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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda Report - October 14, 1987 (76)k REVIEW OF KETTLEMAN LANE TRAFFIC REPORT Councilwas reminded that, earlier in the summer, it expressed concerns over traffic congestion and striping RES. NO. 87-137 inconsistencies on Kettleman Lane (State Highway 12). Staff toured Kettleman Lane with Councilmembers and later CC -45(a) with Caltrans representatives. Staff provided Council with CC -48(a) copies of its letter to Caltrans and their response. The -- main points, comments, and recommendations are .as follows; I) Right Turn Lane Striping - Caltrans indicated right turn lanes are insta led based on their judgment as to -- - - where they are needed, generally in response to ---- - accidents or congestion. They also acknowledged the inconsistency with red curb and indicated we could paint the curbs at existing right turn lanes. We would not do so without Council approval. The following list shows all the existing right turn lanes, p' red curb status, and our comments/recommendations: Location Red Curb Recommendation Ham Lane WB Yes None EB No Paint 110` (from curb return to driveway @ Guarantee Savings) School St. WB No Tnstall "No Pa; k irng" signs from School to Stockton Street this segment has no access and Stockton St. EB No is primarily within the underpass area) Location Red Curb Recommendation Cherokee Ln EB No Install "No Parking" signs from curb return to Lodi Supermarket driveway (this area is not improved w th curb, gutter, and sidewalk) Whether or not Caltrans actually develops right turn - lanes at additional intersections, staff feels there - is value in painting additional red curb at all intersections on Kettleman Lane. At Staff's meeting with Caltrans engineers, they suggested a 100' curb length on Kettleman Lane be established as no parking f and a maximum of 50' of red curb on the side street g approaches. This would improve sight distance for both vehicles and pedestrians and allow room for _ turning vehicles on both streets. Due to driveways, fire hydrants, and other factors such as parking demand, the actual amount of red curb would vary at =i each street. Council should provide some direction to staff if it wishes this implemented. We could then bring back to the City Council specific recommendations at each location.'' 2) Seed Zones - Caltrans updated the speed surveys and is changing the speed limit from 40 mph to 45 mph on a portion of Victor Road. The other limits are appropriate. 3, 4) Left Turn. Access/Medians - Caltrans was fairly noncommitta on t e su sect of medians. The cost of landscaped median on Highway 12 through the City would be well over $400,000. Several traffic studies in other jurisdictions have indicated that raised f " medians are preferable to two-way left turn lanes on streets having six through lanes or daily traffic over approximately 25,000. Kettleman Lane is wide enough a-- for six lanes and.the volumes are in the low 20,000s. Staff recommends that this improvement be considered in the General Plan update. 5) Projected Volumes - Caltrans' volumes 'near or between the streets indicated are: ' YEAR: 1986 1995 2005 Kettleman Lane Ham Lane 14,000 20,900 27,000 Hutchins Street 21,100 27,000 32,300 11,700 17,500 22,500 Cherokee Lane 8,000 12,000 15,500 Highway 99 The City's General Plan update will include a new estimate of these volumes. 5) Signal Coordination - As of August 17, the Ham and Cherokee intersections have been added to the State's coordination plan. However, they are still finding "bugs" in the timing programs. In general, under a time base coordination plan, the signals will not be as responsive to side street traffic and the cycle lengths will increase. Caltrans (and City staff) will continue to monitor these improvements. 7) Planned Maintenance - Based on our conversations, it appears an over ay on Kettleman Lane is three or five x years away. Victor Road was chip sealed this summer. 8) Driveway Widths - We reached an understanding that driveways designed as a street intersection, similar to that at Kettleman Station opposite Central Avenue, are . not limited to 40 feet in width. 