City Council Preview - Traffic Solutions

I was the biggest proponent of creating a Traffic Advisory Commission but the best we could do was to create a Traffic Advisory Group. The members were Mark Armando, Scott Drapkin, Grady Glover, John Irish, Tim Redwine, Don Stoll, and Derek Wieske.

That group met monthly over 6 months and reviewed various issues. I attended about half of the meetings, but until now didn’t see what was the results of the groups work. According to the staff report the TAG

· Made more than 50 individual traffic and transportation related inquiries

· Developed 46 recommendations for the City Council’s consideration regarding various topics ranging from traffic modeling to methods of improved communication with the public.

· 10 recommendations represent new, additional best practices, capital outlays and capital projects that may potentially require updates to the Capital Improvement Projects (“CIP”) budget or additions to future operating budgets.

The 10 recommendations are listed below along with staff estimates of the cost of implementing the recommendation.

• 1. Review the potential use of camera equipment for the sole purpose of monitoring and improving traffic flow.
• 2. Consider maintaining an on-going forum of some type where residents can discuss traffic and transportation related issues

• 3. Consider having the Community Services Department review the possibility of holding a street closure event to promote bicycling in the City
• 4. Consider including evacuation plans as part of the Safety Element of the General Plan in consultation with the Orange County Fire Authority and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
• 5. Conduct biennial peak hour traffic counts at the intersections in the LFTM and other select locations to aid in tracking and identifying changes in traffic conditions. ($20,000)
• 6. Review selected non-signalized intersections in the City once every 2-3 years to determine if any new traffic signals should be considered for installation. ($10,000 to $20,000 per year)
• 7. Acquire a Traffic Collison Analysis Program, GIS compatible, to enable an annual citywide collision review and other reviews where traffic collision information is necessary. ($10,000 for software)
• 8. Request that the County of Orange conduct a study to determine the need for and the feasibility of a trail-crossing under Trabuco Road leading to the Serrano Creek Trail.
• 9. Evaluate the City’s needs and review a possible upgrade to Adaptive Signal Control (“ASC”). ($600,000 one time plus $60,000 per year)
• 10. Direct staff to look into the feasibility of adding a dedicated right turn lane and signal optimization at the intersection of Bake Parkway and Trabuco Road, with minimal impact to property owners

The 50 specific traffic issues addressed are listed in the staff report (Click Here), but while the issues were discussed, most things didn’t change. Here are some of the things that were actually done –

• · Excessive delay improved at LF Drive and Mimis
• · Westbound El Toro at Toledo stays green longer
• · Eastbound El Toro Left onto Serrrano improved
• · Shasta Lake at Serrano has add’l signing and striping

Staff estimated that “over 600 hours of staff and consultant time, at a cost of approximately $42,000, along with the reallocation of work priorities, were required to support the CTAG.”

There are several questions for the Council.

• 1. What do we do about the recommendations in front of us?
• 2. Was this a worthwhile effort given the costs?
• 3. Should we continue, or is there a better way to achieve the improvement of the traffic problems in the City?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest. You can check him out on LinkedIn and/or Facebook and you can share your thoughts about the City at Lake Forest Town Square on Facebook. His comments are not meant to reflect official City Policy.

Dr. Gardner has office hours every Tuesday from 4 pm to 6 pm at the City Hall. In addition, he holds a Town Hall meeting every quarter. The next meeting will be on August 13 at 2 pm at the Foothill Ranch Public Library.

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