[3:08] to order. First thing is to uh please
stand for the pledge of allegiance.
[3:19] I aliance
of America to the republic for which it
[3:26] stands. One nation indivisible
andice andice for all.
[3:33] » All right.
[3:38] All right.
All right.
[3:52] And then Kathy, whenever you're ready,
let's do a roll call.
[3:55] » Vice Chair Bran Con,
>> present.
[3:58] » Committee member Brennan,
>> present.
[4:04] » Committee Committee member Coer,
>> present.
[4:08] » Youth member Mansfield,
>> present. Committee member Newman is not
[4:13] present. Committee member Hyrick
>> present.
[4:16] » And Chair Lobinger
>> present.
[4:18] » Thank you.
[4:25] » Let let the record show that committee
member Deano and committee member Newman
[4:30] are not in attendance.
>> All right. Next, we're going to um go
[4:35] get an approval for the agenda. Uh does
anybody from the committee have any
[4:40] changes to the uh to the agenda?
Okay, seeing none, um
[4:46] » make a motion.
>> I make a motion to approve it.
[4:50] » I got to do one quick thing and then
we'll take a motion. Is there any uh
[4:53] public comment just regarding the agenda
itself? Nothing on the agenda.
[4:59] All right. Seeing none,
can we ask for a motion to approve the
[5:06] agenda? There we go. I make a motion to
approve the agenda.
[5:11] » I'll second
[5:18] it.
[5:22] » Vice Chair Branone.
>> Hi.
[5:26] » Committee member Brandon
>> here.
[5:29] » Committee member Foster.
>> Hi.
[5:32] » Youth member Mansfield.
>> Hi.
[5:34] » Committee member Newman. pass. Don't
know the issue.
[5:38] » Um, approving the agenda.
[5:45] » Yes.
>> Committee member Wyrick.
[5:49] » 10 time.
>> Chair Love Singer.
[5:54] » I.
>> Thank you. The motion passes
[5:56] unanimously.
>> Okay. Caught up, Jay. All right. Um, at
[6:02] this time, we're gonna
At this time, members of the public may
[6:08] comment on any item that does not appear
on tonight's agenda. It is recommended
[6:12] that you keep your comments to three
minutes or less under state law. Matters
[6:16] presented under this item cannot be
discussed or acted upon by the traffic
[6:20] safety committee at this time. For items
appearing on the agenda, the public will
[6:24] be invited to make comments at the time
the item comes up for committee
[6:28] consideration. Upon being acknowledged
by the chair, please step up to the
[6:31] podium and speak into the microphone and
begin by stating and spelling your name.
[6:36] Is there any public comment on anything
that does not appear on the agenda
[6:40] today?
Okay, seeing none, we will move on to
[6:46] the consent calendar.
And are there any questions about the
[6:50] consent calendar from um anybody from
the committee?
[6:57] Okay, seeing none, are there any uh is
there any public comment regarding the
[7:02] consent calendar?
[7:06] Okay, seeing none, is there a motion to
approve the consent calendar?
[7:13] » I a motion to approve the consent
calendar.
[7:16] » I second.
[7:21] » Vice Chair Branone.
>> I.
[7:23] » Committee member Brennan. I
>> committee member Coster.
[7:26] » Hi.
>> Uh, youth member Mansfield.
[7:29] » Hi,
>> committee member Newman.
[7:31] » Hi.
>> You uh committee member Wyrick.
[7:34] » I and Chair Lobinger.
>> I
[7:37] » thank you. The po the motion passes
unanimously.
[7:41] » All right. Um, moving on. We're going to
receive the minutes from the last
[7:46] meeting.
>> That was part of the consent.
[7:50] » Oh, that was part Sorry. Move on. We're
going to move on to the regular
[7:53] calendar. Sorry, getting ahead of myself
or getting falling behind, I suppose.
[7:58] Um, okay. So, now the um on the regular
calendar, we're going to review uh new
[8:04] traffic hazard reporting forms, and I'm
going to turn it over to Ashley Carter
[8:09] from public works. Ashley,
>> thank you, Chair Lobinger. Um, so this
[8:16] agenda item goes over new traffic hazard
reporting forms that have received more
[8:20] five signatures or more um, as part of
the convention that was established in
[8:24] the November 2025 traffic safety
committee meeting. Um, so we did receive
[8:29] a total of 10 traffic hazard reporting
forms, seven of which we covered under
[8:32] the consent calendar items. We will be
reviewing the three traffic hazard
[8:36] reporting forms that have been submitted
with more than five signatures. Um, as
[8:41] part of our standard process, we hosted
a traffic engineering safety team
[8:45] meeting on June 10th, 2020 uh that
should say 2026 and um discussed the
[8:51] Malay Street traffic hazard reporting
forms, the 20 miles per hour speed limit
[8:56] reduction as well as the temporary
traffic circle plans with the fire and
[9:00] police departments as well as the city
traffic engineer. The 20 mile hour speed
[9:07] surveys are currently ongoing and being
evaluated, worked on by GHD. um the
[9:13] presentation of those findings and the
overall presentation for that will be at
[9:18] the November 2nd, 2026 traffic safety
committee meeting. Following the traffic
[9:22] engineering safety team meeting on um we
also had an ad hoc meeting to address um
[9:28] the broader corridors that was formed at
the February traffic safety committee
[9:31] meeting and um we addressed the Malay
Street traffic hazard reporting forms
[9:37] and um at that point we had had the
speed survey data come in from Malay
[9:42] that was previously unavailable at the
May um traffic safety committee meeting
[9:47] and so we utilize that data to evaluate
the um previous traffic has a reporting
[9:52] form for speed bumps as well as the
traffic has a reporting form requesting
[9:57] a closure. Um the average speed for
westbound traffic was about 16 miles an
[10:03] hour and the average speed for eastbound
traffic was about 15 miles an hour. The
[10:07] speed survey was done in May to account
for um tra cut through traffic from the
[10:13] high school. So, it was done during
school hours while school was in session
[10:17] in order to get an accurate picture of
um what was going on. Um the ad hoc and
[10:23] the traffic engineering safety team
reviewed this data and found that it
[10:28] didn't meet warrants for speed bumps. Um
and additionally regarding the Fire
[10:33] Creek closure, um we did get a note from
the fire department stating that the
[10:38] fire fire creek subdivision was approved
um with access and water supply were
[10:42] evaluated together under the fire code.
Um and the opening of of Malay for
[10:48] through traffic was integral to
satisfying the secondary access for that
[10:52] subdivision. The road wasn't an
incidental connection. It was part of
[10:56] the approved access network the
subdivision depends on. Because of that,
[11:00] closing that road is not something the
fire department would be comfortable
[11:03] supporting, and removing that connection
would reduce the subdivision back to a
[11:08] condition that might not meet access
requirements when it was approved under.
[11:12] And so, for that reason, we're
recommending that those two be closed
[11:15] out. Um, after those meetings occurred,
we did receive two additional traffic
[11:20] hazard reporting forms. One regarding
the substandard width of Vign Street and
[11:26] the second regarding our traffic circle.
The traffic circle will be evaluated
[11:30] under a separate item tonight. So that
won't be covered under this agenda item.
[11:33] Um however, the Vign Street um traffic
hazard reporting form was evaluated. Um
[11:39] the resident had also um started a
review process with the fire department
[11:43] um in in um accompanyment of the traffic
hazard reporting form. And so the fire
[11:50] department recommended that the north
side of Vigna be red curbed due to the
[11:56] substandard width that to allow for
additional um emergency access. So we're
[12:00] um public works has forwarded that
request to the city traffic engineer.
[12:04] The city traffic engineer is in
agreement and so per the Sonoma
[12:07] municipal code um we are
we can red curb um narrow streets for um
[12:14] emergency access with the approval of
the traffic engineer. fire department is
[12:18] also in agreement. So, we're
recommending that that be completed. Um,
[12:24] and with that, those are all of the
traffic hazard reporting forms that we
[12:29] have received with more than five
signatures. And as part of this, our um
[12:34] this is our standard
chart that we've used. Um, the committee
[12:40] should be relatively familiar with this.
This goes over all of our old traffic
[12:44] hazard reporting forms that we have
received and I have added some updates.
[12:47] Um, CALR has gone through and striped
7th Street at um, West Napa. However, I
[12:54] don't believe the signage has been
completed yet. So, we um, have followed
[12:57] up with CALR regarding that and are
hoping for an update on when the
[13:01] improvement plan will be completed in
its entirety.
[13:06] Um, a couple of these things have
updates um or are pending other um
[13:13] improvements like the overall citywide
bicycle and pedestrian improvement plan.
[13:18] Um, and then these are the new ones with
the public works recommendations if the
[13:23] committee has any questions.
[13:37] Ashley, can you scroll back up?
>> Yes.
[13:41] » Right there just for one second.
[14:04] Okay. Uh any um
any questions from the committee about
[14:10] this?
[14:13] » Uh from the May meeting, we had
discussed on Spain Street the
[14:20] installation of the speed feedback sign.
Has there been an additional speed
[14:25] survey after that last item was
completed?
[14:31] » No, we have not conducted additional
speed survey um after that was
[14:35] installed, but we are in the process of
conducting speed surveys throughout the
[14:39] city for the 20 mph speed limit
reduction.
[14:42] » Okay. Thank you.
>> And just so I can just so we're all
[14:48] clear, the
the three items we're looking at, Malay,
[14:53] vignette, and then the traffic circle.
So the recommendation is to close out
[14:57] the Malay um traffic hazard reporting
form and the other one is on Vignia
[15:04] basically
>> per the fire marshal traffic engineer
[15:08] paint it red.
>> Yes. And then just sorry I just realized
[15:11] that the other Malay Street one is right
up here. Okay. Um it just had been
[15:15] received later so it wasn't marked
>> but we do finally have the speed survey
[15:21] data to process this one. So that's why
it's being prioritized tonight. Okay.
[15:25] And then uh one more question on the
Spain street. Uh in the May 5th meeting,
[15:30] Chair Lobinger had asked about sidewalks
and in the in front of the state
[15:36] property. You guys said you were going
to look into that and see if there was
[15:40] issues there with right away and things
like that. Uh what's the report back on
[15:44] that?
[15:49] » We're still looking into that. We'll get
back to you on that next next meeting.
[15:53] Got it. And then I just wanted to
clarify also that on Vigna Street there
[15:57] we are doing limited red curb next to
adjacent immediately adjacent to the
[16:02] driveways on the street just so that
people don't park too close to the
[16:05] driveway based on the width of that
street.
[16:12] All right. Um is there any public
comment regarding Malay or Vignya
[16:17] Street?
[16:24] Good evening everyone. My name is
Elizabeth Rouse, but now it's legally
[16:28] Phillips. After three years of being
married, I went to Social Security. So
[16:32] that's P I L L I S. And this is my prop
for the evening, Emma, my eight-month
[16:38] old daughter. I hope everybody had a
really good summer. And I want to thank
[16:42] everybody. Nice bangs, Ashley. I really
like them. Um, I want to thank everybody
[16:46] again for um, looking into the Malay
speed bumps for us as well as closure,
[16:51] which my fellow neighbors will be
talking about. Um, I'm asking that you
[16:55] do not close the door on this just yet.
While you have the data that shows that
[16:59] the average speed was 16 miles per hour,
you also have the data that every
[17:04] resident on Malay Street is in agreeance
that we have a speed issue on our street
[17:09] and that's per the signatures I
collected towards the end of last year.
[17:13] You also know that Malay is the only
street in that entire neighborhood that
[17:17] does not the only through street in that
entire neighborhood that does not
[17:20] already have speed bumps like the
others. We are also a more narrow street
[17:24] than the others. So, I think that poses
a more an even larger safety risk.
[17:29] And while I loved having this police
speed radar in front of the house uh for
[17:35] a few days, as I do believe it did help
slow traffic down, I don't think it gave
[17:40] an accurate representation of what we
experience on that street every single
[17:43] day. I ask that you attempt to install a
more traditional survey equipment to
[17:49] collect the data that you need. I know
you repeatedly ran into issues, but if
[17:53] we can still try to push for that um
something that's a little bit more
[17:56] hidden, that would be really great. Um
possibly one that isn't designed to slow
[18:02] people down when they see it. I want to
thank the police department for sparing
[18:06] that piece of equipment for a few days.
Thank you very much. And I want to thank
[18:09] you all for taking into consideration
the safety of Malay Street. Thank you.
[18:17] » Thank you.
[18:26] Hello, my name is Raina. R A I N A last
name Campbell will be speaking about VNA
[18:31] Street. Before I begin, committee
members, please look at the physical
[18:36] packet I handed you. While I am happy
the North Side Fire Lane is finally on
[18:41] tonight's agenda, public works has shown
no urgency to schedule it. Furthermore,
[18:46] their plans completely leave out the
critical southside curb pocket, which
[18:50] remains a severe safety issue. Because
my correspondence, photos, and blueprint
[18:55] were emitted from your agenda packet, I
provided this copy to ensure you have
[18:59] the actual facts.
My house is located right at the
[19:03] intersection of Third Street West in
Vigna, and my driveway sits on the south
[19:08] side of Vigna. I am directly impacted by
the severe safety hazard. I personally
[19:13] identified this deficiency, initiated
the fire department's investigation, and
[19:18] filed a THRF.
As a result, the fire chief officially
[19:23] determined a fire code deficiency exists
under Soma Municipal Code section
[19:28] 191230.
While I am glad the fire lane is up for
[19:32] approval, the committee must direct
public works to paint the entire north
[19:36] side hydrant immediately. In addition,
we need a red curb on the south side
[19:41] directly to the left of my driveway.
Originally, staff wanted to paint the
[19:47] south side right away as the designated
fire lane instead of the north side
[19:52] hydrant with no explanation, which
residents had to object to stop. Yet,
[19:58] when it came to painting the correct
side and factoring in the rest of the
[20:01] red curbs, public works has dragged
their feet and failed to share their
[20:06] layout and kept their engineering plans
hidden. Even with the north side
[20:10] painted, our safety crisis remains
unless you factor in the unpainted
[20:14] southside pocket. It measures exactly 26
feet 7 in from my driveway throat to the
[20:21] ADA ramp corner. By California state
law, vehicles cannot park within 20 feet
[20:27] of a pedestrian ramp approach. That
mandatory buffer leaves a mere six feet
[20:32] of legal curb space. A standard vehicle
cannot physically fit in there. Living
[20:37] right at the intersection of Third
Street West in Vigna, I see firsthand
[20:41] how the reduced parking from the traffic
circle forces overflow traffic from the
[20:46] nearby dental offices onto our tiny
narrow 24 street where drivers park from
[20:51] nearby dental offices onto our narrow 24
ft street blindly without realizing the
[20:58] hazard.
Tonight I ask the committee to approve
[21:01] the agenda items with specific
directives and one ensure the entire
[21:07] north side north hydrant side fire lane
is painted red immediately. Paint the
[21:12] entire 26 foot 7in curb on the south
side to the left of my driveway. Three,
[21:21] direct staff to give advanced notice and
schedule the work after 10:00 a.m. so we
[21:26] have sufficient time to enter and exit
our driveways without obstacles. And
[21:30] number four, guarantee no further
construction or elements of the Third
[21:34] Street traffic project connect to Vigna
Street. Thank you.
[21:41] » Thank you.
[21:50] Hi there. My name is Daniel Sinat,
spelled Si N O T.
[21:56] Um, and I'm here to talk about the
closing off of the end of Malay Street.
[22:02] Um,
I got the
[22:05] message just now from um from public
works about what the fire department had
[22:10] to say and you know I've had this
immediate response in myself like oh
[22:15] well the fire department you know
they're the you know they're the bosses
[22:18] so they say no then no it must be but um
I have a very strong sense that there
[22:25] are practical workarounds to getting a
fire truck or any other emergency
[22:30] vehicle through there um as needed. And
in fact, my vision for the closure of
[22:35] the end of the street would be something
that's somewhat permeable so that if
[22:37] there's some reason, you know, good
reason to drive a trash truck or a
[22:42] 18-wheeler or whatever, you know, odd
moment comes that a vehicle, a big
[22:47] vehicle can pull through there. Um, so,
um, I would still like to keep this
[22:52] possibility open and find ways to make a
really beautiful solution to the we want
[22:59] a walkable neighborhood with access as
is needed, but to not compromise the
[23:06] broader vision of creating a beautiful
place for people to walk. And in fact,
[23:10] in terms of surveys, I would love to see
a walking survey because there's
[23:14] probably 10 times as many people, 20
times as many people walking the street
[23:18] every day as to live there. And it's a
very big walking corridor. And it would
[23:22] change the quality of the neighborhood
if there were no if it wasn't so
[23:28] trafficked. So that, you know, dogs are
sleeping and, you know, old men are, you
[23:33] know, meandering across the street. And
it creates a very different social
[23:37] moment if you're not looking for traffic
because there is no traffic. So, I
[23:41] brought a little show and tell. I don't
know if you guys have like a projector
[23:44] or something like that.
Nope. Okay. Well,
[23:51] trust me when I say that um there are
barriers like um I've seen them in
[23:57] Berkeley that are um low.
The car can drive over them. Um, but you
[24:04] would be nervous to, but your car will
get over it. And we would certainly have
[24:07] it engineered so that it's low enough
for the cops to drive over and certainly
[24:11] low enough for trash trucks and fire
trucks to get over. And so it's it's a
[24:16] wide birth for a big vehicle. Cars and
bicycle, you know, cars can come up to
[24:21] it. Big sign. No, not for you. Bicycles
and pedestrians, you know, come on
[24:26] through. And so we could have our cake
and eat it, too. We could meet all the
[24:30] security, safety, access concerns that
we have. and still have a nice walkable
[24:35] neighborhood. So that's my input.
>> Thank you.
[24:49] » Uh my name is Jamie Johnson, J A Mi
Johnson. Uh, I live along with my wife
[24:54] Karen Lulich at the north end of Mallay
Street within a few yards of where the
[24:59] roundabout is currently where Malet uh
um and Frier Creek uh meet and I'll
[25:05] present an opposing view. Um I'm pleased
to hear the fire department identified
[25:09] the bottleneck issue. Um obviously
that's the primary concern. I think
[25:14] there are other considerations though
that are worth airing. Um the reduction
[25:18] of two escape routes is significant. I'm
sure that's part of the fire
[25:22] department's deliberations. Other
neighbors have raised the question
[25:25] whether that would impact our insurance
costs. Um, it's an unknown as far as I'm
[25:30] concerned. Access for garbage, which uh
a useful pointed out. Garbage, recycling
[25:36] trucks, street cleaners, delivery
vehicles, mail trucks, um, all I believe
[25:42] would find it difficult to turn around
in the at the junction as it's currently
[25:46] configured. Um, we I would say suffered
through over a year of noise from the
[25:53] construction site at at uh Fifth Street
West and MacArthur from the 5:00 a.m.
[26:00] Monday morning arrival of construction
vehicles through the reversing alarms.
[26:05] And I have a concern that if um uh
garbage trucks and the like were
[26:09] confronted with a similar need to turn
around in a short space in that area,
[26:14] noise would become an issue for us as
well. Um the increased traffic flows
[26:19] which would result from uh a barricade
at that mark would redirect traffic down
[26:25] Frier Creek up Nukem and onto First
Street West placing it in part in
[26:30] conflict with traffic that comes off of
uh the high school exit from Broadway at
[26:35] Nukem there and on First Street West.
Um, so there's an issue in terms of the
[26:40] traffic impact for the local area and
frankly there's an inconvenience factor
[26:44] too for those of us on Frier Creek and
Nukem. Uh, we can currently get to town
[26:48] by driving one block. Uh, this would
divert us the length of Frier Creek, the
[26:53] length of Nukem and back down,
increasing the cost, um, the time and
[26:59] the environmental impact of every trip
we would take to town to do simple
[27:04] business or enjoy the amenities of the
town.
[27:08] Um, so, uh, I I I hear the points. There
may be workarounds. Uh, we have no
[27:15] objection to speed bumps on Malle.
Sidewalks would be delightful on Malle.
[27:19] Um, but I do think we should be allowed
to continue to uh, drive up and down it.
[27:23] And I think the costs of the proposed
barrier are outweighed or sorry, the
[27:28] benefits are outweighed by the cost to
the neighborhood. Thank you.
[27:34] » Thank you.
[27:40] Is there any other public comment
regarding Malay? There we go. We got
[27:44] » Hi, Tom Conlin. Um, I'm here as an
individual tonight. Uh, live just
[27:48] outside the city limits. I just want to
say how excited and happy I am to see so
[27:53] many people out in Soma to talk about
traffic safety. It's a good testimony to
[27:57] the work that your committee does and
staff. And I want to thank the police
[28:01] department, fire department, our
consulting engineer as well for the
[28:04] input to tonight's agenda. I have
reviewed this list um of projects. I
[28:11] don't see any significant concerns. It
looks like staff has been deliberative,
[28:15] looked through all of the input provided
by the community and uh I don't have any
[28:22] concerns with this agenda item. I
support staff's recommendations tonight.
[28:26] I'm I do point want to point out I it's
a little ironic that like with the Malay
[28:30] Street there's many people asking for
traffic calming measures on their street
[28:35] later in your agenda you have people who
actually have the opportunity of traffic
[28:39] caling measures to be installed and and
yet they're being opposed. So that's why
[28:43] you guys make the big bucks. So thank
you for your service tonight.
[28:50] » We get we get a pay increase after
tonight, right?
[28:53] » Double it.
[28:58] Hello. Um, my name is Katrina Wedell.
I'm a resident of Frier Creek, right um,
[29:04] two houses in from LA. Um, and I'm happy
to see my neighbors so civically engaged
[29:10] tonight. Um, I'm here to thank you for
the work that you did um, surveying
[29:15] speed. um what the assessment showed is
is my experience, but safety is a
[29:20] priority in the neighborhood. And so if
speed bumps are determined necessary,
[29:24] fine. But a blockade puts me and my
family at risk.
[29:30] Um the blockade would be between Fire
Creek and Malay. And so it would mean
[29:34] that if a block was there and there was
an issue, it's minutes that would impact
[29:39] my family. Um and that's not true for
the residents on Malay. Um, and so I'm
[29:45] here to strongly urge that you continue
with the recommendation. Again, safety
[29:51] is important. No problem with speed
bumps. Um, and I also want to echo that
[29:57] blocking that off cuts us off from the
heart of Soma. And I'm a new resident in
[30:02] Soma, but one of the things that I loved
about this was the sense of community.
[30:07] And so to put a blockade between our
neighborhood and the high school and our
[30:11] neighborhood and the town really does
not um feel like the spirit that we love
[30:17] so much about this town. So in addition
to the risks, there's a a disconnection
[30:23] that um hasn't proved necessary yet. So
thank you for your time.
[30:30] Thank you.
[30:41] » Well, sir, you've already given your
three minutes. I'll let you have one
[30:44] minute of a rebuttal just in the spirit
of
[30:47] » um so the the the barrier that um
barriers that I've seen barriers that
[30:52] I've seen um are more like invitations
to connect as opposed to barriers to not
[30:57] connect. So they're planners with you
know flowers and people on bicycles and
[31:04] and people walking and it it invites a
more social connection. It's not a car
[31:08] centric connection. And it's a
pedestrian centric connection. It's it's
[31:14] a big invitation to connect.
