PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING SERVICES FOR EL CAMINO REAL/SELBY LANE INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT

Item No. 2
Town of Atherton
CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT - STUDY SESSION
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
GEORGE RODERICKS, CITY MANAGER
FROM: MICHAEL KASHIWAGI, COMMUNITY SERVICES DIRECTOR
DATE: JUNE 4, 2014
SUBJECT: UPDATE OF EL CAMINO REAL EFFORTS WITH CALTRANS
RECOMMENDATION
Review and discuss.
BACKGROUND
El Camino Real within the Town of Atherton is an existing State Highway (SR 82) and a major
north-south transportation corridor serving the San Francisco Bay Area Peninsula. Currently, the
corridor is "incomplete" since it is designed primarily for vehicular travel with minimal or no
facilities to safely accommodate pedestrians and cyclists. Within Atherton, El Camino Real is a
six-lane arterial roadway with a pavement width which varies from 80-85 feet. The road cross
section also includes landscaped medians. The average daily traffic within the 1.6 mile segment
of El Camino Real within Atherton exceeds 31,000 vehicles per day.
Walking and biking to destinations through the Town require crossing El Camino Real at one of
5 marked crosswalks at uncontrolled intersections. The 1.6 mile segment of El Camino Real is
served by only one signalized intersection. Accordingly, most bicycle and pedestrian crossings of
El Camino occurs at the uncontrolled intersections. In addition to Holbrook Palmer Park, uses
which create the need to improve bicycle/pedestrian safety along and across El Camino Real
include 7 public and private schools which reside within the Town.
Over the past 18 months, staff has been working with Caltrans to identify short and long term
solutions to improve pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicular safety along El Camino Real. Items
discussed include:
* Installation of enhanced signing and striping at marked crosswalk locations at
uncontrolled intersections.
* Trimming trees and removing vegetation within landscaped medians to improve visibility
for pedestrians and vehicles.

Update of El Camino Real Improvement Efforts
June 4, 2014
Page 2 of 4
* Place flashing beacons at selected crosswalk locations to improve driver awareness.
Although a longer term solution, the Town and Caltrans also agreed that developing a plan for
the entire 1.6 mile segment of El Camino Real would be the most effective approach to
improving safety. Specific improvement ideas included:
* The reduction of travel lanes from six lanes to four lanes to reduce pedestrian crossing
distance and vehicular speeds.
* At uncontrolled intersections with marked crosswalks, widen the existing center median
and construct a pedestrian portal to provide a safe refuge for pedestrians crossing El
Camino Real.
* Remove vegetation and trees in the medians to improve visibility.
* With implementation of lane reductions, provide a Class I bike facility along El Camino
Real.
DISCUSSION
Although there has been overall agreement between the Town of Atherton and Caltrans on the
items discussed above, it was also acknowledged that the identified changes/improvements
would be costly to implement and would require agreement with other jurisdictional
stakeholders. However, progress has been made and some of the improvements have already
been implemented or are in the planning/design phase.
Enhanced Crosswalk Markings and Vegetation Removal
Enhanced crosswalk signing and striping improvements have been provided at the 5 marked
crosswalk locations (Selby Lane, Stockbridge Avenue, Almendral Avenue, Isabella Avenue,
Alejandra Avenue) and Caltrans will continue to refresh the signing and striping as needed. The
Town will continue to trim and remove vegetation within the landscape medians as needed.
Construction of Flashing Beacons at Selected Crosswalk Locations
Per the request of Town staff, Caltrans has agreed to allow the use of Pedestrian Hybrid Beacons
rather than the Rapid Flashing Beacon originally proposed. Staff favors the Pedestrian Hybrid
Beacon since it is designed to stop vehicles through a series of steady and flashing yellow and
red lights. The hybrid beacon operates much like a traffic signal. Pedestrians activate the beacon
when ready to cross, otherwise the beacon is dark and motorists proceed as usual.
Staff has been successful getting two crosswalk locations included in a Caltrans Crosswalk
Enhancement Project in San Mateo County. This project is currently in the environmental review
stage and includes pedestrian hybrid beacons at Isabella Avenue and Alejandra Avenue. This
project is entirely State funded. Environmental review is scheduled to be completed by the end of

