1. CALL MEETING TO ORDER

The second meeting for the Corning Avenue Neighborhood Traffic Management Program (NTMP) project began at 6:45 p.m. on February 25, 2004, at the Frank D. Parent Elementary School Auditorium, 5354 W 64th St, Los Angeles.

2. ATTENDEES AND PRESENTER

The following persons were in attendance:
Mr. Joel Falter, Project Manager, Katz, Okitsu and Associates, consultant/presenter
Los Angeles county Department of Public Works, Traffic Investigations Section: Arnel Dulay, Jeff Thierry
Officer Blasé Austin, Culver City California Highway Patrol office
Captain Paul A. Schifando, LA County Fire Department
10 neighborhood residents were in attendance.

The following person was invited but was not present:
Mr. Clinton Tatum, representing Supervisor Braithwaite-Burke

3. MEETING NOTES

Mr. Thierry began the meeting by welcoming the attendees and introducing the staff and guests in attendance.

Mr. Falter presented a Power Point slide show to review the NTMP goals, objectives and process that were presented in the first meeting. He reported on the results of the comments received from the community through the first meeting’s discussions and also through the mailings and e-mails received thereafter. Mr. Falter informed the audience that speed cushions, curb extensions, and traffic circles received the highest response from the community.

Mr Falter presented the Phase 1 recommendation to install speed cushions along Corning Ave., 64th Street, Springpark Ave. and Radlock Ave. In addition to the speed cushions, it was also recommended to install curb extensions at the intersections of 64th Street at Springpark Ave. and at Radlock Ave. at Springpark Ave. Both KOA and Public Works staff derived these traffic calming measures as having the most effect to deter speeding. The pros and cons of each measure were discussed in terms of effectiveness and restrictiveness. Captain Schifando of the Fire Dept. discussed their concerns with traffic calming measures impacting their response times. He also informed the community that they will review these recommendations to determine their feasibility. Mr Falter indicated that implementation of one or more of these measures could be accomplished as Phase 1, which would be followed by an adjustment period and reevaluation of traffic conditions to determine their effectiveness. Based on the results of the Phase 1 actions, those features implemented in a temporary fashion could be converted to permanent installations as Phase 2, including adjusting or augmenting the program as needed.

A period of Questions and Answers followed the slide show presentation. The following questions and comments were received from the audience :

1. " What is the Fire Department’s position regarding these proposed traffic calming measures? " Response: Captain Schifando of the Fire Department informed the audience that their response times to emergencies is impacted by traffic calming devices because it slows down their fire trucks and squad cars. He pointed out that although they sympathize with the community’s concerns for speeding, they have invested a lot of money in improving their response times and would like not to have to be delayed if possible. He informed the audience that their Dept. will review these recommendations for its feasibility and to make sure that they are not adversely impacted by these recommendations.

2. " How soon can these recommendations be implemented or installed? " Response: Public Works staff responded by indicating that they don’t have a schedule available until the final design of these measures are put down on paper and approvals have been received from other Dept’s such as the Fire Dept to move forward. As soon as the final design has been completed and approved, a cost estimate can be attained and request for funding and schedule can be determined. Public Works will inform the community of the developments as more information become available.

3. " Why not consider signs first which are not as restrictive in nature than the speed cushions or curb extensions? " Response: Based on the response from the community, additional signage received fewer requests. In addition, signage without consistent enforcement usually results in the sign losing its effectiveness.

4. " Why was not closing the streets to through traffic considered? " Response: Closing the streets to through traffic did not received a lot of request from the community. In addition, this would be very restrictive measure which will impact the traffic circulation in the area.

5. " What can be done to slow down the school buses during school hours? " Response: Denise Epport from the community will be contacting the Inglewood School District to report the school bus speeding problem and request the district to make the necessary arrangements to resolve the problem.

6. " What can be done to deter the parents who drop off their kids from speeding and parking illegally during school hours? " Response: This could be solve by having enforcement available and also education through the school informing the parents of these concerns.

7. " What is the next step in this? " Response: Based on the community’s responses, the majority is in favor of the recommendations to install speed cushions and curb extensions. Public Works will prepare the engineering drawings for these devices and submit them to the Fire Dept. for their review and approval. Upon receiving their approval, Public Works will prepare the cost estimate for the project and acquire the funding and schedule information to present to the community. It is estimated that this process may take up to 2-3 months. The community will be informed of these developments through mailings and our website. In addition, the need for any petition from the community with regards to these traffic calming measures will be determined by the Board and Public Works.

Mr. Falter and staff thanked all those that attended the meeting and the meeting was adjourned at 8:15 pm.

JPA:tlpub/invest/inv/ntmp/corning minutes2nd

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