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SR-012709-8cCity Council Meeting: January 27, 2009 Agenda Item: ~'-'~ To: Mayor and City Council From: Lee E. Swain, Director of Public Works Subject: .20th Street and Cloverfield Boulevard Improvements Project Recommended Action Staff recommends that the City Council: 1. approve the recommended concept for the 20th Street and Cloverfield Boulevard ,Improvements Project; and 2. authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a modification to Contract No. 8581 (CCS) with Ahbe Landscape Architects in an amount not to exceed $175,000, for a total contract amount not to exceed $625,000. Executive Summary The 20th Street and Cloverfield Boulevard Improvements Project provides various streetscape enhancements on 20th Street and Cloverfield. Boulevard, between the Santa Monica Freeway (I-10) and Pico Boulevard. Following several community meetings, the attached concept options have been developed to address safety concerns, aesthetic improvements and accessibility on these thoroughfares. All concept options include planting of new trees and landscaping, installation of pedestrian lighting and colored concrete sidewalk sections, traffic signal modifications and streetlight circuit upgrades, improving access and safety for pedestrians. Several concept options include the consideration of curb extensions and medians on Cloverfield Boulevard; and medians and the addition of bicycle lanes on 20th Street. Staff recommends Concept. 1 for 20th Street and Concept 2 for Cloverfield Boulevard with modifications as explained in detail in this report. The recommended concept for 20th Street provides improvements in the existing sidewalk/parkway area, while maintaining the existing street and parking configuration. The pedestrian experience will be enhanced with lighting, landscaping and sidewalk accessibility modifications. The existing street trees will be removed and replaced with new trees. The recommended concept does not include dedicated bicycle lanes but does not preclude changes to the traveled way in the future. The recommended concept for Cloverfield Boulevard maintains the existing street and parking configuration, while providing a few small areas of landscaping in curb 1 extensions and at the median near the I-10 freeway. The curb extensions occur at areas currently marked as no parking zones.-The pedestrian experience will be enhanced with lighting and sidewalk accessibility modifications. Streetlight circuit upgrades and traffic signal modifications were not part of the original scope of work for this project. The professional services agreement with Ahbe Landscape Architects must be modified to add design services for these enhancements. Funds are available in the project budget for the proposed contract modification. Background On December 11, 2007 and March 11, 2008, staff presented a recommended concept for the project to City Couhcil. At the March 11, 2008 meeting, City Council requested staff to investigate other options including the installation of landscape medians on both streets and bicycle lanes on 20th Street. This report presents an overview of four concept options for 20th Street and three concept options for Clovertield Boulevard. These concepts incorporate comments provided by the City Council. The various concepts were presented to the community on April 21, 2008 and October 16, 2008 and were reviewed with other involved City Departments. Discussion Public Outreach In order to obtain community feedback to the concept alternatives, public workshops were held at the Virginia Avenue Park on April 21, and October 16, 2008: A total of 47 community members attended the meetings. In addition, City staff received 14 surveys from a Pico Neighborhood Block Party and 12 surveys through the project's website. Several media sources were used to inform the residents, businesses, and property owners about the public workshop including: Radius Mailer. A bilingual (English/Spanish) meeting postcard was mailed to approximately 2;350 residents, businesses, and property owners. • Website posting: The meeting postcard, concept design and survey were posted on the Civil Engineering Division's website. 2 • Newspaper and City TV: The meeting postcard was advertised in the Santa Monica Daily Press and on City TV. • Pico Neighborhood Block Party: City staff displayed the project concept drawings at a recent Pico Neighborhood Block Party and asked participants to complete a survey. Pico Neighborhood Association and Virginia Park Boards: City staff attended the board meetings and asked for participation in the upcoming community meeting. • Phone calls and email: Outreach to the community members that participated in previous community meetings, Pico Neighborhood Association, Recreation & Parks Commissioners, -Santa Monica College, and Pico Improvement Organization were contacted via phone calls and email: A presentation of the various concepts including the pros and cons was discussed with the community. during the meetings. Minutes from the community meeting conducted on October 16, 2008 are ihcluded as Attachment 17. The community was asked to select the concepts that they support by filling out a questionnaire. A total of 49 questionnaires were completed and submitted at the community meeting, Pico Neighborhood Block party and on-line. For 20th Street: Concept 1 received 37 votes, Concept 2 received 6 votes, Concept 3 received 1 vote and Concept 4 received 5 votes. For Cloverfield Boulevard: Concept 1 received 41 votes, Concept 2 received 7 votes and Concept 3 received 1 vote. 20th Street Concept Options 20th Street, irr the project area, is a