NOTICE AND CALL OF THE

APPLE VALLEY TOWN COUNCIL AND

VICTORVILLE CITY COUNCIL

JOINT SPECIAL MEETING – March 1, 2010

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN as provided by Section 54956 of the Government Code of the State of California that the Mayor of the Town of Apple Valley, jointly with the Mayor of the City of Victorville, has called a Special Meeting for the purpose of discussing and acting upon the item(s) listed below.

This Special Meeting is to be held on Monday, March 1, 2010, at 5:30 p.m., at the Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District – 14306 Park Avenue, Victorville, CA

AGENDA

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IS INVITED. If you wish to be heard on any item on the agenda during Council’s consideration of that item or earlier if determined by Council, please so indicate by filling out a "REQUEST TO SPEAK" card at the Council Meeting and hand to the Town Clerk. (G.C. 54954.3 {a}).

Comments are to be limited to three minutes per individual or less, as deemed necessary by the mayor, depending upon the number of Individuals desiring to speak. All communications are to be addressed directly to the Council, not the members of the audience. This is a professional business meeting and courtesy and decorum are expected. Please refrain from any debate between audience and speaker, making loud noises, or engaging in any activity, which might be disruptive to the decorum of the meeting.

CALL TO ORDER:

ROLL CALL:

TOWN OF APPLE VALLEY: Council Members Roelle _____, Coleman_____, Nassif _____, Mayor Pro Tem Sagona _____, Mayor Allan _____.

CITY OF VICTORVILLE: Council Members Almond _____, McEachron_____, Caldwell _____, Mayor Pro Tem Rothschild _____, Mayor Cabriales _____.

BUSINESS OF THE COUNCILS

1. Discussion of Yucca Loma Bridge/ Yates Road/ Green Tree Blvd. Project

Recommendation:

That the Apple Valley Town Council and Victorville City Council receive and file this report relating to the Yucca Loma Bridge/ Yates Road/ Green Tree Blvd. Project and provide any direction to staff each Council deems appropriate.

ADJOURNMENT

TOWN OF APPLE VALLEY – CITY OF VICTORVILLE
JOINT COUNCIL MEETING
AGENDA MATTER
March 1, 2010

Subject Item:

DISCUSSION OF YUCCA LOMA BRIDGE/ YATES ROAD/ GREEN TREE BLVD. PROJECT

Summary Statement

Since at least January of 2005, the Yucca Loma Bridge, and the creation of a new Victor Valley east/west corridor, has been the Town of Apple Valley’s number one Transportation Improvement Priority. While recent improvements on Apple Valley Road have eased congestion for motorists traveling north or south along Apple Valley Road, our regional east/west routes are operating at, or above, capacity. As growth continues to occur, the time will come when no amount of capacity enhancing improvements to existing east-west corridors can mitigate the increase in traffic volumes. Implementation of a new planned east-west corridor is needed.

The proposed Yucca Loma Bridge/ Yates Road/ Green Tree Boulevard Project is a critical element of that new corridor. It is an investment in our region’s future, to ensure congestion does not negatively affect the entire Victor Valley. Bear Valley Road today, particularly west of the Mojave River, has nearly reached a traffic saturation point where few, if any, additional capacity enhancing modifications are available. At a recent presentation by SANBAG staff, it was pointed out that the I-215 Freeway in San Bernardino currently carries approximately 85,000 vehicles a day, and is presently under construction for critically needed capacity enhancing improvements. Ironically, traffic volume data shows that our own Bear Valley Road, particularly segments in Victorville west of the Mojave River, presently carry between 60,000 and 70,000 vehicles a day. Bear Valley Road is, of course, not a freeway. With this in mind, it is easy to understand why there is increasing gridlock along much of Bear Valley Road. Only the re-distribution of existing traffic along a new east/west corridor will reduce present day congestion and prepare us for future growth on a region-wide basis. The Yucca Loma Bridge/ Yates Road/ Green Tree Boulevard / La Mesa/ Nisqualli Interchange corridor is essential for the future vitality of our entire region.

(Continued on page 2.)

Recommended Action:

That the Apple Valley Town Council and Victorville City Council receive and file this report relating to the Yucca Loma Bridge/ Yates Road/ Green Tree Blvd. Project and provide any direction to staff each Council deems appropriate.

