HomeMy WebLinkAboutRPT 3 TRAFFIC STUDY 05-06-91t
-)ATE. APRIL 23, 1991
TO: WILLIAM A. HUSTON, CITY MANAGER
FROM: PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT/ENGINEERING DIVISION
REPORTS NO. 3
5-6-91
SUBJECT: TRAFFIC STUDY - NEWPORT AVENUE AT EL CAMINO WAY/I-5 NORTHBOUND
ON RAMP
RECOMMENDATION
Approve the implementation of striping changes shown in attached
traffic study as Exhibit 2 and recommend future monitoring of
impacted areas on Newport Avenue.
BACKGROUND
The City Council at their April 1, 1991 Council meeting requested
the Engineering Department to conduct a traffic study on Newport
Avenue in the vicinity of E1 Camino Way/I-5 northbound on ramp, in
particular, the northbound left turning movement onto- the I-5
northbound on ramp.
Traffic congestion in the area has increased since Caltrans closed
the on and off ramps to the I-5 freeway on Red Hill Avenue.
Traf f is entering the I-5 northbound or exiting southbound have been
diverted to Newport Avenue.
The major congestion being experienced is caused by the above
diversion and the lack of adequate storage for the northbound left
turn pocket on Newport Avenue at El Camino Way.
The existing northbound left turning vehicles on Newport Avenue
must oppose southbound through movements as well as the free right
turn onto the freeway via E1 Camino Way. Insufficient vehicular
gaps cause the left turn pocket to back up into the northbound
through lane. During peak periods, this backup can extend as far
south as Mitchell Avenue.
DISCUSSION
The attached Traffic Study prepared by BSI Consultants analyzed
four alternatives on Newport Avenue. These alternatives analyzed
the following:
1A. Striping changes to provide two westbound lanes on E1 Camino
Way and shorten the southbound left turn pocket on Newport
Avenue at Nisson Road.
1B. Proposed the same striping changes as lA with the exception of
eliminating the southbound left turn movement on Newport
Avenue at Nisson Road altogether.
2. Installation of stop signs for northbound left turns onto E1
Camino Way as well as southbound Newport Avenue traffic.
3. Installation of a temporary traffic signal at the intersection
of Newport Avenue and El Camino Way/I-5 northbound on ramp.
4. Using Tustin City Police during peak congested periods.
Accident history, traffic volumes, turning movement, counts, and
intersection spacing were used in the analysis of all four
alternatives.
The results of the Traffic Study showed that Alternatives 2 and 3
(the installation of stop signs or a traffic signal) would not be
desired. In fact, these two alternatives would increase congestion
at the Nisson Road and/or El Camino Real intersections.
The Tustin City Police is continuing to monitor this area. Their
presence helps to deter illegal traffic movements that cause grid-
lock at the intersection of Newport Avenue and Nisson Road.
However, other duties prevent the Police Department from monitoring
this area during every peak hour.
Alternative lA (proposed striping changes) is recommendbd 'at this
time because of the minimal cost to the City and also the minimal
-- time needed to implement the changes. The City of Tustin
Engineering Department would request Caltrans to make these changes
as part of their I-5 widening project traffic mitigation measures.
Alternative 1B the elimination of the southbound left turn movement
at Nisson Road could be explored further if congestion remains a
problem.
The following are the anticipated opening dates for the I-5 freeway
ramps at Red Hill Avenue:
N/B On Ramp from Red Hill Avenue October -November 1991
S/B Off Ramp to Red Hill Avenue October -November 1991
S/B On Ramp from Red Hill Avenue March -April 1992
N/B Off Ramp to Red Hill Avenue March -April 1992
The reopening of the Red Hill Avenue on and off ramps will
eliminate much of the congestion currently being experienced on
Newport Avenue. The recommended striping changes will continue to
shorten the delay of motorists wishing to make the left turn from
Newport Avenue onto the I-5 northbound freeway.
