January 18 2024 regular meeting of the Transportation Commission would the secretary please call the roll
It's okay. Take your time
That's okay. I got this covered. All right, um
Commissioner Salsito or vice chair Salsito here commissioner Kegel present and chair
Present and
Commissioner Reese and German are absent, but we still have a quorum
Great, it's noted that we have a quorum.
This portion of the meeting is reserved for comment on items not on the agenda.
Under the Brown Act, the commission cannot act on the items raised during the public
communication, but may respond briefly to statements made or questions posed.
Request clarification or further the item to staff.
At this time, I will open this item up for the public comment.
Do you have any members of the public?
Nope.
Okay, great.
Right, items not on the agenda.
Okay, if you're in the audience and would like to provide public comment for items on
the agenda, please fill out a speaker card.
No, this is we're still on the agenda, no.
It doesn't read that.
Okay, so items not on the agenda, that was confusing.
have we don't have that all right can I skip ahead all right so next then the
agenda is we have the consent calendar is the adoption of the July 20th 2023
meeting minutes do I have a motion for the approval of the minutes from the
July 20th Commission meeting move to approve and I will second all right
Commissioner Kegel? Aye. Vice chair Salcedo? Aye. Chair Asch? Aye. Next on the agenda is an
item for Commission consideration application for Transportation
Development Act article 3 funds for sidewalk gap closure on San Miguel Drive
at this time I invite staff to provide their presentation and can we note our
or student advisor is here.
Good evening commissioners.
Thanks for joining us.
So just the one item here tonight.
And my name is Matt Redmond.
I'm associate traffic engineer
here at the city of Walnut Creek.
And I'm presenting for Rashad who's out.
So I'll be presenting on this grant application
for sidewalk gap closures at San Miguel drive.
So taking a look at the area,
we're talking south downtown.
So just over near the Broadway Plaza Mall in the top left,
and then we have Whole Foods and Dunkin' Donuts.
So at the Broadway Newell intersection,
if we go east up the hill, we have existing sidewalks.
However, past San Miguel Drive,
those sidewalks basically disappear.
And then all the way to the city limit,
we don't have sidewalks.
And then in the county,
the county has proposed a project for a sidewalk
or for a pedestrian path in the yellow there.
And so our idea is to fill in the gap shown in green
with some sidewalks.
So just a project background on the county project,
which goes on San Miguel Drive from Blackwood
all the way to Adeline Drive.
They already conducted outreach in the area
and they selected this segment for pedestrian improvements.
So it's already fully funded.
They already have grant funds to do this project.
And it's great, however, the county's project
would have a gap within the city segment
to populate destinations in the downtown area.
And so that's where our city project
on San Miguel Drive from Newell to Blackwood
could help improve this pedestrian facility.
So it's already allocated in our capital investment program.
So previously we've taken this to you guys before.
in fiscal year 26 and 27 we've allocated funds
from the traffic impact fees for this segment of sidewalk.
And as I mentioned, it's great for improving access
to downtown, improves walkability
in the Walnut Mills neighborhood.
And probably the best part is the county has agreed
to lead the design and the construction
for the city portion.
So that just kind of leaves us with the funds.
And so that's where we're looking
to use the Transportation Development Act grant,
the TDA grant, which is distributed by MTC
and it's for pedestrian and bicycle projects.
So this is the same grant that the county used
for their segment, and so we're just looking to do the same.
So this grant is allocated annually on a per capital basis
to the county and incorporated cities in the area.
And so then each city can submit one project.
So we submitted projects in the past,
but for this round, we'd be submitting this project.
The county is using previously, yes, as I mentioned,
the county is using.
They already applied for the TDA grant
and that's how they're funding their section.
And we're just looking to do the same
for our section from Newell to Blackwood.
So let's go ahead and drop into the ground
and take a look at those sidewalks.
So here we are at the top of the hill
at Newell and San Miguel, this kind of split in the road.
