From: Joaquin Siques
To: Asatryan, Elen; Kassakhian, Ardashes; Brotman, Daniel; Najarian, Ara; Gharpetian, Vartan Cc: DL City Clerk
Subject: Support for Agenda Item 8C - May 21, 2024 - City Council (La Crescenta Avenue Project) Date: Monday, May 20, 2024 12:01:19 AM
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Honorable Mayor Asatryan and members of the City Council, I would like to start off by thanking you for your continued support of the La Crescenta Avenue Project. While I am disappointed to see a delay in the project implementation, I believe that utilizing $3M in Measure R funding is worth the wait. This project will provide so many benefits to the residents living on La Crescenta Ave and to residents in Sparr Heights, Montrose, Oakmont and surrounding neighborhoods by adding three new signal-controlled crossings along La Crescenta Ave to enhance safety for motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists. In addition, the City's inclusion of sustainable treatments such as dry wells and bioretention facilities will ensure this project not only enhances safety but also addresses the need to capture storm water runoff in a time where water conservation is critical.
Please remember, this is not Brand Boulevard. La Crescenta Ave is a residential street adjacent to an elementary school (literally less than 50-ft from Fremont Elementary School) and has a posted speed limit of 40-mph... meaning cars are typically travelling between 45mph and 50mph.
As a registered Traffic Engineer, licensed in California for over 20-years, a parent and a resident of Glendale that has lived for the past 18-years on Urquidez Ave, 2 houses away from La Crescenta Ave, I strongly urge City Council to
continue to support the construction of this
project and utilize Measure R funds to ensure the project becomes a model for well designed, sustainable infrastructure that enhances safety for motorists pedestrians and bicyclists alike. I drive La Crescenta Avenue daily and walk along the sidewalk of La Crescenta Avenue multiple times a week. This project will make La Crescenta Ave safer for motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists, improve motorist access by providing a much-needed left turn lane on La Crescenta Ave and will have no impact to emergency vehicle response times.
Why to continue to support this project:
The addition of bike lanes and a two-way-left-turn lane on La Crescenta Ave is the right solution for this street because:
Traffic volumes are low enough to accommodate a single motorist travel lane (per direction) with a two-way-left-turn lane. The south end of La Crescenta Ave becomes a single lane for southbound traffic where it merges with Verdugo Road, and there has never been an issue with southbound traffic using a single lane at this location.
The addition of a two-way-left-turn lane significantly increases safety for motorists.
Driving this street daily, one of the most concerning motorist behaviors I see is cars weaving between lanes to get around cars slowing or stopping to make a southbound left tun into one of the dozens of driveways on the east side of La Crescenta Avenue or the six cross streets that connect to La Crescenta Ave, south of Urquidez Ave (all currently without a left turn pocket).
In addition, as cars are slowing to make a southbound right turn onto Oakmont View Dr, or Shirleyjean St, southbound through traffic again weaves back into the leftmost through lane. This project provides for a southbound right turn pocket on La Crescenta Ave at Oakmont Dr, and La Crescenta Ave at
Shirleyjean St, eliminating the need for cars
to weave back and forth between lanes.
The addition of a traffic signal at Oakmont View Dr will not only enhance safety for cars leaving the Oakmont neighborhood, but it will also reduce delay, as cars often back up the hill trying to exit Oakmont Dr. In addition, this signal will provide a much-needed controlled pedestrian crossing point. I often walk up Oakmont Drive to the Oakmont View Park tennis courts or the Leviathan Teath trailhead. Since there is no sidewalk on the west side of La Crescenta Ave, currently the only way to access Oakmont Drive as a pedestrian cross is to cross four lanes of fast-moving traffic by waiting for a gap and running across the street at this intersection.
The addition of a bike lane not only provides a defined space for bicyclists, but it also pushes cars further away from the sidewalk. There are numerous spots on La Crescenta Ave where the sidewalk is so narrow that as a pedestrian, I am forced to walk in the street when passing another pedestrian walking in the opposite direction. (See image below.) A bike lane provides a buffer between the sidewalk and traffic in the lane closest to the sidewalk. Please note that there is no sidewalk on the west side of the street, so as a pedestrian, this is the only way to walk up or down La Crescenta Ave.
The addition of a bike lane also pushes cars further away from parked cars. Fremont Elementary School is at the corner of La Crescenta Ave and Paloma Ave (at the south end of this corridor). Parents routinely park on La Crescenta Ave to walk their children into school or for events at the school. The current two lanes of northbound traffic forces parents to open their door into a fast-moving vehicle travel lane. The addition of a bike lane provides that buffer space for a driver to exit their vehicle without being in a fast-moving vehicle travel lane
Lastly, the addition of a bike lane provides a designated space for bicyclists, a vulnerable road user on a high-speed roadway. I routinely see bicyclists riding north (uphill) on La Crescenta Ave, and they end up riding in the traffic lane closest to the sidewalk (the number 2 lane) next to parked cars. I see them every day of the week getting to or from work or school. Not just the advanced riders who ride on weekends, but the everyday rider who is pumping their legs to get up the hill. Providing a dedicated lane for bicyclists makes this route safer for everyone by reducing the weaving of traffic around a slower bicyclist and by providing a bicyclist with a designated lane separate from motorist traffic.
Thank you again for your continued support of this project.
Joaquin Siques
Urquidez Ave
Glendale CA, 91208