major.north-south thoroughfare in the City and is a point of access to and from I-10. The land use in the project area is residential, and the width of the existing right-of-way through the. majority of the project area is seventy-six feet. The width of the right-of-way is slightly wider near Pico Boulevard. The existing seventy-six foot right-of-way includes: • 8 foot wide sidewalks (16 feet total) • 7 foot wide parking lanes (14 feet total) • 2 traffic lanes in each direction (46 feet total) 3 The average daily traffic on this street is approximately 19,000 vehicles per day. This street is heavily used by the Fire Department to provide emergency response from Fire Station No. 3 at 19cn Street and Arizona to the area of the City south of I-10. In addition, paramedics use this route for access to the hospitals located north of I-10. There are existing trees along the street spaced approximately every 50 feet. The predominant .species are the Bottlebrush (Callistemon) and Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica 'Muskogee') trees. The four concepts discussed below include: removal of the existing and planting of new trees and landscaping in the sidewalk/parkway area; installation of pedestrian lighting; installation of colored concrete sidewalk sections; and traffic signal modifications: Portions of the existing sidewalks on both sides of the street do not comply with current pedestrian accessibility guidelines due to the sloped driveways. These driveways will be reconstructed to comply with current accessibility guidelines. The recommended trees for 20th Street are Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica `Muskogee') and Firewheel Tree (Stenocarpus sinuatus) (Attachment 1). The tree species were selected by the project designer based on their suitability to the site, performance under the site conditions and nursery availability: The recommended species were reviewed and accepted by the community and approved by the City's Community Forester for their appropriateness to the existing growing conditions. Concept 1: Concept 1 (Attachments 2 and 3) provides improvements in the existing sidewalk/parkway. area only and keeps the existing street and parking configuration as is by maintaining two travel lanes in each direction. This concept improves the pedestrian experience by creating a landscaped buffer between the sidewalk and traffic lanes, and will improve accessibility. This concept does not reconfigure the existing travel or parking lanes as all improvements occur behind the existing curbs. However, reconfiguration of the traveled way is not precluded in the future by this concept. 4 Implementation of this concept will not affect emergency service access or response time since the street will operate exactly as it does currently. Concept 2: Concept 2 (Attachments 4 and 5) provides improvements in the existing sidewalk parkway area similar to Concept 1. Additionally, this .concept includes curb extensions at the intersections of 20th Street and Delaware Avenue and 20th Street and Virginia Avenue. The traveled way is reconfigured by eliminating one travel lane in each direction and introducing dedicated six-foot wide bicycle lanes in each direction. One traffic lane in each direction and a turn lane in the center median area of the street for turning onto cross streets and driveways are provided. The center median is not raised or landscaped in order to provide access for emergency services. The bicycle lanes provide north-south access for three blocks in this area of the City. The impact of this concept on traffic was not analyzed; however, reducing the number of travel lanes from two lanes to one in each direction has been implemented on several thoroughfares in the City. A similar change was implemented on Main Street south of Pico Boulevard several years ago, and more recently on Ocean Park Boulevard east of Lincoln Boulevard and on San Vicente Boulevard at 7'h Street. Prior to approval of this concept, a detailed traffic analysis and environmental review would be required to determine the impact of the reduction of travel lanes. This analysis would delay the implementation of the project by -six to nine months. Additionally, the approval of the recommended concept will not preclude the addition of a bicycle lane in the future concurrent with the implementation of adjacent bike lanes contemplated in the Land Use and Circulation Element (LUCE) Strategy Frame Work: Concept 3: Concept 3 (Attachments 6 and 7) provides improvements in the existing sidewalk/parkway area, travel and bicycle lanes, similar to Concept 2. This concept also includes curb extensions at the intersections of 20th Street and Delaware Avenue and 20th Street and Virginia Avenue. Additionally, landscaped median islands are included at various locations where there are no existing adjacent driveways. The raised landscaped medians improve aesthetics by reducing the scale of the street. This 5 concept may increase response time for emergency service vehicles because the center median cannot be utilized as a through lane. The reduction of travel lanes will require further traffic and environmental analysis as discussed in Concept 2. Concept 4: .Concept 4 (Attachments 8 and 9) provides improvements to the sidewalk parkway and bicycle lanes, similar to Concept 2. This concept does not provide curb extensions of the intersections, center medians, or dedicated left turn lanes. In contrast to Concept 2, two travel lanes in the. northbound direction are proposed. This design is based on peak hour traffic needs in that direction. The reduction of travel lanes from two lanes in each direction to two lanes northbound and one