pages: CityCouncil/2021-04-20.pdf, 19
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CityCouncil | 2021-04-20 | 19 | will be reconfigured along Atlantic Avenue near Clement Street that will travel down to Grand Street; the designs expect that traffic will drop; staff has done a great job of explaining why roundabouts are going to help traffic flow through the Central Avenue corridor; the roundabouts will help to improve cut through traffic; expressed support for the staff recommendation. Councilmember Daysog inquired whether maps showing an open Sherman Street are available. The Planning, Building and Transportation Director responded the presentation includes alternative designs; stated slide 31 shows different ways of providing access to Sherman Street; staff has taken Council direction from 2016 as well as the Vision Zero policy and has come forward with the safest alternative; staff has looked at a number of different ways to design the roundabout at Sherman Street; the City does not currently have the money to build the roundabout at Sherman Street; with the funding available, the City can currently build two of four roundabouts; staff recommends building two roundabouts at the most dangerous locations first; Council may have a discussion at a later time regarding the two other roundabouts. Councilmember Daysog inquired whether the other roundabouts are considered safe in terms of professional engineering standards. The Planning, Building and Transportation Director responded the safest option is proposed; stated the other options provided are safe, but not as safe as the one recommended; the worst case scenario is to leave the intersection as-is. Vice Mayor Vella stated the project has been before the Council a number of times and has been through numerous renditions with public input and comment; there have been a number of workshops on the matter with many designs; there is an eye specifically for safe multimodal transit; the project is the embodiment for Vision Zero; if Council is serious about implementing the policy, roads and infrastructure must be made safer for everyone, including pedestrians and other modes of transit; the inclusion of roundabouts is important; outlined living in London and the experience of bicycling through roundabouts; stated that she experiences more fear pushing a stroller down Central Avenue than her time spent in London; Central Avenue is essentially a freeway; the goal for the roundabouts is to calm traffic; roundabouts will reduce vehicle speed and improve safety; expressed support for the recommendation; stated that she is proud of the work being done; Council needs to value human life and safety; Council must support and implement the project as presented. Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft stated that she is mostly behind the project and is fully behind Vision Zero; she loves roundabouts and the Central Avenue project; expressed support for the roundabout at Encinal High School; stated that she likes three of the four roundabouts; expressed concern about the roundabout at Sherman Street; stated that she cannot support the closure of Sherman Street; the intersection being closed had the lowest amount of accidents; the design shows closure of the street as not possible due to the triangular parcel; questioned whether the City could acquire more land in order to create a proper roundabout; expressed concern about people using the two nearest parallel streets, which are next to a school, in the event of Sherman Street closure; stated the Sherman Street roundabout is not ready for prime time; she is ready to support the project without the Sherman Street closure; an extreme treatment for an intersection that is unwarranted is not something that she can support. Councilmember Herrera Spencer stated that she has many concerns; expressed concern about the lack of roundabout simulations; expressed support for consultants using simulations, not Regular Meeting Alameda City Council 14 April 20, 2021 | CityCouncil/2021-04-20.pdf |