Council Approves Local Roadway Safety Program

BY C. JAYDEN SMITH

The City Council approved on June 6 a Local Roadway Safety Program, which city staff says will help the City of San Clemente’s candidacy for future grants.

The document was developed by Kimley-Horn and Associates, the city’s consultant on traffic-related matters, starting in April 2021, and was recommended for approval by the Planning Commission at its meeting on May 17.

“A Local Roadway Safety Plan (LRSP) provides a framework to identify, analyze, and prioritize roadway safety improvements on local roads,” the city said in its agenda report. “Its content focuses on local issues and needs resulting in a prioritized list of concerns, risks, actions, and improvements to reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries on local roads.”

Assistant City Engineer Zak Ponsen described the LRSP as a tool, while reiterating that the council wouldn’t set any projects in motion by adopting the resolution marking the plan’s endorsement.

“In this program, you will see … several sites the study did look at,” he said to the council. “You’re not approving those projects, you’re not funding those, and we’re not acknowledging that they’re safety hazards. They’re simply examples of how the tool can be used.”

The staff report listed the goals contained in the vision of the LRSP, which include determining areas with high risks for crashes, demonstrating the value of a comprehensive safety strategy, planning future improvements, and defining projects so the city could receive funds from California Department of Transportation’s Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) and other programs.

After analyzing data from the number of crashes at intersections and within segments of streets throughout the city, Kimley-Horn determined eight specific sites that could be improved traffic-wise. The firm’s analysis found three emphasis areas: impaired driving, vulnerable road users, and aggressive driving.

The sites for improvement include, in order of priority, the segments of Calle del Cerro heading west from Avenida Pico to Avenida Vista Montana; Pico from the Interstate 5 freeway to San Clemente High School; Avenida Del Mar from El Camino Real (ECR) to Ola Vista; and ECR from Escalones to Avenida Barcelona.

Also listed were the intersections of the I-5 and Pico, ECR and Calle Valle, Avenida Palizada and ECR, and ECR and Esplanade.

Kimley-Horn determined methods for improvement, or countermeasures, that either involved the city or required it to partner with external entities.

The list of the former, referred to as engineering opportunities, included countermeasures that concerned intersections and roadways, and added information about how much each action would cost for each “unit,” be it a site location, sign, mile, or structure.

Restricting a right turn on a red light would cost $10,000 per location; upgrading intersection pavement markings would cost $50,000 per mile; and installing chevron signs on horizontal curves would cost $1,500 for each sign.

For non-engineering countermeasures that required partnerships with entities such as law enforcement, California Highway Patrol or the Orange County Transportation Authority, the improvements were further segmented.

The city could use strategies to enforce, provide education, involve emergency services or utilize emerging technologies.

Regarding the collision statistics itself, Kimley-Horn used data from the five-year period between January 2015 to December 2019.

The most common collisions were because of sideswipes (23%) and rearend incidents (21%), and the number of incidents in which a broadside (T-bone) crash occurred or a driver hit an object was also significant. The firm’s report did note a declining trend in crashes.

There were seven fatal collisions and 56 severe injury collisions over the five-year period, comprising 4.7% of all crashes.

Among a lengthy list of reasons for crashes, improper turning accounted for 25% and driving under the influence was responsible for 16%. Tied at 15% were vehicles driving at unsafe speeds and vehicles violating another driver’s right-of-way.

The LRSP listed six potential funding sources: Caltrans’ HSIP, Caltrans’ Active Transportation Program, the State Transportation Improvement Program, California Senate Bill 1, the state’s Office of Traffic Safety, and the Southern California Association of Governments’ Sustainable Communities Program.

In addition to improving the city’s infrastructure through the engineering and non-engineering countermeasures, the city could also follow recommendations for non-infrastructure improvements.

Most recommendations include continuing or enhancing initiatives that already exist, such as assessing traffic impact fees or engaging with local schools. Kimley-Horn also recommended the city create its own collision database and update it regularly while working with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

To evaluate the progress of what the city decides to implement, the LRSP suggested conducting quarterly updates and updating the plan every five years, in addition to continued monitoring.

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