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HomeMy Public PortalAbout03) 7A Selection of Design Options for Las Tunas Drive Safety Enhancement and Beautification ProjectCity Council December 27 , 2012 Page 2 Metropolitan Transportation Authority Call for Projects (2013 Call for Projects). 3 . On November 14, 2012, FTS conducted the first community meeting with about 200 attendees at Live Oak Park Community Center. Their presentation introduced possible streetscape elements and roadway configurations that could transform the thoroughfare into a downtown destination, while also providing a review of current challenges and market realities to be considered as the City pursues economic development opportunities along the corridor. The meeting concluded with an interactive workshop that solicited public response on the presented concepts . 4. On December 4, 2012, the City Council authorized funding consultant Avant- Garde to submit the Project for three grant applications through the 2013 Call for Projects . Given its objective to transform Las Tunas into a sophisticated , pedestrian friendly downtown, the Project has a likely chance to compete for up to $6 .5 million in federal, state and local transportation funds . The applications a re due January 18, 2013. 5 . On December 19, 2012, FTS conducted the second community meeting w ith roughly 100 attendees, again at Live Oak Park Community Center. FTS presented three streetscape scenarios for Las Tunas, developed based on input received at the first community meeting . The des ign concepts primarily focused on modifying road and parking configurations, as well as integrating multi-modal amenities required by City policy (i.e., recommendations identified in the Bicycle Master Plan , Downtown Parking Study and Traffic Calming Study). Like the first meeting, community membe rs concluded with an interactive exercise, submitting input on the three design options including gateway monuments and landscaping schemes. ANALYSIS: With the City currently pursuing an aggre ss ive program of community planning to situate Temple City for the next 50 years, the Las Tunas revitalization effort presents a key opportunity, addressing economic development, civic engagement and infrastructure renewal. While primarily involving physical improvements, the Project's addition of safety and beautification amenities will create an attractive environment that will ultimately draw visitors and community members to shop , dine and congregate locally-in effect promoting downtown businesses , elevating community prestige and increasing residents ' qual ity of life . The following discuss ion elaborates on the need for the Project, and FTS ' proposed design concepts that provide tangible opportunities for the corridor 's revitalization. City Council December 27, 2012 Page 3 Project Need Over the past few months, FTS along with City staff have collaboratively worked to review the current situation along Las Tunas (Attachments "A" and "B"). These activities involved market analyses, field studies and the review of best practices for similar types of revitalization projects . The following five key barriers have been identified that prevent Las Tunas from achieving the community's goal of transforming it into a thriving and multi-dimensional destination. Barrier 1 : Market and Property Mismatch The pattern of (and the market for) arteria l strip retail is well-saturated in Los Angeles area suburbs, with a high proportion of older properties underachieving in value where they are in less favored locations (i.e ., not next to a freeway or a high volume arterial intersection) or have problem formats (i.e ., properties too small, too deep, etc). Meanwhile, higher value retailers, always seeking locations with the highest visibility and access, have not only clustered at freeway or arterial interchanges, but have done so over recent decades in larger and more managed anchored formats -leaving behind older strips with multiple property ownerships to fill space at lower rents. Las Tunas has witnessed this apparent market shift over the past few decades with now very few retail anchors and no destination identity . There is also a mismatch between street and property formats along Las Tunas . The mismatch between the many small lot properties along the corridor and its wide road width (that encourages motorists going over the posted 30 mph limit) has persisted for the last 50 years. Many of these properties have older buildings in a storefront format built up to the sidewalk -too close to be easily visible by drivers with eyes on the road. They cannot market well to the road like the more car-visible and car-accessible "strip development" format of deeply set back buildings , a front parking lot and a tall illuminated pole sign . But converting the small existing properties to a strip format would entail one or more courses of selling out to an outside developer, of conversions being poorly perceived by the community, or requiring a questionably high level of re-investment for a small property owner given the low-strength market. With the statewide elimination of redevelopment agencies and tax increment financing, the City has lost a major tool to directly make change happen on private properties in concert with multiple property owners (e.g ., property assemblage). Barrier 2 : Piecemeal and Obsolete Planning The Gateway Center development underway at Las Tunas and Rosemead Boulevard will realize the City's last rema ining large retail opportunity site, tak ing advantage of current market realities and national retailer needs . While the adjacent Temple City Marketplace and Plaza shopping centers generate the City Council December 27, 2012 Page 4 highest sales and property tax revenues in the City's commercial areas, they also lack pedestrian linkages (e.g., crosswalks) that allow customers to