC-22.06 of this Ciry Traffic Commission meeting is available for your review. �� Please contact the Recording Secretary at(714)744-5536 in this regard,advance notice is appreciated. �Printed on Recvcled Paner Minutes of a Regular Meeting—City Traffic Commission—August 14,2002 Pg.6 Sqt. Jeff Burton, OPD Traffic Bureau — We have motor officers on Cambridge about 4 days a week at different times during the day. Generally they are not working speeds on the areas further south on Cambridge because we do have a number of STOP signs and speeds aren't as high, generally they are further north around Walnut and Collins, but for the amount of time they are out there they write very few tickets because the speeds are not that high, the speeding problem is not that consistent here. They do exceed 25 MPH but not at a rate that we would cite for. Chairman Yarqer-- I notice on the map we have STOP signs about every 600 ft. apart coming down Cambridge until we get down to the Maple area. Bettv Bains, 213 N. Cambridqe St. — Most of the pedestrians are school age children; there are 2 elementary schools a middle school and a high school in the immediate area. Vice Chairman Fortier —There are intersections with signals, some with 4-Way STOP's and some with crossing guards, and some with a combination of these and those are the "approved routes to school" established by the District. You might want to work with the parents and school principal to educate the elementary school children on the way to cross the street, the middle and high school kids will do whatever they want to do, but maybe to discuss not crossing Cambridge because there is not a STOP sign. GreQ Early, 142 N. CambridQe St. — It's pretty apparent that there is a problem at this intersection that isn't reflected in your report, the information in your report isn't adequate for the situation at this intersection. There have been several calls reporting accidents that you apparently haven't received. Maybe you need to continue this for additional study. Vice Chairman Fortier— fn your opinion why are cars skidding? I'm getting the idea that maybe some of the cars at the STOP signs don't realize the cross-traffic doesn't stop, does that seem to be the case here? Gre� Early — 35 MPH is just a number, people don't follow it. There is a lot of construction and city traffic going back and forth. Motorists driving south on Cambridge . see the tra�c signal at Chapman and they speed up in order to make the green phase. There is a combination of factors leading to the situation at this intersection, it's not just one thing. Chiq Bucklev, 910 E. Maple Ave. —What is the definition of an accident? S9t. Jeff Burton, OPD Traffic Bureau—An automobile colliding with another object where damage results. Chip Buckle,y—Well there are accidents occurring but they are not being reported. Commissioner Petronella —Well the good thing is that there aren't any injuries occurring either, so if these are property damage only a Police accident report doesn't have to be filed, motorists can exchange insurance and driver's license information befinreen themselves. � Tape#CTC-22.06 of this Ciry Traffic Corrunission meeting is available for your review. °�' Please contact the Recording Secretary at(714)7445536 in this regard,advance norice is appreciated. �Printed on Recvcled Paper Minutes of a Regular Meeting—City Traffic Commission—August 14,2002 Pg. 7 Chip Buckley— ! think even if none of the warrants are being met I think you should put in the 4 Way STOP for a safety basis. (No new information presented, repeats same comments as everyone else.) Jan-Marie Lankford, 174 N. CambridQe St. — (No new information presented, repeats same comments as everyone else.) Kevin Allen. 202 N. Cambridqe St. — I believe there is a problem at this intersection but I don't believe a STOP sign will be the best answer for it. I think the noise and pollution would be very unpleasant, and I don't think everyone will want to lose their on-street parking if you put in an "All-Way" STOP. Perhaps red curbs and one of those signs that Say"CROSS TRAFFIC DOES NOT STOP"would work. Chairman Yaraer— Perhaps we could continue this item to a future meeting to allow the Traffic Engineers time to work on a solution that would be acceptable to the area residents. Dave Allenbach, Transportation Analvst — We can certainly do additional studies and report back to you as well as notify the residents adjacent to the STOP sign and anyone else who may be affected by any proposed mitigation. We can speak with our Arborist about trimming shrubbery, tree removal, and alterations to the STOP sign. Chairman Yarger — When would you like to report back to us, to allow you adequate time? Dave Allenbach, Transportation Analvst—We can be ready for the September meeting. Chip Bucklev— Concerning the trimming of the