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09-17-2024 MinutesItem # MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE CYPRESS TRAFFIC COMMISSION September 17, 2024 3 p.m. A regular in-person meeting of the Cypress Traffic Commission was held at the Community Center, Garden Room, 5700 Orange Avenue, Cypress, California. CALL TO ORDER Chair Ajello called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m. ROLL CALL PRESENT: Commission Chair Ajello Commission Bestian — ABSENT Commissioner Harper Commissioner Shakespeare — ABSENT Commissioner Youngerman STAFF PRESENT: City Engineer, Nick Mangkalakiri Traffic Engineer, David Roseman Consulting Transportation Engineer, Grace Turney Assistant City Engineer, Daniel Co Cypress Police Sergeant, Michael McBain Engineering Aide, Eric Dong Commission Secretary, Norma Vera PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The pledge was led by Commission Chair Ajello ORAL COMMUNICATIONS (Limited to 30 minutes — three minutes per speaker, unless extended by the Traffic Commission) Cypress resident Bill Wostenberg spoke to the Traffic Commission regarding traffic issues in his neighborhood, with a focus on overflow parking from the nearby mobile home park and Casa Grande apartments. He thanked the police department and city staff for working with the community and will continue to work with the city to address ongoing issues. 1 Cypress Traffic Commission Minutes September 17, 2024 MINUTES Motion was made by Commissioner Youngerman, seconded by Chair Ajello to approve the minutes of August 20, 2024, as presented. The motion was carried by the following roll call vote: AYES: 3 COMMISSIONERS: Ajello, Harper, and Youngerman NOES: 0 COMMISSIONERS: None ABSENT: 2 COMMISSIONERS: Bestian and Shakespeare NEW BUSINESS 2. Crescent Avenue Speed Limits The Traffic Engineer introduced Grace Turney, a consulting transportation engineer, who provided a presentation on the State laws governing how speed limits are set and periodically updated. The City of Cypress' current speed limits are based on a citywide Engineering and Traffic Survey conducted in 2019 and approved by the Traffic Engineer. As a part of her presentation, Grace indicated that all 62 established speed limits in the City were reviewed to determine if the existing speed limits should be retained and their surveys be extended to 2033, or be amended as necessary. She also indicated that in consideration of resident complaints about traffic safety on Crescent Avenue and recent changes in State speed limit laws, the Traffic Engineer directed that the two roadway segments along Crescent Avenue be resurveyed to determine if their speed limits should be retained or lowered. As a part of the resurvey process, radar speed surveys by non -enforcement personnel were conducted and daily traffic volume counts collected on Crescent Avenue on July 9, 2024, and on August 20, 2024. An analysis of the data gathered revealed that the 85th percentile speed was determined to be 46 mph on both segments. The 85th percentile speed is the speed at which 85 percent of motorists travel at or below during free-flow traffic conditions, usually during the middle part of the day. Typically, the speed limit is set at the nearest 5 mph increment to the 85th percentile speed, or in this case 45 mph, as long as the roadway segment does not have an elevated crash rate and there are no other unique characteristics or safety considerations. Traffic collision data for both segments of Crescent Avenue over the last three years was researched via the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS). Based on the research, the Traffic Engineer found that both segments have low crash rates averaging well below the statewide average for similar roadways. Therefore, the Traffic Engineer found no justifiable reason to lower the speed limit on either segment solely based on crash history. 2 Cypress Traffic Commission Minutes September 17, 2024 However, when reviewing the adjacent land use, roadway characteristics, and speed limits on the same street in adjacent jurisdictions, the Traffic Engineer concluded that the recent change in State law did provide some new flexibility to downward speed zone both street segments. The west segment (between 240 feet west of Acacia Drive and 400 feet west of Moody Street) provides part-time bicycle lanes connecting to both Arnold Cypress Park and Kennedy High School to the east. The east segment (between 1,300 feet west of Walker Street to 720 feet east of Walker Street) provides direct access to Arnold Cypress Park and Kennedy High School. Therefore, both roadway segments were determined to meet the criteria for roadways which accommodate high concentrations of vulnerable road users, such as school-age children traveling on foot or by bicycle to a public park or public school. Based on this finding, the Traffic Engineer concluded that it would be prudent to lower the 45 mph speed limit suggested by the 85th percentile determination by an additional 5 mph, resulting in a recommended speed limit of 40 mph for both segments. A speed limit of 40 mph is also consistent with the existing speed limits along Crescent Avenue and Centralia Street set by the cities of La Palma and Lakewood, respectively. Therefore, based on the resurvey effort, the Traffic Engineer recommends that the existing 45 mph speed limits on Crescent Avenue be lowered to 40 mph. A motion was made by Commissioner Youngerman and seconded by Chair Ajello to concur with the Traffic Engineer's recommendation and recommend to City Council the establishment of a 40 mph speed limit for Crescent Avenue along the following two roadway segments: • Between 240 feet west of Acacia Drive and 400 feet west of Moody Street; and, • Between 1,300 feet west of Walker Street to 720 feet east of Walker Street. The motion unanimously carried by the following roll call vote: AYES: 3 COMMISSIONERS: Ajello, Harper, and Youngerman NOES: 0 COMMISSIONERS: None ABSENT: 2 COMMISSIONERS: Bestian and Shakespeare 3. Proposed Red Zones The Traffic Engineer provided a staff report on this matter to the Commission. He indicated in his remarks that the Director of Public Works, City Engineer, and Traffic Engineer met with a group of residents regarding traffic