l final - santa clara county, california...may 20, 2000 · enclosed is the santa clara county...

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Final

prepared for

. Santa Clara County Fair Management Corporation

by

DKS Associates

May 20, 2000

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DKS Associates 84 West Santa Clara Street, Suite 360

San Jose, CA 95113

Phone: (408) 292-9411

Fax: (408) 292-9511

May 20, 2000

Mr. Art Troyer Santa Clara CoUnty Fair Management Corporation 344 Tully Road San Jose, California 95111

Re: Santa Clara County Fairgrounds Transportation and Parking Plan - Final Report P99007

Dear Art:

Enclosed is the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds Transportation and Parking Plan Final Report. The Final Report is comprised of the July 1, 1999 Draft Report plus the conditions of approval specified in the Environmental Impact Report for the proposed project.

The Plan was developed to establish effective transportation and parking operations for Santa Clara County Fairgrounds events of various sizes, while also considering the needs and concerns oflocal residences and businesses. The Plan addresses several goals, including minimizing vehicle and pedestrian traffic impacts, rninirnizing parking impacts on the surrounding community, balancing vehicle and pedestrian ingress and egress, and providing for the orderly and efficient filling and emptying of parking lots.

Recommendations and tools for implementation were developed in two incremental levels. Recommendations include ingress and egress routing, and parking strategies. Tools for implementation include signage, parking control, traffic control, traffic signal coordination, and marketing.

Please do not hesitate to call with any questions on this project.

Sincerely,

DKS Associates A California Corporation

!!:!e~ Project Manager

P99007Ireport\cov/et

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................... i Background ....................................................................................................................... i Recommendations ........................................................................................................... iii

Ingress/Egress Routes ............................................................................................ iii Parking Strategies ................................................................................................... iii

Tools to Support Recommendations ............................................................................... vi Sign Improvements ................................................................................................ vi Parking Control ..................................................................................................... vii Marketing .............................................................................................................. vii Traffic Control ...................................................................................................... vii Signal Timing ........................................................................................................ vii

1.0 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1-1 1.1 Need and Purpose ................................................................................................... 1-1 1.2 Description of Study Area ...................................................................................... 1-3 1.3 Project Description ................................................................................................. 1-3 1.4 Report Organization ............................................................................................... 1-5

2.0 DATA COLLECTION SUMMARy .............................................................................. 2-1 2.1 Description of Methodology .................................................................................. 2-1 2.2 Dates ..................................................................................................................... 2-1 2.3 Parking Data ........................................................................................................... 2-1 2.4 Intersection Turning Movement Counts ................................................................ 2-1 2.5 Other Data and Resources Referenced ................................................................... 2-2

3.0 EXISTING CONDITIONS ............................................................................................. 3-1 3.1 Signage ................................................................................................................... 3-1 3.2 Circulation and Access ........................................................................................... 3-1

Private Vehicle Access ......................................................................................... 3-1 Transit Access ...................................................................................................... 3-2

3.3 Intersection Level of Service ................................................................................. 3-2 3.4 Parking ................................................................................................................... 3-5

Off-Street Parking ................................................................................................ 3-6 On-Street Parking ................................................................................................. 3-6

3.5 Traffic Control ....................................................................................................... 3-7

4.0 RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................................ 4-1 4.1 Ingress Routes ........................................................................................................ 4-1 4.2 Egress Routes ......................................................................................................... 4-1 4.3 Parking Strategies ................................................................................................... 4-7

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5.0 TOOLS TO SUPPORT RECOMMENDATIONS ......................................................... 5-1 5.1 Sign Improvements ................................................................................................ 5-1

Freeway Signs ...................................................................................................... 5-1 Changeable Message Signs (CMS) ...................................................................... 5-1 Arterial Signs - Ingress ......................................................................................... 5-4 Arterial Signs - Egress ......................................................................................... 5-5 Portable Signs ...................................................................................................... 5-5 General Sign Issues .............................................................................................. 5-6

5.2 Parking Control ...................................................................................................... 5-6 5.3 Traffic Control ....................................................................................................... 5-7

Intersection Operational Analysis ...................................................................... 5-19 5.4 Signal Timing ....................................................................................................... 5-24

Manual Signal Timing Plans .............................................................................. 5-27 Traffic Responsive Pattern Selection ................................................................. 5-30

5.5 Marketing ............................................................................................................. 5-31

6.0 Implementation and Funding Plan .................................................................................. 6-1 6.1 Level 1 Elements .................................................................................................... 6-1

Signage ................................................................................................................. 6-1 Traffic Control ..................................................................................................... 6-1 Parking Strategies ................................................................................................. 6-2 Marketing ............................................................................................................. 6-2

6.2 Level 2 Elements .................................................................................................... 6-2 Traffic Signal Timing ........................................................................................... 6-2

APPENDIX A APPENDIXB

DKS Associates

Field Notes Intersection Level of Service Calculations

SANTA CLARA COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS TRANSPORTATION & PARKING PLAN

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TABLES

1. Summary ofIntersection Operations - Existing Conditions (PM Peak Hour) ................. 3-5

2. Recommended Egress Routes .......................................................................................... 4-8

3. CMS Recommended Locations and Messages ................................................................ 5-4

4. Traffic Control - DC Theater Events ......................... '" ................................................. 5-10

5. Traffic Control - Santa Clara County Fair ..................................................................... 5-15

6. Recommended Minimum Traffic Control Personnel Staffing ....................................... 5-19

7 . Intersection Level of Service and Average Delay - Weekday PM Peak Period ............ 5-20

8. Baseline Trip Generation Summary ............................................................................... 5-22

9. Analysis Scenarios Trip Generation Summary .............................................................. 5-23

10. Implementation Plan ........................................................................................................ 6-3


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FIGURES

ES1. Study Area ................................................................................................................... ES-2

ES2. Recommended Traffic Control Ingress Plan for UC Theater Events .......................... ES-4

ES3. Recommended Traffic Control Egress Plan for UC Theater Events ........................... ES-5

I " ES4. Recommended Traffic Control Plan for Santa Clara County Fair .............................. ES-8

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I 1. Study Area ....................................................................................................................... 1-2

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2. Proposed Site Plan ........................................................................................................... 1-6

3. Study Intersections ........................................................................................................... 2-3

4. Existing Sign Inventory ................................................................................................... 3-3

5. Existing Transit ................................................................................................................ 3-4

6. Suggested Ingress Paths ................................................................................................... 4-2

7. Recommended US 101 NB and SB Egress Paths ............................................................ 4-3

8. Recommended SR 87 NB and SB Egress Paths .............................................................. 4-4

9. Recommended Capitol Expwy. WB and EB Egress Paths .............................................. 4-5

10. Recommended 1-280 and 1-680 Egress Paths .................................................................. 4-6 , I 11. Static Sign Recommendations ......................................................................................... 5-2

12. Proposed Changeable Message Sign Locations ............................................................... 5-3

13. Proposed New Traffic Signal with Roadway Modifications ........................................... 5-9

14. Recommended Traffic Control Ingress Plan for UC Theater Events ............................ 5-12

I 15. Recommended Traffic Control Egress Plan for UC Theater Events ............................. 5-13

16. Recommended Traffic Control Plan for Santa Clara County Fair. ................................ 5-16

17. Traffic Control- S. 7th Street and Tully Road .............................................................. 5-18

18. Signals to Operate under Special Event Timings .......................................................... 5-26


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I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Background

The Santa Clara County Fairgrounds Transportation and Parking Plan was developed to establish effective transportation and parking operations for events of various sizes at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, while also considering the needs and concerns of local residences and businesses. As part of the proposed revitalization plan, the number of paved off-street parking spaces would be quadrupled compared to today, and the implementation of a transportation and parking management plan would improve traffic flow and safety in the study area.

The need for a transportation and parking management plan can be summarized in several key points:

., to improve the existing parking and transportation conditions at the Fairgrounds, for the annual 1 O-day Fair and also for currently scheduled festivals throughout the year;

., to avoid scheduling conflicts at the proposed theater and exposition center;

., to minimize impacts during peak commute travel times;

• to establish how a single parking operator would operate the various parking facilities at the Fairgrounds;

• to prioritize transportation improvements and decisions

Several goals were identified for this study, including minimizing vehicle and pedestrian traffic impacts, minimizing parking impacts of UC Theater and fairgrounds events on the surrounding community, balancing vehicle and pedestrian ingress and egress, and providing for the orderly and efficient filling and emptying of parking lots.

The Santa Clara County Fairgrounds Transportation and Parking Plan study area is bounded by Interstate 280 (1-280) to the north, US 101 to the east, Capitol Expressway to the south, and State Route 87 (SR 87) to the west (see Figure ES-l). The area north of the fairgrounds is a commercial and light industrial area, which extends between Tully Road and Alma Avenue. The area south and east ofthe fairgrounds is primarily residential.

An extensive data collection program was conducted, based on input from stakeholders and study team members. The data collected included traffic turning movements for seventeen key intersections in the fairgrounds vicinity and attendance data for a wide variety of events.

The first element of the analysis was an existing sign inventory, including freeway, arterial and local roadway signs. Intersection level of service analysis was performed at selected locations.

DKS Associates i SANTA CLARA COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS TRANSPORTATION & PARKING PLAN

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Figure ES-1 Study Area

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Recommendations

The recommendations have been designed to achieve the goals ofthe plan.

Ingress/Egress Routes

The recommended ingress routing is designed to emphasize Alma Avenue, Curtner Avenue, Monterey Road, Capitol Expressway, and Tully Road to get to the UC Theater and fairgrounds site as viable alternates to Curtner Avenue and Tully Road. The primary difference would be the direction of approach for vehicles would be more balanced between south, east and west (see Figure ES-2).

The recommended egress routing is designed to emphasize major roadways (Alma Avenue, Curtner Avenue, Monterey Road, Capitol Expressway, and Tully Road) as much as possible. The identified routes have been selected to reduce the concentration of traffic on Tully Road and Curtner A venue, and to provide faster exit routes for UC theater and fairgrounds patrons. Because of the dispersion of traffic, it is anticipated that patrons would experience reduced travel times in exiting the UC theater and fairgrounds areas, even if the route is somewhat longer (see Figure ES-3).

Parking Strategies

Off-site parking facilities would be required for any event that is projected to have 20,000 or more people on the fairgrounds site at anyone time. This is based on the proposed number of parking spaces available in on-site facilities and an assumed average vehicle occupancy rate of 2.5 persons per vehicle for Universal Theater concerts and 3.5 persons per vehicle for the County Fair. Because of the potential for different parking fare collection methods for different events, there should be only one parking operator at the fairgrounds. This would lead to better and more consistent on-site parking management, and potentially reduce some of the administrative and revenue sharing problems that multiple parking operators may face. Other key parking strategy recommendations would be:

1. Enforce on-street no parking areas in residential areas. Enforce by patrol at events and in response to complaints.

3. Maximize ingress flow into off-street lots. Adequate personnel are needed to direct motorists to available spaces in the UC Theater parking lots, or to make cash transactions at the other Fairgrounds parking lots.

3. Personnel should be moved from full parking lots to filling parking lots to optimize use. A rover should observe lots and manage overall personnel allocation. The rover also should be in radio contact with traffic control personnel to ensure that excessive traffic queues into parking facilities are not developing. Signs should point to lot locations. Publications, mailers and other informational material should clearly show lot locations.

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Recommended Traffic Control Ingress Plan for UC Theater Events

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Northbound left and northbound through movements restricted

Recommended Traffic Control Egress Plan for UC Theater Events

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4. Develop specifications for lot use (including off-site parking lots) and opening times by day of week and type of event. Develop contingency actions for more demand than anticipated, including shuttle service to off-site lots. Specifically, the northern overflow parking lot should be used for buses (from day-camps or church groups, for example) and/or employee parking when overflow parking conditions are anticipated.

