COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

PUBLIC WORKS

 

DATE:

May 5, 2004

BOARD MEETING DATE:

May 11, 2004

 

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

Neil R. Cullen, Director of Public Works

SUBJECT:

Reducing Cut Through Traffic in the University Park Subdivision Area near the Sand Hill Road Corridor - West Menlo Park Area

 

Recommendation

A.

Determine if your Board wishes to limit access to Vine Street, Leland and Stanford Avenues, and Palo Alto Way to reduce existing and anticipated cut through traffic that may occur during Stanford University's construction of street improvements on Sand Hill Road and Santa Cruz Avenue over the next two years; and

   

B.

If your Board determines to limit access as described above, then adopt an ordinance;

   
 

1)

finding that limiting access is in conformance with the County General Plan; and

     
 

2)

authorizing the installation of signs which prohibits the following movements Monday through Friday, excluding holidays:

   
   

a)

access from the north onto the portion of Vine Street approximately 200 feet east of Perry Avenue between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m.

   
   

b)

left turns onto Palo Alto Way from Santa Cruz Avenue between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m.

   
   

c)

access onto Vine Street from Oak Avenue between the hours of 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

   
   

d)

access onto Leland Avenue from Sand Hill Road between the hours of 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

   
   

e)

access onto Stanford Avenue from Sand Hill Road between the hours of 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

 

Previous Board Action

Adopted a resolution authorizing the execution of an agreement for the construction of improvements at the intersection of Sand Hill Road and Santa Cruz Avenue by Stanford University.

 

Key Facts

*

Property owners in the University Park Subdivision area (Park Area), in the past, have expressed their concerns about the speed and amount of traffic using their residential streets to either avoid the intersection of Sand Hill Road and Santa Cruz Avenue, or to "short cut" through their neighborhood to access the Stanford Shopping Center, Stanford Hospital or the Stanford Campus.

   

*

The property owners are concerned that their streets will be used by more motorists to avoid the construction that Stanford will be doing on Sand Hill Road and Santa Cruz Avenue.

   

*

Stanford has developed a traffic-phasing program to minimize impacts to motorists traveling on Sand Hill Road and Santa Cruz Avenue during the construction, but cannot guarantee that motorists will not cut through the Park Area to avoid the construction zone.

   

*

Supervisor Gordon met with representatives of the Park Area and with staff to discuss restricting the use of the residential streets during the peak traffic times to reduce current and potential cut through traffic.

   

*

Section 21101(f) of the State of California Vehicle Code authorizes a local agency to restrict the use of the streets to implement the circulation element of its General Plan.

   

*

Prohibiting traffic from using certain residential streets at peak hours of the day is in keeping with the Circulation Element of the County General Plan as Section 12.15 of the General Plan provides for minimizing through traffic in residential areas.

   

*

Neighborhood representatives have polled the residents and reported that the residents are in favor of installing the signs that will restrict traffic, but are interested in revisiting the restrictions either after construction on Sand Hill Road is completed or after the entire project is completed.

 

Discussion

We evaluated the traffic flows through the Park Area and concluded, based on our observations, that peak through traffic movements in the morning originates north of the Park Area with motorists using Palo Alto Way and Vine Street to either short cut through the area or to avoid the intersection of Sand Hill Road and Santa Cruz Avenue. The afternoon through traffic appears to be using Vine Street to travel from the Stanford area to areas in Menlo Park; or to access Santa Cruz Avenue north via Palo Alto Way to avoid the Sand Hill Road/Santa Cruz Avenue intersection.

 

Staff evaluated different traffic configurations (i.e. one-way streets, no left or right turns, etc.) to qualitatively evaluate the impacts on cut through traffic and on neighborhood generated traffic. We initially looked at only limiting traffic on the section of Vine Street between Perry and Oak, and left turn movements off of Santa Cruz Avenue onto Palo Alto Way during the morning peak hours, as our observations confirmed the observations of the residents that these are the primary streets used by motorists cutting through the Park Area.

 

However, we also included restricting afternoon traffic onto Leland and Stanford Avenues during the afternoon peak hours as we believe motorists who would be restricted from entering Vine Street to cut through the Park Area, would be tempted to utilize these streets as their cut through route.

 

There were concerns raised at the meeting that Supervisor Gordon held with the neighborhood representatives, that restricting access to Leland and Stanford in the afternoon was not necessary, that the problem was not sufficiently defined to warrant the restrictions, and the inconvenience to the residents was not offset by the reduction in perceived cut through traffic.

 

Staff explained that we did not do an in depth study to determine the percentage of cut through traffic, as we were responding to the property owners' concerns about the amount of traffic through their neighborhood and the speed of the traffic. Traffic restrictions on Leland and Stanford can be deferred until some future date when it is determined quantitatively that a minimum defined percentage of traffic on the street is cut through traffic. However, the amount of cut through traffic that would "trigger" restricting traffic has not been defined.

 

The majority of the neighborhood representatives, based on the property owner surveys that they conducted, believe that traffic on their street is an issue that needs to be addressed now, and are in favor of restricting cut through traffic as outlined in the Recommendation Section of this report. They also agree that the traffic situation on their streets should be revisited after the construction on Sand Hill Road is completed to determine if the intersection improvements eliminate the need for some of the restrictions. We have therefore included a sunset clause in the form of ordinance.

 

We also believe that these restrictions will encourage motorists to use the arterial streets (Santa Cruz Avenue and Sand Hill Road) and will not result in traffic being diverted onto other residential streets. We also believe that the proposed restrictions are in keeping with the County General Plan and therefore your Board can make the findings as required by the Vehicle Code if you determine to implement the recommended restrictions.

 

Enforcement of the Restrictions

The neighborhood representatives also believe that the restrictions will not be effective unless they are enforced. We discussed enforcement with the California Highway Patrol (CHP) as the CHP has primary responsibility for enforcing the provisions of the Vehicle Code on County Roads. Captain Eberly of the CHP has stated that enforcement of restricted traffic movements is more straightforward than enforcing and obtaining convictions on speed related offenses. He will instruct his officers to initially increase their presence in the Park Area if the proposed restrictions are approved by your Board, in order to add credibility to the restrictions. This would be followed up with spot or interim patrols on random days to monitor and maintain the credibility of the restrictions.

 

Vision Alignment

We believe our recommendation is consistent with the Shared Commitment to "ensure the basic health and safety for all," and Goal Number 7, "maintain and enhance the public safety of all residents and visitors," as implementing the restrictions will require motorists to use the arterial roads for their travel and reduce the traffic on residential streets.

 

Fiscal Impact

We estimate that the overall cost of installing the proposed signs is $2,000. This includes advisory signs that will be installed to notify the public that street restriction will take affect on a date certain, and the signs posting the restrictions. The cost of the signs is proposed to be financed with Road Funds. There is no impact to the General Fund.

 

A form of ordinance has been approved by County Counsel.

 

We have sent copies of this staff report to the neighborhood representatives, Stanford University, the California Highway Patrol and the City of Menlo Park and have notified them of the proposed date when the report and the recommendations is proposed to be considered by your Board. We will report any comments that we receive.