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Home My WebLink About0221.094j (I , , , ~~"*~~~b:-;~'>:'~~':;!;~~::':''')!:!':~i.-''''~.'f~"",''':,'''_ , •. _";';: April 7, 1994 HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL ~alo Alto, California Ventura N~J...ghbQrhQod~~ffic St\L(jy Members of the Council: o This is an informational staff report summarlz1ng data collection and staff findings for the Ventura Neighborhood Traffic Study. No Council action is required. REPORT IN BRI&P In response to traffic concerns raised by Ventura neighbol.'hood representatives, twenty-four hour traffic volumes, speed surveys and a through traffic survey ''''ere conducted in the Ventura !leighborhood in 1993. Staff's expressed intent was to collect and analyze the data and only take further action, including bringing the issue before council for forMal. discussion and direction if tho data indicate,d an obvious problelTl. A comparison of traffic volumes and speeds with volumes and ~peeds in other parts of ,Palo Alto indicates that they are similar or lo, ... er than those generally found in other neighborhoods I and the inrtount of through traffic is minimal (actual figures shown in Table 2). Thus, staff is not bringing this item to the council for consideration on a City council agenda. B~CP;GROt1ND In-1992 Ms. Odile Disch-Bhadkamkar, a representative of the Ventura Neigllborhood Association, cont~cted the: Transportation Division and expressed her concern about traffic voh.lffies and speeds in the Ventura neighborhood. Staff subsequently met with her and a group of residents to disc'uss these concerns. At that time staff agreed to collect some field data in this neighborhood to identify potential problems and to help assess the extent to which problems existed. following the neighborhood meeting, and in cooperation with Hs. Pisch-Bhadkamkar , the area of stUdy was defined as the area bounded by Lambert Avenue, EI Camin'J Real, Meadow Drive and Park Boulevard (Attachment 1), Staff also presented locations for the 24-hour traffic volume counts j speed surveys, and the through traffic CMR:221:94 \ surv&ys that we proposed to conduct. staff's expressed intent was to collect and ~nalyzc the data and only take further action, illcluding bringing the issue bp,fore Council for discus$ioh and dir-ection .. if the data indicated a problem. Before staff" began collecting datal and in response to a request by Ms. Disch- 8hadkarnkar , staff replaced the 24 inch stop signs with 30 inch stop signs at all intersections within the study area, and posted 25 mph e:peed limit signs on Matactero and Wil-ton Avenues. P'~TA COLLECt'ION Twenty-four ...l.f.2.uLTra f f S. c COJm1.i! 1'w()tlty-fo\.lr hour traffic volume counts were collected in March 1993 at ten locations as shown below and in Attachment 2. 'rhe volumes ranged fron a low of 159 on Ash Street, to a high--of 1,347 on Park Boulevard. All of the streets where traffic counts were collected, ore clas:sified as local streets. Staff compared the traffic volu~es froT.'l Ventura neighborhood streets with traf-fic volumes from othsr local streets in P.fllo Alto (see Attachment 3), and found that traffic volu~es in the ventura neighborhood are not unusually high. Table I. 24~h(}ur Tr~ffic Volumes 24-hour Trame SHeets and Segments Counlcd Counl -------~="=--====-==~~~-===~=-~~==~==~=-=:~! Birch Street, between Lambert Avenue and Chestnul Avenue 731 -----------;1----"'-'-----11 Ash Sireet, betwe,.en Lambert Avenue and CneSliltl t A venue Orinda Avenue, be--lweell Margarita A .... enue and Maladero Avenue Margarita A \fen ue. east of El Ca m ina Real Willon Avenue, e.aS( of E! Camino Rf'AiI wmon Ayenue, belween'.'