TO: TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION
FROM: MARIA B. TIPPING, CITY ENGINEER
DATE: SEPTEMBER 26, 2024
SUBJECT:
Title
RUSSIAN VILLAGE TRAFFIC CALMING IMPROVEMENTS UPDATE
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SUMMARY
A large number of residents that reside along Mills Avenue, between Arrow Highway and Moreno Street (also known as the Russian Village), attended the January 26, 2023, Traffic and Transportation Commission (TTC) meeting to provide public comment in favor of the City commissioning an analysis to develop recommendations to address traffic safety in the Russian Village neighborhood and to consider additional traffic calming measures, as part of the Citywide traffic investigations contract that was being presented at that meeting.
With the Commission’s support, staff was able to include the Russian Village neighbors’ request for a traffic investigation to the list of locations being evaluated under the existing contract to conduct Citywide traffic investigations.
At tonight’s meeting, staff is presenting an item to provide an update on the City/residents’ collaboration efforts and a summary of the recommended improvements for Mills Avenue from Arrow Highway to Moreno Street for Commission review and discussion.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommended Action
Staff recommends the Traffic and Transportation Commission receive and file the Russian Village Traffic Calming Improvements, developed as part of the Citywide Traffic Investigations and Recommendations contract.
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FINANCIAL REVIEW
The cost to prepare this staff report is approximately $866 and is included in the Community Development Operating budget.
Funding for the installation of the recommended improvements is included in the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Budget for 2022-2024, under the Traffic Calming CIP. An engineer’s estimate for the implementation of these improvements will be available with the completion of the design phase.
ANALYSIS
Efforts to calm traffic in the Russian Village neighborhood began in January 1997. At the time, a traffic study was conducted, and the recommended improvements were presented to the TTC for implementation.
The implemented improvements included the following:
• Raised medians and rock-lined monument to create a sense of entry and identity
• Warranted three-way stop at Cucamonga Avenue and South Mills Avenue
• Decrease speed limit from thirty-five mph to twenty-five mph supported by prima facie analysis
Even though the improvements were installed, concerns with traffic volumes and speeds continued to be brought to staff’s attention over the past several years. More recently, a large number of Russian Village neighbors attended the January 26, 2023, TTC meeting to request further consideration for a traffic investigation to consider additional traffic calming improvements.
With the Commission’s support, Engineering staff was able to add this location to the existing list of requests for traffic investigations throughout the city that was being addressed by the City’s traffic engineering consultant.
To address the residents’ concerns, gathering additional feedback was necessary. To follow up, Engineering and Claremont Police Department (CPD) staff coordinated a neighborhood meeting, held on February 21, 2023, to gather more information and to better understand the nature of the residents’ concerns. The meeting was well attended, and staff was able to collect valuable feedback for the consideration of additional traffic calming measures. At the meeting, the common consensus was that there was a need to improve safety and lower speeds, while preserving the historical nature of the area.
Following the neighborhood meeting, Engineering staff coordinated with the CPD to have speed data collected to assist with the City consultant’s investigation and development of recommendations to address the residents’ concerns with speeding vehicles, overall safety, heavy truck traffic, and accessibility. Please refer to Attachment A for data collected information.
To address concerns with lack of driver compliance at the stop-controlled intersection at Cucamonga Avenue and South Mills Avenue, video counts were commissioned to record the level of compliance to determine the percentage of vehicles not following the stop-controlled regulations. Data collected through this effort is provided in Attachment B.
The traffic consultant conducted the analysis using the information gathered and provided recommendations with improvements that could be added to enhance the overall safety of the area. Once the recommendations became available, staff requested a summary of improvements to be shared with the Russian Village neighbors. These recommendations were presented to the residents at a second neighborhood meeting held on August 5, 2024.
At this meeting the improvements listed below were presented and supported by the Russian Village residents. Please refer to Attachment C for project components.
• Speed Table at Cucamonga Avenue
o Surface Treatment
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) improvements
o New ramps at Cucamonga Avenue
• Street Striping updates
o Green Bike lanes
o Ladder style crosswalks
o Curb markings
o Rumble Strips
• Traffic Signing updates
o Heavy Truck Traffic Signage improvements
o Replacing and updating existing signage
The neighbors supported the improvements because they felt that the proposed approach was creative and sensitive to the historic nature of the area, while addressing their concerns.
Next Steps
The next step involves getting the project design completed, including the preparation of an engineer’s estimate. Following this activity, staff will advertise the project and once a contractor is selected, consideration for award will be presented to City Council.
Staff estimates that the construction of this project could commence first quarter of 2025.
Once implemented, staff and the neighbors agreed that conducting a follow up study to evaluate the effectiveness of the improvements should be performed. This study will provide feedback on the effectiveness of the improvements and will provide information regarding whether traffic is being shifted to surrounding streets within the neighborhood to determine if additional surrounding streets will need to be evaluated.
CEQA REVIEW
This item is not subject to environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
PUBLIC NOTICE PROCESS
The agenda and staff report for this item have been posted on the City website and distributed to interested parties. If you desire a copy, please contact Commission Secretary, Anne Bennett at abennett@ci.claremont.ca.us.
Submitted by: Prepared by:
Maria B. Tipping, P.E. Vincent Ramos
City Engineer Associate Engineer
Attachments:
A - Claremont Police Department Traffic Bureau Speed Data Analysis
B - Video-count data on level of compliance at stop-controlled intersection
C - Proposed traffic calming improvements for Russian Village