Agenda Report
Fullerton City Council
MEETING DATE: April 7, 2026
TO: CITY COUNCIL / SUCCESSOR AGENCY
SUBMITTED BY: STEPHEN BISE, PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR
PREPARED BY: DAVID ROSEMAN, CONTRACT TRAFFIC ENGINEER
MICHAEL PLOTNIK, CITY TRAFFIC ENGINEER
SUBJECT: EUCLID STREET AND VALLEY VIEW DRIVE / VALLEY VIEW PLACE INTERSECTION SIGNALIZATION RECOMMENDATION
SUMMARY
City Council consideration of a Transportation and Circulation Commission (TCC) recommendation to install a traffic signal at the Euclid Street and Valley View Drive / Valley View Place intersection.
PROPOSED MOTION
Direct staff to proceed with Traffic Signal Installation Project at the Euclid Street and Valley View Drive / Valley View Place intersection.
Authorize Director of Public Works, or designee, to seek grant funding opportunities for traffic signal construction at the Euclid Street and Valley View Drive / Valley View Place intersection.
ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS
Approve the Proposed Motion
Reject TCC recommendation and deny traffic signal installation Other options brought by City Council.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the Proposed Motion.
CITY MANAGER REMARKS
None.
PRIORITY POLICY STATEMENT
This item matches the following Priority Policy Statements:
Public Safety
Infrastructure and City Assets.
FISCAL IMPACT
Traffic signal approval, design and construction requires significant engineering effort, time and cost. The City Traffic Engineer estimates the proposed project would take two to three years to complete and cost approximately $650,000. Staff cannot determine full project components and exact project costs until completing the engineering design. Caltrans design requirements, utility conflicts, required ADA upgrades and traffic signal operations. Inflation could also impact project components and costs.
Staff estimates preliminary utility research and engineering design would cost approximately $65,000, supported by Measure M2 funds (Fund 25) within Project 46621 - New Traffic Signals and Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons Installation Program. Staff would complete preliminary engineering designs and then submit engineering design plans and refined engineer’s estimated project costs to various grant funding agencies to seek full construction funding for the traffic signal.
Staff would include study findings in the Citywide Safe Streets and Roads for All Action Plan currently in development, so the project becomes eligible to receive future State and / or Federal grant funding. Staff would request City Council approve appropriations to accept any grant funding awarded.
Staff would need to identify other funding sources to complete this project if the City cannot secure grants to support the project.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Residents in the Euclid Street and Valley View Drive / Valley View Place area expressed traffic safety concerns regarding the intersection, centered around crash rates, traffic speeds on Euclid Street, lack of gaps in Euclid Street traffic during peak hour traffic flows, poor visibility for conflicting traffic and difficulty making turns into and out of neighborhoods. The City Traffic Engineering Division conducted various studies, implemented striping and signage modifications, installed speed feedback signs, trimmed landscaping and monitored operations and crash statistics at the intersection in response to resident concerns. Euclid Street traffic flow characteristics remain mostly unaffected despite the efforts.
City traffic engineers conducted a comprehensive traffic signal study in late 2023 based on California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (CA MUTCD) study guidelines. The CA MUTCD outlines an engineering study process to evaluate physical conditions, traffic flow, pedestrian activity and crash performance against established criteria or warrants. The warrant study process does not provide an absolute “yes” or “no” answer to signalization but enables engineers to look beyond warrants and exercise engineering judgement to evaluate unique characteristics of an intersection and traffic operations. The warrants guide engineers and officials through the decision-making process.
City traffic engineers gathered data in fall 2024 and made numerous on-site observations at various times of the day and night to complete the CA MUTCD warrant studies for the Euclid Street and Valley View Drive / Valley View Place intersection. Three of the nine warrant studies (related to school zones, roadway networks and railroads) did not apply and staff discarded those studies. Staff gathered a variety of traffic, physical and crash data to complete the remaining six warrant studies. Low pedestrian activity at the intersection did not satisfy the pedestrian crossing warrant The study then focused on the three remaining warrants (traffic flow, coordinated traffic signal systems and crash experience).
Traffic Flow Studies The CA MUTCD has three traffic volume warrants setting criterion for intersection traffic volumes levels over an eight-hour period, a four-hour period and the peak hour. The traffic volume data gathered from the Euclid Street and Valley View Drive / Valley View Place intersection met all three traffic volume criteria, suggesting the intersection makes a good candidate for signalization all day.
Coordinated Signal System Warrant This warrant considers traffic signal spacing and whether intersection signalization would improve vehicle platooning and progressive roadway operation. The Euclid Street and Valley View Drive / Valley View Place intersection has over 2,000 feet to the next signalized intersection to the south and just under 2,000 feet to the next signalized intersection to the north which satisfies the warrant and suggests this intersection presents a good location for a traffic signal.
