REPORT TO BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN ADVISORY COMMISSION
SUBJECT
Title
Recommend Alternatives for the Caribbean Drive Parking and Trail Access Enhancements Design
Report
REPORT IN BRIEF
In March 2017, the City awarded a contract to Mark Thomas for professional design services of the Caribbean Drive Parking and Trail Access Enhancements Project associated with the Sunnyvale Clean Water Program (SCWP). In September 2017, the preliminary design was presented at a public meeting (Attachment 2). Following the public meeting and a collision in the project area, additional options were explored to separate cyclists from traffic (Attachment 3). Staff recommends proceeding with the Preferred Alternative, which includes a multi-use path separated from traffic and new street parking by a 2.5-foot-wide shoulder on westbound Caribbean Drive.
BACKGROUND
The SCWP is a set of projects to renovate the existing Water Pollution Control Plant (Plant) to a new facility suitable to treat and dispose of municipal sewage over the next 30 or more years. The Caribbean Drive Parking and Trail Access Enhancements Project is one of the first projects in the implementation of the SCWP.
At present, the public uses Carl Road, a public street which fronts the Plant, to access the San Francisco Bay Trail (Bay Trail). The Bay Trail is an over 400-mile regional park path system, including 3.45 miles in the City of Sunnyvale, linking 47 cities around the shoreline of the San Francisco Bay. The Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) is the planning entity responsible for implementing the Bay Trail system, which includes establishing design guidelines and performing public outreach for the trail system (e.g., leading tours, publishing maps, and announcing temporary closures on their website).
August 2016, the City Council approved the SCWP Water Pollution Control Plant Master Plan (Master Plan) which is the foundation document for the buildout of the Plant. In the Master Plan, Carl Road is shown to be vacated as a public street for the following reasons:
• Due to space constraints along Carl Road, there is no opportunity for expanding the public parking to meet the demands of increased Bay Trail use.
• The current access point is located within an area heavily trafficked with regular Plant deliveries.
• The construction related to the SCWP, as well as future changes with Plant site layout, will increase the congestion in the area.
The public amenities of parking and Bay Trail access will be relocated to along Caribbean Drive via this project.
On February 27, 2018, Council considered adoption of a resolution ordering the vacation of Carl Road westerly of Borregas Avenue. The Council voted to continue the hearing regarding the vacation of Carl Road until the Council meeting for the Caribbean Drive Parking and Trail Access project was to be considered. Staff is to return to Council to bring forward alternatives for Council to make a decision to determine the layout of the bicycle and pedestrian amenities along Caribbean Drive (See Attachment 3).
Additionally, staff has initiated a partnership with the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) to participate in their Urban Greening Bay Area initiative through a Green Street demonstration project collinear with the proposed parking along westbound Caribbean Drive. This initiative is partially-funded through a grant from the San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund (SFBWQIF). Staff is in discussions with SFEI to enter a sub-recipient agreement with the City for this portion of the project. Bioretention features are included in all designs.
The City Council is scheduled to consider this item on May 8, 2018.
EXISTING POLICY
In performing the analysis and developing the staff recommendation, the following General Plan policies were referenced and considered:
General Plan Chapter 3-Land Use and Transportation
GOAL: Complete streets that balance all transportation modes
• POLICY 40: Provide transportation subsidies and project financing over time to the most environmentally friendly modes and services. Support bicycling through planning, engineering, education, encouragement, and enforcement.
• Action Statements
o 40.1 Give priority to meeting minimum design and safety standards for all users. Determine configuration of the roadway space based on options, at a minimum an option that meets minimum safety-related design standards for motor vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians.
o 40.2 Evaluate bicycle and pedestrian retrofit projects based on the merits of each project in the context of engineering and planning criteria.
o 40.4 Assign responsibility for final decisions to the City Council on roadway space reconfiguration when roadway reconfiguration will result in changes to existing transport accommodations.
