ITEM 10-B
Council Meeting: August 11, 1992
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: City Staff
SUBJECT: Adoption of a Resolution Certifying the Final
Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for the Proposed
Cloverfield Boulevard Widening Project
Introduction
This staff report provides City Council with information
regarding status of the Cloverfield Boulevard Widening Project
(Santa Monica Freeway to north of Colorado Avenue) including the
recommendation that Council adopt a resolution certifying the
Final Environmental Impact Report (Attachment A) and direct staff
to proceed with property acquisition, design and advertisement of
the project improvements.
Background
Cloverfield Boulevard is a north/south Highway situated in the
southeast quadrant of the City of Santa Monica. The Boulevard is
located between Santa Monica Boulevard on the north and Ocean
Park Boulevard on the south.
Cloverfield Boulevard north of the Santa Monica Freeway is one of
the City's most important arterial roadways as it serves not only
the Special Office District but also the hospital area and
significant employment and residential areas on the east side of
the City. The approved EIR for the Water Gardens Development
recommended widening of Cloverfield Boulevard from the Santa
Monica Freeway to north of Colorado Avenue as one of the
mitigation measures for the existing and projected traffic from
that development and the general commercial area that it
includes.
Participation in widening of Cloverfield Boulevard was included
in three separate development agreements including Water Gardens,
the Arboretum (Lowe Development) and Colorado Place.
The proposed project includes pavement widening on both the
easterly and westerly sides of Cloverfield, partial narrowing of
26th Street between Cloverfield Boulevard and Olympic Boulevard,
east bound on-ramp and west bound off-ramp modifications at the
Santa Monica Freeway which may include the addition of an HOV
lane on the on-ramp and removal of the two lane constriction on
the off-ramp. The project also includes new street trees, new
sidewalks, relocated street lights, upgraded and synchronized
traffic signals, and modifications to the existing storm drainage
system to accommodate the widening.
On October 25, 1988, City Council authorized Staff to proceed
with initial studies required to determine the feasibility of
widening Cloverfield Boulevard to provide an additional lane of
traffic in each direction; authorized the City Manager to
negotiate and execute any contracts necessary to initiate the
proposed traffic improvements; and appropriated $200,000 from
traffic mitigation fees paid by the Water Gardens development to
fund surveys, appraisals and environmental study contracts. Upon
completion of these studies, Staff was to return to Council for
authorization to proceed with the construction phase of the
project.
Subsequent to the Council's action in late 1988, staff undertook
preliminary engineering of the widening project which included
survey of all existing improvements, field and underground
utility investigations, initial alignment studies, right-of-way
acquisition drawings and descriptions, striping and geometric
plans, and preliminary property appraisals.
After the preliminary designs were complete, the environmental
review process began. This process included the study of
alternatives to the widening of Cloverfield Boulevard. A
detailed analysis of that process follows.
CEQA Compliance
The environmental review process began in March, 1991 with the
preparation of an Initial Study for the proposed project. The
Initial Study determined that the proposed project could have a
significant adverse impact on the environment and that an
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) should be prepared. On April
18, 1991, a Notice of Preparation of an EIR was issued and
published in the Evening Outlook. A public scoping meeting was
held on April 27, 1991, for the purpose of identifying areas of
concern and to develop alternatives for the proposed project EIR.
On April 23, 1992, a Draft EIR was released for a 45 day public
review period ending on June 8, 1992. During this period, eleven
comment letters were submitted. Comments were received from the
California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), City of Los
Angeles, Mid-City Neighbors, Land Use Committee of Friends of
Sunset Park, and other Santa Monica residents. Most comments
addressed traffic and circulation issues, neighborhood impacts,
and funding sources. Comment letters in support of the proposed
project were also received, including a second letter from
Caltrans received on July 17, 1992 (see Attachment B). The Final
EIR includes responses to all comments and was released on July
29, 1992.
The Final EIR concludes that implementation of the proposed
project will generate short-term, significant construction
related impacts for traffic, air quality, and noise; however,
these short-term impacts can be mitigated and therefore no
significant impacts would occur as a result of the project.
There would be no long-term negative environmental impacts, nor
significant adverse cumulative impacts. The significant impacts
prior to mitigation and proposed mitigation measures for the
proposed Cloverfield Boulevard Widening Project are discussed
below.
The Final EIR also includes analysis in the areas of traffic and
circulation, air quality, noise, public services and utilities,
neighborhood effects, fiscal impacts, risk of upset, construction
effects and right of way. The Final EIR concludes that all
potentially significant impacts can be mitigated.
Traffic
Preparation of the Final EIR on the Cloverfield Boulevard
Widening Project began in March, 1991. Since that time, the City
Council has mandated that all future traffic analyses shall
utilize the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) methodology. However,
because the Cloverfield traffic study was underway prior to the
decision of Council, the Cloverfield EIR uses the Critical
Movement Analysis (CMA) methodology to analyze the traffic
impacts.
