City Council
Meeting: December 11, 2007
Agenda Item: 8-B
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Craig Perkins, Director – Environmental and Public Works
Management
Subject: Approval of Concept Design for the 20th
Street and Cloverfield Boulevard
Street Improvements Project; and Authorization of a Contract Modification for
Design of Street Light Circuit Conversions and Traffic Signal System Modifications
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. approve the concept design for the 20th Street
and Cloverfield Boulevard Street Improvements
Project; and
2. authorize the City Manager to negotiate and
execute a modification to Contract No. 8581 (CCS) with Ahbe Landscape Architects
in an amount not to exceed $99,100, for the design of street light conversions
and traffic signal modifications for the Project.
The 20th Street and Cloverfield Boulevard Street Improvements Project
(Project) provides various streetscape enhancements on 20th Street and Cloverfield Boulevard,
between the Santa Monica Freeway (I-10) and Pico Boulevard. Following several community meetings, the
attached concept design has been developed to address safety, traffic and aesthetic
improvements on these major thoroughfares.
The concept design includes planting of new trees and parkway
landscaping, installation of pedestrian lighting, installation of colored
concrete sidewalk sections, curb extensions on Cloverfield Boulevard, traffic signal
modifications and streetlight circuit upgrades.
The proposed streetscape improvements along Cloverfield Boulevard will reduce the
amount of existing street parking.
Several improvements proposed
in the concept design, including street light circuit upgrades and traffic
signal modifications, were not considered part of the original scope of work
contemplated for this project but have been included to respond to community
concerns. To include this scope of work
requires modifying the professional services agreement with Ahbe Landscape Architects to add the
design of street lighting circuit conversions
from series to multiple and traffic signal upgrades and modifications
consistent with the project concept. With
this amendment, the agreement will be increased by $99,100 and is not to exceed
$549,100. Funds are available in the project
budget to cover this proposed amendment.
Discussion
In 2001, a feasibility study to improve 20th Street
and Cloverfield Boulevard
between I-10 and Pico Boulevard
was prepared. At that time, preliminary
design concepts were developed but not reviewed with the Pico community
stakeholders. Ahbe Landscape Architects
was procured under Contract No. 8581
(CCS) for the design of 20th
Street and Cloverfield Boulevard Improvements
Project. Using the feasibility study as
basis of the preliminary concept design, their first task was to develop a
community involvement program to maximize participation from local stakeholders
in the development of the design concepts for this project. A series of public workshops were conducted
to solicit ideas and concerns from the community and to build a consensus on
the final design concepts for the project.
Based on community input, a concept design has been developed which consists
of elements to improve pedestrian accessibility and safety and aesthetics along
these thoroughfares.
The concept design includes planting of new trees and parkway
landscaping, installation of pedestrian lighting, installation of colored
concrete sidewalk sections, curb extensions on Cloverfield Boulevard, traffic signal
modifications, and streetlight circuit upgrades. The concept design considered the addition of
crosswalks at various locations to improve pedestrian safety. A study evaluating additional crosswalks was
performed. Additional crosswalks at
unsignalized locations were not recommended since the proposed crosswalks would
not improve pedestrian safety.
One of
the key elements of the concept is the installation of curb extensions along Cloverfield Boulevard. Implementing curb extensions will reduce the
number of existing street parking spaces.
The curb extensions are intended to improve the pedestrian experience by
providing a buffer area for parkway landscaping between the sidewalk and
street. Curb extensions must encroach
into the street parking lane since the existing sidewalk is too narrow to
accommodate both an accessible walkway and landscaped parkway. Due to the proposed curb extensions, a
maximum of nineteen of forty-one existing street parking spaces on Cloverfield Boulevard
may be eliminated. The existing parking
spaces on the east side of the street may be reduced from twenty to eleven. The existing parking spaces on the west side
of the street may be reduced from twenty-one to eleven. It may be possible to maintain one or two additional
parking spaces depending on adjustments to the limits of the curb extensions
that will be made during the preparation of bid documents.
The conceptual design indicating reduced
parking on Cloverfield Boulevard
was presented to the community at the August 14, 2007 meeting. The community expressed concerns with the loss
of parking. The potential loss of
parking spaces was discussed with several residents as the trade-off for the
implementation of the streetscape project on Cloverfield Boulevard. Residents understood that the implementation
of landscaped curb extensions would reduce the availability of street parking;
however, they indicated that if possible, the loss of street parking should be
minimized. A survey of parking
availability was conducted on October 25, 2007.
It was recorded that some blocks of Cloverfield Boulevard and adjacent
streets occasionally have no available parking at various times during the day. Additionally, the pending affordable housing
project at High Place proposes the elimination of additional on street parking
approximately 500 feet east of Cloverfield
Boulevard. The
number of parking spaces on 20th
Street does not change since no curb extensions
are proposed.
During the public workshops,
the community expressed concerns about pedestrian lighting and street lighting
in the project area. In order to provide
enhanced lighting in the project area, an upgrade to the existing series
streetlight circuit is necessary. Additionally, traffic signal equipment in the
project area requires upgrades to be consistent with the future Citywide
Advanced Traffic Management System. The
traffic signals at the intersection of the Santa Monica Freeway off-ramp and 20th Street
and the intersection of Pico
Boulevard and 20th Street require complete
upgrades. Minor traffic signal
modifications are also required due to the proposed street improvements at the
intersections of Delaware Avenue
and 20th Street,
Santa Monica Freeway on-ramp and Cloverfield Boulevard,
and Virginia Avenue
and Cloverfield Boulevard. The upgrades to the street lighting circuit
and a portion of the traffic signal modifications are not part of the original
scope of work contemplated for this project.
The current preliminary cost
estimate to construct these additional streetlight and traffic signal upgrades is
$1,200,000. These upgrades, requested by
the community, increased the total project cost to approximately
$6,700,000. During the design
development and bid document phase, staff will identify funding options for these
additional upgrades as well as project scope reduction options to bring the
cost in line with current available funding.
At this time, it appears that the source of additional funds could come
from other existing CIP projects, but may also require some additional General
Fund appropriations.
Previous Council Actions
On April
25, 2006, City Council approved a contract with Ahbe Landscape Architects,
Contract No. 8581 (CCS), in an
amount not to exceed $450,000 for the design of 20th Street and Cloverfield Boulevard
Street Improvements Project.
Public Outreach
Three
public workshops were held at the Virginia
Avenue Park
on November 16, 2006, January 11, 2007, and August 14, 2007. The first two workshops included both an
afternoon youth session and an evening public session. A public notification program was
conducted to raise awareness of the project in the adjacent neighborhoods and
to encourage participation in the workshops.
A total of sixty-four community members attended the meetings. The following media sources were used to
inform the residents, businesses, and property owners about the public workshops:
·
Radius
Mailer: A bilingual
(English/Spanish) meeting flyer was mailed to approximately 1500 residents,
businesses and property owners. A special
flyer designed to encourage attendance at the youth meeting was also
distributed at the Virginia
Avenue Park
Teen Center.
· Grassroots canvassing: The project’s public relation consultant team
canvassed the community on January 5, 2007, largely focusing on the local businesses
and storefronts. On January 6, 2007,
additional canvassing focused on Virginia
Avenue Park
users and patrons of the Virginia Avenue Park Farmer’s Market. In addition, flyers were handed out at Virginia Avenue Park
and notices were posted in storefronts.
· Phone calls: Phone calls were made to the Pico Improvement
Organization, Pico Neighborhood Association, Virginia Avenue Park Advisory
Board, and to Edison and Grant
Elementary schools.
Both the Pico Improvement Organization and Pico Neighborhood Association
distributed the flyer via email and at their regular meetings. In addition, both schools posted the flyer on
their respective Parent Teacher Association website.
· Media advisory: A
media advisory was developed and sent out by the City to local broadcast
and print media including The Ocean Park Gazette, The Mirror, The
Argonaut Newspaper, The Lookout, Santa Monica Daily Press,
and KCRW Public Radio Station. Meeting
information was also posted on the City's website.
Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
Funds in the
amount of $99,100 are available in account number C010522.589000 (Feasibility
& Prelim Dsgn 20th). Potential
increased maintenance costs associated with these improvements will be
evaluated during final design.
Prepared by: Mark Cuneo,
P.E., Principal Civil Engineer
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Forwarded to Council:
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Craig Perkins, Director
Environmental
and Public Works Management Department
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P. Lamont Ewell
City Manager
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