RESOLUTION NO. _____
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COMMERCE, CALIFORNIA APPROVING THE TELEGRAPH CORRIDOR IMPROVEMENTS CONCEPT PLAN FROM WEST CITY LIMIT TO ATLANTIC BOULEVARD WHEREAS, Telegraph Road from the west City limit to Atlantic Boulevard is a concrete 4-lane major road with 2 lanes in each direction, left turn lanes at some intersections, and posted at 45 MPH; and WHEREAS, there is an approximately 12-foot-wide sidewalk on the east side of the street and approximately 5-foot-wide sidewalk on the west side with 14 side streets that intersect Telegraph Road on the east side and one 4-way intersection at Eastern Avenue; and WHEREAS, along this segment of Telegraph Road, there are 3 traffic signals, a number of obsolete decorative streetlights, operating wooden and steel streetlights, trees, 2 uncontrolled crosswalks, and Metro bus stops; and WHEREAS, there are red curbs throughout this stretch of Telegraph Road at some of the intersecting streets with parking allowed along the east side of Telegraph Road and prohibited along the west side; and WHEREAS, the west side of the Telegraph Corridor does not provide adequate sidewalk width to accommodate pedestrians despite the presence of multiple bus stops and accessing the bus stops located at Telegraph Road at Ferris Avenue and Telegraph Road at Duncan Avenue requires crossing Telegraph Road at a marked but uncontrolled crosswalk and at Telegraph Road at Clela Avenue requires crossing Telegraph Road at an unmarked, uncontrolled crosswalk; and WHEREAS, there is an additional marked, but uncontrolled crosswalk across Telegraph Road at Duncan Avenue in between controlled crosswalks at Arizona Avenue and at Eastern Avenue; and WHEREAS, on January 11, 2022, the City Council awarded a contract to Gibson Company for engineering services for the preparation of a Complete Corridor Study along Telegraph Road from Marianna Street (west city limit) to Atlantic Boulevard; and WHEREAS, Gibson Transportation Consulting Inc. (Gibson) conducted a Transportation Study and investigated potential improvements to portions of the Telegraph Road corridor that can increase pedestrian safety while not adversely affecting vehicular circulation; and WHEREAS, a number of potential roadway configurations were considered and analyzed before a preferred alternative was selected, which includes replacing one lane of northbound vehicle traffic with a painted center median along with the installation of southbound left-turn lanes and curb bump-outs at the minor street intersections and would remove uncontrolled marked crosswalks, install continental crosswalks at all remaining marked crossings, enhance street lighting using the existing decorative lights, if possible, improve landscaping with new street trees, and install storm water discharge elements to improve drainage; and WHEREAS, Gibson prepared a technical memorandum summarizing their analysis and findings and resulted in the following recommendations:
• Removal of one northbound traffic lane (southbound traffic would keep two travel lanes). • Installation of painted center lane.
• Installation of curb bulb-outs at 14 side streets along the Telegraph Corridor (to reduce crossing distance for pedestrians). • Removal of the uncontrolled painted crosswalk on Telegraph Road at Ferris Avenue for pedestrian safety. • Removal of the uncontrolled marked crosswalk across Telegraph Road at Duncan Avenue. • Installation of continental crosswalks at all marked crossings. • Consolidation of the underutilized bus stops at Ferris Avenue and at Clela Avenue with Arizona Avenue and Atlantic Avenue which will allow the City to remove the painted crosswalk at Ferris Avenue and will eliminate the need for pedestrians to cross at locations not protected by a signal to board the Metro transit; and WHEREAS, it is also important to note that Gateway Council of Government (COG) through an agreement with Cities of La Mirada, Santa Fe Springs, Downey, Pico Rivera, Commerce, and Montebello and unincorporated County of Los Angeles has begun a complete street study of Telegraph Corridor, which is mostly funded by Metro and will take about one year to complete; and WHEREAS, complete streets are designed to maximize the efficiency of not only automobile, truck, and bus traffic, but also bicycle and pedestrian; and WHEREAS, COG is aware of the City’s study and the City plans to share the approved plans with COG upon approval; and WHEREAS, Gibson Consulting presented their study, findings and recommendations to the City Council and upon City Council approval of the concept plans, staff will proceed with the Request for Proposals (RFP) for design services. The design phase is expected to take 9-12 months and construction is expected to take 6 months to complete; and WHEREAS, staff recommends upon conclusion of Gibson’s Presentation that City Council approve the Telegraph Corridor Concept Plan and authorize staff to release an RFP for design services and proceed with removal of the uncontrolled painted crosswalks on Telegraph Road at Ferris Avenue and at Duncan Avenue pursuant to requirements of California Vehicle Code 21950.5.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL DOES HEREBY RESOLVE, DECLARE AND DETERMINE AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The City Council of the City of Commerce hereby finds and declares that the foregoing recitals are true and correct, and incorporates them herein as findings and as a substantive part of this Resolution.
Section 2. Receive and filie a Presentation from Richard Gibson at Gibson Transportation Consulting Inc., the City’s Project Consultant on Telegraph Corridor Improvement Study; and Section 3. Approve the Telegraph Corridor Improvement Concept Plan; and Section 4. Authorize staff to release a Request for Proposal (RFP) for design services; and Section 5. Authorize staff to proceed with removal of uncontrolled marked crosswalks on Telegraph at Ferris and Telegraph at Duncan Avenue pursuant to requirements of California Vehicle Code.
Section 6. The Mayor is authorized to execute the resolution and amendment for and on behalf of the City of Commerce. The Mayor is also authorized to execute the Resolution for and on behalf of the City of Commerce.
Section 7. This Resolution shall take full force and effect immediately upon adoption by the City Council.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 21st day of February, 2023. _______________________________
Oralia Y. Rebollo Mayor
ATTEST:
_________________________________
Lena Shumway
City Clerk
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