A comprehensive traffic analyses was completed for the
Cloverfield Boulevard Widening Project Final EIR. Analyses of
existing and future traffic conditions were performed at 29
intersections during AM and PM peak periods. The traffic
analyses uses the term "Level of Service" (LOS), which describes
the quality of traffic flow. LOS A through C represents good,
relatively unrestricted traffic flow conditions. LOS D is
typically the level for which a metropolitan area street system
is designed. LOS E represents volumes at or near the capacity of
the highway which will result in possible stoppages of momentary
duration and fairly unstable flow. LOS F occurs when a facility
is overloaded and is characterized by stop-and go traffic with
stoppages of long duration. The study results indicated that in
1991, there was one intersection operating at Level of Service E,
and one intersection at Level of Service F operating during the
AM peak period. During the PM peak period, five intersections
operated at Level of Service E, and three intersections at Level
of Service F.
The standard of significance used in evaluating traffic impacts
in the Final EIR, considered a significant impact when the
increase in Volume/Capacity ratio was 0.02 or greater, or the
intersection was projected to operate at a level of service of E
or F either before or after the addition of project traffic.
The future traffic impacts of planned development (the year
2002/with no Cloverfield widening), were compared to the existing
1991 traffic conditions. Based on this comparison, during the AM
peak hour period, six of the intersections will be operating at
Level of Service E, and another five will be operating at Level
of Service F. During the PM peak hour period, three
intersections will be operating at Level of Service E, and nine
will be operating at Level of Service F.
The future traffic impacts with the widening were compared to
future traffic impacts without the widening. This analysis
concluded that during the AM peak period four of the eleven
Level of Service E and F intersections will be improved to a
Level of Service D or above. During the PM peak period, three of
the twelve Level of Service E and F intersections will be
improved to a Level of Service D or above. Only one
intersection, located at the intersection of Cloverfield
Boulevard and Santa Monica Boulevard, will be significantly
impacted during the PM peak period by the proposed project
improvements. This impact can be mitigated by installing an
eastbound right-turn-only lane on Santa Monica Boulevard at
Cloverfield Boulevard. Implementation of this mitigation measure
will reduce this impact to a less-than-significant level, and
result in beneficial impacts.
Air Quality
The Final EIR analyzes the short and long term air quality
impacts of the proposed project. Without mitigation, the
pollutant emissions projected to occur from the short-term
construction-related activities of the proposed project may
temporarily exceed federal and state standards.
Short-term construction-related activities such as clearing,
excavation and grading operations, vehicle traffic on unpaved
ground, and wind blowing over exposed earth surfaces may generate
dust at and near the project site. These construction-related
activities are considered a significant impact during the
construction period. This significant impact can be mitigated by
following measures that have been developed by the South Coast
Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD). Implementation of the
proposed mitigation would reduce this impact to a
less-than-significant level.
Noise
The Final EIR analyzes the existing noise conditions, short-term
construction-related noise impacts, and long-term impacts from
vehicular traffic noise for the proposed project area. The
long-term noise impacts were projected to occur from increased
traffic flow capacity. These impacts were determined to be not
significant.
However, increased ambient noise levels associated with temporary
construction activities of the proposed project would result in
significant, short-term noise impacts. This significant impact
can be mitigated by requiring contractors to submit evidence that
all construction vehicle or equipment within 1,000 feet of a
dwelling shall properly operate and maintain mufflers, locate
stockpiles and vehicle staging areas as far as practicable from
dwellings, and comply with the City of Santa Monica noise
ordinance. Implementation of this mitigation measure would
reduce this impact to less-than significant.
EIR Alternatives
Section VI of the Final EIR analyzed four alternatives to the
proposed project:
1) No Project;
2) Reversible Lanes;
3) One Way Streets, and
4) New Freeway Ramps at 20th Street.
The evaluation of these alternatives compared to the proposed
Cloverfield Boulevard Widening Project, are based on potential
adverse environmental impacts and attainment of project
objectives. The project objectives are as follows: 1) improve
traffic circulation in the area; 2) improve traffic safety; 3)
reduce pollution resulting from idling cars; 4) make existing and
approved developments easily accessible; and 5) minimize traffic
impacts on residential areas caused by new developments.
No Project
This alternative assumes that Cloverfield Boulevard would remain
unchanged from existing conditions, but development in the
surrounding area would continue as presently expected. The
environmental impacts to utilities and public services, fiscal,
and risk of upset sections, associated with the proposed project
would not occur.
As previously discussed in the traffic section of the Final EIR,
the future traffic analyses results for the No Project
alternative indicates that there will be some degradation in
overall traffic operating conditions.
This alternative would result in adverse air quality impacts,
noise and neighborhood impacts greater than the proposed project.
This alternative does not meet the project objectives.
Reversible Lanes
This alternative would use present lane configurations and
implement "reversible lanes" on Cloverfield Boulevard.
Reversible lanes could be achieved manually, or by special
striping and overhead signage. The center traffic lane along
Cloverfield Boulevard could provide an additional (three total)
northbound lanes in the morning peak period, and could be
reversed for the afternoon peak period for southbound lanes. The
lane configurations for the AM and PM peak traffic period are
identified in the Final EIR. This alternative would have the
same neighborhood effects as the proposed project, and no impacts
to Risk of Upset are expected.