5. Investigate use of other off-street lots in proximity to the fairgrounds, depending upon size of event. In particular, determine feasibility of using the lots at Spartan Stadium, Municipal Stadium, and Kelly Park, and possibly the lots at Alma and 10th (south corner), Alma and 7th (south corner), and at Senter and Keyes (south corner) for events exceeding the 20,000 level. Provide shuttle service to these lots.

6. When feasible, encourage the use of off-site parking lots. Make sure the public is aware of all parking lot options prior to travel to the event. Parking lot locations can be included on flyers, advertisements, brochures, ticket information, and other promotional items. Economic encouragement to use the off-site lots should be considered. Drivers that proceed directly to off-site parking lots are unlikely to drive through the more heavily-used roadways in the immediate vicinity of the fairgrounds complex.

7. Manage egress from off-street parking lots. Parking controllers should be available at the end of events to direct traffic out of the lots. Parking controllers would be required to direct traffic to exits and manage vehicle conflicts. Also, parking controllers should be familiar with the recommended egress routes so that they can answer questions as theyarise.

8. Encourage the use of public transportation. The VTA should be contacted about joint promotion of appropriate transit routes. Existing transit brochures, maps and promotional pieces should be used to the maximum extent possible in mailings to event attendees.

Tools to Support Recommendations

To implement the recommendations listed above, several tools would be used. The tools have been divided into two priority levels. Level 1 tools include signage, parking control, traffic control and marketing. Level 2 tools include signal timing modifications.

Sign Improvements

Permanent freeway signs should be considered in two locations to direct ingress traffic to the intended arterial and local streets. These signs are in addition to the existing signs on the freeways. Changeable message signs (CMS), some of which are already currently programmed by Caltrans District 4, can provide benefits for events at the fairgrounds, and would be used for major events with an anticipated attendance greater than 20,000 people. Also, eight additional ingress signs and seven additional egress signs should be placed on major roadways leading to and from the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds.

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Parking Control

The main vehicle for implementing parking lot operation strategies would be the contract governing the operation of the parking lots at the Fairgrounds. Several tools have been developed in this area, including the use of personnel, other parking lots, and pre-paid parking fees.

To assist in the management of parking and traffic, a Parking Authority or Board should be established that clearly establishes policies. Areas covered by the Parking Authority's policies should include the timing of events so that there is minimal overlap with weekday commute traffic, and also the use of all properties at the Fairgrounds should be planned so that there is a minimization of impacts to weekday commute traffic. Another policy should state that parking lots should not have an advertised opening time during prime commute hours in order to discourage early arrivals overlapping with commute traffic.

Marketing

As part of the reinforcement of efforts to direct motorists away from local neighborhoods and to surrounding roadways when coming to or leaving the fairgrounds area, consistent efforts should be made in the marketing of events at the UC Theater and the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds. The emphasis would be on ingress routes and parking lot locations, as once the patron is at the fairgrounds, other tools would be employed to direct them properly out of the area. The suggested marketing tools that should be targeted include information provided on schedules, web sites, tickets, general marketing materials, television ads, newspaper ads, and other media. If appropriate, event marketing should be prepared in a multi-lingual format.

Traffic Control

One area where traffic control personnel presence would be expanded is to enforce parking regulations on local streets. The use of cones and barricades should be maintained to assist in the direction of ingress and egress traffic flow. Officers at busy locations should not have to direct two-way traffic and also monitor pedestrian crossings (when present). When necessary, one additional traffic control personnel should be used at each location that shows a high number of vehicles and pedestrians. Sufficient staffing at the parking lots should also be used to keep the flow oftraffic moving into and out of parking lots (see Figure ES-4).

Signal Timing

In conjunction with traffic control personnel monitoring traffic at key locations, manual and traffic-responsive signal timing plans should be developed and implemented by the City of San Jose. Because of the cost involved in creating and implementing the signal timing plans, this is a Level 2 (second level priority) recommendation. These signal timing plans would be for the traffic signals on key corridors under the ingress and egress plan.

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Recommended Traffic Control Plan for Santa Clara County Fair

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Traffic-responsive operation for an event should be considered only after it has been detennined that the manual timing plans are not effective in managing traffic for hosted events at the fairgrounds. Traffic-responsive pattern selection would be implemented for the signals on Curtner Avenue, Tully Road, and Monterey Road with timing plans that heavily favor the movements during the peak arrivals for an event, and favor movements for postevent traffic.

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Need and Purpose

The purpose of the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds Transportation and Parking Plan is to develop effective transportation and parking operations for Santa Clara County Fairgrounds events of various sizes, while also considering the needs and concerns of local residences and businesses. The fairgrounds site is proposed to be revitalized and would include a new Universal Concerts Theater with seating capacity of about 8,300 people, new exposition buildings, and on-site parking. The number of paved off-street parking spaces would be quadrupled compared to today, and the implementation of a transportation and parking management plan would improve traffic flow and safety in the study area.

Several goals have been identified for this study, including minimizing vehicle and pedestrian traffic impacts, minimizing parking impacts of fairgrounds events on the surrounding community, balancing vehicle and pedestrian ingress and egress, and providing for the orderly and efficient filling and emptying of parking lots.

The fairgrounds complex currently serves a multitude of different events, drawing crowds ranging from a few hundred to over 30,000 people. Besides the Santa Clara County Fair, events hosted at the fairgrounds complex will include concerts, the TET festival, cultural activities, product expositions, animal shows, and private receptions. An economic feasibility report on the fairgrounds revitalization project stated that the primary market area for the fairgrounds is contained within a 25 mile ring (most of which is in Santa Clara County). However, visitors come to the fairgrounds from throughout the greater Bay Area because of the many types of events hosted. Not all of these visitors are familiar with the area surrounding the fairgrounds.

Access and circulation to the fairgrounds is often confusing to fairgrounds visitors, as the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds site is not immediately visible from major freeways. Currently, the only identified access point is on Tully Road.

The Santa Clara County Fairgrounds Transportation and Parking Plan is designed to protect the surrounding neighborhoods during fairgrounds events by controlling the flow of vehicles into and out of the area. FMC, Inc., the entity currently responsible for managing parking and fairgrounds operations, has initiated several circulation control elements already, in cooperation with the County of Santa Clara Sheriffs Office, the City of San Jose, and Caltrans. This plan builds upon the current operations, and recommends several tools to achieve the identified goals of the plan.

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Figure 1 Study Area

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One of the major goals of this plan is to establish additional access points on Monterey Road at the proposed UC Theater site so that traffic patterns are balanced among the area roadways, thus reducing the reliance on Tully Road. Section 4 of the report describes the ingress and egress routing patterns for the fairgrounds, which would result in spreading traffic among various roadways (Curtner, Monterey, Capitol, as well as Tully).

1.2 Description of Study Area

The Santa Clara County Fairgrounds Transportation and Parking Plan study area is bounded by Interstate 280 (1-280) to the north, US 101 to the east, Capitol Expressway to the south, and State Route 87 (SR 87) to the west (see Figure 1). The area north of the fairgrounds is a commercial and light industrial area, which extends between Tully Road and Alma Avenue. There is a residential area to the south of the fairgrounds, between Monterey Road and Senter Road. There is a large cemetery directly to the west of the fairgrounds.

There are three sports-oriented attractions in the area, each with its own off-street parking. Spartan Stadium is located at the comer of Alma Avenue and 7th Street. Spartan Stadium hosts San Jose State football games and San Jose Clash soccer garnes, as well as other events. San Jose State University Spartan Shops, in conjunction with Spartan Stadium, operates several off-street parking lots that are adjacent to the stadium. The San Jose Municipal Stadium is located at the comer of Senter Road and Alma Avenue. It is the horne of the San Jose Giants minor league baseball team, and also hosts other events. Municipal Stadium has a separate off-street parking lot of approximately 1,000 spaces that is often used for other events. The San Jose Ice Centre is an ice skating facility located at the comer of 10th Street and Alma Avenue. The Ice Centre is the practice horne of the San Jose Sharks hockey team, and hosts several local hockey leagues, figure skating and pubic ice-skating. The Ice Centre has its own parking lot which is contiguous to the San Jose Municipal Stadium parking lot.

The Santa Clara County Fairgrounds is accessed by regional and local roadways. State Route 87 is the closest regional roadway, with interchanges at Curtner Avenue and Alma Avenue. US 101 travelers can use the Story Road or Tully Road exits. There are various signs on arterial roadways, and manual traffic control is used for larger events; this is described in detail in the next section of this report.

1.3 Project Description

The fairgrounds complex is being revitalized to update and add to the existing on-site facilities. The largest addition to the fairgrounds would be the Universal Concerts Theater (DC Theater), an indoor concert and events facility that would seat a maximum of 8,300 people. There would be approximately 120 dates per year that would be booked at the theater, with an average attendance of about 4,500 persons.

Many of the existing buildings on the fairgrounds site would be demolished as part of the fairgrounds revitalization. The largest facility that would be demolished is the racetrack. According to FMC, Inc., there would be no significant net increase in exposition space at the fairgrounds.

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There would be seven access points to the fairgrounds from the surrounding roadway network (see Figure 2). Two of these entrances would be for services only and would not be used by the general public. One service entrance is currently planned to be located on Monterey Road just north of Umbarger Road, and the other service entrance is planned to be on Umbarger Road just east of Monterey Road. Two of the four general access points would be located on the north side of the fairgrounds and used only during overflow parking conditions one would be between 7th Street and 10th Street on Tully Road, and the other would be between 10th Street and Senter Road on Tully Road. One more access point would be on the north side of the fairgrounds and would be only used for general access. This access point would be between Monterey Road and 7th Street on Old Tully Road. There would be one general access point for the UC Theater on Monterey Road, between Old Tully Road and Umbarger Road, and there would also be one general access point to the fairgrounds located on Umbarger Road.

The general access point for the UC Theater on Monterey Road would require some construction as part of the revitalization project. This would be a new intersection and would necessitate modifications to Monterey Road, including the placement of a traffic signal and the addition of a left tum lane in the existing median for southbound traffic.

Parking is currently provided for a fee in off-street parking lots located adjacent to the fairgrounds. The existing parking lot on the north side of Tully Road accommodates approximately 1,250 paved parking spaces, and the fairgrounds site can accommodate about 5,000 (mostly unpaved) spaces. On-street parking is restricted along local streets that border the fairgrounds. Under the revitalization plan, parking would be moved into off-street lots located within the fairgrounds complex, with a total of about 5,000 parking spaces and 2,500 overflow parking spaces. The lots would be of sufficient size to cover the parking needs of most events. The only time there would be an anticipated parking shortfall would be on the four weekend days ofthe annual Santa Clara County Fair.

It is assumed that the existing parking lot area on Tully Road across from the fairgrounds proper would be redeveloped, most probably as a light industrial or office site. There would also be a parcel adjacent to the fairgrounds on Umbarger Road that would be redeveloped separately from the fairgrounds project. A sports and recreation facility is planned for this parcel. The facility is projected to include a maximum of 70,000 square feet of space and house seven basketball courts, two of which would be able to convert t6 volleyball courts.

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1.4 Report Organization

This report is organized into five sections following this introductory section. Section 2 is a summary of the data collection program that formed the foundation of the plan. The existing transportation characteristics of the streets, intersections, and parking lots surrounding the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds are summarized in Section 3. Section 4 presents the recommendations designed to achieve the goals of the plan. The tools needed to implement the recommendations are presented in Section 5. Section 6 is the implementation and funding plan. Section 7 is the conclusion of the study.

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2.0 DATA COLLECTION SUMMARY

2.1 Description of Methodology

The following information was gathered as part of the data collection program:

• Attendance figures - the number of people attending the various fairgrounds events were counted.

• 17 intersections - recent turning movement counts were collected for 17 intersections in the vicinity ofthe Santa Clara County Fairgrounds for the weekday PM peak period.

2.2 Dates

Traffic turning movement counts were taken from several sources. The count dates range from May of 1997 to March of 1999. All the count data collected was for weekday, PM peak period, non-event conditions.