Crash Experience Warrant This warrant is not without controversy in the court of public opinion. An intersection must have five or more reported crashes within a twelve-month period susceptible to correction by a traffic signal to satisfy the warrant. The public generally does not support the five crashes per year limit, believing the government (local or not) should do everything possible to prevent serious crashes. The crash experience warrant requires a minimum traffic flow level through the intersection and the agency has first attempted to satisfy all other safety and enforcement alternatives without success. The Euclid Street and Valley View Drive / Valley View Place intersection has sufficient traffic volumes and the City has taken all reasonable steps to improve safety to-date. Available crash data indicates six reported crashes at the intersection over a two-year period and a traffic signal would have potentially prevented only two of those six crashes (both involved injuries). The findings indicate the number of crashes per year does not satisfy the warrant. However, staff analysis finds the physical intersection layout, with vertical and horizonal curves, and random traffic arrival patterns as very likely contributors to the crashes. Staff finds it reasonable to assume that any other minor traffic control measures, short of signalization, would not result in significant reduction in the crash rate or severity of crashes at the intersection.
Staff evaluated intersection sight distances to determine safe stopping distances and found the intersection technically has sufficient motorist sight distance for conflicting traffic flows in all directions when factoring in the applicable approach speeds. However, staff also observed that some motorists misjudged vehicles approaching at higher speeds and therefore made poor choices when making turns to or from Euclid Street. The horizontal and vertical curves and the random nature of the traffic arrival patterns could factor into this misjudgment.
The absence of adequate intersection lighting could also contribute to early morning and late-night crashes. The intersection has one dedicated streetlight on the northeast corner making it relatively dark at night and during poor weather conditions. Intersection signalization would include dedicated safety lighting to significantly improve visibility at night and during inclement weather.
City traffic engineers and the Fullerton Police Department met with residents in November 2024 to discuss the data collected and the additional traffic study results and to seek additional resident input. The residents supported the study efforts and study results and expressed a continued desire for a traffic signal installed as soon as practicable.
The TCC concurred with the staff recommendation to recommend City Council approve installing a traffic signal at the Euclid Street and Valley View Drive / Valley View Place intersection on February 3, 2025. Attachment 1 presents the TCC Agenda report from that meeting. City Council considered the TCC recommendation on March 4, 2025 and voted to send the matter back to TCC for further consideration. Attachment 2 presents the City Council Agenda Report from that meeting. City Council also asked staff to revisit the recommendation to signalize the intersection based on concerns expressed by the public and to conduct additional neighborhood traffic studies to determine if signalizing the intersection could result in adverse unmitigable impacts to the neighborhood.
Staff presented additional data to TCC on August 4, 2025 and February 2, 2026 to address questions and concerns from the public. This data included traffic route patterns, traffic volume comparisons between intersections, pedestrian and bicycle counts, speed survey analysis, citation data and traffic speed information recorded by speed feedback signs along Euclid Street. Attachments 3 and 4 present the Agenda Reports from those meetings. Staff notified 973 property owners and/or occupants of the two TCC meetings as well as this City Council meeting through US mail. Staff also posted signs on barricades at the intersection noting the various meetings.
The Contract Traffic Engineer continues to recommend the Euclid Street and Valley View Drive / Valley View Place intersection as a good candidate for signalization as the physical and traffic flow characteristics at that location satisfy established statewide traffic signal criteria. Additionally, the Contract Traffic Engineer believes the City has exhausted all reasonable alternatives to improve safety and efficiency at this intersection short of signalization. The Contract Traffic Engineer believes installing a traffic signal would not have a significant impact on the neighborhood along Valley View Drive to the east of Euclid Street and Valley View Place to the west of Euclid Street, while improving motorist and pedestrian safety, preventing future injury crashes and reducing City liability. The City Traffic Engineer concurs with the Contract Traffic Engineer recommendation.
TCC voted 3 - 2 on February 2, 2026 to concur with the staff recommendation to install a traffic signal at the Euclid Street and Valley View Drive / Valley View Place intersection and forward the recommendation to City Council for further consideration.
Attachments:
Attachment 1 – PowerPoint Presentation
Attachment 2 – TCC February 3, 2025 Agenda Report
Attachment 3 – City Council March 4, 2025 Agenda Report Attachment 4 – TCC August 4, 2025 Agenda Report
Attachment 5 – TCC February 2, 2026 Agenda Report
cc: City Manager Eddie Manfro
Euclid Street and Valley View Drive / Valley View Place Signalization Recommendation April 7, 2026 - Page 2