!)rinda Avenue and Park Boulevard Park Boulevard, between Wilton Avenue and Curtner Avenue Park Boulevard, north of Me.adow Drive Second Street, north of Mcadow Drive CHR: 221,94 159 639 569 671 598 1,199 1,347 1,248 4/7/94 Page 2 .. l o In order to assess the levol ¢f through traffic in the neighborhood, a 1 icense plato survey was conducted in May 1993. ',rnroug'h traffi" in. dGfincd as traffic with neither origin nor destination -within th~ specific study area. The surveys were conducted during the ~ornin9 and evening peak commute and travel periods (1:3:0 a.~. to 9:30 a.al and ,4:30 p.m. to 6t.30 p.m.), when conqestion occurs on the adjacent arterials. Tho extent of through traffic at each ga.te during: the ~{"Irnin9 and evening two-hour pet'iod is &ho'W'n below, o,J1d in A.ttachDont ~. Table :2, Th{l,.lvgh 1'1 ~m~ Su r ... ·q Slim mary '. " (hIe: O~"!klf)) AM 1',-" (7;IT!:~ PM Pu, (4:30-{):JO p.m.) ------- Tt~.al Thru PII!(.;en\ Tnl~1 Thru Percent -------~---..... -----------. nip" T.ip50 ____ "!!:~_ .. ___ Tri~:_ Trips Thru Eir..:h Stnet O'It l.am~('f1 g9 I) 15 179 27 15 A.,,-e-m.l~~ A~h S((,-'"" e! Lamlxfl !\woue 10 0 0 ZS 8 32 Mugariu A'"tnut H Et 66 12 IS 'iO 13 26 C.!Jnil'~) RClI Wilhm" An'ClLJe 31 FJ C;ainioo 8~ 1 1 100 4 4 Rt.ll Park: »Oule-varo al Meadow 155 7 5 276 5 2 O,h-e . S~"'-.~oo SHe.ei: at MU<kIw 218 10 5 194 7 4 O,h'e: L Willde Way al Memw Dri\-,t 19 • 5 58 4 7 -, . - TOTAI.S 705 '8 7 912 78 8 Thes~ data indicate "that overall seven parcent of the traffic in th~ l!l.ornLnq peak pa-rlod and eight perc£!i1t of the t~ .. affic in the evening peak -pel."'iOt.i is through tr..eaffic. The greatest percentage of throuCjJh traffic was registered on Margarita Avenue at El Camino Roal in the lttorning and on Ash Street at Lambert Avenue in the evening. The throuqh traffio in this neighborhood was compared to other neiqhb(n:hood studies, such as Hamilton Avenue, Southgate, and EVergreen Park, and the restllts are shown belo,"J: Cml: 221 :94 4/7/94 Page :} o Location Hamilton AVEnue Southgate Evergreen Park L:ttton Avenue Pcrcont Through :trALti.<L !/ The abov~ data indicate that; throUl;th t"'aff ic within th is study area is substantially lower than t.hat found in ,,",any othol." noiqllborhooos. ~SurveYf! Speed surveys were dOll,.;!" in April 1~9) fit f( ur locations .... ithin tho Btudy at'ea, as shown below: .Hatadero Avenuo Orinda Avenue Wilton Avenue Second Street (200 bll;) (3500 I>H;) (200 b)~.l 8~th Percentile §p~jHl$ ___ ~. ('6.8 nph 24. 8 ~ph 29.0 ~ph 31.1 ~ph Surveys were done during the .... cekdC'l)·s. 