HomeMy WebLinkAbout1990-06-12 - AGENDA REPORTS - VALENCIA BLVD TURN PROHIBITION (2)CONSENT CALENDAR
DATE: June 12, 1990
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AGENDA REPORT
City Manager Approval
Item to be presented b .
John Medina
SUBJECT: VALENCIA BOULEVARD AT K -MART DRIVEWAY
LEFT TURN PROH{BITION
Resolution Nun*er: 90-108
DEPARTMENT: Public Works
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BACKGROUND
At the request of the Joint Chambers of Commerce Transportation Committee, the
traffic engineering staff conducted a study of traffic access to the K -mart
parcel from Valencia Boulevard to determine any potential safety issues.
Currently, three driveways provide access to the development from Valencia
Boulevard. Two of the driveways are right turn only, and the main driveway
provides for all traffic movements at the median opening.
The traffic study concluded that limited sight distance for drivers exiting the
site and existing traffic speeds on Valencia Boulevard result in potential
conflicts at the intersection. Traffic safety would be improved by prohibition
of exiting left turns at the main driveway. Site access would not be degraded
with this prohibition. There were only 11 left turns observed from this
driveway during a recent P.M. peak hour period. These turns can easily be made
from driveways serving the retail complex on Bouquet Canyon Road. Motorists
wishing to proceed west on Valencia Boulevard may turn left on Bouquet Canyon
Road and left again at the signalized intersection of Valencia Boulevard. A
full median closure should be considered when the area road system is more fully
developed. The manager of K -mart concurs with the left turn prohibition. The
Traffic Engineer's report is attached for City Council's information.
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt Resolution Number 90-108 authorizing turn prohibitions for traffic exiting
the K -mart driveway to Valencia Boulevard. Direct staff to install the
appropriate signs and markings to implement.this traffic control.
Resolution No. 90-108
Engineer's Report
Adopted:_
Agenda Ifem: __i
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RESOLUTION NO. 90-108
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF SANTA CLARITA, CALIFORNIA
[IBITING LEFT TURNING MOVEMENTS FROM THE MAIN
K -MART DRIVEWAY TO VALENCIA BOULEVARD
IN THE CITY OF SANTA CLARITA
WHEREAS, driver safety would be enhanced by the prohibition of left
turning vehicles from the. main driveway to K -mart at 23222 West Valencia
Boulevard to Valencia Boulevard.
WHEREAS, California Vehicle Code Section 22101 allows local authorities
to regulate or prohibit turning.movements at locations under their jurisdiction
by the erection of.signs.
THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA CLARITA does resolve
as follows:
Section 1. That left turns from the K -mart driveway at 23222 West
Valencia Boulevard be prohibited.
Section 2. That the left turn prohibition as provided herein shall
apply when appropriate signs are placed giving adequate notice of the
prohibition.
Section 3. That staff shall install.the necessary signs to effect this
Resolution.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this day of , 1990.
Mayor
I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing Resolution was duly adopted by the
City Council of the City. of Santa Clarita at a regularly scheduled meeting
thereof, held on the day of , 1990 by the following vote
of the Council:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS
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CITY OF SANTA CLARITA
I N T E R O F F I C E M E M O R A N D U M
TO: John Medina, Director of Pub is Works
FROM: Ed Cline, Traffic Engineer
DATE: May 16, 1990
SUBJECT: INVESTIGATION OF ACCESS TO. VALENCIA BOULEVARD BETWEEN CINEMA
DRIVE AND BOUQUET CANYON ROAD
REQUEST
The City has received a request from the Joint Chambers of Commerce
Transportation Committee to evaluate left turn access at median openings
in Valencia Boulevard between Cinema drive and Bouquet Canyon Road. The
complaint cited excessive accidents - at the median opening at the K -Mart
main driveway as a particular problem location.
An evaluation of the safety concerns was conducted. The study showed
that the K -Mart median opening had a higher than normal incidence of
accidents, particularly for exiting left turns. Exiting left turns
should be prohibited by appropriate signagenow and the median opening
should be evaluated for closure when Cinema Drive is extended to Bouquet
Canyon Road.
