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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPW Third and Hetherton Intersection ImprovementsAgenda Item No: 5.a Meeting Date: December 17, 2018 SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT Department: Public Works Prepared by: Bill Guerin, Director of Public Works City Manager Approval: TOPIC: Third and Hetherton Intersection Improvements SUBJECT: Updated Recommendations for the Intersection of Third Street and Hetherton Street RECOMMENDATION: Accept informational report. BACKGROUND: The intersection of Third Street and Hetherton Street is one of the most heavily congested locations in both San Rafael and Marin County. This is due in part to its proximity to major traffic generators such as the northbound and southbound ramps for US 101, Downtown San Rafael, Montecito Shopping Center, San Rafael High School and traffic from the freeway going to points west of San Rafael. The intersection of Third Street and Hetherton Street is also highly traversed by pedestrians traveling between the Montecito neighborhood, Downtown San Rafael, the Caltrans Park-and- Ride lots, and the San Rafael Transit Center. During peak hours, this intersection handles over 3,500 vehicles and 175 pedestrians per hour, creating numerous points of conflict between vehicles and pedestrians. In the last five years, there have been a number of pedestrian-involved collisions at Third Street and Hetherton Street, including two pedestrian fatalities, which occurred in 2014 and 2016. Both fatalities involved vehicles making a westbound left turn from Third Street to southbound Hetherton Street from the second turning lane. Since that time, the City has made significant improvements to this intersection including accessible curb ramps, Leading Pedestrian Intervals (LPIs), high visibility crosswalk striping, removal of several trees that shaded the southeast corner of the intersection, and re-surfacing and restriping of Hetherton Street. Further improvements can be made at this intersection and the City applied for a Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) grant for funding to make changes to the intersection and was awarded the grant at the end of 2016. In order to investigate whether further improvements could be made to improve safety to the intersection, the City Council authorized the City Manager to enter into a professional services agreement with the transportation consultant firm, Kimley-Horn and Associates (KHA), to prepare a study for the Third Street and Hetherton Street intersection on January 17, 2017. ____________________________________________________________________________________ FOR CITY CLERK ONLY Council Meeting: 12/17/2018 Disposition: Accepted report SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT / Page: 2 KHA and City staff worked closely to develop intersection concepts that would provide improvements to both vehicular travel and pedestrian safety. Existing conditions at the intersection were identified and potential improvements were developed. Fourteen improvement options were initially identified which included such ideas as lane configuration changes, pedestrian scrambles, geometry modifications and changes to signal operations. A traffic analysis was performed for each option to determine the impact on traffic and pedestrian circulation. Using the results from the analysis, four intersection concepts were further evaluated based on traffic impacts, safety impacts, and cost. Based on completion of a traffic analysis, cost estimates of the conceptual designs, which ranged from $200,000 to $400,000, and an assessment of safety benefits for pedestrians, staff recommended a concept to be considered as the preferred option for this intersection. The initial concept that was brought to City Council on July 2, 2018 suggested the elimination of the second left turn from Third Street and reduced the crossing distance of the south and west crosswalks. This concept also included a leading pedestrian interval (LPI) which provides an advance start for pedestrians crossing. The analysis concluded there would be an approximately three second increase in delay to drivers at the intersection with these improvements. DISCUSSION: After further analysis, vetting of alternatives, and the community concerns with removing the left-turn pocket, City staff believes that the crosswalk on the south leg of the intersection should be removed, and a crosswalk on the east leg added. T he southbound and westbound lane configurations should stay as-is. These two main measures combined with signal visibility improvements, pedestrians bulb-outs, barricades at the removed crosswalk, and lighting would present the best long-term scenario for all users. This revised approach was vetted with both KHA, the consultants preparing the original report, and Caltrans. The following observations were made more recently that brought staff to a different conclusion than the July 2018 recommendations: 1. Driver aggression will remain a source of conflict due to the nature of arrivals for the westbound left-turn movement. The blank-out warning signs proposed as part of the initial recommendation would reduce, but not eliminate the pedestrian-vehicle conflict. 2. The pedestrian volumes across the south leg in 2017 were low (16 pedestrians during the a.m. peak hour and 41 during the p.m. peak hour). This is not considered a high demand and can easily be accommodated by the other crosswalks. Also, the plan is to influence pedestrians to use the north east corner by placing pedestrian guidance signs east of the intersection. 3. The Notice of Preparation for the Transit Center relocation has been issued and with the exception of the 2-story concept (that is expected to be removed from consideration due to constructability concerns), all alternatives are north of Third Street. Pedestrian crossing demand on the south leg of the intersection is anticipated to decrease with the relocation of the Center. 4. The pilot removal of the left-turn pocket was discussed with staff at both Caltrans and KHA. All parties agreed that it would present a challenging learning curve to put back the second turn lane should the pilot study results be unfavorable. The bottom line is that City staff must prioritize safety over convenience. Following the acceptance of this presentation, Public Works will focus the design effort to remove the south crosswalk, install signage and other features to direct pedestrian traffic to the north side of Third Street while including all previously discussed pedestrian safety design features. SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT / Page: 3 Staff recommendations were vetted through the Bicycle and Pedestrians Advisory Committee members, the State Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the KHA Transportation consultants. Staff received favorable feedback for the revised recommendation. PUBLIC OUTREACH: The updated recommended concept would require both physical intersection modifications and signal operations modifications. The project is listed in the FY 2018-19 CIP as an Active Project, and is fully funded by a Highway Safety Improvement Program grant. FISCAL IMPACT: There are no direct fiscal impacts to accepting this report. The permanent solution is expected to be paid for with the $583,900 provided by the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) grant to support this project, with matching local funds of $94,035 from the Traffic Mitigation Fund (#246). Any cost exceeding the grant amount would be paid for by Gas Tax funds (fund no. 206). RECOMMENDED ACTION: Accept informational report.