9) Eastbound Traffic at Cherokee Lane - As noted in - Caltrans' etter, t ere is a pro em with eastbound-- traffic at Cherokee Lane. In order torovide the P _ - additional lane and remove the forced right -turn only lane on Kettleman at Cherokee, a no parking zone in front of Carrow's Restaurant and the ARCO Station is = needed. Staff concurs with the State's recommendation that this be done. 10) Accident Records - The computer printouts of segment and intersection accident rates on Highway 12 indicate_ higher rates than "expected" oraverage rates for similar highways. These should be viewed with caution as the segments are relatively short -and the indicated side street volumes are lower than current traffic volumes. These factors tend to inflate the accident rate. Caltrans did not feel there is a significant accident problem on Highway 12 in general. A lengthy discussion followed with questions being directed to Staff. _ Mr. Bill Rude, Carrows Restaurant, Lodi, addressed the Council asking that the street parking in the area of Carrows Restaurant not be removed. Following additional discussion, Council, on motion of Mayor Pro Tempore Snider,. Olson second, adopted _Resolution No. 87-137 1) establishing "No Parking" zones at the existing eastbound right turn lane on Kettleman Lane at Ham Lane and 2) established "No Parking" zones on both sides of Kettleman Lane between School Street and Stockton Street (underpass). ,: %r7 �A ;%M- Z.. A#"* I r-, , a orik r-%, a k.,l IT Ul- LUUIJ COUNCIL COMMUNICATION PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT TO: City Council FROM: City Manager MEETING DATE: October 14, 1987 AGENDA TITLE: Review Kettleman Lane Traffic Report (Discussion and Appropriate Action) RECOMMENDED ACTION: 1) Establish no parking zones at existing right turn lanes on Kettleman Lane. 2) Establish no parking zones on both sides of Kettleman Lane between School Street and Stockton Street (underpass). 3) Establish a no parking zone on the south side of Kettleman Lane from Cherokee Lane to the Highway 99 offramp. BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Earlier in the summer, Council expressed concerns over traffic congestion and striping inconsistencies on Kettleman Lane (State p Highway 12). Staff toured Kettleman Lane with Councilmembers and later with s Caltrans representatives. Our letter to Caltrans and their response are attached. The main points, comments, and recommendations are as follows: 1) Right Turn Lane Striping - Caltrans indicated right turn lanes are installed based on their judgment as to where they are needed, generally in response to accidents or congestion. They also acknowledged the inconsistency with red curb and indicated we could paint the curbs at existing eight turn lanes. We would not do so without Council approval. The following list shows all the existing right turn lanes, red curb status, and our comments/ recommendations: Location Red Curb Recommendation c Ham Lane WB Yes None f EB No Paint 110' (from curb return to driveway to Guarantee Savings) School Street WB No Install "No Parking" signs from f School to Stockton. Street (this segment has no access and r Stockton Street EB No is primarily within the underpass area) �_ APPROVED: t FILE NO. THOMAS A. PETER ON, City Manager CKETTLE2/TXTW.02M September 29, 1987 City Coun.c.i1 October 14, 1987 Page 2 2) Location Red Curb Recommendation Cherokee Lane EB No install "No Parking" signs from curb return to Lodi Supermarket driveway (this area is not improved with curb, gutter, and sidewalk). Whether or not Caltrans actually develops right turn lanes at additional intersections, staff feels there is value in painting additional red curb at all intersections on Kettleman Lane. At our meeting with Caltrans engineers, they suggested a 100' curb length on Kettleman Lane be established as no parking and a maximum of 50' of red curb on the side street approaches. This would improve sight distance for both vehicles and pedestrians and allow room for turning vehicles on both streets. Due to driveways, fire hydrants, and other factors such as parking demand, the actual amount of red curb would vary at each street. Council should provide some direction to staff if it wishes this implemented. We could then bring back to the City Council specific recommendations at each location. SpeedZones- Caltrans updated the speed surveys and is changing the speed d limit from 40 mph to 45 mph on a portion of Victor Road. The other limits are appropriate. 