HomeMy WebLinkAboutA002 - Council Action Form dated August 14, 2001 Item # 11.5
Date: August 14, 2001
COUNCIL ACTION FORM
SUBJECT: APPROVING THE OAKWOOD ROAD PEDESTRIAN FACILITY AND
SPEED LIMIT PLAN
BACKGROUND:
Staff has worked with the Oakwood Road Neighborhood group to develop a pedestrian
facility and speed limit plan along Oakwood Road. This issue was referred to staff by
City Council late last fall when it was initially requested by Stanley Cyran, 2516
Timberland Road, who has subsequently moved to another community. He was
concerned that there should be sidewalks and crossing protection along Oakwood Road
to accommodate children and residents who desire to walk to the Christofferson Park
from the surrounding residential area. In his request, he did not believe that the current
conditions along Oakwood Road (a narrow, busy, road with no shoulders) provided a
safe means for children to walk to the park. Christofferson Park is located
approximately 1,500 feet east of Timberland Road and is along the south side of
Oakwood Road. It now includes a shelter, a basketball court, and playground
equipment.
After conducting two neighborhood meetings in May and July to discuss alternate
pedestrian facility and speed limit plans, staff believes that the two measures below
should be implemented to enhance safety along Oakwood Road.
1. Constructing a bicycle path along the south side of Oakwood Road from Elwood
Drive to the west side of the Suncrest Subdivision. This includes placing a pedestrian
crossing on Oakwood Road at a location 50' east of the Green Hills Drive intersection.
2. Lowering the speed limit from 45 mph to 40 mph along Oakwood Road from
Elwood Drive to the west side of the Suncrest Subdivision.
Discussed below is staff's review of the pedestrian facility plan and speed limits along
sections of Oakwood Road that are entirely within the City Limits.
Staff's Recommended Pedestrian Facility Plan
To address the pedestrian safety issue along Oakwood Road, staff has discussed with
the Oakwood Road Neighborhood group two different pedestrian facility plans that
includes 1), constructing a sidewalk along the north side and 2), constructing a bicycle
path along the south side of Oakwood Road. Initially, staff proposed the project to place
a 4' pedestrian walkway along the north side of Oakwood Road from Timberland Road
east to 100' east of Green Hills Drive for residents in the Timberland, Woodview, and
Green Hills Drive Subdivisions. By completing this path, residents and their children
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could walk along Oakwood Road off the roadway shoulder where they could cross east
of Green Hills Drive at a marked pedestrian crossing with an activated beacon.
Residents, however, overwhelming rejected this plan during a May meeting for the
following reasons and instead supported the construction of a bicycle path along the
south side of the Oakwood Road.
1. The sidewalk would only be temporary and would need to be reconstructed when
Oakwood Road is rebuilt. (It should be noted that Oakwood Road is not slated to
be reconstructed for the next ten to fifteen years.)
2. Grading for the sidewalk would impact the ditch's drainage capacity. Residents
expressed concern that this would create problems during wet periods when they
may experience unexpected drainage diversion in their homes.
3. Safety would not be enhanced since pedestrians would have to walk across side
street approaches including Woodview Road, White Oak Drive, and Green Hills
Drive along Oakwood Road. They believed that pedestrian safety was especially
a concern at the Green Hills Drive approach where motorists often do not slow
when turning from Oakwood Road.
4. Multiple crossing locations at each of the existing side street approaches along
Oakwood Road was believed to be safer than one marked crossing east of
Green Hills Drive. They were concerned that the pedestrians crossing east of
Green Hills Drive could not be seen by approaching westbound motorists on
Oakwood Road due to the road's horizontal grade. (It should be noted that there
is 550' of sight distance from the crest of the hill to the proposed Oakwood
crosswalk next to Christofferson Park. This is an adequate distance, since
conservative stopping sight distances needed for motorists to safely stop ranges
from 400 to 550 feet for speeds from 45 to 55 mph. In addition, activated
flashing devices at the crossing would be seen from distances of up to 1,000
feet.)
Also in attendance at the May meeting were residents who lived along the south side of
Oakwood Road on White Oak Drive within the Suncrest Subdivision. These residents
also supported the construction of a bicycle path along the south side of Oakwood
Road. They did not believe that the construction of a sidewalk along the north side of
the street would enhance their safety since they would have to cross Oakwood Road
twice to walk to the Christofferson Park. With the other alternative (building the bicycle
path along the south side of the street) they would walk along the south side of the
street and would not have to cross Oakwood Road.