Compared to the project, this alternative would cause additional
significant traffic impacts at two study intersections during the
AM peak period, and an additional intersection during the PM peak
period.
Although there are some potential advantages, reversible lanes
can be confusing, require additional surveillance and enforcement
and can be labor intensive. The short-term effect of motorist
confusion with this alternative would be potentially significant.
This alternative as a means of addressing the long-term traffic
congestion problems is not a practical approach to the problem.
However, this alternative is expected to increase the Level of
Service beyond the No Project alternative.
This alternative has potentially significant impacts on air
quality, noise, and utilities and public services that are
greater than the proposed project. This alternative generally
meets the project objectives.
One-Way Streets
This alternative assumes conversion of portions of Cloverfield
Boulevard, 26th Street, and Broadway to a one-way operation to
form a "loop" of one-way streets with traffic flowing in a
counterclockwise direction around the loop. Some additional
widening may need to occur and traffic signals would need to be
modified. This alternative is expected to have fewer impacts
than the proposed project for utilities and public services, risk
of upset, and total costs.
The changes to the street system and traffic flow patterns would
cause significant impacts at five intersections during the AM
peak period, and at two intersections in the PM peak period.
Compared to the proposed project, this alternative would have
three more intersections operating at Level of Service F in the
AM peak period, and the same number of Level of F intersections
during the PM peak period. This alternative does not provide
significant advantages over the proposed project, and the adverse
impacts of this alternative would increase travel distances and
diverted traffic may use short-cuts though other residential
areas.
Although the short-term construction related impacts to air
quality and noise are less than the proposed project, the
increased vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and diversion into
residential neighborhoods, may result in greater air quality and
noise impacts than the proposed project. As a result, the
neighborhood effects are potentially greater than the proposed
project.
The long-term impacts of this alternative meet project objectives
1,2,3 and 4, whereas, the long-term neighborhood impacts do not
meet objective 5.
New Freeway Ramps
This alternative assumes that new freeway ramps would be added at
20th Street to compliment the easterly freeway ramp movements
that exist at Cloverfield Boulevard. A westbound off-ramp and
eastbound on-ramp would be added to provide a "full diamond"
interchange at 20th street. Also, a variation of this
alternative, the installation of frontage roads along the freeway
between the existing ramps at Cloverfield Boulevard and 20th
Street, in lieu of the new ramp was analyzed.
This alternative compared to the no project alternative, would
significantly impact three of the traffic study intersections
during both the AM and PM peak periods. Additionally four
intersections would be significantly impacted during the PM peak
period. Also, this alternative compared to the Project
alternative, would cause an additional two intersections to
operate at Level of Service F in the AM peak period, and one
additional intersection during the PM peak period. The
additional Level of Service F operating intersections, would have
greater air quality impacts than the proposed project.
Although, this alternative would lessen traffic in surrounding
areas and provide needed linkages, it would increase ramp
demands, require additional traffic signal phasing, and cause
significant degradation of operating conditions without providing
an easy or inexpensive means to resolve these requirements. The
fiscal impacts of this alternative would require a economic
feasibility study to analyze the potential cost benefits.
This alternative would have short-term construction-related
impacts, and the long-term impacts would meet project objectives
1,2,3 and 5.
The Final EIR concluded that the proposed Cloverfield Boulevard
Widening Project is the most beneficial traffic project compared
to the alternatives analyzed.
Budget/Fiscal Impact
As of June 30, 1992, the mitigation fee balance from the Water
Gardens and Colorado Place developments less funds to Finance
continuing traffic mitgation-related Capital Improvement projects
totals $5,612,288.
The cost of the proposed project including right-of-way
acquisition, widening of Cloverfield Boulevard and Freeway on/off
ramp modifications is estimated at $6,000,000.
Currently funds in the amount of $3,527,125 are available for
this project in the following budgeted CIP Accounts:
Account No. Amount___
01-770-415-25191-8917-99145 3,436,070
01-770-416-25190-8917-99145 91,055
TOTAL $3,527,125
It is requested that City Council appropriate an additional
$2,472,875 from the mitigation fee balance in order to complete
the project as proposed: $2,472,875 to Account No.
01-770-415-25191-8917-99145.
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council:
1. Adopt the attached resolution certifying the Final
Environmental Impact Report for the Cloverfield Boulevard
Widening Project.
2. Authorize the City Manager to complete the design of the
project improvements, negotiate and purchase the necessary
right-of-way and advertise the project for bidding.
3. Appropriate $2,472,875 from the traffic mitigation fee
balance to the capital improvement account specified above.
Prepared by: Stan Scholl, Director of General Services
Tony Antich, City Engineer
Suzanne Frick, Planning Manager
Patrice Holiway, Assistant Planner
Attachments: Resolution Certifying Final EIR (Attachment A)
State of California Department of Transportation
Letter dated July 17, 1992 (Attachment B)
FEIR (Attachment C)