PURPOSE:

 

Staff requests that the City Council adopt the proposed resolution authorizing appropriation of $35,000 from Fund 127 Development Impact Fees for the purposes of constructing bicycle lanes and bicycle traffic signal detection on Verdugo Avenue between Front Street and Glenoaks Boulevard as part of a new traffic signal installation at Third Street that is already planned.

 

BACKGROUND:

 

The City of Burbank Bicycle Master Plan, adopted in 2003, was established to improve bicycle infrastructure throughout the city for the purposes of increasing commuting and utilitarian bicycle trips.  Since adoption, staff has sought opportunities to make Burbank�s streets more accommodating to bicycle travel through pursuit of state grants and other funding sources available to construct new bicycle facilities.  In addition, staff has looked for other opportunities to add new bicycle facilities in concert with other public works street projects.  In particular, bicycle amenities can sometimes be added to the street system in a cost-effective manner when other street projects require pavement resurfacing, restriping or traffic signal upgrades.  In these cases, providing for bicycle lanes can be done as part of a larger street improvement for a relatively small additional cost.  The Public Works Department is currently in final design to install a new traffic signal at the intersection of Third Street and Verdugo Avenue in Downtown Burbank.  This signal project will require lane restriping along Verdugo Avenue to accommodate new left turn lanes required for the traffic signal improvement.  Because the striping on Verdugo must be adjusted for this project, Public Works Traffic Division and Community Development Department Planning and Transportation Division staff felt that this was an opportunity to reconfigure the street to provide bicycle lanes while also improving the overall street geometry along Verdugo Avenue.

 

The intersection of Third Street and Verdugo Avenue currently operates as a four-way stop controlled intersection, and new left turn lanes must be installed along the Verdugo Avenue approaches as part of the conversion to signalized operation.  Verdugo Avenue is currently striped for two through lanes in each direction with no center turn lane, and provides on-street parking for much of the corridor.  To accommodate left-turn lanes, the Verdugo intersection lane markings must be flared to accommodate the turn lane while also maintaining the through lanes.  Because of the lack of street width along Verdugo, this requires parking to be removed for approximately 200 feet on each side of Third Street to flare the intersection.  Upon further review of the traffic conditions along Verdugo Avenue and the potential loss of parking near Third Street, staff studied the possibility of reconfiguring the street to provide for turning movements at the new signalized intersection while also maintaining parking and providing for bicycle lanes.  This revised configuration, sometimes called a �road diet�, would reduce the total number of travel lanes on Verdugo Avenue from four lanes to three by removing two travel lanes (one in each direction) and converting that width to a center turn lane throughout the corridor to serve left-turning traffic at Third Street and Verdugo Avenue as well as San Fernando Boulevard and Verdugo Avenue.  The balance of the available street width would be devoted to bicycle lanes which would be installed along the corridor and would extend from Front Street to Glenoaks Boulevard.

 

ANALYSIS:

 

This reconfiguration would provide a number of benefits to circulation on Verdugo Avenue.  First, this project would implement an identified bicycle route in the Bicycle Master Plan and would serve cyclists accessing the Metrolink Station from the Downtown or South San Fernando areas via Verdugo Avenue.  This project would connect with the bicycle lanes on Third Street and would further implement Downtown routes meant to increase bicycle circulation within the area.  As part of this project, the new traffic signal at Third Street and Verdugo Avenue would be configured with bicycle detection, and the existing signals at San Fernando Boulevard and Third Street, as well as First Street and Third Street, would be modified to include bicycle detection.  This improvement would provide a connection to the Metrolink Station along Verdugo and would coordinate with future plans to improve Front Street for safer bicycle access.

 

In addition to improving the city�s bicycle system, this modification also has circulation benefits for vehicles along Verdugo.  There is currently no left turn lane striped along Verdugo, and cars wishing to turn left onto San Fernando Boulevard, or to access driveways along the street, must wait in the number-one through lane to turn.  This causes some delay and disrupts flow on Verdugo for through traffic, which is sometimes delayed by these left-turning vehicles.  This improvement would provide for a continuous left-turn lane along the entire street, thereby removing turning vehicles from the through lanes.