You can see on the right there,
there's no pedestrian ramps.
We have the existing sidewalks
going down the hill to the right,
but there's no ramp for like wheelchair access.
So we'd be upgrading those with nice ADA approved ramps.
And if we look at the plan view,
we can see in the oval in red,
what that looks like with those ramps on both corners,
again, continuing that sidewalk.
And then moving down the corridor here at Andrea Drive,
we would be improving these ramps
as well as the continuing the sidewalk,
providing that continuous facility.
And here on the plan view,
you can see a little bulb out at Andrea Drive
with a little nice improved pedestrian ramps
with those truncated domes showing the ADA improvement.
Again, further down the corridor on the right-hand side,
you see the existing gravel.
That would all be upgraded with typical sidewalk.
And so again, leveraging the county's work,
they would be helping with the design
and construction of this.
And here it is shown on the county's plans
for that existing sidewalk to be improved there.
And then the last segment in the city,
all the way to Blackwood Drive,
we'd be upgrading these facilities here,
and that's shown here on the oval and left,
and that brings us to the city border.
And then beyond that, the county would take it,
beyond these plans show all the way to Adeline Drive.
So really creating a continuous path
all the way from Adeline Drive down into the downtown.
As for costs, we're looking at 1.4 million
for the total project.
Just the city portion,
since we are looking at concrete sidewalks,
the city portion comes out to about $420,000.
Construction of the city portion is estimated
to be about 300,000 with additional $120,000
for administration and contingency on the city side.
So our idea is to ask for the TDA grant of 300,000,
which would cover our entire construction costs,
since TDA doesn't cover administration and contingency.
So again, like I said, this project's already planned
in our capital investment program
for the fiscal years of 26 and 27.
And we were gonna pay for it out of traffic impact fees.
And basically what this TDA grant would do
would swap those out,
and we could use those traffic impact fees
for potentially other projects in the city
and use the TDA grant to pay for this project.
So the requested action here is to recommend
to the City Council that staff apply for the TDA-3 grant
for the San Miguel sidewalk gap closure project
that I presented here.
We'll open it now for questions.
Manar and I are happy to answer any questions here.
If there's detailed questions
about particularly the application,
I have Rashad's contact here
who is kind of leading that charge.
So thank you.
Awesome do we have any questions um one question is that 12-foot lane width is
that the minimum would I is that on the plans that's the existing travel lane
that's all yeah that's not a minimum no okay are you proposing to try to narrow
that down? Yeah, well I'm just asking questions right now but yeah so this is
really just in concept right now so we haven't taken a deep dive into the
specifics we would want to you know do some of the more neighborhood friendly
treatments along this segment but we're this this is all feedback that we'd give
to the county so this is really just you know the concept level at this point.
Okay and how wide is the planned sidewalk for, I'm assuming there's some
level of development in order to do the cost estimate? I think it's showing here
five feet. Five feet, okay. Which would be a typical. Okay. And then I don't know if you can go into a
little bit of detail as to kind of how we get to this cost just because I heard
from some people who were surprised that for this length of sidewalk it would be
so expensive so I don't know if it's specific to this site or maybe maybe you
can just kind of help understand why it is so expensive. Yeah so this section
actually has a few different drainage facilities so for stormwater we do have
to do some relocation for that and so that eats into some of the budget. We're
also looking at doing some bulbing out so that's also going to you know impact
the costs plus the curb ramps themselves. So curb ramps are pretty costly but we
know that they're super important so that's that's really the bulk of the
cost rather than the sidewalk piece itself. What's the deadline for this
application? I'm just curious. It's next week. Okay coming right up. And we received
some public comment that I read through
and I'm wondering if you can point out on the map
the area that they are referring to.
I don't think the map fully shows it.
Okay.
Maybe this one, no?
I don't know exactly the-
Yeah, so I think the,
I don't think it shows it actually either.
It would be, it's really the segment from Analisa,
which is if you see, there's this tiny little corner.
