Title
Conduct a public hearing to consider the 2019 Annual Carmel Valley Traffic Report on traffic volumes for Segments 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 10 (on Carmel Valley Road), pursuant to the 2010 General Plan, Carmel Valley Master Plan.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors accept the 2019 Annual Carmel Valley Traffic Report on the traffic volumes for Segments 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 10 (on Carmel Valley Road), pursuant to the 2010 General Plan, Carmel Valley Master Plan.
SUMMARY:
Policy CV-2.17 of the 2010 General Plan/Carmel Valley Master Plan (CVMP) requires an annual report reflecting twice yearly monitoring (in June and October) of traffic volumes and travel times on segments 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 10 of Carmel Valley Road plus any other segments that fall within 20% of the CVMP established average daily traffic volume thresholds. Although not required by the CVMP, RMA generally monitors all 13 road segments listed in Policy CV-2.17 and is providing that information with this annual report. As required, this report was completed and presented to the Carmel Valley Road Committee in December 2019. If the monitoring reveals that traffic volumes of any segment exceed certain established criteria, the Board of Supervisors must conduct a noticed public hearing in January.
The required monitoring has been completed and an evaluation report of traffic volumes on Carmel Valley Road and Rio Road has been prepared. The six (6) segments do not exceed the Average Daily Traffic (ADT) thresholds but five (5) of the six (6) fall within 20% of the ADT threshold and; Segment 5 in October and Segment 7 in June and October of 2019 exceeded the Percent-Time-Spent-Following (PTSF) established thresholds. This means a public hearing is required pursuant to Policy CV-2.17 of the 2010 General Plan. Where a discretionary permit application results in impacts to a Segment exceeding the threshold, the project shall be conditioned to complete additional roadway improvements that reduce traffic to the acceptable standard or prepare an environmental impact report (EIR).
The five (5) segments that fall within the 20% of threshold are Segments 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 on Carmel Valley Road. The other (8) segments do not meet this criterion and generally do not need to be evaluated annually; however, all thirteen (13) segments must be evaluated at 5-year intervals. Although not required by the CVMP, RMA generally monitors all 13 road segments every year. The last 5-year interval report was presented in 2015 so the next will be the 2020 Annual Traffic Report.
DISCUSSION:
The CVMP includes a policy to monitor the circulation of traffic in Carmel Valley (locations shown in Attachment A). Policy CV-2.17 requires bi-annual monitoring of peak hour traffic volumes, once while school is not in session (June) and once while school is in session (October). The counts are conducted on all 10 segments of Carmel Valley Road plus 3 additional segments on Rio Road and Carmel Rancho Boulevard, but an evaluation is only required on segments 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 10 of Carmel Valley Road plus any others that fall within 20% of the established threshold. This year, no other segments were within 20% of the established thresholds thus no additional segments need to be evaluated this year and the list of required segments for evaluation does not need to be amended for 2020.
The six (6) required segments traffic flow patterns were evaluated using two (2) methods: Average Daily Traffic (ADT) and Percent-Time-Spent-Following (PTSF). Monitoring in 2019 was conducted between June 7th to 14th while school was not in session and October 4th to 11th when school was in session. A yearly evaluation report must be prepared in December. This report was completed and presented to the Carmel Valley Road Committee on December 19, 2019.
Additionally, the CVMP Policy requires the Board of Supervisors to conduct a public hearing in January following data collection if the analysis shows that established thresholds are exceeded. Attachment B displays the Average Daily Traffic (ADT) volumes for the six (6) required segments, and the threshold value from the CVMP. For 2019, none of the segments exceeded the established thresholds but fell within the 20% of threshold volumes triggering a required notification to the Board of Supervisors.
Using peak hour volumes, the Percent Time Spent Following (PTSF) was calculated for segments 3 through 7. Since segment 10 is a four-lane highway, for which the PTSF methodology does not apply, the Level of Service (LOS) is based on volumes only. The PTSF values are also shown in Attachment B. Segment five (5) in October of 2019 and segment seven (7) in both June and October exceeded the LOS D threshold of PTSF established in section 2.17(e)(3)(b). Although, segments five (5) and seven (7) exceed the LOS D threshold, the traffic volume levels on both segments did not exceed the ADT volume threshold and are summarized in Attachment C.
Policy 2.17 (d) further requires that every five (5) years, the County shall examine the degree to which the estimates of changes to the LOS in the Plan Area may be occurring earlier that predicted in the General Plan Environment Impact Report. This five (5) year analysis was conducted following the data collection of 2015, presented to the Board on October 18, 2016, and determined that no changes to the unit cap were needed. The next 5-year interval will be included with the report in January 2021.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
This traffic volume analysis was presented to the Carmel Valley Road Advisory Committee (CVRAC) at their December 19, 2019 meeting as required in the Carmel Valley Master Plan (CVMP).
FINANCING:
Scheduled traffic monitoring activities for CVMP, estimated at $8,000, are funded by the Carmel Valley Traffic Impact Fee Program. Sufficient funds are available in the Road Fund 002, Unit 8195, Appropriation Unit RMA0012 to finance this work.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS STRATEGIC INITIATIVES:
By following the policies in the Carmel Valley Master Plan and conducting the required hearing, the County practices accountability and transparency.
__Economic Development
X Administration
__Health & Human Services
__Infrastructure
X Public Safety
Prepared by: Randell Ishii, M.S., P.E., RMA Chief of Public Works
Approved by: Leigh Ann Sutton, P.E., Deputy Director of Public Works, Parks, and Facilities
Approved by: Carl P. Holm, AICP, RMA Director
Attachments:
Attachment A - Location Map
Attachment B - Average Daily Traffic and Percent Time Spent Following
Attachment C - Percent Under Threshold
(Attachments on file with the Clerk of the Board)