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15 Desk Item - Los Gatos Boulevard Plan and Design StandardsCOUNCIL AGENDA REPORT DATE: December 1, 1997 TO: MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL FROM: TOWN MANAGER SUBJECT: REMARKS: MEETING DATE: 12/1/97 ITEM NO, DESK ITEM CONSIDER THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE GENERAL PLAN COMMI11'EE, ARCHITECTURAL STANDARDS COMMITTEE AND PLANNING COMMISSION FOR THE LOS GATOS BOULEVARD PLAN AND DESIGN STANDARDS. NEGATIVE DECLARATION ND-96-21. INITIATED BY: TOWN OF LOS GATOS The attached letter was received from Lucille Chiodo Weidman after the staff report regarding this matter was prepared and distributed for Council (Attachment 11). Attachments: For Attachments 1 through 10, see report dated November 20, 1997 11. Letter from Lucille Chiodo Weidman concerning Los Gatos Boulevard, received December 1, 1997 LEB:KS:sm N:\DEV\CNCLRPTS\LGI3LVD.DSK PREPARED BY: LEE E. BOWMAN PLANNING DIRECTOR Reviewed by: a Attorney Finance Revised: 12/1/97 2:3 1 pm Reformatted: 10/23/95 To:, Los Gatos Town Council Members From: Lucille Chiodo Weidman Subject: Los Gatos Boulevard Dear Town Council Members, RECEIVED DEC 011997 TOWN OF LOS GATOS PLANNING DEPASTFNT Sy OFFICE OF THE November 29, 1997 199/ MAYOR & TOWN COUNCIL At the October 8, 1997 regular meeting of the General Planning Committee two handouts were given out. Upon reading the ten page correspondence between Mr. Abkin and Mr. Burden, I took it upon myself to make some inquiries of my own. Also as a result of receiving the Council Agenda Report for the 12/1/97 Town Council meeting, I noticed several comments and assumptions made that are not entirely true. Dan Burden, who is used as a reference in several paragraphs relative to the use of bike lanes, does not work for the Florida Department of Transportation. He hasn't worked for them for the last 15 months. He currently works out of his home as a consultant and his consulting service is known as "Walkable Communities". I spoke with him on the phone on Tuesday, November 25, and after describing to him what the main purpose and use of the Boulevard is and my concern of adding risk to bikers and liability to the town, I asked him whether he would be willing to put his name to a document that justified reducing the lane widths to 11 feet to accommodate bike lanes. His words to me were, "Perhaps your community isn't ready for such a change." He also feels that "The myth to use 12' lanes on all urban roadway sections is an old one and it will go away in time. The 12 foot wide lane standard is based on using roads for moving tanks during WWII hence the interstate 12' lane width". In reference to using Attachment 6 (Report 330) to justify lane reductions, all of the case studies that were done involved curb -to -curb street widths from 40 feet to 76 feet and the vast majority of the lane width reductions were performed to either add additional lanes, add two way left turn lanes, or add medians and left turn lanes. It states that when you decrease auto speeds there is some increase in auto emissions as a result of congestion. It also states that curb lane widths that share operations with bikes and autos should be at least 15 feet, similar to what was reported by Barton-Aschman Associates, Inc. in the report to the auto dealers and received by the Town of Los Gatos Planning Department 10/6/97. Three 11 foot lanes and one 15 foot shared bike/auto lane equals 48 feet. This is apparently 3 feet less than what currently exists on the Boulevard. I spoke with more than 19 individuals from 15 cities and five states (see table at end). Some calls were based on recommendations from other traffic safety engineers that I talked to and some were a result of names brought out in various reports passed out at various town meetings. I also spoke with several bike enthusiasts who are involved in working towards getting bike lanes put into areas where they currently do no exist. The general consensus I got from speaking to all of the traffic safety engineers and from State Departments of Traffic was that a 12 foot wide traffic lane is the standard lane width to be used for arterial lanes when it is at all possible for speeds of 35 mph or greater. All of the engineers that I spoke to stated that if you have an arterial roadway that has been designed to move traffic in such a manner to ensure adequate flow of the traffic, and you find that the traffic is now moving too fast, you don't "calm" the traffic by adding impediments such as ill -placed stop signs, crosswalks, signal lights, or bike Ianes to slow the traffic down. If the traffic is moving too fast you enforce the traffic laws. Anyone who has driven on Bascom Ave. through Campbell and is from this area has known for years that you don't speed through Campbell because the police enforce their traffic laws. I spoke with CalTrans about the proposed lane width reduction and putting in a bike lane and the comment to me was, "would those who are suggesting the reduced width of the traffic lanes and integrating bike lanes be willing to sign their name to such a plan?" The CalTrans traffic engineers would not. I realize that CalTrans does not mandate street designs for cities, such are not within their jurisdiction, however, the engineer was making the point that changing street designs should not be done as a means to justify a vision. CalTrans can only recommend guidelines to follow in such circumstances but strongly feel that if you want to reduce the width of an engineered roadway, the reduction to a substandard lane width must be justified. It was also suggested that the Boulevard should maintain its original engineered design and should remain a true arterial. If not, where will all the present traffic be forced to re-route? It was further suggested that traffic volume studies be conducted before a decision is 1 ATTACHMENT 11 made to redesign such a main arterial as the Boulevard. Common sense dictates that one cannot change what the Boulevard was originally designed to do, and not to expect traffic problems is foolish thinking. The majority of the people I spoke to who would be considered proponents of bike lanes ( not traffic engineers) all had various recommendations on how changes could be made to roadways to include bike lanes, but when asked whether