Date: February 26, 2024
To: Public Works and Sustainability Commission
From: Department of Public Works
Subject: DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON A PILOT MEASURE FOR
PULLMAN LANE TO BE ONE-WAY WESTBOUND BETWEEN RIPLEY
AVENUE AND MACKAY LANE
SUMMARY:
A number of residents near the Ripley Avenue & Pullman Lane intersection contacted City staff in January 2024 with visibility concerns at the Ripley Avenue & Pullman Lane intersection. This unconventional all-way stop-controlled intersection between Ripley Avenue, Pullman Lane, and High Lane is geometrically skewed and has significant visibility challenges due to intersection angles and the distance between the stop-controlled approaches. Residents initially asked for red curbs to be installed on the north side of Ripley within the intersection area to provide adequate sight lines to Pullman Lane. However, residents appeared to be willing to try alternative measures that could improve safety and maintain most of the on-street parking. Therefore, staff is presenting a few options to address the visibility issues at this intersection, one of which includes a trial prohibition of eastbound travel on Pullman Lane between Ripley Avenue and Mackay Lane, thus converting this segment of Pullman Ln to one-way westbound travel only.
Staff is seeking input on this matter from the public and Public Works and Sustainability Commission (PWSC) prior to consideration of approval by City Council.
BACKGROUND:
Pullman Lane is a 28-foot wide local residential street that runs east-west, typical of other residential streets in the area. West of Mackay Lane, Pullman Lane is one-way eastbound with parking provided on both sides. The remaining 150-foot-long block between Mackay Lane and its terminus at the Ripley/Pullman/High intersection allows two-way travel, albeit with parking still provided on both sides of the street. Therefore, only a single 12-foot travel lane is provided for both directions of traffic, inadequate to provide two-way travel simultaneously with vehicles parked on both sides of Pullman Lane. Ripley, Pullman, and Mackay form a triangular-shaped park space on the south side of Pullman. Residential development is present on the north side of Pullman along this 150-foot block. Attachment 1 shows an overview of the subject area.
DISCUSSION
Administrative Report
The City of Redondo Beach recently received requests to address intersection safety concerns at Ripley/Pullman/High. The initial requests were to add red curb so that drivers on Ripley Avenue and High Lane would be able to see drivers from Pullman Lane and negotiate the right-of-way at the all-way stop. Engineering staff visited the location and noted that visibility of the Pullman Lane approach was severely limited from other approaches. Staff proposes the following alternatives that could address safety and operational concerns in this area.
Pilot One-Way Westbound Operations on Pullman Lane (Ripley to Mackay) Attachment 2 shows the proposed one-way westbound circulation of Pullman Lane within the 150-foot block. This pilot configuration would allow drivers from Ripley or High to continue accessing Pullman Lane. A left or right-turn onto Mackay Lane would continue to be required since Pullman Lane is one-way eastbound west of Mackay. This pilot would not affect existing operations on Pullman west of Mackay. Drivers on eastbound Pullman west of Mackay would be required to turn left or right at Mackay to access Ripley. Staff proposes this pilot to last for at least 90 days and would involve the installation of temporary barricades along the south side parking lane of Pullman Lane between Mackay Lane and Ripley Avenue. During this pilot, some or all of parking on the south side of Pullman along the park triangle may be temporarily removed to accommodate the barricades. Appropriate temporary signage would be installed to communicate trial operations. Some street parking may be preserved depending on installation particulars. Towards the end of the trial, staff would solicit neighborhood feedback before a recommendation is brought to City Council.
If permanently approved, this measure would allow parking on Pullman along the triangle to be maintained, as well as allow for more parking to be maintained along Ripley Avenue.
However, traffic along eastbound Pullman would be required to turn at Mackay to access Ripley and other streets.
This arrangement would remove eastbound Pullman Lane from the all-way stop at Ripley/High, which removes the sight distance issue and allows roadway users on those two streets to focus on the intersection approaches closest to the core intersection. This converts the intersection of Ripley/High to a simpler and smaller T-intersection. Anecdotal observations have shown that drivers on Ripley and High are already unaware that eastbound Pullman is also an equal party to the all-way stop-controlled intersection.
Visibility between drivers at conflicting approaches is critical to promoting safer operations at an all-way stop-controlled intersection. In addition, the removal of the eastbound approach on Pullman would remove the substandard two-way lane on the short block.
Access to the three properties along the subject block would be minimally affected due to the presence of a grid network of streets in this area.
Engineering staff visited each residence along the affected block of Pullman Lane to propose the idea and gather feedback. A contact letter was left at the residences that did not respond. General feedback was supportive of a trial and in agreement that severe visibility constraints were present. However, the City received a letter from the resident at 2401 Pullman, which is located at the corner of Pullman/Mackay. The letter expressed opposition and a concern that one-way operations would encourage speeding. The letter did acknowledge the visibility concerns as well. Staff responded to their questions.
Other Feasible Measures
Attachment 3 shows other feasible measures to improve safety and operations at this intersection. This includes the relocation of the westbound Ripley stop sign towards the apex of the intersection with Pullman Lane. This would remove High Lane from the intersection. Drivers on High Lane would treat Ripley Avenue as a T-intersection where traffic on Ripley would not be required to stop, which could cause some issues if queues are long on westbound Ripley. Red curb would be added at intersection approaches in accordance with AB 413 to maintain all-way stop sightlines.
Alternatively, staff can leave existing intersection control locations as-is and paint red curb as-necessary to improve sight distance. Staff would like to note that removing street parking does not completely solve the underlying issue of the stop-controlled approaches being located far from each other.
COORDINATION:
Coordination of this report took place within the Public Works Department. Noticing for this item was sent to all residences within 150 feet of the intersections of Pullman/Mackay, Pullman/Ripley, and Ripley/Mackay. Staff also personally visited residents along the affected block of Pullman Lane, received feedback, and provided a contact letter.
Prepared by:
Ryan Liu, Transportation Engineer
Submitted by:
Ted Semaan, Public Works Director
ATTACHMENTS:
1 – Study Area Overview
2 – Proposed Pilot of One-Way Westbound Operations
3 – Alternative Measures