3, 4) Left Turn Access/Medians - Caltrans was fairly noncommittal on the subject of medians. The cost of landscaped median on Highway 12 through the City would be well over $400,000. Several traffic studies in other jurisdictions have indicated that raised medians are preferable to two-way left turn lanes on streets having six through lanes or daily traffic over approximately 25,000. Kettleman Lane is wide enough for six lanes and the volumes are in the low 20,000s. Staff recommends that this improvement be considered in the General Plan. update. 5) Projected Volumes - Caltrans' volumes near or between the streets indicated a� re: Kettleman Lane Ham Lane Hutchins Street Cherokee Lane Highway 99 YEAR: 1986 14,000 21,100 11,700 8,000 1995 2005 20,900 27,000 27,000 32,300 17,500 22,500 12,000 15,500 CKETTLE2/TXTW.02M September 29, 1987 City Council October 14, 1987 Page 3 The City's General Plan update will include a new estimate of these " volumes. 6) Signal Coordination - As of August 17, the Ham and Cherokee intersections have—been added to the State's coordination plan. However, they are still finding "bugs" in the timing programs. In general, under a time base coordination plan, the signals will not be as responsive to side street traffic and the cycle lengths will increase. Caltrans (and City staff) will continue to monitor these improvements. 7) Planned Maintenance - Based on our conversations, it appears an overlay on Kettleman Lane is three or five years away. Victor Road was. - chip sealed this summer. 8) Driveway Widths - We reached an understanding that driveways designed as a street intersection, similar to that at Kettleman Station opposite Central Avenue, are not Iimited to 40 feet in width. 9) Eastbound Traffic at Cherokee Lane - As noted in Caltrans' letter, there is a problem with eastbound traffic at Cherokee Lane. In order to provide the additional lane and remove the forced right turn only lane on Kettleman at Cherokee, a no parking zone in front of Carrow's Restaurant and the ARCO Station is needed. Staff concurs with the State's recommendation that this be done. 10) Accident Records - The computer printouts of segment and intersection accident rates on Highway 12 indicate higher rates than "expected" or average rates for similar highways. These should be viewed with caution as the segments are relatively short and the indicated side street volumes are lower than current traffic volumes. These factors tend to inflate the accident rate. Caltrans did not feel there is a significant accident p oblem an Highway 12 in general. oJac L. Ronsko Publ c Works Director JLR/RCP/ma Attachments cc: Police Chief Street Superintendent Manager, Carrows Restaurant - Manager, ARCO Station, AM -PM Mini Mart Highway 12 Association Chamber of Commerce Beckman Ranch Merchants Association CKETTLE2/TXTW.02M September 29, 1987 CITY COUNCIL EVELYN M. OLSON. Mayor JOHN R. (Randy) SNIDER Mayor Pro Tempore DAVID M. HINCHMAN JAMES W. PINKERTON. Jr. FRED M. REID THOMAS A, PETERSON '—ih• .tanager CITY OF LODI ALICE -M, RFPviCH..E CITY HALL_ 221 'WEST PINE STREET City Cierk CALL BOX 1006 Y RONALD M.`iTEiti LODI. CALIFORNIA 95241-1910 City attorney (209) 334-5634 TELECOPIE R: (20% 33W9S May 8, 1987 CALTRANS Attention: Preston Kelley P.O. Bax 2048 Stockton, CA 95201 SUBJECT: Highway 12 Concerns The Lodi City Council has expressed some concerns over traffic and safety on Highway 12 in Lodi. We would like to meet informally with your appropriate staff to discuss the Council's concerns as well as some of our own. These include: 1. right turn lane striping 2. speed zones 3. left turn access 4. medians 5. projected volumes 6. signal coordination 7. planned pavement maintenance 8. driveway widths. Please have your representative contact Richard Prima to arrange a date and time. We would like to meet at the Lodi City Hall in the event a site visit is appropriate. Thank you for your help. Jack L. Ronsko Public Works Director JLR/RCP/ns cc: Chief Civil Engineer Street Superintendent STATE OF CALIFORNIA -BUSK ES. ,SID TRANSPORTATION AGENCY GED GE DEURM JIM, Govern _ DEPAKL ;' OF TRANSPCiMATION P.O. Box 2048 (1976 E. Cha'-+ • Way) STCC.KIM, CA 95201 (209) 948-7878 Mr. Jack L. Ronsko Public Works Director City of Lodi 221 West Pine Street Lodi, CA 95241-1910 Dear Mr. Ronsko: July 3, 1987 10-S7-12-16.4/18.1_ Ham Lane to. Rte 99 This is in response to your letter of May 8, 1987, and confirms my meeting of May 29, 1987, with Richard Prima and Paula Fernandes of your staff. 