Staff Report
PREPARED BY: MATT MORLEY
DIRECTOR OF PARKS AND PUBLIC WORKS
Reviewed by: Town Manager, Assistant Town Manager, Town Attorney, and Finance Director
110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA 95030 ● 408-354-6832
www.losgatosca.gov
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
MEETING DATE: 3/06/2018
ITEM NO: 05
DATE: FEBRUARY 26, 2018
TO: MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL
FROM: LAUREL PREVETTI, TOWN MANAGER
SUBJECT: SUMMER CUT THROUGH TRAFFIC
A. FOREGO A TEMPORARY CLOSURE AT SOUTH SANTA CRUZ AVENUE AND
WOOD ROAD FOR SUMMER 2018;
B. APPROVE A BUDGET ADJUSTMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF $25,000 TO
IMPLEMENT TEMPORARY STREET CLOSURES IN ALMOND GROVE FOR
SUMMER 2018; AND/OR
C. PROVIDE OTHER DIRECTION FOR SUMMER 2018.
RECOMMENDATION:
Summer Cut Through Traffic:
1. Forego a temporary closure at South Santa Cruz Avenue and Wood Road for summer 2018;
2. Approve a budget adjustment in the amount of $25,000 to implement temporary street
closures in Almond Grove for summer 2018; and/or
3. Provide other direction for summer 2018.
BACKGROUND:
On October 24, 2017, the Town Council held a study session to discuss local traffic conditions.
Since that time, staff has continued to work towards longer term measures to facilitate the flow
of traffic through Town. As the summer approaches and the inevitable cut through traffic
returns, staff is seeking direction from the Town Council on actions to take for the upcoming
summer.
Staff has made progress on several items from the study session in October and previous
Council direction.
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BACKGROUND (cont’d):
Highway 9 Corridor Study - The Town is in contract with the traffic engineering company W-
Trans to study and recommend improvements for the Highway 9 corridor. This project will
continue over the next six months. This study will focus on overall corridor safety and
efficiency.
South Santa Cruz Avenue at Wood Road Roundabout – The conceptual design for this project
has been submitted to Caltrans for preliminary review. Caltrans will provide guidance on
permitting of the project as it relates to Caltrans right of way. Guidance from Caltrans is
expected in the next thirty days. Once Caltrans has provided this guidance, the Town can more
definitively scope the project and timeline. If the project moves forward , the Town will need to
identify funding for design and construction. Staff anticipates a timeline of 18 to 24 months
once funding is in place.
Pilot Reclassification of Town Streets – The mapping companies have been provided a list of
Town streets to reclassify from residential collector to residential per previous Council
direction. Staff will monitor whether this has an impact on traffic over the summer.
Highway 17 Efficiencies – During the study session, the Council and Senator Beal discussed
potential modifications to Highway 17 to improve efficiencies. Subsequent conversations with
the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) initiated by the Silicon Valley Leadership Group also
identified potential efficiency improvements as desirable.
Staff subsequently met with VTA to discuss opportunities to move forward with scoping and
implementing these ideas. Together the staff of VTA and the Town recommend moving
forward with a project that utilizes the current Highway 9 at Highway 17 interchange upgrade
project listed in Measure B. From this base project, the scope would be expanded to include an
auxiliary lane from Lark Avenue south to Highway 9 and again south from Highway 9 to the
South Santa Cruz Avenue freeway onramp.
VTA and the Town will work to prioritize this project within the Highways category of Measure
B such that the project receives early funding once Measure B funding is available. The
expanded scope will require additional funds to complete the project. Staff intends to seek
funds from Senate Bill 1 (SB1) for that purpose and to leverage the in terest of Senator Beal in
the effort. Staff estimates the total project cost in the $50M range. The Town Council will have
a number of opportunities to direct the scope of this project.
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BACKGROUND (cont’d):
Freeway Changeable Message Signs – As noted at the study session, Caltrans has expressed
willingness to work with the Town on the use of these signs to encourage travelers to remain
on the freeway. Staff continues to work with Caltrans on this no cost item and will identify the
most direct language that is acceptable to Caltrans. If time of travel information is available,
staff will ask for that to be incorporated as well.
Downtown One-Way Streets – The Council has identified this as a possible Strategic Priority for
the 2018/2020 period and the Council will have the opportunity to consider its funding as part
of the capital program in the 2018/19 budget. If funded, staff will begin working towards
establishing options and costs for Council review over the course of the next fiscal year.
