The Pomona Avenue RoundaboutAgain

Background: The need for a traffic calming solution at the Pomona/7th/Adella Intersection was identified more than 13 years ago. In 2008, City Council agreed that a professionally designed roundabout presented the optimum solution. Briefings from a world-class independent expert consultant in 2009 assured Council that a roundabout is the state-of-the-art solution for traffic calming and safety while allowing for highest traffic volume throughput. He was so convincing that Coronado hired him as did La Jolla, Del Mar, Solana, and cities for more than 500 other roundabouts. He's also been called in to fix more than 50 faulty designs that have been installed by other firms. 'Guess he knows something about that of which of he speaks. So why is it taking so long to get a permanent roundabout installed?

DESIGN: The 2010 roundabout shown below is the expert's improved version of the
temporary trial roundabout that's been installed in the intersection since 2009. It was evaluated in a 6 month trial and approved for permanent installation in 2010.

In the intervening years while the City was or was not getting funding together for the project---more on that in the below section entitled FUNDING---there was perhaps a change in thinking that was not shared with Coronado residents. In 2013 a Request for Proposal was issued for an engineering firm, Psomas, to take up the challenge of making the roundabout permanent and the design that is now being proposed bears little resemblance to the 2010 version.

Psomas' 2013 Final Design is available on their website and is included below with highlighting to point out major differences between the new and old designs:

FACT: March 2013 emails with members of City Council express residents' concerns that the 2010 tested and approved roundabout design was being ignored.

FACT: In March 2013 a nearly $200,000 contract was awarded to the new engineering firm, Psomas. According to the Statement of Work (SOW), they were to "Review temporary and conceptual plans provided by the City." While presenting design concepts at the first of 2 planned community meetings, residents confronted them about the 2010 approved design to which Psomas responded that they were entirely unfamiliar with that 2010 design. Question To Ask Your City Council: Why should the responsible City's staff be paid for the failing to follow-through on direction of the Council as included in the SOW?

FACT: During a September 2013 conversation with Coronado's 2010 Roundabout Consultant, the below comments and adjectives were used in reference to an initial assessment about some aspects of the new Psomas design: - Makes me very, very uncomfortable - Safety concern - Not convinced that use of design requirements was understood - Dangerous Question To Ask Your City Council: What are we doing installing that kind of design?

FACT: The above information was shared on the record with City Council during Public Communications at the October 1, 2013 meeting. At least one member of Council--admittedly not a qualified traffic engineer---had a telephone conversation with the roundabout expert prior to the meeting. Question To Ask Your City Council: someone is injured or worse? Does that make the City liable for failing to act if

FACT: When asked if the Roundabout Expert Consultant could be brought back to allow for an impartial review of the new Psomas design, the City Manager's Office: - made the comment that could not happen - stated that it is too late to influence any major design changes - (making a gross assumption) stated with certainty that the new engineering firm would not have proposed a design alternative that was unsafe - advises residents to focus their comments only on the part of the design that might directly impact them or their property; don't worry about the big picture

FACT: The City Engineer does not a roundabout expert or traffic engineer on staff. Questions To Ask Your City Council: * What prevents the City from rehiring the expert consultant? Is there something he could tell us that we are afraid of learning? Are we afraid of having his opinion on record and if so, why? 4

N.b. Though not licensed in the State of California, the expert is able to work under license of another engineer as was done for the aforementioned roundabout design work in San Diego County and around the world. * How many successful roundabout designs has the City Engineering department completed? If more than zero (0), what was their measure of success? * Because the expert's experience resume includes having to fix the failed roundabout work of more than 50 other designs, why is the City Manager so certain that Psomas' design is safe, especially given the unofficial negative review comments that have already been provided about it? * Why does the City want residents only to be concerned about their own properties? Has it gone out of style to be concerned about the safety of children? Mom's with strollers? Teenage skateboarders? The elderly using walkers to just get around? How about the everyday drivers like our military service personnel who are just passing through our neighborhoods?

Comment: Comparing the 2010 to the 2013 design, the pink area is a planted region that has added more than twice the surface area in front of two homes. They look almost like mini-parks that have been appended to these properties.

FACT: At a community roundabout meeting held in July 2013, City officials were not forthcoming about the reason for including the large planted areas and only reluctantly admitted that they were the subject of separate meetings that did not include the general public. Questions To Ask Your City Council: * Why the secrecy about this project? What is the City trying to hide? * Is the City giving property to these homeowners? If so, why and can I get some too? * Given laws against lack of government transparency, who will be held accountable?

PROCESS: At a second roundabout meeting in July 2013, the City had narrowed the
field of options down to essentially just one design. No alternative reviews had been completed from the first roundabout meeting. No explanation had been provided for discarding the 2010 design. No impartial roundabout expert was present to act on behalf of the City. Residents were told that this would be the final meeting and no further community input would be accepted.

FACT: Responding to a resident's letter citing complaints about City's rush to push the design process too quickly to completion, a letter was issued from the City Engineer's office stating that 1 of 3 design proposals were accepted from a vote of people that were present at the initial community roundabout meeting in May 2013.