The parking information collected was for all events within the last three years.

2.3 Parking Data

FMC, INC., the managing group for the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, supplied off-street parking information. The parking information itself was based on attendance figures and an average vehicle occupancy rate, which was based on visual surveys conducted within the past twelve months. Attendance figures were provided for the years 1996 through 1998.

2.4 Intersection Turning Movement Counts

Seventeen intersections in the study area were evaluated for weekday, PM peak period conditions (see Figure 3). The intersections were chosen in cooperation with City of San Jose staff, based on the potential for impacts related to fairgrounds events. Turning movement counts were obtained for the following intersections:

1. East Alma A venue/ South 1 st Street & Monterey Road

2. East Alma A venue/ South 7th Street

3. East Alma Avenue/ South 10th Street

4. East Alma A venue/ Senter Road

5. Curtner Avenue/ SR 87 SB ramps

6. Curtner A venue/ SR 87 NB ramps

7. Curtner A venue/ Monterey Road

8. Old Tully Road/ Monterey Road

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9. Tully Road! South 7th Street

10. Tully Road! South 10th Street

11. Tully Road! Senter Road

12. Umbarger Road! Monterey Road

13. Umbarger Road! Senter Road

14. Lewis Road! Monterey Road

15. Capitol Expressway WB ramps/ Monterey Road

16. Capitol Expressway EB ramps/ Monterey Road

17. Capitol Expressway/ Senter Road

2.5 Other Data and Resources Referenced

As part of the background information analyzed for the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds Transportation and Parking Plan, several documents and additional data sources were reviewed. These included:

1. Spartan Stadium Transportation and Parking Plan

2. The San Jose Arena Transportation and Parking Plan

3. Feasibility Analysis of an Urban Exposition Center at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, prepared by ERA

4. Traffic signal timing plans for intersections along Tully Road, Story Road, Alma Avenue, South 7th Street, South 10th Street, and Keyes Street.

5. Transportation and parking plans for 3-COM Park, Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, University of California At Berkeley Memorial Stadium, and Stanford University Stadium.


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Figure 3 DKS Associates Study Intersections

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3.0 EXISTING CONDITIONS

This chapter presents a summary of the existing conditions in the study area. For a detailed listing of field notes and existing conditions observations, please refer to Appendix A.

3.1 Signage

There are two basic types of existing signs currently used for Santa Clara County Fairgrounds access: freeway signs and arterial signs. The signs are an important element in guiding motorists from the regional roadway network to local streets and into parking lots. Figure 4 illustrates the locations of these signs. A complete listing of signs is provided in Appendix A.

Freeway signs are characterized as large-sized signs that have white lettering on a green background, and are visible by motorists in each travel lane of the freeway and traveling at high rates of speed. Typically, these signs say "Fairgrounds Next Exit." All of the existing freeway signs are static, unlike the San Jose Arena freeway signs and signs planned to be used with Spartan Stadium events, some of which are changeable message signs.

Signs on arterial roadways are generally characterized as medium-sized signs that have white lettering on a green background. They are typically placed on signposts on the right hand side of a road or hung across a road from a stop line at an intersection. The most common example of an arterial sign is "Fairgrounds" with a directional arrow also on the sign. There are a variety of parking signs, indicating parking restrictions or parking locations. Also, there are a few signs that indicate freeway access (i.e. "To SR 87" and "To US 101 ").

3.2 Circulation and Access

The Santa Clara County Fairgrounds can be accessed through several modes of travel, including private vehicle trips and transit trips.

Private Vehicle Access

Currently, Curtner Avenue and Tully Road are the most heavily used access routes (an estimated 50% of the traffic) to the fairgrounds, owing mainly to their proximity to freeway interchanges. There are also freeway exit signs at these interchanges (the Curtner / SR 87 interchange and Tully / US 101 interchange) indicating that fairground traffic should use those exits. As part of the revitalization plan, more traffic would be directed towards Monterey Road and Capitol Expressway, leading to less reliance on Tully Road and Curtner Avenue. A fair amount of vehicle trips also use Monterey Road for fairground access. Of the roads surrounding the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds complex, Monterey Road has the highest amount of ambient traffic.

The traffic ingress and egress plans discussed in section 4 of this report were designed to support the main theater access on Monterey Road, as well as the other access points for the fairgrounds on Tully Road and Umbarger Road.

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Transit Access

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) provides the majority of public transit service in the study area. More than a dozen bus routes operate within the fairgrounds study area in addition to the light rail service. CaITrain also provides transit service to the area. Figure 5 provides a map of transit facilities in the study area.

3.3 Intersection Level of Service

Intersection operations are evaluated in terms of "level of service" (LOS), which is a measure of driving conditions and vehicle delay. Levels of service range from A (best) to F (poorest). LOS A, B and C indicate satisfactory conditions where traffic can move relatively freely. LOS D describes conditions where delay is more noticeable. LOS E indicates conditions where traffic volumes are at, or close to capacity, resulting in significant delays and average travel speeds that are one-third the uncongested speeds or lower. LOS F characterizes conditions where traffic demand exceeds available capacity, with very slow speeds (stop-and-go) and long delays (over a minute) and queuing at signalized intersections.

The intersections were analyzed according the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) 1985 Operations methodology (using the TRAFFIX software version 7.0) outlined in the Santa Clara County Congestion Management Program (CMP) guidelines for traffic impact analysis. TRAFFIX has been adopted by the CMP and replaces the previously used CAPSII-ll software. The HCM 1985 Operations methodology uses average delay per vehicle to evaluate level of service rather than the volume-to-capacity (VIC) ratio.

Intersection level of service (LOS) analysis was conducted at the 17 key intersections in the study area. Table 1 presents the existing condition intersection LOS analysis. Appendix B includes the detailed intersection level of service calculations calculated as part of this report.

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• Directional signs to Fairgrounds

• Directional signs to freeways

* Parking and stopping restriction signs

Figure 4 DKS Associates Existing Sign Iventory

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8 Transit Center

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Figure 5 Existing Transit

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Table 1 Summary of Intersection Operations Existing Conditions (PM Peak Hour)

Oelay3 LOSb

1. E. Alma Ave/ S. 1st St. & Monterey Rd 32.0 0

2. E. Alma Ave/ S. 7th St 27.7 0

3. E. Alma Ave/ S. 10th St 18.5 C

4. E. Alma Ave/ Senter Rd 10.2 B

5. Curtner Ave/ SR 87 SB Ramps 6.6 B

6. Curtner Ave/ SR 87 NB Ramps 20.4 C

7. Curtner Ave/ Monterey Rd 35.2 0

8. Old Tully Rd/ Monterey Rd 13.2 B

9. Tully Rd/ S. 7th St 24.6 C

10. Tully Rd/ S. 10th St 20.9 C

11. Tully Rd/ Senter Rd > 120 F

12. Umbarger Rd/ Monterey Rd 15.9 C

13. Umbarger Rd/ Senter Rd 9.8 B

14. Lewis Rd/ Monterey Rd 10.2 B

15. Capitol Expwy WB Ramps/ Monterey Rd 9.3 B

16. Capitol Expwy EB Ramps/ Monterey Rd 8.2 B

17. Capitol Expwy/ Senter Rd 54.1 E

18. Monterey Rd/ UC Theater entranceC -- --Notes: a. Delay = Average delay, seconds b. LOS = Level of service c. Intersection to be created as part of project

Source: OKS Associates

3.4 Parking

The Santa Clara County Fairgrounds complex currently hosts a variety of events, from fairs and festivals to shows and other "performance" programs. The primary difference in parking operations between events is the arrival patterns for patrons. Universal Theater concerts would experience arrival and departure peaking, just prior to and just after the event itself. Other events, such as the Gun Show and other "all day" types of events, have more of a steady arrival and departure rate throughout the day, with a large number of patrons leaving when the

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event closes for the night. The Santa Clara County Fair is the largest of these types of events, with a peak (weekend) one-day attendance of up to 55,000 people. The peak on-site crowd is about 30,000 people, which is the figure used in this analysis. During the County Fair, the UC Theater would be used for entertainment and would be included in the peak attendance figures. Therefore, the busiest day at the Santa Clara County Fair would represent the worstcase transportation and parking scenario.

Off-Street Parking

Under the revitalization plan, parking would be moved into off-street lots located entirely within the fairgrounds complex. The lots would be of sufficient size to cover the parking needs of most events. There would be 5,000 paved parking spaces with additional overflow space for 2,500 more vehicles. Also, additional overflow parking spaces could potentially be provided at the adjacent Franklin McKinley School and Little League Baseball fields (both locations are currently utilized to park vehicles for large events). Parking capacity for large events would also be increased through the use of off-site overflow lots and shuttle service.

Parking would be included in the price of the ticket for Universal Concert Theater events. This is intended to reduce the time required to enter the fairgrounds complex. However, this policy would also remove incentives for transit use or carpooling. For events other than a Universal Theater concert, a parking fee would have to be assessed to vehicles entering the off-street fairgrounds parking lots. Because of the potential for different parking fare collection methods, there should be only one parking operator at the fairgrounds. This would lead to better and more consistent on-site parking management, and potentially reduce some of the administrative and revenue sharing problems that multiple parking operators may face.

There are additional off-street parking spaces in the fairgrounds vicinity that are estimated to total 6,323 spaces. These include the parking lots at Spartan Stadium (4,494 spaces), Municipal Stadium (976 spaces), the Ice Centre of San Jose (100 spaces), Kelly Park (550 spaces, located east of Senter Road and north of Alma Avenue), and the K-3 lot (203 spaces, located near the intersection of Senter Road and Keyes Street). These lots are not always fully available for use during an event at the fairgrounds, and coordination with each parking operator would be required.

On-Street Parking

During events at the fairgrounds complex, vehicles park along the surface streets that are in close proximity to the fairgrounds. The parking is restricted along these streets (S. 7th Street, S. 10th Street, Old Tully Road, and Umbarger Road), but people park their vehicles there regardless. The east end of Umbarger Road is the only nearby street where curbside parking is permitted. However, this area of Umbarger is the most intensely residential area in the fairgrounds vicinity.

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3.5 Traffic Control

Traffic control is comprised of traffic signals, stop signs, and traffic control presence to monitor and direct traffic. The City of San Jose Police Department provides officers in the field for each day of the Santa Clara County Fair. Traffic control personnel maintain contact with each other and pick up cones and move control elements to different locations as necessary.

The existing traffic control procedures are largely pedestrian-oriented because of the large numbers of pedestrians generated by the current site layout (with parking located on the north side of Tully Road). Currently, most patrons going to the fairgrounds park in the vicinity of the site and walk to the fairgrounds, creating high numbers of pedestrian crossings at nearby intersections. The revitalization plan for the fairgrounds calls for off-street parking to be placed entirely within the fairgrounds property, greatly reducing the number of pedestrians that cross city streets.

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4.0 RECOMMENDATIONS

The recommendations presented in this report are based on several sources, including data collection and stakeholder input. The data collection effort is described in detail in section 2 ofthe report.

The group of stakeholders for this plan includes representatives from FMC, Inc., Universal Concerts, City of San Jose Department of Streets and Traffic, and local residents. Input from stakeholders was gathered over the course of several meetings, including meetings with local residents. The preliminary revitalization plan was discussed in a public meeting. The local residents' concerns regarding the original plan, which called for an open-air amphitheater, led to the amended plan, which calls for a significantly smaller indoor theater. There have also been several project meetings with representatives from FMC, Inc and Universal Concerts.

This section of the report presents the recommendations designed to achieve the goals of the plan for each of these two main study scenarios: a sold out event at the UC Theater, and the Santa Clara County Fair. These two scenarios represent worst-case conditions for the two event types at the fairgrounds. These event types were previously discussed in section 3.4. Section 5 ofthe report presents the tools to achieve the recommendations.