After reviewing these comments, staff re-evaluated their initial proposal and
developed an alternate project to construct a bicycle path along the south side of
Oakwood Road from Elwood Drive to Suncrest Subdivision. With this proposal,
staff did agree with residents that the placement of a pedestrian walkway near the
bottom of the drainage way on the north side of the street is not an ideal location for two
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reasons. First, the path would be inaccessible after large rainstorms and second; it
would not meet handicap accessibility standards due to vertical grades at cross street
and driveway locations. With the comments received from residents, it was realized
that the current walkway patterns through side and back yards in the subdivisions may
be the safest means to walk to Oakwood Road from the subdivisions. These "short-cut"
patterns may also continue to exist even if a less than standard sidewalk design is
constructed along Oakwood Road. Since it has been noted that these "short-cut"
walking routes are currently tolerated by residents, per comments received in the
neighborhood meeting, staff believes that sidewalks are not needed on the north side of
Oakwood Road until the street is reconstructed and permanent sidewalks are
constructed along this area.
Costs for constructing this path would be primarily borne by the developers on the south
side. Currently monies have been held in escrow accounts from developers for
constructing paths adjacent to the Wessex and Suncrest Subdivisions. To complete the
remainder of the Oakwood pedestrian facility, the City would have to make a formal
request to the County to bear the cost of constructing a 750' section along the
Christofferson farm between the Christofferson Park to Sunset Subdivision. This 750'
section would cost approximately $18,000 to grade and construct. It should be noted
that the City has no means to assess costs for this section of path since the
Christofferson Farm property is not within City limits, unless all assessed property
owners agree to pay the assessment.
Included in this pedestrian facility plan is the installation of a marked crosswalk on
Oakwood Road 50' east of Green Hills Drive adjacent to Christofferson Park. As
discussed with the Oakwood Road Neighborhood group, this is the most frequently
utilized crossing location and one used by the majority of children crossing to play at the
park. It is also centrally located along this developed area and would serve pedestrian
routes to a multitude of destinations within the area. This crossing would be marked
with a highly visible painted crosswalk that would be additionally supplemented with an
activated "flashing yellow beacon" and pedestrian signage. Staff believes that this
$2,000 flashing device would enhance the visibility and improve advancing motorists'
awareness of the crosswalk location.
Staff's Recommended Speed Limit Change
During the May neighborhood meeting, residents raised concerns about the traffic
speeds and 45 mph speed limit zone along Oakwood Road. They had reported that
higher motorist speeds were creating hazards for the pedestrians and school children
walking along and crossing Oakwood Road. To improve these conditions, they believed
that the existing 45-mph speed limit zone should be dropped to at least a 35-mph limit
along Oakwood Road. They cited that 35-mph speed limits have been designated
along higher volume streets with similar conditions such as sections along South 16th
Street and 13th Street.
To address these concerns, staff initiated a speed zone study to evaluate conditions
along Oakwood Road. During the past ten years, this speed limit evaluation had been
performed four times (i.e., 1990, 1996, 1997, and 1999) along this Oakwood Road
section to address resident's concerns. It should be noted that in the initial study
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conducted in 1990, staff had recommended speed limits be lowered from the unposted
rural 55 mph speed limit to the current 45 mph limit. In the other three past studies (i.e.
1996, 1997, 1999) it was believed that the 45-mph limit was appropriately designated
due to the prevailing traffic speeds, street conditions, and accident history.
Consequently, these studies showed that there were almost no accident experience
along this roadway with a gradual vertical and straight horizontal alignment. Also, the
prevailing 85% motorist speeds were at levels where a 45-mph speed limit was
appropriately designated.
For this speed limit study, staff again evaluated existing street conditions, accident
history and prevailing motorist speeds. Included in the prevailing motorist speed survey
was an analysis of motorist speeds along two sections of Oakwood Road (i.e., Elwood
Drive to Suncrest Subdivision/Suncrest Subdivision to State Avenue). These two
sections were evaluated separately since they consisted of differing land uses
(agriculture, wooded areas, low/high density development) traffic and road conditions.
The traffic and road conditions varied along these two sections of Oakwood Road where
higher volumes, a greater number of intersections, and more frequent pedestrian
crossings existed east of Suncrest Subdivision as compared to the west end. The
existing conditions east of the Suncrest Subdivision now includes a major driveway
access for the Wessex and Suncrest Subdivisions that generate a higher number of
turning and through movements. These developments did not exist when the other
earlier speed limit evaluations were performed.
After evaluating these conditions, staff believes that the speed limits should be lowered
from 45 to 40 mph only along the east section of Oakwood Road from the Suncrest
Subdivision east to Elwood Drive. Staff realizes that the land use along the east end of
Oakwood Road (Elwood Drive to Suncrest Subdivision) has changed conditions within
the past two years, whereas traffic and pedestrians volumes have increased
significantly. The lowered speed limit along this section is recommended to enhance
safety for pedestrians and bicyclists, and also to meet motorist's expectations who are
travelling within this changing road environment. Although this speed limit does not
correlate with the prevailing 85% motorist speeds, staff believes that this speed will
eventually be lowered with the changes in the speed limit and the area land use.
