ITEM 9-A
Council Meeting, May 12, 1992
To: Mayor and City Council
From: City Staff
Subject: Neighborhood Traffic Plans
INTRODUCTION
This report provides information to the City Council regarding
the status of the development and implementation of the
Neighborhood Traffic Plans in various parts of the City, and a
request for the Council to provide comments on the concept of
closing 23rd Street at the Santa Monica/Los Angeles city limit.
DISCUSSION
At the April 14th meeting, the Council directed staff to return
with information and recommendations about the Neighborhood
Traffic Plans being developed for various parts of the City.
This is an interim report to update the Council on the current
status of the program.
For several years, staff has been working with groups of
neighbors in various parts of the City to develop and implement
neighborhood traffic plans. A Neighborhood Traffic Plan is the
comprehensive and coordinated implementation of traffic control
measures to address neighborhood traffic concerns. The primary
objective of these plans is to mitigate the volume of "through"
or "bypass" traffic which is traveling or "cutting" through
residential areas.
Currently, staff is actively working on three neighborhood
traffic plans. These are the Mid City area, bounded by Wilshire
Boulevard, Colorado Avenue, 26th Street and Centinela Avenue;
the Pico Neighborhood area, bounded by Exposition Boulevard, Pico
Boulevard, Stewart Street and Centinela Avenue; and the Sunset
Park area, bounded by Pico Boulevard, the south city limit,
Lincoln Boulevard and Centinela Avenue.
The goal of moving "through" or "bypass" traffic out of
residential areas is being addressed with two different
approaches. One is to install traffic control measures on the
residential streets to discourage or divert traffic out of the
neighborhood. The other is to improve the adjacent arterial
highway system to facilitate traffic flow so traffic is not
encouraged to divert through a residential area. The traffic
control measures which are being proposed to meet this goal
include the use of typical types of controls such as stop signs,
parking restrictions, signal improvements, modified roadway
striping and turn restrictions. However, these neighborhood
traffic plans are also considering the use of extraordinary types
of controls such as road closures, traffic circles and traffic
diverters.
As these plans have developed through a community process, it has
been staff's responsibility to monitor the progress of the plans
and to ensure that traffic control measures on one street or area
do not adversely impact residents on another street or in another
area. It is important that the traffic concerns are not simply
shifted to other residents. It is also important to evaluate the
impact of neighborhood traffic plans on a citywide basis, since
it would not be appropriate to provide benefit for one group of
residents at a cost to another group of residents.
Mid City Neighborhood Traffic Plan
As indicated, the Mid City area is bounded by Wilshire Boulevard
on the north, Colorado Avenue on the south, 26th Street on the
west and Centinela Avenue on the east. The primary concerns
included traffic along Arizona Avenue, Broadway and Yale Street.
A plan has been developed in conjunction with a neighborhood
working group. This group is comprised of members of Mid City
Neighbors and other residents.
This plan currently includes the use of stop signs, traffic
diverters, turn restrictions, traffic circles and roadway
restriping. Staff has prepared a report explaining the plan and
sent a copy to every residential unit and business in the
affected area. The Council has also received a copy. Following
the distribution of the report, staff held public informational
meetings for interested parties to discuss the plan and ask
questions. This process took place on April 16th and 20th, 1992.
These meetings were attended by about 80 residents and
businesspersons from the area. Staff will next conduct an
opinion poll to evaluate the sentiment of the residents and
businesspersons about the plan. After the poll is conducted,
staff will bring the Mid City area plan to the Council for its
review and consideration. This presentation is anticipated to
occur in late June. Finally, if the Council approves the plan,
staff will conduct an environmental review of the final plan,
then implement the traffic control measures on a temporary basis,
and monitor their effectiveness.
Pico Neighborhood Traffic Plan
The Pico Neighborhood area is bounded by Olympic Boulevard on the
north, Pico Boulevard on the south, Cloverfield Avenue on the
west and Centinela Avenue on the east. The proposed plan for
this area is about 90% complete. The same neighborhood process
will be followed. Once the plan is complete, a report will be
prepared and distributed, informational meetings will be held, a
poll will be taken and the plan will be brought to the Council.
The anticipated timeline for the Pico Neighborhood is
approximately four to eight weeks behind the Mid City schedule.