If you go up on San Miguel Drive
to the top of this picture, that intersection,
it's actually past that, to the north of it.
So we're talking about, it's more the Analisa to Walker,
which is Mount Diablo, it turns into Walker.
Okay.
Okay, thank you.
Okay, thank you.
That's it.
Angie, do you have any?
Okay, I've got a couple of questions.
So how long is this segment distance?
Great question.
And I don't think we measured it exactly.
Okay, no worries.
I know Rashad's not here.
Previously, is it this area that had come up,
we had talked about a bike lane going under the tunnels
and the county was on the other side,
had come up at another meeting.
Does that ring a bell to anybody?
That a continuous bike path to, it might not.
Not in this area that doesn't sound familiar.
Okay.
Where was that?
Sounds like Jones Road to me.
I was thinking Jones also.
Do you think it's Jones Road?
It could be, is that.
That's a different, it's a different area.
That's a different, okay.
Yeah.
Just that's trying to locate everything.
And then what's the, just for my clarification,
so we had this budget in 2627,
let's say we're successful and we get this grant,
what happens with those transportation funds,
how does that get reallocated?
Because I know we've been involved in some of that,
I'm just curious.
Yeah, so the traffic impact fees
haven't actually been allocated
because that's for a future capital budget round,
it's just that it's planned or programmed
in the capital investment program.
So those TIF funds are still unused
and they would, if we do get this funding,
then whatever portion that we're able to save
would continue to be unused and we could allocate that
to any of the other transportation projects
that are already in the CIP
or new transportation projects
through our normal CIP planning process.
Thank you, that was helpful.
Any other, yeah.
I was just curious how staff chose this project
over the numerous other projects that are on the CIP list?
Yeah, I'll answer that.
So our capital budget, and I don't know if you recall
from the meeting that we had brought this to you back in,
I wanna say it was April.
So at that time, we brought to you this,
it's a massive capital budget.
We have a lot of infrastructure.
As you know, the pool is a very popular project
that people are talking about,
but there's a lot of transportation projects as well
that you've all been involved in too,
which includes the funding, the grant funding,
that large $7 million project that we had received.
So staff was really looking to,
we need to apply for grant funding.
We can't just leave this on the table,
but we need to find a project
that doesn't require a lot of staff time.
And this seemed like a really great opportunity
because the county is already committed
to basically doing the work for us.
And this could help fill in that sidewalk network,
which we desire, and also just makes
the county's project much stronger.
It builds better relationships with our neighbors.
And so this is really how we determine the project.
Okay, do I go to public comment please?
Yeah.
Public, okay, if you're in the audience
and would like to provide public comment,
please fill out a speaker card and then approach the lectern.
You'll have exactly two minutes to provide your public comment.
Do we have members of the public here who want to comment on the San Miguel grant application?
Awesome, okay, we don't.
So would the members of the commission have any comments or?
We do, sorry, okay.
Hi, thanks for, okay.
Hi, thanks for doing this, I'm excited that this is being addressed.
I live on San Miguel.
However, I live further up on San Miguel.
And I'm all for the project you're doing,
although honestly, I wouldn't use it all that much
because it's not where I am.
But I'm just wondering, was there any studies done
of this area for pedestrians?
Like, how was this area determined, even by the county?
Because further down on San Miguel,
it's much denser populated.
It's there's, there's just like a lot more people
because of the way the housing is,
as opposed to where the new sidewalks are,
there's a lot less people, there's larger houses.
And so, I don't know, I would argue
it would actually be better for pedestrians
to do sidewalks further down on San Miguel.
And I was just wondering, has there been any study,
pedestrian studies done?
Yeah, can we direct staff to answer that?
Yeah, so the part of San Miguel that you're talking about,
we totally agree, it is denser.
There is a lot of activity there.
The areas that have sidewalks on that segment,
which is between Analisa and Walker
that I'd mentioned before,
all the areas that does have sidewalk
are those locations that have actually
been redeveloped over time.
