March 1, 2024 Statement to Piedmont City Council
Ralph Catalano
Today's staff report implies that you can consider the Moraga Canyon Sports Field EIR (State Clearinghouse Number 2009112054) when formulating the Moraga Canyon Specific Plan. That EIR found that new entrances and exits to Blair Park would create a significant and unavoidable safety hazard for motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists on Moraga Avenue.
How did LSA consultants, the authors of the EIR, come to such a conclusion? Caltrans has adopted US DOT equations that use road alignment, slope, and sight distances to calculate maximum speeds for safe stopping at intersections. As described on pages 253 to 255 of the EIR, LSA engineers assumed two entrances/exists to Blair Park positioned at Caltrans recommended distances from each other and from Red Rock and Maxwelton. They measured the shortest sight line to these intersections at 385 feet. Using the Caltrans equations, they estimated the maximum safe speed to be 35 MPH. 15% of trips on Moraga exceeded that speed.
Today, your consultants tell you that they have found locations for entrances to Blair Park that provide a longer minimum sight line than assumed by LSA. With this longer sight line, they calculate the fastest safe speed at 40 MPH. They then claim, without documentation, that no one on Moraga travels at speeds greater than 40 MPH.
I am surprised to learn that your consultants have found two entrance/exits with a minimum sight line that, when added to the DOT/Caltrans equations, produces a 40 MPH safe speed. But let's stipulate, for the sake of the conversation, that this is true. The simple fact remains, however, that the distribution of speeds observed on Moraga shows that at least 10% of trips exceed 40 MPH. This distribution was found before the preparation of the LSA EIR and was found again in subsequent studies including that for the City of Piedmont Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Plan (I have attached that distribution and accompanying crash analysis).
So, how big is the problem? Assuming conservative trip generation of 4 per household, 132 families in Blair Park would generate more than 500 entrances from and exits to Moraga Avenue per day. How many of these will be at a time when they encounter a vehicle traveling faster than 40 MPH? Moraga Avenue will, according to the Housing Element EIR, carry about 15,000 trips a day. About 10%, or 1,500, of these will exceed 40 MPH. That implies more than 1 per minute. So, virtually every one of the 500 entrances or exits from Blair Park will likely encounter a safety hazard as defined by Caltrans. And this circumstance assumes your consultants' yet to be verified locations for entrances/exits.
The risk will be even greater should the LSA locations prove correct. And remember, it remains city policy that projects will not be approved in Piedmont unless they provide safe sightlines. Indeed, the Housing Element EIR you have adopted states you will enforce that policy.
Moraga Avenue S-Curve Improvements Project #: 18507
Лоткату 3, 2015 Page 5
SPOT-SPEED ANALYSIS
The KAl team obtained speed data through a data collection vendor. The speed data were collected on the off-peak (i.e., free-flow) hours of Monday, December 22, 2014 using a calibrated radar gun mounted on an inconspicuous vehicle as to not affect drivers' behavior. The data includes one hundred vehicles in each direction of travel on Moraga Avenue. Appendix B contains the speed data for individual vehicles.
In the vicinity of the study intersection, the observations indicate that 84 percent of the surveyed motorists travelled in the range of 25 to 34 mph. Table 1 and Figure summarize the speed data.
Table 1: Speed Data Summary
Speed Study Metrics Moraga Avenue, at Ramona Avenue
Speed Limit 25 mph
Mediam (50th Percentile) Speed 30 mph
85th Percentile Speed 34 mph
10 mph Pace, (% of daily traffic in pace) 25-34 mph, (83.9%) Figure 4: Speed Data Histogram
- Eastbound Westbound
28)
168:
164k
Vehicle Posted Speed Limit
8:
10 15 20 25 30 35 45 50
Speed (mph)
Oakland, California
Moraga Avenue S-Curve improvements Project i: 18507
January 9, 2015 Page 6
HISTORICAL CRASH ANALYSIS
KAI reviewed crash data for the intersection and adjacent roadway segments within 200 feet of the intersection). KAI used data from the California Highway Patrol Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS) for the crash data review. The crash data covered the period from 2009 through November 2013.
Table 2 summarizes the crashes recorded at each study intersection during the January 1, 2009- November 30, 2013 study period.
The KAI team also received information of recent unreported crashes and spin-outs on Moraga Avenue, just east of the study intersection. The information was supplied by Coastland Civil Engineering on behalf of City of Piedmont staff and residents. It appears that the unreported crashes and community-observed spin-outs are due to vehicles losing control at the S-curve. Incidents of lost control that do not result in an injury or property damage are likely not captured in the crash data.
Table 2. Historical Crash Data Summary January 1, 2009- November 30, 2013 Year Kingston Avenue/Linda Avenue/Rose Avenue Intersection 2009 No collisions recorded.
• On August 14, 2010, a Property Damage Only (PDO) crash occurred approximately 150 feet east of the study intersection. A vehicle struck a fixed obiect. Crash data indicates the 2010 weather was clear and pavement dry. The crash occurred during day time. 2011 No collisions recorded.
• On May 30, 2012, a PDO crash occurred between two vehicles. One vehicle was reported as traveling at unsafe speeds. The crash occurred immediately east of the intersection. Crash data indicates clear weather, dry pavement, and daylight at the time of the crash. 2012 • On December 9, 2012, a PDO crash occurred approximately 200 feet east of the stud ntersection. A motorist turned and sideswiped a parked car under clear weather and dr pavement. The crash occurred during day time.
• On July 3, 2013, a PDO crash occurred between a vehicle backing out of a parked positior and another parked vehicle. The crash occurred under clear weather, dry pavement, and daylight.
• On October 5, 2013, a PDO crash occurred at the study intersection. A vehicle struck a fixed • Obet ther 2, 023, red at ray me antedith the stave tersection between a turning 2013
vehicle and a vehicle traveling on Moraga Avenue. The crash occurred under clear weather, dry pavement, and daylight.
• On October 27, 2013, a nighttime DUl-related crash occurred at the study intersection. A rehicle hit a fixed object under foggy weather and dry pavement. The crash was a PDC crash.
Source: California Highway Patrol Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS)