City of San Carlos

Transportation and Circulation Commission

December 18, 2007

7:00 PM

City Council Chambers, 600 Elm Street, San Carlos, CA

www.cityofsancarlos.org

APPROVED MINUTES

Chairperson:  Paul Spagnoli

Commission:  Jack Baumgarten, Thomas Feledy, Jason Mansfield, Gail Stave, Tony Panero and Margaret Pye

1.  Meeting called to order

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m.

2.  Pledge of Allegiance

3.  Roll Call

Staff present:  Parviz Mokhtari and Henry Louie

Commissioners present:  Paul Spagnoli, Margaret Pye, Jason Mansfield, Thomas Feledy and Tony Panero

Commissioners absent:  Jack Baumgarten and Gail McPartland

4.  Approval of Minutes

a)  Minutes of October 16, 2007 were approved. Motion made by Commissioner Feledy; seconded by Commissioner Panero.

5.  New Business

a)  Consideration of Commissioner Panero’s suggestion for Installation of Class II Bike Lanes on the following streets:

Item #1 – Comm. Panero’s suggestion to install Class II bike lanes on Howard Avenue from Old County Road to Industrial Road

In the presentation from Public Works Director, Parviz Mokhtari, the elimination of one lane in each direction on Howard to install Class II bike lanes is not a good idea.Staff continued to present based on data of Traffic Studies done on the San Carlos Marketplace project has shown under cumulative condition, the intercession on Howard and Old County road will operate on LOS D.  Based on that, the elimination of one lane may take this intercession to an unacceptable level of service and can very well go to LOS F.  It will also cause significant traffic backups on Howard.  There are no statistics of before or after data and not easily obtained, not even from C/CAG.  There is no data available to show statistics.  Therefore, Staff recommends rejecting elimination of one lane in each direction on Howard.  If the Commission decides to recommend to City Council to do a study, then it will be taken to City Council.

Mr. Mokhtari mentioned past matters in reference to installation of Class II and Class III bike lanes all over San Carlos; specifically the mention on Brittan Avenue.  The fact is that six years ago, there were no bike lanes anywhere in San Carlos.  To recap, the Bicycle Transportation Committee has presented to the Commission that on the East/West bike traffic on Brittan should be Class III.  The Committee has approved it; City Council has adopted it.  It went on to submit application for state grants, received the grants, and got it to the point of Class III bike lanes installation.  As a result, there were significant improvements made in the north/south transportation traffic in San Carlos.

Commissioner Pye commented that a Class III bike route on Brittan may be all well and good; however, as a bike lane user on Brittan herself, the lane is too narrow and remains to be a scary place to bike, much more to a novice bike rider.Made a suggestion to maybe put a feasible bike lane on Howard to make it a convenient, safe and comfortable route to use, especially with the opening of the San Carlos Marketplace retail businesses.

Chair Spagnoli decided it was time to make a motion for installation or to oppose Class II bike lanes on Howard.

No further questions from Staff.  No public comment.

Commissioner Pye moved that they adopt the suggestion to narrow Howard Avenue.

Seconded by Commissioner Panero.

Opposed by Commissioners Mansfield, Feledy, and Spagnoli.Motion failed.

Item #2 – Comm. Panero’s suggestion to install Class II bike lanes on Alameda de Las Pulgas from Carmelita Drive to San Carlos Avenue

Commissioner Panero initially recommended re-designing this section of Alameda to provide Class II bike lane.  Staff feels that the only way to do it is by taking 5 ft. of one lane that will result in elimination of the lane, which means all traffic has to go on one lane at the signal to turn left or right.  Again, morning traffic pattern before school time west of intersection backs up a couple of blocks.  If we are to provide more green time light cycle, the backup could very well go all the way to Devonshire.  Based on Staff’s professional opinion, it is not a good idea to eliminate one lane to install Class II bike lane.