'fhl('.sc survoys indic.lte th<'tt traffic in the neighborhood tr~vels at preva,i) ing ~p(>c-ds in the range of 24.S mph to ]1.1 mph, as conp;\red with the pdna racie speed limit of 25 mph on resjdential stl:eet.tJ.. The cOl:'lparison bn 1 0\0,' of Ventura neighborhood speeds with speeds in othel' parts of P~,lo Alto indicates that these speeds are Im.'el' th.lll thos() qenerally found in other neiqnborhoods: Palo Alto Avenue between Chaucer and Hale Lytton Avenue between Seneca and Guinda Barron Avenue east of Cass Way LaOonna Avenue south of Paul Avenue Marion Avenue between Middlefield and COwper Lagun()_ Avenue north of Barron Avenue * Prior to measures being implerocnted tu discourage through traffic. CMR:221:94 8~th PercontilE' .s:P._~.{tlj_~ __ . ___ ., 10 mph J3 "ph l3 mph 32 mph 31 l1Iph 4/7/94 Page 4 .. --," --, .'::'"(,,;", .'. :) o Traffic Acc~ In addition to the above data, traffic accidents reported to the Police Department from January 1988 to December 1991 wO"re reviowed . . During the four year period, a total of 44 accidents .... ·ere roportod in this' neighborhood (0 in 1988 1 13 in 1989, 12 in 1990 ilnd 9 in 1991), as shown in Attachment 5. Nost of the accidents were related to people backing in or out of driv.eways or start.ing trol1l a parked positicn~ Although Park Boulevard carries a moderate amount' of bicycle traffic, there wero no reports of accidents 011 Park Boulevard involving bicycles. The accident history doos not indicate any significant pattern of accidents related to throu!'jh" traffic, or accidents of a type that co'uld be resolved by engineering solutions. OTHER CONCERNS stop Siqoji Staff reviewed the existing stop si9n installations within the neighborhood, to evaluate whether additional stop signs should be installed for visibility and safety l'easons. No Visibility problems were observed, and the accident history does not indicate any right-ot-way problems that could be cOr:t.'ected by installation of additional stop signs. Attachment 6 shows the curJ:"ent stop signs in the neighborhood. As is evident. from the -map. most intersections within the core of this neighborhood have uAII way11 stops, except the intersections of Second Street at Hacl<me street and Birch street at Chestnut Avenue. These intersection::! do not Ineet the normal UGuard and Go" or caltrans criteria for installing stop signs l and they l,ave no safety or visibiLity problems. Bike safety on P~~~e~~r-g The issue of bike safety on Park Bouleva.rd did not surface in earlier staff discussion with naighborhood representatives. However, staff was recently made aware that the neighborhood is concerned about bike' safety on Park Boulevat'd. Park Boulevard is a marked bike route north of Lambert Avenu~, anti, the entire length of Park is identified on the P~lo Alto Dikeway Master Plan. The route is used by many cyclists as an alternative to EI camino Real or Alma Street. Park BouleVard already has barriel's to vehicular traffic, therefore, it has many of the characteristics of a "bicycle boulevard ll • Staff has discussed with the Palo Alto Bicycle Advisory Commit~ee, adding this section of Park Boulevard to the city's designated bike routes. Funding for this 'project has been inCluded in the proposed 1994-95 CIP, as part of the "Bikeway System Improvements" project. The type of ht1provement anticipated includes adding signing. ,d thout making il:ny other changes, and designating Park Boulevard as a bike route. CMR:221:94 .. ,., . 