Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout06 CEDAR GROVE PKG 09-05-00 NO. 6 09-05-00 AG E N DA REPORT MEETING DATE: SEPTEMBER 5, 2000 TO: FROM: SUBJECT: WILLIAM A. HUSTON, CITY MANAGER PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT/ENGINEERING DIVISION CEDAR GROVE PARK STATUS OF ON-SITE PARKING SUMMARY Based upon recent parking observations at Cedar Grove Park it has been determined that on-site parking demands on weekends are currently exceeding the number of available parking spaces. It is recommended that the City's Parks and Recreation Commission identify and evaluate alternatives for providing additional parking for this park. RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the City Council refer this item to the City's Parks and Recreation Commission to identify and evaluate alternatives for providing additional parking for Cedar Grove Park. FISCAL IMPACT Six alternatives for providing additional parking for Cedar Grove Park and their associated costs have been identified in the staff report. The attached matrix on Page 2 of this report illustrates the alternatives, costs, benefits (number of parking spaces provided) and constraints to implementation. Funds from the City's Park Development Fund are available and will be utilized for the selected improvement. DISCUSSION At the May 15, 2000; City Council meeting the Council expressed concern that current parking demands at Cedar Grove Park were not being accommodated within the existing on-site parking lot. Subsequently, the Engineering Division observed the parking lot at various times of the day between May 16, 2000 and May 21, 2000. Based upon staff's observations it is determined that there are times during the weekends when the parking lot is full and vehicles were observed searching for additional parking. A copy of the parking survey is attached for information. The City Council considered this item at their August 7, 2000 meeting and formally approved Alternative No. 4 for implementation. However, at their meeting of August 21, 2000, the Council recommended this item be referred to the City's Parks and Recreation Commission for further evaluation and recommendation of parking alternatives. In an effort to provide additional parking for Cedar Grove Park, staff has identified and evaluated the following six-alternatives: Cedar Grove Park Status of O,,-Site Parking September 5, 2000 Page 2 CEDAR GROVE PARK PARKING MATRIX July 31, 2000 ALTERNATIVE ESTIMATED COSTS ADDITIONAL CONSTRAINTS PARKING SPACES No. 1: Expansion of $175,000.00 23 1. Loss of Existing Existing Parking Lot Landscaping (EXHIBIT A) No. 2: On-Street Parking $1,800.00 8 1. Sight Distance Concerns on Pioneer Road 2. Removal of Bike Lanes (EXHIBIT B) 3. Insufficient Number of Parking Spaces 4. BicycleNehicle Conflicts No. 3: Parking Bay on $105,000.00 13 1. BicycleNehicle Conflicts Pioneer Road 2. Insufficient Number of (EXHIBIT C) Parking Spaces No. 4: Parking Lot $195,000.00 31 1. Loss of Open Space Park Land Improvements (EXHIBIT D) No. 5: Directional Signs $2,500.00 145 1. Facilities Use Permit to Alternate Sites Processing Through School District 2. Inconvenient Access to Park No. 6: Off-Site $155,000.00 30 1. Safety concerns with Parking Lot Pedestrians Crossing (EXHIBIT E) Pioneer Road 2. Inconvenient Access to Park Pioneer Road 3. Impacts to Adjacent Residents Cedar Grove Park Status of On-Site Parking September 5, 2000 Page 3 Alternative 1: Expand the existing parking lot. Alternative 2: Open Pioneer Road to on-street parking. Alternative 3: Install an on-street parking bay on Pioneer Road. Alternative 4: Install additional parking lot at the park site. Alternative 5: Install directional signs to alternate parking sites. Alternative 6: Install a parking lot at the City Maintenance Facility on Pioneer Road. EVALUATION Each of the alternatives has been evaluated for the number of app[oximate spaces that could be provided and the costs to implement the alternatives. Constraints to implementation and compliance with standard requirements have also been identified. Based upon existing park usage and amenities it is estimated that approximately 65-parking spaces are needed to accommodate parking at Cedar Grove Park. The park currently has 44-parking spaces on-site. Alternative No. 1: Expansion of Existing Parking Lot This alternative would re-construct the existing parking lot to allow one-way circulation and expand the lot into the landscape area toward Pioneer Road, thereby retaining the existing park land area. The reconfiguration and parking lot expansion would add 23-Parking spaces in the general area of the existing parking lot. Expansion and reconfiguration of the existing parking lot would cost approximately $175,000.00 including