Update of El Camino Real Improvement Efforts
June 4, 2014
Page 3 of 4
2014. Plans, specifications, and construction estimate is scheduled to be completed by the end of
2015. Construction is scheduled to begin in late 2016. Therefore, it is anticipated that the
pedestrian hybrid signals within Atherton will be under construction in 2017.
Selby Lane/El Camino Real Intersection
Per Caltrans, the intersection of Selby Lane and El Camino Real meets criteria for the installation
of a traffic signal. Per Caltrans policy, Caltrans will only contribute 50% of the cost for a traffic
signal since two legs of this intersection are outside of their jurisdictional control. One leg is
within the Town of Atherton and the other leg lies within San Mateo County. Per letter dated
January 9, 2013, San Mateo County stated they do not support contributing funds for this signal
(attached).
The need and support for a traffic signal at Selby was discussed by City Council at our
December 18, 2013 meeting. At that time, the City Council did not support construction of a
traffic signal due to concerns of increased traffic on Selby resulting from a new traffic signal as
well as the required contribution towards construction. At the February 5, 2014 Study Session,
the City Council discussed potential traffic calming measures but chose to not move forward
with a study due to staff assessment that there were limited options available to effectively
reduce vehicle volumes and speeds and that the better ultimate solution was the narrowing of
lanes on El Camino Real or restrictions to left turn movements. Staff was directed to investigate
these options further and report back to the Council.
According to accident information provided by Caltrans, during the 10-year period from 2002 to
2011, a total of 50 accidents were reported at the Selby Lane/El Camino Real Intersection. All of
the reported accidents were vehicle related. There were no reported pedestrian related accidents.
Of the 50 accidents, the primary collision factor for approximately half of the accidents was due
to failure to yield and improper turns. Approximately half of the accidents were cars being
broadsided.
Restricting Left Turn Movements at Selby Lane/El Camino Real
Staff believes the primary factor contributing to accidents is poor visibility due to heavy
vegetation in the median and the opposing left turn lanes on El Camino Real. Staff recently met
with Caltrans to discuss potential solutions to improve visibility and operations at this
intersection. Staff and Caltrans believe the visibility and operations of this intersection would be
improved by eliminating one of the left turn movements. However, doing so would impact
access into an existing residential area. Caltrans would also need to perform an operational
analysis of the existing traffic signal at 5th Avenue and El Camino Real to determine the
feasibility of this option.

Update of El Camino Real Improvement Efforts
June 4, 2014
Page 4 of 4
Lane Reduction on El Camino Real
Caltrans and the Town of Atherton agree that developing a plan for the entire 1.6 mile segment
of El Camino Real would be the most effective and comprehensive approach to improving
pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicular safety. The reduction of travel lanes from six lanes to four
lanes would improve pedestrian safety by decreasing crossing distance and would also reduce
vehicular speeds. The lane reduction would also provide additional space within the right of way
to install pedestrian portals within the existing medians as well as Class I bicycle/pedestrian
facilities.
It is also acknowledged that these types of changes would be very costly to study and construct
and would require the participation and agreement of a number of stakeholders including
adjacent jurisdictions who may be impacted by the reduction in travel lanes. Accordingly, in
2013, the Town of Atherton partnered with the Local Government Commission to apply for a
Caltrans Community-Based Transportation Planning Grant to fund the necessary engineering
operational analysis and community outreach/involvement necessary to advance this concept.
The grant application was submitted in April 2013 and unfortunately in September 2013, we
learned that the grant application was declined.
Following continued direction in February 2014, in May 2014 staff met with Caltrans to outline a
process for moving forward. Caltrans indicated that a necessary next step is to perform an
operational analysis to determine impacts of the travel lane reduction. The anticipated work
scope would include:
* Traffic counts
* Determination of vehicle metrics such as travel times, queues and intersection level of
service
* Travel demand forecasts
* Traffic modeling and simulation
* Caltrans coordination/review
It is anticipated that the consultant and staff cost to perform this work would be in the range of
$80K - $120K. At this point, staff does not recommend seeking funding partners for the required
engineering operational study. Our rationale is the primary interests and benefits of this work
will be for the Town of Atherton. The primary operational improvements, bicycle/pedestrian
safety benefits, and community enhancement opportunities resulting from lane reductions on El
Camino Real will primarily benefit the Town. Accordingly, staff believes it's important for the
Town to drive and control the scope and schedule of the operational/technical analysis required
by Caltrans as well as the community engagement and stakeholder outreach necessary to
advocate and champion proposed changes to El Camino Real.

Update of El Camino Real Improvement Efforts
June 4, 2014
Page 5 of 4
Since the reduction of lanes on El Camino Real may also impact capacity of this corridor, the
results of the operational analysis must also be evaluated based upon adopted C/CAG traffic
impact policies.
ATTACHMENTS
Letter of January 2013 from County
Prepared By: Approved:
Michael Kashiwagi, P.E. George Rodericks
Community Services Director City Manager