[31:21] » Okay. All right. Thank you.
[31:25] » One comment. Um I uh am Karen Lolich. Um
Jamie Johnson's wife.
[31:31] » Could you spell your name, please?
>> Sure. Uh L O L I C H. Karen with a K.
[31:38] And I would also like to say this is my
first city council meeting and I'm
[31:42] pretty impressed with the process and
the turnout and all of that. And um you
[31:48] know I I kind of wanted to I I strongly
um agree with the suggestion to close
[31:55] out the Mallay um traffic forums. And I
just would like to add a small thing
[32:01] because I think we've covered a lot of
the big points. I walk up and down
[32:05] Mallay Street often two or three times a
day and I've rarely have ever had a
[32:12] problem or felt unsafe or you know
occasionally there might be a little
[32:17] traffic. It's very occasional. It's to
me it's a lovely street and I know I
[32:21] don't live on there but we would know
we're right at the corner of where those
[32:26] streets intersect and when we drive in
we know we have to slow down because you
[32:30] can't take that culde-sac fast. So I'm
not dismissing what the people on
[32:35] Malleet are experiencing. I'm just
saying that it doesn't seem to be
[32:39] chronic from the vantage point that that
we have. So, thank you very much.
[32:48] » Thank you.
>> Hey, how are you? Uh Steve Stanfeld, 215
[32:54] Mallay Street. It's S Tan Fel. And um I
just again I'm up here kind of making
[33:03] sure that we really look at the speed
bumps on Mallay Street. It's it's not a
[33:08] wide street. We do have a lot of traffic
that do come through there at certain
[33:12] times of the day. And um we do have a
ton of walkers. Um I have a one and a
[33:20] half year old that you know we're
strolling around on that street every
[33:24] day, at least three times a day. Um, so,
um, to at least whatever we can do to
[33:31] slow down the traffic, um, I'm in favor
for, um, I don't know the results. I
[33:39] don't know if the if the if the machine
was out there at the right time of the
[33:44] year, whether we got a lot of the high
school activity on that survey or not,
[33:50] but, um, I would certainly like to see
us, you know, take another look at that.
[33:56] Thanks.
>> Thank you.
[34:05] » Okay. Is there any Oh, do you have
public comment? Oh, please come on up.
[34:10] » Hi, I'm Katie D. Young, 190 Malay
Street, and I just would like to
[34:16] advocate for anything we can do to slow
down traffic. If it's speed bumps, that
[34:21] would be great. Um there are a lot of
young families, a lot of new babies that
[34:26] were just born in the last couple of
years and it's really not safe. Uh there
[34:32] are a lot of workers that a lot of
people during the day that go through
[34:35] really fast. The high school traffic is
terrifying. Um we all know that we can't
[34:41] change the high school students. We
could ask them to go slower, this and
[34:45] that, but I think we all know that
they're probably not going to slow down.
[34:50] So, anything we could do to make it
safer for our community would be greatly
[34:55] appreciated. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[35:07] Is there any more public comment on
Malay or Vignia?
[35:12] Okay, seeing none, I'm going to throw it
back to the committee for any comments
[35:18] or questions.
[35:26] Do you guys mind sharing a little bit
about what the ad hoc was for Malay? I
[35:31] mean, I'm I'm assuming you just went
over the report for
[35:35] the speed
um speed tables.
[35:39] Anything anything noteworthy for those
that are here tonight?
[35:47] Um it was essentially just the uh
results from the speed surveys
[35:54] that we discussed.
Um no real indepth discussion on plans
[36:00] or anything like that.
[36:07] » So
>> just for your discussion I'm just
[36:08] pulling up the speed survey data for you
guys now.
[36:11] » What's that?
I just pulling up the speed survey data
[36:15] that was discussed at the ad hoc. This
is attached to the agenda meeting. Um,
[36:18] and it's not displayed on your computers
if you'd like to use it for your
[36:22] discussion.
>> Just kind of tidbit a little bit off
[36:25] that. We did talk about the 20 mph speed
limit uh proposed to in different
[36:31] various parts of Soma, which I'm in
favor of.
[36:38] And then I can't remember um Frank's
program with the vehicle data. Had we
[36:45] applied that to this area as well or was
it just the speed survey data we had?
[36:52] Maybe uh Frank could elaborate on that.
>> Yeah, the uh the connected vehicle data
[36:57] that I um have access to um really is
was not definitive with regards regard
[37:05] to results. it didn't have a lot of
vehicles primarily because of the
[37:10] anonymity. Um the anonym uh the process
the data goes through to be anonymous
[37:15] when vehicles are entering their home
driveways or private roadways or things
[37:20] like that. It truncates the data um
which would be indicative that there is
[37:26] maybe not a lot of cut through traffic
that is of significant distance. Um,
[37:32] it's just one of the ways. It's just
some of the data doesn't show up because
[37:37] we don't take it from the way that
somebody comes out of their driveway. We
[37:41] we have an anonymization process to
preserve privacy. Um, other roadways in
[37:46] town, it's been fairly significant. Um,
you'll see some of the results when we
[37:51] review the 20 mph speed limits um and
other speed limits in town, but on this
[37:56] roadway in particular, it wasn't viable.
It did not produce any
[38:01] statistically significant data.
>> Thank you, Brick.
[38:08] » So, I'm So, the people who are here
tonight are saying speeding is
[38:14] significant on Malay,
but the survey says otherwise.
[38:21] The times that I've been out there,
and it's anecdotal, so there's I don't
[38:28] see a lot of traffic. I can appreciate
that high schoolers
[38:33] could could make traffic. I I even
looked at that today. I was out there
[38:37] today looking and I take the
neighborhood
[38:43] uh at at their word. It does I don't
understand why a teenager would cut
[38:48] through there because it doesn't seem
like it's going anywhere. But that's
[38:52] again I don't live there. I'm not there
24 hours a day.
[38:57] Um, the other thing I noticed about the
street was
[39:02] it has a lot of what I call the poor man
speed bumps. It's really not very well
[39:06] paved. Uh, and if it got paved,
then that would certainly increase
[39:13] traffic just by its own nature. I so how
what with the measurement the traffic
[39:19] you know the the traffic measurement the
speed measurement versus citizens going
[39:26] oh the traffic's horrible it speeds
crazy how do we how do we sync those or
[39:32] otherwise
relate to that
[39:38] » one of the parameters that you can
reflect on for the speed surveys one for
[39:42] each direction is the the miles per hour
that were indicated and
[39:48] police's speed radar trailer was out
there. They left it out there. We did
[39:55] not have anywhere to put our radar
device because there's no telephone
[40:02] poles to catch one direction of travel.
So even though this the police trailer
[40:06] was out there, it wasn't on it was just
sitting on the side of the road. But we
[40:11] did attach one of our devices to it and
we put another device on the other side
[40:16] where there was a pole because of the
trees and the location of the poles. We
[40:20] couldn't just attach two devices to two
poles. The devices were out there for
[40:23] three and a half days and recorded the
speed during school of all vehicles that
[40:28] went up and down Malay Street in both
directions.
[40:32] And the two the two speed limits average
were 15 miles an hour and 16 miles an
[40:37] hour. And that everybody remembers when
we were doing the um
[40:43] speed table location next to the
Catholic cemetery on West Napa Street at
[40:49] 5th. Those speeds were 30 to 32 miles an
hour on average. These are 16 and 15.
[40:58] And so
I understand that people are concerned
[41:02] about cars driving too fast and
I can accept that for people that live
[41:08] there and walk there. But these are the
numbers and hopefully they can help you
[41:12] try to sift through it and the durations
that we put the uh the devices out
[41:17] there.
[41:23] » Sorry.
>> So um
[41:27] just couple of thoughts that I have. I
think um the person who brought up the
[41:34] methodology of the speed survey, I think
there is some validity there, right?
[41:38] With it being attached to a speed
trailer, whether the device is on or not
[41:43] still grabs your attention um and could
affect the data. So, that's just one
[41:48] thought I have. And then the other
thought was um the fact that all the
[41:53] other streets that run the same
direction in that neighborhood have
[41:57] speed bumps. You know, it is something
that definitely makes me want to take
[42:02] into account the um desire to have uh
speed bumps. And I'm trying to think of
[42:09] the negatives that would come from it.
It's not like we're talking about what
[42:14] we did on East Napa and Fifth where it's
a very welltraveled street. So, um, you
[42:22] know, just trying to to balance the data
versus what the community wants and,
[42:32] um, the, you know, also putting in our
[42:38] documents that we use to help guide this
stuff. So, little bit of a balancing act
[42:44] here because it doesn't truly meet the
criteria, but you know, with almost
[42:50] unanimous support and even the folks who
are came here and spoke out against the
[42:55] closure, um, nobody spoke out against
speed bumps. So, um, just kind of a
[43:02] couple thoughts I had.
>> Yeah, I'm going to piggy back off of
[43:06] what Mark said. Um, pretty much same
thing what Miss Phillips brought up
[43:10] about the the the methodology, but we
created the the traffic calming handbook
[43:18] as a guide, but not the end all beall.
And in this case, you know, it's a guide
[43:23] for us, it's a guide for the community.
Um,
[43:27] so based on the data, it says no to
pretty much anything, but we're not data
[43:33] driven alone. We're also very
sympathetic to what the community wants.
[43:37] Now, I for one, I walk down Frier Creek
and Mallay quite a bit. Um
[43:43] I I've gone during school, after school,
during the summer, and I haven't seen a
[43:48] lot of issues. Um
but that being and and it would support
[43:53] the data that I'm hearing tonight.
However, the fact that it is a through
[43:57] street to Frier Creek and high schoolers
do have a tendency to be high schoolers
[44:02] sometimes and delivery drivers tend to
be delivery drivers sometimes. I would
[44:07] oppose closing it at that at the
culde-sac where Frier Creek meets Malay.
[44:10] I I I I don't see the need for that. But
I would be even though the data doesn't
[44:16] support it, I would be in support of a
speed bump. I think the community, the
[44:22] the folks that live on LA Street, you
see it more than I do. I just walk
[44:25] through there every couple days. So, I'm
of the opinion that a speed bump
[44:31] would be feasible and worth trying. So I
guess my question would be can we
[44:35] install a temporary speed bump and see
what the result would be and what and
[44:39] more importantly what's the cost?
[44:44] If the committee's done talking about
this item certainly one of staff's tasks
[44:49] for the next meeting would be to be able
to look into this and either install
[44:54] something or bring back something for
the committee to review at the next
[44:59] meeting.
[45:04] The the other thing I was wondering
about kind of relative to what you were
[45:08] saying and it would be interesting to
hear what you would find out traffic
[45:13] cushions versus a speed table versus a
speed bump. I think those are all the
[45:20] speed bumps that are there permanent as
permanent can be uh because they're
[45:24] piles of asphalt, you know. So, what
other options? What other arrows are in
[45:29] the quiver?
>> Yeah. And the other thing, too, I just
[45:32] took a look on Google Earth and Clay and
Nukem both have those speed bumps. Those
[45:36] were put in prior to this committee
being formed. And so, basically, what
[45:40] sort of a an approval process they went
through to install those, we we can't uh
[45:46] elaborate on, but it's something that we
could definitely look into.
[45:51] » Um, just opinion here. Um considering
that uh the community has talked about
[45:58] Malay for I think this is what the
second or third meeting I would I would
[46:02] really like to push for us to make a
decision on whatever we do next meeting
[46:07] I think um to show that there's
resolution um and would would like to
[46:12] see the cost if if possible if we do if
it's temporary permanent whatever what's
[46:17] the the financial impact on the budget
and what's the best option long term
[46:25] Um before I forget, I don't want to
leave Vignia off because I know we're
[46:30] talking about Malay, but I know Vignia
um is my comment with that would be as
[46:34] long as the traffic engineer um and the
fire department is as long as
[46:38] everything's within code, I'm all for
painting. Um you said that we've already
[46:43] done we're starting some and I would
just make the recommendation let's get
[46:47] that area up to code and as soon as we
can. That would be my first
[46:51] recommendation. My second one, I agree
with Shelby. Malay has been on the has
[46:55] been on a topic for a couple times now.
Maybe we don't act on it tonight, but by
[47:00] next meeting, let's come up with a
resolution. Let's have a couple options,
[47:04] speed bump, whatever it might be, and we
can make a final resolution on our next
[47:08] meeting. That's
>> two items on the item on the barrier.
[47:15] » Um I I would my thought is to consider
them. I know they're two separate items,
[47:21] but consider them one and the same, but
I don't hear a lot of
[47:25] It doesn't sound like there's a lot of
support for a full barrier. I would not
[47:29] support that. I can say that right out
the gate, but I'm definitely in favor of
[47:33] some type of some type of traffic
calming measure for cars passing up and
[47:38] down Malay.
>> It It seems we got three things here and
[47:41] each one deserves its own
vote and resolutions, right? So, do we
[47:47] do we have a barrier or not?
Do do we direct staff to come up with
[47:56] uh research relative to speed bumps to
satisfy
[48:00] or to attempt to slow down traffic on
the street. And then the third one is it
[48:04] feels it just even geographically it's
completely separate which is V Street
[48:09] and and what to do about that. Um, so
I I guess I'm making a recommendation we
[48:17] take each one one by one and go from
there.
[48:22] » Do we need any formal motion? I don't
think
[48:25] » Yeah, I don't think we would need a
formal motion for any of those three
[48:28] items other than just the staff is
obviously very aware of our
[48:30] recommendations and then we'll come to
final uh resolution at next meeting. Can
[48:36] we um close out the because it's a
separate line for the um barrier or the
[48:43] closing uh on Malay versus the speed
bumps.
[48:46] » Yes, your recommendation.
>> I would say that we should probably
[48:49] close that out um pending
the speed bumps and things. If somebody
[48:56] wants to resubmit a traffic hazard
reporting form at that point, then we
[49:00] can do that. Um and then we'll leave
that
[49:04] um vignia. I I would agree with um Chair
Lobinger that we need to get that done.
[49:11] Um and then that can come back just as a
report out item. Um I forget the color
[49:16] code on that Ashley. I apologize. Um but
if hopefully by I believe it's November
[49:22] 2nd, if that gets completed, you guys
can report out that that's completed. We
[49:26] can close it out at that point. Um and
then come back with a couple of options
[49:32] for Malay um as far as traffic calming
whether it be speed bumps, cushions,
[49:37] tables, whatever um Frank and the GHD
folks might uh recommend and then uh we
[49:44] can make a decision at that point on uh
November second.
[49:49] » So one one question about vignette. So I
are are we suggesting then that there
[49:57] are two locations, one on the north that
gets red curved as well as a significant
[50:03] portion on the south part by Third
Street.
[50:08] Is that what
>> um so I believe the recommendation is
[50:11] currently for the entirety of the north
side to be red curbed and then a pocket
[50:16] red curved on the south side to
accommodate driveway access because it
[50:19] is quite narrow and the street is
narrow.
[50:22] » Yeah, it so then the only the
I've got no problem with it. It makes
[50:28] sense to me but uh
that's going to make parking there even
[50:34] tougher for the residents because they
mostly houses with car garages if
[50:39] everybody's got two cars or more.
>> Um we will also be noticing the
[50:42] residents prior to the work being done.
So um whether that's done mail or just
[50:46] posting notices. Um we'll definitely be
doing that to both the um residents as
[50:51] well as the property owners if that
differs.
[50:56] » Okay. So I think it's Vignia up to code
and try and make it a priority. What we
[51:00] can't direct public works but we can
make a suggestion to to get Vignia up to
[51:04] code. And as for Malay, the two separate
issues, I I don't think we see a need to
[51:09] close the street, but we would
definitely like some wrecks on um on
[51:14] traffic cal the next meeting. So, we can
close this item out for good. All right,
[51:18] I think we're good. Anybody? All right,
let's let's close this item out
[51:26] and we will move on to item 4.2, to the
review of the traffic circle on Third
[51:33] Street West at Perkins. And I will turn
it back over to Ashley.
[51:50] Thank you, Chair Lobinger. So, today we
have prepared a PowerPoint to go over
[51:56] this. Um, So we will be addressing the
overall broader citywide bicycle and
[52:02] pedestrian improvements project as which
of which the third street west bike
[52:06] boulevard is a component of as well as
the traffic circle element which is
[52:10] included on the bike boulevard. So just
brief road map. Oh I think I have the
[52:15] wrong
my bad. Let me turn that off for a
[52:18] second.
Sorry I have the wrong version. I'm
[52:22] gonna go ahead and put the right version
up. Apologies.
[52:30] What happens when you have too many
versions of the same thing?
[52:42] Okay, this is right.
[52:48] Okay, perfect. Is it
[53:02] is not.
[53:11] Okay.
Okay. So, just a brief road mapap for
[53:14] everyone. We're going to be going over
all of the elements of the citywide
[53:18] bicycle and pedestrian improvements
project. the relevant background
[53:21] information, public feedback perceived,
just going over what a bike boulevard
[53:25] is, the third street west boulevard
elements, the temporary traffic circle
[53:30] at Third Street West and Perkins,
engineering analysis, renderings and
[53:34] plans of the overall traffic calming
elements that are proposed,
[53:37] alternatives, as well as lining out next
steps, and then we'll be open for
[53:41] questions.
So, this graphic we have here is a map
[53:46] of overall project. This is supplied by
Sonoma County Transit climate agencies.
[53:51] And so this gives a very good
representation of the overall project.
[53:55] Um the temporary traffic circle is one
element of a larger project. It's not a
[54:00] standalone project that was initiated by
the city. And so that is why we're going
[54:03] to go over um spend a few minutes going
over all of the elements so that we can
[54:06] be totally on the same page about this.
Um the citywide bicycle and pedestrian
[54:11] improvements project is also known as
CIP6 and it's funded by the goma tax
[54:16] measure as a competitive project under
the build bikeways and pathways program
[54:21] with the Sonoma County Transit and
Climate Authorities administering the
[54:24] funds. The GOMA tax measure as a
competitive project is funding 1.6
[54:29] million of a construction allocation.
The city match is 227,000 for
[54:34] construction. Um, we are also fronting
all of the costs for design.
[54:39] There are constraints to this funding.
It can only be used for projects that
[54:42] are in the city's active transportation
plan or comprehensive transportation
[54:46] plan. The city recently adopted an
updated active transportation plan in
[54:50] January of 2025. The original purpose of
this project when submitted in 2021 was
[54:56] to create a high quality bicycle and
pedestrian network, provide a safe and
[55:01] well-maintained transportation
infrastructure for pedestrians and
[55:04] bicyclists, and focus on strategies that
>> I'd like to close that door.
[55:09] » Um that support a walkable community and
prioritize funding for zero mission
[55:14] transportation strategies. So the full
scope of this project includes elements
[55:19] that I'm going to call out on this map.
So we've got a raised crosswalk at Nero
[55:22] Sarah Drive bike path crossing crossing
improvements at Fifth Street West. Bike
[55:26] path crossing. Pedestrian upgrades at
Fifth Street West and Studley Street.
[55:31] Bike path crossing improvements at Fifth
Street First Street West. Bike path
[55:35] crossing improvements at First Street
East. Bike path crossing improvements at
[55:38] Second Street East. And then Seventh
Street West and West Main Street
[55:42] crosswalk improvements as well as the
Third Street West by Boulevard.
[55:48] So, the background and public process
for this um we have one of the reasons
[55:53] that we're we pulled this item out. We
did get a traffic hazard reporting form
[55:57] for this particular element. Um and
again reiterating that the traffic
[56:02] circle is not a standalone project but
part of the larger project and the
[56:06] larger project originally had a
different scope. This was presented at
[56:10] the October 7th, 2025 special traffic
safety committee meeting as an amendment
[56:15] to the overall project. Because the
funds are administered through Sonoma
[56:18] County Transit Agency, there was a
process that we had to go through in
[56:23] order to amend the scope to remove the
Sasserini school trail, which was
[56:27] originally what was included in the
project scope. So, when we were looking
[56:31] for replacements, we did review the
active transportation plan by
[56:35] facilities, multi-use paths, and
crossing enhancements. And we had a few
[56:39] criteria that we were evaluating this
against. The pro the selected project
[56:43] needed to have um no substantial
rightway issues. Um not be a feasibility
[56:48] or planning study as our um allocation
was specifically for construction phase.
[56:51] So the end of the at the end of all this
we needed to build something. Um and
[56:57] then the the proposed replacement for
the project grant funding um also needed
[57:02] to be commensurate with the scope of the
Sasserini trail project and we also
[57:06] wanted to avoid CALR rightway. The third
street west bike boulevard is identified
[57:12] in the updated 2025 uh trans ATP um as
project 191 and is a tier three
[57:18] priority. Tier one being the highest
priority. This project is part of the
[57:23] Metropolitan Transportation Commission
regional active transportation network.
[57:27] And the bike boulevard would connect the
Frier Creek Trail which runs from Frier
[57:31] Creek Drive over West MacArthur Street
and dead ends at Aurora Way to Third
[57:35] Street West and West Main Street at the
entrance of General Blade's home where
[57:38] the Soma bike path picks up. Um there is
not currently a north south connector to
[57:44] the two main bike trails which is why we
um were looking at this. Additionally,
[57:48] in September of 2025, the also received
a final complete streets safety
[57:53] assessment from UC Berkeley's safet
program. Um, SAP had applied for this
[57:58] program in 2024 and were selected in
early 2025. This included a consultant
[58:03] from the safe safet program visiting the
city and exploring problem areas as well
[58:08] as a comprehensive review of all
planning and policy documents in place
[58:12] including the ATP. The third street west
bike boulevard was identified as an
[58:16] ideal location. Um while it was ranked
year three in the ATP, we believe that
[58:21] this recommendation in the report rep
prioritized it. This project had also
[58:26] met the criteria we laid out. It was not
on Calrance rightway. It is not a
[58:31] planning or feasibility project and it
is a commensurate alternative to the
[58:35] Saster School Trail. There were no
significant rightway issues that could
[58:39] potentially delay this process. So as
part of switching this out, this
[58:44] included several county level meetings.
So, we brought this to the special
[58:48] October meeting for traffic safety. We
then brought it again to the technical
[58:53] advisory committee meeting on October
23rd. Um the citizens advisory committee
[58:58] meeting on October 27th and then again
final board approval for Sonoma County
[59:02] Transit Agency board approval on
December 8th, 2025. Um it was again
[59:07] brought back to the traffic safety
meeting February as a report out and
[59:10] then May as an update with the traffic
circle.
[59:14] Um and then it was also brought to city
council on April 15th as part of a
[59:18] contract amendment with GHD, our design
engineers. And then um after that the
[59:23] the temporary traffic circle
installation was completed on July 9th.
[59:29] Public feedback received um the majority
of the feedback we have gotten has been
[59:36] um kind of contained within these three
bullet points. safety and driver
[59:40] behavior, vehicle access and
maneuverability, as well as our overall
[59:44] public outreach process as it relates to
this temporary traffic circle.