4/7/94 Page 5 \ ." ·~ ..... , :.' '-,., •. >-.,' .,' ' .. : () ",. other options include addintJ bike lanes on t.he wider section of Park {the width of the street varies from 30 to 40 feet), but would necessitate restricting parking on one ~ide of the, street during tile day~ 'lhe. 30 foot scction (frorll IVilton to Lambert) is too narrow for bike lanas. Some minor modifications to th~ existing barriers could be considered to provide better-access for bikes, as well as restricting parking dire.ctly adjacent to the barrie.rs. Staff has not yet discussed with the neighborhood what, if any, changes would need to be made on Park to upgrade it to a bike route (other than signing as contemplated by staff) " Staff intends to address any specific neighborhood bike issue in the context of the eIP project. PINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS In Sult\mary, a review of the data collected indicates that: 1. The 24-hour traffic volumes within the neighborhood are not unusually high; :L Through traffic is low, and substantially lower than in many other neigllborhoods; 3. The prevailing speeds are re('lsonable, and 10",'e1' than those generally found in other neighborhoodsj 4. 'I'he accident history does not indicate any s,igni ficant PQttern of accidents. GiVen the moderate level of traffic volumes, low level of through tt'affic intrusion and speeding, no additiomtJ traffic control measureR are proposed for the V~ntura neighborhood, unless directed otherwise by the City Council. Respectfully submitted, AS 1l0K AG GIIRI'1A L City Traffic Engj ne'er KENNf:1'1I R. SCIIRErBER Director ot Planning J~ and Community Environment ci t.y Manager Attachments: 1. Study Area M~p 2. Twenty-four Hour Traffic Volumes 3. 'I'raffie Volumes on other Palo Alto Streelts 4. Through Traffic Volumes 5. Area Accident History 6. stop Intersection Hap cc: octile Disch-Bhadkamkar, Ventura Neighborhood ~ssociation CMR,221,94 . ;".",',>. , ,'J' 4/7/9' Page' 6 . , I ·" '.' . • , STUDY AREA BOUNDARY .. -\ LEGEND 8A.RRIER· PREVENTS SOUTHBOUND TRAFFIC BARRIEA-PAEV~NTS NORnlBOUNO TRAFFIC A.N 0 REQUIRES S.BND. 3. ~.8NO. TRAFFIC 'TO TURN NOT TO SCALE c:to lUll I ~ III I , "i' ';.-' ' H CAMINO RUt. 24 HOUR TRAFFIC VOLUMES ;, -~ U "(HJ,. TOUL rj .... ~'lc NOT TO SCALE --- ---•. _. "-->~-. -'.,>7--"" .. '<-" ,-. . " o ATTACHMENT 3 HAImES OF TWO-WAY AVERAGE WEEKDAY DAILY TRAffIC VOlUHES. (ADIs) MEASURED ON RESIDENTIAL LOCAL AND COLLECTOR StREEtS Local Strents AddiSon wi Emerson (1990) Barron wi Whitsell (1986) Bryant sl Channing (1990) Edgewood 01 Rhodes (1989) Bryant sl Oregon Exp (1989) Chaucer nj Hamilton (1988) College oj E1 Camino (1985) Colorado el Naverley (1989) Colorado el Cowpe~ (1989) Cowper sl Colorado (1989) Donald nl Arastradero (1985) Greer at Haddux (1987) La Donna n/ San Jude (1986) lIncol" sl Hamilton (1988) Harion el Cowper (1989) Maybell wi Th. i n ~ay (1986) IIewe11 sl Seale (1985) Monroe at Monroe (1985) Ramona sl Channing (1990) Ross sl Ames (1990) Talisman el Ross (1990) lI.vodey at E. Meadow (1988) Waverley slOregon Exp (1989) Webster el Marion (1989) Bryant sl Homer (J989) lincoln wi lIaverley (1990) /lawthorne wi M'fle1d (1988) Everett wi M'fle1d (l988) Co·.pe.