1. Right turn lane striping -- risere appears to be a lack of consistency in our treatment of mandatory right turn lanes off Kettleman Lane (Route 12) in that some of thea have red painted curb and others do not and sane have arrows while still others do not. We will proceed with painting the arrows where necessary. However, normally, Caltrans doss not paint curb: local agencies may do so after en- acting a resolution to restrict parking and submitting it to us for ap- proval. In the case of Kettleman Lane, since the locations under discussion are right turn lanes and any parked vehicles will constitute hazards, no resolution is necessary and the City may paint the curb when ready. 2. Speed Zones -- Speed data have been gathered on both Kettleman Road and Victor Road; preliminary indications are that the zoning on-Kettleman Will remain as is. However, that on Victor Road may have to be raised to main- tain conformance With the Traffic Manual. 3. Left turn access — This should be considered in conjunction with the fol— lowing item since they are somewhat mutually exclusive. ODI Mr Jack 11. P.onsko Pace 2 July 3, 1987 City of Lodi 4. Medians — Caltrans is not wholly averse to the idea of a median between Ham Lane and Highway 99 on,Kettleman_ It would concentrate all left turns at the intersections which may reduce total accidents. We see two poten- tial problems: a. Will the local merchants accept it? b. There may be enough demand for U-turns that it increases weaving moves and congestion, resulting in no change in accident level, possibly even an increase. 5. Projected volumes — These were provided to Rich at our meeting; if addi- tional data are desired, please contact either Bill Zieker at 948-7168 or Bcb Mah at 948-7868. 6. Signal coordination — Time base coordination programming and timing is in place at Stockton St., Church St. and Hutchins St. and is undergoing peri- odic testing. Initially, same programming problems occurred but they have been resolved. Timing plans which include Cherokee Lane and Ham Lane in the coordinated system have been developed but are not installed as yet. This will be done as time permits; we have only one person for this work and he is spread very thinly. 7. Planned pavement maintenance — Portions of Route 12 through Lodi have been identified for rehabilitation but since they are in a relatively good state of repair, have a low priority and will not be funded for several years. If you have any questions regarding this, please contact Allan Wells at 948-7300 or Dennis Smith at 948-7859. 8. Driveway widths — The case in point was a driveway which was to be lo- cated opposite a city street. If the driveway is configured to look like a city street and it operates much as a street would, it can be con- structed to the same width as the street opposing, and not be constrained by the normal 35' guideline. A side benefit is that, should signalization be required, it would be simpler to install. Another item discussed was the fact that quite often through eastbound traffic is trapped in the right lane as it approaches Cherokee Lane and is forced to either violate the mandatory right turn sign or crowd into the left lane. Through traffic could be permitted in both eastbound lanes if parking were re- stricted on Kettleman east of Cherokee to the vicinity of the service station driveways. Mr Jack L. Ronsko Page 3 July 3, 1987 City of Lodi 5 While this area always seems to have vehicles parked along here, the removal of on -street parking would not appear to constitute a hardship on the local merchants since adequate off-street parking is available. If the City will restrict parking and paint the curb red, we will revise the signing and strip- ing to acccoplish this change. Not covered in your letter but requested by Rich durir 4 our meeting was acci- dent data for Kettleman Lane between Ham Lane and Roue 99. Attached are two lists of accident data for the time period 1-1-84/12-31-86; one is by highway segment and the other by intersection. The segment list contains all of the accidents, including intersection accidents; the intersection list contains only those assigned to the individual intersections. If you have any questions regarding these lists, please contact Bob Ikeda of my staff at 948-7209. If you have any other questions, please call me at 948-7878. very truly yours, Alex Kennedy, Chief Traffic Branch i