design, construction, and utility modifications. Attached Exhibit "A" shows the expanded and reconfigured parking lot. Construction of this expansion would include a concrete pedestrian walkway through the south end of the park site from the public sidewalk area near the intersection of Pioneer Road/Pioneer Way to the restroom area within the park. This alternative will result in a loss of landscaping between the existing parking lot and Pioneer Road, near the southwest corner of the park. This alternative would retain the existing roadway features and functions of Pioneer Road. It retains the existing park land area and provides convenient access to the park. It also results in providing a total of 67-parking spaces, which is estimated to be adequate to accommodate parking demand at this park. Alternative 2: On-street Parking on Pioneer Road This alternative proposes to install on-street parking on the park side of Pioneer Road adjacent to the park. Pioneer Road in the area of Cedar Grove Park is constructed as a curvilinear roadway with the park and the park access located along the inside of the roadway curvature. A vicinity map (Exhibit "B") has been included that indicates the location of the park in relation to other land uses and roadways in the area. The current speed limit on Pioneer Road near the park is 35 MPH. Based upon standard requirements for adequate sight distance at driveways, approximately 500-feet of clear unobstructed roadway located north-east of the park driveway is needed to provide sufficient visibility to access Pioneer Road from the parking lot. An additional 150-feet of clear sight distance is required along Pioneer Road east of the park driveway to meet standard requirements for access. Compliance with these standards would open Pioneer Road to parking along the park site in an area outside of the sight distance requirements and would provide approximately 8-parking spaces near Pioneer Way. Cedar Grove Park Status of On-Site Parking September 5, 2000 Page 4 To provide on-street parking, street signs would need to be changed and on-street striping would need to be modified. Existing bicycle lanes on Pioneer Road would need to be removed and the City's General Plan Bikeway Plan would need to be modified. The costs for these changes are approximately $1,800.00. The removal of existing bike lanes would cause a discontinuity in the City's Bikeway Plan along Pioneer Road and result in bicyclists having to compete with vehicular traffic for traveled way. Bike lanes in this area provide direct access to the nearby schools as well as to the park and serve as a key transportation feature for the adjacent residential developments. This alternative would require the installation of on-street parking prohibitions needed to provide adequate sight distance at the park driveway and would cause the disruption of the existing bike lanes on Pioneer Road. Furthermore, the installation of 8-additional parking spaces would not be enough to accommodate the weekend demand. Alternative No. 3: On-street Parking Bay on Pioneer Road This alternative would provide for installation of a parking bay on the park side of Pioneer Road. Due to sight distance requirements at the park driveway and the curvature of Pioneer Road, the parking bay would need to be located between Pioneer Way and the park driveway. The parking bay would provide for 13-additional parking spaces as shown in Exhibit "C". The cost to install the parking bay is approximately $105,000.00, including design, construction, and utility relocation and re-installation of the public sidewalk. The on-street bicycle lanes would be retained with this alternative. However, bicyclists would need to be cognizant of drivers opening doors into the bike lanes and negotiating turning movements across the bike lanes to access the parking bay. This alternative would result in conflicts of vehicles utilizing the parking bay with bicyclists riding adjacent to those vehicles. Also, 13-additional parking spaces will not be sufficient to accommodate the weekend demand. Alternative No. 4: On-site Parking Lot Improvements: This alternative provides for an additional parking area to be constructed within the park site. The installation of an additional parking facility within the park would provide for an additional 31- spaces as shown in Exhibit "D". The additional parking lot would cost approximately $195,000.00, including design, construction, and utility modifications. This alternative retains the existing roadway conditions on Pioneer Road. This alternative results in a loss of existing park land to implement the on-site parking lot. This alternative would result in the loss of open space park land and play area within the park. Cedar Grove