FAIR OAKS BOULEVARD Marconi Avenue to Engle Road MEETING SUMMARY 6:30 PM, La Sierra Community Center, 5325 Engle Road Room 800 November 4, 2004 PREPARED BY: Stephen V. White, Associate Civil Engineer November 9, 2004 MEETING PURPOSE: The purpose of this meeting was to present the findings of the traffic study and to update the community on the status of the environmental document. The meeting also provided an opportunity for members of the community to ask questions and to express their thoughts on the various alternatives. WELCOME/INTRODUCTIONS: Steve White opened the meeting by welcoming the attendees and introducing the following individuals: * Stephen White – SacDOT * Matt Satow - SacDOT * Theron Roschen – SacDOT * Matt Darrow – SacDOT * Cindy Storelli – Sacramento County Planning * Toni Barry – DERA * Tim Hawkins – DERA * Joe Holland – Dowling Associates * Susan Peters – Supervisor Elect, District 3 PROJECT UPDATE: Steve White provided a brief description of the seven alternatives under consideration. All attendees were given handouts that included the typical sections for the seven alternatives. The “best case” scenario project schedule was outlined as follows: * December 8, 2004: Board of Supervisors hearing to propose eliminating the frontage road alternatives (5, 6, & 7) * May 2005: Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) * November 2005: Final EIR hearing * 2006: Right of way acquisition and utility relocation construction * 2007: Roadway construction These dates are the “best case” scenario and may slip due to funding or other issues. ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENT UPDATE: Tim Hawkins provided a brief overview of the environmental process. He also said that everyone in attendance would receive a copy of the EIR. COMMUNITY PLAN UPDATE STATUS: Cindy Storelli provided an update on the planning activities associated with the Community Action Plan. Cindy notified the group that a Board of Supervisors hearing is scheduled for December 8, 2004. The purpose of this hearing is to update the Board on the progress of the Community Action Plan. SacDOT will also be presenting the findings of the traffic study to the Board of Supervisors on the same day. SUMMARY OF TRAFFIC STUDY FINDINGS: Joe Holland then touched on some of the highlights of the traffic study. The traffic flow for Alternatives 3 & 4 is essentially the same. For this reason they are modeled as a single alternative. The frontage road alternatives (5, 6, & 7) do not function as well as alternatives 3/ 4. Consequently, only alternatives 3/4 are recommended for further consideration. Handouts were provided that included the executive summary of the traffic study. The entire study is available online at sacdot.com. COMMENTS, SUGGESTIONS & QUESTIONS: After Joe’s presentation, a number of comments/questions were made/asked. The following is a summary of these comments/questions and SacDOT’s response. * Are you going to re-align Landis at the intersection? If the property on the northeast corner of Landis remains vacant, there is a good chance that we will re-align the intersection with this project. However, if that parcel gets developed before the roadway project begins, it is unlikely that we will re-align Landis. Any development proposal for that property that comes in before the environmental document is approved, must be conditioned based on the General Plan, not one of our project alternatives. * When is the bypass from Highway 50 to I-80 going to be built? Unknown. At this time, there are neither plans, nor funding for a bypass from Highway 50 to I-80. * How will public transit be accommodated? Will there be bus turnouts? Alternatives 2-6 will provide a bus turnout on Fair Oaks Blvd. at the southwest corner of Marconi. Alternatives 3 & 4 would provide bus turnouts at all signalized intersections. One of the drawbacks of the frontage road alternatives (5, 6, & 7) is that bus turnouts are not provided. * How long are bus turnouts? The total length of a bus turnout is 390’. This includes the transition tapers (out of and back into the thru lane). Excluding the tapers, the “full width” (9’wide) portion of the turnout is 125’ * If Landis is not re-aligned, how will the signal operate? If Landis is not re-aligned, it will operate as an offset intersection, similar to the signal at Stanley/Angeline. * Alternative #3 has 11’ medians. Why not save space from ROW take and save money by narrowing the median. The County is pushing their agenda instead of looking at impacts on businesses. You don’t need bicycle lanes because there are no bicyclists. The median width for Alternative #3 is actually 12’. One reason there are no bicyclists is that the existing roadway does not have bike lanes. There is strong public support for bike lanes and it is our policy to include them in our projects whenever practicable. It would be possible to reduce the right of way take by reducing the median width. However, the additional width would still be required for turn lanes at the intersections. One of the goals of this project is to improve the appearance of this portion of Fair Oaks Boulevard. A landscaped median helps to achieve this goal and would likely benefit the business community in Carmichael. * The library has showers and bicycle facilities. We need bike lanes to serve the serious bicycle commuter. * I am not a fan of six lanes. It will not be a main street environment. It