traverse both centers from Las Tunas -thus presenting a possibly for even further retail leakage. Additionally, the sparse streetscape upon entering the City from San Gabriel creates a non-descript arrival that could deter potential national retailers from wanting to relocate to those centers as existing public improvements may not match their corporate brand and site selection criteria. As the City's other retail area, Las Tunas presents existing (and potentially hidden) assets and opportunities. In the case for its four-block downtown core from Cloverly to Golden West, the small-lot "Main Street" layout of contiguous, non-thriving storefronts (as exemplified by a high proportion of spaces occupied by offices and marginal uses taking advantage of relatively low rents) can easily conclude a mismatch between the properties and the arterial roadway format of Las Tunas. While Temple City and its neighboring towns-Arcadia, San Gabriel, Rosemead, Monterey Park-have plenty of strip retail, the Las Tunas downtown core holds a key opportunity (and layout) to become a true village setting with human scaling, street life and shared customers. These elements create the basis that typically starts with restaurants and cafes. By bringing in foot traffic and activity, they can eventually begin to support specialty or niche retail. Civic uses (which the downtown already has) add relevance and community orientation, and history adds a deeper meaning . Claremont Village is one example that has grown in place , whereas Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga is an example that was built-from-scratch by a develope r where no such settlement pattern previously existed. In both cases, such settings have positioned themselves to appeal to changing age, income and cultural demographics that used to expect to travel farther for village settings, but would welcome having them in their hometown or close nearby. Barrier 3 : No Reinvestment Catalyst Retooling Las Tunas to become a narrower street with more accommodating sidewalks and bikeways to support a walkable, more multi-modal setting will too address the street's past misfit with small parcelization and storefront buildings. Since Temple City is small, largely built-out and "landlocked" without immediate freeway proximity or a rail transit stop , enabling the corridor and its downtown core to compete as a walkable village destination positions the City for a niche market not availab le in towns immediately nearby. The City's ownersh ip and control of public streets (which can comprise 20% or more of all land in any given city) often makes it the largest single landowner. In a static condition of an older and underperforming strip corridor, many small property owners will "sit on the sidelines" and avoid the risk of leading with investment in their properties by themselves. However, they will more willingly follow the "icebreaking" lead of a larger entity instigating change, especially City Co uncil Dece mber 27 , 2012 Page 5 where neither substantive prfvate investment nor v isible change has occurred for years. Fi nally, the City's successful record of attaining grant funding for multi-modal street improvements positions it for more success ; this is the nature of competitive funding grants. Relevant funding programs for street investment today are those that grow from federal and state policies supporting sustainability, the reduction of greenhouse gases, trip reduction and multi-modal mobility. These elements make street investment a strong direction for a "leveraged" approach to funding, in contrast to the relative lack of funding and tools for government initiatives to directly aid and enable private investment. Barrier 4: No Brand, No Place Image While downtown revitalization may help increase revenue from sales and property tax , it often has an outsized effect in establishing a success image for the community, affecting desirability and property values as a whole . Since Las Tunas also includes major entrances to Temple City, as well as settings for its highest value retail cluster, its enhancement can similarly have a major influence on the City's leadership and place image. From a messaging and branding standpoint, there is a market-based validation of sustainability and the availability of multi-modal transportation, which together have been targeted as appealing values in rea l estate . These values are also allied with the awareness and preferences of "knowledge workers" and millennial-generation households linked with innovative and driving industries in the Los Angeles region . Those households are made up of individuals and families with good jobs who are already seeking the desirable schools and high quality of life that Temple City has to offer. It is another component of leveraging the value of street investment and funding sources that the Project can bring. Barrier 5: Lack of Safety and Aesthetic Amenities An integral part of revitaliz i ng a downtown is creating attractions and providing amenities that wou ld draw community members and visitors to discover and enjoy local businesses. While Las Tunas with its contiguous storefronts has great potential to become a vibrant pedestrian activity center, the existing street setting is neither conducive to nor inviting of pedestrian activity. As such , improvements will be necessary to foster a lively, "village" environment that is appealing, walkable and accessible. Currently, the lengths of crosswalk crossings vary from 70' to more than 11 0' curb-to-curb. At wider intersections, slower-walking seniors and those with disabilities are often unable to cross completely before the signal turns red. Meanwhile, long distances between marked crosswalks pose a barrier that prevents visitors from fully enjoying the diversity of downtown businesses-as City Council December 27, 2012 Page 6 customers parked on