Commissioner Panero then stated that this is not really a bike lane issue but rather a pedestrian issue.  Due to the two high-speed right-hand turn lanes and the way the cement barriers are laid out, makes this area a pedestrian-hostile intersection.  A suggested solution would be the removal of the island and having a vanilla T-intersection with bicycle lanes/ traffic and pedestrian traffic through to be considered.

Chair Spagnoli commented that whether you left the island the way it is or change the intersection, there still is not enough room for a bike lane.  Still have problem of 11 foot lanes that would not accommodate a bike lane.

Commissioner Panero suggests removing the island and sharpen the curves to mitigate high speed turns then bicycles could share the right-hand lane and make left-hand turns.  However, the primary goal is pedestrian access at this intersection. This is part of the overall problem of the street that has been already discussed.Possibility to delay the consideration of this intersection until City is willing to study the whole issue.

Staff reminds Committee that the pedestrian issue at San Carlos Avenue intersection is not on the agenda.

More discussion followed.

Chair Spagnoli then declared that they should focus more on the installation of Class II bike lanes, to direct questions towards that and can have further discussion in study sessions later.

No questions from Staff.  No public comments.

Commissioner Pye moved to adopt the proposal to reconstruct intersection to install Class II bike lane.

Motion not seconded.Therefore, due to lack of second, it did not carry.

Staff confirmed it did not pass.

Item #3 – Comm. Panero’s suggestion to install Class II bike lanes on East San Carlos Avenue or Highway 101 overpass

As presented by Public Works Director, Mr. Mokhtari, the installation of Class II bike lane on East San Carlos Avenue is in the existing Bicycle Transportation plan; East San Carlos Avenue is designated as Class II bike lane.  However, the reason it has not been done is because underground utilities would have to be installed to have adequate width.  The cost from five years ago was at $1M compared to today’s probable costs at $1.3M.Staff further mentioned Commissioner Panero’s other suggestion on Holly Street to take it over the overpass with a Class II, is another complicated project.  Several factors that make it a complicated project:

• There is no adequate width to install Class II on Industrial to before you get to the overpass
• All of that area is under Caltrans’ jurisdiction, therefore, will require Caltrans’ approval
• The overpass is not wide enough to install Class II
• And after you get to the east side of the overpass, Redwood City limits begins

Staff strongly feels that Caltrans will not approve of installing Class II bike lane on the overpass for any reason.However, if the Commission would like to suggest or recommend for Staff to submit a request to Caltrans to install some kind of bike route on the overpass, Staff will be happy to do it.Installation of Class II is definitely not going to pass.

Chair Spagnoli asked Commissioner Panero for further comments or questions.

Commissioner Panero clarified that they have never approved Class II lane on this item.What was approved was the Bicycle plan that Staff originally presented when the Bicycle committee was originally formed and have re-prioritized it since then.  Commissioner Panero insisted that this is a new procedure and that the purpose of the procedure is to ensure the removal of things from the prioritization that was proposed one at a time rather than handling it as a group.  Has admitted on making a mistake when seconded the motion on the first item.

Staff repeated that East San Carlos is in the existing Bicycle Transportation Plan; adopted by the City Council is a Class II bike lane at the cost of $1M from five years ago.

Chair Spagnoli asked that if has been approved then why was it on the agenda item.

Commissioner Panero emphasized the reason why the item is on the agenda is to reprioritize the list of projects on the bike plan and can’t be done without discussing the items.

Commissioner Pye asked Commissioner Panero for other suggestions.

Commissioner Panero felt that they should be deciding on what the vision for the future is and find out how much it is going to cost.If it’s too expensive, then it shouldn’t be done.  To reject it because Caltrans is a difficult agency to work with is not a good idea.

No further questions from Staff.No public comment.

Chair Spagnoli asked for a motion.

Commissioner Pye moved to ask Staff to explore with Caltrans the possibility of making bicycle-related improvements (including but not limited to adding bike lanes) to Holly Street, where it crosses Highway 101.

