HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 1372
City of Palo Alto (ID # 1372)
City Council Informational Report
Report Type: Informational Report Meeting Date: 4/4/2011
Title: Arastradero Rd ‐ Trial Project Update
Subject: Implementation Status of the Arastradero Road ‐ Trial Restriping Project
between El Camino Real and Gunn High School
From: City Manager
Lead Department: Planning and Community Environment
Recommendation
This is an informational report, therefore no action is required.
Executive Summary
The Arastradero Road – Trial Restriping Project is now entering its eighth month of
implementation but the final elements of the trial project were just recently installed in
February/March including a new enhanced pedestrian crosswalk at Arastradero Road & Clemo
Drive and a traffic signal modification project at Arastradero Road & Coulombe Drive. Overall,
during normal daytime and evening operations, the corridor operates very well under the 3‐
lane configuration. Many residents have also expressed a satisfaction with the project and
noted an improved sense of safety for both pedestrians and bicyclists. There have also been
many comments that were not supportive of the 3 lane configuration for a variety of reasons,
including delays and backups, as well as concerns about increased traffic on parallel
neighborhood streets.
The morning school commute has been the period of the day for which residents and
commuters have expressed the most concerns regarding the trial project. Some concerns
regarding evening commute operations have also been expressed but not to the degree of the
morning school commute.
In response to community concerns, staff has identified and implemented several
improvements through the support of the community project working group and under the
advisement of the Charleston‐Arastradero Road Stakeholder Group and the Palo Alto Bicycle
Advisory Committee, including:
Installation of a new raised median island and two vehicle speed feedback signs at
Arastradero Road & Hubbart Street to help further encourage vehicle speed reductions
along the western portion of the project corridor and to help better channelize traffic,
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Restriping of Arastradero Road between El
Camino Real and 250‐ft west of Alta Mesa‐
McKellar Lane to help provide additional
roadway capacity for both eastbound and
westbound traffic to move across the El Camino
Real intersection,
Restriping of Arastradero Road between Donald
Road ‐ Terman Drive to King Arthur Court to
provide additional left turn storage capacity into
Terman Middle School, and
Miscellaneous “Keep Clear” and signage
improvements.
The one‐year Arastradero Road – Trial Restriping
project was scheduled for a one year evaluation period ending in August 2011, but due to the
delays in the implementation of improvements at Arastradero Road & Coulombe Drive and
Arastradero Road & Clemo Drive, and additional new improvements implemented at
Arastradero Road & Alta Mesa‐McKellar Lane, an additional 6‐month evaluation period may be
appropriate to further monitor the project under these new circumstances as well as under a
modified bell schedule at Gunn High School.
Background
Implementation of the Arastradero Road – Trial Restriping Project started in August 2010 with
the restriping of Arastradero Road between El Camino Real and Gunn High School from a 4‐lane
roadway to 3‐lane roadway with center turn lanes. Several elements of the trial project were
delayed due to contract coordination with other projects including:
Traffic Signal Modification at Arastradero Road & Coulombe Drive
This includes the modification of the an existing traffic signal to provide longer mast
arms that support vehicle signals over the roadway to better align signal indications with
traffic on Arastradero Road.
Enhanced Crosswalk at Arastradero Road & Clemo Drive
This includes the installation of new marked crosswalks, a median island between Clemo
Drive and Suzanne Drive to provide refuge for pedestrians crossing Arastradero Road,
and a new pedestrian‐activated flashing beacon system to warm motorists to the
presence of pedestrians at the intersection.
Both of these improvements were implemented this winter as well as the installation of a new
raised median island at the intersection of Arastradero Road & Hubbart Street with two vehicle
speed feedback signs and an extension of the left turn storage between Donald Road‐Terman
Drive and King Arthur Court through the conversion of this block segment into a two‐way left
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turn. Both of these improvements were recommended by staff in response to initial
community feedback on the project and have been effective reducing vehicle speeds along the
western portion of the project area and in facilitating movements into Terman Middle School.
