At its June 11 meeting, the Coronado Transportation Commission adopted the report of its Mobility and Traffic Calming Working Group on the results of the Third & Fourth Streets Traffic Calming Study prepared by the traffic engineering firm Fehr and Peers under contact to the city and agreed to forward the working group’s report to the City Council.
The Commission also agreed to recommend to the City Council that it direct city staff to proceed with preliminary engineering for a comprehensive and integrated set of projects proposed by the consultant to calm traffic on Third and Fourth Streets and to improve the overall safety of pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists. The preliminary engineering should include the engagement of required outside consulting engineering services, specifically including analyses to identify solutions that would limit diversions of traffic from the major/minor arterials onto collector/local streets to existing levels.
The recommended projects consist of the following:
Traffic signals at the intersections at Fourth Street and Alameda Boulevard, Third and Fourth Streets at F Avenue, and Third and Fourth Streets at B Avenue;
Modifications to the intersection at Pomona Avenue and Third Street required by the installation of a traffic signal at Third Street and B Avenue;
Raised crosswalks with rapid flashing beacons west of the intersections of H and I Avenues and Fourth Street and east of the intersection of Third Street and I Avenue;
Speed tables with advanced signage and pavement markings on Third Street west of D Avenue and on Fourth Street east of A Avenue and west of Glorietta Boulevard, and Pomona Avenue west of A Avenue; and
Curb extensions at the intersection of C and A Avenues and Fourth Street.
The Commission further recommended that the City Council direct the city staff to maintain ongoing and close liaison with Caltrans to ensure coordination, feedback and other actions necessary to obtain permits and other agreements required to implement the foregoing improvements. The preliminary engineering recommended above is required by Caltrans to evaluate the acceptability of the proposed improvements to Third and Fourth Streets and is a prerequisite to obtaining the necessary approvals from Caltrans. Third and Fourth Streets are state highways and modifications to them need to be approved by Caltrans.
Other recommendations to the City Council included that it instruct the city staff to establish a formal and ongoing public involvement process with interested community groups to ensure that those most affected by the improvements receive timely updates and have opportunities to provide input and feedback. Further, the Commission’s recommendations called for the City Council to have the city staff prepare a timeline showing project schedules with critical path activities and due dates and to provide monthly updates to the Commission and the City Council.
Finally, the recommendations included that the City Council direct the Commission to continue to monitor developments in the Third and Fourth Streets corridor as well as progress in implementing the foregoing improvements and to report its findings to staff and the City Council on a regular basis. The Commission should also continue to assess the merits of the following improvements included in the consultant’s report, with the possibility of recommending the implementation of some or all of them to the City Council in the future:
Modification of the intersections of Palm Avenue and Third and Fourth Streets that would include creating cul-de-sacs on Palm Avenue to improve north-south access across Third and Fourth Streets, respectively;
A traffic signal at H Avenue and Third Street;
Modification of the intersection at A Avenue and Pomona Avenue that would prohibit left turns onto A Avenue;
Modification of the intersection of Glorietta Place and Pomona Avenue to reduce turning speeds onto Glorietta Place and to reduce the pedestrian crossing distance on Pomona Avenue;
“Keep Clear” pavement markings at the intersections of Third Street and C Avenue and Fourth Street and D Avenue;
Traffic signal at Fourth Street and Glorietta Boulevard and a cul-de-sac on Glorietta to preclude traffic from entering Glorietta Boulevard in a southerly direction; and
A traffic circle at the intersection of Third Street and Glorietta Boulevard.
At its meeting on June 2 the City Council received a presentation by Caltrans regarding the results of its recently completed speed survey of Third and Fourth Streets. The survey supports increasing the speed limit on Third and Fourth Streets between Orange Avenue and the bridge from 25 mph to 30 mph. See the article on this subject “Caltrans Proposed Speed Increase Adds Insult to the Fatality and Injuries Suffered on Third and Fourth Streets” published May 31, 2015. In response to the proposed increase in the speed limit, the City Council adopted the following resolution.
“Caltrans recent speed survey indicates actual speeds on Third and Fourth exceed reasonable levels for those neighborhoods; that these speeds are the result of the design of the highway; that Coronado wishes to accommodate use of the streets by all users; that Caltrans and the City should work to redesign Third and Fourth to maintain speeds that are compatible for the neighborhood and accessible to all modes of transportation; and that the City Council does not support increasing the speed limit from 25 to 30.”
The recommendations of the Transportation Commission provide a comprehensive plan for implementing the City Council’s June 2 resolution. Implementation of the recommended integrated set of improvements to Third and Fourth Streets would result in the redesign of the highway that would reduce the speed of the traffic to a level consistent with the residential character of the neighborhood. Further, these measures would accommodate the needs of all modes of transportation by improving the safety of pedestrians, cyclists and motorists crossing Third and Fourth Streets, both west and east of Orange Avenue.
Adoption of the Commission’s recommendations by the City Council would also establish an on-going dialogue with interested community groups and provide for the continued identification of methods to mitigate any adverse consequences that would result from the improvements to Third and Fourth Streets. Other benefits would include continued oversight by the Transportation Commission and added discipline to the process by requiring the creation and updating of a schedule for the further development, approval, and implementation of the recommended improvements to Third and Fourth Streets.
The Commission will present its recommendations to the City Council at a special council meeting that is tentatively planned for noon on June 23.
The report of the Mobility and Traffic Calming Working Group of the Transportation Commission is available at http://www.coronado.ca.us/egov/documents/1433794884_10981.pdf and the final Third and & Fourth Streets Traffic Calming Study prepared by Fehr and Peers can be reviewed at http://www.coronado.ca.us/egov/documents/1422400873_8035.pdf.
(Note: The author is a member of the Coronado Transportation Commission.)
John Tato
Staff Writer
eCoronado.com