Park Status of On-Site Parki.ng September 5, 2000 Page 5 Alternative No.. 5: Directional Siqnage to Alternative Parking Sites This alternative provides for the installation of directional signs within the Cedar Grove Park parking lot and at various locations on Pioneer Road directing vehicles to additional parking at Pioneer Middle School and Peters Canyon Elementary School. This alternative will require the City to acquire a no fee Facilities Use Permit from the Tustin Unified School District to accommodate Cedar Grove Park overflow parking at the school locations. Both schools are adjacent to or fairly close to the County Regional Trail system that traverses through Cedar Grove Park. There are currently 78-parking spaces at Peters Canyon Elementary School, of which 19 are adjacent to the Regional Trail. Visitors to the park that park here would have to walk approximately 400-feet to access the park. There are 67-parking spaces at Pioneer Middle School located near the corner of Pioneer Road and Pioneer Way. Visitors to the park that park here would have to walk approximately 300-feet to access the park. This alternative would provide for more than sufficient parking but. would require a hike to access the park, via the Regional Trail. Costs to procure and install directional signage are estimated at $2,500.00. This alternative does require park users to walk substantial distances to access the park. Due to this inconvenience, usage of these off-site parking facilities is not anticipated to be high. Alternative No. 6: Off-site Parking Lot This alternative would provide for 30-additional parking spaces located within the City's Maintenance Yard on Pioneer Road across the street from Cedar Grove Park as shown on attached Exhibit "E". This would require the installation of a parking lot to be constructed within the City's Maintenance Facility located adjacent to and northeast of the existing Fire Station. The parking lot would be available on weekends, holidays and during special events and would be signed appropriately. This off-site parking facility would consist of asphalt concrete paving and striping and cost approximately $155,000.00, including design and construction. Lighting is not planned for this parking facility due to impacts to the adjacent single-family residential properties. Construction would also include a concrete walkway through the south end of the park site from the public sidewalk area near the intersection of Pioneer Road/Pioneer Way to the restroom area within the park. Pedestrians using this off-site parking facility would be required to walk to the intersection of Pioneer Road/Pioneer Way to cross Pioneer Road. Since this improvement would be located off-site from the park there would not be any loss of park land with this alternative. However, there are safety concerns with pedestrians randomly crossing Pioneer Road. Pedestrians would be directed by signs to cross at the Pioneer Road/Pioneer Way intersection. However, there would still be safety concerns since it would be more convenient for pedestrians to cross Pioneer Road directly across from the parking lot driveway than walk out of their way to cross at the intersection. Since this lot was intended for use by the City's Field Services Division as a maintenance and landscape storage lot there would be impacts due to the loss of this use. There would be additional impacts to the City's Field Service Division, since this area would need to be cleared and maintained on a weekly basis to. provide use of the striped parking spaces on weekends, holidays and during special events. Cedar Grove Park Status of On-Site Parking September 5, 2000 Page 6 This alternative results in safety concerns of possible conflicts of vehicles and pedestrians randomly crossing Pioneer Road from the parking facility to the park site. There would also be impacts to the Field Services Division in loss of use of this facility. The adjacent single-family residences will be impacted with additional noise when this parking lot is utilized. CONCLUSION The attached matrix on Page 2 of this report illustrates the Alternatives, costs of installation, benefits (number of parking spaces) and constraints to implementation. The Parks and Recreation Commission is encouraged to identify and explore'additional alternatives. Tim D. Serlet "-- ' Director of Public Works/City Engineer TS:DA:cc:Cedar Grove Park status of parking revised.doc DouglaC'R. Anderson Senior Project Manager- Transportation 0 rr n,, to ~, e... > > ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ ~ ~ 0 > ~ ~ ~ 0 ~ 0 · . ~ 0 I.!.1 T X © i X Ill O. Z / N3C~,¥H r./D Z ~ Z >- z 0 0 / / LU 0 Z Z FRICKER AVE PIONEER IL! 0 D Z LL] b X LU 0 z ,,< Z Z I--. z < q,',',9 ~ z FRICK Z PIONEER