and parking issues in the neighborhood north of Lexington Junior High School. The residents expressed a number of safety concerns related to student drop-off and pickup occurring at the rear of Lexington Junior High School as well as overflow parking from the Lincoln Center Mobile Home Park. As a part of the discussion, the residents requested that the City consider installing red zones on intersection corners and adjacent to fire hydrants. The Traffic Engineer investigated this matter and concurred with the residents' request thus proposing to install red zones in the following locations to clearly mark where motorist 3 Cypress Traffic Commission Minutes September 17, 2024 should not park to maintain access to fire hydrants and provide enhanced visibility of conflicting traffic flows for motorists and pedestrians in the neighborhood: Intersection of Lexington Street and Livermore Place Intersection of Lexington Street and Manchester Place Intersection of Sommerset Lane and Dorset Drive "Knuckle" of Lexington Street and Dorset Drive Adjacent to two fire hydrants on the northside of Surrey Drive A motion was made by Commissioner Youngerman and seconded by Commissioner Harper to concur with the Traffic Engineer's proposed action to install various new red zones in the neighborhood north of Lexington Junior High School. The motion was carried by the following roll call vote: AYES: 3 COMMISSIONERS: Ajello, Harper, and Youngerman NOES: 0 COMMISSIONERS: None ABSENT: 2 COMMISSIONERS: Bestian and Shakespeare ORAL COMMUNICATIONS (Five minutes per speaker, unless extended by the Commission) None STAFF REPORTS (NO ACTION OR DISCUSSION REQUIRED): The City Engineer reminded the commission of the State of the City event to be held on October 15, 2024, at 5:30 p.m. at the Civic Center Green. The City Engineer informed the Traffic Commission that October 15, 2024, is the same day as the next regularly scheduled Traffic Commission meeting and asked if the Traffic Commission would consider cancelling the October meeting. The Traffic Engineer also added that due to the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays occurring near the regularly scheduled November and December meetings that in past years those two meetings have been combined into one meeting held in early December. The Traffic Commission members agreed to both cancel the October 15, 2024, meeting and combine the November and December meetings into a single Special Meeting in early December. The City Engineer informed the Traffic Commission that City Council recently awarded construction contracts for two arterial rehabilitation projects that included the bike lane 4 Cypress Traffic Commission Minutes September 17, 2024 improvements recently reviewed and endorsed by the Commission. One such contract included Valley View Street from Katella Avenue to Ball Road and the other contract included the two street segments of Ball Road from Bloomfield to Denni and Orange Avenue from Bloomfield Avenue to Moody Street. Work is due to begin sometime next month. Traffic Engineer informed the Commission that the City of Buena Park approved the additional bike lane on their portion of Valley View Street between Cerritos Avenue and Ball Road with only minor changes. The City Engineer added that the City has very good working relationships with most of our neighboring cities and that typically it is easier for Cypress to do all the project work and seek reimbursement from the neighboring City. In the case of the Valley View Street project, the City of Buena Park owns one lane of the street between Cerritos Avenue and Ball Road and they have agreed to have the City of Cypress' contractor perform all the resurfacing and striping work and they will reimburse Cypress for their portion of the project costs. Commissioner Harper asked for an update on Arnold Cypress Park. The City Engineer shared that significant progress is being made but at this time there is no firm completion date set. He indicated that at the current rate of progress that he anticipates an early 2025 completion. The Commissioner also asked which companies the City was using for the street resurfacing work. The City Engineer responded that the companies the City currently has under contract are All American Asphalt and Hardy and Harper. Commissioner Youngerman asked for an update on the Oxford School parking situation. The City Engineer reported he had not heard from the school recently, but the last we have heard was that they are targeting substantial completion by Thanksgiving. Commissioner Harper asked about the Crescent Avenue project where there was discussion of taking the street down to one lane and adding left turn pockets. Traffic Engineer shared that this is a different project, and he shared that he wanted to report that he spoke with a traffic consultant that works for the City of Lakewood yesterday and they are interested in meeting with Cypress to see if they can make this project happen. However, the City Engineer shared that it will be a difficult project to complete because we need to get Lakewood, La Palma, and potentially Buena Park all on the same page and the best time to do it is if all cities resurface their streets at the same time which he doubts will happen soon, but this would be the best way to approach such a project. Commissioner Youngerman asked about the ballot initiative the City is putting forward to increase the zoning density for the Los Alamitos Race Course area thus permitting additional housing in compliance with the State's requirements. Specifically, she wanted to know if any traffic studies had been performed leading up to this item being placed on the November ballot. Staff was uncertain, however, Bill Wostenberg from the audience responded indicating that he 5 Cypress Traffic Commission Minutes September 17, 2024 believes Alicia Velasco, the Director of the Planning Department, is heading this matter up because it is part of the Housing Element Update. Chair Ajello mentioned that the Commission agreed to cancel the October 15, 2024, meeting and staff will notify the Commission when the Special Meeting in December will be held. COMMISSION MEMBERS REPORTS AND REMARKS None ADJOURNMENT Commission Chair Ajello adjourned the meeting at 3:37 p.m. 6