Comment: At the May roundabout meeting, residents were still looking to see the results of the design work that was completed in 2010. Psomas presented 3 design comments that were little more than pictures on a page. There was no evidence of homework. No defense of their designs. No meeting attendee, technical or otherwise, was provided any tools to evaluate the relative merit, efficiency, safety risks, or costs of one design over another as would be expected in an unbiased decision presentation and as was made available for the reviews in 2010. There were some comments from the audience to the effect, "yeah now that's what I'm talking about." A show of hands was requested from residents as to which design appealed to them. In the absence of any means of discriminating the relative merit of one from the other, residents could only respond to what design they found cosmetically appealing. The meeting felt like it was pre-planned to railroad through a single design and even came complete with cheerleaders. Questions To Ask Your City Council: * So as residents understand the City's processes, they could be invited to attend any public project design workshop and be asked to pick one design over another without ever having the alternatives explained to them? Don't residents deserve to have an impartial expert to pick through the technical minutiae and give them something substantial on which to base their decisions for something as complex as this?

* From a safety, cost, and, traffic efficiency perspective how could a participant determine if a design alternative was a 10 or only just a 5? * If a decision is based on a vote of whoever shows up, do the voters have to be Coronado residents? If it is just a numbers game, can't people with one perspective just stack the deck by inviting anyone they want? Couldn't they bring everyone from say their church group or maybe the Rotary? Could they bring friends and organizations from over the bridge? Do they have to be California residents? US citizens? * Why would the City leave a decision on something so important to the health, safety, and welfare of the community to a vote of whoever just happens to show up for a meeting and then deny them the information needed to make an informed choice? * What is the City's liability for leaving safety related design decisions in the hands of the untrained and under-informed? * Who on City Staff will be held accountable for employing such a grossly flawed and potentially costly process? Comment: Whether City land is to be transferred to private ownership or not, Coronado residents are now left to wonder what is necessary to substantiate a request to have the City re-design other projects for their individual benefit too. Questions To Ask Your City Council: * What does a resident have to do to get their own piece of City land? How about my own private off-street parking? How about a small shaded park in front of my home? * Do I have to get lawyers involved? Does the reason have to include circumstances that include some negative impact to my personal health?

Comment: With the roundabout and other public projects, forward progress has been brought to a grinding halt due to the City's overzealous attempts to make everyone happy. That process can enable lengthy project delays.

* How does the City differentiate between residents' valid concerns vs. attempting to hold the City hostage for personal gain or any other reason? * How do the City's processes ensure that substantiated safety concerns are prioritized ahead of any resident's self-serving complaining? 7

FUNDING: The means to fund the Pomona roundabout remain uncertain to this day.

FACT: 2010 emails from City Council explain that the roundabout would be funded through Coronado's Capital Improvement Program (CIP) when fund priorities allowed. Estimates that were provided for funding availability extended out to 2017.

FACT: In 2013, residents are now being told that the roundabout project will be funded through a large pot of SANDAG monitored bridge toll funds which was once envisioned to be used for the failed Tunnel Project and for correcting traffic deficiencies in the "transportation corridor," which is defined with specific criteria. Question To Ask Your City Council: If Bridge Toll funds are going to fund the roundabout and were available back in 2010, why didnt construction begin immediately after it was approved back then?

FACT: In a 2010 email, then Councilwoman and attorney Carrie Downey who was also serving on SANDAG's Transportation Committee, explained that Bridge Toll funds could not be used to fund the roundabout. That email has been shared with members of the current Council. Ms. Downey continued serving on the Transportation Committee in 2011.

FACT: In 2013, now a former 2012 member of SANDAG's Executive Committee, Ms. Downey now states that Bridge Toll funds can be used to fund the roundabout.

FACT: In 2013, Councilwoman and attorney, Barbara Denney states that in her reading of the law and SANDAG settlement agreement with the City of Coronado, Bridge Toll funds cannot be used to fund the roundabout.

FACT: Responding to a request for legal opinion on the funding question more than two (2) weeks ago, SANDAG's General Counsel Mr. John Kirk said that he would need to research the matter. A response is still pending.

Questions To Ask Your City Council: * What is the truth? Is there a means to fund the roundabout now or not? * Was the past 3 years just a delaying tactic during which time everyone was forced to use the temporary trial roundabout? * It has been said that former Mayors Smisek and Tanaka did not support the roundabout. Is there real support for it today? What kind of game is the City playing?

ACTION: If Coronado residents are tired of excuses from a City government so hamstrung that it cannot install a traffic calming solution at a known dangerous intersection in 10, 15, maybe 20 years, make your opinion known. Their contact data is available on the City's website. OCTOBER 15, 2013 - Go to the Council meeting with a copy of this article and start asking the hard questions. Why has this project been delayed for reasons not shared with the public? How many other City projects have and are experiencing similar tactics? The Psomas engineering firm is now also working on the Cay's entrance. Cays residents report that enough negative feedback was received regarding lack of preparation that at least one additional meeting would be scheduled.

Final Comment to the Mayor: Coronado Unified School District places strong emphasis on developing student character. The old Pelican Way's daily messages included honesty and respect. How does the entire lack of transparency in government fit into that message for our children? Many families gave you their vote because of the experiences of their children's interactions with you. "We like Casey because he's funny." This was a response commonly heard around election time. The community really deserves strong leadership and accountability more than it needs funny. To the Council and Staff: With questions over possible misdirected funding, Coronado residents are holding their collective breaths while hoping that you do not ending up sharing the spotlight with Bob Filner. 9