lane in the southbound direction will require further traffic and environmental analysis as discussed in Concept 2. Recommended Concept for 20th Street Staff recommends that City Council approve Concept 1 (modified) for 20th Street (Attachment 18). At the last public meeting, the community supported the proposed improvements to the sidewalk parkway and requested removal and replacement of the existing 49 bottlebrush trees with a tree species that provides a more substantial canopy. The Landscape Architect .has recommended, and the City's Community Forester agrees, that the existing bottlebrush trees can be removed and replaced with the Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia Indica 'Muskogee') and Firewheel Tree (Stenocarpus Sinuatus). The existing trees will be mulched. after removal. Concept 1 was supported by the majority of the participants; however, there is also some public support for concepts that iriclude dedicated bicycle lanes. A citywide bicycle network that features 20th Street as a high priority route is included in the LUCE Strategy framework and the addition of bicycle lanes is not precluded by the recommended concept. However, the addition of bicycle lanes at this time will necessitate traffic studies and environmental analysis delaying the implementation of the project by six to nine months. The majority of participants in the public process agreed that the implementation of the parkway/sidewalk improvements should proceed without any changes to the existing 6 travel lane configuration to expedite implementation of improvements. The addition of the bicycle lanes on 20th Street and the traffic analysis necessary for this change can be addressed by the LUCE environmental review process. If appropriate, the . implementation of bicycle lanes in the future can be accomplished by modifying the pavement marking/striping only and is independent of the proposed improvements. Cloverfield Boulevard Concept Options Like 20th S treet, Cloverfield Boulevard, in the project area, i5 a major north-south thoroughfare in the City and is a key point of access to and from 1-10. The land use in the. project area is residential and the width of the existing right-of-way through the majority of the project area is seventy-two feet. The width of the right-of-way is slightly wider near I-10 and Pico Boulevard. The existing seventy-two foot right-of-way includes: • 6 foot wide sidewalks (12 feet total) 7 foot wide parking lanes (14 feet total) 2 traffic lanes in each direction (46 feet total) The average daily traffic on this street is 39,000 vehicles. There are no existing street trees or landscaping in the project area except for a landscaped median near Pico Boulevard adjacent to Virginia Avenue Park. The existing six-foot wide sidewalk on both sides of the street does not comply with pedestrian accessibility guidelines due to sloped driveways at several locations. There are 43 on-street parking spaces in the project area. A development at 1940 Cloverfield Boulevard will remove two parking spaces due to the construction of a driveway reducing the total to 41: All three concept options discussed below include: planting of new trees and landscaping; installation of pedestrian lighting-and colored concrete sidewalk sections; traffic signal modifications and streetlight circuit upgrades; and improvements to pedestrian accessibility. The recommended trees for Cloverfield Boulevard are Pink Trumpet Tree (Tabebuia impetiginosa) and Chinese Fringe Tree (Chionanthus retusus) (Attachment 1). The.tree species were selected by the project designer based on their suitability to the site, performance under the site conditions and nursery availability. The recommended 7 species were reviewed and accepted by the community and approved by the City's Community Forester for their appropriateness to the existing growing cohditions. Concept 1: Concept 1 (Attachments 10 and 11) incorporates .approximately 11 landscaped curb extensions along Cloverfield Boulevard at driveway locations, areas currently marked as no parking zones (red curb) and at the intersection of Cloverfield Boulevard and Virginia Avenue.- The curb extensions improve the pedestrian experience by creating a landscaped buffer between the sidewalk and traffic lanes. The existing sidewalk is too narrow to accommodate planting; however, the curb extensions provide additional space for landscaping and trees. Extending the curbs allows the existing driveways to be replaced with level sidewalk to comply with pedestrian accessibility guidelines. The driveway slopes will be reconstructed in the curb extension area. The curb extensions will encroach into the parking lanes on both sides of the street and 16 parking spaces will be eliminated, leaving 25 remaining parking spaces. Concept 2: Concept 2 (Attachments 12 and 13) incorporates approximately 7 landscaped curb extensions along Cloverfield Boulevard at limited locations and a landscaped median near I-10. The curb extensions occur at areas currently marked as no parking zones (red curb) and at the intersection of Cloverfield Boulevard and Virginia Avenue. The curb extensions provide a small area for landscaping and trees between the sidewalk and traffic lanes. -The driveways must be modified in order for the sidewalk to meet pedestrian accessibility guidelines. There are two driveway modification options (Attachment 14): • Jogged Driveway Crossing • Parallel Ramped Driveway Crossing The jogged driveway crossing provides a level sidewalk around the private property side of the existing driveway. This requires an easement or acquisition of right-of-way from the adjacent property. The parallel ramped