Title
Recommendation to Accept Additional Information and Renderings Requested by City Council regarding the Design Concept for the Cross Alameda Trail Gap Closure on Atlantic Avenue between Webster Street and Constitution Way. (Transportation 91402)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Jill Keimach, City Manager
Re: Recommendation to Accept Additional Information and Renderings Requested by City Council regarding the Design Concept for the Cross Alameda Trail Gap Closure on Atlantic Ave. between Webster St. and Constitution Way
BACKGROUND
The City Council began enacting policies to develop a multi-use trail on the old Alameda Beltline property in 1991. Since then, the City has worked to implement what is now called the “Cross Alameda Trail” (CAT) in this corridor. Today, two segments of the CAT are under development with funding from grants: (1) the Ralph Appezzato Memorial Parkway (RAMP) segment from Main Street to Webster Street, and (2) the Jean Sweeney Park segment from Constitution Way to Sherman Street. Once built, these sections together will create a 1.5-mile trail from Main Street to Sherman Street that is completely separated from cars and will likely attract a large number and diversity of people, including children, people less comfortable riding, and seniors. The entire CAT, when complete, will be a major east-west walking and bicycling corridor, stretching from the Seaplane Lagoon at Alameda Point to Tilden Way for a total of 4 miles.
In the middle of the two approved, funded and designed segments of the trail is a crucial one-block gap along Atlantic Ave., between Webster St. and Constitution Way, called the CAT Atlantic Gap. In early 2016, City staff brought an initial design concept for this project to the Transportation Commission (TC), which approved the concept in general, while asking for additional design and traffic analysis detail, and that the City work with AC Transit to retain the existing bus stop. Over this past year, staff worked with all internal and external stakeholders, including AC Transit, and analyzed and evaluated the options for providing a high-quality, safe, comfortable connection though this complex 500-foot block segment. A revised recommended Design Option 1 (without midblock crossing), was presented to the Transportation Commission on March 22, 2017, and approved unanimously, with several additional work scope items for staff to consider and/or implement.
City staff brought Design Option 1 (without midblock crossing) to the City Council on April 18, 2017 for approval. After providing input on the design, asking clarifying questions and stating that enhanced graphics were needed in order to better understand the design, the Council voted to approve Design Option 2 (with midblock crossing; see Exhibit 1). This staff report responds to the request for more information and improved graphics, and also includes the key background information on the project, which was provided with the April 18 staff report.
DISCUSSION
This short CAT Atlantic Gap segment has many complexities and constraints that have made designing a high-quality walking and bicycling facility a challenge. These include very limited right of way (even with the City’s easement through the project area); existing bus stops on both sides of the street; two busy driveways; major utilities; two of the busiest auto intersections in the City; the busiest transit intersection in the City; regular illegal midblock pedestrian crossings; truck routes; and cost.
In approaching the development of the conceptual design, City staff attempted to address many competing demands, in addition to the complexities described above. The City used the following goals and principles in developing its recommended design.
1. Create a safe and convenient facility that people of all ages and abilities will feel comfortable using for walking and bicycling.
2. Minimize conflicts between people walking/bicycling and motorized vehicles at intersections and driveways, especially right turning movements.
3. Create seamless connections to the CAT segments on either end of the project.
4. Create connections to the north/south bikeways that connect to the Posey Tube crossing and the College of Alameda.
5. Separate people bicycling from those walking, as feasible, to reduce conflicts and increase safety and convenience
6. Maintain (and improve, as feasible) the bus stops on Atlantic, especially the eastbound bus stop which the new Line 19, requested by the City, is now using.
7. Minimize use of City’s easement, given delays this might cause to the project.
8. Minimize impacts on access to businesses.
9. Improve the situation of illegal midblock crossings regularly being made by seniors and others, as feasible.
10. As applicable, use the latest design standards for protected bicycle lanes and protected intersections
11. Accommodate the needs of people driving and trucks along the corridor, but not to the detriment of those walking, bicycling and using transit.
12. Minimize overall project cost, as feasible and without compromising safety.
Approved Design Concept
After thorough study and analysis, and extensive stakeholder outreach, City staff recommended Design Option 1 (without midblock crossing), which met almost all of the guiding goals and principles noted above. This option also addressed the concerns expressed by the Transportation Commission and AC Transit regarding the previous design, and was recommended by the Transportation Commission at its March 2017 meeting. At its April 18, 2017 meeting, the City Council, concerned about the seniors regularly crossing Atlantic Avenue in the middle of the block, approved the Design Option 2 (with midblock crossing). This design has all of the same features as Option 1, and also includes a midblock crossing.
