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HomeMy WebLinkAbout5.1 VllgPkwy@HstngStopSgnsCITY OF DUBLIN AGENDA STATEMENT City Council Meeting Date: July 27, 1987 SUBJECT: Written Communication from Mrs. Mary McHugh Regarding Request for STOP Signs on Village Parkway at Hastings Way, Red Curb on Brighton Drive, and SPeeding on Canterbury Lane EXHIBITS ATTACHED: 1) 2) RECOMMENDATION: ~.~j~/ 2)1) Letter from Mrs. McHugh Report from TJKM Receive Staff Report Alternate No. 1 - Remove existing crosswalk. Alternate No. 2 - Relocate pedestrian warning signs, repaint crosswalk 24" wide, paint diagonal lines in crosswalk, and repaint pedestrian pavement legends. FINANCIAL STATEMENT: Approximately $500 for signing and marking changes. DESCRIPTION: Mrs. Mary McHugh of 7767 Canterbury Lane addressed a letter to the City Council regarding three traffic-related matters. Two of the items have been addressed by Staff in the following manner: 1) Request for red curb between crosswalks on Brighton Drive opposite Lucania Street: This item relates to a vehicle code restriction that prohibits parking within an intersection, and as the curb between the crosswalks is actually within an intersection, it could be painted red without adopting a new ordinance. This area will be the entrance to Kolb Park when the scheduled improvements have been constructed. This curb painting has been completed. 2) Comment regarding speeding on Canterbury Lane: Mrs. McHugh lives at a dog-leg bend in Canterbury Lane. Staff contacted Mrs. McHugh and asked whether she would object to placement of raised pavement markers along the center of the road at the bend in order to discourage drivers from "squealing" around the curve. She did not object but also stated that she felt such an installation would not help. The police department has been notified of the complaint for periodic surveillance. 3) Request for STOP signs on Village Parkway at Hastings Way: This intersection was studied by TJKM as indicated in the attached report. Their conclusions are summarized as follows: Field Review This is a "tee" intersection with white crosswalks crossing Village Parkway on the south side of the intersection and crossing Hastings Way on the west side. There are pedestrian warning signs approximately 420 feet in advance of the crosswalk for both directions of travel, as well as white "PED XING" pavement legends. The new standard placement for pedestrian warning signs is at the crosswalk. In addition, the sign for southbound traffic is obscured by trees. The maintenance superintendent estimates the trees will grow above the signs in approximately three years. School Attendance Areas Village Parkway is the boundary between the Murray School and Frederiksen School attendance areas; so there is no reason for elementary students to cross Village Parkway for purpose of attending school. Intermediate and High School students do need to cross Village Parkway. This intersection is not on the designated route to school for either Wells Intermediate or Dub]in High School. Students for these schools should cross at the signalized intersection at Amador Valley Blvd. or at the ail-way STOP intersections of Tamarack Drive, Brighton Drive, or Davona Drive. ITEM NO._~ COPIES TO: Mrs. McHugh TJKM Accident History There have been seven accidents at this intersection in the last three and one-half years. Three involved bicyclists, one directly involved a pedestrian, and one indirectly involved pedestrians. Of the three bicycle accidents, two were caused.by improper behavior on the part of the bicyclists. The other bicycle accident, the pedestrian accident, and the rear-end accident indirectly caused by pedestrians, were similar in that one vehicle stopped to allow bicyclists or pedestrians to cross and a second vehicle failed to stop. As a comparison, a review of the accident histories of the all-way STOP intersections at Tamarack, Brighton, and Davona was conducted. A total of six bicycle accidents and two pedestrian accidents occurred among the three interesections. One bicycle accident was caused by the bicyclist riding the wrong way; the others were primarily caused by inattention on the part of the motorist. The two pedestrian accidents were caused by failure of the motorist to notice pedestrians crossing the side street in the crosswalk. Traffic Counts The total vehicular volume entering the intersection averages over 1,200 vehicles for the eight peak hours of the day. This more than satisfies the requirement of 300 vph for any eight hours of the day. However, the warrant also specifies that the volume entering the intersection from the minor street must average at least one-third of the total volume (100 vph minimum). The volumes on Hastings Way constitute only 3.5% of the total intersection volumes and average only 46 vph for the eight peak hours of the'day. Therefore, the minimum volume warrants for all-way STOP sign installation have not been met. The intersection was also counted for pedestrians and bicyclists between 2:20 p.m. and 3:20 p.m. on May 29, 1987. During this time, a total of ten pedestrians and ten bicyclists crossed Village Parkway in or near the crosswalk. Most of the pedestrians were junior high or high school age. Analysis and Recommendations TJKM states that the current signing and striping at the intersection may not give adequate warning of the presence of a pedestrian crossing. In addition, the crosswalk may be providing pedestrians with a false sense of security. The accidents caused involving a pedestrian or bicyclist hit by a car when a motorist in an adjacent lane has stopped indicates that the