DISCUSSION:
Staff is seeking specific direction from the Council on several specific actions for summer beach
traffic in 2018. No reasonable solution exists that will eliminate the impacts of this traffic on
the Town. And as has been emphasized previously, each of these actions has tradeoffs that
impact the Town in other ways. Some of these tradeoffs may be acceptable and predictable .
Other tradeoffs may come as unanticipated consequences.
South Santa Cruz Avenue Temporary Closure at Wood Road – This temporary closure generally
helps to minimize impacts to the Almond Grove area and relieves the gridlock that occurs along
Santa Cruz and University Avenues, including portions of these streets north of Highway 9,
when the closure is not in place. Concerns expressed with this closure include:
• Congestion on Highway 9, and University and Santa Cruz Avenues north of Highway 9
create a situation where the downtown is not easily accessible, inhibiting business
opportunities.
• Resulting traffic patterns may be the cause of increased congestion on Los Gatos
Boulevard and on neighborhood streets east of Los Gatos Boulevard between Blossom
Hill Road and Harding Avenue.
• The cost of the closure for traffic control is approximately $150,000 per year. Staff
would anticipate an increase over last year of about 5%. This is not currently funded.
• Public input over the course of the summer will be significant, as demonstrated in the
past, whether the closure is in place or not.
The Council may wish to explore various modifications to this option, including Saturday only,
selective weekends, or other mixes. Each of these risk departure from a predictable routine of
closures that could limit the recognition of the closure by mapping applications and travelers
and have not been recommended by staff. The staff work necessary to put a vendor in place
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DISCUSSION (cont’d):
and establish the plan for the summer takes significant time and effort. If the Council decides
with this item to move forward with a temporary closure in 2018, the Council should make a
motion with a budget adjustment at this meeting. Staff would then return with the vendor
contract for Council approval at a subsequent meeting. If the Council chooses not to
implement a closure for this summer, staff will be unable to shift course if a change is desired
after the start of summer traffic.
Several of the additional ideas identified below align with the closure at Wood Road being in
place. Without the closure, the additional items may not have the same potential for adding
value.
University Avenue Left Turn Restriction – This new idea would work in conjunction with the
temporary closure at Wood Road. The concept is to eliminate the two southbound left turn
lanes from University Avenue to Highway 9 during the closure times. The goal would be to
allow University Avenue to feed into the downtown. By closing the left turns, the expectation is
that the mapping applications would direct traffic through alternative routes and University
Avenue would remain clear for downtown access.
As with any modification, unintended consequences may impact the effectiveness of this
option. Mapping applications may route traffic through the intersection at Highway 9, right on
Bachman, and right on Santa Cruz back to Highway 9. Traffic could also be routed along
University to Andrews Street (near Safeway) and then to North Santa Cruz Avenue. It is difficult
to predict whether these outcomes would occur or not.
Staff anticipates a full summer implementation of this activity if done in conjunction with the
closure of Wood Road to cost approximately $15,000. Staff does not recommend this item
without the temporary closure at Wood Road.
Neighborhood Street Turn Restrictions – Staff recommends this item only if the temporary
closure at Wood Road is put in place. To relieve some pressure on neighborhood streets, the
Town could install a series of signs that prohibit left or right turns on beach traffic days from 11
a.m. to 2 p.m. in the residential neighborhood impacted to the east of Los Gatos Boulevard.
The series of signs would be placed, for example, on Cherry Blossom Lane at Shannon Road
prohibiting a right turn. The presence of these signs would cause mapping software not to
direct traffic through this location and as such enforcement would not be required. This
alternative is the offshoot of a pilot staff tried with Waze last summer where Waze put these
artificial turn restrictions in place. While these were in place, Waze traffic was directed to
alternative routes while at the same time traffic from Apple Maps, Google Maps, and others
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DISCUSSION (cont’d):
retained the route through the neighborhood streets. Staff was able to observe these changes
through online tracking of the application routing. The key to this solution is in the mapping
applications becoming aware of the restrictions and not directing vehicles to the location. Staff
believes that there is a very good chance Waze and Apple will include the restrictions. Google
should include the restrictions as well, but coordinating with Google has proven more difficult.
The cost for this item would be approximately $3,500, including signage and installation. No
residential enforcement is planned or included in the funding of this project. Directed traffic
enforcement for signage violations would be implemented based on traffic hazard complaints
and available staffing.
