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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-22-2001 City Council Agenda Packet AGENDA ADJOURNED MEETING/JOINT SESSION SARATOGA CITY COUNCIL SARATOGA UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT 'MAY 22, 2001 OPEN SESSION - 5:30 P.M. ADMINISTRATIVE CONFERENCE ROOM- 13777 FRUITVALE AVENUE COMMISSION INTERVIEWS - 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. ADJOURNED MEETING/JOINT SESSION ADULT CARE CENTER - 19655 ALLENDALE AVENUE CALL MEETING TO ORDER- 7:00 P.M. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ROLL CALL KEEP ONE YEAR REPORT OF CITY CLERK ON POSTING OF AGENDA (Pursuant to Gov't. Code 54954.2, the agenda for this meeting was properly posted on May 18, 2001) COMMUNICATIONS FROM COMMISSIONS & PUBLIC Oral Communications on Non-Agendized Items Any member of the public will be allowed to address the City Council for up to three (3) minutes on matters not on this agenda. The law generally prohibits the council from discussing or tala'ng action on such items. However, the Council may instruct staff accordingly regarding Oral Communications under Council Direction to Staff. Communications from Boards and Commissions None Written Communications None Oral Communications - Council Direction to Staff Instruction to Staff regarding actions on current Oral Communications. NEW BUSINESS Friends of the Library - Fee Waiver Request Recommended action: Grant request. JOINT MEETING WITH SARATOGA UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT ao IntrOduction Status of MOU Traffic Issues School Construction Progress Report Teacher Housing Use of Park and Recreation Funds CITY COUNCIL ITEMS OTHER CITY MANAGER'S REPORT ADJOURNMENT In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), if you need special assistance to participate in this meeting, please contabt the City Clerk at (408) 868-1269. Notification 48 hours prior to the meeting will enable the City to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibili~e to this meeting (28 CFR 35.102-35.104 ADA Title II) SCHEDULED CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS June 6, 2001 Regular Meeting/Council Chambers 7:00 p.m. 13777 Fruitvale Avenue Saratoga, California June 20, 2001 Regular Meeting/Council chambers 7:00 p.m. 13777 Fruitvale Avenue Saratoga, California July 4,.2001 ' Regular Meeting/Cancelled Legal Holiday July 18, 2001 Regular Meeting/Council Chambers 7:00 p.m. 13777 Fruitvale Avenue Saratoga, California August 1, 2001 Augustl5,2001 Regular Meeting/Cancelled Summer Recess Regular Meeting/Council Chambers 13777 Fruitvale Avenue Saratoga, California 7:00 p.m. Memo To~ From: CC: Date: City Council Joan Pisani, Recreation Director Dave Anderson, City Manager May 18, 2001 Youth Commission Interviews The following is a breakdown of which youth commissioners will remain on the commission at the end of this school year. The list shows the school they will represent and their grade level in Commissioner 01-02 School Attending 01-02 Grade Expiration Date James Ballingal Saratoga High School 9th 7/02 Valerie Famum Saratoga High School 10th 7/.02 Christina Siadat Presentation High School 10th 7/02 Ramy Ei-Diwany Prospect High School 10th 7/02 Darrell Wu Lynbrook High School 12th 7/02 In February 1994, the City Council approved the Youth Commission's recommendation that the commission be limited to 12 seats maximum. Fourteen students are on the current commission. The following commissioners are seeking reappointment: Commissioner 01-02 School Attending 01-02 Grade Elliot Onn Saratoga High School 9th Jackie Luskey Saratoga High School 10th Abhik Pramanik Lynbrook High School 1 lth James Atkin Saratoga High School 12th · Page 1 The following students are seeking a first time appointment: Applicant Michael Byme Jonathan Pwu Lisa Chu 'Elise Schwartz 01-02 School Attending Redwood Middle School Redwood Middle School Redwood Middle School Redwood Middle School 01-02 Grade 7th 8t~ 8t~ Andy Miller Sacred Heart Middle School 8th Samantha RiTvo Pinewood Middle School 8th Alexander Seroff Lynbrook High School Phillip Baker Miller Middle School 7th Anthony Gadd Valley Christian High School Conway Teng Nidhi Bhat Aaron Blair Marissa Byme Michelle Liu Michelle Mighdoll Stephanie Weng Kevin Bromage · Page 2 Saratoga High School Saratoga High School Saratoga High School Saratoga High School Saratoga High School Saratoga High School Saratoga High School Saratoga High School 9th lOth lOth 10· lOth lOth 10t~ 11th Joyce Liou Saratoga High School 11th Chen Lin Saratoga High School 12th Joshua Pwu Saratoga High School 12th Ross Levin Prospect High School 11th In interviewing the new applicants, the following questions might be helpful: 1. What fundmising projects would you suggest the youth commission use for youth services and the Warner Hutton House Teen Center? 2. How would you advertise a youth commission activity at your school? 3. How would you schedule your commission commitment of ten hours per month around your current activities? 4. What aspect of the commission interests you the most? For returning commissioners: 1. What contributions have you personally made to the youth commission this year? 2. Do you have any ideas for new programs or fund-misers for the commission? 3. What are your goals in serving another term on the commission? If you have any questions, please feel flee to call me at 868-1250. Thank you. · Page 3 SARATOGA CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: May 22, 2001 AGENDA ITEM: ORIGINATING DEPT: CiD' Manager CITY MANAGER: PREP.M/ED BY: DEPT HEAD: SUBJECT: Commission Interviews for Youth Commission RECOMMENDED ACTION: That Council conduct interviews. REPORT SUMS'LMtY: The following people have been scheduled for interviews: 5:35 p.m. Abhik Pramanik Youth 5:45 p.m. James Atkin Youth 5:50 p.m. Andy Miller Youth 5:55 p.m. Samantha Rizzo Youth 6:00 p.m. Alexander Seroff Youth 6:05 p.m. Nidhi Bhat Youth 6:20 p.m. Jackie Luskey Youth 6:30 p.m. Michelle Mighdoll Youth 6:35 p.m. Marissa Byme Youth 6:40 p.m. Michael Byme Youth 6:45 p.m. Lisa Chu Youth Commission Commission Commission Commission Commission Commission Commission Commission Commission Commission Commission There are nine (9) vacancies to be filled on the Youth Commission. Due to the fact that the City Clerk's Office received 23 applications, interviews will be conducted tonight and continued on June 6, 2001prior to the City Council meeting. Youth Commission incumbents Abhik Pramanik, James Atkin, and Jackie Luskey all are eligible to be reappointed. The terms for the nine vacancies will expire on July 1, 2003. FISCAL IMPACTS: N/A CONSEQUENCES OF NOT FOLLOVqING RECOMMENDED ACTION: Appointments will not be made to the Youth Commission. ALTERNATIVE ACTION: N/A FOLLOW UP ACTIONS: Continue interviews on June 6, 2001. ADVERTISING, NOTICING AND PUBLIC CONTACT: N,'A ATTACHMENTS: Attachment A - Applications of the above named applicants. 2 of 3 APR 2 6 2001 Last Name First Name Middle Initial Phone Number Address City Zip Code LYIqtg~c~'k~ H!~iH ~cl~eoL. ~! School Attending during 2001-02 school year. Grade Level Please list your school and community activities. (clubs, volunteer jobs, athletics, charities) Which aspects of the Youth Commission interest you? Please list throe school an&or co--unity references: I have read the application packet and unders~nd the co~tment is 10 hours per month in addition to the monthly meetings. I also unders~nd I must attend 80 % of all co~ssion mee~ti,~ Applicants Sign~ure Date I unders~nd the commitment involved with the Youth Co~ssion and approve of my so~d~ghter's app~'ing. ~ Paren~Gu~dian Si~ature Da(e I Last Name First Name Address 'xt' .i.; .--', r~ School Attending d~ing ~001-02 school ye~. Middle Initial Phone Number _< 4 :.,, -". City Zip Code Grade Level Please list your school and community activities. (clubs, volunteer jobs, athletics, charities) is; ,, * '~ ' '; ' i */ ' ' ,'- ,-' .43>," - Which aspects of the Youth Commission interest you? ~, ~ ..... . ~,.., ,-:,;:,,,r--~..:..~ .,'fro '~.c'~ ~ "-.~.*'~';' f-/."~' ' ''-~ ' - '~ ,. . _ ¥ '-'-"'; 6'f ~a~'*c;,:, T ¢/~c,7 ' - ~ -,-i,; / - ' i]'~c~.~ o-( ,:ii. 7 e.~, ,'z Please list three school and/or community references: I have read the application packet and understand the continent is 10 hours ~er month in addition to the monthly ~eetings. I also understand I ~ust attend 80% of all co~ssion meetings a~tivities and programs. Appl~nts Signature Date I understand the eo~itment involved with the Youth Co~ssion and approve of my ParendGuardian Signature Date Last Name Address J -First ~ame Middle Initial City School Attendhig daring 2001-02 school year. Phone Number Zip Code Grade Level Please list your school and community activities. (clubs, volunteer jobs, athletics, charities) x:: buy re# ~'~ ~ve-f~ ~re_~le % ~Je~ (~,-t ~ v~l ~~ Which aspects of the Youth Commission interest you? I' 5c-, c~ Please list three school and/or community references: 2. IV~K. roar ( o (~t. ~a,,1 ~ ~¥ ~tr r,') !-~'.¢ ,~,-k I have read the application packet and understand the commitment is 10 hours per month in addition to the monthly meetings. I also understand I must attend 80% of all commission meetings activities and programs. AppJicants Signature Date J understand the commitment involved with the Youth Commission and approve of my son/daughter's applying. Parent/Guardian Signature Date Last Name First Name Middle Initial ~. )~, ~: __) . ., _ Address City ~J School Attending during 2001-02 school ye~. Phone Number Zip Code Grade Level Please list vour school and community activities. (clubs, volunteer jobs, athletics, charities) '-- ~ -., ' .._. -4-.- . -, ' ,~ ! ~ i~ ;~ . ; f "~ ~--'- ~,~;.~.,_,/._.. ~.x,; ~.-.'~;?D~, Y~ I ,'~ C-~%P.'~ .... '_ ~ I -~-. ~ ': 4--- . 4_- --'~'-d"-i ' ' Which asiSects of the Youth Commission interest you? ', :-" ',.;C'~ 'id:., 7"'. ... 'C-'-'+-'F--:- '.vh,"-, ",..':._,' -Lx:~C-~'~>'--~;~ '--'~::- , '-',~ Please list three school and/or community references: ' . ~ . ~--~ ~ IQ__~ I have read the application packet and unders~nd the co~tme~ is 10 hours per month in addition to the monthly meetings. I also unders~nd I must attend 80% of all commission meetings activities and program. I understand the commitment involved with the Youth Co~ission and approve of my so.daughter's applying. 'P~dnffGu~dian Si~ature ~ ~ ~ Date i Last Name Address Sch/ool Attend~g dining 2~1~ school ye~. ~.~: APR 2 200~ -- First Name Middle Initial ~'~ t~CCi~ Zip Cgde Phone Number 70 Grade Level Please list your school and community activities. (clubs, volunteer jobs, athletics, charities) Which aspects of the Youth Commission interest you? Please list three school and/or community references: I have raa the application oacket an~ unaers~na the comtment is ]0 hours ocr month in addition to the monthly meetings. I also unders~nd I must attend 80 % of all co~ssion meetin[s activiti~ ana oro[rams. Applicants Signature ~ ~- ~ p Date I understand the eo~tment involved with the Youth Co~ssion and approve of my so~daughter"s applying. ea'~nVam~ian Signature ~ ~ ~at~ HAY 0 8 20111 Last Name First Name Middle Initial City School Attendtng during 20011~2 school year. (-4o - - 0v 7 62. Phone Number Zip Code Grade Level Please list your school and community activities. (clubs, volunteer jobs, athletics, charities) aspects of the Youth Co~ssion interest you? Please list three school anWor community references: I have read the application packet and unders~nd the continent is 10 hours per month in addition to the monthly meetings. I also unders~nd I must attend 80% of all com~ssion meetings activities and programs. Applicants Signature Date/ ~ I unders~nd the co~itment involved with the Youth Commission and approve of my ~~ian Signature ~ ~ Date Last Name I First Name Address School Attending during 2001-02 school year. Middle Initial Phone Number Zip Code Grade Level Please list your school and community activities. (clubs, volunteer jobs, athletics, charities) ' -' ,. 0 } ~ ' , - - ,'~" ,.,v2, _) . i : . · . , ,,d ""'~"' 4~'.~-- O Which aspects of the Youth Commission interest you? o .ni y I have read }the application packe[ and understand the co~itment is 10 hours per in addition to the monthly meetings. I also unders~nd I must attend 80% of all commission meetings activities and program. .~l~can~'~a~e - -- ~ Da~e I unders~nd the commitment involved with the Youth Co~ssion and approve of my so~daug~t~fipplving. /~ A Last ~-'Name First Name Middle Initial Phone Number Address J -' Cit~ Zip Code School Attending during 2001-02 school yeir. Grade Level Please list your school and community activities. (clubs, volunteer jobs, athletics, charities) j o Which aspects of the Youth Commission interest you? g Please list three school an~or co--unity references: I have read the application packet and unders~nd the continent is 10 hours per month in addition to the monthly meetings, I also unders~nd I must attend 80% of all co~ssion meetings a~tivities and program. Applicams Signature ~ ~ate I unders~nd the commitment involved ~vith the Youth Co~ssion and approve of my so.daughter's apply~g. ParenffGuardian Signature Date La~(Name First Name Middle Initial Phone Number Grade Level Please list your school and community activities. (clubs, volunteer jobs, athletics, charities) ~.~s+ _k: e, qq tnr;mv"r~ ~ be i~qvo~'ed iv~ da~O~ Cc.w~m'\.Sio-n 6r Please list three school and/or community references: I have read the application packet and understand the commitment is 10 hours per month in addition to the monthly meetings. I also understand I must attend 80% of all commission meetings activities and programs. Applicants Signature Date I understand the commitment involved with the Youth Commission and approve of my Date son]daugh~~lying. ~~ch/ail<'~i gn ature MAY 1 0 ~u,~, R,me I¥ii&nc.~\ '-3--7 Last~ Name First Name Middle Initial Address ' '~City School Attending during 2001-02 school year. 'l~hon~e Number ci 5©--/o Zip Code Grait~e Level Please list your school and community activities. (clubs, volunteer jobs, athletics, charities) .,~r-. ! ~-- ~ - [ .-...,-- \ ..J ' ' l. I ~ ', . ~ .... ': Which aspects of the Yo'~th Commission interest you? ' --) .T i~- .... ~,,:'-~ '' · :i~ ~" _ . ., ,,,-., ,, .~ ,or.m-:n dc~,~3 ~,..o_ _ Please list three school and/or community references: 3. ','z;:-< 'm ..... . c-, , , ', c--. ""' J I have r~d the apportion packet ~d unde~d ~e continent is 10 hou~ per mon~ in addition ~ the mon~iy m~t~. I ~so undem~nd I mint attend 80 % of ~! commission m~tings acfivifi~ and program. App-licants Signature Date~ ~understand the commitment involved with the Youth Commission and approve of my I~n/d_augh~. -~s applying. :~~an~S]gfiature D~te~ -I MAY 11 200] ChLL DsCX P Last Name First Name Middle Initial .~GI i5 Gl~q grc~e I3r. ~c~rck~cx~c~ Address - City J ~ed~od Middle ~ctqool ~chool At[~di~ d~fi~ 2001-02 school y~. Phone Number q~oTG Zip Code Grade Level Please list your school and community activities. (clubs, volunteer jobs, athletics, chanties) OWhich aspects of the Youth Commission interest you? .... ~ i~ '~ ~ d i' ~ ~ ;~ "~ ~ ~ ~ ~ '~ ~ .. . _.. .., ~ :: ~ - -_. ( .~ f , Please list three school anWor co--unity references: ~. Mr%Hl'nkle (7*~ ornde c~,re I have read the application packet and understand the ce~tment is 10 hours per month in addition to the monthly meetings. I also understand I must attend 80% of all commission meetings~tivities and program. Applicants Signature Date I understand the continent involved with the Youth Co~ssion and approve of my so.daughter's applying. ParenffGu~dian Signature Date SARATOGA CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: May 22, 2001 ORIGINATING DEPT: City Manager PREPARED BY: AGENDA ITEM: CITY MANAGER: DEPT HEAD: SUBJECT: Saratoga Union School District - MOU RECOMMENDED ACTION: Informational only. REPORT SUMMARY: N/A FISCAL IMPACTS: N/A CONSEQUENCES OF NOT FOLLOWING RECOMMENDED ACTION: N/A ALTERNATIVE ACTION: N/A FOLLOW UP ACTION: N/A ADVERTISING, NOTICING AND PUBLIC CONTACT: N/A ATTACHMENTS: Attachment A - SUSD MOU C~)OPERATION AGREEMENT THIS COOPERATION AGREFMENT is entered int,o on thru ~ day of ~ 1999, by and between the Saratoga Union School District (hereinafter referred to as "lDistrict") and the City of Saratoga (hereinafter referred to as "City"). A, District is in the process of n.~modeling and renovating the Saratoga Elementary School and the Redwood Middle School (hereinafter collectively referred to as "Projects") located in the City. B, District has adopted negative declarations for the Projects pursuant to '~he California Environmental Quality Act and determined that the Projects will not cause a significant impact on the environment C. City and residents of City have expressed concerns about Increased traffic a~t the schools and the removal of eucalyptus trees on the elementary school site. D. City and District believe it is in the public interest to work cooperatively to e~ddrass and remedy the concerns of City and the residents. NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the recitals and mutual promises contained herein, City and District agree as follows: 1. Redwood Middle School Proiect. The District will take the following actions to improve the existing traffic situation on the middle school site: a. The District will implement the circulation plan recommended in the Apdl I1999, Redwood Middle School TransportationStudy prepared by Wilbur Smith Associates. (A copy of the proposed circulation plan is attached hereto and incorporated herein as j-'xhibit "A".) b. The District will dose the driveway from the middle school parking lot onto Allendale Avenue and shall not open it again without working in cooperation with the City to assure that it is necessary to reopen it. c, The District will undertake a feasibility study of adding a separate turn lane on Fruitvale Avenue into the Redwood Middle School parking lot. If this strategy is determined to be effective by District, the District will implement it, d. The District will conduct a feasibility study of each of the strategies and actions suggested on pages 16 and 17 in the Wilbur Smith Associates Report dated April .¢;USD\COOP ~,AT~ONTNI.6.3.99 1 21, 1999, to identify and evaluate measures to further improve traffic circulation and congestion at Redwood Middle School. The District shall provide the City with a copy of the study not later than January 15, 2001. To the extent the study demonstrates that 'particular measures studied are feasible and will reduce the queuing problem and/or improve traffic circulation and congestion at Redwood Middle School, the District will then implement a program to reduce traffic problems in accordance with the study. The program may include such measures as staggered arrival and dismissal times for students, encouragement of carpoois, and implementation of a suggested route to school plan which would encourage students to bike and walk to school. The District will also study the' possibility of implementing bus service. The District shall implement the bus service if it is deemed by the District to be effective and economically feasible. e. After five years from the date of this Agreement, ifthe City notifies the District in writing that traffic is still a problem at the Redwood Middle School, the District shall undertake a feasibility study of using the end of Allendale Avenue as a secondary drop off and pick up spot at Redwood Middle School. This District shall provide the Citywith a copy of the study within six months from the date the City notifies the District, If this solution is considered to be effective by District, the City and District will cooperatively work together to implement the project, it being the intent of the parties that the District and City shall share the costs on an equal basis and that the project be implemented within three years from the completion of the study. 2. Saratocla Elementarv School Prolect. The District and the City shall take the followin~ step~ to alleviate the existing traffic conditions at the elementary school site and protect the eucalyptus trees on the site: a. Tra_.~, i) The District will eliminate student drop-off and pick-up on Komi~a Avenue. ii) The District will widen Oak Street by two and one-half feet (2,5') on the east side adjacent to the school between Komina Avenue and the school driveway. This will provide a standard sized eight-foot (8') curbside passenger loading zone and an eleven-foot (11') travel lane which will enable northbound motorists to pass loading vehicles without crossing the centerline of Oak Street. iii) The District will undertake a feasibility study of each of the strategies and actions suggested by Wilbur Smith Associates to further improve traffic circulation and congestion in the Saratoga Elementary School Transportation Study dated April 21, ~1999, a copy of which is attached hereto and incorporated herein as ~, Those strategies include the implementation of bus services to and from the school, encouragement of parents to voluntarily arrive earlier than the school start time and later than the school dismissal time and the promotion of carpooling for students and teachers. The District shall provide the City with a copy of the study not later than January 15, 2001. If any of these strategies except bus service are determined to be effective by District, the SUS~)~COO~'£~ZO~'NL~.3.