Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout102-1 .October 6, 2008 Fehr & Peers 1-Year Review Memorandum.pdf !!!"#$%&"’( MEMORANDUM Date: October 6, 2008 To: John Cherbone, City of Saratoga, Public W orks Director From: Franziska Holtzman/Sohrab Rashid Subject: Herriman Avenue and Lexington Court Improvements Follow-up Review 1025-446-1 Fehr & Peers has completed a review of the bicycle and pedestrian improvements installed on Herriman Avenue in the City of Saratoga. In July 2007, Fehr & Peers prepared the Herriman Avenue Improvement Plan that included: • provision of a new pedestrian path on the south side of Herriman Avenue between River Ranch Circle and Saratoga Avenue, • construction of a pedestrian refuge area (bulbout) and raised crosswalk at the Herriman Avenue/Lexington Court intersection, • and standardization of existing bicycle lanes. This memorandum summarizes the results of implementing the Herriman Avenue Improvement Plan and recommendations for maintaining or improving the pedestrian path and installing a raised crosswalk across the east leg of the Herriman Avenue/Lexington Court intersection. BACKGROUND Herriman Avenue is a two-lane east-west collector street that connects Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road and Saratoga Avenue. Saratoga High School is located on the southeastern corner of the Saratoga-Sunnyvale/Herriman Avenue intersection and provides four driveways on Herriman Avenue. Lexington Court is a north-south local roadway that forms a T-intersection with Herriman Avenue approximately 550 feet east of Saratoga-Sunnyvale Avenue. One of Saratoga High Schools main driveways is 40 feet off-set to the west of the Herriman Avenue/Lexington Court intersection, and as such Lexington Court is one of the major local roadways used by vehicles, bicyclists, and pedestrians traveling to and from the school. Designated crosswalks are provided across Herriman Avenue on the east leg of the Lexington Court intersection and the west leg of the Camino Rico intersection. These crosswalks are high visibility crosswalks with lateral striping and are marked with yellow paint to indicate that they are school crosswalks. In roadway sings are provided in the middle of the crosswalks to highlight the presence of the crosswalks to vehicles and bicyclists traveling on Herriman Avenue. Herriman Avenue is approximately 39 feet wide, has a posted speed limit of 25 mile per hour (mph), and carries approximately 4,500 vehicles per day. Recently approved speed surveys indicate that the 85th percentile speeds along the school frontage are approximately 35 mph. John Cherbone October 6, 2008 Page 2 of 5 Prior to implementation of the Improvement Plan, Herriman Avenue provided a sidewalk on both the north and south side of the roadway between Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road and Lexington Court. The sidewalk on the south side continued for another quarter mile east from Lexington Court until Oak Hallow Lane. No sidewalks were provided on the north side of Herriman Avenue east of Lexington Court and on the south side east of Oak Hallow Lane (though there was a dirt path that extended another 150 feet east of Oak Hallow Lane to River Ranch Circle). Herriman Avenue also included Class II bike lanes in both directions of travel for its entire length, although the width the lanes measured less than the standard width at some locations. A parking lane was provided along the north side of Herriman Avenue but parking was restricted directly across from the high school during school hours. During the school’s peak pick-up/drop-off times numerous pedestrians and bicyclists were observed traveling along the entire length of Herriman Avenue. At those locations where no sidewalks were provided on Herriman Avenue, pedestrians were observed walking in either the bike lane or the parking/bike lane on the north side of the roadway. The Saratoga High School driveway opposite Lexington Court is one of the more heavily used driveways during the school’s peak periods. Additionally, because Lexington Court is a major connector to the neighborhoods to the north of Herriman Avenue, the crosswalk at this location is well-used. As discussed above, the driveway and Lexington Court are off-set from each other and form a non-standard intersection. The combination of the geometry with the high pedestrian and vehicle volumes during peak periods results in numerous conflicts between pedestrians and vehicles. Many vehicles traveling westbound on Herriman that make a left turn into the school’s driveway block the crosswalk and hinder pedestrians from crossing. Additionally, if pedestrians decided to walk around the vehicle to cross Herriman Avenue, the vehicles would block the visibility of pedestrians in the crosswalk for drivers in eastbound vehicles. HERRIMAN AVENUE IMPROVEMENT PLAN The goal of the Herriman Avenue Improvement Plan was to enhance pedestrian and bicycle access and safety along Herriman Avenue and to improve the pedestrian crossing at Lexington Court. To accomplish these goals, a pedestrian pathway was recommended for the south side of the street between River Ranch Court and Saratoga Avenue. Two options were considered in developing the improvement plan: 1. A pathway could be incorporated into the existing curb-to-curb street width by modifying the existing vehicle, parking, and bicycle lane widths. 