driveway crossing requires the sidewalk area to be lowered with ramps on each end of the driveway and the slope of the 8 driveway to occur on the adjacent property. This requires an agreement with the adjacent property owners to modify driveways on private property. Only 2 parking spaces will be eliminated by this concept, and total of 39 parking spaces will remain. Concept 3: Concept 3 (Attachments 15 and 16) provides approximately 8 landscaped curb extensions at the intersection of Cloverfield Boulevard and Virginia Avenue and some areas currently marked as no parking zones (red curb); a landscaped median near I-10; and a landscaped median on each side of the- Cloverfield Boulevard and Virginia Avenue intersection. The curb .extensions at the intersection will provide a small area for landscaping and trees between the sidewalk and traffic lanes. The center medians can be landscaped, but their length is restricted by the locations of existing driveways. The center medians require the traffic lahes to shift towards the parking lane, which will result in the loss of 12 parking, including the two parking spaces at 1940 Clovertield Boulevard, for a remaining total of 31. The existing driveways must be modified in order to comply with pedestrian accessibility guidelines as discussed in Concept 2. Recommended Concept for Cloverfield Boulevard Staff recommends that City Council approve Concept 2 (modified) for Cloverfield Boulevard (Attachment 19). The majority of participants at the last community meeting supported Concept 2 since this concept maintains almost all of the existing street parking. They did not support the curb extensions at the intersection of Cloverfield Boulevard and Virginia Avenue since they limit turn movements at the intersection and may impact traffic flow. Participants also suggested modifying the median near Pico Boulevard since traffic regularly backs-up into the through lane causing congestion. The recommended concept provides limited street trees and landscaping; however, this concept provides improved accessibility, introduces a landscaped median-near I-10 and provides some additional landscaping at three curb extensions on the west side of the street. 9 Modification of Professional Services Agreement The community. expressed concerns about lighting in the project area. In order to provide enhanced lighting in the project area, an upgrade to the existing series streetlight circuit is necessary. Additionally, traffic signal equipment in the project area requires upgrades to be consistent with the future Citywide Advanced Traffic Management System. The traffic signals at the intersection of I-10 off-ramp and 20tH Street, and the intersection of Pico Boulevard and 20tH Street require complete upgrades. -Minor traffic signal modifications are also required at the intersections of Delaware Avenue and 20tH Street, I-10 on-ramp and Clovertteld Boulevard, and Virginia Avenue and Cloverfield Boulevard. .Streetlight circuit upgrades and traffic signal modifications were not part of the original scope of work for this. project. The professional services agreement with Ahbe Landscape Architects must be modified to include additional design services for these enhancements. Staff recommends modifying the professional services agreement with Ahbe Landscape Architects, in an amount not to exceed $175,000, for additional design services. Environmental Analysis Each of the recommended concepts is considered to be a minor alteration of ari existing street in a three block area that will not result in any expansion of the existing use. Therefore, the improvements recommended for 20tH Street and Cloverfield Boulevard are categorically exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15301 [Existing Facilities], Class 1(c) of the CEQA Guidelines. Financial Impacts & Budget Actions Funds in the amount of _$175,000 are available. in account number 0010522.589000 (Feasibility & Prelim Design 20th) for additional services associated with the design of street light. conversions and traffic signal modifications for the project. The original budget for the project was $5,500,000. The preliminary cost estimate to upgrade the series streetlight circuits is $500,000, and $700,000 to upgrade the traffic signals. 10 These upgrades increase the total estimated project cost to approximately $6,700,000. The next step is to develop the final design plans and prepare bid documents. During this phase, staff will identify funding options for the additional streetlight and traffic signal upgrades and evaluate potential increased maintenance costs associated with the improvements. Prepared by: Mark Cuneo, P.E., Principal Civil Engineer Approved: Lee E. Swain, Director Department of Public Works Forwarded to Council: city Manager Attachments: 1. 20th Street/CloverField Boulevard -Site Amenities 2. 20th Street -Concept 1 Plan View 3. 20th Street- Concept 1 Cross Section 4. 20th Street -Concept 2 Plan View 5. 20th Street -Concept 2 Cross Section 6. 20th Street -Concept 3 Plan View 7. 20th Street -Concept 3 Cross Section 8: 20th Street -Concept 4 Plan View 9. 20th Street -Concept 4 Cross Section 10. Cloverfield Boulevard -Concept 1 Plan View 11. Cloverfield Boulevard -Concept 1 Cross Section 12. Cloverfield Boulevard -Concept 2 Plan View 13. Cloverfield Boulevard -Concept 2 Cross Section 14. Driveway Modification Options 15. Clovefield Boulevard -Concept 3 Plan View 16. Cloverfield Boulevard -Concept 3 Cross Section 17. Community Meeting Minutes 18. 20th Street -Concept 1(Modified) Plan View 19. Cloverfield Boulevard -Concept 2(Modified) Plan View 11 Additional documentation available for review in the City Clerk's Office.