will make it faster, harder on access for business and less safe. I like alternative #2. The problem is buses and queues at gated entrances that back out onto the streets. Six lanes will turn it into a freeway. The lack of bus turnouts at many locations contributes to congestion. However, the traffic study indicates that there are LOS deficiencies that cannot be corrected by bus turnouts alone. * Will there be a signal at North? There are lots of access problems. It is already a freeway. Alternative 2 calls for a signal at North. The remaining alternatives do not. Under alternatives 3 & 4 a left turn pocket from northbound Fair Oaks Boulevard could be provided. However, left turns out of North to northbound Fair Oaks would not be permitted under any of the widening alternatives (3-7). * What will the speed limit be? Can you set the signals to control the speeds? A speed study would be performed to establish the speed limit. The speed limit is typically posted at the first 5 mph increment below the 85th percentile speed. If the posted speed limit is not established in this manner, it is defined as a speed trap by the California Vehicle Code and cannot be enforced. * Why do you show bus lanes? The plans allow for future HOV/BRT lanes. If a lane is designated for BRT (bus rapid transit), it is possible thru signal pre-emption, to allow buses to have priority at signalized intersections. Right now there are no plans to incorporate BRT into this project. However, we did not want to preclude this possibility in the future. * I want #3 over #4 because the landscaping is in the median and there is less right of way take. * How will you accommodate access to businesses? The median installation would restrict left turns into many businesses. Right now there are no plans to include any breaks in the median other than at intersections. In order to access businesses where left turn access is no longer available, it will be necessary to make a u-turn at the next signal and then make a right turn into the business. In most instances this should result in less than ¼ mile of additional travel distance. When a landscaped median was installed on Howe Avenue, many business owners who were originally against the project eventually acknowledged that the median landscaping actually helped their business. * Howe Avenue is a mess. We are Carmichael. We recognize that Carmichael is unique and we merely cited Howe Avenue as a case where roadway beautification/enhancement was helpful to local businesses. * What will be the impacts south of Marconi? Under alternatives 3/4 there is a slight increase in the volume/capacity ratio for the roadway segment from Marconi to El Camino for the Cumulative 2025 condition. This is expected since a true six lane facility on Fair Oaks Boulevard will draw traffic off the side streets. Some of this traffic will remain on Fair Oaks Boulevard south of Marconi. This results in the modest increase in v/c ratio between Marconi and El Camino. * A bus turnout is needed at Marconi. There are lots of accidents there. Each of the widening alternatives will provide a bus turnout on Fair Oaks Boulevard at the southwest corner of Fair Oaks and Marconi. * What are the relative costs of the alternatives? What are the impacts on parking? We do not have construction cost estimates for each of the alternatives. The no-build is obviously the least expensive. Due to the extensive right of way requirements, the frontage road alternatives (5, 6, & 7) are the most expensive. All of the widening alternatives have parking impacts. Again, due to the extensive right of way requirements, the frontage road alternatives (5, 6, & 7) have the most severe impact on parking. * Between Landis & Grant is the right of way wide enough at the Post Office? The right of way and frontage improvements at the Post Office are already in place for Alternative 3. Alternative 3 represents the General Plan requirements and the Post Office was conditioned to dedicate the right of way and to construct the improvements necessary to conform to the General Plan. The right of way and frontage improvements for Alternative 3 are also in place at the Copeland’s Shopping Center at the northeast corner of Fair Oaks and Marconi. * What will the right of way take be at the park? Each of the widening alternatives (3- 7) has some right of way take at the park. The Park District is aware of our project and we have an agreement with them to provide tree plantings along Fair Oaks Boulevard as well as curb, gutter & sidewalk on Grant from Fair Oaks Boulevard to the Veterans Hall. * Is there a bike lane at the park? There would not be a separate bike facility at the park. The widening alternatives would provide a 5’ wide, Class 2 bike lane within the roadway. * Will Grant Avenue be improved? The only improvements on Grant Ave would be the curb, gutter and sidewalk on the south side of Grant Avenue from Fair Oaks to the Veteran’s Hall. No other work is proposed for Grant Avenue. * Posting the traffic study on the website was a good idea. The summary at the end was particularly helpful. The meeting adjourned at approximately 8:00PM. ATTACHMENTS: The following materials were distributed at the meeting and are attached to these meeting notes: 1. Meeting Agenda 2. Typical Sections for Alternatives 1 thru 7 3. Traffic Study Executive Summary P:\Shared Folders\Projects\FairOaks Marconi to Engle\agenda\110404-meeting summary.doc