~ 2 [::)istdct will implement the strategies accordingly. The District will implement bus service il: it is determined by District to be effective and economically feasible. iv) The City will restripe Oak Street between Komina Avenue and thie school driveway as a double-yellow line such that there is eighteen feet (18') on the southbound direction of Oak Street and nineteen feet (19') on the northbound direction 6f (:)ak Street prior to August 1, 2000, to accommodate the ensuing school year. This ~ssumes the 2-5 foot widening of Oak Street in front of the school provided above. Between the school driveway and Third Street, where the cross-section is only 30 feet, the. centerline should be positioned such that there is eighteen feet (18') in the southbound direction and twelve feet (12') in northbound direction. (See item v, below.) v) The City will establish a no parking zone between the end of the Oak Street passenger loading zone and the entrance of the on-site parking lot to minimize conflicts between vehicles entering and exiting the Oak Street passenger loading zone and the parking lot. ' vi) The City will initiate meetings with the affected residents to consider restricting parking on the west side of Oak Street between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. for the approximately one hundred fifty feet (150') where the southbound lane is narrow and immediately across from the entrance to the on-site parking lot. i vii) The City will post signs on Komina Avenue prohibiting passengbr loading and unloading and the District will make reasonable efforts to discourage employees from parking on Oak Street, including, but not limited to, giving employeeS notice at the beginning of each school year of the District's policy restricting employee parking on Oak Street. b. Trees. i) The District has stated its intent to retain the four (4) eucalyptus trees located closest to the Saratoga Tennis Club and to temporarily retain the two larger eucalyptus trees located on the playground. The trees are depicted in Exhibit "C" attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference. The District has further stated its intention to hire a certified arborist in May 2000 to provide a written assessment of the impacts of the construction on the trees along with any recommendations regarding the need to remove any tree(s). When the report is received by the District, the District will forward a copy of the report to the City. In addition, the District will:be holding a hearing at a regular meeting of the Board to discuss the recommendations presented therein. To allow the City sufficient time to review the report, the District will not place the matter on their agenda any eadier than three weeks following receipt of the report and the forwarding of the report to the City. At the Board's hearing, the Board will determine whether to retain or remove anY of the trees. SUSD\COOPERATIONFNL6.3.99 3 ii) During the renovation of the school, the District will require all contractors engaged in any excavation or grading at or near the trees (the "Affected Contractors") shall be required to exercise special care to protect the root system of all of the eucalyptus trees set forth in Exhibit "C-1" and "C-2" based on the recommendations of the District's arborist as descrlbe~ in ~ attached hereto and incorporated herein by this reference. iii) If any Affected Contractor negligently, recklessly, or Intentionally causes destruction of either of the two (2)large eucalyptus tree as set'forth in Exhibit "C-1" during construction, the District is requiring the payment of Twenty-Five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00) per tree as a penalty. The District will not issue a Notice of Completion nor release any retentions held underthe District's contracts with any Affected Contractor until the District's arborist has determined that no penalties are due under this provision. In addition to any other legally required performance and/or labor and materials bonds required by the District, Affected Contractors shall provide that their performance bonds include coverage for the tree protection measures contemplated by this agreement. Any penalty monies collected by the District will be applied by the District toward replacement trees of at least three (3) trees for each tree lost. iv) The District shall prepare the project specifications sent out to all contractors to detail the tree protection measures as established by the District's arborist (See Exhibit "D"). All Affected Contractors coming onto the site during construction will be required to strictly adhere to the tree protection measures. 3. Continued Cooperation. In order to address any concerns in the future regarding traffic ~nd construction issues at the schools, the District will appoint a liaison person to meet and confer with the City's liaison person from the City's Public Safety Commission. The appointed individuals will work out any arrangements necessary to provide open discussion about mutual public safety problems between the City and District, including, but not limited to, reporting to the City's Public Safety Commission, City Council or District Board of Directors. As a further measure of the spirit of cooperation envisioned in this agreement, the City Council and the District Board of Directors will consider appointing one member from each elected body to meet at the discretion of the two appointed members to foster greater cooperation and understanding between the two public agencies. In addition, the City Council has expressed a need for further clarification of proposed effectiveness of the traffic measures set out in this agreement. To assist the Council, the District will make a representative of the Wilber Smith Associates available to answer the Council's questions regarding the traffic reports referenced in Sections l(a) and 2(a)(3) of this agreement at a time and place selected by the Council. SUSD~2OOPERATIONFNLS,I 4 4. Notices. All notices required hereunder may be given by personal delivery, U.~. mail, courier service (e.g., Federal F_xpress) or telecopier.transmission. Notices shall b!.e effective upon receipt at the following addresses: CITY OF SARATOGA 13777 Fruitvale Avenue Saratoga, CA 95070 (408) 868-1200 FAX (408) 868-1280 Attn: City Manager SARATOGA UNION DISTRICT: 20460 Forrest Hills Drive Saratoga, CA 95070 (408) 867-3424 FAX (408) 867-7959 .. Attn: Superintendent SCHOOiL If notice of any change in address, telephone number or facsimile number is given to any Party, the other Parties shall send future notices pursuant to this Section to the amended address, telephone number or facsimile number. 5. Integrated Aclreement. This Agreement supersedes any prior agreement, whether written or oral and shall be effective once it is fully executed by all Parties. : 6, Effective Date. This Agreement will become effective upon its execution by all the Parties. 7. No Admissions Made. This is an Agreement :of compromise. Accordingly, the Parties agree that none of its provisions constitute, or shall be construed as, an admission or as evidence concerning the validity of the approval of the Negative Declarations filed by the District. The Parties also agree that nothing contained in this Agre. ement shall be admissible in any litigation other than litigation to enforce its provisions. In consideration of the actions the District will take pursuant to this agreement, the City agrees that it will not institute any litigation challenging the negative declarations prepared for the Redwood Middle School or Saratoga Elementary school projects. 8. Counterpart Originals. This Agreement may be executed in any number 0f counterparts, and each of these executed counterparts shall have the same force and effect as an original instrument and as if all of the Parties to the aggregate counterparts had signed the same instrument. 9. Further Assurances. The Parties shall execute, acknowledge, and deliver such additional documents or instruments as may be necessary to carry out the intent of this Agreement, including, but not limited to, those expressly referred to in this Agreement. The Parties agree that this Agreement cannot reasonably .anticipate all factors and events which may occur in the construction of the schools and implementation of the traffic measures. Accordingly, the Parties agree to cooperate with one another to resolve any and all future disputes to the end that the construction occurs in a timely manner and within budget and that the traffic mitigations are implemented to be as effective as possible, and SUSD\COOPERATIONFNL6.3.99 5 that all other provisions of this Agreement intended to benefit the City and Distdct are performed. 10. COnstruction by California Law. This Agreement is entered into in the State of California and shall be construed and interpreted in accordance with its laws. 11. Representation of Comprehension of Documents. In entering into this Agreement, the Parties represent that they have relied upon the legal advice of their attorneys who are the attorneys of their choice. The Parties further represent .that the. terms of this Agreement have been completely read by and explained to them by their attorneys, and that they fully Understand and voluntarily accept those terms. 12. Authorship. Each Party and counsel for each Party has reviewed and revised this Agreement, and accordingly, the normal rule of construction to the effect that any ambiguities are to be resolved against the drafting Party shall not be employed in the interpretation of this Agreement or any amendment of it. 13. Authority to Execute. Each of the Parties represents and warrants that each has full power to enter into this Agreement and that no portion of the claims covered by the releases have been assigned, encumbered, or transferred. 14. Entire Agreement: Amendment. This Agreement contains the entire Agreement between the Parties with regard to the matters set forth. This Agreement may be amended or modified only by an agreement in writing executed in the same manner as this Agreement. 15. Exhibits. All exhibits appearing in the text of this Agreement are incorporated herein by this reference. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this agreement at the place and as of the date first appearing above. SARATOGA UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT Cindy Rub~/, President?~/ CITY OF SARATOGA BY: ~",. ~ (j - TITLE: J~.O. ff/) )~ ATTEST.C--' '. ~¢. C'it¢Clerk' '- /- SUSD\COOPERATIONFNL6.3.99 6 REDWOOD MIDDLE' SCHOOL~". TRANSPORTATION STUDY FINAL REPORT Prepared far Saratoga Union School District WILBUR SMITH A~OC/AT~ · April 8, I~9~ TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 2. PEER REVIEW OF THE TRANSPORTATION SECTION OF THE INITITAL STUDY 3. PROJECT DESCRIPTION ........................................ - ...... . .................. 3 4. sETTING ........................................................................................ 4 .__.~.~. ................. . .........;. ....... ".4 4.1 Stucl~ Area ...... · ................... , 4.2 Inter,3ecflon Co.d|lions ........................................... 4.3 Existing Traffic Cir~ui.fio. Condifi~nz ................. ~ ................ & 4.3.1 UfilLz, fion ~f the Exlsfi~ Lots ............................................ 4.3~2 Queuing Conditions_. .................................................................. 10 4.3.3 Procesr~ng Rate~ .......................................... 10 5.1 Existing Use .............. - ........................................................ 14 5.2 Trip G,n,rotlon ....................................................................... 14 $,3 Trip Dis-tribath~n ............................................................... 14 PROJECT TRANSPORTATION IMPACT ANALYSIS ........................................ 14 6.1 Assumed Circulation Improvements ...................... Errod Bookmark nat defined. 6.2 Futuim Traffic Impacts at Fruih'ale and Allendale Avenues Intersection .... 15 6.3 Circ~lofion Impacts ............................................................................... ~17 7. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................... 18 7.1 Transportation improvement Measures 7.2 Recommendations to the Circulation Plan REDWOOD MIDDLE SCHOOL 17LAJ~ORTATION STUDY Page i REDWOOD MIDDLE SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION STUDY I INTRODUGTION Middle School Bxpa~ion prepm~ by LSA. This report add,scs the issues du~ were no~ adequalely covered in the Inigal Study.. These issues are identified in the Peer R~ew, contained in thc next chapter of this report Specifically, t~i.~ rqx~ evalua~ thc foil°wing uansportmion conditions both on the school site and off-site in the immf'di~l~ ~icillity Oir the school: · uaffic circulation; · in,.cr~c~on operaing condllio~S; · impac~s or,he increased student enroUmen~ with the proposed hnpm~ to the-on-site circulaIion. 2. PEER REVIEW '..['his chapter contains a review of thc Ira~spor~on analysis methodology p~vided in Section (a) of thc Inilial Smdy/CBQA F. nvironmcncal Checidt~ Form for the Redwood Mi&lie School Bxpansio~ January 1999 prepared by LSA AssociaIcs. Our commcll~ ~re G~'ouped ~.O~g to' the org-~ni~,-~Hon oftha~ documcnf, a~l for ease of reference, use the same mbhe~li,~s. F],isflng Tmfflc Conditions ].'he methodology for esfima~g exis6ng Iraf~ic co~m~ from applying an ambien~ growth factor 1.5 percent pcr ycar to 1995 am. and p_m_ peak hour U'affic counts a~ the study hncrscctio~s sccm-~! ~asonable. I~2ter~ection Level of Service Calculalions: Comprehansi've ~n,!ys~ P~am for a SingI~i Sig~,li~ed Inte~ection (CAPSSI) was the compu~, ~ot~a~ used to analy~ tha in~m'~ectim~. The, level of service calcul~on she~ p~vided in thc al~endix indica~ that ~h¢ CAPSSI analysis b~ed on the delay methodology of the 1~85 Highway C, apaciw Manual (I-ICM). TI~ Highway' 'Capacity Anal)sis methodology is t.~ observed s~ancla~ in into-Section ~era~ion me~hodolo~, mci although the 1994 I-Iighway Capacity Manual i~ the mo~ recem version of I-ICIVI, the two ve~ions o~e~ rel~v~ly similaz r~ults. T. he ~port assumes d~tt ambien~ ~ in m~[~c will be 1~ pe~ut mmually, ba~ed on a~sump6on that the g~wth tha~ has occtm-ed in tha a~a in t]~ recent pa~ is also as~ume~ ~t any g~owth t~la~l to the school by the yea~ 2008 is includ~ ~n thc ambien~ i g~wt.h. Th~-efo~ afl~ fac~ring ~e exi.~dn~ coun~ by 1.16 (1.5 percen~ p~ ~ ~ ~ yea~) REDWOOD MIDDLE SCHOOL IRAN/PORTAl/ON ~TUDY Wi/BUR SM/TH ,a~SO C/~TES / simulate year 2008 tra~c conditions, the volumes were ~ljusted downward slightly to mbtmct for Redwood Middle School tra~¢, in order tc simulate a No Project scenario. This aFl~ar,.h has some validity, since double counfin~ trips ia alway~ a cone. em in predicfi%~ future tr~c conditions. Given that West Valley College and other uses axe in the immedi~ vicinity, it is possible that !.5 percent per year would not include any Srowth from Redwood Middle School ~u thc absence of more detailed information regarding ~.~ of Weal Valley College, City Hall and other adjacent u:e:. this as:u:nption is reasonable. . The other issue is whether the 1998 projections reflect growth in Redwood Middle School enrollment between 1995 and I998. The current student em, ollment at RedWood Middle School is 825 students in 1998/99. ~nrollme~t was 714 students in 1995196. Thi~ is a' growth of aborn 5 percent per _year thus the school has gx~wn more than the es.~nl~Ons for smbi~t traffic. However, the as~mrptions for 'u'affic ~rowth during the peak hour between 1995 and 1998 in absolute numbers of vehicles, was abou~ equal to the increase in the number of smdent~, 111, thus is k a~sumed that thc ambient u-affic ~rowth doc~ reflect thc ~x)wth in student cnrollmcm bctwccn 1995 and 1998. Intersection'Level of Service Calculations: The level of service calculaIion sheets indicaie tha~ each signal's cycle l,,%oth was oprlm~ed for the aualy~ of each scenario. As long as the maximum cycle lengths in any of thc intersection analyses is not increased beyond what the City of Saramg,, considers accelrtable, this analysis methodology is valid. Potential Project Traffic Impacts Thc analysis conducted by LSA Associates i~cluded three study intersections: · Scorlanc] Drive/Saratoga Avenue · Fruitvalc Avenue/Saratoga Avenue · Fruiwale AvenudAllendalc Avenue The LSA traffic impact analysis was conducted for the typical commute peak hou3 conditions, ~ is. an AM peak hour between 7:00 AM and 9:00 AM and a PM peak hour between 4:00PM and 6:00 PM. The LSA report discusses the relationship betwem typical peak hour traffic conditions, and the peak hours of u-ip generation for a school. The time period chosen to ,,~lyze AM peak hour impac~ is valid, because the AM peak hour conditions for thc school con'cspond to the AM peak cornmucc hour. The LSA report acknowledges that during the aflemoon, the peak hour during which the school generates the most traffic is earlier, (typically 2 PM to 4 PM) than thc typical peak hour of thc adjacent interse~ons, 4 PM to 6 PM. However, traffic volumes am usually heavier peak hour, and usually compcnsam for thc lower uafl:ic gcncraed by the school during thi.~ ~ime; thus, worst case uaffic conditions usually occur during the later peak hour. LSA analyzed the 4 PM m 6 PM time period assuming it would be the worst case (heavier However, WSA made 24-hour counts on Fruitval¢ Avenue immediately south of Allendale Avenue in .,March,. 1999. These counts show that th~ PM peak hour on Fruitvalc Avenue actually occurs berween 2:45 PM and 3:45 PM, which also corresponds to the PM peak hour of the school. (The 3~0690 REDWOOD MIDOL~ SCHOOl. TRANSPORTATION STUDY ~ags 2 WILBUR SMITH two-way {raffle volume on Fmitvale Avenue bet~vcc~ 2:4b'PM and 3:4FPlVi was approxima~ly- eleven pcrcem grea~er than thc volume during the peak hour between 4 PM and 6 PM.) Therefore: it is likely that the peak hour for the int.,~ection turning movements at the intersection of Frakvalc Avenue aud Allen,%le Avenue would also occur during this hour, the PM peak hour of the schooL Thc PM peak hour of analysis for the inmsection of FruitvaI¢ and Allcudale Avcnugs should have been during the 2:45 to 3:45 PM time period, ccuresponding with thc PM peak hour uip gcncra~on of the school. Therefore, WSA re-analyzed thc LOS ~-: thc in~rsc~on of Fruit'vale Avenue ami Allendale ~[he 2:45 to 3:45 peak hour, and the results are contained in our lraffic study. The PM peak hour of adjacent su,:~ u'affic for thc inic~cc~io~s of Scodaud Drive/Saratoga Avenue · ired Fruiwale Avenue/Saratoga Avenue may correspond tu thc typical PM peak commute hour, 4 ]?M t o 6 PM as they a~e faiher removed flora the combined immedla~ e{~'cc~ of We.~ Valley' CoUege and Redwood Middle School. However, 24 hour counts were nc, made near guese inrgrsecCious to verify this. LSA de~ennined ~ number of trips th~ would be generated by thc school's expa~'ion was ush%r, ihe Insriunc of Transponamion Engineers Trip Oencralion, Six~ edition. LSA adju.~ed d~.se ram t~:cotmt for the higher observed use of vehicles. The use oflTB ~ gcucralion races to cstimalc the thmrc u'ips gcncrar~i by a particular laud usc is sumdard common practice in the absence of more t:ccuram empirical ~ The WSA ~,,~]ysis of the Redwood Middle School expansion allernafivcl¥ chosc to usc empirical da~a, and assumes a ~mple direct mlad~p between the student c~rollmcnt and thc number of vehicles uavcling ~o and from thc skc during AM aud PM peak hours. This approach ass,,mes limt the existiug mode splits would m-q,,~i,, d~e same, unless ~,:ljustmenr. s are made for changes in thc levels of bussing, walki-5 bike and other non-vehicular ~.CC~S. ii. PROJECT DESCRIPTION ].'hc school site is located at 13925 Fruiwalc Avenue near Allcndalc Avenue, less than a mile west ¢,f Highway 85 in the City of Saratoga. The school for students in grades six through eigh~ ¢.urreudy cousists of eleven buildings, including a library., a muff-usc building, an ~.dministrativc/classmom building, and s~v~'al classroom buildings. ].'Be proposed project includes the cxp~-~ion of thc cxisti~E school facilities to accommodate thc vrojected increase from 825 students to 1282 students by thc year 2008. The expected 55 percent i:acrcasc in student cnrollm~t would also increase the school staff al Ra-dwood Middle School f~rm 67 full-time equivalent positions to 78 full-time equivalent smffmembers. 1.'he project consists of new buildings, additions to existing buildings, and a larg:r play ara as w~I1 as the following site improvements to a~commodate the anticipated increase in su~omobil¢ tr~ic at t.