EXISTING CONDITIONS
The study area included the area adjacent to Valencia Boulevard between
Cinema Drive and Bouquet Canyon Road; however, driveway. access to Bouquet
Canyon Road was also included in the analysis. Valencia Boulevard is a
six lane arterial highway with a center raised median. Separate left
turn lanes and median breaks are located at the signalized intersections
of Bouquet Canyon Road and Cinema drive. Two unsignalized median
openings exist for private driveways. in the study area; one at a joint
7-11/Lumber City driveway and one at a major K -Mart driveway. A total of
six other right turn only access driveways are currently built within
this section of Valencia Boulevard.
Bouquet Canyon Road is also a major arterial highway, and it is striped
for four through travel lanes with a center two-way left turn lane. Four
driveways exist to Bouquet Canyon Road from the study area, and three of
these driveways access the K -Mart parcel. The driveway and median
opening locations are illustrated in Figure 1.
John Medina
Investigation of Access
May 16, 1990
Page 2
DEVELOPMENT
The area between Valencia Boulevard and Bouquet Canyon Road is developed
with commercial land uses. These uses are aggregated into three general
areas with joint access. The K -Mart and McDonald's land uses have a
joint parking area with three access points to Valencia Boulevard and
three access points to Bouquet Canyon Road. Three adjacent parcels
(7-11, Lumber City, and Glendale Federal) share four driveways to
Valencia Boulevard, and access to Cinema Drive is also available through
the Mann Theatre complex. The third access area is a single parcel with
general commercial uses at the comer of Valencia Boulevard and Cinema
Drive. The location of land uses and access. points is illustrated in
Figure 1.
Land on the north side of Valencia Boulevard adjacent to the study area
is currently vacant, except for a service station adjacent to Bouquet
Canyon road and some recreational uses opposite Cinema Drive. Based on
the Santa Clarita General Plan and the Valencia Company Master Land Use
Plan, the eastern half of this vacant land will remain open space and the
western half may be developed with commercial office land uses. No
timing has been established for any future development in this vacant
area.
TRAFFIC DEMAND
Valencia Boulevard currently carries about 38,000.daily vehicles adjacent
to the study area. Bouquet Canyon Road has a daily demand of about
24,000 vehicles. Cinema Drive is estimated to carry about 2,500 vehicles
per day. The median opening at K -Mart accommodates about 1,800 daily
vehicles and about 1,000 vehicles per day use the Lumber City median
opening.
The K -Mart median opening to Valencia Boulevard was specifically counted
during late morning and the evening peak travel period to identify
directional distribution characteristics of traffic using the driveway.
An average of 239 vehicles per hour used the driveway in the morning and
163 vehicles per hour entered and exited the drive in the evening peak.
The observed traffic demand is listed in Table 1.
0
John Medina
Investigation of Access
May 16, 1990
Page 3
•
The data shows a significant difference between the right turn and left
turn traffic demand at the driveway. Left turning traffic is
particularly constrained during the PM peak traffic flow period when a
high volume of eastbound traffic is present on Valencia Boulevard. It is
interesting to note that the right turn inbound movement does not change
between the morning and evening periods, probably. ,because no convenient
alternative travel path exists. However, the right turn outbound
decreases somewhat from the morning to evening periods, and the left turn
movements decrease significantly as traffic on Valencia Boulevard
increases. Convenient alternatives exist for these movements. The data
suggests that when traffic is heavy on Valencia Boulevard, drivers choose
to use driveways on Bouquet Canyon Road rather than the Valencia
Boulevard driveways.
ACCIDENTS
Accident data was compiled for Valencia Boulevard between Cinema Drive
and Bouquet Canyon road. As shown in Figure 2, a total of 52 accidents
were recorded in the study area, excluding accidents at the two
signalized intersections, in the last four years. Fourteen of the 52
accidents occurred at the K -Mart median break, for an annual accident
rate of about 3.5 accidents per year. In comparison, less than two
accidents per year occurred at the Lumber City median break, the Cinema
Drive intersection had about 8 accidents per year, and 27 accidents per
year occurred at Valencia Boulevard and Bouquet Canyon Road.
