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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTRA_StaffMemo_Mar 8_2011TRAFFIC REVIEW ADVISORY BOARD AGENDA ITEMS MARCH 2011 NEW BUSINESS A REQUEST FOR 4-HOUR PARKING ON BOTH SIDES OF FAIRFAX DRIVE FROM PHEASANT CREEK DRIVE TO 110 FEET EAST OF PHEASANT CREEK DRIVE. (CURRENT CONDITION: UNRESTRICTED PARKING.) This is a citizen request. The citizen making this request is concerned over unwanted vehicles being parked in front of his property. The citizen claims that the vehicles remain on the street most of the time, and are moved primarily to comply with the City’s overnight parking requirements. He is concerned with the aesthetic concerns of these vehicles, as well as with safety during the winter months when the roadway width might be narrower. This particular request would preserve on-street parking, but would regulate its duration so that on-street parking is available more for short-term parking than for longer-term vehicle storage. Requests for parking restrictions on local streets are typically evaluated first on the basis of safety-related concerns, and second on the basis of neighborhood concerns. From a safety perspective, if the street width is less than 17 feet, parking is to be prohibited on both sides of the street; if the width is 17 to 24 feet, parking is to be prohibited on one side of the street. Parking restrictions may also be appropriate if any of the following are true: Traffic volumes are relatively high for a local street (i.e. 1,000 or more vehicles per day) There is adequate parking availability (i.e. less than 50 percent utilization of available on-street parking) There are sight distance challenges, such as curves, hills or obstructions Fairfax Drive has a street width of 32 feet, so parking restrictions are not necessary. Traffic volumes on Fairfax Drive at its intersection with Pheasant Creek Drive are about 300 vehicles per day. In the daytime hours, there appears to be adequate availability of on-street parking. Sight distance near the intersection is adequate. Hence, it would not be appropriate to recommend parking restrictions from a safety perspective. From a neighborhood perspective, parking restrictions may be appropriate when the street width is 25 to 33 feet and there is a valid petition from neighbors advocating the restriction. In the absence of a formal petition, staff has typically sent notices of Board meetings to adjacent property owners, so that they may express their support or opposition for requests like these. I do not believe this request to restrict parking is necessary from a traffic safety perspective. It may be appropriate to consider this restriction based on the sentiment of the neighborhood. 2. A REQUEST FOR EVANS STREET TO STOP AT ITS INTERSECTION WITH NEVADA AVENUE. (CURRENT CONDITION: YIELD SIGN.) 3. A REQUEST FOR GROVE STREET TO STOP AT ITS INTERSECTION WITH NEVADA AVENUE. (CURRENT CONDITION: YIELD SIGN.) 4. A REQUEST FOR OAK STREET TO STOP AT ITS INTERSECTION WITH NEVADA AVENUE. (CURRENT CONDITION: YIELD SIGN.) These are citizen requests. For each of these intersections, the citizen was concerned that vehicles on the cross-street would go through the yield sign without stopping, therefore being potentially struck by cross-traffic on Nevada Avenue. The citizen believes that stop signs would encourage greater driver compliance, and thereby improve safety. This phenomenon could happen for a couple of reasons: first, if Nevada Avenue volumes are high enough that it is hard for a car on a cross-street to find an acceptable gap; or second, if sight distance is limited, so that a car may not be able to see Nevada Avenue traffic while waiting at a yield sign. Both of these cases align with the existing warrants for stop signs, so these were examined to determine whether any of the intersections meet these warrants. The following warrants are used when considering whether stop signs should be installed on these cross-streets: Three or more right angle accidents in a twelve-month period, or five or more right angle accidents in a 2-year period. 3,000 or more vehicles per day entering the intersection. A severe sight distance problem. An analysis of these warrants is provided in Table 1, using traffic data collected in 2009 and 2010. As can be seen, the intersections do not meet the warrants for stop sign control. Table 1: Warrant Analysis for Nevada Avenue Intersections  It may be added that, in terms of crash history and traffic volumes, the intersections would not meet the warrants for the existing yield sign control. However, there is no compelling reason to remove the yield signs at this time. I recommend denial of these requests. 5. A REQUEST FOR UNRESTRICTED PARKING ON THE NORTH SIDE OF CHURCH AVENUE, FROM 130 FEET EAST OF FRANKLIN STREET TO 150 FEET EAST OF FRANKLIN STREET. (CURRENT CONDITION: HANDICAPPED PARKING.) This is a Transportation Department request. Church Avenue is scheduled for reconstruction this year. In reviewing the current on-street parking regulations for this street, this handicapped space was noted. The existing handicapped space was requested by Christ Lutheran Church in May 1991. As a condition of approving this space, the church constructed a concrete pad in the terrace to allow for more accessible loading and unloading of passengers. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires newly reconstructed facilities to comply with ADA. Consequently, reconstruction of this street would require the on-street handicapped space to be designed according to current ADA requirements. The current standards regarding ADA accessibility are the ADA Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG). Draft guidelines for ADA standards in the public right-of-way were distributed for comment in 2005, but have not yet been adopted. The Federal Highway Administration considers these draft guidelines as “the currently recommended best practices …the state of the practice that could be followed for areas not fully addressed by the present ADAAG standards.” Figure 1 depicts what these draft guidelines would require for an on-street accessible parking space. This would require modifications to the basic street design for this section of Church Avenue, which would result in an increased assessment for the adjacent property (in this case, Christ Lutheran Church).  