SR-506-003-02 (9)
.G.-, ~:..:.~ ~r'T':dL:f . Santa 1>1011] ca, C~lll..Iua, October .1'::, j 98.L
5ot,;-OO3 -6JZ- //-E
To: Mayor and Clty COUDCll
OCT 2 7 198\
From; General Servlces
SubJect: P.'::collllllendatlon to 1\r:'[..Il"ove f10dlflcatlon of Parklllg
Restrlctlon anrl ScrlDln~ on 26th Street Between
San Ulcente and Wllshlre Roulevard .
Introductl.on
Thls report advlses Clty Councll of the recent hlstory of
26th Street and makes recollUTlendatlons to lJ11prOVe tile eXlstlng
condltlons.
Background
On August 18, Clty Counell lnstructed Staff to reVlew 26th
Street between San Vlcente and Wllshlre Boulevards and make
recommendatlons on how to lmprove the eXlstlng problem related
to speed and resldentlal ingress and egress.
Twenty-sixth Street lS a maJor traffic north south artery
provldlng connectlon from a large portlon of our Clty and
nelghborlng corr~unltles wlth dlrect access to the Santa Monlca
Freeway.
In 1966 the roadway wldth varled between 32 and 40 feet from
curb to curb. The street was wldened to 48 feet "to reduce the
trafflc congestion and lnconvenlence to both l11otorlsts and local
resldents". In addltion to wldenlng the street, parklng restric-
tlons were posted to provld~ ~~o trafflC lanes during the peak
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commuter hours. In 1966, the two way trafflc volumes on 26th
Street between San Vlcente and Wllshlre totaled 10,862 vehlcles
per day. There were 609 southbound vehicles dur~ng the a.l11. peak
hour and 766 northbound vehlcles durlng the p.m. peak hour. II-E
OCT 2 7 19BI
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" ~:; :~ss ~ l~D ~ ilL . Su.nta r'o<lQI\.lCil ( CJ1 ~f.la, October 12, 1981
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To: Mayor and Clty Cauncll
Recent traffic counts lndlcate the two way volume on 26th -
Street between San V1cente and Montana is 12,872 vehlcles .
per
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day wlth 571 southbound veh1c1es dur1ng the a.m. peak and 641
northbound vehlcles durlng the p.m. peak. The two way trafflC
volume on 26th Street between Montana and Wi1shlre 1S 14,063
vehlcles per day w1th 631 southbound vehlcles dur1ng the a.m.
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peak and 808 northbound vehicles during the p.m. peak.
A speed zone survey conducted 1n 1967 lndicated the 85 percentile
speed of 38 mph, and a medlan speed of 34 mph.
The survey 1ndlcated 37 percent of the traffic exceeded 35 mph
and 5 percent of the traffic exceed1ng 40 mph. Recent sgeed zone
surv,,"ys on 26th Street 1ndicate the 85 percentile speed 1S 38 mph
and the med1an speed 1S 35 mph. The survey lndlcates 48 percent of
the traffi.c exceeds the posted 35 mph speed limlt and 9 percent of
the traffic exceeds 40 mph.
Analysls
Analysls of the data collected In 1966 compared to the 1981 traffic
data lndlcates traffic has lncreased on 26th Street over the last
15 years between one and two percent annually. A one to two percent
annual lncrease on a collector or arterlal street lS expected. The
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peak hour has not slgnificantly increased over the years. However,
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the commuter peak hours have spread over the years. In 1966 there ---
was one hour with a significantly higher traffic volume than the
preceding and followlng hours.
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, GS: :-)~: HlJ: au . Santa l-:onh:a, Cul.rnla, October 12, 1981
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To: Mayor and Clty Council
The speed zone surveys ind~cate the 85 percentile and medlan
speeds have remained constant even though the posted speed limlt
was increased from 30 to 35 mph. There has been an increase of
vehicles exceedlng 35 mph from 37 percent to 48 percent of the
total vehicles travellng the street.
We have no records on the accldent rate on 26th Street between
San vicente and Wllshire Boulevard prior to the street widening
In 1966. The existlng accldent rate is 60 percent of the average
accldent rate for a collector or arterlal street carrYl~g Slml1ar
volumes. Most of the accldents occur 1n the even1ng or at nlght
dnd are speed relatsd. The lnstallatlon of trafflc cont=ol devlces
w1ll not solve th1S problem,
In general, a single trafflc lanes capaclty 1S 1800 vehlcles per
h\)ur assuilllng a two second headway between vehlcles. If there 1.S
a traffic signal the capaclty is reduced 50 percent or to 900
vehicles per hour. Any vehicles maklng turns would again reduce
the capacity of the single trafflC lane. For all pract1cal purposes,
the capacity of a single trafflC lane ranges between 600 and 750
vehicles per hour.
Staff has reviewed all the intersectlng streets along 26th Street
between San V~cente and Wilshire Boulevard. Staff's~nalysis indicate~
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that none of the subject' intersections meet the guid~ines for a
traffic signal or all-way stop s~gn installation.
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. . ca~ornia,
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GS:SS:RD:db Santa Mon~ca, October 12, 1981
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To: Mayor and City Council :
Res~dents' ~e.eting
On October 8, Staff met w~th 26th Street residents to discuss ,
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Staff's proposal to change 26th Street's roadway geometr~cs to
one travel lane in each d~rect~on separated by a two way left
turn lane and 24 hour parklng on both sides of the street. Staff
advlsed the residents the proposed changes may make lt difflcult
for them to exit the~r drlveways durlng the mornlng peak hour. -
However, overall lngress and egress to the area wlll be greatly
lmproved. One of tr.e maJor complalnts besldes vehlcles travellng
at exceSSlve speeds was a safe locat~on fo'r pedestrlans to cross
the street. Staf'f's proposal w~ll lffi?rOVe pedestrlan safety by
rEduclng the nu~ber of vehlcle tra"t,tel lanes a pedestrlan must cross
from 4 to 2 lanes. In addition there is a 10 foot ",ade left turn
lane separating the travel lanes and an 8 foot par!ang lane on
each side. This effectlvely reduces the potentlal vehlcle-pedestrlan
conflict area from 48 feet to 22 feet. There was a consensus by the
residents to proceed wlth Staff's proposal as a short term solution.
The resldents also requested the installatlon of 4 way stop signs
at each of 4 intersectlons between San Vlcente and Montana Avenue.
The residents proposed a long te~m solutlon of physlcally narrowlng
26th Street. Staff advised the resldents the estimated cost would
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be around $500,000 and any such changes would probably involve
assesslng the effected property owners. This would mean each
effected property Owner would be assessed $12,200. The residents
have not made any decisions to pursue this matter.
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. . ca.ornJ.a,
_ , : :G:S: 55 : RO = db Santa Monlca, October 12, 1981
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To: Mayor and CJ.ty Council
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Recommendations
It is recommended CJ.ty CouncJ.l instruct Staff to modlfy the
existing roadway geometrlcS on 26th Street between San Vicente
Boulevard and Montana Avenue to provide one lane in each
direction separated by a two way left turn lane and remove the
eXlsting peak hour parking restrlctlons,
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Prepared by: Stan Scholl, Director of General Services
Ray DavJ.s, Parklng and Trafflc Englneer
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