pedestrian is expecting all cars to stop and may not even be looking for oncoming traffic or waiting for sufficient gaps in the traffic stream. Studies show that if the crosswalk were not marked, pedestrians would show greater caution. Therefore, TJKM recommends that the crosswalk be removed. In the event that this recommendation is not implemented, the existing pedestrian warning signs should be relocated to be no more than 50 feet in advance of the crosswalk and positioned so that they are not obscured by trees. The PED XING legends should be repainted. The width of the crosswalk lines should be increased to 24 inches, and diagonal lines may be painted within the crosswalk for more emphasis. In any event, bicycle and pedestrian safety instruction should be instituted in the Dublin schools. The need for instruction is evidenced by the number of accidents caused by wrong-way bicycle riding. Dublin Police Services supports the need for such instruction. It should be kept in mind that if STOP signs and STOP AHEAD signs were installed at this intersection, there would be visibility problems due to the height of existing trees and their close spacing. Also, a consequence of unwarranted al.l-way STOP signs could be an increase in accidents due to non- compliance. There are approximately 1,300 vpd on Hastings Way as compared with over 18,000 vpd on Village Parkway. Most of the traffic leaving Hastings is turning right, and therefore, most of the time, the majority of cars on Village Parkway wou].d not have to yield to any traffic. --0-- ~oe-303~ MEMORANDUM 4637 Chabot Drive, Suite 214 Pleasanton Ca. 94566 (415) 463-0611 DATE: TO: FROM: SUBJECT: June 15, 1987 Lee Thompson Michelle DeRobertis Village Parkway at Hastings Way PUB[.!c:. WORK~ At your request, we have conducted a study of the need for additional traffic control at the intersection of Village Parkway and Hastings Bray. The-study consisted of a field survey, analysis of pedestrian, bicycle and motor vehicle volumes, and a review of all accidents at Village Parkway and Hastings Bray between January 1, 1984 to the present with a particular emphasis on pedestrian and bicycle accidents at any location on Village Parkway. Field Review Village Parkway is a four-lane roadway with left-turn lanes at intersections. The frontage varies from commercial near Amador Valley Boulevard to single family homes. Sound walls separate Village Parkway from these homes. Hastings Bray is a two-lane residential road serving single-family homes. The intersection is a "Tee" with Hastings Way intersecting Village Parkway on the west. There are existing painted white crosswalks crossing Village Parkway on the south side of the street and crossing Hastings Way on the west side of the street. There are also pedestrian warning signs: a symbol, (W54) and 'PED XING', approximately 420 feet in advance of the crosswalk on Village Parkway for both northbound and southbound directions of travel. White pavement legends reading "PED XING" accompany these warning signs. The signs are placed in advance of the pedestrian crossing. The new standard placement for Pedestrian warning signs is at the crosswalk. In addition, the sign for southbound traffic is obscured by trees along the curbside. These signs were barely noticed by the field investigator even when searching for them. She was traveling at the prevailing speed of 35 mph. Steve Loweree, maintenance superintendent, estimates it will take approximately three years for the trees to grow enough to form a canopy above the tops of the signs. School Attendance Areas Village Parkway is the boundary between the Murray Elementary School attendance area and the Frederiksen Elementary School attendance area. Therefore, no elementary school-bound students should be crossing Village Parkway at any intersection, especially at Hastings Bray. Junior High and High School students do have to cross Village Parkway to attend Wells Intermediate School or Dublin High School. The white crosswalks and white pavements legends at this intersection are appropriate because this intersection is not on the designated route to school for either Wells Intermediate School or Dublin High School. The students attending these schools who reside west of Village Parkway should cross at either the signalized intersection of Amador Valley Boulevard at Village Parkway, or the intersections with' all way Stop sign control: Tamarack Drive, Brighton Drive, or Davona Drive. PLEASANTON'SACRAMENTO-FRESNO.CONCORD Mr. Lcc Thompson Accidents -2- June 15,1987 The accidents at the intersection of Village Parkway and Hastings Way were reviewed for the past three and a half years, (1984, 1985, and 1986 and to date in 1987). In our previous preliminary study of this intersection in January 1987, we reviewed only 1985 and 1986 accidents. Since the matter has come up again, we included an additional past year to get a better sense of the accident history at this intersection. In three and a half years, there have been seven accidents. Three involved bicyclists, (ages 9, 12, and unknown), one involved a pedestrian directly (age unknown), and a rear-end accident involved pedestrians indirectly, (ages 14 and 15). Two of the three bicycle accidents involved improper behavior on the part of the bicyclist. The other bicycle accident, (October 1986) the pedestrian accident, (February 1984), and the rear-end accident were similar in that one vehicle was stopped at the intersection allowing pedestrians or bicyclists to cross when a second vehicle failed to notice the reason for the stopped vehicle and proceeded to either strike the pedestrian or bicyclist in