• POLICY 44: Support the proliferation of multiuse trails within Sunnyvale and their connection to regional trails in order to provide enhanced access to open space, promote alternative transportation options, and increase recreational opportunities while balancing those needs with the preservation of natural habitat, public safety, and quality of life in residential neighborhoods.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
A Programmatic Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) was certified by City Council August 23, 2016 (RTC No. 16-0663). An Addendum to this CEQA document was prepared by Mark Thomas in 2017, based on the alternative labeled “Current Design” in Attachment 3. The PEIR evaluated potential environmental impacts that could occur as a result of implementing the Master Plan and provided applicable mitigation to reduce the intensity of potential environmental impacts. As part of Master Plan approval, the City adopted a Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program. This Addendum found no significant impacts beyond those analyzed in the PEIR. It is anticipated that none of the alternatives under consideration will have effects beyond those previously identified and that no new environmental document or public notice will be required.
DISCUSSION
The parking lot at the western end of Carl Road includes 15 publicly-available parking spaces dedicated to Bay Trail users. Amenities, including a bathroom and water fountain, will stay in-place post-project and continue to be available to the public. Maintenance of this facility is an obligation of the Water Pollution Control Plant’s permit with the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC). BCDC has agreed to amend this permit to allow replacement of the existing parking lot with a comparable facility.
Eight alternatives to replace the existing parking lot were considered, including three off-street and five on-street parking options. The off-street parking options include:
• Exercising an agreement with Oath (formerly Yahoo!) that earmarks 15 spaces in their existing parking lot for both Bay Trail and general public use. This alternative was eliminated from consideration because the BCDC permit requires that replacement parking spaces be dedicated for Bay Trail users. The Oath agreement may be exercised in the future, through a separate project.
• Paving and striping a City-owned lot at the corner of Mathilda and Caribbean. This alternative was eliminated from consideration because the additional CEQA documentation and public review that would be required would extend the project schedule beyond the date when Carl Road must be permanently closed due to construction at the WPCP.
• Negotiating an agreement with Google to use a portion of their land for public parking. This alternative was eliminated from consideration because staff has not been able to secure a firm commitment from Google.
The five on-street parking options include:
1. Current Design - Converting the existing bike lane and outer through lane on westbound Caribbean Drive to street parking and a 6-foot-wide bike lane separated from traffic by a 2-foot-wide buffer. This alternative includes a 10-foot-wide path which could be used by eastbound cyclists as well as pedestrians, until a pedestrian signal is installed on Caribbean Drive. Because this does not conform to design standards for a multi-use path and does not include a door zone between parking and the westbound bike lane, additional alternatives were developed.
2. Preferred Alternative - Converting the existing bike lane and outer through lane on westbound Caribbean Drive to street parking and an 8-foot-wide buffer. This alternative includes a 10-foot-wide multi-use path for use by pedestrians and cyclists in both directions. This alternative is recommended by staff for five reasons:
1. Most cost-effective.
2. Wide buffer offers ease of parallel parking movements.
3. Ease of maintenance.
4. Optimizes effectiveness of the bioretention features.
5. Most consistent with the Bicycle Master Plan.
3. Other Alternative Evaluated - Converting the existing bike lane and outer through lane on westbound Caribbean Drive to a one-way Class IV bike lane separated from street parking by a 3-foot-wide buffer. This alternative includes a 10-foot-wide multi-use path for pedestrians and eastbound cyclists. This alternative separates the bicyclists from the westbound through traffic lanes, however cars parking on street will not have a door zone adjacent to the through lane.
Other Options Evaluated-Two additional options were explored, but were eliminated because they were cost prohibitive.
4. Option proposes to move the existing westbound curb line but keep the median curb allowing for a wider bike and pedestrian path as well as a 2-foot-wide buffer and 8-foot-wide parking and Bioretention area. This option was eliminated from consideration because it is cost-prohibitive due to the relocation of the curb line along Caribbean Drive.