4.1 Ingress Routes

The recommended ingress routing is designed to emphasize Monterey Road via Capitol Expressway to get to the UC Theater and the county fairgrounds as a viable alternate to Tully Road and Curtner Avenue. The use of Senter Road to arrive at the fairgrounds would not be encouraged. The routing choices would still be decided by each individual, of course, but the tools for implementation (Section 5 of this report) are specifically designed to influence the decisions of drivers before they enter the immediate vicinity of the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, via signs, traffic signal progression, and other elements. Figure 6 illustrates the recommended ingress routes. Once the vehicles arrive in the fairgrounds vicinity, traffic control personnel and parking operators would direct motorists to designated parking lots.

4.2 Egress Routes

The recommended egress routing is designed to prevent traffic streams from the four main fairgrounds driveway exits from conflicting with each other. The identified routes have also been selected to reduce the concentration of traffic on Tully Road and Curtner Avenue, and to provide faster exit routes for fairgrounds patrons. Because of the dispersion of traffic, it is anticipated that patrons would experience reduced travel times in exiting the fairgrounds area, even if the route is somewhat longer. Figures 7 - 10 indicate the suggested routing for egress vehicles. For clarity of presentation, the egress route figures illustrate two freeway destinations each. Various tools (signage, traffic control, and traffic signal progression),


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CAPITOL EXPWY.

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Figure 6 Suggested Ingress Paths

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Southbound

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Figure 7 Recommended US 101 NB and SB Egress Paths

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Southbound

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Figure 8 Recommended 5R 87 NB and 5B Egress Paths

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Figure 9 Recommended Capitol Expwy. WB and EB Egress Paths

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1-280 NB

1-680 NB

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Figure 10 Recommended 1-280 and 1-680 Egress Paths

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which are described in Section 5 of this report, would encourage individuals to use these egress routes. Table 3 summarizes the specific egress routes from fairgrounds parking lots.

4.3 Parking Strategies

Most of the suggested parking system management strategies can be implemented fairly quickly. Off-site parking facilities would be required for any event that is projected to have 20,000 or more people on the fairgrounds site at anyone time. This is based on the proposed number of parking spaces available in on-site facilities and an assumed average vehicle occupancy rate of 2.5 persons per vehicle for Universal Theater concerts and 3.5 persons per vehicle for the County Fair. The key parking management strategy recommendations would be:

1. Enforce on-street no parking areas in residential areas. Enforce by patrol at events and in response to complaints.

2. Maximize ingress flow into off-street lots. Adequate personnel are needed to direct motorists to available spaces in the UC Theater parking lots, or to make cash transactions at the other Fairgrounds parking lots.

3. Personnel should be moved from full parking lots to filling parking lots to optimize use. A rover should observe lots and manage overall personnel allocation. The rover also should be in radio contact with traffic control personnel to ensure that excessive traffic queues into parking facilities are not developing. Signs should point to lot locations. Publications, mailers and other informational material should clearly show lot locations.

4. Develop specifications for lot use (including off-site parking lots) and opening times by day of week and type of event. Develop contingency actions for more demand than anticipated, including shuttle service to off-site lots. Specifically, the northern overflow parking lot (see Figure 2) should be used for buses (from day-camps or church groups, for example) and/or employee parking when overflow parking conditions are anticipated.

5. Investigate use of other off-street lots in proximity to the fairgrounds, depending upon size of event. In particular, determine feasibility of using the lots at Spartan Stadium, Mu_nicipal Stadium, and Kelly Park, and possibly the lots at Alma and 10th (south comer), Alma and 7th (south comer), and at Senter and Keyes (south corner) for events exceeding the 20,000 level. Provide shuttle service to these lots.

6. When feasible, encourage the use of off-site parking lots. Make sure the public is aware of all parking lot options prior to travel to the event. Parking lot locations can be included on flyers, advertisements, brochures, ticket information, and other promotional items. Economic encouragement to use the off-site lots should be considered. Drivers that proceed directly to off-site parking lots are unlikely to drive through the more heavily-used roadways in the immediate vicinity of the fairgrounds complex.


Table 2 Recommended Egress Routes

To: From: US 101 NB US 101 SB $R 87 NB SR 87 SB Capitol EB CapitolWB 1-280 NB 1-280 SB

Umbar- Umbarger west Umbarger west Umbarger west Umbarger west Umbarger west Umbarger west Umbarger west Umbarger west ger exit to Monterey to Monterey to Monterey to Monterey to Monterey to Monterey to Monterey to Monterey

south to Capitol south to Capitol south to Capitol south to Capitol south to Capitol south to Capitol south to Capitol south to Capitol Expwy east to Expwy east to Expwy west to Expwy west to Expwy Expwy Expwy west to Expwy east to US 101 US 101 SR87 SR87 SR 87 north to US 101 north to

1-280 1-280

Monte- Monterey north Monterey north Monterey north Monterey north Monterey north Monterey north Monterey north Monterey north reyexit to Curtner west to Curtner west to Curtner west to Curtner west to Curtner west to Curtner west to Curtner west to Curtner west

to SR 87 north to SR 87 north to SR 87 to SR 87 to SR 87 south to SR 87 south to SR 87 north to SR 87 north to 1-280 south to 1-280 south to Capitol to Capitol to 1-280 to 1-280 to US 101 to US 101 Expwy Expwy

Old Old Tully east Old Tully east Old Tully east Old Tully east Old Tully east Old Tully east Old Tully east Old Tully east Tully to Tully east to to Tully east to to Tully east to to Tully east to to Tully east to to Tully east to to Tully east to to Tully east to exit US 101 US 101 Senter north to Senter south to Senter south to Senter south to Senter north to US 101 north to

Alma west to Capitol Expwy Capitol Expwy Capitol Expwy Alma west to 1-280 SR87 west to SR 87 SR 87 north to

1-280

Tully Tully east to US Tully east to US Tully east to Tully east to Tully east to Tully east to Tully east to Tully east to US exit 101 101 Senter north to Senter south to Senter south to Senter south to Senter north to 101 north to

Alma west to Capitol Expwy Capitol Expwy Capitol Expwy Alma west to 1-280 SR87 west to SR 87 SR 87 north to

1-280 •


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7. Manage egress from off-street parking lots. Parking controllers should be available at the end of events to direct traffic out of the lots. Parking controllers would be required to direct traffic to exits and manage vehicle conflicts. Also, parking controllers should be familiar with the recommended egress routes so that they can answer questions as theyarise.

8. Encourage the use of public transportation. The VTA should be contacted about joint promotion of appropriate transit routes. Existing transit brochures, maps and promotional pieces should be used to the maximum extent possible in mailings to event attendees.


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5.0 TOOLS TO SUPPORT RECOMMENDATIONS

To implement the recommendations listed in Section 4, several tools would be used. These tools include signage, parking control, traffic control, signal timing, and marketing.

5.1 Sign Improvements

Based on the existing sign inventory, and the desired ingress and egress paths outlined in Section 4, additional signs should be placed on area roadways as illustrated in Figure 11. More detail on each ofthe types of signs is provided below.

Freeway Signs

Permanent freeway signs should be placed at two key locations. These signs are in addition to existing signs on the freeway system, and would serve to direct ingress traffic to the appropriate arterial and local streets. The signs would say "Fairgrounds Traffic Exit X Road," for example. The two additional signs should be located at the following locations:

1. on US 101 northbound just south of Capitol Expressway, and

2. on SR 87 northbound just south of Capitol Expressway.

Changeable Message Signs (eMS)

A total of six portable changeable message signs (CMS) should be used to aid ingress traffic for the Santa Clara County Fair. Four portable CMS should be placed on freeway roadsides before major interchanges (decision-points) to influence the ingress paths of arriving motorists. Three additional portable message signs are recommended for arterial use, to influence the ingress and egress paths of motorists.

Caltrans District 4 has currently proposed three permanent CMS locations in the study vicinity as part of their Traffic Operations System (TOS) plan. However, two of these signs would be of little value to the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds because their exact locations place them at points away from the recommended ingress routes of this plan.

The list below (Table 3) summarizes the six recommended portable changeable message sign (CMS) locations and the one current Caltrans CMS location that has potential benefit to the fairgrounds. The suggested CMS locations are also presented in Figure 12.

The CMS should be used for Santa Clara County Fair conditions traffic management beginning at least two hours prior to the opening hour of the Santa Clara County Fair. The intent of using CMS is that they would convey the designated travel path to a motorist, and would catch their attention more than a fixed sign. Also, there would be an immediate recognition for the driver that this is the intended route. While many drivers, especially those

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• New directional signs to Fairgrounds

o Remove existing directional signs to Fairgrounds

• New directional signs to freeways * Portable Sign

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Figure 11 Static Sign Recommendations

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c[J Caltrans Proposed CMS

.. Proposed Portable CMS (for use during Santa Clara County Fair)

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Figure 12 Proposed Changeable Message Sign Locations

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that are more familiar with the local roadways, would continue to use their pre-determined route, many motorists would select their route based on the signs that are placed on the roadway only for specific events. Portable CMS is suggested in this plan, in lieu of permanent signs, in order to receive the benefits of CMS without the larger cost of permanent signs, while maintaining the flexibility of portable signs. Recommendations for specific sign messages are provided below.

Table 3 eMS Recommended Locations and Messages

CMS Sign Location CMS Sign Message for Fairgrounds Events

1. on SR 87 NB, south of Capitol Expwy Fairgrounds Traffic, Exit Capitol EXpwy

2. on US 101 NB, south of Capitol Expwy Fairgrounds Traffic, Exit Capitol Expwy

3. on US 101 SB, north of 1-280/680 Fairgrounds Traffic, Exit Tully Road

4. on 1-680 SB, north of US 101 Fairgrounds Traffic, Take 101 South

5. on Capitol Expwy EB, west of Monterey Rd Fairgrounds, Take Monterey Road North

6. on Capitol Expwy WB, east of Monterey Rd Fairgrounds, Take Monterey Road North

7. on Monterey Road NB, south of All 101 Traffic Take 87 North to 1-280 South Curtner/Tully

8. on 1-280 SB, north of SR 87a Fairgrounds Traffic, Take 87 South

Notes: a. Location of Caltrans proposed CMS Source: OKS Associates

Arterial Signs - Ingress

Currently, there are few arterial signs aimed at directing ingress circulation towards the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds. Additional signs that state "Fairgrounds" with an appropriate directional arrow to assist ingress traffic should be placed at the following locations (see Figure 11):

1. Capitol Expressway westbound to direct ingress traffic onto Monterey Road northbound

2. Capitol Expressway eastbound to direct ingress traffic onto Monterey Road northbound

3. Senter Road northbound to direct ingress traffic onto Umbarger Road westbound

4. Monterey Road northbound to direct ingress traffic onto Umbarger Road eastbound

5. Monterey Road southbound to direct ingress traffic into the fairgrounds driveway located between Umbarger Road and Old Tully Road

6. Tully Road westbound to direct ingress traffic onto Old Tully road westbound

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7. Old Tully Road westbound to direct ingress traffic into the fairgrounds driveway located between Tully Road and Monterey Road

8. Curtner Avenue eastbound to direct ingress traffic onto Monterey Road

In addition, arterial ingress signs should be removed from the following locations:

1. on Monterey Road southbound directing ingress traffic onto Old Tully Road eastbound

2. on Monterey Road northbound directing ingress traffic onto Old Tully Road eastbound

The intent of arterial signs is to serve as guidance between regional roadways (freeways, state highways) and the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds. The freeway signs (permanent and CMS) direct motorists to the correct exit so that the intended arterial roadway is used. Once on the arterial roadway, motorists need clear direction to the fairgrounds area, or they may seek alternate routes through residential or business areas.

