SR-506-003-01 (35)
GS:$ES:RD:JAS
Council Meeting:
September 14, 1982
Santa Monica, California J'J'- II
.;:;JC6- GJ03-0/ SEP 1 Ii Hj8~
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Clty Staff
SUBJECT: Fourth Street Modifications Between Pico Boulevard
and Hill Street
Introduction
This report provides the City Council with background on Staff's
actions to date regarding 4th Street between Pica Boulevard and
Hill Street and provides recommendations to continue working with
residents to determine an acceptable plan and appropriate funding
sources.
Background
The residents along 4th Street are requesting the City to take
action on the problems associated with parking and traffic on 4th
Street between Pico Boulevard and Hill Street. The residents
specific concerns are to improve safety, reduce trafflc speeds
and volumes and increase on~street parking in the sUbject area.
Fourth Street between Pico and Ocean Park Boulevard has two lanes
in each direction with a total of 115 on-street parking spaces on
both sides of the street. The average daily traffic on Fourth
Street is 12,600 per weekday and 18,300 vehicles per weekend day.
The critical speed is 35 miles per hour with 63 percent of the
traffic exceeding the posted speed limit of 35 miles per hour.
Analysis of traffic accidents over the last five years indicates
the most frequent types of accidents are rear end, sideswipe and
parked vehicle accidents. These types of accidents are related
1
None of these
II-H
to
vehicle traveling at excessive speeds.
SfP 1 .q 1982
GS:SES:RD:JAS Santa Monica, California
Council Meeting: September 14, 1982
accidents analyzed would have been prevented lf stop signs had
been installed along Fourth Street.
Staff first met with residents to dlSCUSS ways to mitlgate noise,
traffic, safety and parking on Fourth Street in the subject area
on April 18, 1982.
Staff developed a series of plans to analyze how to best resolve
the residents' concerns and not create an unsafe condition for
pedestrians, bicyclists and motor vehicles.
The first plan developed was to provide on traffic lane and a
bikelane in each direction separated by a two-way left turn lane
(Attachment
1) .
This proposal is similar to the changes
implemented on 26th Street north of Wilshire Boulevard with an
addition of bikelanes.
Twenty.sixth Street and Fourth Street
carry similar traffic volumes during the weekday.
The plan
provides for an additional 15 spaces on the southern end of the
subject area.
The estimated cost is $5,000. Some residents
liked this plan but most preferred a plan with more on.street
parking.
The second plan included diagonal parking on the west side of
Fourth Street with one lane of traffic in each direction.
On-street parking would be increased by 16 spaces. The small
increase in parking is due to the number of driveways. Staff has
serlOUS concerns regarding vehicles backing out of a diagonal
space may cross both traffic lanes and create a potentially
dangerous situation to north and southbound motor vehicles.
2
GS:SES:RD:JAS Santa Monica, California
Council Meeting: September 14. 1982
Because of the relative dangers of this plan and the small number
of on-street parking spaces which would be gained. both staff and
the residents ruled out this plan.
The third plan provided one traffic lane in each direction
separated by a raised median with intermittent trees and with
parallel parking on one side (see Attachment 2). The plan will
provide an additional 103 parking spaces. The estimated cost for
this plan is $150,000. Staff believes this plan will mitigate
three of the major residential concerns:
increased safety,
decreased vehicle speeds, decreased noise levels. In addition,
it will add a green strip down Fourth Street. The effects on
traffic volumes are not certain. It should be noted that traffic
volumes are usually perceived as problems when motor vehicles
travel at a higher rate of speed and make more noise. The
reduction of vehicle speeds reduces the noise levels and make
traffic volumes more tolerable.
The final plan is similar to the previous plan with the exception
no continuous median is provided. There will only be stripes
delineating where to park between the planted medians located at
intersections (see Attachment 3). The estimated cost is $30,000
and it will provide an additional 103 parking spaces.
On August 22, residents along Fourth Street between Pico
Boulevard and Hill Street met in Hotchiss Park to discuss the
proposed Fourth Street plans.
Staff was present to discuss
various ways to fund the proposed changes. Staff outlined the
possibilities for funding including assessing adjacent property
3
GS:SES:RD:JAS Santa Monlca. California
Council Meeting: September 14, 1982
owners and possible use of funds financed by revenue bond
proceeds backed by the Lincoln Properties settlement.
Traffic Flow
Each of these plans reduces the number of traffic lanes from two
in each direction to one in each direction. The volume currently
is 12.600 vehicles per day. This can be adequately handled by
one lane in each direction.
Recommendation
It is recommended that City Council:
1. Instruct Staff to continue working with residents to
determine a plan which is acceptable to the community and
economically feasible.
2. Submit the proposed project to the Capital Improvement
Committee for review.
3. Determine a method to finance the proposed project.
4. Review this project in context of 1983-4 Budget.
Prepared by:
Stan Scholl. Director of General Services
Ray Davis, Parking and Traffic Engineer
Attachments:
Attachment 1
Attachment 2
Attachment 3
4
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