By Report predicts long traffic delays at Miramonte

Town Crier Staff Report

The Los Altos City Council is scheduled to iron out whether the city or the Los Altos School District should bear the cost of the additional traffic controls needed at the Miramonte-Covington intersection to manage the “extreme traffic delays” anticipated during planned school renovations.

Los Altos city staff said the funds needed to retain and train a contract worker to direct traffic should be the school district’s burden since school renovations are the driving force behind the need for additional traffic controls according to an environmental report.

School officials said the district should be responsible for only a fraction of the cost because only a portion of traffic at the intersection is school-related.

They told city staff they would pay the district’s “fair share.”

A city staff report recommended that the city train and the district fund a private contractor to control traffic at Miramonte Avenue and Covington Road while the temporary “camp school” at Blach Intermediate School is in session during school renovations at Blach, Loyola, Oak and Springer schools. Students from each school would rotate to the temporary campus at Blach while their particular school is under construction.

The camp school is expected to create “extreme traffic delays with intersection capacity exceeded,” according to traffic engineering consultant Fehr and Peers.

A four-way stop currently controls traffic at the intersection. A traffic controller would cost about $50,000 annually until the camp school closes and the city would no longer require such services. A traffic signal is another option to control increased traffic at the intersection, according to the report.

A permanent signal would cost up to $150,000 in design and construction costs and $3,000 in annual energy and maintenance costs.

A temporary signal would cost about $80,000 to design and construct.