 

Finally, this striping modification would also negate the need to remove parking along Verdugo near the new traffic signal at Third Street because the flaring of the travel lanes to accommodate a new turn lane would be unnecessary.  In addition, changes to the striping at First Street and Verdugo Avenue would allow for the removal of some existing red curb along Verdugo Avenue, thus freeing up some additional street parking near First Street.

 

Public Works Traffic Division staff conducted traffic counts along Verdugo Avenue at two locations to determine if traffic volumes supported a reduction in through lanes.  The counts showed that average daily traffic (ADT) amounted to 13,800 vehicles.  While the proposed �road diet� modifications reduce the number of through lanes from two lanes per direction to one lane per direction, the addition of a center turn lane to accommodate left-turning vehicles can in many cases improve vehicle flow and operations on streets with average daily traffic levels of between 15,000 and 18,000 cars per day or less.  This is because four-lane streets without center turn lanes lose effective capacity of the inside through lanes when cars must block traffic to make left turns.  Because both existing and future traffic conditions on Verdugo Avenue are below this range, staff feels that the proposed lane configuration changes will not impede flows on Verdugo Avenue in the corridor.  In addition to conducting a volume analysis, staff analyzed intersection Level of Service at the First Street and Verdugo Avenue intersection, which is a significant intersection that serves the Golden State Freeway.  Using baseline counts taken for the AMC Phase II traffic study and altering the lane configuration to represent the proposed street configuration, staff concluded that intersection Level of Service would remain the same.

 

If Council desires to implement this roadway reconfiguration, staff proposes to utilize Fund 127 Development Impact Fee funds to pay for the additional bicycle improvements and striping.  Bicycle system improvements are an identified need in Burbank�s long range Infrastructure Blueprint for transportation improvements, as these improvements add additional roadway capacity for alternative transportation modes as one of the methods used to meet the demands of new development.

 

FISCAL IMPACT:

 

The planned traffic signal project at Third Street and Verdugo Avenue, including necessary striping changes on Verdugo to accommodate the required turn lanes, has already been funded through a prior General Fund appropriation for transportation improvements to project 370.PW22A.70002.0000.15959.  If Council were to approve this street reconfiguration, an additional $35,000 would be required to perform the additional bicycle lane striping beyond the striping required for the traffic signal.  These funds would also be used to install bicycle detection at the three traffic signals along the corridor.  This project would therefore require a budget amendment in the amount of $35,000 to be transferred from Transportation Impact Fee Account   127.ND000.30004.0000.000000 to the Third and Verdugo Traffic Signal project account 127.CD33A.70002.0000.15959.

 

CONCLUSION:

 

Staff believes the proposed bicycle and striping improvements represent a cost-effective way to increase bicycle infrastructure in Downtown Burbank by taking advantage of changes to the roadway already needed by another transportation project.  The proposed street modifications would extend the City�s system of bicycle routes and would upgrade traffic signals along the Verdugo Avenue corridor to better accommodate bicycles while also improving traffic flows and left turn movements. The project would also prevent the need to remove on-street parking on Verdugo Avenue and would even recover a small amount of street parking currently needed for travel lanes.  Because of the volumes on Verdugo Avenue, Public Works Traffic Division staff believes that this �road diet� reconfiguration will not affect capacity on the street and will actually improve operations due to the additional left turn lane.  Because the project makes a number of improvements to Verdugo Avenue at this location for a relatively small additional cost, staff believes this project makes good use of transportation impact fee funds.

 

RECOMMENDATION:

 

Staff recommends that Council adopt the proposed resolution authorizing staff to appropriate $35,000 in Development Impact Fee funds for the purposes of installing bicycle lanes, bicycle detection, and reconfiguring Verdugo Avenue between Front Street and Glenoaks Boulevard, and amending the Fiscal Year 2006/2007 Budget.