~e site: 3~0690 REDWOOD MIDDLE SCHOOL TRAN~ORTATION STUDY tVILBUR ~ITH · Redesign of upper parking loc This lot would be redesigned to allow a new cifculalion ~ comisting of two counter-clockwise loops to facilitate more effici~ and safe ckop- offs end pick-ups. · Comic area driveway relocation: The driveway to tl~ Cottage e~ea would be relocated, and part-i,~ for employccs, visitors and thc disabled would be expanded. · Bqn, llv,~ion of drop-off and pick-up area ufiliza~on: Thc two drop-off/pick-up areas would be assigned ~o specific ~oups of students m equalize the ,~m'li~-ion of the lots. --. · Imstruction ofpar~ts: Parents would be supplied with instructions and a map illustraling th~ drop-off and pick-up procedm~. · Si~nege and volunteer: Signs and pavement stencih would desi~nam the loading areas and procedures, end volunteers would help direct traffic. · Improved bus service: Private subscription to bus service would be studied as an option to relie'~ltl automobile congestion durln~ drop-off and pick-up elm,s. · Traffic management; Parents would receive writtan dt'op-off,,,,t pick-up lm'ocedures at the be~-,,i-g of each semester;, they would also be cncouraocd to arrive to school earlier and/or carpool. · "Suggested Route to School Plan": The District, in conjunction with the City, would prepare a school route plan indicating thc suggested mutes for studcn~ to use to walk and bik~ to school. This would be distributed to students and their parents. · Bus service: ALTRANS would initiate a busing program within the Sar~ga U-16ed School District. 4. SETTING 4.1 Sh~dr Area Roadways The school site is bounded by Fruitvale Avenue to the east, Allendale Avenue to ¢.he north, and is close in proxi,'~ity to Montauk Drive to the south. Tm/tv, lc Avenue has two southbound and two northbound through lanes end a wide median in the vicinity of the school, with turn lanes provided in some locations. Allendale Avenue has one through lane in both the eastbound and weadmund directions, with right and left turn lanes provided in some locations. Fmit'valc Avenue also has bike lanes on some pordons of its length. Currently, all three c~-,,ances to the sim and two of'the three exits from the site arc located on Fntitvale Avenue, and one exit is located on Allendale Avenue. 4.2 Intersection Conditions Traffic counts w~rc made in March, 1999 over a 24-hour pericid on Fruirvale Avenue i,~,-ediz~y south of Allendale Avenue, to determine the mor~;ng and a~.moon peak hours. These counts ar~ contained in Appendix A. The morning peak hour for the school coincides with thc typical commute peak how, and ocamo, d betw~ 8:00AM and 9:00AM. The afternoon peak hour also corresponds to the schools peak mtffic period, occurring between 2:~SPM and 3:45PM. The PM peak hour on Fruirvale Aven~ occurs earlier than is typical for an afternoon peak hour, which typically occurs ~ ¢:00PM and 6:00PM. The fact that this portion-of Fm/tvale Avem~ REDWOOD MIDDLE SCHOOL T"iz. AN~O~A~N 5'RJD¥ W~/.3UR Sa~I/TH REDWOOD M/DDL_ ~OOL~RTA~ON.~'dDY experiences the aim'noon peak hour :much earner than the t~pical commute peak hour is most likely due to the prox~mlty of Redwood Middle School and pos~%ly West Valley College. The intcrs~tion op~tion of Fmitvale and AIImdale Avenues was ~-.ly2~ as ~ of this study. Thc inter~ecfion level of service was evaluated for the. mor-i-~ and afternoon peak hours: i.e. 8:00AM and 9:00AM and 2:45PM and 3:45t'1~ These peak hours ate the peak for u~t~c on Fruiwale Avenue as well as Redwood Middle school traffic, as explained above. Thc V~rr~"Z mov~nent volume counts were gathereci on Tuesday, Mar~h 1.6, 1999. the Level of Service (LOS) of an inmrsection is a measure of the abili~ of the inter~ection to ;~comrnodat~ traffic volumes. Intersection Level of Scrvic~ ranges from LOS A, which inclicams :5-ce-flow conditions with little overall delay, to LOS F, which indicare~ c~ conditions with extremely long delays. LOS A~ B, C, and D are considered excellent to tolmable service levels. ]LOS E and LOS F conditions have excessive delay. ~['nc intersection of Fmirvale and Allendale Avenues, a signalized interse~ was evaluated using the 1994 Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) 0p~dlions m~.hodology for intersection delay, (,w?~-¢d in Chapter 9 of thc HClvL This method dctcr~i,,cs th: capacity for each lan: group ;~proaching an inU:rscction, and calculales thc average delay for each inIcrs~on approach. Then the weighted average of' the delays for each approach is calculated to determine the average delay ibr the intersection, which is used w detcrmin¢ the overall LOS for th~ intersection. As defined by tile City of Saratoga, the operational impac~ on intersections is considered si~o~ificant when project traffic causes the service level to deteriorate from LOS D or bener to LOS E or F. 'l'ablc 1 shows thc results of the intersection analysis for exis6ng weekday AM and PM peak hour conditions. The table indicates that the intersection of Fruirvale and Allcndale Avenues operates at LOS C in both mor~i-E and ~oon peak hour conditions. Average delay per vehicle at thc intersection is 17.4 seconds in during thc morning peak hour a~d 18.0 seconds per vehicle durin~ rJac afmmoon peak hour. Appendix B contains the detailed calculations ofth~ intersection Levcl of ~C:ervice analysis. TABLIr. 1 EXISTLNG WEEKDAY PEAK HOUR LEVELS OF SERVICE ~mdy Intersection J Thne Period [ Weekday LOS ~ nh-wal~ AvedAllcndale Ave. I AM PeakHourI C I I7.4 Fmkvale AveYAllendale Ave. PM Peak Hour C 18.0 '~.~ur~c Wilbur Smith A~ociate~ Mar~h ]~otes: I Traffic counts made on Tuesday, March l~, I IDelay (sec/veh) 4.3 Existing Tru[l';c Circulation Conditions Currently, lraffic on the school si~c circulates inefficicmly. Areas on-sim thac could port. ally be t~ed for circulation and queuing ar~ only used under very congested conditions; for the most parr, tt~cy remain undcrurilized, which forces queues to extend onto public ~. Furthermore, thc 3.~;0690 REDWOOD MIDDLE SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION STUDY WILBUR CHOOL I'I~q~OI(TATtON ~-~tJDY clockwise direction of traffic flow tt~-o-~ the pick-up/drop-off area requires children to cross least one sUcam of uaffic if they choose to sit in the fxont seat~ Thc circulazion conditions obscrv~ on Tuesday, March 16th and the to~ numb= of vch/cles entcrin~ and lcavin~ thc school driveways were counted in 15-minute increments. These counts arc summar/zcd in Table 2 and thc detailed counts arc presented in Tables 3 and 4. These counts indicate that 293 vehicles emered all ~ school driveways between 2:45PM and 4:00PM, while double that number of vehicles (58g vehicles) entered the site b~twe~n ?:ISAM and g:30AM. As these numbers illusu~, subsu~,,H¥ fc..vcr vehicles were observed entering and lcavlnE the school driveways to pick up children in thc afternoon than in the momin~ to drop-off children. However the queues on Fmitvale Avenue were worse in the afternoon. Thi3 is du~ to several facw~ rel~th~!~ to the different ~h~ractefistics between morning drop-offs and afternoon pick-ups. During the morning, p~ can drop-off their children and then ;rnmediatcly leave, so vehicles have a relatively short duration in thc drop-off lois. Vehicles entering the lots in the momin~ operate much more e/~Scienfly, generally following thc fit.-in-first-out (lrll:O) operation. Also it appears ritat parents are more likely to drop-offtheir kids at school than pick rhcm up from school, since the school s~rt time more closely coincides with the ~me thac parents are uaveling to their workplaces. To ~, there are more veh/cles enterin$ thc site in the morning than in the afternoon, bm the), can be processed at a fa~er rate. During thc afternoon, parents usually wait for their children to find their vehicle, and consequently spend more ~ime in the pick-up lots. In addition to being hi thc lots for a longer duration, the first vchicles in thc lots in thc at%moon period aren't necessarily the fir~ vehicles to leave the site. Vehicles can only park in one lane while waitin~ for children, in order w leave the other lane open for circulation purposes. This reduces the usable operational capacity of thc lo~s in the afternoon. Howcvcr there fcv~r vehicles arrivin~ to pick up children compared to the morning since more children walk home in the afternoon, and some children have after*school activities on the school site. But thc main reason fewer vehicles were observed enterint the school site to pick up children in the afternoon is the school lots were filled tn capacity with waitins vehicles, and thc excess demand was queued on Fmiwalc Avenue. Thus, the counts do not reflect the true demand for entering the school driveways during the afiernoom A mor~ d~tailcd discussion of qucuint is presented in the next section. As a result of thc inadcquat~ existing capacity, to accommodam tl~ d~umd for pickinE-up students in the a.ff~noon' parents were observed picking up their chilctren in off-sit~ ar~as surrounding thc school, includi,~g Allendale Avenue, the Saratoga post office, and on Fruitval¢ Avenue. In conclusion, even thoush thc mornin~ scc~ a ~accr number ~f vehicles in the school lots, it is for a shorter duration and creams less con~ested conditions on local public streets than the fewer number of vehicles observed in thc afternoon. Thc combination of several factors results in considerably fewer ,,'chicles cntcrin~ and lcavin~ thc school site ac dismissal t/mc. However, thc queues and rclaced congestion are worse in the afl..,'moon. Fibres 1 and i! ilium-ac thc arrivals and departures at the school site during the morning and afternoon, respectively. 3.~0690 REDWOOD ~IDDI. E SCHOOL TRAh~PORTAT/ON STUDY Page 6 w11.BUR $~WTH A~OCL4TE~ ! , ~p!qeA J~ JeqwnN e~i. o~nU-l'j ~2DWOOD M~DJ .CHOOL'TR~g'~PORTATIOH The graphs depict the cumulative total arrivals ~,,d total dq~nmzt~ otnervcd cra7 15 ,,,~,~,,~,,n. ~rrivfl ~Taph in ~e m~n~ ~,',d ~¢ d~p~rture graph ~ t~¢ a.ft=~oon ~ ~ mod/fled ~ ~. effects of t~.h~r arri'v~.]~ ~ dept. 'I2ds/s b~e. in the mnm/ng f~ example, ~ ~rrive btn do nm leave. ~us wo~.Id not be pan of the cumul~ qu~u/n~. $im/l~ly. in ~crnoom t~che~s le,,ve but do not: 4.3.1 U~lix~ion of fhe r:zJsting Lets Thc thr~ on-site lo~s ar~ used ~d~fly ~ bo~ ~ mo~;~ ~ ~on p~o~. ~e Co~ lot ~ ~e le~t ~p~i~ f~ ~ ~cl~ b~ is ~ ~ a mb~ po~on of te tc ~ bo~ ~e mo~;~g ad ~oon p~o~. At ~e s~c ~mc, ~c no~ lot'~ ~=~Y ~ ~e c~a~ ~ ~ ~ I~ ~ is ~ by mb~y 1~ ~c ~ ~e o~ ~ Io= a'~E bo~ ~ mo~g ~ ~~ p~o~. T~I= 2 ~di~ ~ p~t of ~g ~d ~ ~c ~ ca~ lo~ d~ ~e mo~ ~d ~mo~ p~o~. Time Period Morning Afternoon TABLE 2 PERCENT UTU~r'Z~,TION OF EXISTING LOTS ' Northern Lot [ Msin Lot ] Cottage Lot Enter Exit I Eater Exit I Enter Exit 21.0 21.4 I 42. 42.8[36.5 35.8 15.6 16.4 52.7 49.8 31.6 33.g 4.3.2 Queuing Conditions ~ During the peak portion of the morning peak period (approximattly 8:00 AM to 8:15 AM), trn~c queues spill onto Fruitvale Avenue. The queue of vehicles in the curb lane of southbound Frniwalc Avenue waitin(, to turn right into thc school site was observed to extend the entire distance between the entrance to thc lot ~,d the exit from thc lot (about six vehicles), which also causes queues on- site to grow. Thc queue of' vehicles in the curb lane on southbound Fruit-vale Avenue reduced thc capacity of' southbound Fruitvale Avenuc for vehicles wishing to turn fight out of the school driveway. The increased difficulty of exiting vehicles to turn right onto Fmitvale Avenue c~,used exiting vehicles to queue on-site, which consequently exacerbated the queues extending off-site. Dtu,-ing thc afternoon peak period, queues extending onto Fruirvale Avenue wcrc much longer ?h~n those observed during thc morning peak period. At 3:05PM, when thc dismissal bell rang, the queue of vehicles in the curb lane of southbound Fruitvale Avent~ extended beyond the intc~cction with Allendal¢ Avcnu~ (approximately 25 vchicles). 4.3.3 Proc,~ing Rates During cbc morning peak period, observations iadicatcd that thc process of dropping off children generally took approximately 15 seconds per vehicle. Because ofthe short amount of time rcquixcd to drop-off childrcm, queues extended onto Fruitvalc Avenue only for a couple of,~inxacs between 8:00AM and 8:15AM. During thc morning peak period, vehicles arrive in platoons or groups, which is presumably duc to the fact that vehicles arc platooned by the signals on Fruit'vale Avenue. This grouping of aniving vehicles further exacerbates the problem of queuing under the current circulation plan since the driveway entrances to thc Cottage lot and main lot arc adjacent to one another. Ia Imrticulm', ~0~90 REDWOOD MIDDLE SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION ~qJDY Page 10 J~DWOODM~--.ICHOOL~RTA~ONSTUDY drivers tr~wl;,~ southbound on Fruit~eie .avenue that ,,v..m m turn fight into thc Couage lot often block the entrance to thc main lot fc~ both vehicles trzve-l~-g mm2bomui on Fruitvalc Avenue we~.~ to unn ldt into thc mein lot and vehicles tre~l~.g southlx)unc[ on Pmitvale Avcnu~ wish;.=~ to tun ~ into the ~ lo~; As shown in Table 3, 191 (~6%) vehicles wee observed ent=r~ end leaving thc elm a~ ~hc Couag¢ lot, 228 (43%) vehicles en~n~ end ex,ed the ,~;,~ lot, end only 114 (21%) vehiclce entered md ~ thc northern l~g lo~ The Cot~ege lo~, which bee thc lce.~t qucui~ cepeciv, wes cen',/ing ~y 36% of the dzop-o~¢. In edditio~" this ctrivewey serves es access to thc mnja~it~ of the t~ec~cr l~t-~=a. As ,hl, tot ~-,'[des enough cut~ spece to accon~nod3te a~u~ five vehicles ~t one ti:nc end the. greate~ d~,.~,d occu~ dur~.~ a rdetively short period or'me just before school stnrts, queues R)r ~ ~ Cottage lot often ex't~nct onto Fruirvele Avenue end block thc entrnncc to these two.most u~ized lots. ' At school ,.1;~m;~.~! ~ne, fewer vehicles enter the she to pick up children then ~n thc mctel. However, the longer dm'~on that vehicles wait for children to leave cla~ ~ ~;n,.1 ~ ~sl~ect~e v~hicles crcetes much worse queuing probleme th~ ~t Rte school's star~ t+m~. In addition, l~t~-.,~ ar~ more likely to drop-off the/r chil~ early for school than they a~e to pick up thcir chikkm later tho. dismissal time. This results in a very high d~mnml for queuing space for a relatively short period of Kmc. Table 4 indicatce ~ $7 (32%) vehicles weze observed entering ~ leaviz~ the sou-,h='n lot, 14~ (53%) vehicles enmrcd end Icrc thc main lot, end only 43 (15%) vehicles ~tered end left ~he northern lot. The main lot is more heavily ~i.,~ than 'd~ other lots, but ~o a greater ~gree in the afternoon compazed to the morning period. Queues m enter the main lot were observed u~ extend in the southbound curb lane of Yruirvelc Avenue beyond the intersection of Allendale Avenue, with at leas~ 25 vehicles waiting to enter the main lot. f~,EDWOOD MIDDI.~ SCHOOL ~RTATION 5T'UDY Page WILBUR SMITH A~OCIAT~ 5. TRAVEL DEMAND ANALYSIS 5.1 Existing Use Redwood Middle School ctm~tly has 825 student. These 825 studems were observed co gener'a~ 588 inbound-vehicle-trips during the mor~;ng peek period and 293 outboand vebiclg-trips tt~e a~emoon pc~c period. 5.2 Trip Generation The student body is c~p~'r~d to ~'pand co 1.282 students by ~e y~ 2~8, ~ ~e of 457 ~d~. ~ a ~-c~c ~~ we ~ve ~ ~ ~ 55 p~ ~e ~ ~d~ ~ ~ school ~te ~d ~e a ~po~o~ly M~ ~ of v~ ~~ ~ ~ ~m ~ school d~g ~e mo~g ~d ~oon ~ ho~.l ~ 588 ~bo~ ve~cI~s wo~d ~e to 914 ~bo~ vcMclc-~ps d~ ~ mom~ng ~ ~o~ ~ ~C 293 o~b~d vc~cl~ps ~d ~c~c ~ 455 o~bo~d ve~cl~ps d~g ~e ~oon ~ ~o~ 5.3 Trip Distribution Apprmdm,,tely 60% of the vehicles entering the school site during the morn;ng peak l~'riod were ~raveling south on Fruitwale Avenue and tumh~ right hno ~c site, whilc abo~ 40% of thc vchiclc~ were traveling in thc northbound direction on Fmi~ele Avern~ and tu~i,,.~ left into the school site. Assuming that the currant student residential distribution r~mainin$ in thc fumr~, thc di~ctional distribution of thc additional vehicle trips generated by the school's expansion would not change. Then 196 of the additional 326 rnoming peak period vehicl~ u/ps would be turning fight into tl~ site and 130 of the 326 vehicles would be tur~i~g le~ into thc site from northbound Fruit~e Avenue. Similarly, 91 of thc additional 152 afternoon peak period vehicle trips would be turning right into the site from southbound Fruiwalc Avcnu~ and 61 of the additional 152 v~hicles would bc turning left into the site. These were assigned co the school driveways and thc intersection of Fruitvale and Allendalc as discussed below. 6. PROJECT TRANSPORTATION IMPACT ANALYSIS This section describes thc transportation impacts of the proposed project on the traffic circulation conditions both on-site and a~ tim intersection of Fruitvalc and Allendalc Avenues. Thc impa~ts on are addressed during both the morning and afternoon peak pm-loch. 6.1 Assumed Orculation Improvements Thc proposed improvemen~ tn the tm~.~portstion and tza~c circuI~ion conditioz~ include the exp~,~ion and the redesign of ti~ main lot and the northern lot. Both lots would be red,signed co have countercloclcwise circulation panems and to increase thc total on-site ar~a for circulation purposes. This will s/ini/icanfly expand the rate at which drop-offs and pick-ups can be made and will allow mom of the queuing to occur on-sit~. This would allmriate some of the existing queuing problems, as described in Section 4.3. The Cottage lot will be reduced in size and r~stricted co teachers only. This would rumov¢ teachers' vehicles from the congestion and educe the amount of 3~,0690 REDWOOD IVdODI P SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION ~TLIDY WiLBU~ S,~41TH ,a~OC~TE$ REDWOOD Mi~ SC?IOOL ~RTAITON STUDY traffic that occurs at the ~uthcrn edge of the property, near the intersection of Mozm~ ~ A sketch of thc proposed ~onplan is shown in Figure 3.. 6.2 Future Traffic Impacts at FruitYale/AJlendale Avenues Intersection cfl, culat~on patterns or _~,,,';,,~ major tra~c hazards or would conm'bute substantially to ctnnulat~ uaffic increases at intersections that wo~ld other~e operate at ~lc lew. Ls, ~_-,!,,_~i,~ ' degradation to ,,r,~,~t~ptable level~. Traffic conditions at the intersec~on of Fmitval¢ and Allcndal¢ Avenu~ were evaluated t~,,,~,~ the weekday morning and afternoon peak period conditions with and without the addition of project tt~i~c. Table 5 pre. scnts a co~ of the int~ level of scrvice atmly~ under cXisth~ and future condifiom. In order to evalt~e thc operation of the inflection under future conditions, thc .-xisting (1999) intm~ection volumes were increased by 1~% per year to obtain a Year 2008 base .~.enario (without expansion of the school). Then, the additional u'affic generated by the school .;xpansion that would travel through thc intersection was added to the Year 2008 base Iraffic · volumes. In the year 2008. thc LOS would remain C, the same as exis~;~ conditions, during both ,'.he morr,;,~[ and afternoon peak hours. The additional traffic resulliug from the school's exp~on · would increase the average vehicle delay over the base year 200g conditions. gEDWOQD ~IDDLE SCHOOL TRAN~ORTATION ~IJDY WILBUR SM[Ttt A.~OC~AT~ TABLE 5 PROJE~ YEAR 2008 WF.F. KI)AY PEAK HOUR LEVELS OF SERVICE Study Time Yesr 2008 Y~r 2008 Y~r 2008 + Yesr 2008 + Intersection Period Weekday Delny Expausion Expansion LOS , , (sedveh) Weekday LOS Dehy (sec/v,,h) "Fruitvale Ave./ AM Peak C 18.6 C 23.4 Allendale Ave. Hour Fruitvalc Ave./ PM Peak C 19.9 C 21-~ All~aole Ave. Hour , Source: Wilbur Sm/th AssO~,~_, March 1999. ~Totes: 1 Traffic counr~ made ~n Tuesday, March 16, 1999. However, :he service levels would ~w~i~ at LOS C wi:h the tra~¢ gen~zted by thc ¢x~amion of the school. Appendix B l~ovides th.· detailed calctflat/o~ of the inter~cfion Level of $¢rvir~ analysis. 6.3 ~irculatlon Impacts The ability of vehicles menmr and leave the school site ¢fficicatly will b~ imlXUVed by ~ proposc~l chan~es ~o thc iransp~on and lraffic circulation sys~,m. The in, eased number of students would generate more waffic 'to the site, offs~ some of :he benefits of :he proposed improv~ncnts. This analysis e~aluates the proposed c/rculazion impwvemems with the 55 Ire'curet increase in students and the associated tr~c. ~ The proposed circulation improvements described lrreviously will ~mprove the situation in several ways. Fir~ the rdocalion of all thr~e driveways (and th~ prohibition of drop-offs and pick-ups in thc Cottage lot) results in th~ two drop-off ar~s spaced a~ distances necessary to ~evem bloct~-~ of access for ci',hcr drop-off' ar=a. This redesign prevents entering vehicles fi-om blocking exiting vehicles as is currently the case due to the long ~ in the aft-emoon- It also separates the cottage lot entrance from the main lot entrance, improving the congestion related to the proximity of the~e two driveways. Las~ but not least, the proposed design increases the on-site capacity of the school's drop-offlots r~ a total of approximately 19 vehicles in the m~ir~ lot and 21 vehicles in the north~Tl lot for a total of 40 vehicles, compared to 23 ve.h/cles under curr~nt u~lization of the lots. Thc new c/rculafion paItern would also force drivers to dr/ye counter-clockwise thro-Eh the lot, which facilities faster loading and unloading and consequently would maximi~ the use of unloading space within :he lo~s. 6.3.1 /Va Peak Period - The 55~ vehicles thai cum:nfly ente~ the site to drop off children in morning would incrca.s¢ to ~28 vehicl~ on a typical mor~i~.