Robert S. Ledendecker
Director of Public Works/
City Engineer
BL:lmh:Study
Sandra L. Doubleday
Engineering Consultant
NEWPORT AVENUE
AT INTERSECTIONS OF
NISSON ROAD (I-5 S/B OFF -RAMP),
EL CAMINO WAY (I-5 N/B ON-RAMP), AND
EL CAMINO REAL
INTERIM ALTERNATIVES TRAFFIC CONTROL STUDY
Submitted to:
THE CITY OF TUSTIN
Prepared by:
BSI CONSULTANTS, INC.
2001 EAST FIRST STREET
SANTA ANA, CA 92705
April 29, 1991
Introduction
The State of California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS) has an on-going
widening project along Interstate 5 which includes the modification at the on and off ramps
to Jamboree Avenue, Tustin Ranch Road, Newport Avenue, Red Hill Avenue, and also the
junction with Costa Mesa Freeway (55).
At the present time CALTRANS has the on and off -ramps closed on I-5 at Red Hill
Avenue. This has diverted traffic which had been destined to / from the ramps at Red Hill
Avenue to Newport Avenue. These diversions are described below.
The traffic that used to enter the northbound on-ramp at Red Hill Avenue now travels
westbound along El Camino Real, makes a left turn at Newport Avenue, and then a right
turn onto El Camino Way/I-5 N/B on-ramp. Traffic has also rerouted to westbound Nisson
Road from Red Hill Avenue making it necessary to turn right onto Newport Avenue and
then make a very short left onto El Camino Way/I-5 NB on-ramp.
The traffic that used to exit the southbound I-5 freeway at Red Hill Avenue now exits at the
SB off ramp at Newport Avenue and travels east to Red Hill Avenue via El Camino Real,
Nisson Road or Mitchell Avenue.
The major congestion caused by the above diversions is being exasperated by the insufficient
length of storage for the northbound left turn pocket on Newport Avenue at El Camino
Way/I-5 NB on-ramp, versus the southbound Newport Avenue through movements and free
right turns onto the southbound I-5 freeway via El Camino Way.
Existing signing and striping on Newport Avenue between El Camino Real and Nisson
Road/I-5 southbound off -ramp have been shown in Exhibit 1. There is also an existing bus
stop located along the west side of Newport Avenue between El Camino Real and El
Camino Way.
In an effort to mitigate some of the severe congestion on Newport Avenue at the I-5
northbound ramp/El Camino Way due to the current Caltrans construction, four interim
alternative traffic control strategies have been analyzed.
The first alternative examined the possibility of restriping Newport Avenue and El Camino
Way in order to increase the capacity of the northbound left turn lane and the southbound
right turn lane off of Newport Avenue at El Camino Way. Two variations have been
developed. Alternative 1A will provide for two westbound lanes on El Camino Way (See
Exhibit 2). Alternative 1B (Exhibit 3) includes the striping changes on El Camino Way from
Alternative 1A and also eliminates the southbound left turn movement from Newport
Avenue to Nisson Road in order to maximize the storage capacity for the Newport Avenue
northbound left turn pocket to El Camino Way. The striping changes made in Alterative 1A
are considered important and was used in analyzing the second and third alternatives.
The second alternative involved analyzing the installation of stop signs for northbound left
turns onto El Camino Way as well as for southbound traffic on Newport Avenue (See
Exhibit 4). The third alternative (Exhibit 5) focused on installing a temporary traffic signal
at the intersection of Newport Avenue and El Camino Way/I-5 NB on-ramp. The fourth
and last alternative analyzed the utilization of the Tustin City Police Department for traffic
congestion control during peak periods.
Alternative lA - STRIPING "A"
That portion of El Camino Way adjacent to the I-5 NB on-ramp has adequate width to be
striped for three lanes. This is shown in Exhibit 2. The new striping will have 2 lanes
westbound and one lane eastbound.
