REQUEST FOR APPROVAL TO CLOSE A PORTION OF
CORONA STREET AT PROSPECT AVENUE/14TH STREET

 

Recommendation:

It is recommended that the City Council approve the permanent closure of Corona Street at Prospect Avenue to mitigate the cut-through traffic on Corona Street and adopt the attached resolution entitled " A resolution of the City Council of the City of Hermosa Beach, California, approving the closure of Corona Street at Prospect Avenue to mitigate cut-through traffic. "

Summary:

Concerns have been expressed regarding cut-through traffic on Corona Street between Prospect Avenue/14th Street and Aviation Boulevard. In addition, concerns have been expressed relative to speeding on 14th Street in the vicinity of Prospect Avenue and Corona Street. Please see attachment 1.

On February 22, 2000, Council took the following action after hearing from Staff and the public:

• Approved the six-month temporary closure of Corona Street at Prospect Avenue to mitigate the cut-through traffic in both directions on Corona Street;
• Directed Staff to conduct a " before and after" traffic study to measure the potential negative impacts of the closure and to report back to City Council; and
• Deferred action of the stop sign installation at that time.

 

Background:

A temporary barricade was installed at the north end of Corona Street at its intersection with Prospect Avenue in April of 2000. The primary objective of the barricade was to alleviate the problems associated with cut-through traffic on Corona Street between Prospect Avenue and Aviation Boulevard. Prior to the installation of the barricade, many motorists were using this segment of Corona Street as a short cut, particularly in the southbound direction. The result was higher-than-desirable traffic volumes and traffic speeds on this local residential street.

As a measure to discourage motorists from using Corona Street as a cut-through route, the City Council directed staff to install a barricade and to evaluate traffic conditions before and after the installation of the barricade. This report summarizes the results of the analysis.

 

Before-And-After Traffic Counts

To quantify the impacts of the barricade on traffic patterns in the affected neighborhood, traffic counts were taken on Corona Street as well as 14 ^th Street, Prospect Avenue, and Bonnie Brae Street. The counts were taken several weeks prior to the installation of the barricade (Thursday, April 6, 2000) and several weeks after installation (Thursday, May 18, 2000). The counts on Corona Street were needed to evaluate the effectiveness of the barricade and the counts on the other streets were needed to determine if the barricade resulted in a substantial increase on the nearby residential streets. The installation of the barricade would not be considered successful if it simply shifted the cut-through traffic from one local residential street to another.

 

Analysis:

The results of the traffic count program are summarized on Table 1, which shows the daily traffic volumes before and after the installation of the barricade. The primary conclusion is that the barricade resulted in a substantial decrease in traffic on Corona Street. On the segment of Corona Street between 14th Street and Aviation, the traffic volume without the barricade was 489 vehicles per day (vpd) and the traffic volume with the barricade was 270 vpd. This represents a reduction of 219 vpd, which is a 45 percent reduction. On the short section of Corona Street between Prospect and 14th Street, the traffic volume dropped from 344 vpd to 20 vpd, because the barricade rendered this as a dead-end street.

On 14th Street between Prospect and Corona, traffic volume increased by 17 percent from 808 vpd to 945 vpd, which indicates that some drivers who previously used Corona Street may have shifted to this short segment of 14th Street as an alternate route. The segment of 14th Street south of Corona to Owosso Avenue experienced a 14 percent decrease in traffic from 835 vpd to 721 vpd. Overall, there were no significant adverse traffic impacts on 14th Street as a result of the Corona Street barricade.