[59:49] Um
the uh we have also received positive uh
[59:54] supportive feedback. They've included
support for additional traffic calming
[59:57] on Third Street West. Um residents
reporting that they feel more
[1:00:00] comfortable walking on uh or bicycling
with children along the corridor. Um and
[1:00:04] interest from residents in other
neighborhoods and similar traffic
[1:00:07] calming treatments. Um the third street
west bike boulevard and its elements
[1:00:11] were considered through multiple
publicly noticed meetings as we just
[1:00:13] laid out and as the project uh
progressed through planning, funding and
[1:00:18] design. The project has also moved on a
relatively expedited schedule associated
[1:00:22] with grant funding design and
anticipated construction timelines. Um
[1:00:26] we addressed this I think at a couple
other meetings but as you know our
[1:00:30] construction allocation with SCTCA we
are eligible to draw down from that this
[1:00:34] fiscal year which essentially means we
need to get this project out to bid. And
[1:00:37] so that was part of why we had a
criteria for evaluating the overall
[1:00:42] replacements for the Sasarini school
trail. Essentially, were we going to be
[1:00:45] able to do something that was going to
accommodate this schedule as well as
[1:00:50] getting it through all of the publicly
noticed meetings as well.
[1:00:54] Um, feedback received following the
installation of traffic's traffic circle
[1:00:57] indicates that a number of nearby
residents and other community members
[1:01:00] did not feel that they had sufficient
awareness of proposed improvement or the
[1:01:04] opportunity to provide input before the
temporary installation had occurred. We
[1:01:08] recognize this concern and while the
project proceeded through the applicable
[1:01:12] public meeting and approval processes,
the response to the temporary
[1:01:15] installation demonstrates the value of a
more direct project specific
[1:01:19] communication when introducing
transportation treatments that may be
[1:01:22] unfamiliar to the community. And we will
incorporate lessons from this experience
[1:01:26] into outreach for future transportation
projects.
[1:01:31] And moving on, what is a bike boulevard?
Um the overall bike boulevard is a
[1:01:36] street designed to prioritize
non-vehicle travel while maintaining
[1:01:39] local vehicle access. The goal would be
to um introduce traffic calming measures
[1:01:44] to cultivate a lower stress environment
for people who are walking, biking, and
[1:01:48] rolling down that street. The it is a
shared facility. So there are no shared
[1:01:53] bike lanes. It um and in order if we did
want to accommodate bike lanes, it would
[1:01:59] result in a significant loss of parking.
So, we wanted to prioritize that, which
[1:02:04] is part of why we went um for a bike
boulevard.
[1:02:08] Um this again fits with the overall
theme of the project, which was to
[1:02:12] create a high quality bicycle and
pedestrian network, provide a safe and
[1:02:15] well-maintained transportation
infrastructure for pedestrians and bike
[1:02:18] bicyclists, and focus on strategies that
support a walkable community, and
[1:02:22] prioritize funding for zero emission
strategies. Um bike boulevards are also
[1:02:26] more ideal on a street with a lower
average daily traffic volume. We're
[1:02:30] estimating Third Street West is probably
about under 2,000 average daily traffic.
[1:02:36] Um, so this, you know, varies. A
comparison would be West Bane, which is
[1:02:39] in, you know, 10,000 to 15,000 average
daily traffic. West Napa is probably
[1:02:43] around two 20,000. Um, and so that was
also taken into consideration with that
[1:02:50] selection.
So, we are also going to go over all of
[1:02:54] the traffic calming elements that are in
the Third Street West Bike Boulevard.
[1:02:58] This is what was currently approved
under the special October 7th traffic
[1:03:03] safety committee meeting and has been
approved by Snow County Transit Agency.
[1:03:06] So this includes um painted curb
extensions on Third Street West up to
[1:03:10] West Napa Street. Painted and curb
extensions. Um these are what we have
[1:03:15] also installed on West Bain Street. So
residents should be relatively familiar
[1:03:19] with this traffic calming element. Um
speed cushions on Third Street West
[1:03:23] between Westbane Street and West Napa
Street. Speed cushions on Third Street
[1:03:26] West between West Napa and Robinson
Street. Traffic Circle at the
[1:03:30] intersection of Perkins Street and Third
Street West. Painted curb extensions,
[1:03:34] new crosswalks, and reversing straw
control from Third Street West where it
[1:03:37] currently is to the proposed on Andre
Street. And then painted curb
[1:03:41] extensions, new crosswalks and reversing
stall control on Third Street West,
[1:03:45] where currently is to Benton Court
Street, which is proposed.
[1:03:49] So all of this is supposed to work
together in tandem to create an overall
[1:03:54] traffic calming out feel vibe for this
street in order for it to be a bike
[1:03:59] boulevard shared facility.
[1:04:04] So, the temporary Third Street West um
and Perkins Street traffic circle. Um we
[1:04:09] did this temporary installation to
evaluate how the intersection functions
[1:04:13] under everyday conditions while the
project team finalizes the permanent
[1:04:17] design. During this period, city staff,
project engineers, public safety
[1:04:20] personnel, and community all had an
opportunity to experience the
[1:04:24] intersection, and those observations are
being evaluated alongside engineering
[1:04:28] considerations to help inform the final
design. The proposed um permanent
[1:04:35] installation does differ slightly from
the temporary traffic circle in that it
[1:04:39] is going to be mountable, and we'll go
over that with the AI renderings later.
[1:04:44] Um, and I want to preface that though
they're AI rendering, so this is not um
[1:04:49] supposed to give you an idea of what
it's supposed to be like. Um, and then
[1:04:52] also just to clarify the roundabout
versus a traffic circle. Roundabouts are
[1:04:57] very heavily uti utilized in high
congestion areas. An example is um what
[1:05:01] we have outside of the valley on Arnold
Drive and Boyce Boulevard or what we
[1:05:05] also are the SCTCA and um CALR recently
installed on 121 and 116. They are built
[1:05:12] to convey um high volumes of vehicles
and there are accommodations for that
[1:05:16] like locating crosswalks. The traffic
circles exhibit a similar stop control
[1:05:21] to a four-way stop and it's not meant to
alleviate congestion. I just want want
[1:05:24] to highlight that because um a lot some
of the public feedback is also kind of
[1:05:29] questioning the placement for this and
citing some higher volume streets and so
[1:05:33] just want to clarify the difference
between the traffic circle and the
[1:05:36] roundabout.
[1:05:40] So the engineering analysis um we did
surveys before installation and after
[1:05:45] installation. The temporary traffic
circle is showing that
[1:05:50] vehicles are slowing down. The 85th
percentile dropped from 24 miles an hour
[1:05:55] to 19 miles per hour. It's about a 5
mile per hour drop which is not
[1:05:58] insignificant. Um the highest recorded
speed dropped from 43 miles an hour to
[1:06:03] 32 miles an hour. Um and so this data al
shows that it is meeting the traffic
[1:06:08] caling goal. Um, but the permanent
design should address how the
[1:06:12] intersection functions for all users. So
speed is not the only metric we're going
[1:06:16] to be using to um review this and
qualify whether or not it's successful.
[1:06:24] So again, we're just going to go through
brief roadmap refresher. We This is um
[1:06:28] one of my lengthier presentations. So,
just want to go over um what we've
[1:06:31] currently covered, which are the project
elements, background information, public
[1:06:35] feedback received, um what a bike
boulevard is, and the bike elements that
[1:06:40] are elements that are included in the
third street west bike boulevard. Now,
[1:06:43] we're going to move forward through the
renderings, plans that we currently
[1:06:47] have, possible alternatives, and next
steps.
[1:06:52] So, this is the AI rendering that um
chat GPT was super helpful in helping me
[1:06:57] out with this. Um I Just want to have
super disclaimer on this that the sign
[1:07:01] is not to plan, but this was this was
put together to give the traffic
[1:07:06] committee and um residents an idea of
what the permanent is going to look like
[1:07:10] based on the plan set that we received
from the project team. Um it is going to
[1:07:15] be mountable. It does definitely differ
from the uh temporary installation. The
[1:07:20] temporary installation is not mountable.
that can cause problems for you know it
[1:07:24] can appear that it cause problems with
larger vehicles because you they would
[1:07:28] be able to go over this in the
permanent. So just want to highlight
[1:07:31] that that there is a difference between
what's currently installed and this AI
[1:07:35] rendering which also just take it with a
grain of salt.
[1:07:41] These are the traffic circle plans that
we received from GHD as part of our
[1:07:45] overall plan set. And then I just also
want to highlight included in the agenda
[1:07:49] item are the plan set for the entire
bike boulevard. Um and so we are going
[1:07:54] to call out element snippets of this but
if you want a whole review of that that
[1:07:58] is included in your agenda packet as an
attachment in addition to the traffic
[1:08:03] hazard reporting form that was
submitted.
[1:08:05] This goes over all of the elements that
we have here. And I do want to highlight
[1:08:10] that we have red curve here. Um the loss
of parking was noted. Um, but also just
[1:08:15] to highlight under the daylighting law
AB413, there is no parking within 20 ft
[1:08:19] of the crosswalk marked or unmarked. We
did a presentation for traffic safety in
[1:08:24] August of 24. This is what led to the
midblock crossings on the plaza. So, um,
[1:08:29] parking that close to the crosswalk is,
um, citable for ticketable and
[1:08:36] enforceable with or without the red
curve. Um, but for the plans do call it
[1:08:40] the red curve here. I just wanted to
highlight that um, While this is
[1:08:44] installed on the traffic circle plans,
um residents actually should not be
[1:08:49] parking there because it's not.
And then um here's another AI rendering
[1:08:56] of speed cushions. Again, this is not
exactly to plan. This is just to give
[1:09:00] residents, um kind of an idea or a feel
of what the proposed improvement is.
[1:09:08] And then we have that those proposed
currently in two different sections. We
[1:09:12] have those on Third Street West, between
Spain Street and Napa Street, and then
[1:09:16] between Banchero and Robinson currently
in those snippets of the plants that are
[1:09:20] included.
[1:09:23] These are the speed cushion details
and the markings leading up to the speed
[1:09:29] cushions. Currently, they are modular
rubber speed cushions.
[1:09:35] The intersection improvements, we also
discussed the painted bullouts on Third
[1:09:39] Street West at West Napa, as well as
West Andreas. This shows painted
[1:09:43] crosswalks and reverse stop control.
[1:09:48] And pretty much the same thing here on
Bon Court.
[1:09:55] So alternatives to consider
um would be additional speed cushions
[1:10:00] throughout the roadway. So the current
proposal includes two. So, we would be
[1:10:03] adding to that additional stop sign
possibly at Perkins Third Street West, a
[1:10:08] four-way stop at Andrex, four-way stop
at Benton Court. Um, right now we're
[1:10:12] reversing the the proposal includes
reversing the um the stop control, which
[1:10:18] is essentially going to create a
throughway for West or Third Street
[1:10:21] West. So, that's part of why
implementing the traffic circle and
[1:10:25] evaluating all of it as a whole um is
important. But there are alternatives
[1:10:30] that can um provide a similar traffic
calming effect. Um various other traffic
[1:10:34] caling elements, we can do ballards at
the intersection improvements, painted
[1:10:37] pullouts or um center lines driving
which um can all be traffic caling
[1:10:42] elements.
And then next steps for our project u
[1:10:47] we'll re reevaluate the third street
west bike boulevard project elements
[1:10:51] following traffic safety committee and
community feedback incorporate lessons
[1:10:55] learned and inform possible design
alternatives. revise with the the design
[1:10:59] with project engineers if needed and um
get the project out to bid as soon as
[1:11:04] design is finalized. The temporary
traffic circle is going to be removed um
[1:11:09] soon. The idea behind the installation
was that it's only going to be up until
[1:11:12] the slurry seal project started as part
of our capital projects update. we do go
[1:11:17] over um just kind of an overview
schedule of that work is anticipated to
[1:11:21] start in the next few weeks and so we
the traffic circle is going to come out
[1:11:26] um shortly and so um just want to
highlight that that was addressed in the
[1:11:30] initial plan but um just to reiterate
the plan is for that to be removed
[1:11:36] as per the plan that was lined out in
May
[1:11:41] question.
[1:11:45] Thank you, Ashley.
Um I have a
[1:11:49] well at least one, not more, but um you
mentioned uh Andrew and Bettton Court.
[1:11:54] The uh part of the bike boulevard would
be addressing those intersections as
[1:11:58] well. Third West at Andrew and Bettin
Court. Um there's been suggestions of
[1:12:02] four-way stops, reversing the stops, or
maybe leaving it alone. Is we haven't
[1:12:08] landed on anything yet, have we? Or are
we leaning towards switching the stop
[1:12:13] signs? In other words, and people
driving on Andrew and Bettton Court
[1:12:16] would stop, Third Street would not.
>> Yeah. And in the current plans,
[1:12:23] which include the traffic circle,
reversing stop control from third to the
[1:12:29] side from the side streets to third was
the plan.
[1:12:33] » Now, if we take the traffic circle away,
we would look at the intersections again
[1:12:37] in conjunction with losing the ability
to slow cars down at that intersection.
[1:12:42] And so effectively, Benton Court and
Andros are both
[1:12:49] four-way stops when you take the dips
into consideration. Cars traveling east
[1:12:54] west have to really slam on their brakes
or they're going to hit their oil pan.
[1:12:58] So
[1:13:03] » basically, um,
putting stop signs out there will
[1:13:08] probably have little effect on the east
west traffic. And so if we turn it into
[1:13:12] a four-way stop, one of the benefits of
doing that is it gives bicycles
[1:13:17] basically as much priority as cars
because as you come up to a stop sign,
[1:13:23] the car comes up to a stop sign, they're
both going to recognize each other's
[1:13:27] position and proceed properly. Whereas
if you only have two-way stop control
[1:13:32] there, it would it could be uh a a
little pro semi-proatic for somebody on
[1:13:38] a bicycle.
So,
[1:13:42] it all needs to be looked at in
conjunction. And once again, um you
[1:13:46] know, staff's presentation's concluded
and I just want to emphasize that one of
[1:13:51] the goals of the meeting tonight is to
and Ashley's presentation appropriately
[1:13:56] framed that. It's to let the traffic
committee know that there are
[1:14:01] alternatives that can be considered
tonight. And we're going to be promoting
[1:14:06] discussion and feedback. And feedback to
staff is what we're hoping to get in the
[1:14:10] form of taking all the results of what's
talked about here tonight and um having
[1:14:17] a a good discussion about it.
[1:14:23] » Any any other uh questions from the
committee?
[1:14:29] » I just just a point of clarification. So
this the money from the grant has to be
[1:14:35] spent before the end of the year.
>> No, that the money does not need to be
[1:14:40] spent before the end of the year, but we
do want to be mindful about how we move
[1:14:44] this project forward because it's only
one element of the overall project. Um,
[1:14:48] and it's also takes a very considerable
amount of time to process an amendment
[1:14:54] to the scope. Um, so while the money
doesn't necessarily need to be expended
[1:14:59] this year, we do have a construction
allocation this year and we would have
[1:15:04] to justify not moving forward with that
with Sonoma County Transit Agency and it
[1:15:11] could possibly be a major grant
amendment and reflect the timing and
[1:15:15] process it took to remove the Sasarini
school trail and add this in. So, no, we
[1:15:21] don't have to spend it all this year. We
don't anticipate that we're going to
[1:15:24] spend it all this year. It's a big
project. Um almost 1.8 million when you
[1:15:28] consider the city match. However, we do
have to timing into consideration. Um,
[1:15:33] we do have all of the appropriate
paperwork filed with Sonoma County
[1:15:36] Transit Agency to draw down now.
>> Okay. So, sorry, just want to clarify
[1:15:42] this too. So, if if an amendment is
made, is that like what what defines
[1:15:48] that? Can we make small changes here or
do you have to bring everything that we
[1:15:53] are
>> we have? Yes. Um, so it is a competitive
[1:15:58] Let me just go back here. So, there's
two different types of amendments that
[1:16:01] you can make to this project. A major
amendment, which is what we did with the
[1:16:04] Third Street West Bike Boulevard,
removing the Sasarini School Trail,
[1:16:08] adding in the Third Street West Bike
Boulevard, or a minor amendment. Minor
[1:16:12] amendments do not have to go through the
whole process. Unfortunately, that is
[1:16:15] not up to us. That's up to Snow County
Transit Agency as the administration of
[1:16:20] the funds. The reason that the pol the
the policy is um was is implemented is
[1:16:25] because this is a competitive project
and so we submitted all of this in 2021
[1:16:30] and funds were selected based on the
project um that was selected
[1:16:35] essentially. And so um Sonoma County
Transit Agency is implementing this in
[1:16:39] order to make sure that the projects um
that the board has some say over the the
[1:16:46] major amendments. So the timeline for a
major amendment is really kind of
[1:16:49] dependent on one rescoping two um the
process. So the process um depending on
[1:16:56] if it's major which is again to county
transit agency could either be approval
[1:17:01] at the technical advisory committee
meeting which happens monthly or if it's
[1:17:05] a major amendment would follow the same
process as what we currently did which
[1:17:08] is three um publicly noticed meetings
and I just also want to highlight that
[1:17:13] we would not um bring an amendment for
um a fully designed project if it didn't
[1:17:21] get approved. Right? So that's part of
it needs to be able to be put back on
[1:17:26] track if that makes sense. They're
approving the concept and we're not
[1:17:29] going to approve a contract amendment
for a design if the amendment isn't
[1:17:34] approved by the administering agency.
[1:17:40] » So I do have a question, maybe you've
covered it and I just missed it. If the
[1:17:45] traffic circle is on the dock to be
potentially taken out, how does that
[1:17:52] impact the rest of the plan since it's
part of a larger
[1:17:57] scope? Is there a domino effects like
it's just going to start to affect
[1:18:01] everything?
>> No. Um, so this it was approved as this
[1:18:04] particular project element. Um, so we
would bring the update to Sonoma County
[1:18:09] Transit Agency and given that we would
have a replacement traffic calming
[1:18:13] effect
whether that's four-way stop signs or
[1:18:16] what have you. Um hopefully they would
treat that as a um a minor amendment
[1:18:20] which I have every faith that they would
because we're not removing the bike
[1:18:24] boulevard. We're not drastically
changing the project. Um but we are
[1:18:28] removing a traffic element element would
have to replace it with something that
[1:18:32] could accommodate commensurate results.
[1:18:37] So, if I'm hearing you correctly and I
that this the the traffic circle would
[1:18:44] we would think would be treated as a
minor amendment. So, it wouldn't need to
[1:18:47] go through the whole process. It sounds
like major amendments are the entire
[1:18:51] projects themselves for the most part.
I'm sure there are plenty of major
[1:18:55] amendments in larger projects. So, as a
committee tonight, we're going to be we
[1:19:01] it sounds like we're going to be
exploring other options outside of a
[1:19:05] traffic circle, but
knowing that we're we assuming it's a
[1:19:11] minor amendment, we wouldn't have to
make a recommendation tonight.
[1:19:17] » Correct. The action item that is listed
on the agenda item is specifically to
[1:19:22] elicit feedback. We'll incorporate the
feedback into the design and then move
[1:19:27] forward appropriately. Um, so everything
would need to be vetted through the
[1:19:31] project engineer as well as the traffic
engineer which are both represented by
[1:19:36] GHD but are different people. I also
want to highlight that the project
[1:19:39] engineer is on Zoom currently and is
available for questions.
[1:19:44] » Awesome. Um, Frank, would you be willing
to just kind of give us an overview of
[1:19:54] or maybe the project engineers the
better person. But if we were to look at
[1:20:02] removing the traffic circle as a
component of the overall plan,
[1:20:10] what the downstream effects are and what
specifically
[1:20:15] you would recommend
as far as efficacy of slowing traffic
[1:20:21] uh might be included in that. So whether
that be more cushions or you know things
[1:20:27] like that. Do we put the paddles in the
middle of the road, four-way stops, you
[1:20:32] know, all that. Just kind of your vision
with this being in your wheelhouse of
[1:20:37] take that component away. What the rest
of the project might look like to still
[1:20:44] have the same efficacy of slowing uh
vehicular traffic.
[1:20:50] » Yeah. Yeah. Excellent. Um and I will say
that uh while the project engineer is on
[1:20:55] the phone, we have conversed on this as
well to be able to give you some some
[1:21:00] thoughts. Um so the the entirety of the
project as as Ashley had indicated from
[1:21:05] Spain Street down to um Benton Court,
actually a little further than Benton
[1:21:09] Court, the next block. Um those
elements, the the one that really was
[1:21:15] kind of critical was the the traffic
circle, right? it had a a big influence
[1:21:19] especially as we were trying to change
the condition at Andrix and Benton Court
[1:21:25] to accommodate that that directional
change in the stop signs. Right. So um
[1:21:31] north of the traffic or north of uh uh u
the traffic circle location
[1:21:40] » Perkins. Thank you. I was just drawing a
complete blank. I had the other two in
[1:21:44] my head. uh north of Perkins, uh there's
already two, as identified, two speed
[1:21:50] hump arrays up in that portion. Um given
the removal of the traffic circle, we
[1:21:55] probably given the distance between
Perkins and Napa, we'd probably put
[1:22:01] another speed hump in that section,
equally spacing those between Third
[1:22:06] Street or Perkins and Napa. I think that
will probably help slow the same way
[1:22:12] that we saw the reduction in speeds with
the third street traffic circle. We saw
[1:22:16] that 5 mph reduction, leaving that speed
bump so far away, I'd go ahead and add
[1:22:22] an additional one. And then with regard
the uh both the two-way stop
[1:22:27] intersections, Andrex and Perkins,
reversing those stop signs would not be
[1:22:31] appropriate given not having the speed
reductions that we were anticipating.
[1:22:36] And as Ashley indicated, um, all of the
elements people do slow having the
[1:22:42] always stop at that intersection. And I
did say, um, again, we've had many of
[1:22:47] conversations about stop stop warrants.
Um, there is addition and when that's
[1:22:52] engineering judgment for the sanctity of
the project and reversing given the
[1:22:58] speeds that Andrex has because of the
swale and the uh, it does cause a little
[1:23:03] bit of indecision, right? cars are
slowing where they would typically go
[1:23:06] through that intersection at speed
whatever that posted speed is. They
[1:23:10] would be going through there and that
would allow more gaps. Having everybody
[1:23:14] slow doesn't create the adequate gaps
that we would like for a bike boulevard.
[1:23:19] So that's where I am with the allway
stop condition. It gives not only
[1:23:23] cyclists but everybody approaching that
intersection the same bite at the apple
[1:23:27] to cross it. um facilitating the bike
traffic is the primary um recommend or
[1:23:33] opportunity that exists. Um if you chose
not to do those either changing the stop
[1:23:40] signs to an all-way stop or even leaving
them the way they are, that would again
[1:23:45] not be as promoting of the bike
boulevard. Um but probably look to try
[1:23:51] and do some additional speed humps
probably in the block south of Herkins
[1:23:57] and then the south of Benton Court as
well. We just we need to get those
[1:24:01] speeds down and the traffic circle did
that accommodate it, but again we we've
[1:24:06] heard what what the concerns are. So we
would look towards additional traffic
[1:24:10] calming in the way of speed humps. the
allway stop really in my opinion kind of
[1:24:16] does everything we're looking for those
intersections um the additional speed
[1:24:20] hump does help um so that kind of pulls
it together um
[1:24:28] Mike what am I forgetting
>> so just to clarify I think what I'm
[1:24:31] hearing is that one of the potential
recommendations
[1:24:35] to circumvent the removal of the traffic
circle and come up with commensurate
[1:24:40] speedcomming measures ers would be to
have four-way stop control potentially
[1:24:46] at Benton Court and four-way stop
control at Andros in addition to a speed
[1:24:51] bump north of Perkins so that we're
dividing those three speed bumps that
[1:24:56] are currently shown on the project plans
in three equal segments more or less.