~ a~ the school. Ass~r~in! p~kini characteristics as ex/st/rig, approxhnaIely 54%, or 446 vehicles would enter the sim during the peak 1~ minutes i.¢. between 8:00AM and 8:lSAM. 'these improv~neuts are expected to si~ifican*Jy improve the circulation and re~ queues and con~¢st/on unck-r existing congitions. The proposed on-sit~ drop-off capadty for 40 vchicl~ at one t/me should also accommodate :he fumr~ peak of 446 veh/cles in th~ mor~ir~E's peak 34O690 R,r:DWOOD A~DDLE .SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION .STUDY WlLBLIR SA41TH ,AS3OC.~YP.~ . -- ~'- W~ODM/D~, -C:HOO · .. .~ - .... ,,,--UOL *m'u,m'Om*AnO~v 6.3~ PM P~k P~od - ~ ~ sc~] ~e m 9~ ~ ~ ~oo~ 27~ de . ~ ~s . ord. to c--~'~ 4~ c~ of ~- ,-.-~ o~. ~ ~osed ~;~~ ~ or ~c ~ · . . ~ ~ ~cy of 3 ~d ~ occ~. ~ ~= d~ for Vc~cl~ ~ ~c ~ ~ , ~ ~ -~ ~e~s-~ · . ,~m~e~~_ .. acco~odatc ~e c~t ~ ~j~ ~c d~d ~o~ S~ool ~ ~ ~e d~ ~d nm ~o~ of ~ace ~ each of ~ ~ed 427 Vc~cl~ cn~g ~e ~e W ~ ~ ~ ~ ~e ~moon ~ ~ a 1o~ for ~ avc~ of ~ ~, i~ ~d ~ ~q~ 35 ~ ~o ~o~ ~ 427 V~cles. ~, if ~c ~~ pmp~o~ely to cx~nd ohio F~e Argue for ~ 30 ~u~es. ~~ qu~ ~d ~ 7. ~ONCLUSIONs AND ~CO~ENDATiONS 7.1 ~nge~i~n and Queuing r~~ Io~ ~ ~ove ~c ~s~g qu~ on~ F~c Av~u~Cncy ofpick-~s ~d ~~ ~ ~e school ~d ~e ~Pmve ~ c~C~on ~ .... P ~a~on p~ ~d mo~ que~ ~d,.,~ qu~ ~-~ _ . is ~cc~ to ~ ~ ~ be ~- ~ng~ co~ to ~ ~n~o~, accord omit. 3. ~ ~ PM p~ P~o~ ~e ~opo~ qUC~g ~p~ of~e lo~ ~ w~d ~on s~eme ~d ~e ~ o~ite ~ ~ I282 ~d~, ~ ~v~ ~ ~c ~ci~ ofpi~.~s' ~e Pm~ss~ d~d ~ ~ Bm it b ~~ ~ ~d~ ~ ~e ~~ Wo~d ~ be ~ ~ o~. Pmpos~ ~on sch~e, so o~im ~g wo~d ~ MIDDLE SCHOOl. TRANSPORTATION at"LIDY ,'O,/OOL TRAN~ORTA11ON STUDY. 4. Th= pr)posed circulation plan, is cxln:c~d to accommodn~e__ school lr,~¢ better th.. =dsr;-~ conditions. The following discussion tn~scms some m:o,,~,,;,~,,~ that could further improve conditions. It should be noted thai these improvements ate not spccifica~y to mitigate thc impacts of thc projex~, but ar~ recommendations that would further improve traffic circulation o-er exi~-~ tr~t~c conditions. Su'amgies and aclions that could furtlher improve h'affic ~ion and conge~on a~ ~h¢ si~ include: · Staggered dixmi~aI rimes - Circulation at the school site would benefit inma~ely from staggered ai~mi~nal times. For in.ntau~, if the school wexe divided into two cvcn groups with schedules offset by ten minutes or more, the proposed ckculation plan and lot configun~on could accommodate the project u'affic onsite duc to thc reduced number of cars duri~ the peak. Staggering ~he dismissal limes aad subdividing groups within each ai,-mi,~! would also make it easier for children to find their respective vehicles, makiag the pick-up p~ccss more efficient and consequently reduce the amour.; of time each vehicle is on the site. The disadvantages of' staggering school ~sal limes ar= that it is more inconvenient for parents who have two kids on diff--; schedules. Because of)bin, somc parenl~ would wait until the la~,ii~.m;--nal time, and the benefit would not bc to cut peak tra~c demand in h;lf~ but mm'e on thc order of 60 percent. Even so ~ would significandy reduce the peak uaffic volumes. It would however, spread out the peak by 15 ,~i-utes or so, depending on the ~ offs~ between the two dismissals times. The benefits ofreduc~ traffic congestion would outweigh the extended peak period. However the biggest disadvantage is that stagger~ct dismissals mak~ it more a;~cult fnr students to carpool. Again, the ad~es of the staggered dismissals would be negated cat'pooh waited till the ~ dismissal times to pick up the students. One approach would be to try to achieve a reduction in the _-,,,,,,bet of vehicles befor~ implementing staggered times. Options that could help achieve this goal are discussed below. To minimize the number of vehicles traveling to and from the sim during ~ach morning and ;fftemoon period, the following srra~gies should be considered: ,, Bus service - Bus service could most drastically reduce the number of automobiles at the school site, with a single van or bus replacing the u'affic created by t~n to twenty automobiles. Carpoo/s - Encourage carpools to r~luce traffic at tim site. Parents would ne~I help in obtaining a rider ~ for potential match~s; RIDES for Bay Area Commuters could help provide such a service. e Staggered arrtvalr- Encourage parents to voluntarily arrive ~arlier thaa school aah time and lat~ than dismissal time. ,, ,4 Sugge.rted Route to School Plan - Cr~ a "Suggested Route to School Plan" would encourage students to bicycle or walk to and from school, thereby r~ducing the automobile traffic volumes at the sit~. However, the existing inf-asmic~ may not be s,,mciontly safe for children to walk or bike to school. Ensuring that these routes have continuous bicycle paths 3~0690 REDWOOD ,~DDLE SCHOOL I'RA~SPORTAT/ON STUDY Pag~ 17 Wl~UR .sMm, f .i~SOCIATES ,.~'fO~L TRAN~ORTA17ON ~ and sidew,~!k-~ b~veen fl~ school and adjacent resid~nlial ndghborhooda and acV. taI~ pedestrian but~us and cm~e,,.., guarcLs would make traveling by foot or bicycle a mom f~asible mode of traveling to and from school. F'mally if all these fail: · Utilize end of, tllendale Avenue aspick-uppoint during the afternoon dismiasaI only - In addition to reducing congestion on Fru/tvale Avenue, thin would be convenient for drivers who want W ~ left onto Fmityalc Avenue, since ali other edt points renu/re vch/clcs to mm ri~at onto Fnfirvalc Avenue. 7,2 Recommendations to the Circulation Plan The following clements of the proposed cL~ulafion plan aze still und~ study by the District anct the City. A brief discussion of some of thc advantages and disadvantages perr:~i,ing to ~ ~ is gmsented b e. low:. e Access to Allendale Avenue: Ret~,i,~i%a the access fr~m thc northern lot to Allendale Avenue would provide an addi~/ona] outlct and would allow vehicles to exit the lot more quickly, and therefore more vehicles could queue within the lot. This would work best durir~g thc AM peak period. However, during the more critical afl.noon period, thc ra~ at which children can find and g~ in their respective vehicles is the limiting Pactm. It would be difiqcult for them to locate a par~ on the far side of the lo! intenaing ~o exk onto Allcndale. Therefore it is not anticipated that providiag an ogres poLut onto Allendalc would reduce any off-site queuing. It may provide an incentive for some paxcnts to usc thc northc:n teL.- however, given thc cxistin~ utilizalion of the three lots, ii does not appear to be attracling a majority, of the vehicles. Therefore, most parents who ar~ cilht-r dropping or picking up students would not usc it. It would primarily be a convenience for those who park in the lot who could then exit onto .Mlendale. To that cxten: it would reduce U-tums on Fruiwalc Avenue. It does not appear to cause any safety contras onto Allendale. One-way outbound flow from the Cottage Lot Drb, eway -The proposed site plan indicates a one-way outbound flow on the driveway f~n the Cottage lot and thc back teachers' lot. Providing one-way outbound access to Fruiwalc Avenue from the Couage lot and a one-way access to Cotlage lot from main lot is not recor~mended. AlthonEh thin circulation patt~-n would allow teachers to turn left from Fruitvalc Avenue into the s/re, it would require all teachers to cir~ulal: through the ,,,~n lot to enter the Cottage lot and teacher parking spaces. Consequently, teacher traffic would add to the congest/on in the main lot and cause ,mn~cessary delay to teachers as well as drivers dropping off children in thc morning. Teachers arriving at thc school during the peak 15minute period would experience u,~n~.es.sary delay; their access should remain separate from thc congested drop-offlots, if possible. Teachers faced with thc tho/cc of congestion or being late would be tempted to u~c the Cottage Lot driveway as inbound regardless of how k is stripe& Second, the outbound moyement is thc one aff¢c:ed by the proximity to Montauk Drive, so' retaining the outbound flow docs not improve the siv,ntion caused by the prox/m/ty of the driveway to Montauk Drive. Finnily, delivery vch/cles would ncexl to circulate through the ma/n parkiag lot, mak/ng two 90-dc~e¢ tums and two 180-degree roms. D~pcacling on 340~90 ~.~)WOOD MIDOL~ .SCHOOL I"RAN~PO~AT/ON STUDY Pm~e 18 WILBUR .gdllTt A.~5OCTAI'E~ size of the delivery vehicles, it ,~3uld be aflvisabl¢ to allow them t~ enter thc Couage driveway cvcn if passenger ca~ ~ instructed to circulate thron.ah the nmM pageh~.a lot. Alternatives to fl~i, circulation sC. hem~ are cvalual~d below. · ~wo-wav: C, iv~n thc rdativdy light ~-affic volumes m~cicilmm8 ~t thi~ d.riv~, a twO- way configuration appca~ fea~'ble. The low ~a.~5c volumes using this driveway should not int~r~ with tim traffic cat, ring aml ~xiting · One-w'av inbound: Ifpwximity of~h~ &/veway to Mcrr,~k Drive is a concern, making the driveway into the Cottage 1o~ one-way inbound could smclioram th/s. Th/s would relocate outbound vehicles ~ from Monw, ae Drive, by provla~ a one-way access to the main lot from the Cottage lot. Th~ confi_rm-~on would allow teachers to enter the ~:achcr par]d~ sp~:~ on the south skie of the school withom zn~,~ with drop-o~ u-a~c and would f'u~er remove any l~eZnial confllc~ of u-aflic exiting ~he site wiIh ~r~mc mining fight a~ Moma~ Drive. Concer~ wi~ ~ ~on are tlnt paz~m could enter thc Corem lot from Fmix'vale Avenue ami exit fzom the m,;,~ lo~, cirrumve-t~g the two official drop-offlots. Ifthi.~ occurs, the prohibi~ecl use oft, he Io~ by parents would need t~ be enforced. This enforc~em could be provided wkh volun~ec~ or by closing thc connection with a gain prior to dismisml. Also, with a one- way inbound configuration, otubound delivery ve26cles w~mld need to circulam throuEh ~hc cor~age lot parking lot, making rrm 90-degr~ Um~ Depending on ~he size of the delivery vehicles, it world be advisable to allow d~em to c~r the Collage ckiveway even: ifp~sseng~r ou~ouncl c~s ~re insrruc~ecl to exk tJ~ro~ the main parking lot. Seconclzry queuin~ lanes az~ nm recommended. Akho-~ these laa~ would provi~ more space for vehicles ~o qucu~ and wai~ for children in thc afternoon, driver behavior suggests that ga¢ lanes doscsr to the school would not be effectively utilized because drivers would feel "trappcd" by the vehicles queued in the lane nearest lh~ circulation lane. 3.10690 RL~DWOOD MIDDLE .Sl~fO0~ ?RANSJI~ORTATION ,TTUDY WI~UR .IMITH ,~.~0C14~ APR 21 '99 B4:21PM WSR SR~ FRRHCISCO 415 436 9EG7 P.i SARATOGA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION STUDY FINAL REPORT Prepared for Saratoga Union School District WILBUR SMITH ASSOCIATES Aprfl'21, 1999 APR ~l ~99 ~:21PM WSA SAM F~ISCO 415 43G ~$~ ~ ~ TA_BLE OF CONTENTS, 1 Prolect Description ............................................................... ~ ......................................... 2 Softing ................. 2. ! Study Area ~ad~ys ........................................................................... . ........... F.3dsfing Conditions ......................................................................................................... 3.1 Queuing Conditions ............................................... : ......................................... 3.1.! AM Peak Period ................................................................................... 3.1.2 PM Peak P~r/od. ................................................................................... 3.2 Traffi~ Circulation Conditions ............................. : ........................................... 3.3 P=destr/an and Bicycle Conditions .................................................................. 3.4 Parld~5 ............................................................................................................. 4 Future Conditions ........................................................................................................... 4.1 Queuing Conditions .......................................................................................... 4.1.1 AM Peak Period ................................................................................... 4.1.2 PM Peak Period ..................................................................................... 4.1.3 ]/nroLlmcnt Cap of 450 Students .......................................................... 4.2 Pedestrian and Bicycle Conditions .................................................................. 4.3 Parkin$ ............................................................................................................. 5 Recommended Improvement Measures ............................................................. : ......... 2 2 2 2 3 6 6 7 12 12 12 14 figures Existing An-ivals & Depant~s: On-site Loaclinll Zone- Afternoon Period ................ Projected Arrivals & Dcpartur:s: Oak Slz~et - Afternoon Period ................................. Projected AlSv.is & Departures: On-sit~ Loadin§ Zone - A~ernoon Period. .............. Recommended Improvement Measures .......................................................................... 10 11 17 Tables 1 Curr~nt Morning Pass~,ngcr Unloading Zone Utilization ............................................... 2 Current Afternoon Pass~nB~ Loading Zone U, iliTation ................................................ 3 Future Increase in Morning Passenger Unloading Zone Demand .................................. 4 Future ~on Passenger Loading Zon~ Demand ...................................................... 3 4 8 9 $40760 ,,,~,~RATOGA EI,,,E~ENTAI~Y SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION STUDY WILBUR ,SMITH ASSOCIATES SARATOGA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION STUDY This z~po~ evaJmues the proposed circulation plan m~d site plan of Saratoga Elementary School that is planned as part of thc cx~a~on of the school.' This documen~ is intended to supplement previous study ofth~ school's tnu~ortation issues conducted by Wilbur Smith Associates (May 1998) and LSA Associates (January 1999), and to identify any potential improvements to thc site beyond those presented to thc City of Saratoga in October, 1998. Specifically, this evaluation addr~ses the extent to which the plan meets the following objectives: . Provide safe passenger loading/unloaci~ areas; · Prevent queues from spilling over into travel lanes; · ImPrOve traffic flow without compromising safety conditions Lu the area; and · Rernovc school-related parldng from the adjacen~ streets. 1. PROJECT DESCRIPTION Thc school site is located in a ~sidential arcs at 14592 Oak Street nca~ Komi,~a Avenue, less than five miles southwest of Highway 85 in ',.he CiP/of Saratoga~ The school is for stndents in kindergar~n through fifth grade and currently consists of a main building, three addiQonal classroom buildings, seven modular classruoms, a play area, and a parking lot. For the purpose of this report, Oak Street is considered to be oriented in the north-south direction. The proposed project includes thc expansion of thc existing school facilities to accommodate the projected increase from 420 students to 500 stu 'd~.uts by the year 2007/2008. Thc expected 19 percent increase in student enrollmcnt would also incrcssc ~hc school staff at Saratoga Elementary School from 34.75 full-time equivalent positions to 43.85 fuil-Qme ~uivalent staff mc~bers. In addition to new buildings, modernization of remaining buildings, additional parking, correction of drainagc problems, and a larger play area, the following circulation improvcmen~s would be made to accommodatc the anticipated increase in auiomobile tr~_~c a~ the site: · CreaQon of a counter-clockwise on-site circulation pattern; · Development ofmor~ on-site passenger loading/unloading capacity; · The r~locaQon of the school driveways increases the total school frontage available for an Oak SCree~ curbside passenger loading/unloading zone from its curt-tnt length of 300 feet to 400 fee~; · Better utilization of Oak Sl~'t a~ ~. passenger loading/un]oadin~ zone, i.e. by designating specific loadin~ areas with student ~afety paU~l or volunteer a~ each onc; · Develolnnen~ of a "Suggested l~ut~ to Schoor' ?Isn for the school, and disu'ibute the Plan to studcff~s and parents; and .~ARATOGA E/,.E,~ENTA~¥ SCHOOL TR~I$1'ORTATION STUDY WILBUR SMffH A,~OCIATE~ · 99 ~4:2:~PM i, lS~_.SP, I,I FRanCISCO 415 43~ 5'3S7 · ALTRANS would initiate a bussing program in the District. The program would begin with two buses, which would serve up to three routes each. 2. SETTING 2,1 Study Area Roadways The school site is bounded by Oak Street:to the west azui IQ3miaa Avenue to thc south. Oak Street has one travel lane in each ~tcction, and on-street parking on thc west side of the street. There is a passenger loading/unloading zone with white curb and signs reading "Passenger Loading Zone 8AM - 3PM" on thc cast side of the street, immediately in fiont of thc school Oak Street has sidewalks immediately in front of ~hc school and immediately across from the school, but no sidewalks ere provided .on Oak Street south of Komlns Avenue and sidewstl~, are discontinuous north of the school. The only vehicular acce~ onto the site is provided from Oak Street. Pedestrian access into the school site is provided from Oak Street and limited pedeaklan access, primerily for kindergartners, is provided from Komina Avenue. Komina Avenue is a narrow strc~ approximeteb, 25 £cct in width, with a passenger loading/unloading zone approximately 150 feet in length on the north side and on-street perldng on the south side of the street immediately in front of residences. I/:omina Avenue does not have sidewalks on either side of the strut. 3. EXISTING CONDITIONS 3.1 Queuing Conditions In order to evaluate the impact of queues on tr~c circulation on adjacent streets, two different kinds of capacity must be considor~d. First,. thcrc is the storage capacity, or thc number of vehicles that can be stored out of the ~ravel lanes of adjacent sUeets. Secondly, the se~wice capack7 mus~ also be considered. Service capacity is defiued as thc numbcr of vehicles that can be scrvcd at onc t/mc, or thc number of vehicle~ tha~ can be loadin~unloadlns paten&ers a~ ane t/mc. If the l~ovision of storage capacity b dctcrmin~ es thc prlori~/, the result may be queues of vehicles that arc sustained over a longer duration of rime, with mi~nized spfllover onu) adjacent $~reets. However, if and when spillovcr did occur, it would also be sustained for a longer period of time. On the other hand, if the sen, icc capacity is pri~ queues may bc more l/kely to spillovcr onto adjace~ s~ree~, hut the duration of these queues would be sustained for a shorter period of time. Serv/ce capacity is limited by the rate at which vehicles enter ',he service area. If an insufficient number of vehicles are available to cntcr thc. scrvicc m~a at thc same t/mc, the loacting/unloading zone will not operate at maximum c/Scicncy, There are currently three pesse~er loading/unioad/ng areas serv/ns the .qaratoga Elementary School. The 300-foot wh/~e curb space on Oak Strcc~ in front of the school could accommoda~ up to 1 $ vehicles simultaneously, but students and parent volunteers ere only provided for approx/mately four vehicles wiflfin thc zone. Some of the other vehicles enf~-ing ~his zone behind thc fir~ four veh/cles drop-off and pick-up their children without assistance, which increases the acres[ service capacity to approx~ly five vehicles. The 150-foot whi~e curb ~107~0 SARATOGA ELEMENTARY SCHOOl, TP, ANSFORTATION STUDY ~e 2 APR 21 '99 84:23PM WSA SAN FRANCISCO space on Komina Avenue can accommodate up to seven vehicles simultaneously. Although it is designated for use by kindergarten classes only, it is b~ins used unofficially by drivers of children of oth~r grades as well. Finally, the on-site passenger loadinG/unloading lane that circumscribes the on-site parking lot can aceommoda~ two vehicles loading/unloading simultaneously and ten vekiclcs in a qu~¢ behind these vehicles. In addition, drivers were observed to drop-off children on-site in the parking area (La., not at th~ officially designated unloading spaces). The combined use of the designated passenger loading~oadi~ spaces and the parking lot provide an actual service capacity of four vehicles, lnclu__divs_thc Oak Street passenger loadins/unloading zone, there is a defacto service capacity of. nine yehiclcsl''x 3.1.1 AM Peak Period - The morning peak period was observed on Thursday, March 25th, between ?:30AM and 9:00AM. During the morning period, drivcrs drop off`children relatively quickly and efficiently. Thc student and adult volunteer guides i~?,atly improve the efficiency of the process by directing drives to pull as far forward as possible baron: lllllO~d!n~ chile[roil 31~ by openins vehicle doors to help students exit vehicles. The m-ximum "processing rate," or rate at which vehicles tmloaded children was observed on Oak Street tn be approximately ten seconds per vehicle for four unloading spaces. Qucucs bcyond thc capacity of ~ combined curb space and on-site queuins lane were observed for a short period of time during the morning, between 8:20AM and 8:30AM. Vehicles waiting to pull into the Oak Street drop-off zone queued on northbound Oak Street south of the intersection with Komina Avenue and around the comer on wcstbotllld Komina Avenue itself. Vehicles entering the on-site parldng area (via left-roms) to unload students queued on southbound Oak Stre~ Table 1 indicates thc nurnb~r of vchicles observed using each drop-off area. ~ TABLE 1 CL~d~ENT MORNING PASSENGER I. rNLOADING ZONE UTILIZATION Drop-offArea On-,ire Drop- i Teachers Oak Street[ Komlna off LaueI. Parking Lot CurbI Avenue CUrb Total 8:00AM Start (kindergarten) 6] 2 15 ? 