The existing eastbound left turn movement at the intersection of El Camino Way and
Newport Avenue will be eliminated, since there is very minimal use for it. Motorists can
easily find other alternatives to substitute for this movement. The eastbound El Camino
Way movement will be limited to Right Turn Only to reduce conflicts with Newport
Avenue northbound left turns onto El Camino Way. Future plans in conjunction with the
Caltrans I-5/SR55 construction call for the elimination of all eastbound movements on this
portion of El Camino Way when it will be cul-de-saced at the I-5 NB on-ramp.
Implementation of the above striping modifications will facilitate Newport Avenue
southbound right turn traffic and northbound left turn traffic to occur concurrently providing
no motorists are traveling in the southbound direction at the same time. This will help to
reduce the delay for the Newport Avenue northbound left turns. This decrease in delay will
also help to decrease the congestion at the intersection of Nisson Road and Newport
Avenue.
At the same time the length of the Newport Avenue northbound left turn pocket to the I-5
northbound ramp can be increased in order to help keep clear the northbound through
travel lanes. This will in turn reduce the length of the Newport Avenue southbound left turn
pocket for access onto Nisson Road. Possible backup from southbound left turning vehicles
could be eliminated by introducing Alternative 1B.
Striping alternative 1A will cost approximately $3,000. This cost estimate includes removal
of existing conflicting striping as well as the installation of new striping and signing. Based
upon discussions with Caltrans staff, the proposed new striping would be handled including
the cost by CALTRANS.
2
Alternative 1B - STRIPING "B"
In addition to what was presented in Alternative 1A, Alternative 1B calls for the Newport
Avenue southbound left turn movement at Nisson Road to be eliminated. By this
elimination, the length of the left turn pocket for the Newport Avenue northbound traffic
to the I-5 NB on-ramp will be maximized. This is shown in Exhibit 3.
The most recent traffic turning movement counts indicate that there are approximately 155
vehicles turning left, south to east at Newport Avenue and Nisson Road during P.M. peak
hour which is the most congested time of the day. These vehicles can substitute the above
eliminated movement by traveling 1300 ft. south and make a left turn at Mitchell Avenue.
Mitchell Avenue is a two lane roadway with average daily traffic of approximately 6,700.
The most recent traffic counts indicate that eastbound carries up to 3,000 vehicles per day,
or approximately 300 vehicles during the P.M. peak hour. The above additional 155 cars
are not expected to have a significant impact on Mitchell Avenue.
This new detour would cause up to 2 minutes delay for those residents who live along Nisson
Road, and would have to travel a longer distance to their destinations. At the same time
this eliminated movement would reduce the overall delay at the intersections of Newport
Avenue with Nisson Road and also El Camino Way.
The traffic signal at the intersection of Newport Avenue and Mitchell Avenue was recently
(April 18, 1991) modified to include separate northbound and southbound left turn phasing.
It should be noted that storage for the southbound left turn pocket at Mitchell Avenue is
only adequate for three cars. If the City desires to approve this alternative, some median
island modification will need to take place to increase the storage area (double the length)
in order to have sufficient room to store the above 155 extra vehicles during P.M. peak.
The cost estimate to provide the above sufficient storage length is approximately $25,000
which includes design, administration, and construction. This cost estimate includes the
necessary modifications to the raised median island on Newport Avenue and Mitchell
Avenue. In addition, implemnetation of the striping changes on Newport Avenue between
Nisson Road/I-5 Southbound Ramp and El Camino Resal is estimated at $3,500. This cost
includes removal of existing conflicting striping as well as the installation of new striping and
signing.
3
Alternative 2 - STOP SIGNS
Newport Avenue and El Camino Way currently form a three legged intersection which at
present has only the eastbound direction controlled by a stop sign.
Alternative 2 considers the installation of stop signs (see Exhibit 4) for southbound traffic
on Newport Avenue as well as the Newport Avenue northbound left turn movements.
Implementation of this Alternative would cause a large amount of delay for both the north
and southbound directions of traffic on Newport Avenue. Installation of a stop sign for the
Newport Avenue northbound left turns would be difficult to do without potentially
interfering with the northbound through traffic movement.