And so that's more of the multifamily type of residential
as opposed to the single family residential.
And so we don't disagree that there should be sidewalks
and our street cross sections call for sidewalks
through this area.
But the county had actually conducted
community engagements and surveys
that they had sent out to folks
because they were trying to decide
they did have some funding set aside,
some of their local funding,
like sales tax types of money,
set aside, or impact fee type money,
that they had set aside for a project in this area.
So it was gonna happen.
So they were gonna do sidewalks
or some kind of pedestrian pathway,
and it was either going to be Mountain View Boulevard,
or it was going to be San Miguel Drive.
And so through that outreach, the county determined
that they were going to be doing San Miguel Drive.
But it was never looked at to,
the city never looked at specifically
the portion of San Miguel Drive that's only within the city
that really is the segment that you live on.
So this really, you know, our approach here
is that we're really just trying to find
some additional funding so that we can complete that project
to make their project better.
But in the future, there, you know,
we would want to fill in those sidewalk gaps,
however that happens.
You know, typically again,
that would happen over redevelopment,
but you know, staff is also very willing
to look at maybe there's some kind of like
shorter term measures to help create a pathway
for folks to be able to walk in that area
because there are a lot of people who do walk
and there's great destinations to get to
in the downtown or to the Iron Horse Trail.
So it's not part of this project in particular,
but it is something that we can always look at later on.
You're gonna have to ask for it.
So if you can come back up,
I think you had about 30 seconds left to address.
I was just saying it's also actually,
It isn't just that it's not nice.
It's actually dangerous.
You know, like I walk with a stroller with my child
and the road goes down like this
and so I'm struggling to even just stay on the road.
You know, it's dangerous.
So, okay, thank you for the comment.
I will ask a question to staff
is what is the process to look at a new area?
Not specifically this area, but other area.
Yeah, so we're actually due for kind of
an active transportation plan update.
So it's really taking our old bike master plan
and pedestrian master plans and doing an update on that.
I think that's when we'd really be taking
a comprehensive look at all the different locations.
We do have a lot of areas that are constrained
just because of the neighborhoods when they were developed.
But that is something that's like a larger plan,
larger study that we take on probably over the next year or so. Okay, yeah
sidewalk gap and ADA compliance makes sense to look at as a whole as a larger
picture. Is there anybody else from the public on this issue? Speak? Okay.
Comments from the commissioners? Thank you for presenting this and pinch
hitting. I think it's smart to combine efforts to get the most bang for our
buck, certainly. I also think it's good to collaborate with the county given our
borders are kind of funky in some spots and so we need to do that anyway
in a lot of places. I fill you, public commenter, and thank you for being here
and bringing your family. We're not as entertaining as Paw Patrol, I'm sure, for
the little one. But, you know, I hear you and, you know, I hope that we take a look
got other areas as they feed into downtown,
because they're really important.
I think this is also an important feeder into downtown,
and I'm glad to see that we're collaborating
and getting the most we can out of the project.
So, just thank you for your work.
Yeah, I agree.
I think it's a good opportunity,
and I hope that we are successful in securing
the grant funding, assuming city council
also approves moving forward with the application
and would definitely like to see
the city council support this project.
I think it's a great example of collaboration
between Walnut Creek and the county,
which we have a lot of areas like that in Walnut Creek
with all of the kind of gaps in the unincorporated areas.
So it's nice to see that collaboration
and to think about the continuity
and the importance of connectivity.
And so, which I know we've commented on that in the past.
And so I appreciate seeing a project like this
that really thinks through connecting
all of these disparate issues that we have with our streets.
I would encourage staff to consider
how we can take an opportunity like this.
Again, assuming we are successful in getting the funding
to not only at the sidewalk,
but make the streets safer as a whole.
and just think through holistically how we design that,
whether it's narrowing the lanes
and if we could widen the sidewalk even more than five feet,
it doesn't look based off of a quick glance
at that concept plan.