This Council-approved design has the following attributes:
• Protected Bicycle Lanes: Two-way, ten-foot wide, protected bicycle lane on the south side of Atlantic, between Webster and Atlantic, which will be a combination of at-sidewalk-grade (to the west of the driveway) and at-street-grade (to the east of the driveway) facilities.
• Continuous Sidewalk: New and existing sidewalks will be 6 to 7.9 foot wide along the south side of Atlantic.
• Intersection Crossings: Separated pedestrian and bicycle crossings, which reduce conflicts between the modes which travel at different speeds.
• Enhanced Intersection Safety: The designs have features of “protected intersections” with raised corner safety islands, which create a protected area for people biking to wait for the traffic signal and tighten the turning radius, to slow cars. Protected left turn signals will be installed on Atlantic at Constitution, to reduce conflicts between autos and bicyclists, as well as signage to warn turning vehicles to watch for bicyclists and pedestrians throughout the project. High visibility crossings will be painted.
• Maintain Bus Stop (Eastbound): Retained and expanded eastbound bus stop to meet AC Transit standards. A railing will be placed between the bus stop and the protected bicycle lanes, with two openings with marked crossings for pedestrians to cross to/from the sidewalk.
• Changes to Auto Travel Lanes: Retained all auto travel lanes on Atlantic, except for one of the three eastbound lanes between the southern driveway and Constitution, which is utilized by the protected bicycle lane. (Note that this is the area where the City’s easement area is very limited, so there were few other options for the facility in this section.) Most auto travel lane widths are reduced, but outside lanes are a minimum of 11 feet.
• Improve Webster St. Bus Stop (at southwest corner of RAMP/Atlantic): Bus stop will be re-configured, as part of the combined CAT RAMP/Atlantic Gap project, to remove the step up to the bus stop, and create a fully level corner plaza that seamlessly connects to the bus stop.
• Easement and retaining wall: Use a minimal amount of the City’s easement area, about 10 feet wide at its maximum, near the corner of Webster.
• Midblock pedestrian crossing: Includes a painted 10’ wide high-visibility crosswalk, advance yield lines, a small bulb-out on the southern side of the street to serve as a pedestrian waiting area, a narrow (4’ to 6’) center pedestrian refuge area, and pending further staff analysis, either pedestrian-activated flashing beacons (rectangular rapid flashing beacons) or signalization.
City Council Questions (April 18, 2017) and Staff Responses
During its discussion of the project on April 18, 2017, the City Council brought up several questions and requests. These are listed below, with staff responses.
1. Provide better renderings and graphics showing pedestrian and bicyclist views of the project area.
o Staff has attached a number of exhibits to facilitate an improved understanding of the multi-faceted project design. Staff had its engineering consultant prepare a rendering of the Webster/Atlantic intersection, looking to the east so that the full extent of the project can also be seen (Exhibit 2). Also included are exhibits previously prepared for this project as well as additional basic exhibits, including: close-ups of the proposed western and eastern half-blocks of the project with signage (Exhibits 3 and 4), existing and proposed cross-sections (Exhibit 5), and examples of similar types of protected bicycle lanes from guidance documents and completed projects in other cities (Exhibit 6).
2. Evaluate allowing mid-block left turns into the Housing Authority driveway.
o Staff explored allowing autos to make this left turn and ultimately recommend against it, given the number of other allowed right- and left-turning movements and potential bicycle/pedestrian conflict points in this short block. Staff is evaluating allowing autos to make a U-turn at Constitution Way, to improve access for clients coming from the western side of Alameda to the Housing Authority. The permitted U-turn will be added if there is adequate room and turns can be made safely.
3. Concerns expressed about left turns into southern driveway (Webster Square shopping center), and a desire to prohibit them.
o Staff previously discussed a possible prohibition on these left turns with the Webster Square shopping center property owner and they oppose changes to access to their property. The Transportation Commission requested more analysis on peak-hour left turn restrictions, which staff is looking into, however it seems unlikely the property owner would support this change. Staff anticipates that the addition of the midblock crossing may create an intersection-type feel at the driveway, which could slow the left-turning vehicles.
4. Provide information on the traffic impacts of eliminating the half-block of the through/right-turn lane from eastbound Atlantic Avenue to southbound Constitution Way.
o As part of the project development, staff had a consultant prepare a multi-modal level of service (LOS) transportation analysis for both design options to ascertain how the changes from this project would be experienced by people bicycling, walking and driving, as compared to existing conditions. While the City is moving away from using LOS, particularly auto LOS, and towards vehicle miles traveled (VMT) analysis, the auto LOS data was developed and used in the development of the recommended design concept. Overall, the consultant’s analysis shows that the project is very beneficial to those bicycling and walking, and has minimal negative impacts on those driving.
o For Design Option 2 (with midblock crossing), the analysis showed that the project could have the following impacts on motorists:
§ At Constitution/Atlantic, the project would add 1 second of delay in the AM peak hour, and 7.5 seconds of delay in the PM peak hour.
