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Home My WebLink AboutAGENDA REPORT 1997 0416 CC REG ITEM 09C7/a. ioo(5a) ITEM . C . CITY OF MOORPARK, CALIFORNIA City Coun it Meeting of 2 1992 AGENDA REPORT C = TY OF MOORPAF TO: The Honorable City Council BY: ��1 -E--- � a-"C FROM: Kenneth C. Gilbert, Director of Public Works K G c7 DATE: April 7, 1997 (Council Meeting 4- 16 -97) SUBJECT: Consider Approval of Comments on the Draft Negative Declaration Prepared by the County of Ventura for a County Project to Realign and Reconstruct Moorpark Road South of Tierra Rejada Road. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A copy of the subject document has been distributed to the City Council under separate cover. The County of Ventura has requested that any City comments on this document be forwarded to them on or prior to April 28, 1997. This report discussed the subject document and recommends that certain comments be forwarded to County. DISCUSSION A. Background One of the Regional Federal STP (Surface Transportation Program) projects funded by the Ventura County Transportation Commission (VCTC) in 1993, was the subject project proposed by the County of Ventura. This project calls for the realignment and reconstruction of Moorpark Road between Tierra Rejada Road and Santa Rosa Road. The primary objective of the project is to address certain safety concerns attendant to the present design, location and condition of this roadway. Since project funding, the County has proceeded with efforts necessary to develop a preliminary design and to complete the required environmental analysis. In November 1996, the Traffic Study prepared Also considered as a p that Kaku report preps direction of the City. regarding the scope or City Council received and filed the for this project by Kaku Associates. art of that action was an analysis of red by Austin -Foust Associates at the No action was taken by the City Council merits of the proposed project. spkrd5.neg '00Q23 Ll Moorpark Road Realignment April 16, 1997 Page 2 B. Project Conceptual Design The conceptual design for the project developed by the County of Ventura identified a number of alternative alignments. All of these alternative alignments would have the realigned and reconstructed road intersect Tierra Rejada Road at one of three possible locations depicted on the diagram attached as Exhibit 1 and listed as follows: 1) the present location of the intersection; 2) Spring Road; or 3) Science Drive (future street). If either alternate #2 or #3 is selected, the existing [Old] Moorpark Road would serve local traffic only [this concept is discussed in more detail in Section E]. C. Environmental Review 1. Scope of Analysis: The scope of the environmental analysis focuses on Alternate #2: the relocation of Moorpark Road to intersect Tierra Rejada Road at Spring Road [Please see map attached as Exhibit 2]. Discussed as an option is Alternate #3: the relocation of the roadway to intersect at the future Science Drive. There is no discussion of Alternate #1: leaving the intersection at its present location. It is assumed that environmental impacts associated with this option were not significant enough to warrant the level of analysis required by a Negative Declaration. 2. Traffic Study: As stated above, a Traffic Study was prepared for this project as part of the environmental analysis. That report was previously received and filed by the City Council. Related to that document was a review prepared by Austin -Foust Associates at the direction of the City. Again, no action was taken by the City Council regarding the scope, findings or conclusions set forth in that study. A second copy of that document has been re- distributed to the City Council for reference. 3. Negative Declaration: The subject Negative Declaration was prepared for the County of Ventura by Fugro -West, Inc. The remainder of this report discusses and comments upon that report, and the related Traffic Study. npkrd5.neg 'a Moorpark Road Realignment April 16, 1997 Page 3 D. Significant Impacts 1 Comments Listed below are the significant impacts and proposed mitigation measures identified in the subject document, along with recommended comments /responses from the City: Summary of Selected Impacts / Mitigations Comments Air Quality: The project will not cause any None negative long -term air quality impacts [Pg. 42]. Noise: The project will increase noise levels along Spring Road north of Tierra Rejada Road adjacent to an existing residential area by approximately 13 dBA. However, the resultant noise levels will remain below the 60 dBA maximum allowed at or near a residential area [Pg. 43]. Traffic: Old Moorpark Road: Post-project this road is expected to serve local traffic only. The traffic signal would be removed [p. 53]. Spring Road [Westbound Approadl: Proposed lane configuration: one LEFT 400' long turn lane; two THRU lanes; one exclusive RIGHT lane. As an