[1:25:01] » Yeah, it'd probably be somewhere in the
vicinity of Vigna. um just if you look
[1:25:05] at that distance and the reason is that
the same thing happens between Napa and
[1:25:09] West Spain is they're not full
intersections. So T intersections do not
[1:25:14] have as much of an impact on traffic,
people going all the way across and so
[1:25:18] we have that along the shopping center.
So Third Street from Napa down to
[1:25:21] Perkins. It's there's three T
intersections, but we would equally put
[1:25:27] in those speed humps in that area there
as well between Perkins and
[1:25:31] » and that would be significantly less
expensive I would imagine
[1:25:36] like four-way stop signs, things like
that in replacement, which is probably
[1:25:40] good. Reallocate this money somewhere
else.
[1:25:43] » Okay. Just one quick question. We were
talking about four-way stops at Benton
[1:25:47] Court, uh, Andrew, and additional speed
humps or speed cushion. Did you would
[1:25:53] there also be a four-way at Perkins?
Just just to be clear,
[1:25:56] » no. No. Okay.
>> Um, I'm just I'm just curious with the
[1:26:02] recent feedback from what's currently
happened, do we have a report from PD,
[1:26:07] um, chief cutting or fire on
recommendations?
[1:26:17] I don't technically have a
recommendation. We received a lot of the
[1:26:20] same uh feedback that I think you guys
have seen. Uh we've spent a good bit of
[1:26:24] time out there observing the the
roundabout temporary roundabout that's
[1:26:28] in there now. Um and we've seen some um
confused driving is what I would say.
[1:26:34] When we're present, the driving is is
very different when we're present
[1:26:39] because we're in marked cars. But um
I've watched it in unmarked car as well
[1:26:42] and I've seen the same circumstances. I
don't have a a recommendation for what
[1:26:46] the best is. I think I would support
what uh what you've heard here tonight.
[1:26:50] I think those are probably the best
ideas.
[1:26:57] » A question about the um the final
uh traffic circle which you had the
[1:27:04] picture of. How is that different or how
will conceivably will it be different
[1:27:10] than what is there now? I understand one
of the things is that it's going to be
[1:27:15] able to be passed driven over and was so
maybe you could elaborate on that a
[1:27:21] little bit.
[1:27:24] » The temporary install is um using
temporary material. So it was in it was
[1:27:28] installed with the intention to be
removed. That was the what we had
[1:27:32] initially lined out and that was the
goal in mind with material selected. So
[1:27:37] the m the what's currently out there you
cannot drive over. There are like um
[1:27:43] sign poles basically
um is essentially what they are which
[1:27:48] differs from the permanent plan which is
to create something mountable. Um, so
[1:27:54] you you cannot currently drive over what
is installed out there. And again, that
[1:27:58] is because it was always meant to be
temporary. It was not meant to be
[1:28:02] permanent. The idea was to give people a
chance to weigh in and let us know what
[1:28:08] they think. And I think they certainly
have. Um, but that's why it differs from
[1:28:13] the permanent.
>> And I mean, is that is that part of what
[1:28:18] the problem is right now is that it is a
temporary and people
[1:28:24] are facing it and that you know with
these challenges.
[1:28:28] » Yeah, that could be leading to a little
bit of the issue with the bigger trucks
[1:28:32] and this will the temporary will be down
very shortly and so it won't be a
[1:28:38] problem for long but the permanent would
not have that issue.
[1:28:43] So, I was out there today and saw
I've seen the videos.
[1:28:50] I appreciate that.
I was there for more than an hour and
[1:28:55] there was a FedEx ground truck making
his rounds out there. It's the largest
[1:28:59] panel van FedEx has on the road and he
easily navigated going northbound on
[1:29:06] Third Street. He easily navigated going
uh east on Perkins and then coming back
[1:29:14] on Perkins, he made a left going
southbound
[1:29:19] on uh on Third Street. So, um
and what I particularly appreciated
[1:29:27] about it is watching UPS and FedEx
trucks race through town. He was well
[1:29:32] under the speed limit when he was doing
the driving in the neighborhood. So, I
[1:29:36] didn't see uh problems with with that. I
saw a Sonoma County bus once northbound
[1:29:43] and once southbound fine, you know,
navigated that uh traffic circle fine. I
[1:29:50] saw um
uh there was there was a confused person
[1:29:56] out of probably 250 cars in that hour.
Uh and that person came out of the
[1:30:04] » I'm sorry, I'm talking. Please, please,
please. Public comments coming up next.
[1:30:07] » Yeah, I'm talking and I know what I saw
and you don't know what I saw. So, there
[1:30:13] you have it. Um
so so the
[1:30:19] uh the what I don't understand generally
is um how
[1:30:28] the money is getting spent to to
relative to that traffic circle and
[1:30:34] relative to the $1.8 8 million
and how is that? I think you you brought
[1:30:41] up that it would be more cost effective
for four-way. And then of course, Chief,
[1:30:46] the question about a four-way is how
often do people actually honor those?
[1:30:50] » So,
>> were you asking about how much the
[1:30:52] permanent could cost?
>> Right. Yeah,
[1:30:54] » I could pull up the opinion um the
opinion of probable construction costs.
[1:30:58] Um it's it's minor in the overall um a
fraction of the overall 1.8 or arguably
[1:31:04] spending way more at Fifth West and
subly on those intersection improvements
[1:31:09] which is going to, you know, redo that
intersection bouts. We're also repaving
[1:31:14] that section of the road from um West
Napa up to um Studley. And so there's
[1:31:22] it it's not it's most certainly not 1.8
million. It's a fraction of that.
[1:31:32] I have one last question. So, going back
to the proposed change of or potential
[1:31:39] proposed change of having some speed
humps and potentially the four the four
[1:31:46] stop signs. Um, how many speed humps
would that be in to in total if you're
[1:31:52] looking at Third Street West? Right.
>> From Hurricanes, yes. Yes. To Napa
[1:31:58] Street would be three in total. Right
now there's currently two.
[1:32:01] » Okay.
>> Yeah, there would be one additional and
[1:32:03] they'd be equally spaced more or less
between Perkins Street and Napa Street.
[1:32:08] » And have we consulted with fire at all
over this? And
[1:32:12] » fire supports them and they can be
straddled by fire.
[1:32:15] » Okay. Just want to make sure. Um just
I'm I'm just curious if that's
[1:32:18] excessive. I'm all for speed reduction,
but I'm just curious if with the the
[1:32:24] stop signs plus the speed humps, is that
is that going to even create we already
[1:32:30] have some issues with Fifth Street. Um
and so is that going to create um some
[1:32:34] safety issues there with people avoiding
it and going around and stuff like that.
[1:32:38] So just
>> yeah, point that out. the speed tables
[1:32:41] that we have on Fifth Street at the
cemetery that are offset, you won't be
[1:32:47] able to chicane around these speed table
the speed humps that Ashley showed the
[1:32:51] demo of. They're all in one line and
they go into the parking stall.
[1:32:56] So basically you can see yeah you can
see on the cross-section there that
[1:33:00] first I believe 8.5 ft is where cars
would park and you could park right on
[1:33:04] top of one of these
>> straddling it and then basically you've
[1:33:08] got your 11.5 ft section to the center
line of the road and the same on the
[1:33:12] opposite side. Yeah. So there's this the
reason why we chose this design. Yeah.
[1:33:17] And there won't be any chicaneing.
>> Great. Thank you.
[1:33:21] So one way or another, once these speed
cushions are in, no matter how much a
[1:33:25] car would try and avoid it, at least one
side of the car is going to hit.
[1:33:29] » Okay, that's So basically what we're
looking at in
[1:33:33] as a potential alternative, if I can
just hopefully
[1:33:37] summarize this as a potential
alternative to the traffic circle,
[1:33:42] we have two sets of speed cushions
already. add one more set and then make
[1:33:48] Ben Court and Andrew Street a four-way
stop. That's kind of the alternative
[1:33:52] we're looking at right now. Okay. Um
I have a number of thoughts on this
[1:33:59] specific issue, but I'm not going to
voice them quite yet. Um is there any
[1:34:02] other questions from the committee? Um
there's no other questions from the
[1:34:09] committee. I will open it up to public
comment. Um, I think there will probably
[1:34:13] be one or two public comments, maybe
three, but please keep it to uh three
[1:34:19] minutes, please.
>> Hi, I'm Eris Weaver. I'm the executive
[1:34:23] director of the Sonoma County Bicycle
Coalition. I also serve
[1:34:27] » Could you Could you please give me your
first name again? I'm sorry.
[1:34:29] » Eris, E R I S.
>> Thank you.
[1:34:32] » Um, I also serve on the Sonoma County
Transportation and Climate Authorities
[1:34:36] Citizen Advisory Committee along with
Mr. Conlin over here. So part of my job
[1:34:40] in both of these roles is to understand
and advocate for infrastructure
[1:34:45] improvements that improve safety for all
users, for cyclists, for pedestrians,
[1:34:51] for drivers, because anything we do that
makes it easier for our children to walk
[1:34:54] to school or our elders to get somewhere
makes it safer for everyone on the road,
[1:34:59] including drivers. Um my staff spent
hours involved in the city's uh active
[1:35:06] transportation plan um making comments
most of which were incorporated into
[1:35:10] that plan and before this meeting I made
sure to go out this weekend and check
[1:35:15] out this whole corridor that's been
being um discussed. Traffic circles are
[1:35:20] a proven intervention for slowing
traffic and improving safety. They
[1:35:24] reduce head-on and t-bone collisions.
They allow traffic to flow smoothly. I
[1:35:28] prefer them to four-way stops. as a
cyclist because then I don't have to put
[1:35:31] my foot down. Nobody has to stop.
Everybody can just keep going around. It
[1:35:37] still slows the traffic without the stop
and go, stop and go. Everybody just goes
[1:35:42] around. Do my little dance here. I know
that it's confusing if you haven't seen
[1:35:47] one, right? Any construction uh road
configuration changes um can be
[1:35:52] discombobulating. I know I don't like
changes in my routines. Um, now I
[1:35:57] actually live in the only city in the US
that had a voter-approved ordinance on
[1:36:02] the books banning traffic circles and
roundabouts within the city limits. Two
[1:36:06] years ago, uh, my neighbors and I
successfully uh, circulated um,
[1:36:11] petitions, initiated an ordinance to
rescend that ban and it passed with a
[1:36:16] huge margin. So why did we spend all
those hours wanting to bring this tool
[1:36:21] back into our toolbox in Katady? And why
did all the voters go for it?
[1:36:28] There was a roundabout where they had a
year of experience with a roundabout
[1:36:33] nearby that everyone got to learn how to
use it. Uh saw that the sky didn't fall
[1:36:39] and that it actually uh improved
everyone's experience through that
[1:36:43] particular intersection. And so they got
to see the benefits and
[1:36:49] voted for it. So I urge you to keep the
uh traffic circle in the plan and um the
[1:36:58] project looks great. Thanks.
>> Thank you.
[1:37:04] » My name is Loretta Carr. L O R E T A C A
R R. I live at 7053rd Street West,
[1:37:12] exactly at the intersection where the
roundabout is placed. I hope you've
[1:37:18] watched the three videos that were sent
to you showing the dangerous driving
[1:37:23] conditions caused by that roundabout at
Third West and Perkins. Video number one
[1:37:29] showed numerous vehicles cutting across
the intersection instead of going
[1:37:34] around. Video number two showed numerous
vehicles not stopping at the stop signs
[1:37:40] on Perkins Street because signs with
circular arrows were placed below the
[1:37:46] stop signs, leading drivers to believe
they were to proceed into the
[1:37:51] intersection without stopping. Video
number three showed large commercial
[1:37:57] vehicles cutting across the intersection
instead of going around because their
[1:38:03] vehicles won't fit. This was proven by
the large trucks driving up on the
[1:38:08] sidewalk.
The first two videos were filmed in
[1:38:12] early July with an average of 15 to 20
traffic violations a day. The third
[1:38:20] video was filmed in late August with an
average of 14 violations a day. This
[1:38:26] shows that it's not a matter of drivers
getting used to the roundabout. The
[1:38:31] problem is that the intersection is not
large enough to safely accommodate these
[1:38:38] commercial trucks, buses, fire engines,
post office trucks, big pickup trucks,
[1:38:46] big SU SUVs. I have witnessed all of
those cutting across and not all
[1:38:54] vehicles slow down. You may have been
there for an hour, but I am there 24/7.
[1:39:02] I don't understand how anyone could see
this visual documentation of the threat
[1:39:08] to pedestrians, wheelchair users,
bicyclists, and other vehicles and still
[1:39:14] think that this street obstruction is
more important than the safety of human
[1:39:19] beings. This is the hospital
neighborhood with many walking elderly,
[1:39:26] vulnerable individuals in wheelchairs,
and caregivers from medical offices and
[1:39:32] long-term care facilities,
adults pushing baby strollers,
[1:39:38] carts of infants from the nearby child
care center, pedestrians have already
[1:39:44] been hurt or killed on Broadway, Fifth
Street West, Veron Bono Avenue. Let's
[1:39:52] not contribute to another tragedy.
The city knows the intersection is too
[1:39:58] small. The bicycle boulevard plan states
that there will be no bicycle lanes
[1:40:04] because the street is too small. The
plan also states that large vehicles
[1:40:10] such as buses, fire engines, and
delivery trucks can drive over the
[1:40:14] roundabout if needed. So then what's the
point of putting an obstruction in the
[1:40:19] middle of the intersection?
In addition, parking has been removed
[1:40:24] from the four corners of the
intersection because large vehicles will
[1:40:29] not fit between the roundabout and the
parked cars.
[1:40:33] » Miss Car, I'm have to ask you to wrap it
up, please.
[1:40:36] This loss of parking causes hardship for
elderly patients trying to access the
[1:40:42] ramp to medical offices on the 600 block
of Third Street.
[1:40:49] I have one last point that I think feel
is significant and it has not been
[1:40:53] brought up yet.
Instead of installing a dangerous street
[1:40:58] obstacle, the city should be protecting
this neighborhood.
[1:41:03] Do you recognize the names Charles
Perkins, Matthew Andrew, Robert
[1:41:09] Bancherero,
Raymond Barack, Lawrence Bettincourt,
[1:41:14] Ross Hayes, Eugene Robinson, Joseph
Figna. They are sons of Soma who served
[1:41:22] and died in World War II. So in 1950,
the city of Sonoma decided that those
[1:41:29] Sonomans who had died during the war
should be honored in a permanent and
[1:41:33] substantial way. Wine maker August
Sebastiani had developed housing on land
[1:41:39] west of Broadway near the new hospital,
the area we're talking about. He offered
[1:41:44] to name the streets in memory of the war
heroes selected by the city. a veterans
[1:41:50] committee named the eight which the city
approved. Their photographs are posted
[1:41:55] in the lobby of the veterans building
right across the street. Take a look so
[1:42:00] you can put a face to the names. So
besides the roundabout safety issue that
[1:42:06] I have documented, it matters to me that
Perkins Street named in memory of one of
[1:42:12] Soma's deceased military is honored, not
defaced. not the site of a traffic
[1:42:20] catastrophe. It should matter to you,
too. Keep the neighborhood safe and
[1:42:26] remove the roundabout permanently.
[1:42:37] Hi again, Tom Conlin, live outside the
city limits. Um, as Eris Weaver
[1:42:43] mentioned, I serve on the Sonoma County
Trans Climate Transportation Authority
[1:42:48] Citizen Advisory Committee, which is the
body that recommends whether these
[1:42:52] projects should be approved for funding.
So, we've been watching this for at
[1:42:56] least five years. Government moves
slowly. We are finally in front of you
[1:43:00] with a project.
Um, but I'm here tonight speaking as an
[1:43:04] individual
uh in a personal capacity as a
[1:43:08] grandparent of a 5-year-old who just got
her training wheels off and she wants to
[1:43:12] ride all over this town on a bicycle and
you have to say you can't do it. It's
[1:43:16] not safe yet. So, that's why I'm here is
to try and make this community safer.
[1:43:23] Following that last speaker, I c I
cannot see how that speaker could say
[1:43:28] that currently Perkins is a dangerous
street or that this traffic calming
[1:43:34] improvement that's been so rigorously
studied and you have data to show that
[1:43:39] speeds have dropped
is going to create dangerous conditions.
[1:43:44] I I just find that to be outside of the
bounds of acceptable reality.
[1:43:50] um your your data shows that the speed
were was at a max of 43 and it's gone
[1:43:56] down to 32 with that with that
improvement.
[1:44:00] Now, many community members in the
comments submitted to you previous to
[1:44:03] this meeting said that they see few
cyclists on the route currently. That's
[1:44:08] exactly the problem that we're trying to
address is it's too safe, too unsafe to
[1:44:12] ride a bicycle through many parts of
Soma.
[1:44:16] The other thing that was raised is that
perhaps this tra perhaps this is not the
[1:44:20] best location in the city for a traffic
circle that there may be other locations
[1:44:24] that are more deserving. I raised that
concern myself back in October
[1:44:30] because this is a significant amount of
money. It's taxpayer money. We have to
[1:44:34] spend it well. the but however at that
October meeting I was convinced by this
[1:44:41] staff's analysis by consultants analysis
that this north south route connecting
[1:44:48] to the uh creek trail all the way down
to the south side of town this becomes a
[1:44:55] major bicycle thoroughare a major
pedestrian thoroughfare that's why the
[1:44:59] um Tim Donner with the tourism board
believes that this is an important
[1:45:04] improvement for for the community as
well. Um, and so I I have accepted that
[1:45:11] this is an important project and it was
worthwhile to take the funds as a major
[1:45:15] project change from the Satarini class
one bike lane and invest it in this
[1:45:21] street. Now, if the alternatives you've
discussed tentatively so far were to be
[1:45:27] sub sub uh substituted for the traffic
circle as designed, I personally do not
[1:45:34] think that we would be hitting the
threshold necessary to achieve the
[1:45:41] traffic calming outcomes, the
objectives. I don't think you're going
[1:45:44] to get the uh mileage reduction and I
don't think you're going to get the
[1:45:48] level of traffic stress reduction for
pedestrians and and cyclists. So, I
[1:45:53] would probably be asking you to do more.
And so, my alternative, it's not on your
[1:45:57] list currently.
>> Mr. Con, I have to ask you to wrap it
[1:45:59] up, please.
>> I'm sorry. I will try. My my suggested
[1:46:03] alternative would be to put a class 4
cycle track along this condemning
[1:46:08] parking on one side of the street
because that would be necessary to
[1:46:12] create the level of traffic stress
reduction that you would otherwise be
[1:46:17] achieving with the current design.
>> Okay, I need to ask you to wrap it up
[1:46:20] please. We have a lot of people online.
>> Understood. Thank you for your
[1:46:24] consideration my comments tonight.
>> Thank you. And please once again please
[1:46:26] try to keep your comments limited to
three minutes.
[1:46:30] Hi, my name is Christine Kuner. I'm an
occupational therapist in the city of
[1:46:34] Soma. I've only lived here about six
years. Um,
[1:46:39] I do driver training for seniors in an
acute care facility in Soma. So, I know
[1:46:47] we have a lot of senior drivers here. Um
before that I did home health driving
[1:46:54] many counties in the area and I saw a
lot of other other traffic patterns
[1:47:00] other crosswalks painting in other
counties that seem to be done very well.
[1:47:06] And since I've lived in Soma all I see
are faded and missing crosswalks. I see
[1:47:12] the kids trying to get across the street
at Andrix and First Street West on their
[1:47:18] bikes and it makes me really really sad
that a little kid, a first grader, can't
[1:47:24] even cross the street um to get to
school. They're trying to get to school.
[1:47:29] They don't know where the crosswalks are
because the crosswalks are faded and
[1:47:32] painted and not painted. Um, when I
first moved in at Nukem and Broadway,
[1:47:39] there were no crosswalks coming out of
the high school. So, how are these kids
[1:47:43] gonna stop? Um, so I started writing
emails to a lady named Kathy Martindale,
[1:47:49] and she would CC a lot of people saying,
you know, we need more paint. We need
[1:47:54] more paint. And I told her about the
intersection at Andrix and First Street
[1:48:00] West. It's these little kindergarteners
are trying to get to Presswood. They're
[1:48:04] trying to get us across the street.
There are no crosswalks or they're so
[1:48:07] faded you can't see them. Um, and that
was a year ago and still no painting has
[1:48:15] happened at that intersection. Um, it
really upsets me because I have a
[1:48:21] nine-year-old son who rides his bike in
that neighborhood and I think you're
[1:48:25] sitting on a time bomb. It's a matter of
time before a senior with decreased
[1:48:31] visual acuity and
decreased reaction time. This city is
[1:48:38] full of seniors. A lot of people come
here to retire. I work with the seniors.
[1:48:42] There are a lot of people who should not
be driving in Soma who are driving um
[1:48:47] because they don't want to give up their
independence and it's a huge safety
[1:48:52] hazard. I've complained to um Chief
Cutting before about First Street West,
[1:49:00] but my biggest problem right now is the
paint. It's like we pay all these taxes,
[1:49:06] you know, property taxes, and there's no
paint on the street. Also, the blind
[1:49:11] curbs. Um the red paint needs to go on
the curb. You get a giant twostory van
[1:49:17] on the corner. You can't see around the
corner. Kid comes out with a bike. Boom.
[1:49:22] done. So that's all I want to say.
Please paint in Soma. Thank you.
[1:49:32] » My name is Anna Morales. I live at
Barach and Robinson and I'm all for
[1:49:37] slowing down the cars on Third Street.
They fly down Third Street. I try to
[1:49:41] come out of Robinson and there's large
cars parked there and I have to inch out
[1:49:46] and they're flying down. So there are
not a lot of bikes that go down that
[1:49:50] street and probably for that reason. So
I am for all slowing it down. I don't
[1:49:54] think it's the traffic circle. I walk
all day along with all of these other
[1:49:58] people trying to cross Andrew. They slow
down for the dip and you think it's safe
[1:50:03] to step in front of them and then they
gas their car. They're only slowing down
[1:50:07] because they don't want to ruin the
bottom of their car. They're not slowing
[1:50:11] down for a pedestrian or a dog or a
stroller. We need to stop the cars. If
[1:50:16] you want bicycles to be able to go down
Third Street safely because there's no
[1:50:21] way that a traffic circle a block away
is going to create that. They're just
[1:50:25] going to pick up speed again. The
bicyclists are going to pick up speed.
[1:50:28] They're supposed to stop. Andrew keeps
going. It's not doing anything. Also,
[1:50:34] all the corners need to be painted red.
Isn't it a law at all of the crosswalks?