Arterial Signs ~ Egress

Because there are very few egress-oriented arterial signs, additional signs' that provide direction to regional roadways are needed. These signs would work in tandem with the traffic control directing motorists out of parking lots at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds. Once the local traffic control personnel, via cones, barricades or manual direction, send motorists out ofthe immediate fairgrounds vicinity, motorists need clear direction to get to their desired destination. Fixed signs on signposts, that are coordinated with the egress route recommendations noted in Section 4, should be placed at the following locations (see Figure 11):

1. Monterey Road southbound near Capitol Expressway to direct motorists east to US 101 and west to SR 87

2. Senter Road southbound near Capitol Expressway to direct motorists east to US 101 and west to SR 87

3. Umbarger westbound prior to Monterey Road to direct motorists south to Capitol Expressway

4. Monterey Road northbound before Curtner / Tully to direct motorists onto Curtner Avenue westbound to SR 87 (and to Capitol Expressway and 1-280)

5. Curtner Avenue westbound near SR 87 to direct motorists south to Capitol Expressway and north to 1-280

6. Tully Road eastbound prior to Senter Road to direct motorists south to Capitol Expressway, east to US 101, and north to SR 87

7. Senter Road northbound prior to Alma Avenue to direct motorists west to SR 87

Portable Signs

There is a need for an additional, portable residential street management sign at Lewis Road. Portable signs are small-sized signs that are put directly on the roadway specifically for an

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event. The most common portable sign has blue lettering on a white background, and would have a short message on it such as "Residents Only." The portable sign should be a "Residents Only" sign on the east side of Monterey Road at Lewis Road, facing Monterey Road (see Figure 11).

General Sign Issues

There is a need for ongoing sign maintenance for both arterial ingress and arterial egress signs to make sure signs on arterial roadways are not obscured by tress or other items. This existing situation is particularly evident on Tully Road westbound and on Senter Road Northbound. As more signs are added to the street network, the issue would be become even more important.

5.2 Parking Control

The main vehicle for implementing parking lot operation strategies would be the contract governing the operation of the parking lots at the Fairgrounds. Several tools have been developed in this area, including the use of personnel, other parking lots, and pre-paid parking fees. With respect to parking operations, the contract should specify:

II Number of personnel (pass/ticket processors and parking directors) by lot and by event type (as described in Section 4.3)

II Rover personnel allocation and requirements for contact with traffic control personnel

• Contingency plan for opening overflow lots and utilizing off-site lots, such as the Spartan Stadium, Municipal Stadium or Kelly Park parking lots

• Ingress and egress actions by operators to ensure orderly traffic flow

In the contract governing the parking operations at the Fairgrounds, the right should be reserved to alter the parking operations specifications based on evaluation and to renegotiate agreement terms accordingly.

To assist in the management of parking and traffic, a Parking Authority or Board should be established that clearly establishes policies. The Parking Authority should be joint operating group involving key stakeholders responsible for managing the site in a cooperative effort. Areas covered by the Parking Authority's policies should include the timing of events so that there is minimal overlap with weekday commute traffic, and also the use of all properties at the Fairgrounds should be planned so that there is a minimization of impacts to weekday commute traffic. Another policy should state that parking lots should not have an advertised opening time during prime commute hours in order to discourage early arrivals overlapping with commute traffic.

Other actions that should be taken include:

• Investigate the use of traffic control personnel for on-street parking enforcement during a fairgrounds event as part of the agreement to use traffic control personnel for ingress

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SANTA CLARA COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS TRANSPORTA nON & PARKING PLAN

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and egress traffic and pedestrian movements.

e Investigate availability of other off-street lots in proximity to the fairgrounds for large events. In particular, the feasibility of using one or more parking lots at Spartan Stadium, Municipal Stadium and Kelly Park.

e Contact VTA transit about joint promotions of appropriate transit routes. Obtain and utilize existing transit brochures, maps, promotional pieces to the maximum extent possible in mailings to event attendees.

e Evaluate the compliance of the parking operator with contract specifications for event management. Also evaluate traffic backups, lot ingress/egress, volume of neighborhood complaints and parking spillover into sensitive areas. Re-negotiate contract and revise event plan accordingly.

5.3 Traffic Control

In order to use the proposed UC Theater driveway on Monterey Road, some roadway modifications would need to be made. Specifically, there is no intersection at the proposed driveway location, so one would need to be created (please refer to the proposed schematic graphic in Figure 13). A median on Monterey Road currently separates the northbound and southbound flows at this location. This median would need to be modified in order to make egress and ingress possible to and from the southbound direction on Monterey Road. A separate left tum lane would need to be part of this intersection for the southbound direction on Monterey, as there is expected to be a large number of vehicles making southbound left turns as well as a fair amount of traffic that would continue south through the intersection. The left tum bay should be 550 feet long, based on the 95th percentile queue to be expected from the UC Theater's average attendance. A signal would also be added at this location to handle the added conflicting movements. There would be no west leg (for eastbound traffic) at the new intersection. The entrance itself should have two lanes in each direction. Two receiving lanes would increase the number of vehicles that can enter the fairgrounds at one time, but the primary reason to use two lanes on the driveway would be to avoid traffic backups behind vehicles turning into individual parking lots.

Consideration should also be given to improvements along Umbarger Road, particularly on the west end of Umbarger since this portion ofthe road would be a primary ingress and egress path to the fairgrounds. This echoes prior evaluations by City of San Jose staff that also indicate consideration should be given to improvements on Umbarger, such as road widening and the addition of sidewalks.

The use of traffic control personnel for manual traffic control would be maintained. The amount of traffic control personnel presence needed for traffic control would vary depending on the anticipated attendance of each event.

For any UC Theater event, a minimum of six traffic control personnel would be required. Five would be assigned to intersections, and there would be one coordinator. For a Theater event that is expected to have an attendance of 5,000 or greater, eight traffic control personnel

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would be required. Again, there would be five traffic control personnel assigned to posts with one coordinator, along with two "floating" traffic control personnel that would aid in traffic control as needed.

An example of the floating traffic control personnel would be to station someone at the intersection of Senter Road and Tully Road if the intersection was found to be backing up. Given the existing congestion at this intersection during peak commute hours, this may be a location that warrants additional personnel from time to time.

Table 4, below, summarizes the proposed traffic control plan. Figures 14 and 15 illustrate the proposed traffic control points for the ingress and egress plans of UC Theater events. One area where traffic control personnel presence would be expanded is to enforce parking regulations on local streets.

Another potential traffic control measure that could ease ingress congestion on Monterey Road would be to convert a southbound through lane into a temporary left tum lane. This is also shown graphically on Figure 13. Through the use of cones or pop-up delineators, the section of Monterey Road between Old Tully Road and the UC Theater entrance would temporarily be changed to two southbound through lanes and two left tum lanes. The reason for this would be to facilitate faster ingress into the parking lots. No changes to northbound traffic would be implemented, and this condition would last for about an hour to an hour-anda-half (roughly the time period after the peak commute hours diminish and up to the time a show starts at the UC Theater). This potential measure would have to be explored further with City of San Jose and Caltrans personnel before it can be made part of the Levell Plan.

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Figure 13 Proposed New Traffic Signal with Roadway Modifications

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Table 4 Traffic Control - UC Theater Events

Ingress Plan

Location Objective Traffic Control Personnel

Old Tully! • Give priority to traffic entering fairgrounds 1 Fairgrounds driveway

Monterey! Old • Restrict southbound left turns 1 Tully • Give priority to southbound traffic when necessary Monterey! • Give priority to traffic entering fairgrounds 1 Fairgrounds driveway

I ~, Umbarger! • Give priority to traffic entering fairgrounds 1 Fairgrounds driveway 7thrrully • Give priority to westbound traffic turning left 1

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Umbarger! • Post Fairgrounds security personnel to restrict access to Fairgrounds unauthorized vehicles service entrance

Tully! • Driveway is exit only - restrict vehicles from entering Fairgrounds driveway driveway Tully! Overflow • Driveway is exit only - restrict vehicles from entering lot driveway driveway


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Table 4 (cont.) Traffic Control - UC Theater Events

Egress Plan

i I, Location Goal Traffic Control Personnel

Old Tully! • Give priority to traffic exiting fairgrounds 1

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• Restrict left turns to traffic exiting fairgrounds

Monterey! Old • Restrict northbound right turns 1 Tully • Give priority to northbound traffic when necessary

Monterey! • Give priority to traffic exiting fairgrounds 1

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• Monitor traffic signal operations Umbarger! • Give priority to traffic exiting fairgrounds 1

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7thITuily • Give priority to eastbound traffic from Old Tully 1

• Restrict northbound through and northbound left turning movements

• Monitor traffic signal operations and queues

Tully! • Driveway is exit only - restrict vehicles from entering Fairgrounds driveway driveway

Tully! Overflow • Driveway is exit only - restrict vehicles from entering lot driveway driveway

Monterey! • Discourage westbound right turning movements Umbarger

Monterey! • Discourage northbound right turning movements Curtner-Tully


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Recommended Traffic Control Egress Plan for UC Theater Events

Traffic control obviously becomes more complicated with large events such as the Santa Clara County Fair. For all-day events, the ingress and egress traffic control plans would be in effect at the same time. That is, there would be many vehicles going to, and coming from, the fairgrounds at the same time. The traffic control plan for large events builds on the traffic control presented for smaller events (Table 4, above), but additional traffic control personnel would be needed at various locations. The traffic control plan for large events is summarized below in Table 5. Four floating traffic control personnel and a coordinator would also be used. Figure 16 illustrates the proposed traffic control points for the ingress and egress plans oflarge events such as the Santa Clara County Fair.

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Table 5

Traffic Control - Santa Clara County Fair

Location Objective Traffic Control Personnel

Old Tully! • Give priority to traffic entering fairgrounds 1 Fairgrounds • Restrict northbound left turns driveway

Monterey! Old • Restrict southbound left turns 1 Tully • Restrict northbound right turns

• Give priority to southbound traffic when necessary

Monterey! • Give priority to traffic entering fairgrounds 1 Fairgrounds • Restrict westbound left turns driveway ! \

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Fairgrounds • Restrict southbound left turns

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7thITuily • Give priority to westbound traffic turning left 1

• Restrict northbound left and northbound through movements

• Restrict eastbound right turns • Monitor traffic signal operations and queues

Monterey! • Restrict northbound right turns 1 Curtner-Tully • Direct fairgrounds traffic south

Monterey! • Restrict westbound right turns 1 Umbarger • Give priority to traffic exiting Umbarger Road

I I Monterey! • Post Fairgrounds security personnel to restrict access to Fairgrounds unauthorized vehicles service entrance

Umbarger! • Post Fairgrounds security personnel to restrict access to Fairgrounds unauthorized vehicles service entrance

Tully! • Driveway is exit only - restrict vehicles from entering Fairgrounds driveway driveway

Tully! Overflow • Driveway is exit only - restrict vehicles from entering lot driveway driveway

Senter! Capitol • Westbound right turns discouraged Expwy


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Southbound left turns restricted Northbound right turns restricted



Southbound left turns restricted




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Recommended Traffic Control Plan for Santa Clara County Fair

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The use of cones and barricades should be maintained to assist in the direction of ingress and egress traffic flow.

The egress traffic control plan at the intersection of 7th and Tully is further explained in Figure 17. As shown in the figure, vehicles traveling east from Old Tully become the northbound leg via a short left tum that brings vehicles north to face the signal. Vehicles wishing to tum north onto 7th Street or west onto Tully Road make this short tum and become northbound through and left movements. Vehicles traveling east on Old Tully Road that wish to continue traveling east on Tully Road are currently given a separate channel that bypasses the traffic signal, but which is controlled by a stop sign. This channel merges with the southernmost lane on Tully Road (there are three lanes in each direction on Tully). There would be a traffic control person posted at this intersection during fairground event egress. Their job would be to restrict northbound left and through movements, give priority to vehicles traveling east onto Tully Road from Old Tully Road, and generally monitor intersection operations and queuing. This would best be accomplished with the following measures:

• Covering the stop sign on the eastbound channel connecting Old Tully and Tully

• Barricading the short left tum from Old Tully which allows the northbound left and through movements at the intersection with 7th Street

• Placing cones in the southernmost lane of Tully Road, west of the intersection with 7th

Street, to taper across the lane, forcing vehicles to merge into the next lane (this would also restrict eastbound right turns at the intersection)

• Placing cones across the southernmost lane of Tully Road, after the intersection with 7th

Street, to prevent traffic from entering this lane from the west or north. Cones would also have to be placed east along Tully Road to prevent eastbound traffic from Tully Road from reentering this lane and interfering with traffic exiting from the fairgrounds. The cones would extend to a point that would allow free merging to fairgrounds traffic without significantly restricting the ability of fairgrounds traffic from making a left tum on Senter Road (which is part of the egress plan).