TABLE 1

BEFORE AND AFTER TRAFFIC VOLUMES ON AFFECTED STREETS

Street/Location	Daily Traffic Volume		Numerical Change in Traffic Volume	Percent Change in Traffic Volume
	Before Barricade Thurs 4/6/00	After Barricade Thurs 5/18/00
Corona Street Prospect to 14th Street 14th Street to Aviation	344 489	20 270	-324 -219	-94% -45%
14th Street Prospect to Corona Corona to Owosso	808 835	945 721	+137 -114	+17% -14%
Prospect Avenue North of 15th Street 14th Street to Aviation	6,067 4,464	5,922 6,394	-145 +1,930	-2% +43%
Bonnie Brae Street 14th Street to Aviation	199	218	+19	+10%

One of the concerns regarding the installation of the barricade on Corona Street was that a substantial number of drivers might shift to Bonnie Brae Street, which could be used as an alternate route between Prospect Avenue and Aviation Boulevard. Table 1 indicates that Bonnie Brae Street experienced an increase of 19 vpd. This 10 percent increase is not considered to represent an adverse impact to the residents.

The table indicates that the traffic volume on Prospect Avenue north of 15th Street remained approximately the same for the two counts; i.e., it had an insignificant 2 percent decrease in traffic. The traffic volume on Prospect Avenue between 14th Street and Aviation Boulevard, however, increased by 43 percent from 4,464 vpd to 6,394 vpd. While some of this increase may be attributable to the shifting of traffic away from Corona Street, most of the increase was probably caused by other unrelated factors because the magnitude of the increase was much greater than the decrease in traffic on Corona Street. It is not really an issue, however, because Prospect Street is designed as a collector street and is intended to carry higher traffic volumes than a local street.

 

Public Input

In addition to the quantitative data collected by the traffic count program, it is also important to consider input from residents of the affected neighborhood because there could potentially be some impacts that are not reflected in the traffic data. For example, a traffic increase could occur on a street that was not monitored or drivers may use a new traffic pattern that was not anticipated. Fortunately, public input received by staff has been mostly positive. There have been no complaints about an increase in traffic on any of the other streets in the area, and the residents of Corona Street have indicated that traffic volumes have decreased noticeably as a result of the barricade. This informal public input verifies the results of the traffic count program.

The only negative input that has been received is that the right-hand turning movement from southbound Prospect onto westbound 14 ^th Street is difficult because of the acute angle and the tight turning radius. Prior to the installation of the barricade, very few drivers made this turn because it was easier to turn onto Corona Street. While the complaints about the turning radius have some validity, it is not recommended that any physical modifications be implemented to make this an easier turn because it might encourage motorists to again use Corona as a cut-through route by allowing them to easily turn right from Prospect onto 14 ^th Street then turn left on Corona Street to travel south to Aviation. If this pattern were to be encouraged, the success of the barricade would be reversed and the neighborhood traffic intrusion problem would re-surface.

 

Alternatives:

1. Approve Staff recommendation.

2. Direct Staff to remove the temporary closure.

3. Take no action. (Temporary closure will remain in place.)

 

Financial Impact:            None at this time.

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RESOLUTION NO. 00-_____

 

A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HERMOSA BEACH, CALIFORNIA, APPROVING THE CLOSURE OF CORONA STREET AT PROSPECT AVENUE TO MITIGATE CUT-THROUGH TRAFFIC.

 

WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Hermosa Beach, California, intends to continue to improve public convenience and safety;

WHEREAS, many motorists are using Corona Street between Prospect Avenue and Aviation Boulevard as a short cut, particularly in the southbound direction;

WHEREAS, this has resulted in higher-than-desirable traffic volumes and traffic speeds creating an unsafe condition on this local residential street; and

WHEREAS, the closing of Corona Street at Prospect Avenue is a minor alteration to the existing public street system.

 

NOW THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HERMOSA BEACH, CALIFORNIA, DOES HEREBY RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:

SECTION 1. That the Director of Public Works is authorized to construct a permanent closure at Corona Street and Prospect Avenue.

SECTION 2. That the Director of Public works is authorized to install and/or remove all appropriate signs and curb markings.

SECTION 3. The project is categorically exempt from the requirement for an environmental assessment, pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines, Sections 15303(b) and 15315 (class 1) with the finding that the project consists of repair, maintenance and minor alteration of existing public or private structures (existing highways and streets).

SECTION 4. This resolution shall not become effective until appropriate signs giving notice of closure have been erected.

 

PASSED, APPROVED and ADOPTED this 26th day of September, 2000.

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