[1:50:38] No cars can be within 20 ft of the
crosswalks. None of them are painted
[1:50:42] red. Even we put up temporary signs that
you couldn't park there. People turned
[1:50:47] the signs around and parked right in
front of those hospitals and everything
[1:50:51] else. I understand they're elderly
people dropping off other seniors and
[1:50:55] stuff, but they ignored them. So those
corners need to be painted red, not just
[1:50:59] for this traffic circle, but for every
corner so that people can cross. Cars
[1:51:03] park all the way up and you can't see
the pedestrian until you're out there.
[1:51:07] And then the cars just look at you and
go, "Oops, sorry, I'm running you over."
[1:51:10] I mean, they just keep going. So yes,
those speed bumps I think are a much
[1:51:15] better idea. You know, some of them at
Robinson than some of them again at
[1:51:19] Perkins and some of them again at Benton
Court. That's the only way you're going
[1:51:22] to slow them down. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[1:51:30] » Good evening. My name is Caitlyn
Cornwall and I'm representing Sonoma
[1:51:33] Valley Collaborative, uh, which you
might not have heard of. Cinema Valley
[1:51:37] Collaborative is a cross- sector
coalition of the widest possible array
[1:51:44] of uh sectors and interests in Cinema
Valley gathered together around one
[1:51:50] table to work on big issues facing the
Cinema Valley community that are too big
[1:51:55] and too complicated for any one
organization or sector to take on. So
[1:52:00] our membership includes um business
groups like the chamber and several
[1:52:05] small businesses, restaurants, hotels,
etc. Uh health organizations like the
[1:52:10] hospital and the health center. Um a lot
of nonprofits that serve kids and
[1:52:15] families, um environmental
organizations,
[1:52:19] uh health, faith, schools, um like I
say, the broadest possible array. And a
[1:52:26] lot of our work over the last nine
years, which is how long the
[1:52:29] collaborative has been in existence, has
been working on um the issue of how to
[1:52:35] increase housing affordability in Soma
Valley. Uh which is an issue that is
[1:52:40] causing a lot of pain across all
sectors. But that's not what I'm here
[1:52:43] about. I wanted just to tell you that in
the nine years that the collaborative
[1:52:47] has existed
um consistently one of the issues that
[1:52:51] has been of greatest interest to our
members is the issue of how people get
[1:52:57] around in Soma Valley and it's I just
want to emphasize to you that leaders in
[1:53:02] many of these different areas you know
like I say the chamber of commerce the
[1:53:06] visitors bureau the hospital the school
district the faith leaders um people who
[1:53:12] work with the schools and families, the
Latino community, the moms, all of
[1:53:17] across the board, the feeling that this
is a community that could be a paradise
[1:53:21] for walkers and bikers and rollers. And
it it feels like something we just don't
[1:53:26] quite arrive at. And so I don't have
really specific commentary on the exact
[1:53:32] design of this project because we didn't
have I didn't have time to take this to
[1:53:35] my members on the detail level. But in
the broad sense, the idea of making Soma
[1:53:41] and the valley better for people who are
white biking and walking, kids, families
[1:53:48] and small business owners who we want to
attract to Soma and not have them move
[1:53:52] away. We need to be designing our
streets and trails and sidewalks for who
[1:53:57] we want in the future to live here, not
just for who's here now. And the idea of
[1:54:02] change is hard, but we've all been in
many, many, many towns where there's
[1:54:05] lots of traffic circles and it works
fine and people slow down and people get
[1:54:10] used to change. And if this is a good
change, which my membership thinks that
[1:54:14] slowing traffic down and making it more
possible to not just be in your car is a
[1:54:18] good change, that's what we would
recommend. Thank you.
[1:54:28] First of all, thank you so much for
caring caring about Sonoma. I know this.
[1:54:32] » Can I get your name? Sorry.
>> Lesie Lie E Karath. K A R A T H.
[1:54:41] » Thank you.
>> I'm nervous,
[1:54:44] so I wrote things down. I wanted to
thank you. first of all. When I grew up
[1:54:50] here, there was one stoplight.
So, I think we're doing pretty good. And
[1:54:54] there's going to be more building and
more developments. So, thank you for
[1:54:59] thinking about this stuff. I live right
on Third Street West in Perkins, right
[1:55:04] where the roundabout is. And when I
heard that it was going to be there, I
[1:55:08] thought, "Good, this is going to be a
good thing because it's going to slow
[1:55:11] people down." It's been a cluster mess.
And I know people will get used to it.
[1:55:17] It's not the right corner for it. There
are wheels chairs.
[1:55:22] I should read my thing here. Oh. Oh, the
the picture of the roundabout on the
[1:55:27] poster for the Bike Boulevard project is
beautiful, but it does not represent
[1:55:32] reality.
At first, I was happy about the
[1:55:36] roundabout. Like everyone everywhere, I
want people to slow down, especially on
[1:55:41] the street that I'm on. Seems like
Sonoma's going to have a bunch of speed
[1:55:45] bumps everywhere.
Um, from what I've witnessed, the
[1:55:48] roundabout has made things worse, not
better. I love roundabouts, but not
[1:55:53] here. Um, it's a residential street.
Think about your house being right there
[1:55:58] where a bus comes right next to your
living room. Um, the corner is not big
[1:56:03] enough to accommodate pedestrians and
vehicles. It's a residential street with
[1:56:07] many medical offices. I see wheelchairs,
walkers, strollers, much more than
[1:56:13] bikes. I'm all for bikes. Let's get the
bikes. But I think it's even dangerous
[1:56:17] for bikes. Um we have trucks, buses, and
by the way, not everyone slows down.
[1:56:23] Like some maybe there are kids in their
20s, they speed up and go fast because
[1:56:27] it's fun. Um I did hear that um buses
and trucks could go over the over the
[1:56:33] thing in the center, but it's like why
why would you do that? That seems kind
[1:56:36] of odd. Um I understand that there are
grants and grant money to be spent on
[1:56:42] projects. I've even heard it doesn't
matter what we think, it's going to
[1:56:46] happen anyway. Um, I think stop signs or
speed bumps would make much more sense
[1:56:52] and be a much safer and smarter choice.
I really am worried about the
[1:56:55] wheelchairs. There's a ton of them and
walkers and like when a person's
[1:57:00] walking, just the way it's configured,
it's dangerous. I look at it 24 like a
[1:57:06] lot right there. I I just I want to
thank you though for doing your work. I
[1:57:11] really want to thank you for for um
helping us because we're going to need
[1:57:15] it. We're seven miles across and 22
miles long and a lot of building is
[1:57:20] going to be going on pretty soon. Like a
lot. So, let's do really good.
[1:57:26] » Thank you.
[1:57:32] » Laura Farmer L O R E L E. Farmer like
farmer in the Dell Donner Avenue. Uh,
[1:57:40] the first time I encountered the
so-called calming circle, which is
[1:57:43] simply a roundabout, I was stunned by
how close my car came to the curb at the
[1:57:47] corner of the house at 7053rd Street
West. My immediate reaction was, "How
[1:57:52] can this possibly be safe for bicyclists
and pedestrians? The space is so
[1:57:57] constrained that a driver and a
bicyclist cannot safely navigate the
[1:58:02] roundabout at the same time." I raised
this directly with Ashley Carter the
[1:58:07] next day. I explained that drivers would
be forced to stop at the roundabout
[1:58:11] whenever a bicyclist or pedestrian was
present because there was no safe way to
[1:58:16] share that space. She agreed and assured
me, and maybe I misunderstood her, that
[1:58:21] signage would be installed within a few
weeks to warn drivers. To date, I have
[1:58:25] yet to see that signage. Not long after
that, I finally encountered my first
[1:58:30] bicyclist, and I've lived in Soma for
over 50 years on Third Street West. The
[1:58:36] bicyclist entered the roundabout just as
I approached to my car. I stopped, of
[1:58:41] course, but what happens at night when
visibility is low and a driver doesn't
[1:58:46] see the bicyclist soon enough? How is
this design safer for anyone? Without
[1:58:52] the roundabout, drivers and bicyclists
can can simply continue along Third
[1:58:56] Street West as they do any other part of
the street. The roundabout forces an
[1:59:02] unpredictable interaction in a space
that is too small to accommodate it. No
[1:59:08] driver wants to be in a situation where
they might not see a bicyclist or
[1:59:13] pedestrian until it's too late. And the
gentleman talked about his little
[1:59:16] 5-year-old grandson or whatever. I would
not want to encounter his grandson going
[1:59:22] in that roundabout in my car or have
somebody else who doesn't see him
[1:59:26] because he's down low to the ground.
Um,
[1:59:30] the index commune article quotes that
city planners say that transportation
[1:59:34] networks must be built for future
community needs. I heard the same
[1:59:38] argument during the Broadway bike lane
discussions. The bicycle coalition
[1:59:42] promised, "Build it and the bike riders
will come." Yet years later, I have not
[1:59:46] seen an increase in bicyclist bicyclists
on Broadway, Second Street East, or
[1:59:51] Fifth Street East. Streets that have
long been designated as bicycle routes.
[1:59:57] The median age in Sonoma is 57.3 years.
Among my friends and acquaintances, only
[2:00:04] one woman I know occasionally rides her
bike around the neighborhood. Why do we
[2:00:08] continue planning as though half our
residents over the age of 57 will
[2:00:12] suddenly become daily cyclists.
Everyone I've spoken to has said the
[2:00:17] same thing. This roundabout is a bad
idea in a location that is not big
[2:00:22] enough. Not one person has said to me,
"This is great. My friends ride bikes
[2:00:26] all the time. In addition, bicyclists
must come from somewhere to use Third
[2:00:30] Street West. Are we going to be putting
up roundabouts all around the city to
[2:00:34] protect the bicycle rider? We all want
safer streets, but safety requires
[2:00:39] designs that fit the actual conditions
of the neighborhood. This roundabout
[2:00:43] does not make it any safer for a
bicycle. In fact, and even the stroller,
[2:00:48] we saw somebody in a stroller, my
husband and I. In fact, it makes it more
[2:00:51] dangerous. And I would like to know at
what time you were on and saw 250 cars
[2:00:56] because I would like to go the same time
and see the 250 cars that you saw on
[2:01:00] Perkins Street.
>> This is for public comment. We're not
[2:01:03] okay.
>> Going to do a back and forth, but we
[2:01:06] will have a chance to discuss later.
Once again,
[2:01:13] » good evening, Chair Lobinger and uh
traffic committee. Thank you first of
[2:01:17] all for the work you do on behalf of our
residents. I appreciate it. Could I get
[2:01:21] your name, please?
>> Diane Thompson, 559 Barach. Um, I
[2:01:26] support the concept of a bicycle
boulevard and traffic circles in
[2:01:30] general, but the reason I'm here tonight
is because I have concerns that have to
[2:01:35] do with the process of this project and
the impacts on the neighborhood as a
[2:01:39] whole. There has been no direct
notification to the neighbors. It's not
[2:01:43] necessarily required, but it would have
been appreciated and or at least I
[2:01:49] didn't receive any direct notification
and my neighbors that I spoke to have
[2:01:54] not and we would have appreciated it and
it could have made this process go
[2:01:58] smoother. Um, also there has been no
final plan for the project available to
[2:02:05] the public until the agenda was posted
for tonight's meeting a few days ago.
[2:02:10] And so that is a problem just in terms
of informing the public of what's going
[2:02:15] on. Um and also the engineering drawings
that you're showing are not necessarily
[2:02:20] the best way to communicate to the
public. Simplified drawings would be
[2:02:24] very helpful. Um there was no data
online that I could find uh regarding
[2:02:30] the project impacts or a feasibility
study. And I wanted to mention in terms
[2:02:34] of impacts, Third Street is our only
exit from the neighborhood. And as has
[2:02:39] been pointed out earlier and as you
discussed about VNA, the visibility when
[2:02:44] you're leaving those feeder streets onto
third is really scary now with a car
[2:02:51] because you're pulling out onto third
and there are large vehicles, trucks,
[2:02:55] SUVs parked very close to the corner. So
you really don't know what you're up
[2:03:00] against until you get out into the
intersection. Um, and usually it's cars,
[2:03:05] right? That's one thing. But when you
draw bicyclist onto that roadway, um
[2:03:10] that's a scarier situation than car
versus car. So that has to be addressed
[2:03:16] as you discussed with VNA on those other
streets um that feed on to third. So my
[2:03:22] request to you is please slow the
project down. Don't rush into
[2:03:26] construction this fall. Please conduct
meaningful public engagement with direct
[2:03:31] notification and consider impacts on the
neighborhood as a whole. Thank you so
[2:03:35] much.
[2:03:40] » Thank you.
[2:03:46] » Hi.
>> Uh William Nuome. Um Nwso M. Um I live
[2:03:52] on Third Street Third Street West. I'm
actually Loretta's neighbor. Um I'm a
[2:03:57] former engineer. I'm also a big advocate
for bicycling. Uh, I love the project in
[2:04:02] general, but uh, I'm very grateful for
the temporary traffic circle because
[2:04:08] it's demonstrated just how bad of a
solution it is for that intersection.
[2:04:12] Um, I know a lot of folks called it a
roundabout and as I think Ashley pointed
[2:04:15] out, it's not a roundabout. A roundabout
would require a much larger
[2:04:19] intersection. I think the engineering
reports actually reference that you
[2:04:22] couldn't fit a roundabout there and I
think it's too small for a traffic
[2:04:25] circle as well. um watching it every
day. I do see a lot of bikes there.
[2:04:29] Actually, there's a lot of folks on like
tourists are biking around there all the
[2:04:33] time. Hopefully, we'll get more bikes.
Um but seeing like the buses, the Sonoma
[2:04:37] County buses that come through when they
come through, I don't doubt that they do
[2:04:41] slow down. So, the data is probably
right that we've gone from whatever it
[2:04:45] is a high speed 40 to high speed of 30.
But when the buses go through the
[2:04:49] intersection around the circle, they're
swerving almost into if we had really
[2:04:55] good, you know, marked crosswalks, it
would certainly be into the crosswalks
[2:04:59] there. It just seems very dangerous. Um,
you know, this is me speaking
[2:05:03] anecdotally, but we have folks on
wheelchairs,
[2:05:07] bicyclists, we have lots of little kids,
lots and lots of people walking their
[2:05:11] dogs. Um, and it just seems like a very
dangerous intersection with the traffic
[2:05:15] circle. I don't really understand the
mountable aspect of the permanent
[2:05:20] solution and I don't really know how
buses would I guess they would just
[2:05:24] drive straight through and bump up. Um,
but it it seems like a poor solution. I
[2:05:29] would just suggest that as I think some
of the folks here have discussed
[2:05:34] get rid of the traffic circle, throw a
couple speed bumps maybe on either side.
[2:05:38] We talked about three sets of speed
bumps, maybe make it four. And that
[2:05:42] feels like a much more workable solution
that would still slow things down. I'm
[2:05:47] at Andreu and Third Street West. That's
a bad intersection. I know you said it's
[2:05:52] like close to a stop sign. We see and
hear people blowing through that
[2:05:57] intersection all the time. I love the
idea of reversing stop signs or putting
[2:06:01] in a four-way stop. I think that will
really slow things down. Um so yeah, o
[2:06:04] overall very much in support of the
project, but the circle just doesn't
[2:06:08] make any sense. Thank you.
[2:06:31] Oh, the timer started. No, it's it's
totally fine. My name is Joyce Carlson.
[2:06:37] I live on Barachi Way and I too want to
thank all of you guys. Ashley, your
[2:06:42] presentation was very thorough. I didn't
realize the scope of this project and
[2:06:47] it's much bigger than I knew. Um, and
part of that is because I don't feel as
[2:06:54] a resident in that area that we were
really communicated with. And that to me
[2:06:59] is a big part of the negativity that you
might be hearing is people didn't know
[2:07:03] what was going on and then all of a
sudden there was a traffic circle. So I
[2:07:07] too agree with what the people have said
prior to me. So I won't go into all of
[2:07:12] that but I wanted to reference something
that um this woman said. I'm sorry your
[2:07:17] name is
>> Eerys is she talked about Katad and
[2:07:21] roundabouts and traffic circles. My
sister lives there and there was they
[2:07:27] put one on Myrtle Street and it was
terrible. It was just like what's
[2:07:31] happening on Third Street. And guess
what they did? They took it out and
[2:07:35] mitigated it with stop signs. So there's
ways to satisfy the residents and still
[2:07:41] achieve your project, which I also am in
support of the project. So I have no
[2:07:47] qual about that. I just want it to be
safe because I don't feel safe when I'm
[2:07:51] in that area of the traffic circle. It
feels very dangerous and I am kind of
[2:07:56] worried about the liability to the city,
you know, to be aware of this level of
[2:08:01] discomfort with the community and the
potential hazards that are involved and
[2:08:05] then to have something tragically
happen. So, thank you guys all and I
[2:08:08] just wanted to share that. Thanks.
[2:08:17] Good evening. Uh Chris Woodcock, 235
West Spain Street. Um is it possible Can
[2:08:22] I direct a question to the chair really
quick? Um
[2:08:26] » is it possible to not clap? I know that
we can raise our hands or something, but
[2:08:31] you know it just clapping is kind of
encourages one belief just a personal
[2:08:37] you know. Um anyways, I just wanted to
speak about uh I overall well thank you.
[2:08:44] I just appreciate you know you know we
just respect each other and I think that
[2:08:48] that's an important thing. Um and I have
a slightly different uh take on it. I
[2:08:53] I'm encouraged by the overall design I
spoke about in October. I thought it was
[2:08:57] clearly um presented to us like I I had
all this information. and I saw the
[2:09:03] design in the October meeting and I just
um whether or not this is the right
[2:09:08] design for this spot, I just really am
encouraged by um what the engineers came
[2:09:12] up with for this. Um I would really like
to get away from stop signs and speed
[2:09:18] humps if possible. And I think, you
know, going through there, I ride a
[2:09:22] bike, I drive, I walk through there. And
um I think it's a great opportunity to
[2:09:27] try something that we have not been able
to do. And I've been pushing for this
[2:09:31] since I was sitting on this committee
for 10 years, chaired it for five and
[2:09:35] also sit on the um cinnam county uh bike
and pedestrian advisory committee. And
[2:09:39] this is something that's happening in
the county. And I think it's something
[2:09:43] that we need to think about. Um I forget
who it was. Ma Caitlyn was talking about
[2:09:47] it, but we need to think bigger in terms
of the different things. And I agree
[2:09:51] with you guys totally that a temporary
roundabout is like horrible. And I think
[2:09:57] that that is resolved when we get to the
actual design. And I I find that like
[2:10:02] I'm really against what we've done on
Spain Street by putting up signs. I find
[2:10:06] that, you know, things like that don't
really work. More signage not such a
[2:10:11] good idea because with the speed sign
there, you know, whatever that is, it's
[2:10:15] a dynamic speed display. People slow
down at first, but then they learn that
[2:10:19] habit. And so I want to get away from um
thinking about stop signs as an
[2:10:24] opportunity. And to me, it looks like
it'll fit. The designers or the um
[2:10:29] everybody seems to think that it works
in terms of the engineers. Um and I
[2:10:33] would just encourage us to go with
something like that. And there's better
[2:10:36] I feel like the crosswalks are better
lines of sight. People were talking
[2:10:41] about safety there. I think it's
improved safety overall based upon my
[2:10:46] reading of it. Um and I think confusion
a little bit where we have to question
[2:10:51] what's going on. That's the importance
of a traffic circle. Definitely not a
[2:10:55] roundabout that we have to kind of
question which way to go. Look to the
[2:11:00] arrows for people that are new to this.
But once we get this design in, it's
[2:11:04] going to change and overall people will
be comfortable with it. So I'd like to
[2:11:07] maintain the design that we have um
understand that, you know, how change is
[2:11:13] really difficult and just want to
encourage everybody on the committee to
[2:11:17] uh take that into consideration when you
guys are looking at this and bring it to
[2:11:20] committee. So thank you very much.
Thank you.
[2:11:29] » Thank you for everything that you've
been doing. Um, my name is Lori
[2:11:32] Parmally. P A R M E L E. I live on Third
Street West in the 500 block. There's
[2:11:38] nothing calming about riding your bike
through this traffic circle. I um I'm a
[2:11:43] recreational bike rider. I do bike
trails. I don't ride on streets. When
[2:11:47] you go and ride around the bike the
roundabout, it is very stressful. The
[2:11:52] only time I felt calm tonight was when
you guys said you were gonna take it
[2:11:55] out.
[2:12:09] All right, got up.
[2:12:18] I'm Michael Karath. I live at 697 Third
Street West. Um
[2:12:25] I I also like the idea of the bike
paths. I like what you're doing. Um, I
[2:12:31] don't sit out there in a rock and chair
and watch all day, but I have seen um,
[2:12:38] there are some cars that just go through
there like there's there's it's not even
[2:12:42] there. And as far as I think the point
that people will get used to that thing.
[2:12:48] All it takes is one person that doesn't
un you know is not familiar with that
[2:12:52] because it's very confusing in a
residential area
[2:12:57] and it it's just it's not the right
place for it. There is a lot of people
[2:13:02] who aren't from the area. Those are the
people are going to be u very dangerous
[2:13:06] driving around the thing. And I'd like
to know why wasn't the stop sign studied
[2:13:12] first because I think you would find the
same reduction in speed or the uh speed
[2:13:19] bumps as well. Why did it go right to
the roundabout? It seemed like the stop
[2:13:25] sign of the, you know, the, you know,
the bump sale would be a lot less
[2:13:31] expensive to study first. And if you
didn't get the the uh speed reduction
[2:13:38] there, then you could go to the next
step that would be more expensive. Maybe
[2:13:42] I missed something on that. But but I
would like to know why the speed signs
[2:13:47] weren't studied for us or the bumps put
down first. I think there's this big
[2:13:52] rush for this roundabout.
I've, you know, I don't want to, you
[2:13:57] know, say the same things that other
people have said. They work in some
[2:14:01] places really great and sometimes they
don't. And I don't think I've ever seen
[2:14:06] in my whole life a roundabout or
whatever you want to call it in a
[2:14:09] residential area.
And as far as those trucks, what I have
[2:14:14] seen, and I'd also like to know where,
if you're calculating the speed, where
[2:14:21] is that speed bump? Is it before? Is it
after? Is it right at the I don't know.
[2:14:27] You know, that's something that that I
would definitely like to know. Um I just
[2:14:33] think it would be a bad idea. And when I
see trucks going up on the curb, you
[2:14:41] know, particularly those trucks that
have to, you know, I I I think one
[2:14:45] speaker said, oh, you know, I think it
was the chairperson who said he saw
[2:14:49] trucks and it wasn't a big deal. But if
they have to do that turn where it's
[2:14:53] like you're turning past three streets,
I mean, they're like those things are
[2:14:58] like on two wheels almost trying to like
navigate around. It's very dangerous and
[2:15:03] the sightelines are really bad. That's
all I have to say. I really hope you
[2:15:08] reconsider this. It's not a very good
idea. I'm I just think those other stop
[2:15:14] signs and the bumps should have been
studied first. Thank you.
[2:15:19] » Thank you.
[2:15:28] All right. Is there any other public
comment before we turn it back to the
[2:15:31] committee?
[2:15:34] Okay, seeing none, we will close public
comment on this issue. I will turn it
[2:15:41] back to the committee for discussion
and I think I will start on this one.