Motion seconded by Commissioner Feledy.

All in favor, passed unanimously.

Item #4 – Comm. Panero’s suggestion to install Class II bike lanes on Old County Road

Mr. Mokhtari had identified Old County road as a sectionable county road that is perhaps wide enough to install Class II but not the entire length.  Going over the history of Old County road, it started as the suggestion came up to make Old County road Class III bike route.  It was then approved by the Committee and the plan was adopted by the City Council and then later submitted a grant application to the State.Received funding and the result was the installation of Class III bike lanes.  Commissioner Panero then said we should eliminate parking on Old County road whenever possible to install Class II and if there are areas that even with the elimination of parking won’t have adequate width for a Class II, and then perhaps could install Sharrows.  However, elimination of parking on Old County road or on any street is not as simple as it sounds.  It will require studies/evaluation to be done and will have an impact on retail businesses in the area.

Alternatives for the Commission to consider are the following:

• Leave Old County road Class III as is
• Leave Old County road Class III as is but install Sharrows
• Recommend to the City Council to have parking elimination study/analysis be done.  This option is a time-consuming/costly process which will require for people to be hired on different times of the day, to look at the parking situations at nights and Saturdays, prepare the data and then contact all businesses in the area for parking survey purposes.

Chair Spagnoli asked for questions or comments.

Commissioner Panero said that the 3 recommendations given by Staff are actually a good set of choices.

More discussion followed.

Chair Spagnoli said that it’s important to identify Old County as best as possible as a bike route, whether it’s signs, Sharrows or addressing the parking issue and putting in a Class II.

Chair then asked for any questions or comments on this item.

Public Comment from Caryl Gay of 1561 Cherry Street:She stated that she would like to see San Carlos to be more of a bike-friendly town.  She particularly cares about Old County because it is part of the north/south route.  She thinks that the problem right now as a Class III route is that it doesn’t feel safe.  The speeds are too high.  There’s no clear space for bicycles to be.The current speed limit is at 35 mph and even at that it is still too fast.Either allot a separate space for bicycles or make the speed slower.

Chair asked for more questions/comments.

Commissioner Mansfield had a concern on the third choice on elimination of parking.

Commissioner Pye commented on how many cars are parked on the train track side of the street perhaps not for any purpose that’s locally obvious.

Staff countered to indicate that those parked cars are there due to the retail businesses in the surrounding area.

Much discussion followed.

Chair Spagnoli asked Staff for a recommendation.

Staff’s recommendation is to install Sharrows.  Additionally, to do the study first to get results before making the recommendation.

Commissioner Mansfield voiced his concern about what kind of results would the study be able to reveal that they don’t already know.

Staff responded that the study will show some sections/blocks of the road of where it can be done.  The study will further show if Class II and Class III can even be in the mix together on certain sections of the road.However, Old County road will definitely not be able to turn into a Class II of its entire length.

Chair Spagnoli asked for more questions/comments.

Commissioner Pye asked if it’s possible for the study to produce results in establishing no parking times.

Staff then indicated if it would help the situation to designate no parking from 8 pm to 6 am.On top of that, it will require enforcement incurring additional ongoing costs.

Public Comment.  Caryl Gay.For the southern part of Old County road, it’s certainly is wide enough to accommodate parking and bike lanes.  It’s only once you get to the northern part of the city where it becomes narrow where you’d have to make a choice between parking and bike lanes.  By putting Sharrows in the door zone will make it less safe for the bicyclists as they will be doored instead of being hit by a car.  Either way, the bicyclists would be hurt.

More discussion followed in reference to processes/procedures on how to handle list of priorities.

Chair Spagnoli asked for a motion.

Commissioner Panero moved to approve option 3, to recommend to City Council that study and analysis of improving Old County Road to be conducted, including the elimination of some motor vehicle parking.

Commissioner Pye seconded.

Chair Spagnoli opposed.