Source: http://vanaccessibleparking.org/Parking/ADAAG-M-Parking.html Figure 1: Example of On-Street ADA Accessible Parking Space. It appears that the church now has off-street parking which designates certain spaces as accessible. The church may have not had these spaces available when this ordinance was approved in 1991. Since accessible parking needs can apparently be addressed with this lot and it would cost the property owner additional money to preserve the on-street accessible space, it would make sense to remove the handicapped parking space. Without this restriction, parking would become unrestricted, similar to the adjacent sections on Church Avenue. I recommend approval of this request. STAFF STATEMENTS 6. REVIEW OF OREGON STREET COMMERCIAL DISTRICT PARKING RESTRICTIONS This is a Council member request. At the January Board meeting, a Board member requested an examination of on-street parking regulations for consistency. For last month’s meeting, staff provided an overview of on-street parking regulations in the downtown BID. This month focuses on the Oregon Street commercial district, which is defined (for this analysis) as extending on Oregon Street from the Fox River to 12th Avenue, and one block in either direction on the intersecting cross-streets. In the Oregon Street commercial district, on-street parking is generally free for two (2) hours north of 10th Avenue, and for four (4) hours south of 10th Avenue. Table 2 lists exceptions to this review that were identified by staff. Table 2: Exceptions to Parking Norms in Oregon Street Commercial District Loading zone Oregon Street, east side, 8th Avenue to 33 feet south of 8th Avenue, in front of restaurant 7th Avenue, both sides, east of Oregon Street, near automotive businesses  30-minute parking 10th Avenue, south side, east of Oregon Street, 1 space 12th Avenue, both sides, east of Oregon Street, near a candy store  2-hour parking 12th Avenue, both sides, west of Oregon Street 12th Avenue, north side, east of Oregon Street  4-hour parking 9th Avenue, south side, east of Oregon Street, near a church  Unrestricted parking 7th Avenue, both sides, east of Oregon Street, with the exception of a couple of loading zones 8th Avenue, both sides, west of Oregon Street, with the exception of a loading zone on the south side 11th Avenue, both sides, west of Oregon Street   The most recent change to parking regulations in this area was in 2008, when unrestricted parking was allowed on 8th Avenue, west of Oregon Street. Two-hour parking meters were removed from Oregon Street in 2006. In recent years, there have been fewer requests for modification of parking regulations in this part of the City than there have been in the Downtown BID. Generally, these requests come from businesses or customers who are not well-served by the existing regulations. I can investigate the history of specific regulations at the request of the Board. 7. TRAFFIC IMPACTS OF 9TH AVENUE CONSTRUCTION This staff memo was being prepared prior to the closure of the 9th Avenue overpass over US Highway 41. The reduction of the number of overpasses over US Highway 41 will result in diversion of traffic to other routes. In addition to this effect on local traffic, the northbound US Highway 41 ramps to and from 9th Avenue are projected to be closed through mid-July, while the southbound ramps will be closed until November. Expect for one permitted night-time closure, the 9th Avenue frontage road intersections (Koeller Street and Washburn Street) will remain open through construction. The following are the types of impacts that we project during this construction season. The traffic which normally accessed Highway 41 via the 9th Avenue ramps will shift to STH 21 (Omro Road) or STH 44 (South Park Avenue), increasing traffic on those streets. All of the traffic signals at these intersections are operated and maintained by the State. Traffic on Witzel Avenue and 20th Avenue will increase due to the closure of the 9th Avenue overpass. Witzel Avenue is expected to receive more of the diverted traffic because it is closer to 9th Avenue. The roundabouts on Witzel Avenue offer additional traffic capacity compared to traffic signals, which should help to reduce potential congestion. To the east of US Highway 41, traffic models indicate that most of the detoured traffic will use Koeller Street, although some may use Sawyer Street and Knapp Street. To the west of US Highway 41, the models indicate that most of the detoured traffic will use Washburn Street, although some may use Oakwood Road. A temporary signal was added at the intersection of Westhaven Drive and 9th Avenue last year to assist with construction-related traffic. Traffic at this intersection is expected to be lower in 2011 than under pre-construction conditions, due to traffic diversion. No additional traffic signals are anticipated to be necessary to accommodate traffic diversion. A variety of traffic signal modifications could be made if needed. New traffic detection equipment has been ordered for the intersections of Koeller Street and 20th Avenue, and Washburn Street and 20th Avenue. This equipment will allow the traffic control at these intersections to better respond to actual traffic volumes, making it easier to accommodate surges in traffic and serve left-turning vehicles. Based on previous experience, it is best to let traffic settle into new equilibrium patterns, which will take one or two weeks, before making any significant interventions. 8. BICYCLE/PEDESTRIAN PLAN UPDATE The update of the City’s Bicycle/Pedestrian Plan is close to being complete. The steering committee was to meet on Wednesday, February 23 to review the draft plan. The plan will be reviewed by the Traffic Review Advisory Board, potentially in a joint meeting with other citizens’ boards and commissions, prior to adoption. 9. 2011 STATE OF THE CITY I would like to invite all Board members and interested citizens to attend this year’s State of the City presentation. This will be at the Oshkosh Convention Center on Monday, March 21, 2011, starting at 6:00 p.m.