These measures would allow a steady progression of vehicles from Old Tully road onto Tully Road while also minimizing conflicts with the ambient traffic at the intersection.

For large events such as the Santa Clara County Fair, the ingress traffic control plan can take advantage of the two proposed receiving lanes of the fairgrounds entrance on Monterey Road. There would be one left turning bay for southbound traffic, but another could be created by placing cones to separate the easternmost southbound through lane from the other through lanes and placing a temporary sign before the cones that designates the easternmost southbound lane as a left tum only lane. This would allow a larger volume of vehicles to enter the fairgrounds than only one left tum bay would allow. This action is only appropriate as long as there are two receiving lanes at the fairgrounds entrance.

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Traffic Control, S. 7th Street and Tully Road

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For events in which parking demand exceeds the on-site supply, patrons may park nearby (i.e. on 7U1 or 10th Streets) and walk to the fairgrounds. Traffic control personnel at busy locations should not have to direct two-way traffic and also monitor pedestrian crossings. When necessary, one additional traffic control personnel should be used at each location that shows a high number of vehicles and pedestrians.

Sufficient staffing at the parking lots (see Section 4.3) should also be used to keep the flow of traffic moving into the parking lots.

Table 6 provides minimum traffic control personnel staffing for Santa Clara County Fairgrounds events. Traffic control is dynamic and subject to change based on traffic and pedestrian patterns, and decisions would be made by traffic control personnel in the field as necessary.

Table 6 Recommended Minimum Traffic Control Personnel Staffing

Event Condition Minimum Number of Traffic Control Personnel

UC Theater attendance up to 5,000 6

UC Theater attendance> 5,000 8

Santa Clara County Fair Condition 12

Notes: a. More traffic control personnel may be required for selected events based on input from the

suggested Fairgrounds Parking Authority, the City of San Jose, the nature of the event, and the anticipated attendance level.

b. Number of traffic control personnel includes one coordinator.


Intersection Operational Analysis

The study intersections were analyzed in terms of level of service (LOS). For a discussion of LOS see section 3.3. The intersections were analyzed for the following scenarios:

1. project conditions with no event,

2. ingress for average attendance DC Theater event,

3. ingress for sold out DC Theater event,

4. busiest day ofthe Santa Clara County Fair

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Table 7 Intersection Level of Service and Average Delay (sec I veh) Weekday PM Peak Period

Intersection Existing Delay1/LOS2

1. E. Alma/ S. 1 st St & Monterey Rd 32.0 / D

2. E. Alma/ S. 7th St 27.7 / D

3. E. Alma/ S. 10th St 18.5 / C

4. E. Alma/ Senter Rd 10.2 / B

5. Curtner Ave/ SR 87 SB Ramps 6.6 / B

6. Curtner Ave/ SR 87 NB Ramps 20.4 / C

7. Curtner Ave/ Monterey Rd 35.2 / D

8. Old Tully Rd/ Monterey Rd 13.2 I B

9. Tully Rd/ S. 7th St 24.6 / C

10. Tully Rdl S. 10th St 20.9 / C

11. Tully Rd/ Senter Rd > 120 I F

12. Umbarger Rd/ Monterey Rd 15.9 / C

13. Umbarger Rdl Senter Rd 9.8 / B

14. Lewis Rd/ Monterey Rd 10.2 / B

15. Capitol Expwy WB Ramps/ Monterey Rd 9.3 / B

16. Captiol Expwy EB Ramps/ Monterey Rd 8.2 / B

17. Capitol Expwy/ Senter Rd 54.1 / E

18. Monterey Rd/ UC Theater entrance3 -- / -

Notes: 1. Delay = average delay, seconds

Ingress, average Ingress, sold out

8aseline4 UC Theater event UC Theater event

Delay/LOS Delay/LOS Delay/LOS

32.0 / D 33.9 / D 36.4 / D

27.8 / D 28.0 / D 28.2 / D

18.5 / C 19.0 / C 19.5 / C

10.2 / B 10.1 / B 10.1 / B

7.2 / B 12.6 / B 16.7 / C

20.3 / C 19.6 / C 19.5 / C

36.1 / D 62.0 / F > 120 / F

13.2 I B 11.9 I B 12.2 / B

25.1 / D 44.4 / E > 120 / F

20.8 / C 20.9 / C 21.8 I C

> 120 I F > 120 I F > 120 / F

17.7 / C 16.6 I C 20.5 / C

11.4 / B 14.5 / B 18.7 I C

10.2 / B 10.5 / B 10.5 / B

9.7 / B 10.2 I B 13.2 / B

8.8 / B 18.8 / C 26.6 / D

54.6 / E 54.6 / E 55.0 / E

0.0 / A 5.2 / B 7.5 / B

2. LOS = level of service, as defined by 1997 Highway Capacity Manual (TRB Special Report 209, 1997), Operations Methodology. 3. Intersection to be created as part of project 4. Baseline = Existing Conditions plus site revitalization without fairgrounds event

Santa Clara County

Fair, busiest day

Delay/LOS

59.2 / E

31.9 / D

25.1 / D

13.1 / B

39.2 / D

36.6 / D

> 120 / F

13.2 / B

> 120 I F

21.2 / C

> 120 I F

> 120 / F

23.6 / C

10.4 / B

14.7 / B

16.3 / C

113.1 / F

> 120 / F

5. UC Theater and County Fair traffic was overlapped on top of weekday pm commute traffic to provide conservative estimates of LOS and delay (no weekday post-commute or weekend base traffic data were available at the time of analysis).

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For the analysis, it was assumed that all vehicles followed the suggested ingress and egress routes, and that all suggested Levell traffic control measures suggested were implemented. A summary of the LOS analysis is included in Table 7.

Because of the methodology used in this analysis, with overlapping weeknight theater or weekend fair traffic on top of weekday pm commute traffic, the level of service analysis provides very conservative estimates of traffic conditions. This type of analysis was conducted, however, to provide some measure of project traffic impacts. In reality, less UC theater and less County Fair traffic would actuallybe on the road during the peak weekday pm commute hour. Also worth noting is the number of times the worse case scenario would occur. In this case, the Santa County Fair runs for ten days each year, with the majority of visitors on the four weekend days, and only a small percentage on weekday evenings.

Project Conditions with No Event

Part of the fairgrounds revitalization project includes the development of the Tully Road parking lot into a light industrial parcel and also the construction of a basketball and volleyball facility to be located off of Umbarger Road. These parcels would generate trips regardless of whether an event is planned on the fairgrounds, and so an analysis of this scenario was necessary to create an effective baseline condition with which to compare the remaining scenario analysis results.

Trip generation, which was used as a part of the scenario analysis, is a process which estimates the number of vehicle trips generated by a proposed development. The generated trips include trips into and out of a development. The trips are generated by relating the number of trips entering or exiting the project site to the type of land use and size of the proposed development. The trip generation rates are based on traffic counts and surveys at similar existing land uses.

A summary ofthe trip generation for the proposed fairgrounds project is contained in Table 8. The trip generation rate for the light industrial development was based on rates published in the Institute of Transportation Engineers, Trip Generation, 6th Edition, 1997. The proposed project contains both light industrial and recreational community center land uses. The light industrial portion of the project would consist of approximately 8.4 acres (the acreage figure is based on a scaled map and would need to be verified to assess the trip generation). The recreational (rec) community center portion of the proposed project would consist of a maximum of 70,000 square feet and contain seven basketball courts, two of which could be converted to volleyball courts. The weekday PM peak hour trips for the rec center were estimated to be 336 vehicle trips. This is a higher amount of trips than suggested in the Institute of Transportation Engineers, Trip Generation, but seems more consistent with the actual development. The conservative total of 336 trips was estimated based on 8 players per team at the center, 2 teams per court, an equal number of people waiting to use the courts, and one guest for every two players.

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Table 8 Baseline Trip Generation Summary

PM Peak Hour

Land Use Size Rate Trips In Out

Light Industrial 8.4 acres 8.77 74 22 52

Recreational Community Center 70,000 SP 4.82 336 168 168

TOTAL 410 190 220 Notes: a. SF = Square feet b. Rate not based on ITE, Trip Generation (see text discussion)


Under the baseline condition there is one intersection, at Tully and Senter, that would operate at LOS F. This intersection also operates at LOS F under the existing condition (see Table 8).

All vehicle trips generated as part of the project analysis scenarios would be added to this baseline condition, which includes trips from the light industrial and rec center developments. A summary ofthe trips generated for each analysis scenario is presented in Table 9.

Ingress for Average Attendance, UC Theater Event

Universal Concerts has estimated the average attendance at the UC Theater to be 4,500 people. A 2.5 average vehicle occupancy was assumed (based on Universal Concerts survey data) which gives a total of approximately 1,800 vehicles traveling to the theater. The start time for most UC Theater events should be timed to minimize any overlap with weekday PM peak hour commute traffic. It was assumed that all vehicles would arrive within an hour of the start time (it is recommended that, for weekday events, the parking lots should not have an advertised opening time until one hour before a concert starts in order to discourage early arrivals). It is important to realize that the parking lots arrivals would occur after the pm peak commute period on the surrounding road network. Therefore, adding the theater trips to the surrounding roadway's peak period is somewhat conservative.

The intersection at Tully and Senter would operate at LOS F for this scenario, as it did under the baseline condition. In addition, the intersection at Curtner and Monterey would decrease from LOS D in the baseline condition to LOS F in this scenario (see Table 7). As noted earlier, in order to be conservative it was assumed that UC theater traffic overlapped with commute traffic, although this is not likely to be the case.

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Table 9 Analysis Scenarios Trip Generation Summary

Peak Hour

Scenario Attendance Trips In Out

Average attendance UC Theater event, ingress 4,500 1,800 1,800

Average attendance UC Theater event, egress 4,500 1,800 1,800

Sold out UC Theater event, ingress 8,300 3,320 3,320

Sold out UC Theater event, egress 8,300 3,320 3,320

Santa Clara County Fair, busiest day 30,000 6,300 3,150 3,150

Notes: a. UC Theater vehicle trips calculated by dividing attendance by average vehicle occupancy of 2.5 persons per vehicle. b. For analysis purposes, maximum attendance during a peak hour Fair condition is 30,000 persons. c. Fair vehicle trips calculated by dividing attendance by average vehicle occupancy of 3.5 persons per vehicle and then rounding up by 5% to account for any fluctuation in vehicle occupancy. This number was then multiplied by 70% to find the number of vehicles traveling during a peak hour.


Ingress for Sold Out UC Theater Event

The current plan for the UC Theater calls for a capacity seating of about 8,300 people. Using the same 2.5 vehicle occupancy as noted above gives approximately 3,300 vehicles traveling to the theater. The same start time was assumed as in the previous ingress scenario, and, again, the analysis is somewhat conservative because the ingress trips are being added to peak traffic that occurs earlier in the day.

The intersection at Tully and Senter would operate at LOS F for this scenario, as it did under the baseline condition. In addition, the intersections at Curtner and Monterey, and Tully and 7th Street, both decrease to LOS F from their baseline conditions of LOS D (see Table 7). As with the other analysis scenarios, in order to be conservative it was assumed that theater traffic overlapped with commute traffic, although this is not likely to be the case.