During January, staff also worked with the project working group to identify solutions in
response to community feedback regarding access across El Camino Real during the morning
school commute. In March, a final roadway striping modification was implemented that
includes the extension of the two westbound Arastradero Road lanes that previously merged to
one lane in front of the old Volvo dealership to 250‐west of Alta Mesa‐McKellar Lane. This
improvement also provided for the extension of two eastbound lanes from Alta Mesa‐McKellar
Lane to El Camino Real to help with the evening commute. This improvement resulted in the
elimination of a 75‐ft bicycle lane segment along eastbound Arastradero Road immediately east
of McKellar Lane. This bicycle lane segment did not exist prior to the trial project so the loss of
the bike lane is not an adverse impact in relation to the original project condition. Alternatives
to widening Arastradero Road between El Camino Real and Alta Mesa‐McKellar Lane will be
identified during the remainder of the trial project testing period and include enhancements to
the intersection of El Camino Real & Arastradero Road‐Charleston Road similar to those
currently being implemented at the intersection of El Camino Real & Stanford Avenue.
Data collection for the project is on‐going and a second community meeting for the project is
being planned for April. Initial traffic data collected for the project shows a significant increase
in travel times through the corridor as a result of the improvements at Alta Mesa‐McKellar
Lane. The Gunn High School staff has also noted that a modification of bell schedules is under
consideration.
Discussion
Immediately upon implementation of the trial project, data collection started to help track the
effects of the project. Vehicle volumes are similar in both the previous and project conditions
at about 18,000 vehicles per day or 1,600 vehicles during the peak morning and evening
commute hours. The most appropriate measure of the project effectiveness is vehicle travel
speeds along the corridor and are summarized below during various time stages of the project
and weather conditions.
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Table 1
Arastradero Road – Average Travel Time Data
Pre‐Project Condition
Eastbound Westbound
May 2006 Gunn High to
El Camino Real
Gunn High to
Alma St
Alma St to
El Camino Real
Alma St to
Gunn High
AM
School Commute Period
7:35 – 8:00 4’ 48” N/A 8’ 19” 1 N/A
PM
Commute Period
3’ 07” 5’ 58” 2’ 10” 1 3’ 58”
1 – Data prior to Gunn High School Driveway Reconfiguration of 2008
The data in Table 1 was extracted from historical data for the project and represents the
baseline position for the project under a 4‐lane roadway condition. Staff needs to extract pre‐
trial PM travel times from raw data that was not included in our consultant’s 2009 study phase
report, and will present those in or before the next community meeting in May.
Table 2
Arastradero Road – Highest Travel Time Data
Project Condition without Winter Improvements
Fall with Fair Weather and Dry Roads
Eastbound Westbound
Fall 2010 Gunn High to
El Camino Real
Gunn High to
Alma St
Alma St to
El Camino Real
Alma St to
Gunn High
AM
School Commute Period
7:35 – 8:00 6’ 08” 9’ 29” 5’ 16” 12’ 38”
PM
Commute Period
5:15‐6:16 5’ 19” 8’ 07” 2’ 20” 6’ 36”
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Table 3
Arastradero Road – Travel Time Data
Project Condition with Winter Improvements
Wet Weather
Eastbound Westbound
Winter 2010‐11 Gunn High to
El Camino Real
Gunn High to
Alma St
Alma St to
El Camino Real
Alma St to
Gunn High
AM 1
School Commute Period
7:25 – 8:00 7’ 06” 8’ 20” 9’ 35” 16’ 38”
PM 2
Commute Period
4’ 03” 5’ 40” 1’ 40” 7’ 44”
1 – Data from March 2011
2 – Data from January 2011
Table 4
Arastradero Road – Travel Time Data
Project Condition with Winter Improvements
Bell Schedule Changes at Gunn High School
Eastbound Westbound
March 8, 2011 Gunn High to
El Camino Real
Gunn High to
Alma St
Alma St to
El Camino Real
Alma St to
Gunn High
AM
School Commute Period
7:25 – 8:00 5’ 05” 6’ 20” 1’ 05” 5’ 10”
Tables 2 – 4 show the impact that weather conditions can have on Arastradero Road operations
as less students walk or bike to school and are instead chauffeured by parents. Table 2
represents the highest travel time on a typical commute day during fair weather conditions but
it should be noted that this data was collected before the recent winter improvements that
include a capacity increase along Arastradero Road between El Camino Real and 250‐ft West of
Alta Mesa‐McKellar Lane. Table 3 represents the worst case condition with wet weather and
pavement conditions and was taken with the winter improvements completed. Moving across
El Camino Real from Charleston Road is the slowest travel segment, taking up to four cycles to
move through El Camino Real but once on Arastradero Road vehicles move steadily towards
Gunn High School. Table 4 represents an interesting condition with Gunn High School on an
alternative bell schedule that staggers student arrival to the school under the CASHEE exams.