This study showed that the average speeds and 85% speeds were 41 and 47.5 mph,
respectively, for motorists travelling both east and west along this eastern section
(Elwood to Suncrest Subdivision). In comparison, average speeds were 43 and 49 mph
for the western section of Oakwood Road. Staff does concede that the speed limits
should be established closer to the 85% prevailing speeds according to industry
standards since these motorists are typically driving at safe and prudent speeds.
However, it is assumed that this will drop with further land use change and the increase
in pedestrians and traffic volumes along this section of road. It should be noted that
enforcement and signage measures will be implemented to achieve the compliance
needed.
During the July meeting, residents did support the lowered 40-mph speed limit as a
staged measure. With this speed limit change, staff did indicate that they would monitor
motorist's speeds along Oakwood Road as development or other conditions change in
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the area. Some residents believed that the proposed 40-mph speed limit should be
designated along the entire length of Oakwood Road from Elwood Drive to State
Avenue. However, since this section is primarily within the County, Story County
officials would have to change the speed limit. Darren Moon, Acting Story County
Engineer, had indicated that he would collect motorists speed data to evaluate the
proposed change. Staff also would work with the Story County Engineer's office in the
evaluation of this data.
It should be noted that some residents at the meeting believed that the speed limit
should be dropped to 35 mph to correlate with the existing speed limit along South 16tn
Street (from Elwood Drive to South Duff Avenue). They believed that the conditions
were far worse on Oakwood Road and that there were greater reasons for designating a
35-mph speed on this facility than on South 16t" Street. They indicated that South 16tn
Street was also a two-lane facility but did not have narrow shoulders or deep ditch
sections. Staff reported that the policy has been in the past to follow industry standard
guidelines for establishing speed limits in correlation with the prevailing speeds, road
conditions, accident history, and other criteria. As reported in the discussion above,
staff believes that 40-mph is the most prudent speed limit that meets this criteria.
ALTERNATIVES:
1. Approve the pedestrian facility plan to construct a bicycle path along the south
side of Oakwood Road from Elwood Drive to Suncrest Subdivision. This includes
placing a pedestrian crossing on Oakwood Road at a location 50' east of the Green Hills
Drive intersection at a cost of $2,000 for crosswalk pavement markings and an activated
yellow flashing beacon. With this plan, City Council will need to make a formal request
to the Story County Board of Supervisors seeking $18,000 to cover the costs of
constructing a 750' section of bicycle path adjacent to the Christofferson farm between
the Christofferson Park and the east side of the Suncrest Subdivision. This measure
also directs the City Attorney to prepare an ordinance lowering the speed limit from 45
mph to 40 mph along Oakwood Road from Elwood Drive to the Suncrest Subdivision.
2. Modify Alternate #1 to have the City cover the $18,000 costs of constructing a
bicycle path along the 750' section adjacent to the Christofferson farm.
3. Modify Alternate #1 to designate a 35-mph speed limit along Oakwood Road
from Elwood Drive to Suncrest Subdivision.
4. Do nothing.
MANAGER'S RECOMMENDED ACTION:
It is the recommendation of the City Manager that the City Council adopt alternative
number 1, thereby approving the pedestrian facility plan to construct a bicycle path
along the south side of Oakwood Road from Elwood Drive to Suncrest Subdivision.
This includes placing a pedestrian crossing on Oakwood Road at a location 50' east of
the Green Hills Drive intersection at a cost of $2,000 for crosswalk pavement markings
CAF—Oakwood Road Pedestrian Facility&speed Limit-5-
and an activated yellow flashing beacon. With this plan, City Council will need to make
a formal request to the Story County Board of Supervisors seeking $18,000 to cover the
costs of constructing a 750' section of bicycle path adjacent to the Christofferson farm
between the Christofferson Park and the east side of the Suncrest Subdivision. This
measure also directs the City Attorney to prepare an ordinance lowering the speed limit
from 45 mph to 40 mph along Oakwood Road from Elwood Drive to the Suncrest
Subdivision.
COUNCIL ACTION:
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Speed
Oakwood Road
Direction Eastbound Westbound Direction Eastbound Westbound
Year 1996 1997 1999 2001 1996 1997 1999 2001 Year 1996 1997 1999 2001 1996 1997 1999 2001
50X Speed 43.9 44.6 44.1 42.3 45.2 39.7 42.0 44.4 50% Speed 43.7 41.4 41.3 40.3 42.8 41.4 39.5 42.2
85% Speed 50.0 53.6 51.7 48.8 50.0 45.B 48.2 51.6 857 Speed 50.0 50.8 48.0 47.2 50.0 50.8 44.9 48.5
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Direction Eastbound Westbound Direction Eastbound Westbound
Year 2001 2001 Year 1996 1997 2001 1996 1997 2001 A
50% Speed 42.1 42.2 50Y. Speed 46.3 44.7 40.7 42.0 44.7 41.4 ICJ
85% Speed 48.2 48.2 1 1 85Y. Speed 51.0 53.0 47.4 47.0 53.0 47.1