2. A sidewalk could be added behind the curb of the existing roadway and utilize five feet of the City’s public right-of-way. This option would require the City to remove landscaping because many residents had developed within the City right-of-way. John Cherbone October 6, 2008 Page 3 of 5 To provide the least intrusive improvement, the first option was chosen for inclusion in the improvement plan. The pathway would be separated from the roadway by a six-inch asphalt berm and would connect to the existing dirt path and sidewalks west of River Ranch Circle; this design would provide pedestrians with a continuous walkway along the entire length of Herriman Avenue that was physically separated from the roadway. The proposed plan called for a five foot pathway along the south side of the roadway, two approximate 12-foot travel lanes, and two 5-foot bike lanes. A typical cross section of the Herriman Avenue Improvement Plan is shown in Figure 1 below. Figure 1: Typical Cross Section of Herriman Avenue Improvement Plan To incorporate the improvements, on-street parking on the north side of Herriman Avenue had to be removed between Saratoga Vista Avenue and Saratoga Avenue. Most homes along Herriman Avenue do not front the roadway; therefore the removal of parking was not considered a major issue along most of the street. However, homes do front onto Herriman Avenue between Beaumont Avenue and Saratoga Avenue and the removal of parking impacted seven residences. These homes would be required to park vehicles in their garages and driveways or on adjacent side streets (such as Jerries Drive or Lannoy Court). To improve the pedestrian crossings at Lexington Court, the Herriman Improvement Plan included a pedestrian refuge area at the northeast corner of Lexington Court and installation of a raised crosswalk across the east leg of the intersection. Because no sidewalks exist on Lexington Court, the pedestrian refuge area would provide pedestrians with a protected waiting area to wait for a gap in vehicle traffic before crossing Herriman Avenue. The raised crosswalk would increase the visibility of pedestrians crossing Herriman Avenue and serve as a traffic calming measure, since vehicles will have to slow down to cross the raised crosswalk. Figure 2 shows the Lexington Court crosswalk improvement plan. John Cherbone October 6, 2008 Page 4 of 5 Figure 2: Proposed Crosswalk Improvements at Lexington Court FOLLOW-UP EVALUATION The pedestrian path and striping improvements along Herriman Avenue, was well as the pedestrian refuge area on the northeast corner of Lexington Court were implemented in the summer of 2007. The Herriman Avenue Improvement Plan also recommended the installation of a raised crosswalk at Lexington Court; however funding was not available at the time and this improvement was not installed as of September 2008. In August 2008, Fehr & Peers conducted a follow-up evaluation of Herriman Avenue to determine if the improvements met the goals of the plan or if any modifications should be made. Fehr & Peers conducted field observations in August 2008 before and after Saratoga High School’s bell schedule to capture peak utilization of the pathway. The field observations showed that pedestrians were using the path and informal conversations with several pedestrians and students revealed that the pedestrian path was well-received and considered to be a substantial improvement. A few pedestrians noted that they felt safer traveling in the path than having to walk in the bike lane as was the case before the plan was implemented. Most pedestrians traveling on Herriman Avenue were observed using the path; though a few pedestrians were observed walking in the bike lane on the north side of the roadway. Presumably, these pedestrians had destinations or origins in the neighborhood north of Herriman Avenue. Overall, the pedestrian pathway on the south side of Herriman Avenue was meeting its intended goal of providing a continuous pathway that separates pedestrians from vehicles. Fehr & Peers also conducted follow-up field observations of the Herriman Avenue/Lexington Court intersection. This review showed that John Cherbone October 6, 2008 Page 5 of 5 pedestrians are using the bulbout at the north eastern corner of the Lexington Court intersection and the bulbout is meeting the goal of providing a safer refuge area for pedestrians before they cross Herriman Avenue. Because the recommended raised crosswalk has not been implemented, vehicles continue to block the crosswalk at Lexington Court and reduce the visibility of pedestrians. RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS The pedestrian pathway is meeting the goal of providing a continuous walkway that separates pedestrians from vehicles in the roadway and is a substantial improvement over the previous configuration. Thus, we recommend that the City either maintain the existing pathway or fill in the gap between the berm and curb with concrete or asphalt to create an actual raised sidewalk. The raised sidewalk would increase the visibility of pedestrians and will likely encourage pedestrians that walk in the bike lane of the north side of the roadway to use the sidewalk. Fehr & Peers also recommends that the City of Saratoga install the raised crosswalk across the east leg of the Lexington Court intersection. Though the bulbout at the northeast corner of the intersection improves the visibility of pedestrians to drivers and provides pedestrians with a refuge area, the raised crosswalk would further enhance the visibility of the crossing to drivers and would slow vehicles to a more reasonable speed closer to the posted limit.