they would be willing to put their name on a document making specific recommendations to Los Gatos Boulevard they all declined stating they only make recommendations as to ways that it can be done. They did say that a traffic engineer should be involved in the decision. I find it interesting that in the Los Gatos Boulevard Draft in Section C. on page 4 it states: "San Jose -Los Gatos Road was renamed Los Gatos Boulevard and the Town adopted the plan line for a 120 foot right-of-way in 1963 to accommodate the community's transportation needs of the future. At full buildout the street is designed to include six travel lanes, street parking, median and bike lanes. The cities of Campbell and San Jose have adopted similar plan lines to the six lane arterial. Los Gatos Boulevard runs north and south extending to the Town's northern border at the Route 85 interchange and southward to Main Street." If there was a plan 34 years ago to include bike lanes, why has it never happened? The Boulevard has been repaved several times and restriped as a result, and bike lanes have never been added. Bike lanes have been added on Los Gatos -Almaden Road and in Blossom Hill Manor and along Los Gatos Creek from Lexington to Campbell, but not on the Boulevard. Is it because it has always been shown not to be a good idea? My recollection is that when studies were done about ten years ago it was determined that bike lanes on the Boulevard were unsafe. I have noticed the bike lanes that have been added from Loma Alta to Blossom Hill. Mostost of them are extremely narrow, hazardous to ride in due to the road conditions, or are dotted lines or missing because it is an area that automobile traffic must cross over and share with the bikes. I also spoke with Jo -Ann Collins, who is responsible for installing bike lanes in San Jose, and based on what Los Gatos Boulevard is used for she would not recommend putting bike lanes on the Boulevard. Her concern was for children using the bike lanes. She further commented that bike lanes are now on the Almaden Expressway and her concern is for children using the bike lanes either with or without adult supervision. She mentioned to me, "you cannot legislate who uses a bike lane". So far all of the reports that I seen relative to the Boulevard lane reductions have either been from environmentalists who suggest ways that bike lanes can be put in or a report that was performed relative to increasing safety (mainly left turn lanes)and the flow of traffic (330 Report). The only report that I have seen specifically done on the Los Gatos Boulevard is the one done by Barton-Aschman Associates, Inc. for the auto dealers and it basically says that you don't have the width on the Boulevard to do it safely. After looking at all of the latest drafts for designs, standards and plans for the Boulevard, I get the impression that the end result is to move the downtown up to the Boulevard. Or maybe it Is to have two downtown areas. Adding retail and residential to the Boulevard will only add to the traffic that already exists on the Boulevard. Personally I prefer to see buildings and shopping areas set back from the road with parking in the front so that I know if the center is busy. If I have several places to go, and I have to pull off the Boulevard main road and go behind a building to see if there is a place to park and if I find there isn't, I feel I could have gone to one of my other destinations first and come back or stop by later when parking is less congested. In my opinion the Byer building, at the corner of Blossom Hill and LG Boulevard, is everything the draft talks about not doing. It's in your face and it blocks the view of the Los Gatos hills and the Santa Cruz mountains. One of the great aspects of driving on the Boulevard to Los Gatos in the past was to be able to see the surrounding. All of the new buildings going up are now either two story or have facades that make them two story in height which blocks any views that were once a part of Los Gatos. My husband and I came to Los Gatos in 1946 and 1958 respectively, and we have seen many changes to the Town. Los Gatos has lost much of its small quiet town beauty that drew all of us here. A recent survey, although not scientific, completed by the residents of Los Gatos ,overwhelmingly showed that they don't want change, they don't want growth, and they don't want high density housing, even at the expense of not having mass transit to Los 2 Gatos. The residents prefer parks and open spaces. What does this tell you about building up the Boulevard? Why 'should Los Gatos look like Campbell, San Jose, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Palo Alto, Santa Rosa, Portland, Seattle or any other town? Los Gatos should preserve its rustic charm through architecture. development, and attitude. You build for the future, but you respect the past. Respectfully, ucille Chiodo Weidman 215 Carlester Drive Los Gatos, CA 95032 Table Individual Position/Title Agency, Department or Organization 1 Jo -Ann Collins Pedestrian/Bike Coordinator City of San Jose, Dept. of Streets & Traffic 2 Peter Eakland Traffic Engineer City of Campbell Public Works 3 Nevin Sams Traffic Safety Engineer City of San Luis Obispo 4 Gary Traffic Engineer City of Santa Clara, Dept. of Public Works 5 Marcie Stenmark Pedestrian & Bike Coordinator City of Gainesville, Public Works -Traffic Engineering, Florida DOT 6 Phil Traffic Engineer City of Gainesville, Public Works -Traffic Engineering, Florida DOT 7 David Henderson Bike Coordinator Florida DOT - Central Office - Tallahassee 8 Traffic Safety Engineer Florida DOT - Tallahassee Public Works 9 Raphael DeArazaga Traffic Safety Engineer Miami, Florida 10 Armando Traffic Safety Engineer Ft. Myers, Florida 11 Gary Traffic Safety Engineer New Jersey DOT 12 Harvey Miller Bike Coordinator Regional Engineering & Planning Dept., Maryland DOT 13 Various Individuals Employees Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC 14 Sam Kusha Traffic Engineer City of San Jose 15 Tom Traffic Engineer City of Chipley, Florida DOT 16 Earl Sherman Traffic Engineer CalTrans 17 Michael Ronkin Bike & Pedestrian Program Manager Oregon DOT 18 Chuck Fisher Bicycle/Pedestrian Planner City of Salem, Oregon 19 Dan Burden Independent Consultant/Director of Walkable Communities, Inc. High Springs, Florida 3