· s/ Oregon Exp (l989) 'Not'li IN PALO ALTO' 1565 1300 1390 330 1290 1200 1815 1010 2355 2240 470 1700 1445 1600 65~ 2010 2090 690 600 2290 410 485 1135 280 2C40 920 1990 1900 2510 .willW:..llifili f;m,r.nh s/ Cerell (1980! Z090 Wavedey nl ['Ilbarc (1990 4115 Waverl<'y sl Channfns (J988) 3130 Callfornh w/ Yale (1986) 7190 California el H'fl.ld(J985) 3000 Channing wi Center 119881 4815 Guinda oj lIa~l1ton J988 U20 Co"lwlle nl Mastr 1986) 1620 /I,r-I1ton el /I'fleld (1988) 3900 Lona Verde el Ross (IS901 2810 Loul s .1 Colo,.do (1989 4850 Louis sl CalifornIa (1985l 3320 Co10r.do ./ /I'fleld (1989 6525 l Robles "/ VII Vista (1989) 5585 Hatadero wI E1 C"lno (198&) 2300 Maybell wi Aoarant, (1986) 2905 lie.e 11 nl E~b"c aJoro (1988) 7680 /Iew.ll el Hamflton (1988) 2600 E. Headoll el AI .. (1989) 9310 E. Headow ./ H'fleld (1989) {890 Park Blvd el El C •• lno (1989) 810 Churchill '/EI C.mlno (1989lIO)]5 Churchill wi Waverley (1989 2250 1/. Cal if wi H'fleld (19891 1715 N. Calif 01 H'fie1d (1989 3510 La9U". nl San Jud. (1986) 1050 St.nford wI Bo~oln (1889) 8400 (J9x~) • year of measurement; sl, n/, el, wi, south of, etc. Examples Include highest and lowest exIsting me.surements for eaCh categol'Y; howaver, oth~r streets not measured could hava highet" or lower (ounts. Though this list does include most residential collector streets In PalQ Alto, .It does nQ1 include most loe,l streets. ADTs have not been measured on most local streets. Many 10c.l streets not sholln on this list would be expected to ha,. ADTs of less th.n 500. CS 6/4/90 (Revised 11/20/90) ., '·'r." \ ' !..EGEND lUllIlUNG .' JlO'''' IIHIIY "'UflC O~lY O,U'I,"', d:S(WOIIIIIIIU t MOVII T01.H II.U·',HI CDl4(1 C~140 '\ I!YUIINO t HOll ... fOUL (4 3C·~ 101 trf~U'H. t IIOt.lll HUlY TfI""'IIC OIH~ 11,10-1,101_ ·0 ...... r .. I ••• e,!-n .. I.d'it .. or , .... tl G ••••• ~tll ?I. , ..... , •• Iohlll.,-, e,'1 ... , ., .,. .. 1.,. -------.------------_.. --- :. ,'- MORNING AND EVENING PEAK TWO HOUR THRU & TOTAL TRAFFIC VOLUMES N" Nor ro SCAl.E ~-t: I t t:t r1~11-t--4-;1~f:;i~l-t f tot t:::t:::H:::t::t::f:::t_l_t t.f-I * • t t ~-~ t I ~-I t -t 1·1 t t II ~ 11-11: *1--;-1: -t J.-+~ 1 t * II t l II I .} II ll'l-' '*"FF.f:-i:=*4---t4::t ~ *t:t-II t-r-t:1 t-!:::t: ~ i 11-t::t:i=14·t*t 1-*",1 + 1ft t t-, to t t-. Itt t -f II t t ITt-.:! I:..t:-t---t t::;4::l-1 l-'-I ; t 'll' , --'-----R-1~?~I"'-~-Y ""'~'~7"~"~' U ;;;, "'l'---~--lr".J.J· .. ~:.~ r ] IIIIOM U _ "'" -I --I --~.'" I it/e. - ["'''~J l ITlI -------1 r-IEL CAMINO AI:AL WIUON N / eUR"n" N 4/100 'l'rHIUU. ~J L._ ----~~-~ VEIIfY,,'" ~ W. wueow -·--·---./-·-··~·"i-lcli.tl~·i)···w.v ""Z.: __ ._~-=----------- ,-". , c,' , \ ',) o ATTACHMENT 5 AREA ACCIDENT HISTORY -,-=-==- ) ACCIDENT SUMMARY - Street 1988 1989 1990 1991 -- r_·_Y·",_81'd-2 1 2 0 f----Birch St. , 0 1 --0 1"----- Orinda St. 0 0 0 0 __ ------- Second $1. 0 0 0 0 -- :---__ ~~.~ Way_ 0 0 0 --_ __ 0_ _~ __ ~~bert A~._. --0 1 --~_3 0 Chl!5tnul Aile. 0 0 0 0 __ ~ndoA~~_ 1 0 I ..0- Maroa rita Ave. --I --' 1 1 1------- Matadero Ava. I 1 0 2 WIlton Ave. 2 0 0 '-------- Curtner Ave. 1 4 4 5 __ - Vcntu/a Ave. 0 5 0 0 Ventu1a Ct. 0 0 0 0 M(lcLane Ave. 1 0 0 0 : ... il r ~··ST~P SION I • BARRIER-PREVENTS SOUrHBO!JND TRA.FFIC , BA.RRIER-PAEVf:NTS NORTHBOUND 'TRAF"FIC AND REQUIRes S.UND. 3; E.8ND. TRAFfiC TO '.IURN IIOT TO SCALEi G. I . , .. _;-. ;. . ".