30 :-8:30AM Start 62 [ 35 108 27 232 Vehicles 68 ... 37 123 , 34 262 Total Vehicles 26% . 14% 4'7% 13% 100% 3.1.2 PM Peak Period - The afternoon peak period was obs~vcd on Thursday, March 25th, between 2:00PM and 4:00PM. During thz afternoon, vehicles queued on Komina Avenue a~d in both dixe~ions on Oak Street to pick up childrea. Approaching the school from the south, vehicles queued on westbound Komina Avenue and northbound Oak Street alten~sti-g entranc~ into thc queue at the Oak Street loading/unloadin8 zone as space becomes available. Queues of vehicles waiting '~o enter thc on-site passenger loading/unloading lane were obs~,red on southbound Oak Street SARATOGA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION STUDY WILBUR SMITH ASSOCIATES I~:ge 3 ~: 24PM i,,IS~ S~ FR.,~C:ISC0 415 4:B~ 9337 Figure- 1 indicates the cumulative arrivals ~_-_4 departures of vehicles using the on-site circulation area, both the official loa~i-_o/unloading lane and the part/ag area. Thc vertical distance between the arrival and depart~ curves indicate the number of vehicles queued on the si~e at five-minute increments. Note that the peak queue was observed inunc~l/~tdy after dismissal at 3:05 PM, when 17 vehicles were on t[~ school site wa/t/ag for children. On~ can dglermi-o the existing proces-~-~ rote by the slope of the departure curve. At 3:05 PM, only 43 vehicles had left *,he passenger loading zone, but by 3:10 PM, 63 vehicles had left thc site; this indicates that 20 vehicles left the site in five min'~es. With two official loading spaces in the passcniicr loading lanc and two defacto loading spaces operath, E in the parking lot, this yields an maximum processing rate of 15 seconds per vchir, lc for four loading spaces. Queues were also observed on a Wednesday, which is essentially a worst-case scenario because grades 1-5 are dismissed simultaneously at 2:10PM. The peak queue lengths occurred at 2:10PM ju~ prior to dismissal. All queues were obscrvecl to be completely dispersed by 2:20PM. Table 2 indicates thc number of vehicles curvmtly using each passenger loading arcs in thc afternoon. TABT J~, 2 CURRENT AFTERNOON PASSENGER LOADING ZONE UT!T___,TZ&TION ......... Pick-up Area On-site Komina Drop-off Teachers Oak Street Avenue Total Lane . Parking lot Curb Curb 2:20AM Dismissal 15 15 32 10 72 3:00PM Dismissal 30 29 55 11 125 Toud Number of Vehicles 45 44 87 21 197 percentage of To,al Vehicles 24.0% 23.2% 44.0% 8.8% 100.0% 3.2 Traffic Circulation Conditions Vehicles traveling to and from the school si~e in the mornings and a.-'temoo,,~ approacit the school on variou~ routes. Some vehicles turn onto Oak Street from Saratoga-Los Oatos Road, of which the majority queue to turn left into the on-site oSculation area. Vehicles g~at wish to us~ the Oak Str=ct passcntcr loadin//tmloadin§ zon= either come from other pans of the neighbor, hood, lxu-n onto Aloha Avenue from Seratoga-Los CraWs P, oad, then travel on Komina Avenue before mining right onto Oak Street, or turn left onto Oak Street from Sixth Street. The intersection of Aloha Avenue and Saratoga-Los C-atos Road is currently undesirable as a school- access-egress mute, primarily dtm to inadextuate sight distance. Any additional school-relat~ tra~c at this inl~rsection is not ~ucouraged due to the substandard conditions. $,a2A~'OGA ELEMENTAllY SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION STUDY WILBUit .V~J'I*H A.~SOCIATE~ APR 21 ~99 ~:~SPM L~ ~ FR~NCi$CO 415 [ I I'Yd 0~:~ YYd gL :~ Wd O l ;~ o Pld 00:~ repILlgA :Fo 3gq'"nN eA!iglnLun::) RFR 2.1. ,cjcj (~4:F_.SF/'~ LdS~ SRN F'R~¥~CISCG 415 4~.6 ~.~7 r-.: The block of Oak Street north of Komlna Avenue immediatd¥ in frons of the school is 34.5 fcct wide. Oak Strcct narrows to only 30 feet wide essentially opposite the relocated enirance and exit driveway's, for approximal~ly 150 fcct south of Third Street. Oak Street has one uavel lane in each direction and unrestricted parking is pezmi~l on the wes~ side of the str~. Thc cast side of the street, adjacenI to the school, is used as a passenl~cr loadin~/unloadin~ zone. For most of the school frontage, there is no centerlinc; however thez~ is a double yellow line extendin~ north from the intersection with I~ornha Av~nu~ for appw~rnately $3 feet. The double ]yellow line is not located in the canto'; it is approximalely 14.75 ~ fi'om the face of curb on th~ east side of the strict The location of the .,~-iping creams a 14.75-foot wide nozthbound and a 19.75 foot-wide southbound lane width. It appears to have been striped to facilitate southbound traffic approaching the intersection of Komina rather than to facilitate traffic circulation for thc school The eiTects et'the o~-center stripe seem to be feh further north after the stripe has terminated. Bxisting traffic circulalion in the vicinit7 of the school is constrained by the queues for passenger loading/unloading zones cncraaching on the Izavel lanes. This is true for both northbound u-affic affected by cars queuing at the curbsidc for st~k'nt loadin~/unloading, and for southbound lzaffic delayccl by cars queuing to mm left into thc onsitc circulation ~ 3.3 Pedestrian and Bicycle Conditions Currently, thc school has a sidewalk immediaIely in front of the school on the east side of Oak Street: and immediately across from the school on thc w~st sidc of Oak Street. However, south of Komina Avenue, sidewalks are non-existenT or discontinuous on both thc cast and west sides of thc su'~ct No sidewalka ar~ pwvided on either thc north or south side of Komi,~s Avenue. The lack of sidewalks and bike paths~anes make the site di~cul~ ~o safely' acccss from other areas of the neighborhood as a pedestrian or bicyclist. 3.4 Parking There am 25 on-site parkin~ spaces for both staff=and teachers. There are currently. 34.75 existing full-time cquivalents (FTB). This is a ratio of 0.72 spaces per I;'r~, which is abouz half of the Sta~e Depazlznent of Bducafion Satldellnes for the construction of n~,v schools, which recommends 1.$ spaces per FTB. The existin~ site plan does not desi~at¢ any of its 25 spaces as visitor parking. The visitor parking is currently accomrnoda~ed on the street; if Oak Stre~ fills with longer-term staff parking, then visitors must park further.away. 4, FUTURE CONDITIONS The following analysis assumes a Saratoga Elementary School enrollment of 500 students. In order to provide perspect/ve on the relationship between enrollment size and the traffic generated 'by the school, the impact of cappint the enrollmen~ at 450 students is addressed in section ~. 1.3. 4.1 Queuing Conditions The proposcd s~te plan would provide two passentler loadin$/unloading a~eas to scrw thc SaratoSa Elementary School. The relocation of thc school driveways increases the total school · frontage available for thc Oak Street cuzbside passenger loading/unloading zone over cxisting c. ondidons by approximately 100 feet.. Thc proposed plan indicates that the Oak Street .SARATOGA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION STUDY W~LBU/~ SMJTH losdl-g/unloading zone should have five designated loading spaces with volunteers or student safety palrol provided at eaah space. It is now recommended that the whita curb spaoe on Oak Street in front o£ the school be marked with up to eight designated loading spaces; the remaining 14 of these 20 spaces would be used for qu~-uing. For this to work most efficiently, these eiglu designated spaces would need to be utilized simultaneously, similar to the procedure for the existing conditions. Specifically, the student or adult volunteer aides direct a block of eight cars to pull into the eight spaces, thcy then discharge their passengcrs simultaneously. Then the voJu~ecrs direct the nex~ eight cars, who have queued . behind ~hc loading arcs, to pull into the eight desi~,~ted spaces. EnsUdn.a that vehicles ere queued before entering the passenger loadin~/unloading zone allows all of the vehicles to be served simultaneously, which prevents randomly .arriving vehicles from preventing the most efficient use of the 400-foot passenger loading/unloading and que-{~i zone. This applies the first-in-first-out (I~[FO) operation to a Mock of vehicles rather than single vehicles both in the afternoon period as well as thc morning. The on-alu: passenger loading/unloading lane that would accommodate'six vehicles loading/unloading simultaneously should operate the same way; two vehicles can queue omite, and the remainder would queue as vehicles waiting to turn left or in the red zone on Oak Street. Thus, with thc recommended change to the Oak Street passenger loading/unloading zone, the proposed site plan would provide a combined storage capacity fur 28 vehicle~ and a combined service capacity for 14 vehicles. Thus, although the storage capacity of the proposed site plan would bc only one vehicle (four pcrcent) greater than th~ ctu~e~fly provided on Oak Street and on-site, the total site service capacity would be increased by five vehicles (a 56 percent increase). 4.1.1 AM Peak Per{od - During the morning, parents can drop-off thcir children and then immediately lcavc, so vehicles have a relatively short duration in the drop-off, zones. Vehicles entering the passenger unloading zones in the morning opm'arc much more efficiently, generally following thc FIFO opcramion. Also, it appears that parenu are more likely to drop-off their kids at school than pick them up from school, since the school start time more closely coincides with the time that parents are traveling to their workplaces. Therefore, there ar~ more Cars in the morning than/n thc afternoon period, but thc vehicles at the site in the morning can be processed at a faster rate. 4.1.1.1 ANI Peak Period Demand - It was assumed that the 19 percent increase in rtudents would create a 19 percent increase in the number of vchiclcs traveling to and from the site to drop off children. This is conside~d a worst-casc cstimate which the existing mode split; howevc, r, the proportion of s~dan~ taking the bus, carpooling, walking or bicycling could increase in the future. As shown in Table 3, the proposed 19 increase translates to au additional fii~y vehicles traveling to and from the site on a typical morning. ~d~.~TOG~ ~.L~MENT~RY SCHOOL ?R~NSPORTATION ~TUDY W~L. BUR SMITH ASSOC/ATES ,Sage 7 APR 21 '99 04:27PM WSR SP4N FRAHCISCO 415 436 9~-7 p. iP, FLFI'URE INCI~SE I~T MOlt'lNG PASSENGLK ~O~G DEM~ ~ D~p-off~ On-site D~off Oak Zone Curb ToUl Fu~ 8:00AM S~ l 1 25 36 Fu~ 8:30AM S~ 83 193 276 ir Fu~ To~ Nmb~ of Ve~oI~ -, 94 218 , 312 P~entage of To~ ~ Ve~eles 30%.. 70% 100% 4.1.1.2 ~ Peak Period Supply - The ~x~os~ site plan would l~ovide a 56 increase ~ 1o~ ~aces ~ ~ O~ S~ c~b spa~ ~d on-~te p~s~g~ ~oa~g zone. ~e ~posed ~ pl~ ~d e~ ~ ~e of ~ ~n Av~ c~b ~e ~ on-site pg~ lot for p~s~ger lo~ afl ~lo~g ~n~. ~cre~e ~ s~ce cap~i~ would ~ ~ci~ ~ acco~o~ ~e 1 ~ ve~cles ~sooiated ~ ~e ~pos~ e~s~sio~ ~e 13 p~t of v~cl~ ~n~y ~ing ~e Kom~ Avenue dm~off geN ~d ~e 14 p~t of v~cl~s b~ca~e of ~e hi~ d~d ~ o~ for ~e ~o~ p~od of ~m~ (five ~) ~me~a~ly before school be~s. How~g, beoa~e ~e pmc~s~g rate b gca~r ~dg ~e ~posed pl~ q~ ~ ~spg~ mom q~y. 4.1.2 PM Peak Period - Durln~ flae a.~cernoon, parenf~ wait for thet~ clfllflren ~o enter ~ vehicle, meaning the rate at which a child can be picked up is dependent on a child being ready to be picked up. Consequently drivers spend more time in ~e passenger loading zones than during the morning peak period. However, thc pick-up process at Saratoga Elementary School is fairly efficient. School ~ adult volunteers, and students help "match" students with the vehicles in thc queue and help students enter vehicles so ~ the process is as quick as possible. This program is assumed to continue in the future and will be necessary to manage umefie at the site as the student enrollmerlt increase~, 4.1.2.1 PM Peak Period Demand - It was assumed ~tt the 19 perccn~ increase in students would create a 19 percent increase in the nmnbcr of vehicles traveling to and from the site to pick-up children in the afternoon. This is considered a worst-case estimate which retains thc cx, isting mode split, however, the proportion of st'udenLs taking the bus, carpooling, walking or bicycling could increase in the futllre. As shown in Table 4, the proposed 19 percent increase translates to an additional 37 vehicles traveling to and from the site on a v/pical a/~moon for a total of 234 vehicle nips. ,~ARATOGA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ~PORTATiON STUDY Page, WILBUR SMITH A/.~O~ATES APR ~l '9~ J~4:28PM WSA SAM FRAMCiSCO 415 436 FUTURE AFTEIL~OON PASSENGER LOADING ZONE DEMAND D~p.offAr~ On.site Pick-up Oak Street Zone Curb Total Future 2:20PM Dismi~al 26 60 86 Future 3:00PM Dismissal 44 104 148 Future Total Number of Vehicles], 70 164 234 perc~tag~ of Total Vehicles[ 30% 70% 100% 4.1.2.2 PM Peek Period Supply - T~ proposed site plan would pravide s :56 percent increase in loading spac~ at th~ Oak $t~=t curb spac~ and on-site passenger loading zone. This ~6 percent increase would be suflici~ to eccommode~ the 19 percent hcrcase in vehiclcs associated with the proposed expansion, the ~i~e percent of vehicles that ar~ currently using thc Komina Avenue drop-off area, and the 23 percent of vehicles picking up children in the teachers parking lot. Figures 2 and 3 indicate the cumulative vehicle szrivals and departures at the Oak Street passenScr loadins zone and thc on-site parldng lot pa~cnser loading zone, respectively. Fibre 2 indicates a projected queue of 23 vehicles at the Oak Street passenger loadin~ zone at 3:00PM, indicating that approximately three vehicles would bc queued on the s~reet waiting to enter the zone, However, by 3:0~PM, only nine vehicles would be in the Oak Street pasecngcr loading zone with no vehicles queued on the street. Fisure 3 shows e projected qume of ten vehicles at the on-site parking lot/passenger loading zone at 3:00PM, indicating that two vehicles would be queued on Oak Street st that time. By 3:05PM, only three vehicles would remain in the on-site passenger loading area and no vehicles would be queued on the street. ,~ARATOGA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TRAIqSPORTATgON STUDY WILBUR SMITH ASSOCIATE~ Page RPR 21 '~ I~:~.BPR 1~ ~RR F-RRRC~$C0 415 4~6 ~7 P.~.Z. -' I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I r- I i I ! I ~0 I I I I I ~ ! I I I I I I I I I I I ~ f I ~ I ~ I r I I I I ! ~1~ I I I ! I I I ~ {--T ..... ~ .... ~ ..... r ..... , ..... T ..... f'-- -'  al~ I I I I - I I I I '~ ! I I I I I I  ~i~' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ~ I I I i ~ i i ~ ~ 'd~I , I I I I , , '~ L '~l,d I I I I I I ~ ~) I,~,~IN..~=__ I ~ , I t I .~1. ', ~. ~1' ' ' ' ' ' ' '- ! ..... .................. ... , , , ..... :, ..... ,r'-- Q ~ ,__,-~__~._e~ , , , , ~ = . ..... ~ ..... . .... ~--~---~.-~.~ ..... . ..... ~ .... ~ I I I I ! I ~ I I I ~ ' , , ,~ , , , , I I I I ~LI I I ..... ~ ..... T ..... r .... ~ .... r~- -~ ..... r--- I I I I I '~ I i I I I I h,~,TM I I i~ O. 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I I I I I I I I I I I ] I I :.. ..... ,..j _ _. i ~ I I t - .... ,__ ---J ...... i- ..... 1' ..... T ..... '1 ..... : I I I I I I ..... - ..... ..I ...... i ...... ,.., .....I. ..... 2 ..... _) ..... I I I I I I I 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 JelOlqiA Io aoqtunN ~.qmlnu.lno fid INd 0::: ~d 01,:: fid gO:~: ~d OB:r, 4.1.3 Enrollment talc.of 450 Studentn .- Limifil:lg enrolhllcnt to les8 tl~u that currently proposal would create fewer vehicles traveling ~x~ and from th~ site e~ch morning and afternoon pm'dod. Iff enrollment were capped at 450 studetm, this would be a seven percent increase in enrollment. Assuming lraffic is proportional to emollment, there would bca seven'percent increase in lra~c traveling to and from thc site each m~ning or au additional 19 vehicle trips for a toud of 281 morning vehicle trips. This would be 31 f~wer vchicles traveling to and from the site each morning than an enrollment of 500 students. Thc=: would also be a seven percent increase in traffic iraveling to and from the site e:lch afl:moon or 14 additional vehicles, for a total of 21I vehicle trips. This is 23 fewer vehicles th~,~ would bc at the site each afternoon with an enrollment orS00 students. 4.2 Pedestrian and Bicycle Con, dgtions The proposed site plan includc~ a pcdeslriau/bicycle path connection to Forrest Hills Drive that would largely serve students living on Format Hills Drive and Aloha Avenue. This path would make walkin~ and bicycling a more feasible mode for traveling to and from school The provision of passenger loading/unloading activit7 at this location is not advised, as it would require out-of-the-way travel for drivers, and would increase traffic in this part of the .neighborhood. Ther~ is no sidewalk on Komina Avenue. Thc street is narrow, 25 feet, the school property line is located only one foot from the edge of pavement, and thc Tcnnis Club's tennis courts on the nor, it side of the street are also located very close to the roadway. The narrow road and limited right-of-way combine to make the provision of sidewalks difficult within the existing right-o£- way. I! is recommended that parking be prohibited on the north side of Kor, i-s Avenue. With the prohibition of parking, it may be possible to consWact a narrow sidewalk using some school property, and up to one to two feet of roadway. 4.3 Paridng 1~c proposed sitc plan indicates that 4.3 pafldng spaces will be provided omitc. Thc parking demand is generated by both employees (i.e. teachers, teaches' aides, office stuff and :usrodians), who are reflected in the full-time equivalent (TTE) figures, and visitors/school volunteers, who are not reflected in the FTE figures. There is not ncccaaarUy a one-to-one :orrclation bcn~ecn FTB and r~quircd parking supply. Firs~ pot all sl~' work full timc, so a .FTE of 40 could mean 60 actual employees. However, this is offset by the fac: that there are :many para-time employees who do not work every day or who ar= not on the site at the same :.'ime everyday. For example, a morning teachers' aide is not al the school site at the same time as the afternoon custodian. It is also offset by employees who use alternative transportation to get to work (e.g. carpool, bus, bike or walk). However, an analysis of the work schedules of all d~e employees and their commute modes was beyond the scope of this study. ]'n addition to employee parking, schools also need visitor parking. This is for short-tara parking for those who am conducting business or crraruta and volunteer parking, e.g. parents who ,:omc to help ou: for one to several hours a day. The school staff cstimates that currently, there can be twenty to thirty visitors/voluntccrs onsite at once on a typical day. Since about 75 percent of thc students are within the local school attendancc boundary,' presumably many of th~sc l)arents live close enough to walk and some actually do walk. ~'ARATOGA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION STUDY Page 12 W~LIUR SA41TH A,~OCI~T~ To detem%ine th~ a~l peak parking demand, an hom-ly parki~ ~rvey of the site and vi~gW would be nece~ary. Given the dispersed nature of parking for Sa~oga Ele. ment~ry Sc~ol, field observ~io~ would be ,omewhat complex d~ to the d~cul~ of washing wh~ people come f~om who have parked off.sit~. This wa~ beyond the SCOl~ of ~ study. Fo~ la~ o£ my dat~ k will be ~sumed ~ ~0 pedant of t~ visito~/volun~er~ d~i~e and park to school. This means tha~ the twenW m tMny volunteers use 16 to 24 parking on-street parking spaces. One way to measure whether the proposed supply is an improvement over existing conditions is to compare thc ratio of parking supply to the number_ of employees. The number of employers projected for the fature enrollment of 500 studenis ia 43.7~ FTE. This results in a ratio of 0.98 spaces per FTE. The ratio of existing onsim parking ~o existing employees is 0.72. Thus the furore supply is more than the existing parking supply, both in absolum numbers, 43 spaces compared to 25 spaces, and in terms of parking spaces per employee. It is expected that the proposed supply of 43 spaces will not accommoda~ all employee and visitor parking. Some off.site accommodation of parking would continue to be needed. However,. since the proposed site plan has 18 more spaces than the current site plan, and only nine more FTE, it is estimated that fewer cars would be parkinl~ offsite than under existing conditions. Several alternatives have been raised to accommodate the excess pm'king demand. These ate evaluated below: 1. Parking a~ ~he Dls~ric~ Offices - The district office, located on Forrest Hill Drive, ia located within an easy flve-minute walk from Saratoga Elementary School. The supply and demand at this location was evaluated to dcter~i-e ii'this site could accommodate any of thc excess demand from Saratoi~a School. Cm'rcntly the site has 16 spaces for 14 employees. Again, a parking utilization study was not performed to determine the adequacy of thc I6 spaces for thc 14 employees. With the planned improvcment~ at this site, there will be 17 spaces for 20 employees. Providinl~ more onsite parking at the district office does not appear feasible without sacrificing some of the very mature trees onsite, including thc "Oldest trec in Saratoga." Thus, there will be fewer spaces per employee in the furore at the District site. In addition, thc District site will have a conference room, which will hold approximately 30 people. The parking for thc attendees of these meetings c,-~ot be accommodated onsite. In conclusion, there appears to be no opportunity to accommodate any of the Saratoga Elementary School parking demand at the District office site. 2. Parking on Forreat Hill Drive - Accommodadn~ excess parking demand on Forrest Hills Drive itself is theoretically feasible; staff could walk to the site via the planned pathway through the District offices site. However, this does not solve the off.site parking issue, it merely moves it from one street to another. Given that the future off-site parking. demand should be less than existing conditions, thus lessening thc impact on the streets currently used for off.site parldn~ there is no reason to shift any impacts to other streets. 