HomeMy WebLinkAboutOB 4 PEDESTRIAN XWALKS 11-7-88 OLD BUSINESS //- . 7-88 Inter Com DATE: 1, 1988 TO: WILLIAM HUSTON, CITY MANAGER FROM: PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT/ENGINEERING DIVISION SUBJECT: PEDESTRIAN CROSSWALKS ON ARTERIAL HIGHWAYS RECOMMENDATION: Pleasure of the City Council. BACKGROUND: At the October 3, 1988 City Council meeting, a citizen raised a concern over the safety of school children crossing arterial roadways of Yorba Street and Prospect Avenue at designated crosswalks. It was' suggested by this citizen that the City utilize "safety zones" similar to what the State of Arizona employs at school crossings. This item was referred to Staff for further review. DISCUSSION: .. - The safety zones utilized by the State of Arizona are located 100- feet in advance'of each crosswalk with signs reading "School Zone, 15 MPH" and "No Passing". These signs are usually a portable type sign and are put into position by the crossing guard assigned at that particular location. The City's Consultant Traffic Engineer has reviewed the Arizona safety zone program and does not recommend the use of such signs/zones for the City of Tustin or for any other city in California. The reason for this recommendation is that such devices do not conform to School safety standards already developed by the State of California. The placement of these non-standard controls would not be supportable under current California guidelines and most likely would create more problems than they would solve, particularly since most California drivers would probably ignore them. The State of California guidelines provide for the installation of flashing yellow beacons at school crosswalks when the following conditions/warrants are met: 1. The uncontrolled school crossing is on the "suggested" route to school;.and 2. At least 40 school pedestrians use the crossing during each of any two hours (not necessarily consecutive) of a normal school day; and The crossing is at least 600 feet from the nearest alternate. crossing controlled by traffic signals, stop signs, or crossing guards;.and 4. The vehicular Volume through the crossing exceeds 200 vehicles per hour in urban areas, or 140 vehicles per hour in rural areas during the same hours the students are going to and from school for any.' purpose; and PEDESTRIAN CROSSWALKS ON ARTERIAL HIGHWAYS NOVEMBER 1, 1988 PAGE 2. -5. The critical approach speed (85 percentile) exceeds 35 MPH or the approach visibility is less than the stopping distance. A copy of the standard drawings for the flashing beacons is attached for the City Council's information. As indicated, there are two types of these flashing beacons, the post-mounted type and mast arm overhead type. Staff has not completed a warrant study for either location on Yorba Street (at Amaganset Way), or Prospect Avenue (at Beneta Way). If City Council is interested in installing a flashing beacon at either or both locations, the warrant studies and cost estimates can be completed for the first meeting in December 1988. Director of Public Works/City Engineer BL:mv Traffic Manual SCHOOL AREA PEDESTRIAN SAFETY Figure 10-6 .:;. TYPICAL INSTALLATIONS FOR ,. FLASHING YELLOW BEACONS AND OVERHEAD SCHOOL SIGNS 10-21 3-1987 J$C~OL! ~ (wes) ,k'SR4 ~ (R2) POST MOUNTING Flashing . SW24 . SW25 (W63) (W66) (w65) Optional sign assemblies, for use where appropriate. (Omit W65 when outside the school zone). MAST ARM MOUNTING (*) Sign assemblies may be fabricated as a single unit (see Section 1 0-03.8).