Almond Grove Area Temporary Street Closures – Should the Council decide to forego the
closure of South Santa Cruz Avenue at Wood Road, staff anticipates the traffic impact to return
to the Almond
Grove and surrounding neighborhoods. Past efforts have included the temporary closure of
Massol Avenue, Tait Avenue, and Ridge Crest Drive (Monte Sereno) at Highway 9 to limit cut
through traffic from those directions so that residents can leave but traff ic is discouraged from
entering. These temporary closures are not perfect as traffic at times utilizes driveways or
ignores the closure completely,
but some relief does occur. Staff is recommending implementation of this option this year. The
estimated cost for the temporary closure of these streets from Memorial Day to Labor Day is
$25,000. This does not include any additional enforcement. Staff from Parks and Public Works
would monitor the closures once each day to repair damage to the closure.
Permits for Town Residents – Frequently, questions arise around the potential for issuing
permits to Town residents (or mountain residents) or some variation of providing resident only
access through a temporary street closure. This discussion has increased with actions taken
recently in Leonia, New Jersey which made headlines nationally. Not only is this solution
extremely staff intensive to enforce and beyond the resources available to Los Gatos, it is
clearly not legal in California as has been explained in previous reports.
Council Questions – Staff received a number of questions from Council and is addressing those
here:
What would be the cost to do a closure for half of the summer or for Saturday only?
The cost for a shorter or limited timeframe closure would be proportional, or one half of the
total anticipated cost.
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DISCUSSION (cont’d):
How could the money be otherwise spent to address cut through traffic?
The funds spent on a closure could be repurposed for any need the Council deems appropriate.
This could include short term infrastructure changes such as signage or the early funding for a
larger, longer term project such as the roundabout or Highway 17 improvements. Staff
considered the potential of an increase in staffing to manage traffic flow, increase enforcement,
and enhance public safety responses to emergency calls. Staff resources to provide this
additional level of service are not currently funded. Should a public safety need warrant
additional response on an episodic basis, the Police Department will respond on an overtime
basis.
What would it cost to do a Thursday night closure of a portion of North Santa Cruz during the
summer to help the businesses increase sales that will be lost over the beach traffic
weekends?
Staff estimates the cost for a weeknight closure at $3,000, including staff overtime and traffic
control. This does not include resources to program the use of the street.
What are the other opportunity costs associated with the closure?
The funds for the closure have many alternative uses. The funds are not restricted in their use,
so the Council could fund any priority it deems important. If funds are not appropriated through
this Council item, they will be available for the Council through the annual budget process.
CONCLUSION AND NEXT STEPS:
If the Council wishes to proceed on any mitigation measures for summer cut through traffic, the
Council should approve a motion identifying the basic scope and allocating funding. The table
below shows staff recommendations for the summer as well as longer term efforts. It is
imperative that the direction Council sets at this time hold throughout the entire summer as
staff will not have the capacity to change direction.
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CONCLUSION AND NEXT STEPS (cont’d):
Staff has not recommended the closure at South Santa Cruz Avenue due to the high costs of the
closure and the growing impact the closure has on the downtown and other residential areas,
essentially shifting the problem from one area to another. It is unlikely that continuing to
pursue the challenge from one neighborhood to another will alleviate the conditions. If the
Council opts to continue the temporary closure this summer, the Council may wish to include
the associated new options identified in this staff report to attempt to address spillover effects .
Staff recommends temporary closures to neighborhood streets serving the Almond Grove in
order to minimize the severe impacts experienced in the past from vehicles searching for
alternatives to the direct path down Santa Cruz Avenue.
A potential impact by not doing the temporary closure at Santa Cruz/Wood could be public
feedback that the change in direction appears to look like a lack of action by the Town.
Communication to residents that identifies beach traffic as normal in the short term with no
affordable long-term solution will be important to manage expectations.
COORDINATION:
This report was coordinated with the Police Department, the Finance Department, and the
Town Attorney.
Mitigation Measure Staff Recommendation Cost
Corridor Study Underway $75,000
Roundabout Feasibility Underway $66,000
Reclassify Town Streets Underway $0
Highway 17 Efficiencies Continue to Pursue $50M
Freeway Changeable Message Signs Underway $0
One-Way Streets Pilot Consider in FY 18/19
Budget
$130,000
Santa Cruz/Wood Road Temporary
Closure
Forego $150,000
University Left Turn Restriction Forego $15,000
Neighborhood Turn Restriction Signage Forego $3,500
Weeknight Downtown Street Closure Forego $3,000/ night
Almond Grove Closures Implement $25,000
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FISCAL IMPACT:
The items below the gray line in the table above are not funded in the current budget. If the
Council wishes to pursue any of these items, the motion should include the appropriation of
funds from Fiscal Year 2016/17 fund balance in the amount of the desired item.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT:
This is not a project defined under CEQA, and no further action is required.
Attachment:
1. Public Comments through 11:00 a.m. March 1, 2018.