It doesn't look like there is adequate width
for bike infrastructure, but that would also be welcome.
And maybe if that sidewalk could be a little bit wider,
it might be sort of like how on certain streets
in Walnut Creek.
We do allow for bikes to travel on sidewalks,
and especially for young people,
kids who are learning how to ride their bikes
and stuff like that.
Some of these streets are really unsafe
for them to be riding on.
And I do hope that members of the public
continue showing up for projects like this
that are where we are looking at making streets safer.
I think that's really one of the biggest issues
in Walnut Creek in terms of violent acts
that cause injury and sometimes death
of members of our community, so it's really important
and I think anything that we can do
to help improve safety, connect the sidewalks,
there are a lot of places throughout the city
where sidewalks just randomly end,
so I just hope that we continue on this path,
but I think it's a nice project,
it's a little bit overwhelming to see
how much of this tiny little piece costs
and how much more work we have to do,
but I will take any progress we can make.
I really like this project to install new sidewalk
because it would really help with safety.
And like I read in the emails,
people have been nervous to walk on San Miguel
and I'm excited to see the new sidewalk
and hopefully expand to other areas as well
for greater accessibility to downtown.
So thank you.
Awesome.
I'll just echo what Commissioner Kegel said.
Thank you for coming and speaking,
and everything you said makes sense.
I think in terms of the logistics of the staff,
this goes to, there's a project that the county
is already doing to connect here.
And we're just looking for funds to make it continuous.
And the point that I think everybody was making
is Walnut Creek is very unique is that we have donuts
and areas in this town.
Walnut Creek probably has like 120,000 in population
as unincorporated areas that have Walnut Creek in their name,
but citywide, we're only like 73,000.
So when we have an opportunity to make something continuous
and pedestrian safety,
the worst thing would be a sidewalk that dead ends there.
But I do think as we look towards the master plan,
we've heard comments about tonight about other areas
that we should start considering into that master plan.
and I would ask staff to pay attention to that.
Any other comments?
Awesome, so let's move to vote.
Can the secretary please call the roll?
I make a motion that we recommend moving forward
with application of this project to city council.
Is that the appropriate motion?
Sounds good, do we have a second?
I'll second.
Thanks, okay, now we'll call the roll.
Sorry, I jumped the gun there.
Okay, Commissioner Cagle?
Aye.
Youth Member Yal?
Commissioner Salcedo?
Aye.
Vice Chair Salcedo, sorry.
And Chair Asch?
Aye.
Okay, motion carries unanimously.
Sorry, so, gotta change my page on my script here.
At this time, I'd like to invite the commissioners
staff to provide their reports on activities and or any announcements.
Okay hold on one second. Wait I do have staff announcements yeah I um I wanted
to thank Commissioner Salcedo thank you so much for all of your time over the
last few years and we've done a lot I know we haven't met all the time but we
pushed out a huge plan that I think is transformative for the city and your
your feedback was really beneficial and super helpful,
and thank you for being an advocate, so thank you.
Yeah, I wanna echo that.
Thank you.
It was good to get to know you and work with you
over three and a half years, four years,
something like that,
and to do this where we started in little boxes
on our computer screens and have moved to in person,
and so I appreciate you asking some tough questions,
And particularly, I think you always favored a vision
for Zero Vision Zero.
Yeah, there we go.
Thank you.
I just knew I was there.
For Vision Zero and being an advocate for that,
so I appreciate you being tireless
and we know we will see you
as a good community steward going forward.
Okay.
I know there's other members of the public here,
so we can welcome in any additional public comment
on any other issue, you'll have two minutes to address, you have to fill out a comment
to keep within two minutes.
