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Home My WebLink About12 - Marguerite Avenue Traffic ControlJuly 25, 2000 CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM NO. 12 TO: Mayor and Members of the City Council FROM: Public Works Department SUBJECT: TRAFFIC CONTROL ON MARGUERITE AVENUE AT SANDCASTLE DRIVE RECOMMENDATIONS: 1. Deny request for STOP signs on Marguerite Avenue at Sandcastle Drive. 2. Direct staff to prepare plans for re- striping Marguerite Avenue in the vicinity of Sandcastle Drive as shown on Alternate A. DISCUSSION Mr. Robert Curci, a resident of Harbor View Hills, attended the June 140, Traffic Affairs Committee (TAC) meeting and requested that a change be made at the intersection of Marguerite Avenue and Sandcastle Drive to make it safer to exit from Sandcastle Drive onto Marguerite Avenue. Mr. Curci discussed the problems experienced at this intersection. The original request was for STOP signs to be installed on Marguerite Avenue at Sandcastle Drive. Staff collected traffic volume and accident data at this intersection and completed a STOP warrant analysis at this location. The intersection does not meet the STOP warrant criteria primarily due to the low traffic volumes on Sandcastle Drive. A multiway STOP installation should ordinarily be used only where the volume of traffic on intersecting roads is approximately equal. The volume of traffic on Sandcastle Drive is approximately 10 percent of that on Marguerite Avenue. There have been three accidents at this intersection in the past three and one half years. None of these involved traffic turning left out of Sandcastle Drive from the east and none were related to limited sight distance. The TAC suggested that a re- striping of Marguerite Avenue could address the safety concerns. The TAC voted to recommend the re- striping as shown on Alternate A to the City Council. Mr. Curci concurred with this recommendation at the meeting and withdrew his request for STOP signs. Subsequent to the TAC meeting and just prior to the July 11th City Council meeting, Public Works staff received the attached letter from the Harbor View Hills South Homeowners Association. The letter indicates that the Board of Directors of the Association voted unanimously to request the installation of STOP signs on Marguerite Avenue at Sandcastle Drive. The Association Board also noted that there are STOP signs located on Marguerite Avenue at Sausalito Drive, and at all of the intersections between Fifth Avenue and Coast Highway. The STOP signs at Sausalito Drive were installed due to the very limited sight distance at this intersection resulting from its location at the crest of a hill on Marguerite Avenue. SUBJECT: TRAFFIC CONTROL ON MARGUERITE AVENUE AT SANDCASTLE DRIVE July 25, 2000 Page 2 The STOP signs between Fifth Avenue and Coast Highway were installed to address speed and volume concerns of the residents whose properties have direct frontage on Marguerite Avenue. This segment of Marguerite Avenue has residential frontage and only one lane in each direction. The segment northerly of Fifth Avenue is a four lane secondary arterial with no direct access to residential properties. The primary purpose of a STOP sign installation is to help drivers and pedestrians at an intersection decide who has the right -of -way. When a STOP sign is installed at a location that does not meet warrants, there is a higher incidence of intentional violations. Due to these considerations, the TAC developed the re- striping concepts as valid solutions for the residents. As depicted on Alternate A, Marguerite Avenue curves in the area north of Sandcastle Drive limiting the view of oncoming traffic until it is closer to the intersection. This coupled with the downhill grade on Marguerite Avenue requires the motorist turning left out of Sandcastle Drive to accurately gauge the amount of time they have to complete their left turn. The proposed re- striping would create a "refuge area" in the middle of Marguerite Avenue where motorists could wait for traffic to clear, if necessary, before completing their turn. The difference between Alternates A and B is a matter of which side of Marguerite Avenue should be narrowed to one lane in order to create the "refuge area ". Alternate A is recommended because it does not require any lane changes for through traffic on Marguerite Avenue. Alternate B would force southbound traffic into the curb lane and then back over so they are not trapped in the right- turn -lane at Fifth Avenue. CONCLUSION: Staff does not believe the installation of STOP signs on Marguerite Avenue at Sandcastle