Proposed by: ___Town of Apple Valley________ Item Number __________

T. M. Approval:___Frank Robinson, Apple Valley Town Manager Budgeted Item Yes No N/A

Summary Statement Continued
Discussion on Yucca Loma Bridge/ Yates Road/ Green Tree Blvd. Project
Page 2

The Yucca Loma Bridge/ Yates Road/ Green Tree Boulevard project is a cooperative effort that includes segments in Apple Valley, San Bernardino County, and the City of Victorville, and the proposed alignment is included in the Circulation Elements of each jurisdiction’s General Plan. The project is also included in the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP), the Regional Transportation Improvement Projects Plan (RTIP) and the SCAG Model Transportation Network. The importance of the bridge on regional traffic flow is revealed in the Victor Valley Area Traffic Study (VVATS) recently conducted by SANBAG. The Yucca Loma Bridge is confirmed to be necessary and is one of several planned improvements assumed to be in place in all ultimate build-out scenarios.

All Victor Valley Traffic Studies incorporate the land use designations identified in each jurisdiction’s General Plan and the trip generation potential for those land uses. The studies are intended to serve as a planning tool by estimating the potential traffic generated by the anticipated growth and development. Those anticipated traffic volumes dictate the roadway improvements needed for mitigation. Regional circulation improvements, such as the Yucca Loma Bridge/ Yates Road/ Green Tree Boulevard Project, are essential components of the ultimate transportation network required to handle the calculated growth within the Victor Valley, and are, therefore, incorporated into the circulation elements for the affected agencies General Plans.

As indicated in all the various Traffic Studies for our region, unless a development moratorium is imposed, the traffic numbers will continue to increase, regardless of whether or not the roadway improvements are in place. The Yucca Loma Bridge/ Yates Road/ Green Tree Boulevard Project will not generate new trips, but new development certainly will. The Yucca Loma Bridge/ Yates Road/ Green Tree Boulevard Corridor Project is needed to mitigate today’s traffic on Bear Valley Road, as well as the Palmdale Interchange, and to prepare for the future traffic that will come as development occurs.

Traffic Studies are, typically, a tool for predicting traffic volumes (trip generation) and then determining the improvements needed to mitigate that anticipated volume. Special Traffic Studies can be used to evaluate shifts in traffic patterns (trip distribution) as a result of a particular improvement. This type of Special Traffic Study will develop a snapshot look at the “before and after” impact of a given traffic circulation improvement. The Iteris Traffic Simulation Model, commissioned by the Town of Apple Valley, attempts to show the trip distribution impact of the Yucca Loma Bridge/ Yates Road/ Green Tree Boulevard Project, and the La Mesa/ Nisqualli Interchange, on the existing Bear Valley Road Interchange.

Bear Valley Road was chosen to study because it remains as the most direct, efficient and preferred route for motorists traveling to or from the eastern areas of the Victor Valley. The simulation reveals that Bear Valley Road is relieved of gridlock, and becomes a manageable and nearly free-flowing major roadway as a result of the implementation of this project. While not depicted in the model, it can be predicted that the Palmdale Interchange would show a similar reduction in congestion in 2012, with the Corridor in place. Traffic patterns will shift to use the La Mesa/ Nisqualli Interchange and avoid the historic congestion areas.

Trip distribution in the Victor Valley Region will re-adjust, finding new equilibrium, and alternative routes that can provide the best balance of time required, distance traveled and congestion avoided. To maintain the improved level of service into the future, the additional mitigations identified in the Project Traffic Study, and in the Town’s, City’s, and County’s General Plan Circulation Elements, will need to be installed. The order of project delivery should be driven by where and when development actually occurs. Each agency is responsible, and has the authority, to determine this order of priority for their own jurisdiction.

At this time, the Preliminary Design and the DRAFT Environmental Documents (ED) for the Yucca Loma Bridge/ Yates Road/ Green Tree Blvd. Project have been completed. Public Circulation of the ED began on February 10, 2010, with approval possible in late April, 2010. Apple Valley is able at this time to provide adequate funding for a phased construction of a portion of the project to begin in fall of 2010. Our various technical studies have already included the possibility of a phased project, initially extending only as far west as Park Road.

This Report is offered as an information only item for each respective Council to receive and file. Staff has invited the Dokken Engineering Design Team to be present this evening and both staff and the Design Team are available to answer any questions from either Council. Based upon the foregoing, staff recommends adoption of the form motion.