Agenda Item Wording:
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Presentation by representatives from the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) for consideration and direction regarding Caltrans State Route 198 east bound offramp modification project at Watson Street/Noble Avenue.
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Deadline for Action: None
Submitting Department: Administration - CIP Engineering
Contact Name and Phone Number:
Eric Bons, Senior Civil Engineer, eric.bons@visalia.city, 713-4350
Frank Senteno, City Engineer, frank.senteno@visalia.city, 713-4331
Hussein Senan, Caltrans D6 Program Project Management, Hussein.senan@dot.ca.gov, 365-0694
Eltahir Ataelgeed, Caltrans Design Project Engineer, Eltahir.ataelgeed@dot.ca.gov, 383-5459
Nick Mascia, Assistant City Manager, nick.mascia@visalia.city, 713-4323
Department Recommendation:
Staff recommends the City Council consider the presentation from Caltrans on the State Route 198 (SR-198) east bound offramp at Watson Street/Noble Avenue project and provide input and comments regarding the proposed traffic modifications prior to Caltrans finalizing the construction documents.
Background Discussion:
Caltrans is currently working on the Project Approval and Environmental Document (PA&ED) phase, as well as the Plans, Specifications, and Estimate (PS&E) phase of the project to address traffic queuing backing on to the eastbound SR-198 travel lane from the offramp at Watson Street. Caltrans staff will be presenting the proposed roadway improvements to the City Council and community at-large at this meeting. Caltrans welcomes input, comments, and suggestions for consideration regarding the proposed roadway improvements.
The SR-198 east bound offramp at Watson Street has experienced increased traffic volumes during the morning peak hour of travel, which has led to vehicles stacking beyond the capacity of the offramp and spilling into the east bound SR-198 travel lanes. Caltrans is moving forward with this improvement project to enhance the east bound SR-198 offramp at Watson Street to provide for the projected increase in the traffic volume.
This project is to relieve the traffic impacts to the east bound traffic flow on SR-198. Caltrans is the lead agency for this project and the City of Visalia is a participating agency due to the physical location within the City limits and the proposed changes in the traffic patterns that will impact motorists, adjacent intersections, parking, and roadways controlled by the City of Visalia.
In 2012, Caltrans completed a project that widened this east bound offramp from SR-198 to Watson Street and added a traffic signal at the intersection of the offramp and Noble Avenue. Caltrans initiated a Project Concept Report in 2017 to address the increased congestion at the SR-198 east bound offramp at Watson Street. Traffic has been monitored since the completion of that project and, the traffic volumes have significantly increased such that the capacity of the offramp is not sufficient to store vehicles within the offramp footprint and without impacting the east bound through lanes on SR-198. Caltrans developed two alternative designs which were presented to City of Visalia staff for review and input.
These two alternatives were refined and presented to City Council in May 2020 where City Council provide input and direction regarding these two alternatives. The City Council agreed with the approach to providing the improvements to aide with the flow of traffic at the SR-198 east bound offramp which will provide a traffic solution with an estimated life of 15 years. Caltrans will be monitoring the traffic flow to determine what additional improvements may be needed to meet the future traffic needs. Several Council members opposed the installation of a raised island in Noble Avenue which would prevent traffic from the offramp making a south bound right turn to Watson Street. As indicated in the plan discussed below, the current Caltrans design does have a raised island in Noble Avenue to minimize any traffic “weaving” in Noble Avenue between the SR-198 offramp and Watson Street. City Council also noted that there needs to be a public outreach component to this project to address the changes to the traffic patterns and other construction related impacts.
The recommended alternative proposed by Caltrans is to remove the existing traffic signal at the end of the east bound offramp to provide more vehicle storage, reduce Noble Avenue (SR-63) from three lanes to two lanes to install a raised island between the two offramp lanes and the two through lanes on Noble Avenue between Willis Street and Watson Street. The traffic lanes on Noble Avenue will be reduced from three lanes to two lanes to accommodate the width of the new median island. The on-street parking along the south side of Noble Avenue between Johnson Street and Watson Street will be restricted to accommodate the shifting of the lanes on Noble Avenue. The local transit bus stop located at the southeast corner of Watson Street and Noble Avenue will be relocated to the corner of Encina Street and Noble Avenue to accommodate the shift of the traffic lanes. Caltrans Traffic Operations will then be reviewing and modifying the traffic signal timing on the Caltrans owned and operated traffic signal to match the modifications associated with this project. At this time, Staff is not aware of the extent of public outreach performed by Caltrans regarding their design; particularly the immediately surrounding business district (i.e. Kaweah Health, residents, and businesses along Noble, etc.,)
Fiscal Impact:
The funding for this project is to be provided by Caltrans and the Tulare County Association of Government (TCAG). The construction costs are to be shared between Caltrans and TCAG. The City has not created a Capital Improvement Program project for this project, but staff time has been tracked for budgeting purposes. The construction cost will be provided by Caltrans and TCAG. The City of Visalia’s cost will be for staff time associated with the coordination with Caltrans in the project design phase of this project.
Prior Council Action:
May 18, 2020, Work Session Item No. 3, Review and discussion of a presentation regarding State Route 198 offramp at Watson Street/Noble Avenue project and provide direction regarding the proposed traffic modifications.
Other:
None.
Alternatives:
None.
Recommended Motion (and Alternative Motions if expected):
recommendation
No motion is required; Council may choose to provide input to Cal Trans regarding the project plan and processing
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Environmental Assessment Status:
None.
CEQA Review:
This project is Categorically Exempt under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and Categorically Excluded under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The environmental documents were approved on October 15, 2020.
Attachments:
Project Location Map
Presentation by Caltrans Staff