5. Option proposes to modify the existing median to create additional lane space. This alternative was eliminated from consideration because it is cost-prohibitive to move the curb line of the median island and relocate utilities existing within the median island.
FISCAL IMPACT
Design and construction of either the Preferred Alternative (#2) or Other Alternative Evaluated (#3) depicted is anticipated to exceed the current project budget. Total expected costs are under evaluation and will be available when these alternatives are presented to Council. A budget modification will be requested once construction costs have been determined and the total project cost is known with reasonable certainty.
PUBLIC NOTICE
A public meeting was held on September 19, 2017 to share information about the Caribbean Drive Parking and Trail Access Enhancements project. City staff posted flyers and mailed postcards for notification of the meeting. Additionally, agencies with a special interest in the project and/or Bay Trail were called and emailed individually prior to the meeting. Approximately 20 people attended the meeting from the public and other various interested agencies in addition to City staff. The City staff provided a brief overview of the Sunnyvale Clean Water Program and the Caribbean Drive Parking and Trail Access Enhancements Project and then responded to attendee questions.
On October 18, 2017, City staff hosted informal trailside events from 7:00 to 9:00 am, 11:00 am to 1:00 pm, and 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. to further discuss the project with actual trail users and provide project factsheets. A total of 61 people visited the trailside event and the overall response was positive.
On October 20, 2017, emails were sent to all interested agencies, attendees of the October 18 meeting and the public in general to share the outcome of the meetings and outreach and to provide a brief project update.
On January 12, 2018, notification was provided to update the stakeholders on the upcoming Council meeting for a Notice of Intent to Vacate Carl Road on January 23, 2018. Five people responded to this outreach. Three respondents requested additional updates to the Caribbean Drive project which City staff provided. The remaining two respondents expressed concern with future development in the region.
On January 23, 2018, Council considered approval of the Resolution Declaring its Intention to Vacate a Portion of Carl Road Westerly of Borregas Avenue, a Portion of Borregas Avenue Northerly of Carl Road and a Portion of Crossman Avenue Northerly of Caribbean Drive and Reserving Public Utility Easements Therein and set the Public Hearing date for February 27, 2018 (RTC No. 17-0774). In accordance with the Streets and Highway Code procedure for street vacations: City staff posted signs for the “Notice of Public Hearing” onsite at the three road vacation locations for a minimum of two weeks prior to the hearing date and the Resolution of Intention was published in the Sun on February 16, 2018 and February 23, 2018.
On February 27, 2018 in consideration of RTC 17-0778, Council adopted the Resolution Ordering the Vacation of a Portion of Borregas Avenue and a Portion of Crossman Avenue, and Reserving Public Utility Easements. Council continued the hearing for the Carl Road Vacation to a future meeting in coordination of the public hearing for the Caribbean Drive Parking and Trail Access project.
PUBLIC CONTACT
Public contact was made through posting of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission agenda on the City’s official-notice bulletin board, on the City’s website, and the availability of the agenda and report in the Office of the City Clerk.
ALTERNATIVES
1. Current Design - 6’ wide bike lane with 2’ wide buffer
2. Preferred Alternative - Multi-Use Path with 8’ wide buffer
3. Other Alternative Evaluated - Multi-Use Path and One-Way Bike Lane
4. Do not recommend any of the alternatives.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Recommend to City Council Alternative No. 2 Preferred Alternative converting the existing bike lane and outer through lane on westbound Caribbean Drive to street parking and an 8-foot-wide buffer and constructing a 10-foot-wide multi-use path for use by pedestrians and cyclists in both directions.
Staff
Prepared by: Jennifer Ng, Interim Assistant Director, Public Works
Reviewed by: Charles Taylor, Director, Public Works
Reviewed by: Teri Silva, Assistant City Manager
Approved by: Kent Steffens, City Manager
ATTACHMENTS
1. Reserved for Report to Council
2. Presentation from September 19, 2017 Public Meeting
3. Design Alternatives
4. Site Photos