Drive would be appropriate. The over 9000 vehicles per day on Marguerite Avenue would be required to stop at a location where the side street volume is very low by comparison and the accident history does not indicate the need for such restrictive controls. Staff believes the proposed restriping will provide an area in the middle of the street which will allow left- turning motorists to evaluate traffic one direction at a time. This should make the intersection safer to use. Respectfully submitted, PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT Don Webb, Director?, - 1 By: e-- Richard M. Edmonston, P.E. Transportation & Development Services Manager Attachments: Re- striping Plan Alternate A Re- striping Plan Alternate B Letter from Harbor View Hills South Homeowners Association o 413H Wei„ w o Z w Z w o 0 sAHOCASna °""E J Q W srN7^�Sr � LIJ U >; Z w ui a FIFTH A� N ypgL111 i j W w Z Z Z w w > r � � CL ¢ O Z SANDCAST� D J Q Z LU IL w U Q LL O w U J LU r� J r FIFTH AVE '- I HARBOR VIEW HILLS SOUTH HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION do Lee Lelbenson Emmons Professional Management Association 17300 Redhill Avenue, #210 Irvine, CA 92623 July 7, 2000 The Honorable Tom W. Thomson City Councilman, 7"' District 3300 Newport Boulevard Newport Beach, CA 92663 -3884 RE: Unsafe Traffic Exposure Dear Councilman Thomson: We are writing to you in your capacity as the Councilman of our district. The Harbor View Hills South Homeowners Association Board of Directors are concerned for the safety of the residents within our Association that exit from Sandcastle Drive onto Marguerite Avenue that need to make a left -hand turn onto Marguerite. This dangerous situation has become even more dangerous with the increased traffic using San Joaquin Hills Road and Marguerite Avenue as alternative routes to Pacific Coast Highway and MacArthur Boulevard, particularly during morning and evening rush hours. There is an obvious obstruction of view due to the curve on Marguerite and the channeling of two lanes of traffic into one. This circumstance often puts drivers in an unsafe situation as they turn left and find a southbound car about to tailgate them, so the driver must either go to the left or right onto restricted lanes for safety. We would like to respectfully request that the City consider putting a boulevard stop sign on Marguerite at Sandcastle. The Board of Directors believes that a boulevard stop sign on Marguerite at Sandcastle is necessary to alleviate this dangerous situation that not only affects automobile drivers, but which also significantly affects children who walk and bicycle to and from Harbor View and Lincoln Elementary Schools as well as senior citizens at the Oasis Senior Citizen complex near this intersection. Sandcastle Drive is the major collector outlet onto Marguerite from our Association's homes. We understand that the Traffic Engineer's Department has recommended the re- striping of this intersection, however, we do not believe that is sufficient. We note that there is a boulevard stop sign on Marguerite atSausalito which is just a 'T" street intersection of a minor outlet from our area. Sandcastle is located at a four -point intersection serving our 449 homes and the 47 homes in Jasmine Park. The Honorable Tom W. Thomson City Councilman, Ph District July 7, 2000 Page Two We also note that there are boulevard stop signs at every intersection from Marguerite from e Avenue to Coast Highway on less traveled cross streets. Drivers on Marguerite between e Avenue and Coast Highway have many alternate routes; however, a Sandcastle driver does not. Even though there may not be any history of accidents at this intersection, history does not record the many near misses that have occurred. Traffic counts on Sandcastle Drive may not warrant a boulevard stop sign, but traffic on Marguerite that affects Sandcastle should. We hope we don't need a statistic of a serious injury to provide a point. We, therefore, respectfully request your favorable consideration for more than what is being recommended by the Public Works Department of just re- striping, but instead the installation of a boulevard stop on Marguerite at Sandcastle Drive. This request by our Association was the result of a unanimous vote of our Board of Directors, and there was strong support from those homeowners in attendance at such vote. Sincerely yours, Mike Favrean, President Harbor View Hills South Homeowner Association cc: Mayor and City Council City Manager Director, Public Works City Traffic Engineer City Attorney Board of Directors, HVHS Homeowners Association