trees, I'm a member of OTPA, would this have to go to committee? Ro�er Hohnbaum, Mqr. Transportation Services — Yes. From the photos it's not trimming the trees but removing the trees and it doesn't go to a committee it is reviewed by the City Arborist, he looks at the age and size of the tree. We actually have some trees that have been designated as heritage trees, I don't know if the ones we're talking about are those or not but we can look into that. The health of the tree is the other thing the Arborist looks at, and the safety issues are the concerns of the Traffic staff. Those are the conditions reviewed before we remove a healthy, mature, maybe a heritage tree. Chairman Yarger closed the public hearing and returned the item to the Commission for fina!comments and a motion. ACTION: Continue request to the September 1�I, 2002, CTC meeting to allow staff time to investigate additional mitigation measures including sight distance, red curb markings, tree and shrubbery removal, etc. MOTION: D. Yarger SECOND: F. Sciarra AYES: Unanimous .,,,, Tape#CTC-22.06 of this City Traf6c Commission meeting is available for your review. `'�i Please contact the Recording Secretary at(714)744-5536 in this regard,advance norice is appreciated. �Printed on Recvcled Pauer Minutes of a Regular Meeting—City Traffic Commission—August 14,2002 Pg. 8 3. Request for the imptementation of the three-month trial of speed humps on Marywood Dr. befinreen Meats Ave. and Villareal Dr. Mark Ohman 3135 E. Marywood Dr. Orange CA 92867 Oral presentation is based on the written staff report; please refer to your copy. Chairman Yarger opened the public hearing for the following discussion: Kim Haman. 3145 E. Marvwood Dr. - People use Marywood Dr. as a bypass and they ignore the 35 MPH speed limit and late at night they race by at 60-70 MPH. We've been working to get these speed humps installed for 2 years its discouraging to hear that we're behind another street for the trial basis. tf there's any way to expedite this or perhaps borrow test speed humps from another city we would really appreciate it because I believe this is going to be the solution to our problem. RoQer Hohanbaum, Mgr. Transportation Services — Orange is on the cutting edge of speed hump technology when it comes to these rubberized ones. I'm truly apologetic but these cost a whofe lot of money so the 5 we have is all we've been able to afford for this program, they are temporary, we use them as the need arises. Unfortun�ately we do have another street going thru their 90 day triaf and it's going to back us up right to the holidays, but your street is next. Sook Lai, 3100 Marywood Dr. —There are 2 licensed traffic engineers in our household and I would like to read a letter one of them has prepared [reads letter into the record, copy attached]. Karla Kjellin-Elder, 3211 E. Marywood Dr. —The speed problem is horrible. We're really excited about having speed humps and the opportunity for our neighborhood to return to a calm environment that we can all enjoy. Melissa Murphv, 3206 E. Marywood Dr. — Everything has been said, there's nothing else to add. There being no further discussion Chairman Yarger closed the public hearing and returned the item to the Commission for final comments and a motion. Vice Chairman Fortier— I think we should proceed with this trial as soon as possible. ACTION: Approve the installation of speed humps for the 3-month trial phase on Marywood Dr. befinreen Meats Ave. and Villareal Dr. MOTION: J. Fortier SECOND: D. Yarger AYES: Unanimous �� End ofConsideration Calendar �� ,:.,� Tape#CTC-22.06 of this Ciry Traffic Commission meeting is avaitable for pour review. , �; Please contact the Recording Secretary at(714)744-5536 in this regard,advance norice is appreciated. �Printed on Recvcled Paner ��i Minutes of a Regular Meeting—City Traffic Commission—August 14,2002 Pg.9 IV.ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS None this month. V. ORAL PRESENTATIOIVS None this month. VI. ADJOURNMEIVT After discussion of today's Agenda items of the City Traffic Commission was concluded, and as there were no further requests fior action under Oral Presentations, the Chairman adjourned this session of the City Traffic Commission at 4:55 p.m. The next regular meeting of the City Traffic Commission is scheduled for Wednesday— September 11, 2002 Respectfully submitted, CITY OF ORANGE Phyllis Then Recording Secretary Traffic Engineering Division CITY OF ORANGE DEPARTMENT OF PUBUC WORKS TRAFFIC ENGINEERING DIVISION 30O E.CHAPMAN AVE. ORANGE CA 92866 PH: (714)744-5536 . FAx: (714)744-5573 �August-Minutes[C:1MyDoclThenp] ,,.,,, Tape#CTC-22.06 of this City Traffic Commission meeting is available for your review. `� Please contact the Recording Secretary at(714)744-5536 in this regard,advance norice is appreciated. �Printed on Recvcled Paper