Cooperative Safety Effort Agreed Upon by Two Councils

After much discussion and potential nail-biting, a cooperative agreement was made between the City of Grand Terrace and the City of Colton for the La Cadena Drive / Litton Avenue traffic signal project. This intersection has been the topic of discussion between the two cities for years, as residents from both communities have been up in arms about the safety concerns surrounding this intersection. Also, the rate of traffic speed approaching this intersection has been exceeding the posted speed limit of 50 mph. for many years. The City of Colton conducted a traffic engineering study at the intersection and determined that in order to create a safe intersection, a traffic signal would be warranted, which was basically based on the sight distance deficiency and peak hour traffic volume. The engineering firm, Transportation Engineering and Planning, Inc. (TEP) found these key elements were happening at this particular intersection: a) A sight distance deficiency is present for the eastbound approach on Litton Avenue with respect to southbound traffic on La Cadena Drive. With current speed of 50 mph on La Cadena, visibility should be unobstructed for a distance of at least 430 feet. However, due to a retaining wall on the northwest corner of the intersection, the unobstructed sight distance is reduced to 262 feet. b) Caltrans warrants for additional stop signs on La Cadena Drive are not met. If stop signs were installed on the major street, 23 vehicles would be required to stop for every vehicle stopped on Litton Avenue. Stop signs on La Cadena are not recommended. c) An updated speed zone study should be completed to determine if the speed limit on La Cadena can be reduced to mitigate the sight distance deficiency. TEP had performed a traffic survey on La Cadena Drive from the Railroad Overpass to South City Limits from Jan. 1, 2010 to Dec. 31, 2011 and the number of property damage incidents was 13, injuries from accidents were 16, and the number of collisions was at a total of 29. Upon reviewing the findings of TEP, the City Council of Colton voted in concert to move forward on installing a traffic signal at this intersection, and at the same time requested that the City of Grand Terrace approve its installation and take responsibility of the routine signal maintenance costs for a period of 30 years. The reason the City of Colton made this request is because the intersection is currently shared equally by both cities. Colton has agreed to be the lead agency for the environmental, design / engineering and construction of the project. The estimated cost of the project (design and construction) is $122,163. The fiscal impact to Grand Terrace for maintaining the signal for the first 30 years is estimated by staff at $1,400 per year, after which both cities will maintain the signal starting the 31st year. This cost will not be instituted until the 2016-17 fiscal year, when the citywide traffic signal maintenance contract will be amended to add the additional maintenance cost. Gas Tax Funds will be used to offset this cost, and it will be budgeted in FY 2016-17 after the completion of the one-year maintenance warranty. A couple of concerns made by both Mayor Pro tem Sylvia Robles and Councilman Doug Wilson centred around; “making a decision in a bottle” and “extra expenditures being added to the budget,” both were talked about by the council; but the continuous positive relationship with the City of Colton seemed to be of more importance. The Grand Terrace Council approved the implementation of the cooperative agreement with a vote of 5-0.