3. Offsite Leasing for StaffParktng - Leasing parking spaces from other organizahons is another option to accommodate excess parking demand. This could be explored as an ,SAP-,ATOGA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 'TRANSPORTATION STUDY WILBUR $1~dTH Page 13 '59 O~:31PM WSA SAm FRF-~CiSCO 415 456 F-. ii_ alternative to or in addition w the use of on-street parkin& However, as stated previously, thc on-strcet parking dcmend is c:~ated to be less than under existing conditions. 4. On-~treet Parking - The most fi~ible way to accommodate the.excess parJdng demand is thc usc of thc adjacent strei~.s. Oak S~reet opposite the school can accommodate 21 cars. Typically, closer par~i-~ is desisnated as visitor parkin; and longer term padci~ is provided further away. To make the spaces on Oak Street opposite the school available for visitors, these spaces can be posu;d with time J;m;ts, e.g. Two Hour Parking from 8:00 AM to 3:00 ?M. Thus staff or other users who would otherwise park all-day would park one block fur~er away. This designation of the closest on-Yo'cet park/~S as essentially vis/mr park/ng also reduces the d/stance they have to walk maid,g it less likely thav they will pack /n the staffpar2dng areas.. This d/spcrses the on-succt ali-day par~,~2 on several meets, and iv also reduces thc impact on the fronting properties opposite the school. Alternatively, some of the onsite spaces could be designated as ~hor park/nS. However a balance needs m be maintained between providing visitor spaces and maximizing thc number of cars accommodated onsite. In other words, if too many spaces are designa~. visitor spaces, then some pa.H~.~ stalls would remain eml:~y mB/ch would negate the purpose of providing onsite parking. T~I and Ch'Or maybe needed to detcrm;nc how bcs~ to allocate the 43 spaces so that they are fully used. If employees can fully occupy these spaces, then it is recommended that visitor parki,g be accommodated on Oak Slreet via 2 hour parking {;mi~s, and excess long-term park/ng can be accommoda/zd on other blocks. 5. RECOMMENDED IMPROVEMENT MEASURES Yh~ section recommends imlm'ovement measures to manage' thc expected increase ~n ~c at · the school si~e so as m min/mize impac~ of queues on adjacen~ streets and r~ni,nize parking /rnpacts. Thc proposed site plan would have a greater service capacity to load/unload thc increased number of student~. However, thc proposed improvements would further minimize the :impact of the additional traffic at the sir~, The recommended improvements tb the roadway :~frasu'~cturc a~c illustrated in Figure 4. The recommended improvement measures are listed '~elow: 1. Widen Oak Strect by 2.5 fcet on the east side (adjacen~ to the school) to be 37 feet in width for as much of the school frontage as possible (avoidin~ mature trees) between Komina Avenue and the School driveway. Iv appears that this would bc possible for a length of abouv 400 feet beginning approximately 60 feet south of the school driveway and ending about 25 feet north of Komi~s Avenue. This 3?-foot cress-section would provide a standard sized eight-foot curbside passenger loading zone and an 11-foot travel lane which would enable through vehicles to pass loading vehicles without crossing the ccntcrlinc as occurs under existin~ conditions. Widening thc street th~ full width of a parking lane, eight feet, would impinge upon the open space in front of the school and would result in unncccssarily wide uavel lanes, encouraging travel speeds greater than desirable in a school zone. 2. A center linc should be striped on Oak Street as double yellow line for the full length of the block between Komina Avenue and Third Street. Between Knmina Avenue and the School driveway, the centerline should be positioned such that thcr= is 1 $ fcct in the SARATOGA ~.EMENT.~Y SCHOOL T~ANSPORTAT~ON ~UDY Page WILBUR $/~[H,~OOATE~ ~:~R 21 '99 ~:3~.PM WSA SAM FRRMCISCO 415 ~ southbound direction and 19 fc~ in northbound di~ction. This assumes the 2.5-foot widening of Oak Street hi front of the school recommended above. Betwe~ the school driveway and Third Stre~ where the cross-section is only 30 fe~, fl~ c~nterline should bc positioncd such that ther~ is 18 feet hi the southbound direction and 12 f~,~ in northbound dir=ction. (See item//4 below). . 3. Paint th~ 60 feet of curb ber, veen ~ end ofth~ Oak Street passenger loadin//unlo_~ai,,5 zone and the euu'auce to the on-site parking lot red and post "lqo Swppi,,~' signs to ~ con/lic~ bei',veen vehicles entering thc on-site loadin//unloadin8 zone and the vehicles exiting the Oak Street passenger loadin//unloadi~ zone. 4. Encourag~ the City o£Saratoga to restrict parking bct~veen $:00AM and 4:00PMon the west side of Oak Street for the approximately 150 feet where the sou~bound lane is narrow, immcdiaucly across from the ingress and egress to thc on-site parki,~g lot. If the centcrline were placed approxim~ly I2 feet away from the curb on the east sid~ of the streW, the width of approximately 18 feet in this area would be pwvidcd in the sotnhbound direction. A width of 15 feet would allow other vehicles to pass the vehicles queued to make a left mm into the site in the southbound direction at school start and dismissal timas. It is not recommended that a desiina~d left-turn lane be striped, so that on-s~et parking would be permitted on the w~mt side of the street whcn not needed for school-related circulation, i.e. after 4:00 PM. $. Restrict any passenger Ioadini/unloading on Komina Avenue. Post si?s that prohibit ps, eager loading/unloadini from this street and paint the curb red. 6. Parking Management Strate/ies should be implemented to manage any parking demand that ma), exceed the proposed on-site parldug supply. Most of the excess parkir~, 21 cars could be accornmodatecl on Oak Street opposite the school. To make the spaces on Oak S~rect opposite the school availablc for visitors, these spaces can be posed with time limits, e.g. Two Hour Parking from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM. 7. Create a Traffic & Circulation Mouitorin8 Committee consisting of relrresen~atives from SUSD, Saratoga Elementary School, the City of Saratoga, community reside, uts, and the Sheriff which could review issues such as ~affic control/pauerus, school size, carpoolin8, and bussin~ on a rekmlar basis. Finally, another_way to minimize queue spillover and traffic congestion at the school si~e is to encourage akemativu modes for parents and/or students. Pedestrians and bicyclists substautially reduce the traffic at thc site, which makes the school site safer and creates a more attractivz environment. A pcdesu-ian-fricndiy school campus perpetuates improved conditions because more students that walk to and from school, the more comfortable parents feel about lenin~ children walk and the more likely they are to let their children walk to and from school. Som~ m~ru~es that would minimize the number of atnomobilcs l~avcling to and fi~m the school include: 8. Coordinaie with thc City of Saratoga to provide continuous sidewalks on both ~ides of Oak Su~et b~-tween Saratoga-Los Gatos Road and Sixth Su~e~, and on the north side of Komina Ave. u~e between Aloha Avenue and Oak Street SARATOGA ELEM~NT, ARY SCHOOL TRANSPORTA?~ON STUDY WIL~JR SMITH ,A,~OC, IAT~: I:~R 21 '99 B4:~2PM WSA SP-~ FRAMC.TSCO 415 43~ ~-7 ~'~' a. Conduct a "Su~ge~sted Roums to School" Stay and Plan. Once the i,fra.m'~cum~ improvements are in place, create a "Sugg~t~ Rou~ to School" Plan, as mention~l in the Project Description, for students and their parenu that surest safe routes between the school and adjacent neighhorhood~. b. Mainmln pedestrian access l~'om Komina Avenue upon the provision of a sidewalk on the north side of Komh~n Avenue. Independent of any provision of & sick-walk on Komina Avenue, ~ should be posted indic~_~-~ ~ the area is a school zone; ~ will alert drivers in thc vicinity of the school and encourage alowcr tr, r~c. 9. Bus service would most drastic,,'~y reduce the munber of automobiles lraveli~g to and from the school site, with a single van or bus having the ability to replace the traffic created by ten to twenty automobiles. As noted in the Project Description, ALTRANS would begin with two buses which would serve up to three mut~s each. This service should I~ expanded when appropria~. 10.Bncoura§e paren~ to voltmtarily arrive earlier than the school start time and later than dismissal time. Such a measure would most easily work for fourth and fifth IFadars who could play in .the play area with minimal supervision. 11.Eacourage parent carIx~ols to reduce traffic at the site. Parents would need help in obt_,,ining a rider list for potential matches; RIDES for Bay Area Commuters could help provide such a service. 12.I~ncouraging teacher carpools would slightly reduce the amount oftraeSc atthe site, but would more not. iccably reduce thc long-term parking demand, which would leave more spaces available for visitors and volunteers. SARATOGA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TRAN~PORTAT/ON ,STUDY WILBUR SMITH ~0 ,! -i "C EZNFI~IT I\ I \m ~11.1 ~tO.a ~11,1 *,510. ,% I ~507.6 ,,,508. ~t507.1 SARATOGA SCHOOL T~- ~,ROTE'~TION SPECS. D. EU. IS 514199. 4.. [~asulUng Ar~ori~t & 14or~cgtturis! roofs close ;c fha soil surface. The majority-of roots are in the upper 12 inches cf contrary fa popular be!ief. When roofs mu~ be uncovered of so~ or severed, they rnu~ be re-cut cleanly and covered os soon as possible.. A clean cut face favors root regeneration near the cut . end. and ultimately more roof regeneration than a jagged or shaffered root. Covered roofs will retain more live tissue from their terminal ends inward fo ,'he ,'r, mk. so there w~ be less root loss if roots cra covered and kept moist. Communic~ing regularly with fha consulting arborist. The unexpected is the norm in construction, and free protection procedures may have fo be modified cs the project proceeds. Icm happy to work through problems or conflich with the contractor. M,/ goci is fo carry out free protection at the least cost and inconvenience fo the contractor, keeping the odginct goal in mind. I am here to assist in the free protec,~on process, ncr delay the project or increase your inconvenience or costs. If you skip any of the measures above and the free is still alive a week. a month or a year later, you may still have damaged the free greatly. Trees con off`an survive on stored food resewes, but as they use ,'hem up they are susceptible to affCck by normally passive disease organisms. They die later and no one ever makes the connection (except people [ika me]. If you racily want to put your money where your mouth is concerning free protection, follow these specifications and make no delays. I've heard every excuse in the book and I am cn expert of documentation and notification. Icm o reasonable pe.~on, but if you say you are going fo da something I expect you fc dc. if unless we discuss and agree fo ofhe.~vise. Have me cr one of my cssocicfes make regular free protection inspections af the site. Protection without inspection = no protection. Section B: PRIOR TO CONSTRUCTION: 1. Definition of Drimline: The area beneath the canopy of the free. The radius of which is the .hunk of the free to the outer spread of all of the branches all around the free. 2. A Pre-Construction meeting af the site shall be conducted with the Consulting Arborisf, the cons~uction manager, and the general contractor. The general contractor responsible to see that these free protection specifications are implemented and that c!! people work!rig ct the site ara aware and adhere fo these spec~F, caticns. A copy of these specifications is fo remain and be accessible cf the site at all times. Additional meetings on site with workers may be necessary and should be organized with the Consulting Arborisf. 3. Stoke out the sire so that the construction manager, contractor and Consulting A~crist con see where actual construction w~l be relative to free locations. Often there is discrepancy with the plans and adjustments will have to be made. 4. Videotape programs may be rented from D. Ellis that describe construction dam.~ge to frees, the nature of free roofs, trenching and funneling, and free protection in general. If is highly recommended that foremen on site view these tapes prior fo demo or cons,Yuction. Please contact O. Blis for details. 2 SARATO(DA SCHOOL TF~- - 'ROrECTION SP_cCS. ID. BJJS 5/4/,~. ~ Consultlng. Arborfst & Horticulturist Section E: ' ' This section is not paft of fha Specifica,~ons. but is intended to es,~mafe ,'he types of free damage that can be expected if these Tree Protectfon Specifications ~re followed CONSTRUCTION DAMAGE CLASSES IN ORDER OF DECREASING SEVERITY AND LIKELIHOOD ' Indicates that the following damage is likely fo occur during this project. *Class I ~ root system ~ damage {estimated loss of 25% of free A {2) of roots w/fig. 3 - 2 Tree Option Plan {4/2/99}. 30% free .=i{11}. Root loss for the remainder of the Eucalyptus cannot be estimated at this time. Class 2 Roof collar and basal roots damage Class 3 Mechanical damage fo stem cl bark disruption b} chemical or fire damage c) wood damage Soil surface problems a) 'erosion / water availability b) lifter loss / crusting cl 'compaction / fills / cuts dj temporary soil or material storage e} 'micro-climate changes Wind load changes Major branch base damage "Class 4 Class Class 'Note that Class 5 above affect edge or island trees where clearing or thinning has left trees prone fa windthrow. This is ,,'he only damage class not necessarily a result of direct mechanical or soil damage. Please note regarding trees: The measures noted within this report are designed fo assist in the protection and preservation of the trees mentioned in this report:, and to help in their shaft, and long term health and longevity. This is not however, a guarantee that any of these trees may not suddenly or eventually decline, fall, or die, for whatever reason. It is imposs~le to guarantee the safety of any tree. Because a significant portion of the roots are far beyond the dripiine of the tree. even frees that are well protected during construction often decline, fail or die. Because there may be hidden defects within the root system, trunk or branches of trees, it is possible that frees with no obvious defects can be subject to failure without warning. It is impossible to guarantee the safety of any tree. 7 c,, ,e - Deborah Ellis, ASC.,i ~"~ Consulting irtiortst & Hortlcult--'~'-~- ~uee m $. Be aware fhcf if these Tree Protection Specifications =re not followed, the Consu~nrr Arborist shall shut down the c-roiect. Tree Protec~on will be t~ken seriously! The Consulting Arbcdsf sh~ll be monitoring the site on a regular basis. A Tree Protection Inspection form is filled out by the Consulting A~orist at each site visit. A copy is sent fo the following: ,'he City contact, the construction manager,, the general contrccton and any other involved parties as deemed necessary. 6. The construction manager shall contact the Consulting Arborisf prior fo any demo or construction procedure within the dripline area. Try to do this at least c week prior to the event. 7. Trees shall be irrigated with a wafer jet two weeks prior fo demolition and construction. In addition, this will ciso provide some soil aeration. Irrigations may be necesscn/during cons,fl'uc,~on as we!l. Cepending upon soil moisture levels and free condition. - InsfrucScns far [~gction will be suppiied by the Consulting A~crist. 8. Tree Work: The Consulting Arbcrisf shall appoint a qualified free set/ice fo dc oil pruning and other, required free wcd~ deemed necessary. Pruning end other free wcr~4 shall be done accord!ng fo the most current International Society of Arboriculture Tree Pruning Ouideiines. the ANSi Z)33. ]-1994 Pruning, Trimming, Repairing, Maintaining, and Removing Trees, and Cuffing Brush Safety Requirements, and the ANSI A300-1995 Tree, Shrub, and Other Woody Plant M¢infenance Standard Practices 9. Pruning for clearance shcll be done cs necessary prior to'demolition and cons:,-ructicn fo prevent branch breakage during construction. The construction manager shall inform the Consulting Arborisf exactly how much clear=nco is required orally and by sfck!ng the site. The Consulting Arb,,orisf shall provide instructions and super,vision for any such pruning. Please fake info account any necessary margins required outside im.-rcvemenfs. 10. Strive fo restrict cfi construction activity including foot and equipment traffic, grading, trenching, building, landscaping, etc. outside the dripline of protected trees fo remain fo the greafes'f extent possible. I ]. Protective fencing and signage shall be erected at the dripline (for the 2 large EuccJypfus near the playing fie!dj, and as close fo this pcinf cs possible (for the 4 seJecfed Eucalyptus in the row of 8 Eucalyptus frees]. This will be maintained os the Tree Protection Zone. or TPZ. Protective fencing and flagging shall be installed- around each tree BEFORE any demolition, grading, or construction begins. If fencing is not up in the manner specified by the consulting Arborisf. the project shall be shut down. 12. Fencing shall be 6-fi. high. chain link. with posts sunk into the ground. If it is not possFole to sink posts into the ground {for example there is asphalt in this area), then fence posts con be installed on ftc, hues and not sunk into the ground. If the asphalt is removed however, then the flanged sections of fencing should be replaced and ;-he fence posts should be sunk into ,'he ground. 13. Bghf by 11-inch weatherproof signs shall be secured to fencing every 25-ff. Signs shall read: "Tree Protection Zone. Keep Out." Signs shall be visible and readable cf a distance of 25 feet. A sample sign is enclosed. 14. Apply and maintain protective mulch (3-4 inches of coarse wood chips) under free driplines. Keep mulch 12 inches away from the trunk and do not cover already- exposed buttress and surface roots. Mulch must be approved by the Consulting Arborfsf. Apply mulch after irrigation. 15. Note fhaf certain areas of excavation may necessitate the need fo move the fencing for temporary access, but ct no time shall the fencing be completely remov,-~d. After SA~ATCG-'. _eCHC©L T :P-OT.mCTION SPEC%, O. 5LL!S ~/4/99. ,~ Deborah E]lis, ASC~ Consulting Arbortst & ilortlcultudst access is finished, replace the fencing to ifs previous placement, or as close to this as possible. 16. Where construction w~! fake place under the canopy of the tree - wrap 3 layers of wire and loth snow fencing fo 8 feet above ground. This may be omiffed under direct supervision of the Consulting Art~ofist. Section C: DURING CONSTRUCTION: 6. 7. 8. 10. 11. 