Due to the significant drop in vehicle traffic from high school students, vehicle travel times
along Arastradero Road dropped by one‐third and vehicles traveling across the intersection of
El Camino Real were able to move through the intersection in one cycle.
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Conclusions
No additional roadway striping or civil improvements along Arastradero Road are
recommended at this time so that a fair trial period under the new roadway conditions with
winter improvements may continue. The delay in the completion of some of the trial project
elements and additional enhancements implemented over the winter should be taken into
consideration for an extension of the trial period for an additional 6‐month or 12‐month period.
Staff will finalize a formal recommendation on an extension test period as additional data is
collected in the spring.
The highly positive impact of staggering bell schedules at Gunn High School as noted in Table 4
should be recognized and the option to make permanent bell schedule changes to better shift
vehicle demand periods explored. There are currently four schools on and along Arastradero
Road: Gunn High School, Terman Middle School, Juana Briones Elementary School, and the
private Bowman International School located immediately adjacent to Terman Middle School.
Gunn High School staff notified the City in March that it was exploring an option to move its bell
schedule from a 7:55AM start to time to 8:15AM to match the schedule of PALY. It is the
opinion of the City that a shift to a later start time may have a significant negative impact to
roadway operations along Arastradero Road by causing a conflict with demands of traffic from
Terman Middle School and the Bowman International School which start at 8:10AM and
8:00AM respectively. Staggering of bell schedules has a positive effect on Arastradero Roadway
operations as shown in Table 4 but if a long‐term bell schedule modification is being considered
traffic data should be taken into consideration. Staff will make available its traffic data being
collected in late‐March with the PAUSD staff. A formal request now by staff to the PAUSD will
also be submitted requesting our participation in the bell schedule modification decision.
Timeline
The Arastradero Road – Trial Restriping Project is scheduled for a one‐year trial evaluation
period that ends in August 2011. As additional traffic data for the project continues into the
Spring, staff will formalize its recommendation on whether an extension of the trial restriping
period is appropriate given the positive effects of recently installed improvements and options
for staggering of bell schedules of schools along Arastradero Road. A community meeting will
be scheduled prior to the end of the school year, and a report will be presented to Council prior
to the August recess.
Resource Impact
This project is currently funded from the City’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP) and no
additional resources are being requested.
Policy Implications
The Arastradero Road – Trial Restriping project is consistent with the City Council’s policy
recommendations in the approval of the Charleston Avenue‐Arastradero Road Corridor Plan.
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Environmental Review
The City Council adopted a mitigated negative declaration for Phase One (Charleston Road) and
Phase Two (Arastradero Road) in 2004 as part of the Charleston Avenue‐Arastradero Road
Corridor Plan in 2004.
Prepared By: Jaime Rodriguez, Chief Transportation Official
Department Head: Curtis Williams, Director
City Manager Approval: James Keene, City Manager