one side of the street are not likely to visit businesses on the other side. Notable instances include those segments between Muscatel and Rosemead Boulevard (1 000'), Sultana and Rosemead Boulevard (630 '), Sultana and Lorna (600'), and Golden West and Baldwin (1 ,240 '). While one possible safety measure to address this issue is to extend pedestrian cross times, doing so has the effect of reducing green time for through-traffic on Las Tunas, creating traffic delays and perceptions of inconvenience among drivers. A solution is to add mid-block crossings and corner "bulb-outs" that would function to shorten both distances between and distances of crosswalks , making it easier for pedestrians to cross. Furthermore, beautification efforts would also work toward enhancing the pedestrian experience along Las Tunas . Along the corridor's approximate 7,570-foot length , sidewalks are mostly treeless. The section with trees-the 4,000-foot stretch between Lorna and Kauffman-consist of mature ficus trees that are pruned vertically such that they provide little canopy and offer minimal shade relief to pedestrians. In addition to creating an inviting destination, another component of a downtown revitalization is improving access, whether by automobile, foot, bicycle or transit. In 2011, as the City was developing its now-adopted Bicycle Master Plan, community surveys identified Las Tunas as the second-highest requested street corridor for bike lanes. Adding cycling facilities on Las Tunas would not only be in alignment with community demand, but also in accordance with state law. The Complete Streets Act of 2008 (AB 1358) requires that cities consider multiple modes of transportation in mobility planning, rather than catering only to automobiles . Proposed Design Options (or Alternatives) With the aforementioned constraints in mind and based on community input, FTS prepared three design options for corridor revitalization . Summarized below, each option presents various degrees of transformative change. Although the options did share some common improvements, the specific differences are focused on the Downtown Core (i.e., Cloverly to Golden West) with lesser effects to the Midtown (i.e ., Sultana to Cloverly) and Eastern Gateway (i.e ., Golden West to Arcadia city limits) segments. Option 1: Four lanes of traffic; angled and parallel parking in the Downtown Core This design option, summarized by Attachment "C", proposes tour lanes of traffic through the corridor's Midtown, Downtown Core and Eastern Gateway segments (i.e., from Sultana to Arcadia city limits). The two eastbound lanes are retained due to the eastbound flow of evening peak commute traffic on Las Tunas, and thus would not be affected . The center turn lane would also be retained . The westbound lane would be reduced from two to one, in view of slightly lower City Council December 27 , 2012 Page 7 westbound morning peak commute traffic volumes (i.e., lower business activity along Las Tunas was observed during the AM commute peak; many corridor businesses do not open earlier than 9 a.m ., and some later). Preliminary traffic analyses indicate that with the enhanced green signal times derived from shorter pedestrian crossings and other enhancements, the current peak hour traffic flow will be accommodated well by the single lane. This option also configures street parking in the Downtown Core as conventional parallel parking along the north side of the street, and as 45-degree back-in angle parking on the south side.1 In addition, the proposed downtown angle parking is set up with trees between parked cars and special paving so that it functions as a flexible parking or dining zone, where businesses may opt to apply to the City for use of the parking space as outdoor dining (functioning to add street life and visually advertise downtown activity to passing cars). This type of configuration has been in successful use in downtown Mountain View since 1989, and more recently in downtown Livermore since 2006 -in both cases, this configuration has been instrumental in their downtown revitalizations. For the north side of the street, should businesses also want to add outdoor dining, the insertion of a "park let" platform in place of a parked car could be employed. This approach has been successfully applied in San Francisco and numerous other west coast cities and towns within the last few years; it does require an additional and separate construction cost for the removable platform and planter barriers. Implementation of this approach in the Downtown Core is estimated to result in a net increase of three parking spaces -essentially similar to the number of downtown curbside parking spaces today. While this approach provides a compromise between a degree of placemaking change and maintaining two lanes of eastbound traffic flow, it should be noted that its transformative effect may also be somewhat diluted. Option 2: Four lanes of traffic; parallel parking in the Downtown Core This design option proposes the same traffic configuration as Option 1, but designates street parking in the Downtown Core as two 13-foot wide parallel- parked flexible parking/dining zones with trees set between parked cars on both 1 Options 1 and 3 configure angled parking as "back-in", which is the only type of angled parking that is safe to combine with bicycle lanes. The conflict of the rear back -out movement of conventional head -in angled parking with bicycle lanes would produce unacceptable safety conflicts. There are multiple other safety reasons supporting the use of back-in angled parking such as keeping passenger and goods loading towards the sidewalk and away from the street. The presence of the adjacent bicycle lane also provides additional room to make the back-up maneuver, which is actually simpler than the back-up maneuver for the existing parallel parking configuration on Las