the crosswalk or rear-end the waiting vehicle. In order to assess the potential for all-way STOP sign control to improve the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists, a review of pedestrian and bicycle accidents on Village Parkway at Tamarack, Brighton, and DavOna Drives was conducted. Davona Drive at Village Parkway has had one bicycle accident in the time period between January l, 1984 to the present. Brighton Drive has had two pedestrian and three bicycle accidents. Tamarack Drive at Village Parkway has had two bicycle accidents. One of the six bicycle accidents was due to the bicyclist riding the wrong way in the bicycle lane. (In addition to this accident, there were two other accidents on Village Parkway near Lewis Avenue that were primarily due to the bicyclist riding the wrong way in a bicycle lane.) The major cause of the other accidents was primarily inattention on the part of the motorist. The two pedestrian accidents were due to failure on the part of the motorist to notice pedestrians while they were crossing the side street in the crosswalk. Three of these accidents were hit-and-run accidents. Traffic Counts The approach volumes of Village Parkway and Hastings Way were counted to assess whether the minimum volume component of STOP sign warrants were met. The total vehicular volume entering the intersection averages over 1,200 vehicles for the eight peak hours of the day. This more than satisfies the requirement of 300 vph for any eight hours of the day. However, the warrant also specifies that the ~volumes entering the intersection from the minor street must average at least one-third of the total volume entering the intersection (100 vph minimum)" The volumes on Hastings Way constitute only 3.5 percent of the total intersection volumes, compared to the specified 33 percent. They also average only 46 vph during the eight peak hours of the day. Therefore, the minimum volume warrants for all-way STOP sign installation are not satisfied at the intersection of Village Parkway at Hastings Way. Pedestrian Counts To assess the utilization of the intersection of Village Parkway at Hastings Way by pedestrians and bicyclists, the intersection was counted between 2:20 p.m. and 3:20 p.m. on May 29, 1987. During this time, five pedestrians crossed Village ~Mr. Lee Thompsc. -3- June 15, 1987 Parkway eastbound, five pedestrians crossed Village Parkway westbound, nine bicyclists crossed Village Parkway westbound in or near the crosswalk, and one bicyclist crossed Village Parkway westbound on the north side of the street. Most of the pedestrians and bicyclists were of school age, primarily junior high and high school. Analysis and Recommendations It is the opinion of TJKM that the existing signing and striping at the intersection of Village Parkway and Hastings Way may not give adequate warning of the presence of a pedestrian crossing. In addition, it is our opinion that the crosswalk is providing the pedestrians with a false sense of security and they are placing themselves in more hazardous positions than they would if the crosswalk were unmarked. The accidents involving a pedestrian and bicyclist hit by a car when a car in an adjacent lane has stopped indicates that pedestrians are expecting all cars to stop and may not even be looking out for oncoming traffic or waiting for sufficient gaps in the traffic stream. Studies show that if the crosswalk were not marked, those crossing the street would do so with much greater caution. Specifically, a five year study by the City of San Diego analyzed the accident experience at 400 unsignalized intersections with marked and unmarked crosswalks. The study results indicated that a pedestrian is more than twice as likely to be involved in an accident when using a marked cr0sswalk than when using an unmarked crosswalk. This is explained by the fact that pedestrians exercise greater caution when crossing the street in unmarked crosswalks. Therefore, it is recommended that the existing crosswalk crossing Village Parkway at Hastings Way be removed. This crosswalk is not on the approved route to school and is not needed by school-age children to access their schools. If this recommendation is not implemented, then the existing pedestrian warning signs should be relocated to be no more than 50 feet in advance of the crosswalk. The signs should be positioned such that the existing trees do not interfere with the visibility of the sign for 350 feet in advance of the crosswalk. The PED XING pavement legends should also be repainted. Since Village Parkway is four lanes and the posted speed limit is 35 mph, the width of the crosswalk lines should be increased to 24 inches. In addition, diagonal lines could be painted within the crosswalk for more emphasis. In any event, pedestrian and bicycle safety instruction should be instituted in the Dublin Schools. The need for such instruction is evident by the number of accidents caused by wrong-way bicycle riding. Dennis Atkinson, the traffic officer, supports the need for such instruction. It should be kept in mind that if Stop signs and STOP AHEAD signs were installed at this intersection, there would be visibility problems due to the height of the existing trees and their close spacing. Also, a consequence of unwarranted all-way STOP signs could be an increase in accidents duc to non-compliance. Therc arc approximately 1,300 vpd on Hastings Way compared with over 18,000 vpd on Village Parkway. Most of traffic leaving Hastings Way is turning right. Therefore, the vast majority of thc time, cars on Village Parkway would not have to yield to any traffic. nlc 157-001M. 7MD