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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAGENDA REPORT 2001 0606 CC REG ITEM 10CITEM. /0 - C . City Council �deetb'� of 0 siaCaF to 02. L. k�CTI : '! ��.�Fbr• Pea tl� �a-+ne . Pmk.b• i r%Ae-- t�clur►r•Jv ea.. �t.►I Grp urru� CITY OF MOORPARK4 -En, rtes I&ne- L�iflsu,re .�„ a k AGENDA REPORT BY: --��:- TO: The Honorable City Council FROM: Kenneth C. Gilbert, Director of Public Works DATE: May 25, 2001 . (Council Meeting 6 -6 -01) SUBJECT: Caltrans Route 23 Freeway Widening Project nTgrTTPPTnTT A. Background On May 16, 2001, the City Council considered a report pertaining to a proposed project by Caltrans to construct an addition third lane in each direction on the Route 23 freeway between Route 101 and New Los Angeles Avenue. At that meeting the City Council asked that this matter be reconsidered at a future City Council meeting for the purpose of discussing the contents of a letter to be sent to Caltrans providing input on the proposed design and the anticipated traffic impacts of the construction phase of the project. A summary of information pertaining to the scope of the Caltrans project and the Caltrans design process is as follows: 1. Project Scope: The project, as currently defined, calls for the addition of one lane in each direction, to be placed in the center of the existing freeway between the northbound and the southbound lanes. These additional lanes will require the widening of the bridges at all or most of the cross streets and interchanges. Other improvements required to make the project compatible with existing standards and traffic demands, includes the construction of sound walls and the installation of traffic signals at some of the on /off ramps. FWy23_010523 Route 23 Freeway May 25, 2001 Page 2 2. Project Status: The environmental document for the project has been completed. The scope of the project assessed in that document provided for the addition of only one lane in each direction. A change in the scope of the project to add a fourth lane in each direction would require the crafting of a new environmental document. That effort would cause the project schedule to slip. In addition, if a fourth lane in each direction was determined to be growth inducing, the complexity, cost and approval requirements for the environmental document would also increase. A value analysis was recently completed to determine the most cost effect scope of work for the project. That analysis concluded that only one lane in each direction was necessary. The project, as currently scoped, is totally funded in the amount of $39 million. Any change to the scope of the project which would increase costs, could cause delays until additional funding could be obtained. Design efforts are approximately twenty percent (20 %) complete and are ongoing. Current efforts include working with a number of property owners in the City of Thousand Oaks regarding the construction of sound walls. There is some discussion of possibly building the bridge abutments wider so that it would be easier and less expensive to add bridge deck width at a future date to accommodate four lanes in each direction. This option may or may not be physically possible. Also, the existing bridge structures are approximately thirty (30) years old, and it may not be a wise decision to plan for the future widening of a bridge which will be at or near its projected fifty year (50) life -span. The current schedule calls for construction to start in the third quarter of 2003. 3. Project Development Team (PDT): Caltrans hosts monthly Project Development Team (PDT) meetings to discuss the design progress. Both Caltrans staff and other interested parties are invited to attend these meetings. On Tuesday, May 1, Councilmember Millhouse and I attended a PDT meeting at the Thousand Oaks City Hall. The meeting was linked to the Caltrans office in Los Angeles via video conference. Many of the points set forth in this report were discussed at that meeting. FWy23_010506 J Route 23 Freeway May 25, 2001 Page 3 4. Route 118 Freeway widening of the Grade to Collins looking into the connector bridges Angeles Avenue to Widening: There are plans for the future Route 118 freeway from the Santa Susana Drive. The designers of that project are feasibility of re- striping the freeway between Princeton Avenue and New Los accept three lanes in each direction. 5. Route 101 Deficiencies: Staff has been advised by Caltrans that the addition of a fourth lane in each direction on the Route 23 freeway, especially for southbound, would do little to improve traffic congestion, due to the inadequate number of lanes on the Route 101 freeway east and west of the 23/101 interchange. B. Project Comments As discussed at the May 16 City Council meeting, it is the intent of staff to send a letter to Caltrans commenting on the project. The points raised in that letter will include: • consideration should be give to prohibiting trucks during peak traffic hours to ease congestion during the construction phase of the project; • consideration should be given to restricting any construction activities which would require a lane closure to non -peak traffic hours. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Provide staff with any additional information to be included in the project comment letter to Caltrans, and direct the City Manager to prepare and transmit said letter. 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