Last night we discussed a few significant items:
There was a presentation by Dr. Chris Farnitano, the health Officer of Contra Costa County discussing information related to COVID-19. It was good information that I think was worth listening to if you are able to watch the video.
We also heard from all six candidates running for City Council in this November's election.
We had a follow up discussion regarding potential traffic calming actions that could be taken in order to reduce speeds on three areas in town. Lowering speeds is critical to being able to resurvey traffic and therefore not be forced to increase speed limits. Background on that was in a previous post here.
The three streets we discussed were:- Eagle Peak Dr from Oakhurst Dr (east) to Keller Ridge Dr.
- Clayton Rd from Washington blvd to Oakhurst Dr.
- Mountaire Pkwy from Marsh Creek Rd (south) to Mountaire Cir
Potential actions included:
- "Road diets" (shrinking of lanes, reducing number of lanes, expanding bike lanes) in order to create a smaller space which typically results in drivers slowing down
- Various forms of restriping that serves similar purpose of the road diets
- Speed feedback signs which measure people's speed and display it on a sign
- Regular speed limit signs
- Changing signal timing to pace the actual speed limit
Of the above options, the road diets were both the most expensive, and the most intrusive. There was not an appetite to undertake this option right away. Ultimately, the Council took action to direct staff to do three things:
- Install additional speed limit signs where none exist on Eagle Peak Dr. and some other select areas in town. Each sign has a cost of approximately $300 so this is a relatively low cost option.
- Reach out to the Dana Hills HOA asking them to inform the residents that if speeds do not decrease, there will be a speed limit increase, request their residents to slow down, and to inquire if the residents would be interested in the narrowing of the 4 lane section on Mountaire Parkway (the road diet) in order to slow down speeds.
- Adjust the timing of all of the stoplights on Clayton Road and as it turns into Marsh Creek Rd with the primary goal of ensuring drivers do not exceed the speed limit. As we learned last meeting, 75% of the people receiving tickets on Clayton Rd. are from out of town. Traffic from east county typically uses Clayton Rd. because it is faster than taking Hwy 4. I suggested several ways to deincentivize drivers from doing this, including increasing the time lights stay red, defaulting through traffic to stay on red until cars approach, and using the light at Regency and Marsh Creek to essentially meter traffic during commute hours. We left it to staff to determine what the best options were and will explore any further action as necessary.
We adopted a proclamation declaring Sept 15 - Oct 15 Hispanic Heritage Month recognizing many of the positive contributions from our Hispanic community.
In addition to that, I requested a future agenda item to discuss whether we should direct our legal firm, Best, Best, & Krieger, to stop defending the lawsuit related to the Oliva project. Since the city is the one who approved the project, the current litigation brought forth by a group of residents is directed at the city. While the developer may continue to defend the litigation as a Real Party in Interest, there is no obligation for the city to do so. We'll continue this discussion at a later time.
