MINUTES YORBA LINDA TRAFFIC COMMISSION October 22, 2015

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1 MINUTES YORBA LINDA TRAFFIC COMMISSION October 22, 2015 CALL TO ORDER The Yorba Linda Traffic Commission convened at 7:01 p.m. in the Council Chambers at 4845 Casa Loma Avenue, Yorba Linda, California. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Commissioner Camarena led the flag salute. ROLL CALL COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: COMMISSIONER STAFF PRESENT: Monse Garcia del Rio, Lynnae Sisemore, Tony Wang, Michael Wolf, Rick Yee APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Approval of September 24, 2015 Traffic Commission Meeting Minutes Commissioner Melton Abstained from approval of minutes due to absence. A motion was made by Commissioner Kirkwood, second by Commissioner Camarena, to approve the minutes of the September 24, 2015 Traffic Commission meeting. Motion carried ( ) with the following roll call vote:, Camarena, Kirkwood ABSTENTION: Melton PUBLIC COMMENTS Chairman Behura opened the public comments. Anthony Prince, resident, stated concern about the sign that talks about where the closure is going to be and where the construction is going to take place why is it not happening on Bastanchury between Eureka and Casa Loma, but only between Lakeview and Eureka and Bastanchuryone block not being considered in this widening.

2 Public Works Director/City Engineer, Michael Wolfe, stated to resident to leave his information so Staff can get back to him. Lana Price, resident, stated regarding the work on Bastanchury not the closure. She would like to request a crosswalk she has researched and found out that there is no crosswalk being added across Bastanchury at Eureka. Considering the horse trail that people walk across between the houses. She has horses and last night her trainer was bringing the horses back at around 5:30PM. She was waiting to cross the street for a long time, a police officer saw her and stopped traffic so she can get across. It is a big problem during traffic hour and it is not safe. There are also residents with strollers and it is an important intersection to have a crosswalk. There is one at Lakeview and one at Valley View but nothing in between that. Would like for Staff to think about that and add one. Public Works Director/City Engineer, Michael Wolfe, stated to resident to leave her information so Staff can get back to her. Greg Peterson, resident, stated that he seconds the previous resident on the request for a crosswalk across Bastanchury. He also has a question regarding the work on the closure. He is concerned with the left turn pockets, when making a turn you cannot see the vehicles coming at all. His children are not driving age and if they exit the neighborhood south of Eureka they hit Bastanchury they have to run across which is radical, they can go left and go all the way down to Lakeview but until the work is completed there is not a safe way to get across because there are no sidewalks. They face the same challenge going west on the left side of Bastanchury until the work is completed it is not appropriate for pedestrian traffic. Another question related to the closure, interested in the opposing left turn pockets on the east west traffic on Bastanchury. If you are on those pockets opposing another vehicle making the opposite left turn from any direction coming you cannot see the vehicle at all. There have been bad accidents already and his kids will be driving soon and it is an absolute disaster just waiting to happen for people making left turns. Is shaving the grade and changing the elevation of where the car sits possibly when they oppose each other and wanted the opportunity to address those concerns. Chairman Behura stated to the resident that the Staff will get back to him on that. NEW BUSINESS 2. Bastanchury Road/Eureka Avenue and Bastanchury Road/Plumosa Drive Temporary Closure A request has been made to allow temporary closures at the intersections of Bastanchury Road/Eureka Avenue and Bastanchury Road/Plumosa Drive to facilitate the widening of Bastanchury Road. Assistant City Engineer Rick Yee gave an oral staff report on the request to conduct a temporary street closure. The request is related to the Bastanchury widening project between Eureka and Lakeview Avenue. The closure is needed to facilitate a portion of the work for the widening project on Bastanchury. The time request is targeted for the week of Thanksgiving, or one of two weeks in December. The dates are chosen related to minimize school related traffic. The two week request is worse case scenario, they anticipate only one week of closures. In terms of notifications they will update their message boards, they will update them in advance of the closure so motorists will know what is coming as well as providing appropriate detour signage to allow folks to navigate around the closure. 2

