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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/04/2008 03C Citizen Service Request Response RE: Arlington Avenue Road Conditions • MEMORANDUM February 26, 2008 TO: Honorable Mayor, Members of City Council and City Manager FROM: Chris Waarvick, Director of Public Works Bill Cook, Director of Community Development REGARDING: Sandy Massong - Lloyd's Arlington Avenue Concerns Sandy Massong -Lloyd appeared before City Council during Audience Participation on February 19, 2008 and expressed a number of concerns relating to Arlington Avenue. Arlington Avenue is a half- street improved by the developer of the Tancara residential subdivision in the late 1970's. Improvements to the southern half of the street will be the responsibility of the developer of the property on the south side of Arlington Avenue if and when this property is developed. As a result, the road has ongoing problems as described below. Long term solutions to these ongoing maintenance issues could include: 1. continue patchwork and maintenance solutions until new development to the south finishes the street; 2. consider forming an LID of adjacent property owners; 3. purchase Congdon ROW and build the street at City expense. CONDITION OF ARLINGTON AVENUE (53 to 60 Avenues) As stated above, this section of Arlington Avenue was correctly described by Mrs. Massong -Lloyd as being a half street bordering Congdon Orchard property. Storm drainage from Tancara is channeled to the south border of the development and at one time it was understood that much of this water was allowed to filter onto Congdon property as a condition of the development. Congdon also irrigates _ its property. Therefore, given the inability of the then created ground water to move away from the street base, a difficult challenge for the avenue in this section is created. By 2005, Arlington Ave. had deteriorated to the point that Street Maintenance took action because we were faced the loss of the road surface completely otherwise. The Street Maintenance Crew was spending a considerable amount of time fixing potholes and patching. It was decided that Maintenance would do a triple chip seal (heavy duty) on Arlington after crack sealing the street. After we had chipped sealed Arlington the oil began to bleed. We had 3 or 4 other street. segments (out of many, many other segments) in 2005 that experienced this same bleeding problem. After talking with the oil /emulsion supplier and a chip seal contractor we were advised that the best way to stop the bleeding was to "kill" the oil with a mixture of sand and fine dirt. Spreading this material on the streets that were bleeding worked well on all the streets that had this problem - with the exception of Arlington Avenue. • Maintenance worked on Arlington to stop the bleeding for over a year but were unable to solve the problem of exposed "oil and tar -like substance" that the neighbors obviously didn't appreciate. It was decided that the only thing left to do was grind out the asphalt, place 3" of gravel base and do a double shot chip seal,. That was done in 2007. Obviously, placing a complete storm drain system and completely digging out the very moist soil was not within our resources. It was believed that this had the best chance of solving the problem within available resources, though some of the worst moisture areas were removed and replaced with dry soil. After the winter it is apparent that the street is having problems. Maintenance is back to repairing point holes. We believe this is due to the water that comes off of Congdon's property to the south and from the irrigation by the residents that live on the north side of Arlington and the effect that the moisture has on the road bed and underlayment. .. Maintenance believes there are several options to remedy the situation that has existed for years. One would be to dig a bar ditch along the south side of Arlington,. This may not be possible with Condon's fence that is built along the south edge of Arlington. The next option would be to excavate Arlington Avenue approximately 1 foot, place filter fabric and pave or chip seal. The last option would be to continue to repair and patch until such time the street is developed into a full street. Maintenance has met with the City Engineering Division to receive further consultation and advice. The suggestion that potholes be left for speed control and that snow removal be discontinued on this section are ideas that we do not recommend implementing. STORMDRAIN MAINTENANCE Randy Meloy reports that Wastewater Collection Crews were sent to the vicinity of 56 and Arlington on February 20, 2008 and performed cleaning and other maintenance on the system. SPEED LIMIT ON ARLINGTON AVENUE Yakima Fire Department contacted Traffic Engineer with request to prohibit parking on Arlington between 53 and 59 Avenue, due to the in- adequate width for emergency service access. The street is very narrow, only 20 feet in width. Prior to the fence installation, citizens often parked vehicles of all kinds on the south side of the street, adjacent to the pavement. Once the fence was installed parking on the south side of the street created a hazardous situation. Our Traffic Engineer informed residents in writing and NO PARKING signs were installed in August, 2003 that prohibited on- street parking on the south side of Arlington Avenue. After the chip -seal treatment in 2006 and consistent with YMC 9.50.370(B) Arlington Avenue was posted for 20 Miles Per Hour. Concerns about speeding may be referred for enforcement by YPD. • BARBED WIRE FENCE ALONG CONGDON PROPERTY Barbed -wire fence along Arlington Avenue was installed by Congdon Orchard in June 2003. Codes Division determined the fence was on the property line of the Congdon property (the edge of the street right of way). In effect, Codes Division determined the fence was legally constructed. The Codes Division enforces Chapter 15.05 of the Yakima Municipal Code, which includes "Site design and Improvement Standards." Section 15.05.020 section G governs the height and location of fences and walls. This section does not define the type of material to be used. It does not specify barbed wire fencing as an illegal material. • •.