City Council
MEETING DATE: 7/13/2016
TITLE:
Title
Presentation on the Public Review Meeting held for the Vista Chino East and West Roadway Improvements to include medians held on June 14, 2016.
End
FROM:
John A. Corella, P.E. - City Engineer
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Informational presentation for City Council.
Body
BACKGROUND:
Vista Chino is the significant east-west arterial roadway in the north portion of the City of Cathedral City (City) serving, and not limited to, the Desert Princess, Panorama, Rio Vista and Pasada communities' areas. The Vista Chino's roadway has been identified as needing reconstruction and was approved for this reconstruction within the City's 2015 - 2016 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Budget, specifically under items Vista Chino East and Vista Chino West. Each CIP segment represents one (1) mile of roadway for a total combined reconstruction Project of two (2) miles.
In the preliminary review of the roadway reconstruction project it was contemplated that due to the speed limits, direct on street access from residential housing and turning movement safety that a median be installed. Engineering Staff hired a Traffic Engineer William Beardsley of RBI Traffic, Inc. to review the median concept and provide recommendations. Mr. Beardsley confirmed that minimizing median opening would improve traffic safety and provided an initial median design concept for Vista Chino.
The median design concept was presented to the Streets and Transportation Subcommittee of the Planning Commission and the Planning Commission for a recommendation "that the City Council approve the design concept for Vista Chino Street Improvements that includes median curbs from the West City Limit to Date Palm Drive." Both the Streets and Transportation Subcommittee and the Planning Commission approved the recommendation.
At the above meetings there were constituents at the Planning Commission meeting that requested that a public meeting be held regarding the Project and that a wider area of mailing of notifications be sent out for said meeting. The meeting was scheduled and held on June 14, 2016 in the City's Council Chambers, with a notice of the meeting published in the Desert Sun and over 4,230 individual notices (English and Spanish) mailed to residents and property owners in the area of the proposed Project. The notice covered all the properties along Vista Chino, north and south of the roadway (including Desert Princess) one half to 1 miles minimum.
DISCUSSION:
At the Public Review Meeting we had 16 constituents in attendance. Staff had display boards that showed the proposed project in its full length, median design concept and the proposed median landscaping design concept. The attendees walked around and reviewed the boards and sat down for the presentation on the overall project and median concept.
A presentation on the Project, median design concept, landscaping design concept and funding sources, was given, then questions about the Project were answered. Attendees were asked to fill out question and comment cards about their specific concerns regarding the Project, especially the median design. The comments and concerns from the attendees of the meeting and emails received were compiled by City Staff and sent to a second Traffic Engineer, Dilesh Sheth of Albert Webb and Associates, Inc. to review. The compilation of the comments submitted by the attendees is attached to this Staff Report for your review.
At the request of the attendees at the Public Review Meeting, the presentation from that meeting was placed on the City's Engineering website.
The City Engineer will provide a presentation on the above event and the response from the second Traffic Engineer's review of the resulting comments and questions.
FISCAL IMPACT:
No impact as this is informational only.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Public Review Meeting Notice - English and Spanish
2. Vista Chino East and West Improvements Summary of Comments/Questions.