Table 1
Traffic
Demand
at K -Mart
Main Driveway to Valencia
Boulevard
AM TRAFFIC
PM TRAFFIC
AVG
AVG
PEAK
AVG
AVG
PEAK
MOVEMENT
HOUR
15 MIN
15 MIN
HOUR
15 MIN 15 MIN
Left Turn In
42
10
13
20
5
5
Right Turn In
88
22
24
85
21
26
Left Turn Out
40
10
14
11
3
5
Right Turn Out
69
17
23
49
12
14
The data shows a significant difference between the right turn and left
turn traffic demand at the driveway. Left turning traffic is
particularly constrained during the PM peak traffic flow period when a
high volume of eastbound traffic is present on Valencia Boulevard. It is
interesting to note that the right turn inbound movement does not change
between the morning and evening periods, probably. ,because no convenient
alternative travel path exists. However, the right turn outbound
decreases somewhat from the morning to evening periods, and the left turn
movements decrease significantly as traffic on Valencia Boulevard
increases. Convenient alternatives exist for these movements. The data
suggests that when traffic is heavy on Valencia Boulevard, drivers choose
to use driveways on Bouquet Canyon Road rather than the Valencia
Boulevard driveways.
ACCIDENTS
Accident data was compiled for Valencia Boulevard between Cinema Drive
and Bouquet Canyon road. As shown in Figure 2, a total of 52 accidents
were recorded in the study area, excluding accidents at the two
signalized intersections, in the last four years. Fourteen of the 52
accidents occurred at the K -Mart median break, for an annual accident
rate of about 3.5 accidents per year. In comparison, less than two
accidents per year occurred at the Lumber City median break, the Cinema
Drive intersection had about 8 accidents per year, and 27 accidents per
year occurred at Valencia Boulevard and Bouquet Canyon Road.
John Medina
Investigation of Access
May 16, 1990
Page 4
The accident rate for Valencia Boulevard, excluding accidents at Cinema
Drive and Bouquet Canyon Road, is about 2.2 accidents per million vehicle
miles. This rate is higher than the Countywide average for arterial
streets. The accident rate for the intersection of Valencia Boulevard
and the K -Mart driveway is 0.23 accidents per million entering vehicles
(MEV). This rate is about twice as high as the Lumber City entrance
(0.12 accidents per MEV), about half the rate of the Cinema .Drive
intersection (0.51 accidents per MEV), and one-quarter that of the
Valencia/Bouquet Canyon intersection rate (0.95 accidents per MEV).
Consequently, the subject median opening has a relatively high accident
rate, but nearby signalized intersections have higher incidences of
accidents.
DRIVER SIGHT DISTANCE
Valencia Boulevard curves near the subject median opening with about a
1,400 foot curve radius. Some trees and low shrubs in the parkway west
of the K -Mart driveway, in combination with the curving alignment of
Valencia Boulevard, limit the driver sight distance for vehicles
approaching the K -Mart drive from the west and for drivers waiting to
turn left from the driveway. Sight distance is restricted to about 350
feet for vehicles in the curb (Number 3) lane and to about 450 feet for
vehicles in the center (Number 1) lane. The posted speed on Valencia
Boulevard is 45 mph and measured speeds reach 55 mph. Required driver
stopping sight distance on Valencia Boulevard at 55 m.p.h. is about 500
feet, and driver decision sight distance for vehicles at the driveway is
about 400 feet. Consequently, driver sight distance may not be
sufficient for higher travel speeds on Valencia Boulevard.
Development patterns and driveway locations are not expected to
significantly change in the future. However, the area road system will
be improved with the extension of Cinema Drive to Bouquet Canyon road at
a signalized intersection. The extension will provide a viable
alternative route to traffic using the K -Mart median opening on Valencia
Boulevard. Although the Cinema Drive extension will not directly connect
to the K -mart property, K -Mart traffic can use Bouquet Canyon Road and
Cinema Drive to access Valencia Boulevard rather than the Valencia
Boulevard median opening.
9 0
John Medina
Investigation of Access
May 16, 1990
Page 5
An evaluation of the K -Mart driveway and median opening to Valencia
Boulevard showed a relatively high accident rate at the intersection with
a predominant pattern of exiting left turn accidents at the driveway, and
as secondary pattern of entering left turn accidents. Driver sight
distance at this driveway is restricted because of the -roadway curvature
and existing foliage. Alternative site access routes currently exist to
the usage of the median break, and these alternatives will be improved
with the future extension of Cinema Drive. The manager of K -Mart is
agreeable to the prohibition of exiting left turns from the driveway, but
he prefers to retain the median opening for inbound left turns.
The predominant accident problem at the intersection involves exiting,
left turn accidents, and this movement can be regulated with signs
prohibiting the movement. When Cinema Drive is extended to Bouquet
Canyon road, circulation near the K -Mart site will be improved. Full
closure of the median opening would be appropriate at that time.
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