The motion passed by 4 – Commissioners Mansfield, Feledy, Panero, Pye.

b)  Approval of submittal of the FY 2008/09 Transportation Development Act (TDA) Article 3 Funding Application for the Installation of Class III Bike Routes at Cedar Street and Arroyo Avenue and bicycle racks at city parks

This item was presented by Assistant Public Works Director, Henry Louie, that on Nov. 9; C/CAG has issued approval for projects with total funding for this cycle is $600K for all County Agencies.  Funds for Fiscal ’08-’09, will be available to select the project beginning July 1, 2008 and will expire in 3 years.  City has proposed to install Class III bike route at Cedar and Arroyo and install bicycle racks at city parks.  The total project cost is estimated at $78K.  The amount requested to TDA program is $65K.  The City will put up $13K as part of 20% matching funds.The application deadline is January 11, 2008.  Staff recommends for Commission to approve submittal of application.

Public comment.  Caryl Gay.  She’s really glad to see that the City is applying for the TDA funding for this year as none was done last year and hopes that the Commission can come up with some good projects for the coming years.

Chair asked for a motion but Commissioner Panero expressed concern on placement of Sharrows.  His support of Sharrows depends on Sharrows being used correctly.  Sharrows has two purposes:

• Alert drivers that they’re sharing a lane with bicyclists
• Alert bicyclists their proper position in their lane which is outside the door lane

Staff reminded the Commission that the placement of Sharrows is not on the agenda, but just to approve application submittal.

Commissioner Feledy moved to approve the submittal of the FY 2008/09 TDA Article 3 Funding Application.

Seconded by Commissioner Pye.

Motion passed unanimously.

c)  Discussion regarding scheduling a Study Session

Chair Spagnoli suggested for Staff to make a quick presentation on the proper way for the Commission to put an item on the agenda; what is better suited for notification of staff or to department heads for addressing a particular issue or if it’s an issue that needs to be placed on the agenda at the study session.

Staff agreed with Chair to prepare an agenda for review and approval.

Staff recommended having a study session meeting in February 2008 for the Commission/Staff to be prepared on the following:

• Come up with a work plan for Fiscal Year 2008-09 and then for Staff to come up with costs associated with the plan
• Bring to the table 3 major citywide ideas or anything that the Commission thinks that the City Council should consider – a list in order of priorities
• Start the process of a work program and budget

Commissioner Panero mentioned his inability to attend the February study session meeting due to a prior engagement.

Chair Spagnoli suggested perhaps a late January meeting instead.

Staff will send an email to the Commission with the recommended dates for the meeting for purposes of a quorum in early January 2008.

Public Comment.  Caryl Gay.  Would like to have a streetlight installed in the vicinity of the Arroyo underpass at the end of the street as this route can also be used on the east/west route to get from El Camino over to Industrial.

Chair Spagnoli asked for other questions or comments.

Commissioner Mansfield stated his Commissioner report.To recap on some items on decisions made from the last City Council meeting with Commissioner Pye and Panero present at that meeting as well:

• Installation of traffic signal on Chestnut and San Carlos Avenue.Commission’s recommendation was to leave intersection as is.  City Council felt otherwise and recommended Staff to install traffic signal.
• Class III bike routes on Arroyo and Cedar.  City Council also recommended approval of the installation.

On another subject, being on the Advisory Committee for the General Plan Update, the circulation element is what had already been approved and is going to be in the General Plan.  It is going to be presented as is, as how it was approved.  We can incorporate other transportation items in the General Plan but the circulation element of the General Plan will be as how it was approved.  If other members of the Commission have suggestions to include in the Update elsewhere in the General Plan to please bring it forth or come to the meetings.  Meeting times are listed on the website.

6.  Public Comment

The Commission heard comment from Caryl Gay on Item A - #4.

The Commission heard comment from Caryl Gay on Item B.

The Commission heard comment from Caryl Gay on Item C.

7.  Adjournment

The meeting adjourned.