option a DOUBLE LEFT turn lane in place of one of the THRU lanes [p. 531. None All of the traffic projections assume this road will not be used as an alternate "shortcut" route. In order to assure that the assumed traffic patterns actually occur, it is recommended that the County's project include the construction of a raised center median (east -west) through this intersection to prevent all left turn movements. It should be noted that the additional landscaping afforded by these improvements will off -set the loss of median landscaping resulting for the placement of (one or two) left -turn lane(s) for westbound traffic at Spring Road (or at Science Drive). It appears that a DOUBLE -LEFT turn lane is the preferred option deemed necessary to adequately handle expected peak traffic volume. It is recommended, therefore, that the project design call for the widening of Tierra Rejada Road (realignment to the south) in order to provide two LEFT turn lanes, two THRU lanes and an exclusive RIGHT turn lane. Spring Road [Eastbound Approachl: Proposed Revise the document to explain why separate THRU and lane configuration: one LEFT lane; one THRU RIGHT lanes are not required. lane; one shared THRU /RIGHT lane [p. 53]. mpkrd5.neg ooOO2S Moorpark Road Realignment April 16, 1997 Page 4 Spring Road Southbound A roac : Proposed Revise the document to explain why separate THRU and lane configuration: one LEFT turn lane and a RIGHT lanes are not required. shared THRU /RIGHT lane [p. 531. Spring Road [Northbound Approachl: Proposed None. lane configuration: one LEFT lane and a shared THRU /RIGHT lane [P.53]. Growth Inducement : The project poses no growth inducement aspects [p. 49]. E. Road Alignment The conceptual design for the project tentatively included plans to acquire access rights from the farm lands south of Tierra Rejada Road, as a part of the right -of -way acquisition efforts, in order to assure that the project would not be growth inducing. It is recommended that the environmental document be revised to recommend such acquisition or that an explanation be provided explaining why the acquisition of access rights is not required. 1. County's Preferred Alignment: The alignment preferred by the County moves Moorpark Road to align with Spring Road. An alternative alignment discussed in the subject document moves the roadway to align with the future Science Drive. 2. Environmental Impacts: The County's environmental documents do not make any findings or conclusions which indicate that there are any significant environmental impacts related to either of the two alignments discussed. 3. Analysis: The following is a list of some of the perceived benefits of each of these two alignments: SPRING ROAD a. More direct circulation pattern for north —south traffic; b. Requires the take of less property now in Agricultural production. c. Possibly less expensive traffic signal costs. apkrd5.nag 0000216 Moorpark Road Realignment April 16, 1997 Page 5 SCIENCE DRIVE a. Less likely to direct traffic into Moorpark. b. Possibly easier to re -align Tierra Rejada Road at this location to accommodate double left turn lanes for west -to -south traffic. 4. Conclusions: Spring Road extends farther north than does Science Drive. Also, Spring Road has the potential of being extended even farther to the north at some point in the future. This corridor has the potential of providing a more direct route for a larger number of trip destinations than does Science Drive. It provides for a slightly more efficient and more "air quality" friendly transportation system. For these reason this option is slightly preferred by staff over the Science Drive option. Although selection of the Science Drive option (or leaving the intersection at its present location) would not prevent trips to the same destinations in and north of Moorpark, it may serve to do less to facilitate or encourage those trips than the Spring Road option. If this is of great concern, the Spring Road option should be avoided. In the view of staff those concerns are not significant enough to outweigh efforts to provide for the most efficient traffic circulation systems possible. RECOMMENDATIONS Staff recommends that the City Council take the following actions: 1. Direct staff to prepare a letter to the County of Ventura providing comments on the subject document as summarized in Section D of this report. 2. Direct staff to include in said letter, a statement that the City supports the County's preferred alignment: realignment of Moorpark Road to align with Spring Road. mpkrd5.neg �oaa2� LOS i L� • KAKU ASSOC IATES J FIGURE 1 ALTERNATIVE PROJECT ALIGNMENTS 000028 3 Orl LA February 1997 Project No. 95 -61 -3621 CITY OF x r P THOUSAND OAKS r N V 0 soo 1000 FEET 1 EGENn — — Proposed Roadway Alignment Alternative Alignment City Limits Property Line FUTURE SCIENCE �ssQ DRIVE PROPOSED ROADWAY ALIGNMENT Moorpark Road Realignment Project Initial Study FIGURE 2 N