Tunas today. There would be a "learning curve" issue, but an increasing number of cities across the U.S . are adopting back-in angled parking as a safer standard, including the City of Seattle, WA which uses it throughout all of its urban and suburban neighborhoods. City Council December 27, 2012 Pag e 8 sides of the street (Attachment "D"). Zones of these widths would enable easy parallel parking maneuvers, create comfortable outdoor dining settings and maintain the symmetry of the street (and same opportunities for businesses on both sides) -as well as avoiding the implementation of angled parking. Nevertheless, this alternative results in a net loss of approximately 42 parking spaces, creating an economic deterrent and conflicting with the existing parking deficits noted in the City's Downtown Parking Study. Option 3: Three lanes of traffic; angled parking in the Downtown Core This design option proposes three lanes in the Downtown Core and to a portion of the Midtown segment (i.e ., starting at or to Encinita), due to the need for traffic movement transitions (Attachment "E"). The three lanes (i.e ., one lane in each direction and a left turn lane) create a very short pedestrian crossing of only 40', and completely changes the character of the Downtown Core to be more dominated by pedestrian space than moving vehicle lanes; it also enables angled parking on both sides of the street, configured as flexible zones previously described (thus netting an increase of 27 parking spaces). Bulb-out areas at corners would also be of substantial size, enabling s ignificant green spaces and small gathering plazas . This design option creates the greatest transformative effect for the Downtown Core as it supports a more intimate , walkable village main street not found in Temple City or neighboring cities -while also making the Downtown Core a new regional desti nation. The single lanes of traffic in each direction have again been analyzed to move approximately the same peak traffic volumes . Improvements Proposed for All Options Contrary to the incremental differences between each of the design options, they also propose the same common improvements , which are summarized below. • All existing crosswalks are to receive corner bulb-out extensions into Las Tunas (but generally not onto side streets), to shorten crosswalk distances and make waiting pedestrians more visible to drivers. Shorter crossing distances also mean long er green time for Las Tunas drivers , in conjunction with re-evaluated signal timing (identified in each of the design options). • New mid-block crossings (without the cost and delay of full-signalized intersections) are proposed at four locations to break up long lengths of blocks without crosswalks . In the Western Gateway and Midtown segments , the new crossings will utilize existing or new medians that enable flashing lights to achieve safe crosswalk locations . At the Eastern Gateway, new "pedestrian refuge" medians will trade off two left-turn pockets -at Agnes and Rowland -to enable a crosswalk at each of those intersections. City Co uncil Dece mber 27, 2012 Page 9 • Lane widths will be narrowed to the minimum standard of 1 0', which is sti ll adequate for large vehicles and buses . Reducing the widths will allow for proposed multi-modal amenities, while also creating a safety opportun ity for motorists to stow down . • The center turn lane will be preserved in all design options with the existing exception of landscaped medians in the Western Gateway segment and new minor exceptions for landscaped medians in the Eastern Gateway segment. • As was done with the Rosemead Bou levard Enhancement Project, all bus stops will be re-positioned (where possible) to the far side of the intersection to enhance traffic flow. At the Temple City/Las Tunas intersection in particular, a "queue jump" lane will be provided to allow buses to get through the intersection faster. • All proposed options add two Class II bicycle lanes (striped lanes) along the corridor, thereby implementing recommendations of the City's recently approved Bicycle Master Plan. • Existing ficus trees will be rep lac ed with a continuous canopy of deciduous trees . Ficus trees are no longer favored as a street tree species in Southern California due to their destructive root system and unavoidable buckling of sidewalks and street paving . The replacement tree sp ecies will be selected for its tolerance of urban conditions, lower water demand, less-dense foliage habit, and ability to provide shade for pedestrians while also promoting business sign visibility. • The design options incorporate architectural gateway features at the Western and Eastern Gateway segments as an identity-enhancing opportunity and strategy. These features will also repeat the same architectural theme with smaller elements in the Downtown Core. CONCLUSION: The analyses and design options contained in this memorandum address both the City and commun it y's goal to transform Las Tunas into a vibrant <;jowntown and reg ional destination. Tonight's requested action for the Council to select a design option will move the Project toward realizat ion, allowing staff to prepare a grant application for construction funding under the 2013 Call for Projects. City Council December 27 , 2012 Page 10 FISCAL IMPACT: The Council's selection of a design option will have no immediate impact to the adopted FY 2012-13 City Budget. However, if the Council does not approve a design option or if the Project is temporarily postponed, the City could lose a timely and favorable comprehensive funding opportunity upwards of $6.5 million for construction costs. ATTACHMENTS: A. Summary Display: Existing Conditions B. Summary Matrix: Existing Conditions C. Summary Matrix: Design/Alternative Option 1 D . Summary Matrix: Design/Alternative Option 2 E. Summary Matrix: Design/Alternative Option 3