Sunset Park Neighborhood Traffic Plan
The Sunset Park area is bounded by Pico Boulevard on the north,
the south city limit, Lincoln Boulevard on the west and Centinela
Avenue on the east. Some of the problem areas in Sunset Park
include the Pearl Street corridor and the north-south collector
street corridors including 11th, 14th, 17th, 20th and 28th
Streets. One of the major areas of concern is the
Cloverfield/23rd/Walgrove corridor.
In April 1991, staff formed a working group to help develop a
neighborhood traffic plan. The group was comprised of five
members each from the Boards of Directors of Sunset Park
Associated Neighbors (SPAN) and Friends of Sunset Park (FOSP).
Also in the group are representatives of the City staff and the
Neighborhood Support Center (NSC). Since April 1991, the group
has conducted bi-weekly meetings to develop a neighborhood
traffic plan. The group has discussed several different
alternatives during this process. Although it is difficult to
judge, at this time it seems the plan is almost complete. There
have been several areas of agreement for the plan. The plan
includes the installation of stop signs, traffic circles,
cul-de-sacs, peak hour parking restrictions, road design
modifications, chokers and the implementation of improved signal
timing on the arterial highways.
Over the past six months, the group has been trying to develop a
proposal to address the Cloverfield/23rd/Walgrove corridor.
There have been several discussions about the closing of 23rd
Street at south city limit and diverting traffic on a newly
constructed roadway through the airport. Both SPAN and FOSP
support the closure 23rd Street and the diversion of traffic
through the airport.
SPAN, however, supports a "parallel" plan which installs other
forms of traffic measures along the corridor while the planning
and design of a closure is pursued. Their plan includes
cul-de-sacing some side streets entering the corridor, but
basically leaving the corridor open to traffic. If this
"parallel" plan reduces the traffic volume on 23rd Street to
7,000 vehicles per day, then the closure process should be
discontinued.
FOSP does not support a parallel program. They are concerned
that if other measures are implemented, the City will never
pursue closing 23rd Street. However, they have provided an
interim plan which they call an "enclave" plan. Briefly, their
enclave concept divides the Sunset Park area into smaller areas
and each area has its own set of traffic measures. In the
Cloverfield/23rd/Walgrove corridor, the "enclave" plan proposes
cul-de-sacing the north/south streets of 21st, 22nd, 23rd,
Cloverfield and 25th north of Ocean Park Boulevard and diverting
traffic to adjacent arterial highways. The "enclave" elements in
the Cloverfield/23rd/Walgrove corridor would be removed when 23rd
Street is closed.
It is staff's position that the closing of 23rd Street is
impractical. The Sunset Park working group is aware of this
position. Cloverfield Boulevard and 23rd Street are designated
as collector streets in the City's Land Use and Circulation
Element (LUCE). The traffic volume goal listed in the LUCE for a
collector street is 15,000 vehicles per day. The current traffic
volume on Cloverfield Boulevard between Pico and Ocean Park is
about 7,300 vehicles per day. On 23rd Street between Pico and
Ocean Park the current traffic volumes area about 10,800 vehicles
per day, and between Ocean Park and the south city limit there is
about 21,400 vehicles per day.
The working group's goal is to reduce these traffic volumes to
"feeder" street traffic volume levels, 7,500 vehicles per day.
For 23rd Street south of Ocean Park Boulevard this means about a
67% reduction in traffic. Staff does not believe this goal is
reasonable or attainable, but believes a 20 to 30% reduction is
reasonable and attainable using more conventional traffic control
measures. In order to achieve the working group's reduction goal
of 67%, the closure of 23rd Street and the diversion of traffic
through the airport is the only measure that could be successful.
However, as indicated, staff does not support the closure of 23rd
Street.
Potential problems about the closure and diversion of traffic on
23rd Street include cost, impact on airport land and operations,
impacts on other streets both in Santa Monica and Los Angeles,
and impacts on other Santa Monica residents outside of the Sunset
Park area that would be affected by the closure. A more detailed
discussion of the concept of closing 23rd Street and constructing
a new street through the airport follows this section.