[2:15:47] Um,
[2:15:51] I'm all for bike boulevards
and I'm all for traffic circles and I
[2:15:56] think this traffic circle has achieved
its
[2:16:00] purpose of slowing traffic down.
Um, so I believe all the data. I also
[2:16:05] believe that it fits the specs. I trust
the city that the specifications are
[2:16:10] correct. I also walk down Third Street
every day of my life. Sometimes
[2:16:17] almost every day I've recognized a lot
of the faces in the crowd. I'm the one
[2:16:20] that's walking really quick with quickly
with my dog. It's pretty much the only
[2:16:23] exercise I get. Um
[2:16:28] I think on paper it checks the boxes,
but it doesn't pass the eye test. Every
[2:16:33] time I walk down Third Street, I walk on
the
[2:16:37] east side. So I'm going to call it the
Whole Food side. Um I walk back and
[2:16:42] forth every like I said every day except
for when I'm walking down um Mallet
[2:16:45] Mallet and Frier Creek and um one thing
that I noticed is that when I'm crossing
[2:16:52] Perkins on the third street side I have
to stop at the corner and Miss Farmer
[2:16:57] said unpredictable interactions. So, I
have to stop. I stop and I don't know
[2:17:04] what the cars that are driving straight.
I don't know what they're going to do
[2:17:07] because no matter what, they're going to
have to make a veering movement. And
[2:17:12] anybody who's a police officer in this
room knows that sometimes people don't
[2:17:15] use their turn signal. So, you can't
trust them. We can't prevent everything.
[2:17:20] I know stop signs aren't always the
solution. I do think traffic circles are
[2:17:25] a progressive way of looking at this,
but this one doesn't pass my test. I
[2:17:29] want to trust the process and I want to
see this come to fruition. I don't know
[2:17:34] if this is it. Um
I during the week I'm walking just
[2:17:40] myself and my dog, but on the weekends
it's my wife and my daughters. And
[2:17:43] pretty soon my daughter's going to be
going to school because we live right by
[2:17:46] the hospital and they go to St. Francis
and they're going to be walking and
[2:17:49] riding their bikes. And just that
intersection alone, I don't feel like
[2:17:53] this is the perfect solution. Um so I'm
all for alternative solutions. I'm not
[2:17:58] completely out on it, but I'm fairly
close to out on it. Um, I think there
[2:18:03] are better options. Um, I do know what
Mr. Woodcock is saying about stop signs,
[2:18:08] stop signs, stop signs. We as a
committee know that they aren't act the
[2:18:11] the true solution, but maybe in this
case it might be. And in terms of
[2:18:17] people not seeing pedestrians,
bicyclists,
[2:18:21] part of the goal is to make this a
bicycle and pedestrian more safe
[2:18:26] corridor to get people off of Broadway,
Second Street, whatever it might be. So,
[2:18:31] I'm all for the project. I think the
project is a great idea. I support it
[2:18:34] completely.
Um, but I don't know if the traffic
[2:18:38] circle is the right answer, and I really
really interested in alternatives.
[2:18:45] And that's that's all I'm going to say
for right now.
[2:18:49] » I have to agree with you, Adam. I don't
have a dog in a fight. I don't live in
[2:18:52] the area. Um, but you have to listen to
the neighbors. And I think an element
[2:18:58] that hasn't been brought up is one, the
key thing that jumps out at me is the
[2:19:02] hospital. You're going to get people,
regardless of what's their four-way stop
[2:19:06] sign or the calming circle, they're
going to rush to that hospital to meet
[2:19:11] their loved ones who's in the hospital.
they're going to speed no matter what.
[2:19:15] Um, I kind of agree with you. I think we
should slow it down a little bit and
[2:19:18] kind of reconsider an alternative.
[2:19:26] » I you guys have heard me, you guys
haven't. No big deal. Um, the we've as a
[2:19:33] community face really significant
infrastructure challenges uh because uh
[2:19:40] because we're just we grow more
The state of California has legislated
[2:19:45] that we have more housing. That's fair.
Uh people who work in our neighborhood
[2:19:53] deserve to try to live in our
neighborhood. Uh but when there's a
[2:19:58] restricted number of houses, the cost
goes up. We see what happens.
[2:20:02] um
most of the infrastructure of Sonoma was
[2:20:08] created
[2:20:11] 70 or 80 years ago uh Napa Street for
example was probably 500 cars, 300, 200
[2:20:18] cars a day when people were just going
over to Thornsbury and Levelvel Valley
[2:20:24] uh road. Um and and and we see that uh
throughout as they added uh I think it's
[2:20:32] 15 houses by Denova on the corner of
Fifth Street West. And you know, if you
[2:20:38] give every house two cars, that's 30
more cars for that corner. There's
[2:20:44] strong consideration for a project on
Napa Road and Fifth Street East. 50 plus
[2:20:49] homes plus
potential uh businesses. So, you're
[2:20:55] looking at a situation where there are
going to be another at least a hundred
[2:20:59] cars in that particular area. We're
going to continue to have increased
[2:21:04] traffic. Um, one thing that's obvious to
all of us up here because we hear it
[2:21:10] every time,
people don't pay too much attention to
[2:21:14] the stop signs. people speed in my
neighborhood. It's a drag race when
[2:21:20] people leave a stop sign.
Uh the chief has explained to us that
[2:21:26] people who live in the neighborhood take
stop signs as suggestions. People who
[2:21:33] don't live in the neighborhood tend to
go quite fast through it. Um
[2:21:39] my comment uh earlier this evening was
that I was mesmerized by the traffic
[2:21:46] calming effect that this traffic circle
has on that intersection. Um
[2:21:54] I know there are problems. I know there
are traffic scoff laws. Uh when you look
[2:22:00] at Fifth Street East
and uh East Napa Street,
[2:22:08] many people don't bother to worry about
the the the traffic tables and they
[2:22:13] drive through it like there are lemons
and they only accelerate in either
[2:22:16] direction.
Um we we'll never eliminate scoff laws.
[2:22:22] That's why we have police.
Um,
[2:22:27] I I saw a man pushing a baby in a
wheelch in a in a wagon. I saw a woman
[2:22:35] with a walker cross over Perkins. Um, I
saw the the FedEx truck making its
[2:22:42] deliveries. I saw Sonoma Transit making
safe trans transit through the traffic
[2:22:47] circle. Uh,
traffic circles
[2:22:54] have
You can look it up. Traffic circles have
[2:22:58] an astounding success rate on making
traffic calmer.
[2:23:04] We need collectively without any
hesitation calmer traffic throughout
[2:23:09] Soma.
This is the first chance of that.
[2:23:14] Uh, and I think when you look at on the
east side,
[2:23:20] there are 17 intersections on the east
side that are controlled by a stop sign.
[2:23:26] People don't stop at them quite
frequently. On the corner of Second
[2:23:30] Street East
and Patton there in one of the concerns,
[2:23:36] the traffic hazard concern, people just
drive right through that. They don't
[2:23:40] stop.
[2:23:44] Um,
I don't I don't have a horse in it
[2:23:48] either. I don't live in the
neighborhood. I see it as a really
[2:23:52] valuable valid way
to make
[2:23:57] and it's proven just simply by the
numbers. It's been difficult to see what
[2:24:01] happens with other numbers, but if
you've taken a top speed of 35 and
[2:24:06] reduced it to 29, I think is what it
was. about a 25%
[2:24:12] uh reduction
in in top speed. That's a terrific
[2:24:18] number.
Um is it
[2:24:23] absolutely perfect? No. Nothing ever
will be. We can go live on 10 acres of
[2:24:29] of property and be by ourselves and
that's it. But we live in a community.
[2:24:34] Um I I hear you. You don't like it.
you're you're outraged by it in many
[2:24:41] cases.
I feel you. Uh I I'm not convinced. In
[2:24:48] fact, I'm certain stop signs are not an
answer. Uh I'm not certain people are
[2:24:55] going to be thrilled with a a third or a
fourth set of bumps either. Um, but I I
[2:25:00] think this is the first move the city of
Soma has made to make our community
[2:25:10] calmer with traffic.
And I'm all about traffic calming, not
[2:25:15] traffic stopping.
[2:25:26] Um, I just I don't want to belabor this
anymore. We have I just want to first
[2:25:31] and foremost thank all of you for coming
today. Um, regardless of your stance,
[2:25:37] whether you're pro or con for what's
happening. Um, it takes a lot for a
[2:25:41] community to get involved and to voice
your opinion and for the petitions and
[2:25:45] whatnot. Um, so we hear you loud and
clear on both sides. I also want to
[2:25:49] thank the city. I know, Ashley, that
presentation is extensive. Um, and so
[2:25:55] the level of detail that you put into
that today is very helpful. Um, I think
[2:25:59] there's two things that I want to point
out. One, we have a we have a bigger um
[2:26:04] issue at hand. And I think this is what
our committee is here to do is to really
[2:26:07] take a look at how do we how do we
address the issues of speed, right? And
[2:26:13] and and the fact that people need to get
around. I'm a mom of two kids. um both
[2:26:20] of them just started riding bikes and I
get nervous in certain areas of Sonoma
[2:26:24] because I don't know if they're going
to, you know, I I don't want to be the
[2:26:28] one to receive that phone call. Um so I
do think that there's things that we do
[2:26:32] need to look at a higher level. Um I
also am not a fan of putting stop signs
[2:26:37] everywhere, but it does make sense in
certain places. I don't support um the
[2:26:43] traffic calming circle, not a
roundabout, but I I'm not in support in
[2:26:48] this specific location. I think that we
should look into other alternatives, but
[2:26:53] if it does make sense for other parts of
Soma, clearly the statistics are there,
[2:26:58] but it is it serves a purpose. Um so,
I'm happy to look into other um
[2:27:04] initiatives around that.
[2:27:10] So maybe I'm a bit naive around this,
but I'm wanting to believe that the
[2:27:17] permanent circle will which look which
is very different than the what's there
[2:27:23] now. It's visually different
uh structurally different um that
[2:27:29] somehow that's going to make a
difference. Um, I'm very familiar with
[2:27:35] res traffic circles in uh residential
neighborhoods. I worked in Berkeley for
[2:27:40] 35 years. You want to talk about
trafficcoming measures drive through
[2:27:44] Berkeley? Um, they've tried everything.
Uh, some of it has worked, some of it
[2:27:50] hasn't worked, but there's lots of
traffic circles in Berkeley
[2:27:54] neighborhoods and it's effective. And I
don't I I guess what what I'm a little
[2:27:59] confused about is the comments about
vehicles not being able to traverse that
[2:28:07] area. It seems like if it's been
engineered that
[2:28:13] that should be already have taken into a
consideration that there would be
[2:28:17] problems actually making the turns. I'm
a little bit confused how that could be
[2:28:24] if in fact there is enough area to put
that in there. So, um, but I've heard
[2:28:29] those comments and you I believe you
know you've had you've witnessed it
[2:28:33] happening and you've have videos showing
it. But anyway, so that's where I'm at.
[2:28:37] I'm
not totally sure that it isn't the right
[2:28:45] area because I think it's been studied
and I think the argument for where it is
[2:28:49] makes sense, but um I'm also open to to
considering the fact that maybe it
[2:28:56] isn't. Um so those are just my my
thoughts right now.
[2:29:05] I think the biggest thing that I'm
taking into consideration here and
[2:29:09] trying to kind of digest is the
the difference of 34 miles an hour in
[2:29:15] the 85th percentile to 29.
Um,
[2:29:20] sure it's 5 miles an hour different and
we're slowing things down and that
[2:29:24] likely would increase with the
additional um cushions and things like
[2:29:29] that, but adding the potential
pedestrian
[2:29:34] or um bicycle conflict at that
intersection
[2:29:39] um is pretty concerning to me. I've seen
firsthand
[2:29:44] all of the potential collisions that
could occur. Um, and I don't think that
[2:29:52] getting hit on a bicycle at 35 or 34
miles an hour versus 29 is going to make
[2:29:59] a huge difference. Um, but increasing
the potential likelihood of a conflict
[2:30:06] at the intersection is what I see as the
biggest um, threat. And uh as Chair
[2:30:13] Lobinger said um just the
unpredictability of is this person's
[2:30:20] turning movement because they intend to
turn right here or is it that they're
[2:30:26] navigating the circle? um the the stuff
that I've seen um intersections, whether
[2:30:32] it be vehicle ped or what um or vehicle
bike, um that tends to be where the
[2:30:40] worst outcomes are for the pedestrians.
Um and so I I that's what I'm kind of uh
[2:30:48] struggling with on this circle is I
think that it potentially introduces
[2:30:53] conflict um where currently there is no
conflict.
[2:31:04] Yeah. What what what I'm getting is
earlier I mentioned I don't know if it
[2:31:10] was me, it could have been someone else.
Um we're talking about Malay Street and
[2:31:13] the and the the data does not support
traffic calming measures, but when you
[2:31:20] look at the non-data side, it does.
this to me
[2:31:27] the data does support having a traffic
circle in here.
[2:31:31] So, but the eye test it it's just not
passing for me. And and I I know Mark
[2:31:39] just kind of said the same said what I
and I'm going to say it again. It's that
[2:31:43] unpredictability because
yeah, you get hit by a car at 35 versus
[2:31:48] 29. Okay, maybe there's a slight
difference, but
[2:31:52] it's you're trading the trade-off is
you're increasing for a greater
[2:31:56] likelihood of something going wrong. And
that's whether minor or not. I don't
[2:32:01] want any I I don't want any collisions
right there. And um
[2:32:08] I'm just I'm going to say it looks on
paper it's working, but I don't think
[2:32:14] this is the solution. Again, I'm not
100% out on it, but I think for our
[2:32:19] committee for tonight, we're supposed to
come up with some resolution or
[2:32:24] recommendation, but I think we've all
sort of landed on I think we should come
[2:32:28] back next time with some recommendations
because I would venture a guess that
[2:32:34] we're going to lean towards not having a
permanent traffic circle there. So, that
[2:32:37] would be my recommendation for right
now.
[2:32:41] » Thank you, Chair Lozinger. Um I just
wanted to quickly clarify that the um
[2:32:46] recommendation tonight was to provide
feedback. We'll take that feedback back
[2:32:49] in informed design. This is um we are
nearing nine o'clock and um there has to
[2:32:55] be an agreement amongst all of you that
to continue on. We do have two
[2:32:58] additional items. One of which is a
capital projects update with the 90%
[2:33:02] plan set for this and it also gives the
team an opportunity to form an ad hoc.
[2:33:07] Um delaying it until November for the
overall project. Again, this is one
[2:33:11] element of the overall project is um not
favorable. Just throwing that out there.
[2:33:20] So just to clarify the if we were to
look at alterations of the current plan
[2:33:29] um probably the best route would be ad
hoc and that can be an interactive
[2:33:34] process with GHD both Frank and the
project manager and then come up with
[2:33:40] some potential options for uh November.
[2:33:47] No, more along the lines of we've heard
a couple of suggestions tonight.
[2:33:51] We could have GHD draw something up,
present that to the ad hoc, and if it
[2:33:56] passes the test of basically what we
heard tonight and the ad hoc favors it,
[2:34:03] we're going to make the changes to
design and keep moving the project
[2:34:06] forward.
[2:34:10] » Yeah, I'm keeping an eye on the on the
clock, too. And I know that we still
[2:34:14] have more items to go over. So, I'm all
for um creating an ad hoc and
[2:34:20] moving on to the next item.
>> We can do that. Um just for as you guys
[2:34:25] figure out who wants to be on the ad
hoc, which usually would take place
[2:34:27] after you establish the ad hoc within
this item. Just please keep in mind it's
[2:34:31] probably gonna we were going to want to
have to have the ad hoc happen
[2:34:35] » sooner than later.
>> Yes.
[2:34:37] » Yeah.
>> Okay. Uh do we I forget. Do we need a
[2:34:41] formal motion for an ad hoc?
>> No.
[2:34:44] » No. So you can just choose to and then
volunteer.
[2:34:48] » Okay. I'm choosing to do an ad hoc and I
will be the first volunteer.
[2:34:54] » Hobby two.
>> Hobby three.
[2:34:58] » So that was Adam, Greg, and Peter.
>> Oh, I can I would be hobby two.
[2:35:04] » Yeah,
>> we can't have four. We can only have
[2:35:06] three.
>> So
[2:35:09] » Okay.
[2:35:17] Um,
what's the easiest way to solve a We
[2:35:21] want three people.
>> Yeah, I'm I'm
[2:35:25] » do it on Saturday. If you do it on a
Saturday, I'm it. I just went back to
[2:35:28] work full-time.
>> Jay, don't
[2:35:31] » I can't take days off for a year.
>> Some of us are more relaxed about that.
[2:35:34] I'm available anytime.
[2:35:41] So, um, I'll just address like I I think
that having the ad hoc make the final
[2:35:51] decision on what the alterations would
be, um, I think that is a disservice to
[2:36:00] the committee as a whole and the process
as well as uh the public.
[2:36:06] um just in the interest of having an
open meeting and um I think ad hocs are
[2:36:13] obviously a great tool for getting
things done, but um my concern is that
[2:36:22] it defeats the purpose of open meeting
and that kind of interactive process and
[2:36:31] also shuts three of the committee
members out of a very um
[2:36:39] you know interactive item um probably
one of the most that we've had in recent
[2:36:47] time. So um that's my only concern um
with with not bringing it back in
[2:36:55] November. We're talking about you know a
couple of months and we don't have to
[2:37:01] spend the money right away
>> as was said earlier but
[2:37:06] If we're talking about a minor
alteration,
[2:37:09] » if I could jump in real quick. We've
done it once with this issue already.
[2:37:11] I'm happy to do it again. A special
meeting
[2:37:15] if because it seems like a lot of people
want to be involved. Three might not be
[2:37:18] enough. And it will will it be a final
product with an ad hoc? I think we would
[2:37:22] still have to vote on as a committee,
but I would say a special meeting.
[2:37:26] » Does it does it make a difference? I
mean, we all want to be there. So, can
[2:37:29] we all meet or does it need to be public
here?
[2:37:32] » It needs to be public. It needs to be
public. So it's either ad hoc and advise
[2:37:36] or special meeting among all of us.
>> Um I think the the the reason in terms
[2:37:43] of delaying the um Okay, let me go back.
As we've discussed before, this is part
[2:37:47] of a larger project, right? This is one
element of one element of a project, an
[2:37:52] overall project that is being funded by
Sonoma County Transit Agency as
[2:37:57] construction. Um and so that is the
interest of moving the whole project
[2:38:02] forward. Um, not being able to present
and bid a final plan set puts us at a
[2:38:10] disadvantage.
Um, and so I'll just leave you with
[2:38:13] that. Can
>> Can we do an ad hoc and then come back
[2:38:17] with a special meeting?
>> Yeah, that can happen. uh regarding a
[2:38:23] special meeting.
One of the things that we could do is we
[2:38:27] could put together a draft set of plans
to present a couple of the alternatives
[2:38:33] that have been discussed tonight,
present that to an ad hoc and then
[2:38:37] basically present that in a special
meeting in the short term.
[2:38:43] I mean, I would say if we're going to do
a special meeting, I would eliminate the
[2:38:46] ad hoc. I I don't know what kind of time
the city needs for us to have a meeting
[2:38:50] and I don't know how much time uh public
works and the design engineers we to put
[2:38:54] together a couple of alternatives but if
we can do let's say it's a month you
[2:39:00] know because time is of the essence I
think an ad hoc and a special meeting is
[2:39:03] a little too repetitive.
[2:39:12] » Yeah. as part of um just throwing some
different options around. We did put a
[2:39:17] plan together tonight. We could present
that plan. It's a draft, but it includes
[2:39:23] a couple of the different options that
we discussed tonight. And if we can get
[2:39:27] consensus right now, we go ahead and do
that.
[2:39:32] » I'm okay with that.
And as far as a nine o'clock thing,
[2:39:37] that's if you guys agree to do any new
things after 9, it's all dependent on
[2:39:43] you guys voting on that. It's not like
nine o'clock we're done. It's up to you
[2:39:47] guys. But I also realize everybody's had
a long day.
[2:39:54] » H how long, Ashley? How long would it
take to present these options?
[2:39:58] » It's up right now, so no problem. This
>> It's It's up on the screen. I don't
[2:40:03] recognize that though. Can you go down?
>> Yeah.
[2:40:08] » Yeah. So, here's one of the alternatives
that we discussed tonight, which was
[2:40:12] four-way stop control at both Andros.
On the bottom slide there, we've got the
[2:40:19] Benton Court intersection with the
crosswalk upgrades and a four-way stop.
[2:40:24] And then the match line on the left hand
side of that lower sheet connects with
[2:40:29] the right hand side of the upper sheet.
The next street up is Andros and there's
[2:40:34] a four-way stop represented there along
with Continental Crosswalks.
[2:40:40] Then you have the Perkins intersection
that's currently there. And I just want
[2:40:44] to be really clear about the Perkins
intersection. The red striping that's
[2:40:48] shown there, that's not taking away any
parking that isn't consistently already
[2:40:52] taken away with state law AB13 413. And
any cars that are parked there are all
[2:40:58] sightable whether the curb is red or
not. And if we painted all the red curbs
[2:41:03] in the city where there was no parking,
we'd have a guy full-time painting those
[2:41:07] curbs all year round like the Golden
Gate Bridge.
[2:41:10] » So the the whole argument that we're
taking away parking,
[2:41:13] » there's no parking being taken away.
>> Okay.
[2:41:16] » Those red those red marked cars at
Perkins and Third are no parking zones
[2:41:22] by AB 413. And it's ticketable whether
it's red striped or not. It's just we
[2:41:28] don't have time to write tickets. And we
also don't have time to paint all these
[2:41:32] corners red and red stripe them and
maintain the striping. So then as you go
[2:41:37] up to the north, you're getting to Vna
Street and that is where the third speed
[2:41:45] cushion would be.
And these plans haven't been 100%
[2:41:49] vetted,
>> but this concept has been vetted and
[2:41:52] we've discussed it with the traffic
engineers
[2:41:56] and it is an alternative to the traffic
circle.
[2:42:05] » How many sets of speed bumps?
>> Total of three currently in the plan
[2:42:08] set. There's two right now. Right. And
those two are shown uh actually
[2:42:13] yeah one is shown they're at church in
between Napa and Spain Street.
[2:42:20] » No that's okay. And then the third one
is south of Napa Street.
[2:42:24] And those two speed cushions that are on
Third Street that are north of Perkins
[2:42:28] are about symmetrical to where you're
dividing it up into thirds. What would
[2:42:34] » in between Perkins?
>> A fourth
[2:42:36] » in between Perkins and Napa Street.
>> Was there a fourth Christian? No.
[2:42:43] » Suggestion? No. Okay. I thought someone
>> Well, not not in this alternative.
[2:42:51] » And this is this is an alternative that
hasn't really been tested. I mean, it's
[2:42:57] just we're not we we're not necessarily
in the business of testing things that
[2:43:03] we're about to implement. Okay. We put
in temporary speed cushions on Napa
[2:43:08] Street by the Catholic Cemetery at Fifth
Street East. Those are still in today.