§ On this block of Atlantic, in the eastbound direction (towards Constitution Way), the current speeds of about 10 mph in the AM and PM peak hours would slow to 6.6 and 5.3 mph, respectively, which are similar to the existing westbound direction speeds.
§ At Constitution/Atlantic, the auto queuing will increase in the new combined eastbound through/right turn lane. The queueing area would be adequate in the AM peak hour, but would extend beyond the midblock crossing in the PM by about 80 feet (or 3 cars). One option, if it was deemed to be needed at a later date, would be to restore the third eastbound lane by removing the center median here and narrowing all of the lanes further, which would alleviate the queueing issue. Given the cost and lack of need for this today, this is not proposed at this time.
Next Steps
Staff will combine the plans and implementation of the CAT Atlantic Gap project with the CAT RAMP segment (from Webster to Main). These two segments will be bid together and constructed as one project. Staff anticipates the project will be bid in late 2017 and constructed by mid-2018. The next City Council action on this project will be to award the construction contract.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The cost estimate for constructing the Council-approved CAT Atlantic Gap project (Option 2) is $1,113,000 (with the flashing beacons at the midblock crossing). These costs will increase if signalization is required. The improvement work itself, to construct the new protected bike lane, improved bus stop and corner safety islands, (after site work and demolition is completed), is estimated to cost $310,000. After this, the largest single line item is the signalization work at $270,000, which includes installing new protected left turn signals at Constitution/Atlantic, and relocating signals at both intersections (Webster/Atlantic and Constitution/Atlantic) to accommodate the relocated edge of curb, and the new crossings and curb ramps.
While quite expensive, the Constitution/Atlantic signal work will improve safety by reducing conflicts between people walking and biking on the CAT and motorists, and is less costly and will have fewer auto traffic impacts than installing a dedicated bicycle signal here. In addition, given these designs are in their early stages, a 25% contingency was added to the construction costs, which may not all be utilized. As well, staff has built in the full project cost of internal and consultant construction management and support. Staff has applied for several grants for this project, and has also identified Measure B/BB and Development Impact Fee funds for this critical project, should these grant applications not be successful. A proposed allocation for the project will be included in the 2017-2019 Capital Improvement Program budget, which will be brought to the City Council for approval in June.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
Policy 4.1.7.d from the Transportation Element of the City of Alameda’s General Plan (2009) states: "Pursue opportunities to utilize the corridor of the former Alameda Belt Line railroad for transit, bicycle and pedestrian transportation.” Both the City’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plans include the CAT as planned pedestrian/bicycle pathways along Atlantic, connecting to the planned facilities to the east and west. This CAT project will also assist in meeting the goals of the City of Alameda's Local Action Plan for Climate Protection.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
In accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), this project is Categorically Exempt under the CEQA Guidelines Section 15301(c) Existing Facilities (Minor alterations to existing facilities including bicycle facilities) and Section 15304 (h) Minor Alterations to Land and the creation of bicycle lanes on existing public rights of way. On a separate and independent basis, the project is also statutorily exempt from CEQA pursuant to Public Resources Code Section 21080.20.5 (restriping of streets and highways for bike lanes in an urbanized area that is consistent with a bike plan). The City prepared an assessment of the project related traffic and safety impacts, and recommends a concept that alleviates potential vehicular traffic impacts and bicycle and pedestrian safety impacts. No further environmental review is required because the project fits within the above categorical and statutory exemptions that are specifically designed for these types of bicycle infrastructure projects in urban areas.
In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act, this project is a Categorical Exclusion under 23 Code of Federal Regulations 771.117(c): activity (c)(3) Construction of bicycle and pedestrian lanes, paths and facilities.
RECOMMENDATION
Accept additional information and renderings requested by City Council regarding the design concept for the Cross Alameda Trail Gap Closure project on Atlantic Ave. between Webster St. and Constitution Way.
Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Ott, Transportation Planning Director
By,
Rochelle Wheeler, Transportation Planner
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Elena Adair, Finance Director
Exhibits:
1. Overview: Design Option 2 (with Midblock Crossing)
2. Intersection Rendering (Before and After) at Webster/Atlantic
3. Design Detail: Webster Intersection + Signage
4. Design Detail: Constitution Intersection + Signage
5. Atlantic Avenue: Existing & Proposed Cross Sections
6. Illustrative Examples from Guidance Documents
7. PowerPoint Presentation