When a Sunset Park plan is completed, it will follow the same
process to inform and involve the residents as will be done in
the Mid City and Pico Neighborhood areas. Staff recommends
following this process since it is imperative that the plan be
distributed to all of the residents of Sunset Park. A tentative
schedule for implementation of a plan for Sunset Park is in the
fall of 1992, assuming the outstanding issues are resolved by the
end of May. This includes the months of June and July to
distribute and inform the residents about the plan, the month of
August to conduct a poll of the residents, the month of September
to refine the plan, and Council consideration in October or
November.
Closing of 23rd Street and the Diversion of Traffic Through the
Airport on a Newly Constructed Public Street
The closing of 23rd Street to through traffic at the south city
limits and the diversion of Walgrove Avenue traffic onto Airport
Avenue through Santa Monica Airport has a number of serious
implications for the City. The closing of 23rd Street at the
City boundary would result in the diversion of northbound and
southbound through traffic to both Bundy Drive and Lincoln
Boulevard. Staff is concerned about the ability of these streets
to accommodate this additional traffic. The environmental impact
of traffic diversion to these and other streets resulting from
the closure of 23rd Street could be significant. The cost of
construction of a roadway through the airport is significant.
The implications and impact on the airport residual land could be
significant since the city has yet to determine the future uses
of this site. And, the diversion of traffic through other
residential areas both in Santa Monica and Los Angeles could be
significant. Finally, the closing of 23rd Street would have a
Citywide impact to all of the residents of Santa Monica. An
environmental assessment would be necessary.
The proposed conversion of Airport Avenue to a dedicated public
street raises its own set of issues which have not yet been
addressed. The existing roadway is 24 feet in width, except for
approximately 200 feet at the east end near Bundy Drive. In
order for it to be a usable street, safe for general traffic, it
would need to be widened to at least 38 feet, and the pavement
section rebuilt to carry the loads found on major city streets.
This width would allow for one lane of traffic in each direction,
plus a median left turn lane to serve the many driveways and
cross roads in the airport. It is estimated that widening and
improvement of this roadway to acceptable city street standards
would cost around $7,000,000.00, exclusive of right-of-way costs.
If a new public roadway were to be constructed, it can be
expected that the City would need to provide a substitute roadway
for internal circulation within the airport to make up for the
loss of Airport Avenue. Such a roadway should be at least 24
feet wide, the standard for other F.A.A. approved internal roads
recently built on the airport. It would essentially be a
continuation of the perimeter road around the west end of the
runway. It is estimated that the construction of such a roadway,
beginning at the existing perimeter road near the regional
navigation facility, V.O.R., and continuing to the east end of
the airport property, the Aircraft Hangar/Tiedown Area, would
cost approximately $5,000,000.00. Thus, the total amount for
upgrading Airport Avenue to minimum safe and acceptable standards
for a public street, and for constructing a new airport perimeter
road is estimated to be $12,000,000.00. This does not include
any right-of-way costs.
Finally, there is the potential of prolonged conflict and
disagreement over the use of Airport Avenue as a public street.
Such a project is almost certain to be challenged by at least two
identified groups, the airport user interests and the nearby
residents in Los Angeles who live south of the airport. In
addition, it is possible that other Santa Monica residents would
challenge the closing of 23rd Street.
Staff has requested comments from Los Angeles City Councilmember
Ruth Galanter and the City's Department of Transportation. They
will be forwarded to the Council when their comments are
received.
BUDGET/FISCAL IMPACT
At this time there is no budget or fiscal impact to report.
Specific cost estimates will be developed when each individual
neighborhood traffic plan is presented to Council for its
consideration. All of the neighborhood traffic plans are
currently funded by Traffic Mitigation fees received from the
Colorado Place and the Water Gardens developments. The proposal
to close 23rd Street at the Los Angeles boundary has serious cost
implications which will require additional work and funding.
RECOMMENDATIONS
It is recommended the City Council:
1. Direct staff to continue the development and implementation
of neighborhood traffic plans as outlined in this report, and
2. Direct staff to discontinue any further consideration of the
closure of 23rd Street given the cost and traffic implications of
this proposal.
Prepared by: Paul Berlant, Director of LUTM
Ron Fuchiwaki, City Parking and Traffic Engineer
Frank Barnes, Special Projects Engineer