City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council award a professional services agreement to
Katz, Okitsu, and Associates (KOA), for Traffic Engineering services for the Sunkist
Park Neighborhood Traffic Management Plan (NTMP).
BACKGROUND:
Vehicular traffic within the Sunkist Park residential neighborhood has been a topic of
concern by its residents for the past two decades. In that period, weekday traffic
volumes on Sepulveda Boulevard have increased from 37,000 average daily traffic
(ADT) in June 1987 to about 54,000 vehicles in 1998. Citywide traffic counts taken
in April 2004 show that the Sepulveda Boulevard ADT has not changed since 1998.
The increased traffic on Sepulveda Boulevard and adjacent Route 405 Freeway has
lead to rush-hour congestion and diversion of traffic onto the local streets within
Sunkist Park during peak hours and when operational failures occur on the Freeway.
Traffic studies have been conducted in the area in the past, and resulted in
recommended traffic calming measures; however, residents could not reach a
consensus on the majority of them.
The last proposed NTMP measures were not approved by the City Council at its’
meeting on February 9, 2004. At the meeting, the City Council voted to not install
any traffic calming devices (based on votes from the residents) and to officially
consider the Sunkist Park NTMP complete.
Meeting Date: 07/25/05 Item Number: A-3
AGENDA ITEM: Consideration to Award a Professional Services Agreement to
Katz, Okitsu, and Associates for Traffic Engineering Consulting Services for the
Sunkist Park Neighborhood Traffic Management Plan
Contact Person/Dept.: Sammy Romo/PW Phone Number: (310) 253-5633
Fiscal Impact: Yes [x] No [] General Fund: Yes [X] No []
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [x] Attachments: []
Public Notification: Katz, Okitsu and Associates via email on July 12, 2005, Master
Notification List on July 20, 2005 and Laura Stuart, Tom Supple, Tom Camarella,
Bernard Bronstein, Neil Glickman (these are the residents who filled out speaker cards
at the August 30 Town Hall meeting), El Marino School, Culver City Unified School
District; Chip Netzel (Watch Block Captain) via letter dated July 20, 2005
Department Approval:
Charles D. Herbertson, 7/14/05
CAO Approval:
Jerry Fulwood 7/20/05
City Controller Approval:
Marlee Chang 7/19/05City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
At the Town Hall meeting of August 30, 2004 at El Marino Elementary School, some
residents expressed concerns regarding speeding and high traffic volumes on
Segrell Way, Culver Park Drive, and Sawtelle Boulevard. The City Council
instructed staff to address the traffic concerns with innovative traffic calming devices.
On October 25, 2004, the City Council authorized staff to purchase speed feed back
signs and ‘speed cushions’. The speed feedback signs have been purchased and
are in the process of being erected on Sawtelle Boulevard. Staff was able to
arrange for a vendor to loan speed cushions to the City in order to test them with
Fire Department vehicles. The ladder truck and fire engine operators approved of
these speed cushions by indicating they would not hamper their operation.
However, the paramedic van operator did not approve of them. The operator of the
paramedic van stated that the speed cushions would slow down their operation and
increase response times in emergencies. Therefore, speed cushions were not
considered to be viable solutions to calming traffic on Culver Park Drive and Segrell
Way because of the current location of Fire Station No. 3 on Segrell Way. The use
of speed cushions on Culver Park Drive and Segrell Way will be reevaluated in the
future after Fire Station No. 3 has been relocated to its’ new location in the Fox Hills
area. Based on this finding, staff decided to seek consultation from professional
Traffic Engineering consultants in order to develop additional ideas for traffic calming
for this area
DISCUSSION:
Staff mailed a Request for Proposal (RFP) to several traffic engineering firms to
develop a new NTMP process for the Sunkist Park neighborhood. Katz, Okitsu, and
Associates (KOA) was the only firm to submit a proposal. Their proposal was
reviewed by staff and was found to be responsive to the RFP.
The scope of the work as outlined in the RFP and the proposal by KOA consist of
the following:
Define Sunkist Park Sub-Neighborhood Boundaries
Public Outreach
Sunkist Park Neighborhood Workshops
Request for approval of proposed traffic calming measures from the
community, staff, and City Council
If approved, an evaluation Program (Before and After Studies) - $18,390, part
of overall fee proposal.City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
The study will be completed and presented to the City Council by the end of the
year.
KOA has provided traffic engineering services to Culver City in the past and the City
currently has an agreement with KOA for traffic planning and general traffic
engineering analyses. Staff has found their services to be excellent.
FISCAL ANALYSIS:
As listed in the proposal, KOA’s fee for this service is $67,310. There are sufficient
funds in the Sunkist Park /Playa Vista Phase 1 Traffic Impact Mitigation funds to pay
for these services. The account number for this fund is 420.212260 (Playa
Vista/Sunkist NTMP).
MOTIONS:
That the City Council:
1. Award a professional services agreement with Katz, Okitsu and Associates in the
amount of $67,310 for consulting services for the Sunkist Park Neighborhood
Traffic Management Plan;
2. Direct the City Attorney to prepare the necessary contract documents and
authorize the Chief Administrative Officer to execute them.
3. Authorize the transfer of $67,310 from the revenue account 420.212260 (Playa
Vista/Sunkist NTMP) to the capital project P-599 Neighborhood Traffic
Management, revenue account 42000599.339100; and appropriate the funds in
42000599.612800 traffic engineering services.