Busiest Day of the Santa Clara County Fair

The busiest days of the Santa Clara County Fair can see as many as 45,000 people at the fairgrounds over the course of the day, including the evening. However, there are only four such days each year, the four weekend days during the run of the Fair. It was assumed that as

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many as 30,000 people might be at the fairgrounds at anyone time. FMC, Inc., provided an average vehicle occupancy rate for the Fair of 3.5 people per vehicle based on their survey data. Using this vehicle occupancy rate, and rounding up by 5% to account for any fluctuation in vehicle occupancy, it can be assumed that approximately 9,000 vehicles would be at the fairgrounds at anyone time during the four weekend days of the Fair. It was further assumed that only 70% of these vehicles would be moving within the same hour, and that half of the vehicles would be traveling to the fair and half of the vehicles would be traveling away from the fair. This means that at most 3,150 vehicles would be going to the fair, and 3,150 vehicles would be coming from the fair (6,300 total vehicles in an hour). This analysis is somewhat conservative because it assumes all vehicles would be traveling to and from the fairgrounds when, in fact, for an event of this size, some off-site parking would be utilized. This assumption is not unreasonable for ingress traffic, however, because many vehicles would first try to park directly at the fairgrounds before proceeding to off-site parking areas.

The intersection at Tully and Senter would operate at LOS F under this scenario, as it did under the baseline condition. In addition, the LOS of the following intersections would decrease to LOS F (see Table 7):

• Curtner/ Monterey

• Tully/7th

• Umbarger/ Monterey

• Capitol Expressway/ Senter

• Monterey/ fairgrounds entrance

It was assumed that the UC Theater would be used as an entertainment venue in conjunction with the County Fair, thus not affecting the maximum on-site attendance during the ten day run of the County Fair. In other words, the UC Theater would not add more people to the worse case scenario during the run ofthe Fair.

The analysis presented in this report overestimates traffic and parking impacts during the Fair, since it was assumed that peak Fair traffic overlapped with weekday commute traffic. The Fair has much less attendance during the week than on weekends, and would generate less traffic during the weekday pm peak commute period than the analysis shown here.

5.4 Signal Timing

In conjunction with traffic control personnel and personnel monitoring traffic at key locations, manual and traffic responsive signal timing plans should be developed and implemented by the City of San Jose for different types of events at the Fairgrounds. City of San Jose staff have also recommended this measure in previous evaluations of the fairgrounds site. These signal timing plans would be for the signals on key corridors under the ingress and egress plan as shown in Figure 18.

The use of manual timing plans are the most conventional and simplest to implement. They involve gathering traffic counts during specific events and developing signal progression for

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directional travel during fixed hours of each type of event. As an example, the San Jose Arena uses up to 12 different plans for different events depending not only on the attendance, but the day of week and time of day of an event.

Traffic responsive signal timing plans, or Traffic Responsive Pattern Selection (TRPS) are more difficult to prepare and implement. This operation involves additional field hardware, extensive testing and preparation to be implemented and effective. If implemented properly, this type of operation can be the most effective automated response to peak traffic demands.

Almost all of the parking is centrally located and adjacent to the main corridors. This enables a relatively simple signal coordination scheme surrounding performance-type events, such as a concert at the theater. This is true for both inbound and outbound vehicles, progressing them towards the Fairgrounds before an event and away from the Fairgrounds after an event. The same cannot be said for all day events, such as the County Fair, in which large numbers of vehicles would be coming and going throughout the day.

The City of San Jose's Signal Central would be the focal point for all signal timing activities, with staff closely coordinating activities with traffic control personnel, parking lot attendants, and personnel at the parking lot access points. Signal progression schemes would operate in conjunction with traffic control personnel favoring specific corridors for directional travel (e.g., after an event, direct traffic from westbound Umbarger Road onto southbound Monterey Road and heavily favor signal progression for southbound Monterey Road).

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.. Signalized Intersection

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Figure 18 Signals to Operate Under Special Event Timings

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Manual Signal Timing Plans

For the Fairgrounds, the following major corridors would be subject to manual signal timing plans under the proposed ingress and egress plans:

• Curtner Avenue between SR 87 SB off-ramp and Monterey Road (6 signals)

• Monterey Road between Alma Avenue and Old Tully Road (5 signals)

• Monterey Road between Capitol Expressway south ramp and Umbarger Road (6 signals)

• Senter Road at Umbarger Road (1 signal)

• Tully Road between Senter Road and S. 7th Street (3 signals)

• Alma Avenue between Senter Road and First Street (4 signals)

The development of the manual timing plans as well as the implementation times for these manual plans would depend on the start and end times and the expected attendance of an event. For the purposes of signal timing for the fairgrounds, events are categorized as either average UC Theater attendance, sold out UC Theater condition, or Santa Clara County Fair conditions. Average UC Theater attendance would consist of approximately 4,500 persons. A sold out UC Theater event would have approximately 8,300 persons. The busiest day at the Santa Clara County Fair would bring approximately 30,000 people to the fairgrounds at any one time.

Because of the cost of creating and implementing signal timing plans, this is a Level 2 recommendation, to be implemented after Levell measures (signs, traffic control, parking strategies, marketing, etc.).

For average UC Theater attendance, it is not anticipated that any form of special signal timing plans would be needed for traffic movement to and from the Fairgrounds parking areas. Other forms of manual traffic control in conjunction with roadside directional signs and changeable message signs should be adequate to handle the increased traffic demand. However, for the sold out UC Theater condition and the Santa Clara County Fair condition, manual timing plans would need to be developed on all the corridors listed above.

The following describes the system-wide recommendations that need to be taken to implement manual timing plans for both medium and large events, under the Ingress and Egress Plans. These recommendations assume that Signal Central is staffed during Fairgrounds events.

• Manual or automatic (via loops) turning movement counts would need to be conducted for at least three hours prior to and after a medium and large event, or alternatively peak hour volumes can be factored up based on automatic machine counts collected during the same periods.

• Four Cycle Plans would need to be developed for each event:

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Two for the Ingress Plan; the first to accommodate the intennediate peak traffic, and the second to accommodate the peak directional inbound traffic

Two for the Egress Plan; the first to accommodate the intennediate peak traffic, and the second to accommodate the peak directional outbound traffic

.. Implementation of the Cycle Plans for the Ingress and Egress Plans would be via the operator at Signal Central

.. Detennine the critical intersections along each corridor that would detennine the operating cycle length.

.. Operate all signals in each corridor under longest practical cycle length (up to 170 seconds) with the majority of the cycle time (splits) assigned to the coordinated (main street) phase designated under the Ingress and Egress Plans.

.. Develop signal offsets which heavily favor the peak direction of travel (i.e., eastbound Curtner under the Ingress Plan and westbound Curtner under the Egress Plan).

• Enable coordinated maximums and utilize the second maximum green setting (Max 2) with long green times for the coordinated phase(s) in the time of day plans running the cycle plans.

If Signal Central is not staffed during the sold DC Theater condition and Fair condition, the following additional recommendations would be needed.

• Six Time of Day (TaD) Plans would need to be developed:

- Start time for the first Ingress Cycle Plan (intennediate peak traffic)

Start time for the second Ingress Cycle Plan (peak traffic)

End time for the second Ingress Cycle Plan

- Start time for the first Egress Cycle Plan

Start time for the second Egress Cycle Plan

End time for the second Egress Cycle Plan

• For both a sold out DC Theater and a Santa County Fair event, the first Ingress Plan timing plan should be implemented at least 2 hours prior to the event, with the peak traffic cycle plan starting no later than one hour prior to the event, and the Egress Plan timing plan ending no earlier than 1 hour after the event.

Prior evaluations of traffic conditions during the Santa County Fair by City of San Jose staff also indicated that time of day plans may be used instead of event timing plans.

The following are recommended in preparing the manual timing plans for each of the corridors:

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Curtner Avenue between SR 87 SB off-ramp and Monterey Road (5 of 6 signals)

• Maintain the east-west through movements (phases 2 and 6) on Curtner Avenue as the coordination phase under the Ingress Plan and Egress Plan. Maximize green throughput for the eastbound through phase under the Ingress Plan and for the westbound through phase under the Egress Plan.

e At SR 87 southbound off-ramp, maximize the southbound left-tum movement (phase 8) under the Ingress Plan.

Monterey Road between Alma Avenue and Old Tully Road (5 signals)

• Maintain the north-south through movements (phases 2 and 6) on Monterey Road as the coordination phase under the Ingress Plan and maximize green throughput for the southbound through phase.

e At Monterey/Curtner, designate the northbound through and left-tum movements (phases 1 and 6) as the coordination phase under the Egress Plan. Maintain the northsouth through movements (phases 2 and 6) as the coordination phases under the Ingress Plan.

Monterey Road between Capitol Expressway south ramp and Umbarger Road (6 signals)

e Maintain the north-south through movements (phases 2 and 6) on Monterey Road as the coordination phase under the Ingress Plan and Egress Plan. Maximize green throughput for the southbound through phase under the Egress Plan and for the northbound through phase under the Ingress Plan.

e At the Capitol Expressway north and south ramps, designate the southbound through and left-tum movements (phases 2 and 5) as the coordination phase under the Egress Plan. Maintain the north-south through movements (phases 2 and 6) as the coordination phases under the Ingress Plan.

• At Monterey RoadiUmbarger, designate the westbound movement (phase 4) as the coordination phase under the Egress Plan and maximize green throughput. Maintain the north-south through movements (phases 2 and 6) as the coordination phases under the Ingress Plan.

Senter Road at Umbarger Road (1 signal)

• At this location, designate the northbound through and left-tum movements (phases 1 and 6) as the coordination phase under the Ingress Plan. Maintain the north-south through movements (phases 2 and 6) as the coordination phases under the Egress Plan.

Tully Road between Senter Road and S. 7th Street (3 signals)

• Maintain the east-west through movements (phases 2 and 6) on Tully Road as the coordination phase under the Ingress Plan and Egress Plan. Maximize green throughput for the westbound through phase under the Ingress Plan and for the eastbound through phase under the Egress Plan.

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• At Tully/S. 7th Street, designate the westbound through and left-tum movements (phases 1 and 6) as the coordinated phases under the Ingress Plan and maximize green throughput.

o At Tully/Senter, designate the eastbound through and left-tum movements (phases 1 and 6) as the coordinated phases under the Egress Plan. Maintain the east-west through movements (phases 2 and 6) as the coordination phases under the Ingress Plan.

Alma Avenue between Senter Road and First Street (4 signals)

o Provide special event signal coordination plans for these four signals for Egress Plan only. No signal coordination plans are required under the Ingress Plan. Designate the east-west through movements as the coordination phases between S. 10th Street and First Street under the Egress Plan.

o At Senter Road, designate the northbound through and left-tum movements (phases 1 and 6) as the coordinated phases under the Egress Plan. In addition, under the Egress Plan, maintain a long split time for the northbound left-tum movement (phase 1) to assist post-event traffic on Senter Road heading eastbound on Alma Avenue.

• At First Street, designate the westbound approach movements (phase 8) as the coordinated phase under the Egress Plan. Maintain the north-south through movements (phases 2 and 6) as the coordinated phases under the Ingress Plan.

Traffic Responsive Pattern Selection

Traffic responsive operation for an event should be considered only after it has been determined that the manual timing plans are not effective in managing traffic for hosted events at the Fairgrounds. It is recommended that, if considered, traffic responsive operation be implemented for the signals on Curtner Avenue, Tully Road, and Monterey Road with timing plans that heavily favor the movements during the peak arrivals for an event, and favor movements for post-event traffic. Implementing this type of operation would involve installing new system detectors (inductive, video, radar, etc.), primarily on Curtner, Tully, and Monterey Road-First Street.

Traffic responsive operations may be beneficial, especially for the Santa Clara County Fair. Since the County Fair event is not characterized by typical start arrival and end departure times, the peak arrivals and departure times would be less predictable. Traffic responsive operations would address the issues of sporadic peaks of ingress and egress traffic during the day for a Fair event by automatically adjusting the signal timing settings to best accommodate the prevailing traffic.