Installation of such stop control could potentially create rear -end type accidents, since it is
only 400 feet south of the signalized intersection at El Camino Real, and even closer (220
feet) from the intersection of Nisson Road. At the present time traffic backs up from El
Camino Way on Newport Avenue in the northbound direction approximately to Walnut
Avenue during the AM and PM peak hours. By implementing this alternative, the
congestion at El Camino Way and Nisson Road would not decrease but have the potential
to get much worse for the southbound direction on Newport Avenue. Since Newport
Avenue carries approximately 30,000 vehicles per day the installation of stop signs at El
Camino Way is not recommended.
4
Alternative 3 - TRAFFIC SIGNAL
A Traffic signal could be installed at the intersection of Newport Avenue and El Camino
Way/I-5 northbound on-ramp. This temporary signal (will be required for approximately less
than 1 year) has an estimated cost of $100,000. See Exhibit 5. This cost includes design,
administration, and construction estimates.
The proposed traffic signal must be coordinated with the intersections of El Camino Real
and Nisson Road. The traffic signal would also have a constant green indication for
northbound Newport Avenue traffic. Coordination will be required between El Camino
Real westbound left turns at Newport Avenue and Newport Avenue southbound right turns
onto the I-5 freeway on-ramp via El Camino Way. Coordination would also be required for
traffic entering at Nisson Road who wish to make a left turn onto the I-5 N/B freeway on-
ramp from northbound Newport Avenue.
Traffic turning movement counts during the P.M. peak for all the above intersections were
collected. Two time -space diagrams' were created for the three traffic signals along
Newport Avenue (El Camino Real, El Camino Way, and Nisson Road). One time -space
diagram favored timing on Newport Avenue and the other diagram favored northbound left
turns onto El Camino Way. Please see Exhibits 6,7,and 8.
Both time -space diagrams indicate that in order to clear the north to west turning traffic
on Newport Avenue at El Camino Way, the southbound traffic on Newport Avenue will be
interrupted, causing a back up through El Camino Real.
Due to this analysis, a traffic signal at this location is not recommended.
'On an arterial, or on a route through a network, the basic objective is generally to "keep the vehicles
moving and use the green as efficiently as possible". This generally means that the offsets should be timed so
that moving platoons of vehicles may sweep along arterial just as space becomes available for them to do so.
This is best seen pictorially by means of a space-time diagram. This is simply a two-dimensional presentation
of (1) the spacing of the various signals along the arterial or path, and (2) the signal indication of each of
these signals as a function of time.
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13
Alternative 4 - POLICE
The Tustin City Police Department could be utilized during peak hours when the maximum
congestion is present on Newport Avenue. Police presence will reduce illegal traffic
movements that cause grid -lock at the intersection of Newport Avenue and Nisson Road.
Other duties will prevent the Police Department from being at this intersection for eve
peak hour. However, their presence when possible will aid in the relief of traffic congestion
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RECOMMENDATION
The above four alternatives have been reviewed and the following g rec ommendations are
Alternative 1A, (restriping) is recommended at this time because of thelural cost
to the City. It could also be implemented fairly easily and does not
implementation of other alternatives should the need arise. preclude
The Orange County Transit District (O.C.T.D.) needs to be contact
their existing southbound bus stop which is on the west side of ed Newport relocate
between El Camino Real and El Camino Way. The extension of t esoAvenue
right turn pocket on Newport Avenue al El Camino Waymay interfere a southbound
existing bus stop location. y dere with the
The following are the anticipated opening dates' for the I-5 ramps and Red Hill Avenue.
NB On Ramp from Red Hill Avenue
SB Off Ramp to Red Hill Avenue October -November 1991
October -November 1991
SB On Ramp from Red Hill Avenue
NB Off Ramp to Red Hill Avenue March -April 1992
March -April 1992
The above improvements by CALTRANS will eliminate much of the existing
that portion of Newport Avenue analyzed within this present report.
problems along
'Mr. Bill McMillan- Project Engineer/ Daly Corporation, (CALTRANS contractor)
15