Title
Update on Traffic Relief on Island Drive. (Public Works 310)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Elizabeth D. Warmerdam, Interim City Manager
RE: Update on Traffic Relief on Island Drive
BACKGROUND
The Public Works Department has been tasked to investigate and bring back to the City Council an update on traffic relief on Island Drive, including:
1. Extend the left turn lane on Island Drive at Robert Davey Jr. Drive.
2. Renegotiate the operating hours for the Bay Farm Island Bridge so that it only opens for emergencies between 7:30 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. on Monday through Friday.
3. Work with the Alameda Unified School District (AUSD) to change the start time of Lincoln Middle School to 8:10 a.m. thereby allowing a better flow of traffic up Island Drive with better traffic flow for drop off at Amelia Earhart and Bay Farm Island elementary schools.
4. Check signal synchronization from Island Drive, Fernside Boulevard, and Otis Drive to Broadway.
DISCUSSION
Staff has reviewed and analyzed traffic operations in this area. We have determined:
1. The northbound left-turn lane on Island Drive at Robert Davey Jr. Drive will be extended from its current 160 feet to 210 feet. Staff will design, prepare plans and specifications for this project, and go out to bid this fiscal year.
2. Per the U.S. Coast Guard's Code of Federal Regulations section 117.193, the Bay Farm Island Bridge "shall open on signal, except that, from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., the draw must open on signal if 12 hours notice is given". Amending the code of federal regulations is an involved process that can take years and is at the exclusive discretion of the U.S. Coast Guard.
3. Changing the Lincoln Middle School bell schedule is unlikely, as it would require input from the Parent Teacher Association and a renegotiation of the memorandum of understanding between the School District...
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