In addition, ramp locations have less "predictable" traffic patterns; using traffic responsive operation at these locations would allow automated signal timing plans to change with increases or decreases in traffic demand while the other more "predictable" corridors can utilize manual timing plan changes.

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5.5 Marketing

As part of the reinforcement of efforts to direct motorists away from local neighborhoods and to surrounding roadways when coming to or leaving the Fairgrounds area, their should be consistent efforts made in the marketing of events at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds. The emphasis would be on ingress routes and parking lot locations, as once the patron is at the fairgrounds, other tools would be employed to direct them properly out of the area. The suggested marketing tools that should be targeted include information provided on schedules, web sites, tickets, general marketing materials, television ads, newspaper ads, and other media. If appropriate, event marketing should be prepared in a multi-lingual format.

Pre-paid UC Theater tickets should include detailed maps and explicit details on how to get to the Fairgrounds site. Also, the opening time of parking lots should be clearly stated so that early arrivals and tailgaters do not overlap with the weekday pm peak commute hour.

After completion of elements of the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds Transportation and Parking Plan, patrons should be made aware (via advertising and other marketing tools) that traffic and parking patterns have been improved and that they should be able to get to and from the fairgrounds in a more efficient and timely manner.

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6.0 Implementation and Funding Plan

The implementation plan is designed to apply costs, responsibilities and priorities to the individual recommendations and tools in Sections 4 and 5 of this report. The costs are general figures based on known city or industry standards. The priority is based on the cost and the ability for a recommendation or tool to have measurable impact in the short-term compared to the long-term. Table 10 summarizes the implementation plan.

6.1 Level 1 Elements

Signage

The freeway signs, the arterial signs, and the portable signs should be implemented first. They would have immediate benefit for motorists throughout the study area. Freeway signs are estimated to cost $3,000 each for materials and placement. Portable changeable message signs are estimated to cost $20,000 each to purchase, plus $500 for each placement in the field. The Caltrans changeable message signs are part of Caltrans Traffic operations System program for the Bay Area, and thus are already included in the budget for that program. Arterial signs are estimated to cost $250 each in materials, and $250 each in labor cost. Portable signs are estimated to cost $100 each, and would be put in place by traffic control personnel or the parking operator for each event.

The materials cost for signs would be $6,000 for two freeway signs (including labor), $140,000 for seven portable changeable message signs, $3,500 for fourteen arterial signs, and $100 for portable signs. The labor cost to place the arterial signs in the field would be about $3,500, and the labor cost to place the portable CMS for each event would about $3,500.

Traffic Control

Creating the proposed intersection at the fairgrounds entrance and Monterey Road would be a priority for the UC Theater project. The intersection would be signalized and implementing the signal itself would cost approximately $175,000. Other costs associated with the new intersection would be for materials (approximately $47,000), excavation (approximately $10,000), curb and gutter work (approximately $17,000), traffic control during construction (approximately $10,000), markings (approximately $5,000), and other associated costs, including ramp curb cuts, drainage costs, and costs incurred from possible utility conflicts (approximately $48,000). The subtotal of $312,000 is increased by 25% to account for contingency costs. The total.cost ofthe new intersection would be approximately $390,000.

Enhancing the traffic control with additional traffic control personnel is also a Level 1 priority element of the plan. The cost of each traffic control officer used for the traffic plan is approximately $22 an hour. The hours for each shift would vary by event. UC Theater events would generally require a four hour shift, whereas the Santa Clara County Fair may require three groups of four hour shifts for twelve hours of coverage.

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Parking Strategies

Each of the Level 1 parking strategies should be implemented early in the program. Increased ticketing of illegally parked cars would be the responsibility of traffic control personnel hired for the events or the City of San Jose Department of Streets and Traffic.

Marketing

Each of the marketing suggestions should be implemented as part of any advertising and other activities. There should not be any additional costs associated with disseminating the necessary information, as the intent is to enhance the existing marketing efforts with information about ingress travel patterns and overall traffic and parking improvements.

6.2 Level 2 Elements

Traffic Signal Timing

Developing traffic signal timing plans would support the ingress and egress routing recommendations. The cost per timing plan is estimated to be $1,500 each, or $36,000 for 24 traffic signals. For each event that the signal timing plans are implemented, the staff time would cost about $250.00 per event, which typically gets charged back to the event sponsor.

Because of the costs of developing and implementing traffic signal timing plans, this element would be considered a Level 2 priority. Level 2 elements should be considered after implementation of Level 1 program elements and evaluation of their effectiveness.

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Table 10 Implementation Plan

PLAN ELEMENT

Level 1 ELEMENTS

Sign Improvements

Freeway Signs (2 static signs)

Portable Changeable Message Signs (6)

Caltrans Changeable Message Sign (1)

Arterial Signs (14)

Portable Signs (1)

Placement - Arterial Signs

Parking

1. Enforce on-street no parking areas.

2. Maximize ingress flow into off-street lots by providing the suggested staffing event.

3. Personnel should be moved around as necessary.

4. A rover should observe lots and manage overall personnel allocation.

5. Develop specifications for lot use

6. Investigate use of other off-street lots in proximity to the fairgrounds.

7. Personnel should manage egress from offstreet parking lots.

8. Encourage the use of public transportation.

Traffic Control

New intersection and traffic si!=Jnal

Traffic control personnel presence of 6 or 8 people (UC Theater event, 4 hour shift)

Traffic control personnel presence of 12 people (Fair, 4 hour shift, 3 shifts per day)

Marketing

Targeting of schedules, web sites, tickets, general marketing materials, television ads, newspaper ads, and other media.

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DIRECT COSTS

$6,000 (materials & labor)

$120,000 + $3,000 per day of SCC Fair

Part of Caltrans TOS

$3,500 (materials only)

$100 (materials only)

$3,500 (labor cost)

$390,000

$528 or $704 per event

$3,168 per event

To be included in ongoing marketing efforts.

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$523,100+$528 to $704 per.event " '" '", [Theater],' '.' ",' . or+ $6,168 {Jer event [Fair]i


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Table 10 Implementation Plan (Continued)

PLAN ELEMENT DIRECT COSTS

Level 2 ELEMENTS

Signal Timing

Develop Manual Signal Timing Plans for 24 $36,000 signals

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Develop Responsive Signal Timing Plans $9,000

Implement SiQnal TiminQ Plans $250 per event <

TOTAL $45,000 + $250 per <

Level 2 ELEMENTS event «


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APPENDIX A

FIELD NOTES

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Field Notes: Santa Clara County Fairgrounds

1. Standard green and white lettered "Fairgrounds Next Exit" sign before the Tully exit on 101 South.

2. Along the Tully Road exit [from 101 South], a green and white sign that says "Fairgrounds" and points to the right to take Tully road west.

3. At "Curtner Avenue, Y4 mile" sign, a green and white "Fairgrounds Next Exit" sign; also "Spartan Stadium." This is on 87 North.

4. Along the Curtner Avenue exit ramp [from 87 North], a green and white sign, "Fairgrounds", with an arrow indicating drivers should go east.

5. Approaching Curtner Avenue exit on 87 South, a green and white "Fairgrounds Next Exit Sign", a quarter of a mile from the ramp [for the Curtner Avenue exit].

6. Approaching Tully Road exit on 101 Northbound, green and white "Fairgrounds Next Exit" sign.

7. Along the Tully Road exit [from 101 North], a green and white "Fairgrounds" sign with an arrow north.

8. At the point where you get off the [Tully Road exit] ramp [from 101 North] and get on the cloverleaf, there's a "Tully Road West, Fairgrounds" green and white sign.

9. Approaching Fairgrounds from the east on Tully, there were no readily visible fairgrounds SIgnS.

10. "To 87" green and white sign on Tully west after Fairgrounds. This sign is before the Monterey intersection.

11. Bus stop [on Tully west] also before the Monterey intersection. Bus stop is for line 26. 12. Right before the Little Orchard intersection on Tully going west, there is another "To 87"

green and white sign. (Actually the "To" is white with black lettering, and the "California 87" is green with white lettering.)

13. "87 South", "87 North" directional signs right before the interchange on Tully west. 14. Bus stop [for lines] 66, 68, 304, [and] 304A just past Umbarger on Monterey [headed

north]. 15. Green and white "Fairgrounds" sign with an arrow telling drivers to tum right on Tully.

(This the Old Tully, and not the newer part of Tully with more lanes.) 16. Another bus stop for 66 and 68 past Tully on Monterey heading north .. 17. On 82 North (Monterey), there are no highway direction signs until you past directly

under the freeway (1-280). 18. Bus stop for 66, 68, 304, and 304A on 82 South (Monterey) at the Curtner fntersection. 19. There is a green and white "Fairgrounds" sign [with arrow left] on 82 South (Monterey).

This is right before the Old Tully intersection. 20. There is a bus stop on 82 South (Monterey), just past Umbarger on the right. 21. There is a "Capitol Expressway West" sign on 82 South right before you get to Capitol

Expressway. There's another one saying 'east' and 'west' at an intersection with an offramp from Capitol Expressway. And of course there are signs at the ramp onto Capitol Expressway telling you which direction to go .

. 22. Bus stop at Umbarger and Senter [for line] 73, heading north on Senter. 23. Bus stop right before Umbarger on Senter, south. 24. Approaching the end of Senter traveling north, there are freeway signs, green and white,

280 to the left, 101 to the right.

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25. On Senter south, right before Tully, directional signs to 87 and 101. 26. Bus stop on Senter south just past Tully - Route 73. 27. There are no Fairgrounds signs at all on Senter. 28. Bus stop just past Monterey heading east on Tully for line 26. 29. An even closer bus stop [than the one listed under #29] right at the Fairgrounds main

entrance for line 26 on Tully heading east. 30. On Tully heading east, at the Sherlock, Lucretia, Tully intersection, there is a directional

sign "To US 101." The sign is just in front ofthe intersection heading east. 31. Approaching 101 on Tully (heading east) there are the standard San Francisco and Gilroy

directional signs right at the entrance ramps to 101. 32. On Tully west right before 10th street there is a black and white sign that says ''No

Cruising Zone." 33. Red and white "No Stopping Anytime" signs on 10th Street north of Tully heading north. 34. Also there are "No Parking" signs starting after the first set of railroad tracks [on 1 oth

north]. 35. By Alma Street, north on 10t

\ the ''No Stopping Anytime" signs are back. 36. On 10th Street south, directional signs - 101 to the left, 87 to the right [as drivers approach

Tully]. 37. Along Tully there are no parking signs. 38. Traveling north on 7th Street, "No Stopping Anytime" signs, red and white, both sides [of

the street north of Tully]. 39. Along 10th Street headed south there are many trailers (for semi-trailer trucks) and things

of that sort just parked on the side of the road. 40. On 7th Street headed south there are cars parked on the side of the road (ignoring "No

Parking" signs), but not right before Tully. 41. Approaching Tully on 7th Street south, directional highway signs - 101 to the left, 87 to the

right. 42. Umbarger is a fairly narrow two lane road, double yellow down the middle, no parking on

either side [of the west end of Umbarger]. There are "No Parking signs" for traffic traveling westbound.

43. After Carousel, traveling east on Umbarger, there is parking on the side ofthe road. 44. Approaching Senter [on Umbarger], there are cars parked on both sides of the street. This

area is more residential [than the rest of Umbarger] and not quite so narrow as the western part of Umbarger.

45. On old Tully there is parking on the north side of the street - no parking on the south side. There are signs that say "No Parking Anytime" on the south side and even signs some places saying "No Parking Anytime" on the north side, but people are parked there (when there is room).

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I APPENDIX B

INTERSECTION LEVEL OF SERVICE CALCULATIONS

Intersection level of service (LOS) calculations can be provided upon request, and are also located in the Environmental Impact Report documentation.


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l final - santa clara county, california...may 20, 2000 · enclosed is the santa clara county...

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