So actually I think a lot of the comments you just said previously are a nice segue into what I'm here to talk about,
Walnut Creek. I'm here to talk specifically about pedestrian and
bicyclists safely around Oak Grove Road, specifically near the intersection of
Ignacio Valley Road. So for starters, when I moved to Walnut Creek and to the
Woodlands neighborhood, which is where I live, I was shocked at the number of
children and teenagers who cross Ignacio Valley Road at Oak Grove Road each day
to go to school, whether that's kids going to Valley Verde Elementary or
Foothill Middle School and then Northgate. The insane speeds that cars
drive up Ignacio Valley Road, I know this is not shocking to any of you all,
make this a highly treacherous and very dangerous route for
anyone walking or attempting to ride a bike. It is downright risking your life. If
you have ever sat there at the crosswalk waiting to cross the road, you know that
you are just feet away from your life being taken. If a minor accident would send
cars creaming right into you, so it is a highly unsafe intersection for bikers
and for pedestrians. In time, I'd like to come back and talk to you guys about
building an overpass over Ignacio Valley Road. That's my big bold dream. I grew up
in an area of Wyoming where we had overpasses over dangerous roads like
Ignacio Valley, particularly when that many kids are crossing. But for tonight
I'm actually here to talk to you about the pedestrian crossing at Citrus and
Oak Grove Road, which is just a stone's throw away from Ignacio Valley. And if
you're familiar at all with that area, the orchards are on the other side so
there's lots of businesses and the Woodlands neighborhood are frequent
crossers of the citrus crosswalk there. If you are traveling down Oak Grove Road
from treat towards Ignacio Valley, the light at citrus represents the last
obstacle between you and Ignacio Valley. There is no right turn at that
intersection because the orchard's entrance is further up, so there's no
visual cue for drivers that they need to slow down or that there's any sort of
obstacle coming their way, right? All they're seeing in their their windshield
is the light at Ignacio Valley. They are often more focused on the status of that
light versus what's happening at the intersection at Citrus, and I don't have
to tell you this, but cars drive insanely fast down Oak Grove Road as well as
Ignacio Valley. So this becomes really dangerous for those of us who live in
the woodlands and are trying to cross Citrus because the push button to cross
the street on the orchard side is so close to speeding traffic it creates a
major safety issue for anyone with dogs on leashes, babies in strollers, kids
on bikes or even if you're just alone on a bike yourself. The push button is
actually on the traffic signal pole itself and in or and because of ADA
requirements we know that there's a ramp down so you are actually shot sort of
right into traffic. So your option is to either stretch yourself leave your kids
and family up at the pole or to put them within distance of speeding traffic. So I
gotta ask you to we're limited to the two minutes but if you want to follow
that up with a in writing I think there's some good comments and we are
limited in what we could say but I could say that I live in the Woodlands
neighborhood and actually I will ask staff to maybe go look at that cross
you've done this I've called you've done this you've done an assessment you
painted a white stripe I'm telling you that was highly ineffective you've come
back and told us that in fact it does meet requirements which I did look up
the requirements 1.5 to 5 feet from the curb which might work if you had a
normal turning intersection. You are 1.5. I went and measured it tonight 34 inches
away from speeding traffic. So if you get close enough to push that button, you're
34 inches away from people flying down Oak Grove Road. That is not enough space.
I'll say to staff I have little kids as everybody here knows and I know the the
spot you're talking about and I've grabbed kids with scooters from there
but we're I think yes yes sorry. I'll save my personal story. Staff can look at that and then maybe if you could put
some more of those details into now and submit that. Happy to put in the personal story two
times of nearly losing our life. It's a big issue. I appreciate your attention. Thank
you. Thank you. Okay. Anybody else with anything? Okay. I think we're actually, I
don't think we're allowed to take any more public comment but I did know that
that somebody knew had come in and so I do have to follow the agenda which
which actually we're done with officially, right?
Anything else on staff side?
Okay.
Okay, then I hereby adjourn the meeting at 6.35 p.m.
of the January 18th, 2024 regular transportation meeting.
The next regular meeting is scheduled
for January 21st at 2024, thanks.