1. There shall be no vehicle traffic benecrfh the trees. There shall be c designated W=ffic route for vehicles oJ'aund the frees. This route shall be well beyond :'he d. Jipline of the frees and should be shown on the plans. Preferably there should be cn!y ,'wa ccns,,'ruc~cn access drives fo the site - one in. one out. The reason for this is to reduce soil compaction cr.aund e.~sting trees and in future landscape orc--~s. Exceptions to this will be the construction of the resfroom near the row of 8 Eucalyptus. the constr'~ction of ;-he fire lone and removal of the portable buildings. However. eve.,,/affempf should o ~e made to keep equipment on the outside cf the [mpro. vemenf Ire!clive fo the Wees). _. There shall be a designated storage area for equipment materials and vehicles, and this crec sh~ll not be within the ddpline of the frees. 3. The original grade within the tree drip,ne Cprior fo demo or construction) shall be preserved [An exception - foundation grading and excavation for resfl'oom within row cf 8 frees). Soil compaction (i.e. far fire ,¥,Jck IcneJ should be limited to 80% within free drfolines if possible. There shauid be no other sail compaction within the tree dr;plines, except far the reswoom foundation. Site grading should not direct drainage toward the trunk of the trees. Consolidate.utilities fo reduce the number of trenches or tunne!s required within tree ci,'ipiines. Planned excavations or any so~ cuts or fill must be done by hand within the dripiine of protected frees. Within tree driplines, trenching should be replaced by tunneling or boring whenever possible. Far elecWical, gas, telephone and cable'TV, and service drops for water and sewer, on clfemctive to open trenching may be tunneling. You may contact Deborah Ellis for more specific details on tunneling. In instances where trenching, cuts or fills MUST fake place within 5 feet of the dripline, pdcr fo Wenching cut roots cleanly 6 inches outside the trenching limit fo a depth of 12 inches. This will reduce shattering roots backward toward the tree beyond the point of impact. Use o VermeerTM, Dosco,~. or similar type of root cutting equipment approved by the Consulting Arbodst. Cut roots only os deep cs required by the planned excavation. If the use of such equipment is not possible, roots must be cut by hand within a hond-clug trench. The backhoe or similar soil equipment shall then remain outside the dripline. Excavated soil remains on the side of the french opposite the free. The sides of deep Wenches ore laid bock of on angle for stability. To reduce the width of the trench, the walls could be shored rather than sloe)ed. Pavement removal is best done by hand within tree dfi~lines. If this is not pass,role, keep the backhoe outside the dripJine and utilize a second worker to stop work and deal SARATOGA SCHOOL T'-':- 3ROTEt~'~C,N SPECS. D. EL',J2 5141e. ~. .' - with roots as ob, ave. Immediately afl'er pavement removal spread 4 inches oJ wood chi~ mulch in ~e removal ~'ec and keep this moist. 12. Re-c~ Cleanly d~m~ged fools I inch or grater in diameter as ~ey ~e encounf~ed. When encounterS, expose ~a roof by removing soil by hand, and cut the roof cleanly with a s~ at the outside of l~e ~ench {towcr~ the ~eeJ. Do not point the cut end. If exc~cffon is Jar instc:llcfion cf underground utilities, leave the ~ct intact and thread ~e lines underneath. Use g~ecffoncI Pruning whenever necessc~ - cuing a branch root or c downw~d growing root whoever pcssrDie. Cut at ~ 90~egree angle if possible fo keep cu~ small. Cut bock fo undamaged fi~ue. Avoid teeing or shcffe~ng roo~. Cut dcmag~ roofs wi~in half an hour of the impact. 13. Do not ¢~ roof~ ureter than 2 inphe~ in diameter- the consulting a~oHsf should inspec~ these p~or ~o continuing wo~. OR reroufe wo~< to avoid, ~nnel undem~fh oth~ise prese~e these roofs. 14. Roof cuing equipme~ you should have on s~e: A regul~ wood sow is nor acceptable. It is difficult fo maneuver in most rcof/soil situations and does not wc~ we!!. !nsfecd. use the sm~ller ~ee ppuning handsaws with cuwed blades, available garden and hardware suppli~. Handsaws should hove no less fhcn 9 teeth p~ inch. Suggested sizes ore 8, 12, and 164nch blades. For cuing roob larger than 3 inches in diameter, c chcinscw m~ be used. H~ve ~n ex~c chain on hand cs so~ dulls the chain quickly. Rec~pro sows ore use~l. Pipe cuffe~ or large p~ning Ioppe~ ore for cuing roofs 1 - 2 inches in diameter. L~rge p~ning Icppe~ are also good for roofs uc. fc i inch in diameter. You should also have c benching shovel and o hand ~owel fo dig cw~ sc~ ~om roots you must cut. All fools must be shc~[ ~ 5. Tree roof wounds such ~ scraping shall be core~lly sc~bed around the ~ges with c sham knife, t~king core to enlarge the wound cs liffJe cs possible. ~e Consulting Ar~odst shc!l do heBelf or provide supe~ision for ~is wo~. 16. Cover exposed roots ~s soon us po~ibie! Small roots con die in I0- 15 minutes offer unc=vedng. Larger roob c=n die in less ~cn an hour if fh~e is wind. Cover exposed roofs with moist thick sh:g c~ef cr 3 I~e~ of budcp tacked or o~e~ise secured info place fo prevent desiccation until clean soil backfill is replace. Use na~rcl budap, the synfheffc ~nd does not cbso~ wafer. The cc~et or budop should be placed over the roofs within half an hour of uncovering. Shag faces fha roob. ~e c=~ef or budc~ shall be kept moist until backfiil is replaced. This m~ require weffing wi~ a wafer ~ck or o~er wafer source up fo ev~ halhhour, depending upon the weafhen Alfemofe~, roofs may be cov~ed with moist soil and flogged. Whatever the case, exposed roob must be cov~ed ~nd kept moist until back~l soil is replaced. Backfill so~ must be good quc~i~/soil within ~e ddplines of frees. Siu~, concrete, gravel, stone, sand or ofh~ such m~fed~is ~e not allowed. 17. For vedic~! cub thd will ~e exposed more than a few days, cover exposed roofs by erecting pl~ood t inche~ beyond the cut roofs. ~e pl~ood shall be kept in place with stokes d~en into ~e ground on ~e side of pl~ood opposite the baa roofs. ~e space be~een the board and the roots is fo be filled wi~ mushroom compost or some ofh~ fc~ of mulch approved by ~e Consulting Arbofist. Keep the compost moist until soil is backfiil~ in place. ~is should be done as soon ~s possible after the roob ore encountered. 18. ~posed roofs 3 inche~ in diameter or larger fh~ will be underne~h paving or cons~cfion shc!l be circumferenficlly wrapped with 3 inch fiberglass insulation mo~ng. The matting shall be secured with duct tape ev~ 12 inches. SARATOC-A $CHC,OL T.~¢''--' 'ROT~,~.TICN SPECS. D. --'~.LI$ 5/4/P?. ~ Deborah l~ili$, ASC,~ ~"~ ' Consulting-lrUorfst & Hor'Uc*~lturi~ 19. ]'he dumping of cemenf fa~ngs, chemiccds; efc. wifhin ~y I~n~ccpe ar~ ~--'~ ~.-~ '- ~rohibif~. Plcnfcr a camenf w~shouf pif ~nd de, ignore bo~ ~ ~om ~ee ~nd I~n~c=pe ~. Ee~eling ~d m~infancnca ~ ~om ~e~ protection zones ~nd ~re I~n~c~pe ar~.. . . 20. Do not apply soil de~ianfs under p~emeM or on the so~ w~hin the ddp~ne of the ff~s fo be s~ed. 2]. Concrete should be pumped whenever poss~le, fo reduce ~uipmenf ~:ffic c~und ~ees. ~. M~edals and supplies for bee profe~on and roof c~ng sh~ll be an site BE~ORE ~ey ~re need~. BE PEEPAEEDf 23. Du~ shall be w~hed ~om bee foliage upon completion of ~e project. Do not use rec~im~ or well w~fer. 24. Pe~odic vis~s by the Consulting ~bofi~ w~i occur fo see ~cf ~ee Drofec~cn procedures =a being followed. ~e A~oHsf m~ need fo presc~be additional ccr~ measures ~ necass~. 25. Any concerns or confli~s w~h these specific~ons should be brought to ~e c~enticn of ~e Consulting A~ods? imme~feiy. Section D: AFTER CONSTRUCTION ]. Landscaping after construction should be compatible with the protected frees. Plea:se coordinate landscape planning, installation and maintenance with the Consulting A.,4c orisf. 2. Do not rofcff!l, raise or lower the grade wihhin the driplines of existing frees to be saved. All work within tree ddplines should be by hand, fo avoid dcmaging the roots of ;'he frees more than is absolutely necessary. 3. Prefercbi,/there should be no planting within the dripline area of the frees. This area is best dealt win by spreading an organic mulch 3 fo 4 inches thick over ne soil surf'ace. Over time, the tree's own natural leaf lifter should be collected and used as mulch. 4. De,=ling with roofs encounf~ed during landscaping shell be the same as previous.k/ discussed. 5. Care of the frees after construction and landscaping shall be prescn"oed by the Consulting Arb.,crisf. SARATOGA SCHOOL ~ROTC-C:TION SP_CCS. D. -=L'-'S Deborah Ellis, ASC._~ ENHANCED TREE PROTECTION SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE SIX EUCALYPTUS TREES -- TO BE RETAINED DURING CONSTRUCTION AT SARATOGA SCHOOL ©O. 81is ] 999 D~e: 5/4/99 Consulting A~borisf:. Deborah Blis Section A: GENERAL: (This first section is not pad of the Specifications. but is an explanatory secticn for the generai contractor and site cons,ruction manager to read. Tnis section explains the reasoning behind tree profecticn.J The goci of free protection is fo PREVENT damage to flees. Such damage may not be obvious or result in the decline or decrfh of frees unt~ years or sometimes i:lecades after the event. The main free protection tactics are: 1. Making sure the frees are well hydrated prior to demolition and/or cons~uction. We want the free strong and ~rgid in case it will experience root loss that wiil reduce its ability to absorb water.. 2. Fencing off as much of the drip,ne of the tree as possible and keeping people. equipment and materials Iincluding debris) outside of the fenced area. Idea!h/, we fence off the entire ddpline are,,:~. Use good fencing mate.rial (6-foot tall metal cyclone fence, not plastic ski fence or caution tape. Don't even think about asking me if you can substitute with the latter 2 materials, except for problem situations such cs steep slcpes, etc.) Goad fencing makes for easy tree protection and less money spent an tree protection and tree damage repairs in the long run. Running your backhoe underneath a tree's dripiine and then fencing and mulching this area has defeated the purpose. You must fence and mulch BEFORE any work is done within a tree protection area. 3. Mulching as much of the dripline' as poss~le. Mulch improves the tilthe of the upper soil and promotes the growth of fine roots that w~l absorb water and minerals for the tree. These new fine roots may replace some of the roots lost as a result of unavoidable construction activities. Mulch can also reduce soil compaction, which can kill small ' The area benecth the canopy of the tree. The radius of which is the trunk of the tree to the outer spread of oil of the branches oil around the tree, SARATOGA CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: May 22, 2001 ORIGINATING DEPT: City Manager PREPARED BY: AGENDA ITEM: CITY MANAGER: DEPT HEAD: ' SUBJECT: Saratoga Union School District - Matrix August 2000 RECOMMENDED ACTION: Informational only. REPORT SUMMARY: N/A FISCAL IMPACTS: N/A CONSEQUENCES OF NOT FOLLOWING RECOMMENDED ACTION: N/A ALTERNATIVE ACTION: N/A FOLLOW UP ACTION: N/A ADVERTISING, NOTICING AND PUBLIC CONTACT: N/A ATTACHMENTS: Attachment A - SUSD Matrix Saratoga' Un '" District 20460 Forrest Hills Drive · Sanztt~. Cah'Jbrnia 95070 Tel. 408.86 7.3424' · FAX 40&867.2~12.,."~s~k12.ca. us March 5, 2001 Dear Mayor Mehaffey and City Council Members, The Board reviewed the agreement between the City and the District at a Board meeting on February 13, 2001. This letter is t° update you on our continued study and work. As you know we are working closely with City Traffic Task Force to identify citywide solutions to school traffic problems. The District has contracted with Fehr and Peers to evaluate our new traffic flow, queuing and parking strategies at Redwood Middle and Saratoga Elementary Schbols. We expect them to provide a report with suggested improvements in the next month. We have contracted with a bus consulting firm to provide an implementation plan including routes and costs for a possible parent paid bussing program. Simultaneously, we are working with ALTRANS to increase carpooling. Depending on the results of a bussing program, we will study staggering start and stop times in order to disperse traffic. I have asked Fehr and Peers to advise us on a third drop-off and pick-up location at the end of Allendale. Since we are still completing the construction' of Saratoga School final signage and closing Komina Avenue to pick-up and drop-off will be done in Spring/Summer of 2001. We have completed the field at Saratoga School and have planted new oak, redwood and flowering pear, Hawthorne trees. I have enclosed a matrix with some updates and status changes. Sincerely, ~., Mary C_~rdrf~ Superintendent Enclosure City Agreement - June of 1999 'Matrix for Saratoga School - 2 Para- Date ~lraph Who Activity Status TRAFFIC (a) Aug. 2000 I District Eliminate student drop-off and pick-up on Komina Ave. Planned Aug. 2000 II District Widen Oak St. by 2.5 feet on the east side. Completed Curb, painted but "No Paint the 60 ft. of curb between the end Of the Oak St. Stopping" passenger loading zone and the entrance to the on-site signs, not Au.cl. 2000 II City parking lot red and post "No Stopping" signs, posted A study needs to be conducted concerning transportation at Saratoga School. Those strategies include the implementation of bus services to and from the school, encouragement of parents to voluntarily arrive earlier than the school start time and later than the dismissal time and Jan. 15T 2001 III Districl the promotion of carpoolinc, l for students and teachers. In Progress Prior to Aug. The City will restripe Oak Street between KOmina Ave. and 2000 IV City the school driveway. Done The City will establish a no parking zone between the end of the Oak St. passenger loading zone and the entrance of Aug. 2000 V City the on-site parking lot. (150 Feet) Done The City will initiate meetings with the affected residents to consider restricting parking on the west side of Oak Street between 8 a.m and 4 p.m. for approximately one hundred fifty feet (150') where the southbound lane is narrow and across from the entrance to the on-site Aug. 2000 VI City parking. Waiting The City will post signs on Komina Avenue prohibiting Aug. 2000 VII City passenger loading and unloading. Waiting 3/5/01 TREES (b) April. 1999 I District Hire an arborist to monitor construction around trees. Completed The certified arbodst will provide a wdtten assessment of the impacts of the construction on the trees ~along with any recommendations regarding the need to remove any By May 1, 2000 I District tree(s). 28~Apr-00 When the report is, received by the District, the District will forward a copy of the report to the City. In addition, the Distdct will hold a headng at a regular meeting of the Board to discuss the recommendations presented therein I District 3 weeks after the report is sent to the Cib/. * Corrected At the Board's public hearing, the Board will determine I District whether to retain or remove any of the trees. * Corrected During the renovation of the school, the Distdct will require all contractors engaged in any excavation or grading at or near the trees shall be required to exercise special care to June 1999- ~rotect the root system of all of the eucalyptus trees Aug. 2000 II District ~based on the recommendations of the District's arborist. Continuing If any affected contractor negligently, recklessly, or intentionally causes destruction of either of the two eucalyptus trees during construction, the District is requiring the payment of Twenty-Five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00) per tree as a penalty until the District's June 1999 - arborist has determined that no penalties are due under $25,000.00 Aug. 2000 III District this provision, in place The arborist must determine if there is any damage to the trees before completion of construction. (Notice of . Completion or release of any retentions) The construction ~ June 1999 - manager shall contact the consulting arborist prior to any Completed Aug. 2000 III District demo or construction procedure within the dripline area. May 2000 The District shall prepare the project specifications sent out to all contractors to detail the tree protection measures as established by the District's arborist. All affected contractors coming onto the site during June 1999 - construction will be required to strickty adhere to the tree Done Aug. 2000 IV District ~rotection measures. In Place '*The 1st tree was not done correctly. But every tree after the right procedure was followed. In accordance with District policies, all trees to be removed as part of a project would be replaced at a minimum ratio of 1:1. Trees from 5 to 10 inches in diameter would be replaced at a 2:1 ratio while those over ten inches, including the two eucalyptus, would be replaced at a 3:1 ratio. The following trees have been or will be planted upon completion of construction. 6-Quercus Lobata, 12-Prunus Serrulata, 6-Arbutus, 6-Cercis Occidentalis, 5-Populus Fremonti (male only), 9-Sequoia Sempervirens, 12-Prunus Cerasifera and 2-Umbellularia Californica. Follow Tree Specifications from Deborah Ellis's report. Followed 3/5/01 City Agreement - June of 1999 Matrix for Saratoga School - 3 With the City & School June. 1999- Appoint a liaison person to m~et with and confer with the Traffic Task 201 0 District City's liaison from the City's Public Safety Commission. Force' Ann' Waltonsmith (City) and~,~,, The City Council and the District will consider appointing ~ (Dist.) We will select a one member from each elected body to meet and foster new District & greater cooperation and understanding between the two representative May. 2000 City public agencies, in March 2001 3/5/0.1 City Agreement- June of 1999 Based on Wilbur Smith Transportation Study Matrix for Redwood School - 1 Para- Date graph Who Activity Status * Done but~ We are Implement the' circulation plan recommended in the April studying Aug. 2000 A District 21, 1999, Redwood Transportation Study. 'again. !We need to close the driveway from the middle school parking lot onto Allendale Ave. and not re-open it again Aug. 2000 B District without working in cooperation with the City. Done · The District will undertake a feasibility study of adding a Sept. 2000 - separate turn lane on Fruitvale Ave. into the school * Part of Jan. 2001 C District parking lot. Study Need to produce a study to the City to improve traffic circulation and congestion at Redwood. Noted on Page 16 . & 17 of Wilbur Smith Transportation Study and in the City agreement #1 paragraph #d, increase the capacity of the existing lots and maximize the utilization of the reconfigured lots. The study will demonstrate that ~articular measures studied are feasible and will reduce the queuing problem and improve traffic circulation and Jan. 15, congestion. We will then implement a program to reduce * In 2001 D District traffic problems in accordance with the study. Progress District will consider the following actions and strategies: 'Nov. 1999 - Bus service, Carpools, Staggered Arrivals and Dismissals *. Depends Jan. 2001 D District and A Suggested Route to School Plan .on Study We will, in conjuction with the City, prepare a school route District ~lan indicating the suggested routes for students to use Jan. 2001 D & City to walk and bike to school. * Planning Sept. 1999 - We need to study the possibility of implementing a bus Sept. 2000 D District service. In Progress The City will need to notify us in writing by this date if traffic is still a problem at Redwood. If they do, we will June. 4, need to undertake a feasibility study using the end of 2004 E City Allendale Ave. as a secondary drop off and pick up spot. * The District has contracted with Fehr & Peers to study the current circulation and traffic patterns. We expect a report in March 2001. .2/26/01 Negative Declaration for Redwood Middle School One in Sept, We are Waiting for District- Parents will receive written drop-off and pick-up Fehr & Peers Aug. 2000 School 3rocedures at the beginning of'each semester, report. We will look into possibly assigning the two drop-off/pick- District- up areas to specific groups of students to equalize the 6th grade Aug. 2000 School :utilization of the lots, lower lot. Will be completed when we have incorporated adjustments suggested Signs and pavement stencils will designate the loading by Fehr & Aug. 2000 District areas and procedure. Peers. 2/26/01 SARATOGA CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: May 22, 2001 ORIGINATING DEPT: CiO' Manager PREP.-~RED BY: AGENDA ITEM: CITY MANAGER: DEPT HEAD: SUBJECT: Saratoga Union School District - Traffic RePort RECOMMENDED ACTION: Informational only. REPORT SUMSL4JIY: N/A FISCAL IMPACTS: N;A CONSEQUENCES OF NOT FOLLOWING RECOMMENDED ACTION: N:A ALTERNATIVE ACTION: N/A FOLLOW UP ACTION: ADVERTISING, NOTICING :4~-ND PUBLIC CONTACT: N~A ATTACHMENTS: Attachment A - Fehr & Peers Associates Traffic Report .' .-. FEHR&-PEERS AS~)C'L-XTES, L, NC. Tratzsporl atton (Jonsultant_~ 255 North Marker ~rt~e~, .quite 200 ban Jo~. CA 951 ~0 ~)8 278-1700 · ~ax 408 278-1717 www. f~[mmdpccr~.com MEMORANDUM To: From: Date: Mary Gardner, Saratoga Union School District Sohrab Rashid, P.E.