[2:43:13] We're going to be finalizing the the
keeping those in. But bottom line, we're
[2:43:19] not going to spend a whole lot of time
putting in temporary speed bumps. We're
[2:43:23] going to vet the location and then we're
going to put the speed bumps in. The
[2:43:27] traffic circle was something completely
different. And the reason that we put it
[2:43:31] in was we wanted to give everybody the
opportunity to see what it looked like
[2:43:34] to test it out and to give comment. And
I think it was super successful on that.
[2:43:40] This is the most people we've had at a
traffic safety meeting in a long time.
[2:43:44] And and we appreciate that. And we
appreciate all your time tonight and we
[2:43:47] appreciate all your comments and all the
time that you spent on that. And I mean,
[2:43:52] we appreciate it. That's that's from the
heart. And basically though, um, we're
[2:43:58] not looking at if we put another speed
circle in, darn right, we're putting a
[2:44:02] temporary one in first because we want
the input from the public. We want to
[2:44:06] see how this thing works with our own
two eyes. I've spent time out there.
[2:44:10] I've watched the videos. I've read all
the correspondence that's come in and
[2:44:15] I've I've listened and I've heard and
but the bottom line is that something
[2:44:19] like a traffic circle, you have to put
up a temporary. If we're going to
[2:44:24] propose to put a speed bump somewhere,
we're going to put it in
[2:44:27] and we're going to vet the location
prior to doing that
[2:44:31] and it's going to be in response to
people wanting it like on Malay.
[2:44:36] So this this type of a scenario we have
discussed extensively with the design
[2:44:42] engineer and the traffic engineer that
are both here tonight
[2:44:46] and we can take further comments or
questions about these and we've already
[2:44:51] vetted the fact that we believe this is
going to have a similar effect and based
[2:44:56] on what I've heard tonight I think that
Andrews is a candidate for a four-way
[2:45:00] stop regardless of what because when you
know people are going there and you're
[2:45:05] not sure if the car stopping or slowing
or going through the dip that that
[2:45:11] that's an issue and I've heard that and
we have a similar situation at Benton
[2:45:14] Court and so um I feel like uh based on
the
[2:45:21] discussion I've had with the project
engineers, the traffic engineer, the
[2:45:25] design team at public works, I'm
comfortable moving this forward as the
[2:45:30] item for the traffic safety committee to
approve or to make a recommendation on
[2:45:35] or actually give me feedback.
>> Uh, can you go ahead?
[2:45:39] » Sorry. Um, can you show us the um Andrix
and Bettton Court uh mockup in the this
[2:45:49] proposed plan.
[2:45:53] » This is Andrix. And then this is this is
Benton Court, right? Yeah.
[2:46:00] Can I ask why there's only marked
crosswalk on Betton Court and Andrew are
[2:46:04] only three and not four? Frank
anticipated my question.
[2:46:10] » Yeah. So, um that's because of the ditch
itself. It's concrete and thermoplastic,
[2:46:17] even paint doesn't stick to concrete,
especially when it's going to carry
[2:46:20] water.
Um, so state law doesn't preclude
[2:46:25] somebody from using a marked versus an
unmarked crosswalk.
[2:46:30] Um, not marking it doesn't mean somebody
can't cross there. The preference would
[2:46:35] be to use the marked crosswalks. As
we've heard through public comment,
[2:46:38] people want something that they can
actually see and utilize. um if again
[2:46:44] not fully you know vetted is do we need
to put signs up that now say that is not
[2:46:50] a crosswalk and and I'm hesitant to do
that but that would be the alternative
[2:46:56] is that it's not marked and it's not a
crosswalk or it's not marked because it
[2:47:01] would just fall apart and it is still a
crosswalk. It's the allway stop that's
[2:47:06] really we wouldn't uh for instance you
don't mark for the crosswalk with
[2:47:10] warning signs when it's an allway stop
because the stop control is the control
[2:47:16] you guys
>> but there'll be a limit line
[2:47:20] stop legend there'd be a sign yeah
anything inside the limit line would be
[2:47:24] the crossing area the cross well even
think about this way the gutters often
[2:47:29] look like a crosswalk right
>> so what you're saying is if we move
[2:47:35] forward with this I would have to walk
on the west side of Third Street.
[2:47:42] Um Frank, one quick question just kind
of
[2:47:47] with Ashley's presentation of the whole
concept and trying to facilitate this
[2:47:54] being a bike boulevard. Um,
in your opinion, if Andrix becomes a
[2:48:01] four-way stop, if there was an
opportunity to put cushions between
[2:48:06] Bettin Court and Andrix,
would you see it necessary to have a
[2:48:12] four-way stop at Bettin Court or could
we do that reverse
[2:48:17] um with the stop sign there to help
facilitate that and make it only one,
[2:48:24] you
stop for the bicycles or you know
[2:48:29] traffic in the north south in that area
as opposed to you know just it seems
[2:48:36] clunky from the concept point of it
being a bike boulevard if you're
[2:48:44] stopping at every intersection.
>> Yeah. Other than the fact that the stop
[2:48:48] sign itself is what's relegating an
equal bite for the cyclist. Um, Eris,
[2:48:55] uh, you know, with the work that we do
from a bicycle perspective, it's at
[2:48:59] least an opportunity. It's not the
perfect opportunity, but it's a better
[2:49:03] opportunity than the indecision of the
vehicles slowly going through the
[2:49:08] intersection because of the um the the
swale. So, that's where it adds a little
[2:49:16] bit of order to everything. Um, I think
Mike was I saw Mike kind of squirming a
[2:49:22] little bit because we uh not squirming.
We discussed that. Could we do
[2:49:26] potentially the other speed hump between
Ben Court and H Andrix and not do the
[2:49:32] allway stop?
It's an option. That's that's one of the
[2:49:36] things we we kind of went with the full
because I knew I had this and we we had
[2:49:40] this in hand. So that's where we kind of
sat. That's the allocart. It's a sum of
[2:49:46] parts. So if we don't do the allway stop
or we reverse the stops at Benort, we
[2:49:51] need to do something else and is it
potentially one additional speed hub? Is
[2:49:55] it a second one? Probably just the one,
but you know holistically.
[2:50:01] » Well, and we've got the project engineer
on Zoom also. Roman, are you there?
[2:50:07] » Yes, I am. Can you hear me? Okay.
>> Yeah, we can hear you just fine. Did you
[2:50:11] hear the question that was just asked to
Frank? And have you had the time to look
[2:50:14] into additional speed bumps south of
Andros and possibly in the Benton Court
[2:50:21] area so that that stop sign could
potentially be eliminated at Benton
[2:50:25] Court.
>> We've looked at it as a highle option.
[2:50:29] Uh and by the way, just a quick
introduction, I'm Roman Beltran with GHD
[2:50:33] uh civil engineer of record for this
project. Um so yeah, so we've looked at
[2:50:39] it as a highle option. a agreed with
everything Frank stated that if if we
[2:50:43] eliminate the we abandon the option of
allway stop control then we do need
[2:50:48] another traffic calming measure either
before or south of Benton Court or
[2:50:53] between Benton Court and Andrix
um from an engineering standpoint the
[2:50:59] allway stop you know in addition to the
order it's providing it's also providing
[2:51:05] predictability you know it removes all
ambiguity from from those vehicles that
[2:51:09] are decelerating ating at the speed bump
um and at the same time giving the
[2:51:15] bicyclist an equal shot at crossing the
the intersection. Um so
[2:51:22] I'm a little torn between,
you know, putting in that speed measure
[2:51:29] but then allowing that ambiguity to to
remain at the intersections with those
[2:51:34] swailes there. Um, so, um, I think I
have to sit on, you know, sleep on that
[2:51:40] one a little bit, but I tend to favor
the always stops versus the fourth
[2:51:48] uh, speed cushion at this location due
to that uh, the removal of that
[2:51:52] ambiguity that that we're discussing.
>> Okay. Thank you. the bikes. The
[2:51:57] challenge with the bikes
is as a bicyclist,
[2:52:03] that's the stop sign is a suggestion
because you don't want to take your feet
[2:52:09] out of the clips.
Uh you you'll slow, you'll pay
[2:52:13] attention,
but I've seen people not pay too much
[2:52:17] attention. And and that's my concern
about a four-way stop over at least with
[2:52:26] the speed cushions.
The the bicycle is still going to have
[2:52:31] to pay attention as they go through the
intersection, but
[2:52:35] the ambiguity is
actually to me less because there's
[2:52:41] there's no stop sign. Is the guy going
to stop? Is the guy not going to stop?
[2:52:48] Yeah. And just if we did go without a
four-way stop at Benton Court, we would
[2:52:52] still do we would still reverse the stop
control, meaning Third Street would have
[2:52:59] a clear route for bicycles and cars.
There wouldn't be any more ambiguity
[2:53:04] with the dip. There would be a stop sign
there. And if we come up with a a second
[2:53:09] loca, a secondary location, fourth
location for another speed cushion,
[2:53:15] it's something to consider.
I mean, my thought is if this truly is
[2:53:19] supposed to be a bike boulevard, the
bikes that are coming from the Frier
[2:53:23] Creek Trail and in theory heading to
Valo's home already have to stop at Bet
[2:53:29] Court and Andrew Street. And really what
you're doing is giving that added
[2:53:33] protection for east west traffic to stop
and making it um less am
[2:53:41] getting rid of the ambiguity. Um so I
think bicycles are going to have to stop
[2:53:46] regardless if you're truly traveling
down the bike boulevard.
[2:53:50] Um,
>> not if there's a stop sign on
[2:53:54] » if there's a stop sign.
>> I'm talking about the plan that that's
[2:53:57] in front of us where Bettin Court and
Andrew are four-way stops.
[2:54:01] » Right. So I'm my thing is I'm liking to
I'm trying to suggest you just do the
[2:54:08] cross street of Bettin Court gets a stop
sign and you get the speed cushions and
[2:54:13] then that one four-way stop grudgingly
that one four-way stop.
[2:54:21] I would also say that we are running up
on nine o'clock and so um there's a
[2:54:27] couple things I think we are going to we
do need to do the report up for um for
[2:54:33] capital improvements. I think we might
need a break in a moment, but in order
[2:54:37] to bring this to a close because time is
of the essence with the two options that
[2:54:42] are presented in front of us right now
at this moment, the two four-way stops
[2:54:46] and an additional speed cushion versus
traffic circle and as is if we need to
[2:54:52] make a decision right now, I'm of the
opinion I would favor what is on the
[2:54:56] screen the two.
>> What happened to cross street of Bett?
[2:55:01] Why is that being considered?
Why? I mean, I like it seems to me
[2:55:07] there's three under discussion.
And if we're going to make it a bicycle
[2:55:12] boulevard, we open it up to bicycles
better.
[2:55:16] And that means not having a four-way
stop at Bon Court.
[2:55:28] I think a possible way to move this
forward. The original intention of the
[2:55:32] agenda item was to get feedback from the
public, get feedback from the committee
[2:55:36] and incorporate into that into the final
design. I think it sounds pretty clear
[2:55:42] that everyone for the most part majority
is in favor of this particular
[2:55:46] alternative.
The nuances between the bet and court
[2:55:51] always stop and possibly adding in a
speed hump is something that we could
[2:55:56] work through in design and would
probably not impact. I mean it would
[2:56:05] impact but things that we could work out
in design if the overall you guys are
[2:56:09] supportive of this pro concept. We could
move forward and um hammer out the
[2:56:16] minutia of the
this
[2:56:20] » uh because I know time is obviously the
essence now. It really is. But here's my
[2:56:26] question. I'm wondering if we just put
it to a vote right now. The the plan
[2:56:30] that's in front of us, the the two
four-way stops and the three speed
[2:56:34] cushions speed um traffic circle
removed.
[2:56:44] » Yeah, I'm that that's what I'm saying.
the and we're not going to get a
[2:56:48] consensus, but I'd say we're 90% there
as a as a committee and that's why we
[2:56:53] have these votes because they're never
going to be they're not always
[2:56:55] unanimous. So,
>> just to clarify, the third and Perkins
[2:57:02] in this plan has a four-way stop or no,
no, it's essentially as is. We're
[2:57:10] relying on the speed cushions to do the
calming.
[2:57:18] My question to public works because I
know we have to go through the county
[2:57:22] and um and speed this process up. Would
it benefit public works and the city and
[2:57:29] everybody here right now for us to come
up with to land on an idea right now?
[2:57:40] Ideally, if you could provide feedback,
right? If and that makes it better for
[2:57:46] us to update the design, right? From the
county perspective, we could take that.
[2:57:50] We have a technical advisory committee
meeting on Thursday. We could do a
[2:57:53] report out, let them know about um you
know, the commit the community and
[2:57:59] committee feedback, what the preference
is, and then work out the amendment.
[2:58:03] That would probably make things go
faster. But we but we wouldn't have
[2:58:06] until our next meeting in November to
make a final decision.
[2:58:11] » Correct. If you want if you Yeah. If you
didn't make a decision, I just want to
[2:58:15] clarify the overall
>> there is no vote required from the
[2:58:19] committee and that is not me discounting
or public works discounting the feedback
[2:58:23] at all. That is not We absolutely value
the committee's feedback. We value the
[2:58:26] community's feedback. That's a big
reason why we did the temporary traffic
[2:58:30] installation.
However, um we do It would be great to
[2:58:35] have your feedback in that um you are
supportive of the alternative. It it
[2:58:39] would be wonderful um but you don't
necessarily need to it.
[2:58:42] » So I guess to put it differently
assuming we're removing the traffic well
[2:58:47] assuming the traffic circle isn't a
permanent aspect. Can public works move
[2:58:52] forward without any vote from the
committee whether it's tonight October
[2:58:56] November or anything?
>> Yes.
[2:58:57] » Because you've received our feedback.
>> Yes.
[2:58:59] » Then I'm okay with that because our
feedback has been given and then some.
[2:59:05] Great. Thank you.
>> Unless somebody is opposed to that,
[2:59:09] » I think
[2:59:13] » I'm saying no vote. The goal was for
feedback. We've had plenty of feedback
[2:59:18] and it also gives public we don't public
works is not going to be is isn't going
[2:59:22] to be bound if we don't make a
recommendation tonight or at all.
[2:59:27] » Correct. You're everyone's feedback is
absolutely going to be included in the
[2:59:31] design. The final design will probably
be somewhat similar to what is front in
[2:59:34] front.
>> Okay, I'm okay with that.
[2:59:41] » All right, let's close out this item.
>> Yeah. And just just
[2:59:45] » to be clear, so close.
>> I just want to make sure that we do have
[2:59:49] different opinions
>> by the committee and we cannot
[2:59:52] incorporate two different opinions into
one intersection. So, we're going to
[2:59:56] take it back to engineering. We're going
to go through the process. We're going
[3:00:00] to come up come up with a final design
and move the project forward.
[3:00:02] » Perfect.
>> Thank you.
[3:00:04] » All right, let's close this out. It's
nine o'clock. Two things. We do need to
[3:00:08] do the capital improvements. Is the
committee okay with continuing to press
[3:00:11] forward with the needed items?
>> Yes. I'm going to say yes. Second, do we
[3:00:15] need a water break, personal break,
five, 10 minutes?
[3:00:20] » Let's do a five minute break.
[3:10:47] Yep. Exactly. All right,
>> let's keep this going.
[3:10:55] the route for the home.
>> Okay. All right. Item 4.3.
[3:11:01] » The
>> Oh, speed tables at East. Oh my gosh. I
[3:11:05] need to
>> All right. I'm turning over.
[3:11:09] » Um, so the current configuration of the
speed tables on East Napa was approved
[3:11:12] for installation at November 15, 2023
city council meeting. The meeting
[3:11:17] materials presented at the city council
meeting which is also conveniently
[3:11:20] linked in your agenda item is covers the
meetings where this was presented at the
[3:11:25] traffic safety committee meeting on
August 22nd 2023 and October 3rd 2020
[3:11:30] 23. Since the November 15th meeting the
speed tables have been installed and
[3:11:35] have worked to slow vehicles down. We do
acknowledge that there is some issue
[3:11:38] with chicaining. We have put down bots
dots um there to prevent people from
[3:11:43] doing that or discourage that. Um we
have gotten two traffic hazard reporting
[3:11:47] forms. Both have been submitted with
less than five signatures and um have
[3:11:51] been addressed on consent calendars.
Um since the installation, we've also
[3:11:57] worked with um the traffic safety
committee ad hoc to adopt the
[3:12:00] neighborhood trafficcoming toolbox with
guidance from the city's traffic
[3:12:03] engineer. This was adopted by the
traffic safety committee on May 6, 2025.
[3:12:07] Speed tables are an allowable
intervention as part of this
[3:12:10] neighborhood traffic caling toolbox. So,
with this MA manual now in place, staff
[3:12:13] is recommending that the traffic safety
revisit the speed tables and if in
[3:12:16] agreement, recommend them for permanent
adoption.
[3:12:20] All right. Uh, any questions from the
committee about the speed tables?
[3:12:26] Um,
[3:12:30] all right. I guess I'll open up to
public comment then.
[3:12:35] » I speak in favor of making the speeds
permanent.
[3:12:39] » Noted.
Perfect. Um
[3:12:45] » do uh does chief cutting have any
feedback on that?
[3:12:54] » So um the speed tables were applied to
slow down vehicles. I believe the uh
[3:13:00] speed surveys that have been conducted
um have shown pretty conclusively that
[3:13:06] they were effective in slowing traffic.
what we I I think we had some insight
[3:13:11] into this potential of the chicaining
around the uh speed tables. Uh we at the
[3:13:18] police department get a significant
number of complaints from drivers who
[3:13:22] have observed it uh have seen the uh
dangerous driving uh going around them.
[3:13:28] We spent a good deal of time out there.
I you're going to hear in a in a minute
[3:13:31] when I give my statistics report. I I
can't focus on just one area of the city
[3:13:35] only. Uh but we do give it a good amount
of time and I spent a good amount of
[3:13:40] time out there watching uh in a mark car
and and I observe it every time I go
[3:13:45] there I observe multiple vehicles will
chicane around them. Uh the way they are
[3:13:51] currently designed I'm I'm not saying um
make them permanent or not. Uh but what
[3:13:57] I am saying is that the offset is going
to create the chicane that we have and
[3:14:02] that problem is not going to stop um
without some engineering change in those
[3:14:08] in that design. Uh outside of that uh
we'll continue to police it. Uh we'll
[3:14:13] continue to enforce it. We wrote, I
believe, six or seven um citations last
[3:14:18] week out there uh for that very
incident. Um and as we have time, we
[3:14:22] will give that area attention. But our
attention is not the solution to the
[3:14:28] chicane. That's all I have. Unless you
have questions for me about
[3:14:33] » Are we adding comment on this or no?
>> Uh yeah, I mean it's back to the
[3:14:37] committee at this point unless someone
has question for Chief Cutting.
[3:14:42] » Um I I live fairly close to these. Um
and at the time when it was when we had
[3:14:49] the meeting um I was in favor of it, but
I am not anymore. I think it's my own
[3:14:55] father who is visiting from out of town
almost got hit. Um so I think we need to
[3:14:59] look into other options
um specifically from the chicane. So
[3:15:04] » yeah I I I think we all know that this
was kind of the first big issue that we
[3:15:08] tackled and we didn't get pushed into it
but I think we were I think we we came
[3:15:14] to a decision quicker than we should
have. I like the speed tables. I don't
[3:15:18] like the offset speed tables. So I guess
my question would be
[3:15:23] can we make them
even speed tables because I think the
[3:15:29] chicane is going to be an issue and I
completely agree it will keep happening
[3:15:31] but I do think there needs to be
something there.
[3:15:34] » Yeah. And that's with no offset.
>> No offset. They're right next to each
[3:15:37] other.
>> The reason we have the offset is
[3:15:39] » the fire department I and all due
respect to the fire department. I I
[3:15:44] don't think it's going to slow them down
that much. Um, but if that's something
[3:15:48] that we need to check in with Chief
Achre or anybody else from the fire
[3:15:52] department, I'm happy to do that. But,
um, I I I think the
[3:15:57] chicaining issue is a larger issue than
the fire department than the ambulance
[3:16:02] getting out there needing to slow down,
costing them 10 to 15 seconds of of
[3:16:09] response time. So, the the speed tables
are there right now. Would would the
[3:16:15] existing ones become the permanent ones?
And in terms of redesign and making them
[3:16:22] not offset, having them next to each
other, is that going to be again, it's
[3:16:26] going to come back to the budget.
>> Well, and just that
[3:16:29] the reason they're offset is it was at
fire's request. They did not want them
[3:16:35] not offset.
Yeah. So, you can take those speed
[3:16:39] tables and you can put them adjacent to
each other. Um, there might be there's a
[3:16:45] driveway there, but I don't I think that
that could be
[3:16:52] dealt with, but I'm not as much worried
about the engineering component as I am
[3:16:58] the agreement that we made with fire to
put them in offset. Yeah. What we could
[3:17:02] do is we could, like you said, this was
early on when our um traffic handbook
[3:17:09] was just it wasn't even done yet and
this was one of the first ones that we
[3:17:13] did and so it and this is a tier three
implementation.
[3:17:18] So, you know, that's why they were
temporary and we decided to come back at
[3:17:22] a later date. Um, what we could look
what we could do is we could look into
[3:17:26] alternative design and do further
discussion with the fire department and
[3:17:32] see if we can't come back with a
different alternative in November.
[3:17:37] » Yeah, I' I'd be in favor of that one
because I I like having something there,
[3:17:41] but I don't know if that was the right
answer.
[3:17:44] » Yeah. And if that's the consensus of the
committee, uh, staff could work on that.
[3:17:49] » Yeah. it uh just the quality of life has
improved. Uh
[3:17:57] they've had a positive effect and I I
think such a positive effect I'd
[3:18:04] certainly encourage the city to deploy
more of them throughout just just to
[3:18:10] take the edge off. Again, what I said
earlier tonight, it's we're just going
[3:18:15] to get more cars just within it's, you
know, within the city, the empty lots
[3:18:20] that are available to build on. And
they're going to put as many houses,
[3:18:25] many front doors into an empty lot as
possible. That's going to add more and
[3:18:29] more cars.
And I I think they do uh an adequate job
[3:18:37] of of
reducing speed. And what I've talked
[3:18:45] about earlier too is
the noise from traffic. Once that's once
[3:18:53] the speed is reduced, the noise is
concurrently reduced as well. So, uh,
[3:19:00] God, whatever we can do to keep that
something like that, make it better, I'm
[3:19:06] all for it.
[3:19:16] » Okay. Then I I mean, I'm I'm all for
having something there, but maybe some
[3:19:23] come up with some alternatives and talk
more about it. November.
[3:19:28] » Chief cutting. Uh just do you have any
input if the if the sha canes removed?
[3:19:34] Obviously patrol cars are a little more
agile than fire engines, but could have
[3:19:39] an effect on the deputies.
>> No, I I I said in the very beginning the
[3:19:45] the impact on a patrol car is is
negligible to any issue. So if they're
[3:19:51] parallel to or alongside in a linear
line across it would have no effect on a
[3:19:56] patrol car. We don't chicane around them
now. Not supposed to
[3:20:02] » a little more fun the other way.
[3:20:07] » Cuz cops treat patrol cars like they're
their own.
