HomeMy WebLinkAbout102-1. Memo from Fehr & Peers.pdf
! ! ! "#$ % & "' ( MEMORANDUM Date: December 20, 2010 To: John Cherbone, Public Works Director, City of Saratoga From: Franziska Church/Sohrab Rashid Subject: Review of On-Street Parking
on Forrest Hills Drive, Saratoga, California 1025-446-1 Fehr & Peers has completed an evaluation of traffic concerns on Forrest Hills Drive near Saratoga Elementary School in Saratoga,
California. A resident brought this item to the attention of the Saratoga Traffic Safety Commission (TSC) at the November 4, 2010 meeting. After review of the item and input from Fehr
& Peers, the TSC recommended prohibiting parking at the emergency vehicle access driveway from Forrest Hills Drive to Saratoga Elementary School. This memorandum addresses traffic and
parking concerns on Forrest Hills Drive during the school’s peak periods and our recommendation for parking restriction on Forrest Hills Drive. Forrest Hills Drive is a short (500-foot),
two-lane cul-de-sac street located southwest of the Saratoga Los Gatos Road (SR 9)/Aloha Avenue intersection. Forrest Hills Drive provides access to residential properties and the Saratoga
Union School District offices. About 320 feet north of the Forrest Hills Drive/Aloha Avenue intersection is the emergency vehicles access driveway that leads to the back side of Saratoga
Elementary School. This driveway is used as an alternative school pedestrian and bicycle entrance/exit and as a drop-off/pick-up location by students and parents. During the school’s
peak drop-off and pick-up periods, Forrest Hills Drive is used in both directions by parents traveling to and from the school. Forrest Hills Drive is approximately 26 feet wide and does
not have sidewalks or bike lanes on either side of the roadway. Currently, no parking restrictions exist on Forrest Hills Drive. During the peak drop-off and pick-up periods at the school,
parents park on both sides of Forrest Hills Drive, including immediately adjacent to and in front of the emergency vehicle access driveway. Students who use the emergency vehicle access
driveway need to walk through and around the parked vehicles to access Forrest Hills Drive and travel towards Aloha Avenue. Due to the congestion around the driveway, the visibility
of students by drivers is blocked by the parked vehicles. To improve visibility of students walking and bicycling at the emergency vehicle access driveway, we recommend that a time-limited
“No Stopping” restriction be implemented for 20 feet east and west of the emergency vehicle access driveway and across the driveway itself. No Stopping would be enforced during school
hours (7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.) on weekdays school is in session Stopping and parking on either side of the driveway would be permitted at all other times.