~ April 16, 2001 Subject: Redwood Middle School and Saratoga Elementary School Assessments in Saratoga, California 1 oo$-.~ o ~ Fehr & Peers Associates, Inc. has completed an assessment of existing vehicular and pcdestrmn circulation at two schools in the Saratoga Union School District: Redwood Middle School located on Fruitvale Avenue. and Saratoga Elementary School located on Oak Street. The circulation studies were conducted to determine if additional measures could be implemented to improve overall circulation and safety. This memorandum presents our key findings and recommendations followed by a more detailed description of our approach and evaluation. Key Findings and Recommendations Based on the results of our field investigations: R e.,dwood School · The recent modifications to the entrance of the northern parking lot have improved circulation. However, additional on-site storage capacity tbr the drop-off/pick-up lane is required to prevent vehicles from temporarily queuing on southbound Fruitvale Avenue during the afternoon "pick-up" period. · A fight-turn lane from southbound Fmitvale Avenue to the south lot entrance is not considered feasible because it would require removal of the existing bicycle lane or removal of the trees located between the street and the south lot and re-configuration of the south lot spaces. Thc City has discussed the possibility of restricting turning movcments at the entrance to the south parking lot opposite an existing West Valley College driveway to left-tums in and fight-tums in and out only. This improvement would eliminate the potential for conflicts between northbound and southbound left-turning vehicles on Fruitvale Avenue. Installation of a raised median to restrict movements would require reconstruction of the school entrance and exit driv~vays (see Figure 3). Additional on-site vehicle capacity could be provided at the west end of Allendale Avenue either on one-half of an existing basketball court (see Figure 2). Since traffic volumes on Allcndale Avenue arc very low during thc afternoon pick-up period, the addition of some school traffic is not expected to cause any substantial operational problems. The access and configuration of the district's corporation yard is not considered conducive for usc-as a drop-off/pick-up area. The drop-off/pick-up lane in the south lot should be extended by installing additional bollards and re-configuring the existing raised curb (see Figure 1). This improvement would increase vehicle capacity help to reduce queuing on Fruitvale Avenue. Various other on-site modifications requested by the principal should be implemented to increase safety and capacity. These modifications include the installation or relocation of metal bollards to better define circulation and protect pedestrians (see Figures 1 and 4). Sm'atoga School The queuing lane on Oak Street should have been extended to the parking lot driveway as a separate fight-turn lane as part of the street widening. The driveway entrance should be widened slightly to allow vehicles to turn in without riding over the curb. (See Figure 5). Signage should be installed to indicate that vehicles in the Oak Street queue should not enter the parking lot until adequate space is available. This re.~triction will help to prevent encroachment into the red curb zone where northbound vehicles are forced into the opposing lane. An alternate solution is to assign a staff person to control traffic entering the lot, but this activity includes potential hability issues for the district. Since future drop-off/pick-up activities may be permitted on Oak Street, no major street improvements should be implemented until this policy is established. If drop-oflb'pick-up activities are restricted to thc lot only, serious consideration should be given to widening Oak Street to provide a separate northbound right-mm lane into the site. If a separate lane is provid 'cd, manual queue control would not be required. Several students without parental supervision were observed crossing Oak Street between queued and parked vehicles. The importance of not crossing rmdblock should be re-emphasized to students and parents. 2 The information to support these iindings and re~x~mmendations is presented below. Existing Conditions Redwood Sclmol ObservaTtions were conducted at Redwood School on December 14, 2000 (morning), December 18, 2000 (afternoon), and February 1, 2001 (afternoon). The December observations were both conducted before the most recent curb modifications at the south lot entrance were completed. The curb had been removed, but the resulting dixt area had not been repaved and was muddy at times. As a result, many drivers avoided the south lot, resulting ia an uneven distribution between the two lots. It should also be noted that the number of absent students (80 out of 900) was unusually high on December 18. The Fcbrua~ observations were conducted two days after the re-paving was completed- Morning Drop-off Prior tO 7:55 am, there were no substantial queuing problems. Between 7:55 am and 8:00 am, cars began to queue onto Frmtvale Avenue from the south lot entrance. Several times during this period, the queue extended to the north lot entrance. In general, thc queue on Fmitvale Avenue at the north entrance ranged from five to seven cars prior to the beginning of classes. These qaeues forced southbound through traffic into the lane next to the raised median. Although temporary in nature, these queues are considered a problem for a facility like Fruitvale Avenue, which is a minor arterial roadway with a posted speed limit of 35 miles per hour. During the morning pexiod, the north lot operated with some queuing, but vehicles were generally accommodated within tile lot. However, when the southbound movement at the Fruitvalc Avenue/Allendale Avenue intersection has a green Light, brief queues formed at the north entrance. As noted previously, the muddy, unpaved entrance appeared to deter nmnerous drivers from entering the north lot. Vehicles exiting the site did r~ot experience any significant delays. The entrance and exit lanes for the south lot are opposite a driveway serving West Valley College. Currently, thc southbound lefl.-ttml into the college parking lot is signed for no U-tums. During all observations, no major operational problems were observed. However, thc existing configttration appears to pose a problem for simultaneous northbound and southbound left- turning vehicles on Fmitvale Avenue at the south driveway. Both thc north and south lots have right-mm only exit driveways that require vchicles destined for northbound Fruitvalc Avenue to make a U-turn at another West Valley College driveway further south. Only one exiting Vehicle was observed to make an illegal lcft-turn from the south driveway. The weather during these observations w~as cloudy. The groun&was wet from an earlier rain Shower. but it was not raining during the observation per?~d~ Afternoon Pick-up During the December observations, 12 to 14 vehicles were queued in both lots by 3:00 pm. Within three minutes, both queues extended back to the entrance, and one car was queued in the driveway serving the north lot. In the next several minutes, queues formed on Fmitvalc Avenue at both lot entrances. By 3:12 pm, thc queue from the south lot extended back to the north entrance. During this time several students were observed entering vehicles while they were queued on the street. In general, however, students did walk through the parking lots and were patient while waiting to enter vehicles at the appropriate locations in each lot. By 3:14 pm, the lengthy queue at thc south lot was shorter but still cxtended onto Fruitvale Avenue. During the next four minutes, the queue in the north lot dissipated so that all vehicles were accommodated on-site (i.e., the queue filled approximately half the length of the lot). A moving queue on Fruit'vale Avenue continued to exist until 3:24 pm. The February afternoon observations showed the best operations of the lot. Traffic was fmrly well-distributed between the two Jots. Queuing out of thc north lot occurred only briefly during this time period. Although some queuing on Fruitvale Avenue occurred at the south lot entrance, this queue was typically six vehicles or less. Similm' to morning conditions, exiting vehicles did not experience any significant operational problems with one exception. When queues from the south lot entrance extended past the north lot exit, exiting vehicles were temporarily delayed and drivers'sight distance was restricted. Vehicles in the median lane continued to travel at the speed limit, which also made mergh~g somewhat difficult. Thc weather was partly cloudy during these observations. Rain had not been forecast. Other Observationx Principal Christopher Farmer observes traffic operations at Redwood School on a daily basis and discussed thc following circulation issues with Fehr & Peers: · The south lot drop-off/pick-up lane could be extended by relocating an existing curb and installing additional bollards at the south end of the lane. · A wider pedestrian path near the east end of Building G would help circulation and reduce the potential for students conflicting with vehicle traffic. · Permanem guidance for drivers is required for the entrance/exit driveway serving the north lot, while still peiiizitting full-size buses to enter the south lot drop- off/pick-up area. Although an existing driveway is blocked by bollards, several vehicles were observed driving over the sidewalk to exit the school site near the Fruitvale Avenue/Allendale Avenue inters~ction. Site Evaluation Based on field obscrvati°m;, additional drop-off/pick-up lane Capacity is required to eliminate queuing (even temporaxy in nature) on Fmitvalc Avenue. Since the school population is below its enrollment capacity, thc addition of on-site vehicle capacity should be designed and implemented as soon as possible and prior to any significant increase in attendance. At the south end of the south lot drop-off/pick-up lane, the existing curb near Building A should be relocated and additional bollard$ should be installed. This improvement would extend the drop-off lane by approximately 35 feet, which would provide storage for two additional vehicles (see Figure 1). The additional capacity would help to reduce the queuing on l;ruitvale Avenue at the south lot driveway entrance. Because the eastern site frontage is essentially built out. additional on-site vehicular storage would have to be provided on Allendale Avenue. The school has a short frontage area immediately west of the POst office property. This area is adjacent to the paved basketball courts and' is separated fi.om Allendale Avenue by a Ibur-foot chain link fence. A preliminary assessment shows that a short drop-off/pick up lane could be installed with a raised curb and/or bollards and some paint. New gates would have to be installed that would be closed outside drop-off/pick-up times, and the parking along the existing fence would have to be modified to provide adequate sight distance. Lastly, mmmg templates would have to be applied to thc design to ensure that all passenger vehicles could be accommodated. A schematic plan for a new drop-off lane on the existing basketball court is attached (see Figure 2) and would require coordination with the City of Saratoga. ' Thc District's corporation Yard, which is located immediately west of the basketball courts, was initially considered as an alternate location for a new drop-off/pick-up area. However, a review of the site with Paul lipton, the district's facilities manager, concluded that the shape of thc yard and issues with yard access control would be problematic for public use. Thus, this alternative is not recommended. The south lot entrance on FmiWale Avenue is located opposite and slightly north of the driveway serving West Valley on the east side of the street. The offset appears to caUSe an overlap for the northbound and southbound left,turn movements, which could result in potential vehicle conflicts. To eliminate this potential and to preclude vehicles from turning left out of the school exit driveway, a raised median could be installed to restrict turning movements. The new median would restrict left-tums out of the school driveway and the West Valley drivcway. This installation would require modifications to the existing medians on Fmitvale Avenue. The schematic plan for this modification is attached as Figurc 3 and would require coordination with the City of Saratoga and West Valley College. An ad~tional study would be required to evaluate impacts to West Valley College circulation. Relocation of the existing bolla:ds near Building G is not required based on observations conducted by Fehr & Peers Associates. The current width can adequately serve the student pedestrian demand provide~, students ar~ instructed to remain "behind" the bollards at all times. To improve pedestrian flow near this location, one bollard should be relocated so as not to restrict the flow into the path (see Figure 1). The planned striping for the north lot entrance/exit driveway should bc installed. In addition, removable bollards should be installed across the pavement section linking the north and south lots (see Figure 1). The bolla'ds would be padlocked to a metal base in the pavement and removed to permit bus access to the south lot. Lastly, bollards should also be installed at the northeast comer of school property to prevent vehicles from illegally crossing the sidewalk. The bollards should be located on school property west of the existing yield sign facing Allendalc Avenue as shown on Figure 4. Saratoga School Observations were conducted on February 6 and February 8,2001 during the morning drop- off and afternoon pick-up times, respectively. Pd:temoon observations were also conducted on February 14, which was a Wednesday when all classes were dismissed together. The weather during ali observations was sunny or only partly cloudy. Morning Drop-o[]' At 8:07 am, a full-size school bus was parked on northbound Oak Street behind the red curb line. Prior to 8:15 am, a queue of between one and five vehicles would form on Oak SWeet as parents entered the school to drop off students. Vehicles turning fight into the driveway had to move around the bus during this period and, while they were queued on the street, forced northbound through traffic into the southbound lane. After 8:15 am, a moving queue of up to 13 vehicles formed on Oak Street behind the bus. By 8:23 am, the queue extended back to Komina Avenue. A vehicle on each on the northbound and westbound approaches to this intersection periodically had to wait until the queue moved forward. To avoid entering the parking lot, some parents dropped their children off on the Oak Street curb and pulled away. As the moving queue continued, 6 northbound traffic was consistently driving in part of the southbound lane. No problcms for exiting traffic were observed at this time. The school bus dc--parted at 8:27 am, which helped to provide several additional queue spaces on the curb. However, a second bus pulled in and out again at 8:28 am. By 8:30 a moving quetle of approximately 10 vehicles still occupied the Oak Street curb. A slight delay occurred at the exit driveway because of through traffic on Oak Street but quickly dissipated. At 8:32, no traffic was moving near the lot. Over.l, morning circulation was steady and orderly, No vehicles attempted to turn left into thc site from southbound Oak Street. Afternoon Pick-up Typical dismissal times on all days but Wednesdays are 2:20 pm for 1~t and 2''a grades and 3:00 pm for the remainder of the students. Thus, observations w~e conducted from 2:05 pm to 3:15 pm. During the pick-up p6riod, one staff member will walk south on Oak Street from thc driveway and redio the names of students who should be ready for pick-up back at the on-site curb lane. At 2:05 pm, nine cars were queued on Oak Sffeet and no one was parked at the pick-up curb on-site. Veiuclcs entered the site at 2:10 pm and filled the on-site lane. By 2:15 pm, the Oak Street queue extended back to Komina Avenue. At 2:25 pm after dismissal, some vehicles queued on Oak Street would wait next to thc rea curb before entea-ing the parking lot. Similar to the morning period, this activity forces northbotmd through vehicles into the southbound lane. With no one to control the queue, encroaching into the red zone happened frequently. After 2:30 pm,. the overall traflic volumes decreased quicklyand the on-street queue dissipated. During this first aflemoon'penod, four vehicles turned left into the driveway and three of those parked in spaces. Thc fourth vehicle merged into the on-site pick-up queue, which is against policy. Approximately 10 minutes before the second dismissal time, four cars were queued in the parking lot pick-up lane. By 2:53 pm, the queue on Oak Street was 12 vehicles long. In the next two minute, tiffs queue extended six vehicles past Komina Avenue. Vehicles also waited in the red zone on Oak Street during this period and caused through vehicles on Oak Street to encroach into the adjacent travel lane. Ely 3:03 pm, the number of vehicles extended past Komina Avenue by 15 vehicles. This queue was reduced to stx vehicl~ past Komina Avenue ki the next two minutes, and continued to dissipate over the uext ten minutes. Traffic was generally orderly except for occasional red zone infractions, and became very light by 3:15 pm. 7 T)~.~ February 14th pick-up period was conducted to observe the effect of combined ,iismissal timcs at 2:10 pm. However, nttm~ous parents attended Valentine's Day parties and were already parked and on-site prior to the end of classes. As a result, circulation around the school included little congestion and relatively short vehicle queues. During all observation periods, some vchicles drove ovcr the raised curb as they make a northbound fight-mm into the parking lot:driveway. The narrow travel lane and "tight" mm into the ! 5-foot wide driveway require largm- vehicles to cut thc comer. Although this does not have a significant impact on overall flow, it does tbrce some drivers to make a wider turn and they sometimes encroach into thc opposing southbound lane. ,5~te Evaluation Since vehicles queue beyond Komma Avenue and block northbound through traffic on Oak Street, additional on-site and on-street vehicle capacity would ideally improve overall circulation. Once the lemparary modular office is removed, additional on-site curb length will be available for drop-off and pick-up activities. The District is considering allowing students to be dropped off and picked up on Oak Street itsolf next to the existing queue lane. This activity would reduce the number of vehicles entering the parking lot driveway, but would also introduce numerous new parking maneuvers on the east side of Oak Street where thee are basically none today (i.e., vehicles simply move north against the curb before they mm right al the driveway). Since Oak Street drop-offs and the extended on-site {Imp-off/pick-up lane will significantly change circulation activities, no major roadway or on-site improvements are recommended until the final operations are in place. If Oak Street is not used as a drop-off/pick-up location and if extensive queues continue, serious consideration should be given to widening Oak Street near the driveway and providing an exclusive right-turn lane into the site. The current radio operation by staff used during the afternoon pick-up period is well- organized. However, additional control ofdrivera is needed as vchicles leave the Oak Street queue lane prior to turning right into the site. A sign should be posted indicath~g that drivers should not proceed until adequate space in the parking lot becomes avmlable. Adequate space is defined as enough distance so that the last vehicle can wait in the on-site queue without blocking the sidewalk. This control would help prevent vehicles from blocking the northbound through lane and is recommended if a separate right-mm lane is not provided. An alternate or additional measure is the u.ne of a staff person to only stop drivers from proceeding until adequate on-site space is provided only (i.e., they would not tell a driver when to proceed forward). Drivers would still be responsible for checking Oak Street for conflicting traffic before entering the roadway. The district may not want to use a staff person to control traffic in any way for liability reasons. The driveway should be modified to includc~:a 10-foot radius curb return on the south side of the drivcway entrance. This improvem~?would allow vehicles to make a smoother entry into the parking lot and would r.cd:..,.,,.~;e the potential for vehicles to encroach into the opposing travel lane. The propv:~-.--,d improvement is shown on Figure 5 and would likely require review by the City o.t..%~'atoga. 9 G C 0 0 Woo'~ ii FI ~otE ~ .i bo ~ i / / / /