3 Ken Charlton, resident, stated a point of clarification on what exactly do you mean on closures of these intersections since that is the only ingress, egress of the 40 residents. He is concerned with intersection being completely closed the entire week. There are 40 plus homes and that are in clear violation of Fire Code and you cannot prevent people from going to work or school or grocery store. Needs clarification on what exactly do you mean and where these barricades are going to be. Assistant City Engineer, Rick Yee, clarified for resident that they are aware that there are homes on Eureka and there will be egress and ingress during the closure of the remainder of the intersection. In terms of clarity what is intended is a grind overlay in that area that allows for flexibility in terms of access in that area. Chairman Behura, stated that a flagman might be necessary to signal the access. Assistant City Engineer, Rick Yee, stated that if a flagman was necessary they would provide one. Ken Charlton, resident, stated that he needed more clarification in term of access in and out of the neighborhood. Director of Public Works/City Engineer, Michael Wolfe, stated that they have spent a lot of time reviewing this. He understands that access is needed to the properties. They will work to have minimal impact on the residents; work does need to be done and will continue to work with the contractor to maintain continuous access to properties. Anthony Prince, resident, stated that with El Niño coming up if it rains like cats and dogs and it stops the construction is there a plan for that. Assistant City Engineer, Rick Yee, stated that if any unexpected issues come up they will make accommodations if there need to be changes or timing they will do their best to notify residents the decisions are based on maintaining a safe environment during the process of construction. Amir Rahimi, resident, stated a question regarding the widening project itself as to why only is it only on one block between Lakeview and Eureka and why Eureka and Casa Loma is not a part of the project. Assistant City Engineer, Rick Yee, stated that the goal of the City and the general plan is to increase capacity on Bastanchury. The reason why it is only on this segment was that this project was defined and able to get funding from OTCA and was able to move forward as a separate segment. There is another project in the spring to widen Bastanchury between Prospect and Imperial Highway, what remains is the segment the resident is referring to that would be widened through conditions of approval on future developments. Amir Rahimi, resident, stated that the reason he asks is the concern that there will be traffic congestion. When these projects are authorized it will cause another closure. He has to run across the street to just not be hit by a car and there have been multiple accidents on that intersection. Stated a need for a stop sign or a signal on that intersection. Chairman Behura, stated to the resident that these s widening projects are multimillion dollar projects and it is impossible for any Agency to undertake any widening project of that capacity. Agencies have to look at the stretch of the road that they want to widen and look for funding. They can wait for all the money to come 3

4 at once but that never happens. Staff cannot just put a stop light or a stop sign; there are legal requirements to do that. Staff will take a close at this. Director of Public Works/City Engineer, Michael Wolfe, stated that if you look at the capital improvement program there is a project to look at signals. They are aware of the issue; it is a funding issue as well as a legal issue as to whether they are allowed to put a traffic signal. Greg Peterson, resident, stated that the left turn pockets and a miss not looking at the elevation with two lanes coming full speed there is an accident waiting to happen. Chairman Behura, stated that staff has noted this and will come back on a future meeting with some answers. A motion was made by Commissioner Camarena, second by Commissioner Kirkwood, to approve the temporary intersection closures. Motion carried (4-0-1) with the following roll call vote: 3. Temporary street closure on Highland Avenue A request was made from PAR Electrical Contractors (Southern California Edison s contractor) to conduct a temporary street closure for a deteriorated pole replacement on Highland Avenue: Traffic Engineering Manager Tony Wang gave an oral staff report on the request and mentioned that the exact date will be set after the approval of the City for the closure. The proposal is to close between 9:00AM- 3:00PM and have sent notifications to the homeowners who will be impacted. Gina P, resident, stated that the contractor (PAR Electrical) did come out and told them that the power would be out but did not mention that the street would be closed. Question is are they closing the whole street from Yorba Linda Blvd all the way around the curve to where the YLWD has there gate. Will they need to park their vehicles somewhere else or will they have continuous access. Traffic Engineering Manager Tony Wang, stated that according to the contractor north of 5151 residents would be fine. South of that it is a dead end and they will be having problems getting in and out. Unfortunately there are no representatives from PAR present to answer any questions or concerns. Traffic Engineering Manager Tony Wang would recommend that they change the Staff Report to deny their request since PAR was not present to address concerns. A motion was made by Chairman Behura, second by Commissioner Melton, to deny the temporary closure on Highland Avenue. Motion carried (4-0-1) with the following roll call vote. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS September 2015 Traffic Reports 4

5 Commissioner Kirkwook stated he needs clarification on the traffic report why there are no reported collisions under citations. There are zeros on all the columns and even though there reported collisions why is there no reports of citations. Traffic Engineering Manager Tony Wang, stated that they will relay the message to the Sheriff s department and will get back to the Commissioner with an answer. Received and filed COMMISSIONER COMMENTS Commissioner Camarena, stated that he delivered a letter to Traffic Engineer Manager Tony Wang with copies to Michael Wolfe and commissioners in regards to a request to make the City more Bicycle friendly. He asked Mr. Wang to put this on an Agenda for a future meeting. Director of Public Works/City Engineer, Michael Wolfe, stated that it would be at the pleasure of the Chairman and the committee they would be happy to bring some information back and share that with them. ADJOURNMENT A motion was made by Chairman Behura, second by Commissioner Kirkwood, to adjourn the meeting at 7:45 p.m. The motion carried (4-0-1) with the following roll call vote: 5