[3:20:16] » Okay. I I think I think uh for this item
it's uh come up with some alternatives,
[3:20:21] talk to fire and and revisit in
November.
[3:20:24] » We will reagendize this in November with
some alternatives.
[3:20:27] » In that case, I'm going to close the
item and uh move on to 44, which is the
[3:20:31] capital projects update.
>> So the capital projects update um does
[3:20:36] kind of touch on the traffic circle in
that it does address the citywide
[3:20:40] bicycle and pedestrians improvement
project. Um so let me just start from
[3:20:43] the top. Um we have previously brought
the fire Nash rehabilitation project.
[3:20:47] CIPT5, this is an evergreen project, but
Frier Picket Nash neighborhood has kind
[3:20:51] of been where our efforts have been
circulating. Um that project was
[3:20:55] substantially completed in May. It was
awarded in March and so um we're happy
[3:21:00] to report that that has been done. The
citywide bicycle and pedestrians
[3:21:04] improvement project has overall the
project has met an important um
[3:21:08] milestone 90% um that's part of why um
the conversation with regard to the
[3:21:13] traffic circle is geared towards making
a decision being able to move it
[3:21:16] forward. This is the overall project and
the 90% plan set is comp is included as
[3:21:21] part of your agenda packet. Um again the
elements include the raised crosswalk
[3:21:26] crossing improvements and then um the
third street west bike boulevard.
[3:21:31] The um all of the elements are
accurately or all of the elements are
[3:21:36] represented in the project plans. Um
this does currently include the traffic
[3:21:40] circle. We have not included the design
revision, but we will work with
[3:21:43] designers to implement the feedback we
received um on the traffic circle item
[3:21:47] before the project goes out to bid. And
then um moving on to our citywide slurry
[3:21:52] seal project. This was awarded to Sierra
Nevada Construction at the regular
[3:21:56] council meeting of July 15, 2026 and
construction is expected to start um
[3:22:01] midepptember is our current estimate
from the contractor. This is also going
[3:22:05] to apply slurry application um and well
the map for slurry application is um
[3:22:10] attached to this agenda item as well. So
this is our our standard um slurry seal
[3:22:15] maintenance that we do for road
maintenance increasing our PCI every two
[3:22:18] years. And then item number four is our
safe router school. Um it's a key
[3:22:23] strategy of um Sonoma County vision zero
action plan. This is coming up because a
[3:22:29] fiscal 23 grant that SCTCA had applied
for is now available for funds and um
[3:22:37] this is a a project that SCTCA is going
to be driving in conjunction with city
[3:22:42] staff. Um we are encouraged to look at
corridors and identify improvements that
[3:22:50] also align with the active
transportation plan that we have
[3:22:53] adopted.
And um in looking at all of the city or
[3:22:58] all of the school sites within the city
and this um overall review period
[3:23:03] happened in I believe 2024 2025. So when
Presswood School was still Presswood
[3:23:08] School and not MacArthur Charter um or
MacArthur Park. Apologies for the
[3:23:12] misnomer on that. But um so in
evaluation of that we will be looking at
[3:23:17] the high school and um what was
previously Preswood Elementary and now
[3:23:21] MacArthur Park Charter School. um they
are planning on coming to the November
[3:23:25] traffic safety committee meeting and
they will be presenting um the corridor
[3:23:29] as an attachment to this um agenda item
and I'll just go ahead actually I don't
[3:23:33] want to scroll through all the project
plans but um can I just click on this?
[3:23:37] There we go.
>> Yeah.
[3:23:38] » Okay. So this is overall the list of
corridors that have been identified. Um,
[3:23:43] I took a look at the active
transportation plan and we also talked
[3:23:46] about some um, you know, east side, west
side connectivity, looking at like way
[3:23:52] maybe possibly where students are
actually living. You know, on my part
[3:23:56] that's really just more anecdotal data.
Um, but this um, is something that we
[3:24:00] worked on with Sonoma County Transit or
I'm sorry, SCTCA and um, they are going
[3:24:06] to be working on with on this with their
designers are presenting a much more
[3:24:09] tailored version of this at the November
meeting. The overall project allows for
[3:24:13] about three miles of corridor
improvements. As you can see here, we
[3:24:16] have about 5.67. So, this is going to
come down significantly. Um, and it it
[3:24:22] that will be done in consideration with
their design engineers. Um, this is a a
[3:24:28] project heavier on the SCTCA side in
terms of driving design, etc., but it is
[3:24:33] intended to be a very collaborative
process with city staff. That's part of
[3:24:37] why they're coming in November. And we
do anticipate having meetings with the
[3:24:41] the Sonoma Valley Unified School
District as well. So the intention of
[3:24:44] this is to be very very collaborative
and the end goal is to have a safe route
[3:24:47] to school plan that we will be able to
apply for future grant funding to
[3:24:51] actually implement some of these
improvements.
[3:24:58] » All right. Thank you, Ashley. Uh does
the committee have any um questions?
[3:25:02] » I just have one quick question. This is
amazing. I love this. uh did they take
[3:25:07] into consideration each school and um
headcount and allocate that
[3:25:13] appropriately to the the um total
mileage?
[3:25:17] » I believe they did. Yes, there was a um
a selection criteria that they worked
[3:25:22] through in order to come to Sonoma
Valley High School and um Presswood. and
[3:25:26] I can pass along feedback to have them
elaborate more on that at the November
[3:25:30] meeting.
[3:25:34] » But it's not going to be all 5.67 miles.
>> No, it will be limited to three miles.
[3:25:39] Um being totally honest, I beefed it up
to six miles because I it basically it
[3:25:44] covers a lot of um east west connection.
Um I grew up in the broader Snow Valley,
[3:25:49] not necessarily like you know city
limits. And so, um, you know, trying to
[3:25:54] figure out if they're going to focus
more on like other areas of town, that
[3:25:58] kind of thing. Um, but that's something
that's going to be fleshed out with
[3:26:01] their design engineer. So, they're going
to be presenting a much more tailored
[3:26:04] version. So, not all of this is going to
be included because our budget's only
[3:26:07] about three months. I
>> I'm only asking just with the recent
[3:26:11] changes of the school district. And so
if this is old data, if they're
[3:26:17] considering the new um headcount per
school, you know, per elementary school,
[3:26:22] etc. Um
>> yeah, and that's a great point and we'll
[3:26:26] emphasize that so that they're prepared
to have a full discussion at the
[3:26:30] meeting.
>> Yeah.
[3:26:31] » In November,
>> we did let them know about the change
[3:26:34] that would at at this meeting um to come
up with these corridors. We did let them
[3:26:39] know that Presswood Elementary had
closed and it was replaced with a
[3:26:42] charter school.
>> I think with the charter I think it's
[3:26:45] 200 roughly 200 for enrollment right now
and it I pretty sure was close to 300
[3:26:50] and a lot of them have been moved to
Sasarini
[3:26:53] um or other schools and so from what I'm
seeing here there's a lot focused on the
[3:26:58] east side but I'm wondering if we should
take a look at other areas um just a
[3:27:03] thought.
>> We can definitely pass that along and
[3:27:06] make sure that feedback's incorporated.
Not to belver the point, but I literally
[3:27:11] right before this meeting spoke to the
new director principal of MacArthur Park
[3:27:15] and um I specifically asked about
enrollment and while it's slightly
[3:27:20] offset, they had they did move obviously
a lot of students around, but they're
[3:27:24] just over 200 and they anticipate coming
back to around Prestwood levels. Um
[3:27:30] they're they have applications for their
school. Um they the biggest thing the
[3:27:35] the ESN students from Prestwood are no
longer there. They've been shifted
[3:27:38] throughout the district, but the numbers
will remain are anticipated to remain
[3:27:43] relatively the same, probably down a
little bit.
[3:27:50] Anything else from the committee?
I will open it up to public comment.
[3:27:56] » Thank you, Tom Conlin again. Um,
so I learned some things tonight. uh the
[3:28:04] that are of relevance to this uh CIP
going forward. Um I'm encouraged to hear
[3:28:11] that the city's considering 16 miles per
hour average speed as a threshold for
[3:28:20] speed bumps
if uh the community members actually
[3:28:24] want it. So, that's something that I'll
probably be encouraging more uh hazard
[3:28:31] forms to recommend that solution because
it sounds like it's a it's a viable
[3:28:35] thing around the city. there's support
for it even from the community that
[3:28:38] doesn't want to see more aggressive more
more um other kinds of measures in the
[3:28:44] um
[3:28:49] I I'll be talking with Aerys about
whether the changes that you guys are
[3:28:54] going to be going back to finalize on
the uh Third Street West uh whether that
[3:29:00] rises to the level of a major change. I
don't think we consider it to be a major
[3:29:05] change at this point and um I think
we're probably going to be able to
[3:29:09] support the minor adjustment at your TAC
meeting upcoming this week. Um I'm a
[3:29:15] little disappointed obviously I got a
little emotional tonight. Um but
[3:29:20] obviously the community came out and
told you that they're concerned about it
[3:29:23] and I I support the community and I
support your judge good judgment in
[3:29:27] making a a decision there. I do
encourage the city staff and this
[3:29:32] committee and council to keep moving
forward, to keep moving people out of
[3:29:36] their comfort zone and to make the city
a safer place. And I think we're we all
[3:29:40] making progress on that. specifically on
the safe routes to school um opportunity
[3:29:46] that's in front of us right now. My
understanding is that the um the injury
[3:29:54] network where the high injury potential
is in the city is much closer to
[3:29:58] Sasserini than it is to uh MacArthur
Park or the high school even at this
[3:30:04] time. So um and I also believe that the
there are some equity related points in
[3:30:11] the scoring for these projects. I may be
getting two projects mis mixed up in
[3:30:16] terms of the funding streams, but I
think I'm hearing about the same
[3:30:19] project. So I'd encourage you all to
sure that if you're if it is a
[3:30:23] competitive grant that we're setting
ourselves up for that we are leaning
[3:30:28] into the equity points as well as the
injury network.
[3:30:34] uh you know where we really need it the
most and I believe I know we're making
[3:30:38] some major improvements to Fifth Street
West uh in the current CIP, but are we
[3:30:45] are we going to be able to get all the
way there with the money we have to
[3:30:48] date? If not, we might want to look at
this as another source of funding. I
[3:30:53] know that Chief Brandon uh Chief Cutting
has um
[3:30:59] indicated that there are some problems
at that uh crossing at formerly Press
[3:31:04] Wood, but I think they put a stop sign
in there or something and that has been
[3:31:07] rectified already. So, um looking
forward to more safe routes to schools.
[3:31:12] Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[3:31:19] Okay, I think uh move it back to the
committee. Any further discussion from
[3:31:24] the committee?
I also just wanted to clarify we did
[3:31:29] give you the team the option to do an ad
hoc for the 90% if you guys still wanted
[3:31:34] to do that for the CIP the overall
larger traffic the citywide bicycle and
[3:31:39] pedestrian improvement plans kind of I
feel like you maybe you passed possibly
[3:31:43] passed on that in the traffic circle
item but I just wanted to clarify that
[3:31:47] you do have that option it would have to
happen relatively quickly as I explained
[3:31:50] um but I just wanted to bring that to
your attention because that was called
[3:31:53] out as a recommendation if you wanted
[3:31:59] This would be an ad hoc for reviewing
the 90% plan submittal for CIP6 the
[3:32:04] entire project.
[3:32:11] If some if if if someone wants to do an
ad hoc on this one,
[3:32:22] » I I I don't
I don't think I can.
[3:32:29] » Um I mean, would we would we need three
people or
[3:32:32] » you just have up to three?
>> Yeah.
[3:32:38] I I mean if Greg if you want to do it on
your own that's I think I'm I have no
[3:32:42] problem with that. I think
>> is that
[3:32:46] » Yeah. If you want to include Greg in it
>> I say go for it.
[3:32:56] » No that's fine. And we'll do an adop
report out in November.
[3:32:59] » Perfect. All right. With that, I will
close out this item.
[3:33:06] And
um are there any reports or comments
[3:33:10] from the traffic safety committee?
No. Staff comments and announcements,
[3:33:18] chief cutting.
Oh, Mike
[3:33:23] point.
[3:33:27] I will speak quickly. Um and so if you
need me to repeat something, just call
[3:33:32] me back to it. Um, I was asked to give
some statistics related to traffic
[3:33:37] enforcement. Um, I'm going to give you a
little bit more because I think it has
[3:33:40] to have context into what all goes on in
the city because it is beyond just uh
[3:33:44] speeding and stop signs. Uh, so to to
touch on it real quick, uh, Sonoma
[3:33:50] Police Department is staffed with uh,
two traffic safety officers specific.
[3:33:54] However, they are dual purpose, meaning
they answer calls for service. They are
[3:33:57] a part of our patrol staffing. In 2020,
uh we had to reduce uh one full-time
[3:34:03] traffic enforcement officer uh based on
budget. Uh that has not come back yet.
[3:34:07] The only position that we have brought
back um as a standalone uh position is
[3:34:12] our community resource officer, which is
focused on the schools. And in the
[3:34:15] summertime, we usually appoint that
person to uh handle calls for service so
[3:34:20] that we can have our traffic enforcement
focus on traffic. Uh this summer um I
[3:34:24] selected uh to have that person focus on
ebike safety and bicycle safety. Um it
[3:34:32] you you guys haven't had a lot of the
complaints, but I've received a
[3:34:36] significant amount of complaints as has
city council and city staff. So u that
[3:34:41] was our focus and our emphasis
throughout the summer. And our community
[3:34:44] resource officer was actually on a
bicycle um on the trails making contact
[3:34:48] with students and adults alike. Um quite
honestly a lot of the uh the bike
[3:34:52] violations were more uh related to
adults than they were to kids or youth.
[3:34:58] Um but we did a lot of education. Um so
those statistics are not represented
[3:35:02] what I'm talking today. I'm just trying
to give you an example of why uh our our
[3:35:07] traffic enforcement is is focused on
certain areas. So total traffic stops
[3:35:12] and I when I did these statistics I went
back to January of this year. So the the
[3:35:16] numbers I'm giving you are from January
1st of this year till today. I ran these
[3:35:21] these uh statistics just a short time
before I came in here. Total number of
[3:35:25] traffic stops year to date, 573 traffic
stops by Sonoma Police Department. 60
[3:35:31] written citations, 413 uh reprimand and
release or verbal warnings. Um and then
[3:35:38] in context, total calls for service for
Sonoma Police Department, 2,913
[3:35:44] year to date. So they handle those calls
for service in addition to traffic
[3:35:49] enforcement. So just to be clear, uh
total number of reports written from
[3:35:53] those calls for service of the 20 2,913
295 reports have been written. That does
[3:35:59] not that's not citations, those are
reports. Um total officer initiated
[3:36:03] calls, 1438. So about 33% of the calls
for service were officer initiated. Um
[3:36:09] total number of arrests 77. And then
accident data total number of non-injury
[3:36:15] accidents 30 reports have been made. Uh
possible injury three 13 on the minor
[3:36:22] injury and I'll talk about that in a
second. And then we've had we did have
[3:36:26] the one fatality this fiscal year uh on
Broadway. The uh differentiation between
[3:36:31] possible injury, minor injury and no
injury. Obviously no injury is pretty
[3:36:35] self selfexplanatory.
uh three possible injuries. Uh meaning
[3:36:39] that when deputies were at the scene
taking the report, somebody said, "I may
[3:36:43] have an injury, I may get it checked out
later." Uh we don't have a there is no
[3:36:47] recourse for follow-up on that. So if
they go to the hospital or doctor later
[3:36:50] and have injuries, it's an insurance
issue at that point. Minor injuries
[3:36:54] sometimes are transports. Um sometimes
are not. Sometimes they'll self
[3:36:57] transport, but we have we document that
there is some known injury at the time
[3:37:02] of the accident. Uh we had 26 DUI
arrests this fiscal year so far or this
[3:37:07] calendar year so far. And I did want to
make a note that uh Deputy Todd Stenis,
[3:37:11] one of our assigned patrol officers, did
receive the MAT award um just about a
[3:37:16] month and a half ago. That was for uh
the number of DUI arrests he personally
[3:37:21] made, which was 30 in a in a fiscal year
or in the calendar year for that
[3:37:26] particular award.
you as traffic safety are getting some
[3:37:31] complaints about um traffic issues
around town. We also receive them. The
[3:37:36] city receives them. City council
receives them. They all get funneled to
[3:37:39] us in in more than one way. Um and I
just kind of wanted to focus on or give
[3:37:43] you an idea of the emphasis and the
focus areas that we are working on. Um
[3:37:48] it's beyond just the ones that are
limited in here. And uh yes, Mr.
[3:37:53] Brandon, beyond just uh East East East
Napa Street.
[3:37:58] I know.
>> So, these are the areas that we spent a
[3:38:01] lot of time on. Obviously, beginning of
the school year, the the high school,
[3:38:04] Broadway, First Street West, uh
MacArthur, all around, uh and then also
[3:38:09] um on Fifth Street West around
Sasserini. Um but in the broader picture
[3:38:14] um so Fifth Street West uh spanning from
um West Spain uh north of West Spain for
[3:38:22] speed um south of of uh Napa Street for
stop sign viol or actually from uh Spain
[3:38:29] Street south all the way to MacArthur
for stop sign violations. Uh less of a
[3:38:34] speeding issue there. Um Malay Street uh
for speed issues. East Napa Street, uh
[3:38:40] the chicaneing around the speed tables,
Loel Valley from Fourth Street to 7th
[3:38:45] Street East. Uh West Spain Street,
almost the entirety of it. Seventh
[3:38:49] Street West, uh stop sign violations. Um
Highway 12 at the Maxwell Shopping
[3:38:54] Center, speeding and red light
violations. Broadway at Napa Street, the
[3:38:59] intersection violation, stop sign
violations. first street west at Napa
[3:39:02] Street stop sign and actually wrongway
driving because it is actually a right
[3:39:06] turn only if you're southbound and a
right turn only if you're northbound. Um
[3:39:10] so a lot of that um we did a significant
amount of time um on the short time over
[3:39:17] the uh the uh traffic circle. Sorry I
used the wrong word earlier. Um, we did
[3:39:23] not do any traffic enforcement or
citations over there as we were trying
[3:39:27] to uh get an idea of whether or not it
was intentional or unintentional. There
[3:39:31] was not a lot in our presence because of
the mark cars. Uh, Second Street North,
[3:39:36] uh, Second Street West, north of Andrix,
MacArthur from First Street West to
[3:39:40] Fifth Street West. Um, and then the
ebike stuff. So, just just bringing that
[3:39:44] up because those are the areas that
we're getting the most of our complaints
[3:39:47] in. And so I have to give those areas
attention as well as the ones that are
[3:39:51] coming before this committee. And so I
just wanted you to be clear that we're
[3:39:54] not not giving attention to any specific
area. We have to give it to everything.
[3:39:59] And as I already stated, I have two
daytime patrol officers. One who is
[3:40:03] supposed to be uh traffic expert, but we
can't just designate them for traffic
[3:40:10] only. They have to handle calls for
service. So, I kind of gave you that
[3:40:12] volume so you understand they have to
handle the the 911 calls. At the same
[3:40:17] time, we're trying to do traffic
enforcement on an intersection. We often
[3:40:21] get pulled away from being able to be
consistent in those locations. Bringing
[3:40:25] it back to a lot of um the lawfulness of
of driving around the city of Soma still
[3:40:34] comes into a voluntary compliance.
Drivers need to respect the laws. They
[3:40:38] need to respect stop signs and they need
to follow those laws. It it makes it
[3:40:42] safer for all of us and it quite
honestly um we can't police our way out
[3:40:47] of stop sign and speed violations.
Do you have any questions for me?
[3:40:55] Next time I bring statistics, I'll try
to give you some comparables yeartoear
[3:40:59] so you have an idea. We are increasing a
significant amount. I can tell you that
[3:41:03] our our traffic enforcement stops are
significantly higher than they were even
[3:41:07] last year.
[3:41:10] » Just real quick, how's the what's your
success uh in movement to getting a
[3:41:15] court down here? I think you talked
about that at one point.
[3:41:18] » Yeah. Uh so we have to we had to wait
till the new courthouse opened which
[3:41:21] just opened two weeks ago, I believe. Um
so we'll reapproach it. I'll I'll bring
[3:41:26] it back up again with the courts. Um
there's a title for that person, but
[3:41:30] I'll bring it back up again and see what
kind of conversations we can have. I
[3:41:35] have a lot of support from the CHP
office out of Napa who covers our area.
[3:41:39] Uh they are really requesting it even
more so than we are.
[3:41:45] » Thank you, Chief.
>> Thanks, Chief. Um Mike, did you have
[3:41:48] some
>> Yeah, just a real quick report out two
[3:41:51] items that have been discussed tonight.
Um one is the 20 mph speed reduction
[3:41:56] project that we've been working on.
That's currently with GHD. They had to
[3:42:00] come out and do speed surveys and they
got to input all that data into the big
[3:42:05] picture model. And we're going to come
back with a recommendation
[3:42:10] of the streets. Uh this is going to be
something we're going to want to get
[3:42:16] some input on. It's going to be
something we're going to want to involve
[3:42:18] the community in because basically
why not my street is something that we
[3:42:24] want to get out ahead of. We've talked
to this group before. These are the
[3:42:29] streets that we have been hearing about
problems. They're near schools. They're
[3:42:34] near hospitals. And so trying to get a
nice focused um group of streets for
[3:42:40] that will be the goal. The other one,
Ashley already talked about it. It's
[3:42:44] safe rout. They'll be here presenting
next meeting. This is a big one and
[3:42:50] getting out ahead of this. making sure
that we've got some community support,
[3:42:54] community buyin, comments from the
community. We want to have a nice
[3:42:57] opened, transparent, publicized process.
That's going to be the goal and we'll be
[3:43:03] bringing that forward at the November
meeting for um some discussion and
[3:43:07] hopefully we have a nice big audience
like we did tonight.
[3:43:11] Thank you.
>> All right. Thanks, Mike. Um okay, now
[3:43:17] before we wrap it up, I need to point
out two things. Uh, the first one, uh,
[3:43:22] recognize Ashley for all the work she's
been doing. I mean, I know Mike is the
[3:43:26] director, but Ashley, you've been
putting so much work into this. Um, I I
[3:43:33] it's you've been wonderful, so thank
you. The other one is, uh, now we're in
[3:43:37] an empty room, but everybody may notice
that U. Member Mark Deo isn't here. Uh,
[3:43:43] we thought he would be here tonight, but
I was told just before this meeting that
[3:43:47] he no longer lives in the city of
Sonoma, which means he cannot be part of
[3:43:51] this committee anymore. Um, I was hoping
he would be here so we could give him
[3:43:54] some recognition. But Mark, if you're
out there, thank you for your many years
[3:43:58] of uh being part of this committee. We
appreciate the input and everything that
[3:44:01] he has done. So, a big thank you. And um
>> I will be giving him his name plate,
[3:44:07] too.
>> Oh, cool. Well, there you go. Is that
[3:44:10] what we get at the end? He asked for it
>> set of steak knives.
[3:44:13] » Yeah.
>> Um and that was it. That's all I have.
[3:44:17] » All right.
Ajourned.
[3:44:21] » Thank you guys.