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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-12-18 PTS MinutesBozeman (Area) Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee 1 Minutes of the December 12, 2018 Meeting 2 Upstairs Conference Room Alfred Stiff Office Building 3 4 Attendance: 5 6 Voting Committee Members: 7 Ralph Zimmer (Gallatin County), Chair 8 Danielle Scharf (City of Bozeman), Vice Chair 9 Mandee Arnold (City of Bozeman), Secretary 10 Marilee Brown (At-large-Member) 11 Tony Gaddo (At-Large Member) 12 Tom Foster (Gallatin County) 13 Doug Kellie (Bozeman School District) 14 15 Absent: 16 Vacancy (Bozeman School District) 17 18 Official Non-Voting Committee Members: 19 John Van Delinder (City of Bozeman Streets Department) 20 Todd Swinehart (School District) 21 Absent: Bill Brownell, Road & Bridge Supervisor (County) 22 23 City Commissioners, County Commissioners, and School Board Members 24 Terry Cunningham (City Commissioner) 25 Scott MacFarlane (County Commissioner elect) 26 Absent: (Bozeman School District Trustee), 27 28 Law Enforcement Liaison Officers 29 Chief Crawford (Bozeman Police Department) 30 Sheriff Gootkin (Sheriff’s Department) 31 32 Frequent Attendees and Guests (City, County, Bozeman School District, and Montana 33 Department of Transportation Staff): 34 Kellen Gamradt (City of Bozeman Engineering) 35 Duane Liebel (MDT Butte District Preconstruction Engineer) 36 Chris Scott (Gallatin County Planning) 37 38 Citizens and Other Guests: 39 Jena Reno 40 41 Quorum: Present. 42 43 1. Call to Order and Introductions. 44 Ralph Zimmer, PTS Committee Chair, called the meeting to order at 12:00 PM and 45 introductions of attendees were made. 46 47 2. Agenda. 48 Ralph noted that some reordering of the agenda might be necessary due to attendee’s having 49 to leave early. We will make adjustments as needed and for the purposes of these minutes; 50 discussions of each subject will remain together. 51 52 3. Public Comment. 53 No public comment was made. 54 55 4. Minutes for November are not yet available. 56 57 5. Report on Results of Previous Actions and Consideration of Follow-Up Actions. 58 59 We will be delaying the ongoing discussion on the Downtown Plan until a later date when 60 more information is available. 61 Other items will be addressed later in this meeting. 62 63 6. Reports from City Commissioners, County Commissioners and School Board Members.64 65 Commissioner Terry Cunningham reported that on Dec. 3, 2018 the City made changes to 66 parking ordinances, which used to be enforced primarily by the police. The parking manager 67 will now enforce as code violations. There is a Parking Appeals Board for citizens to 68 complain to. The length of time for parking in one spot on a City street has been expanded to 69 72 hours rather than 48 hours which will help reflect the reality of people leaving for a 70 weekend. 71 Two of the City engineers have retired and the City is hunting for a new Pubic Works Director 72 along with an HR manager and Affordable Housing manager. 73 74 7. Reports/Requests from Law Enforcement Liaison Officers. 75 Sheriff Gootkin will be considering who might apply for the State Transportation 76 Commission. 77 Chief Crawford is putting out a strong message along with enforcement for safe driving 78 during the holidays. 79 80 8. Reports from Non-Voting Official Committee Members (City, County, & Schools). 81 No School Report. 82 John Van Delinder is short handed on plow drivers, which resulted in bike lanes not getting 83 cleaned. If anyone knows of someone wanting a job, they only need a commercial drivers 84 license and will be trained to use the equipment. 85 Ethics training for us needs to be put on a future agenda. The County training is $5 for non-86 members but will not suffice as City training. Anyone can attend for free. 87 88 9. Reports from Related Groups (BABAB, TCC, GVLT, Safer Bozeman, GAP, etc.) 89 BABAB sent a letter in support of the Downtown Plan bike improvements. 90 Safer Bozeman has been working on finding a new State Transportation Commissioner and on 91 improvements needed at Nelson Road and Frontage Road. 92 GAP has been working with developers along Frontage road and is excited about Nelson 93 Meadows, which is the keystone to the path going from Valley Center Spur all the way to 7th 94 street for a low cost. 95 96 10. Consideration of Safety Concerns at 5262 Durston 97 98 Longtime resident Jena Reno who is a home owner at 5262 Durston explained what she feels 99 is a dangerous situation for pedestrians and vehicles. Meriwether Ave. now connects across 100 Durston to Springbrook Ave. School children cross the intersection and there is no crosswalk. 101 It is also difficult to see entering Durston from either of the feeder streets. It is a popular spot 102 for vehicles to travel north and south. She feels there have been multiple serious vehicle 103 crashes with 4 of them occurring in just 6 weeks last summer, and that the police are not 104 enforcing the speed limit. Complicating the issue is that her property is in the County but the 105 streets are in the City and when emergency calls are made, the County responds but then has 106 to wait for the City to be called instead. Also, many children cross the road in the 107 summertime and walk through her property to get to the Summit School where Camp Equinox 108 is held. 109 110 Chief Crawford responded that officers had made 54 traffic stops in the blocks on either side 111 of her house since July 1. The delay in response was due to calls being made from the County 112 properties and this situation has now been fixed. They have also put out the radar trailer 113 during good weather. The other challenge is that the original engineering speed study 114 recommended a higher speed limit than it is posted now. 115 116 Kellen Gamradt of the Bozeman City Engineers office stated that the study was done in 2008 117 and a lot of development has occurred since then. If they put the speed limit too slow, then it 118 will be unenforceable. 119 120 Duane of the MDT reported that a recent conversation with a MSU professor said that if you 121 post it lower, then more rear end crashes occur. 122 123 Ralph stated that there are instances when speed limits have been raised and then vehicles 124 actually slow down. Posting a higher speed limit does not necessarily translate to higher 125 speeds and MAY translate to lower speed limits. 126 127 Pedestrian traffic has increased due to new development, schools, and it is hard to see when 128 entering the street from the north because of privacy fences. 129 130 The school district reported that school bus drivers report that there are a number of passing 131 problems while they are stopped to let children out. 132 133 Chief Crawford reported that crash data shows that there were 4 total between January and 134 October with 1 in July, 2 in September, and 1 in March. The Big change is where Meriwether 135 now intersects Durston. He will continue enforcement and use of the trailer after the snow 136 clears. 137 138 John stated that crosswalks don’t make things safer for pedestrians because those crossing 139 often feel they are in a bubble that makes them safe, thus crossing haphazardly. Federal 140 studies have shown that pedestrians are more likely to be hit within a crosswalk. 141 He cannot just use paint for a crosswalk – it has to be plastic, which needs to be put down 142 when it is warm. The other streets nearby such as Hunters Way have crosswalks. Durston is 143 scheduled in the future for an upgrade according to the TMP with a crosswalk at Hunters way 144 with a refuge in the center. There will be no flashing beacon. 145 146 The City Engineering office is not in agreement with a crosswalk due to low visibility. 147 Simply marking a crosswalk can make conditions less safe. However guidelines for 148 crosswalk policy have been adopted by the City of Bozeman, which requires at least 20 149 pedestrians crossing at a peak hour. They have not done a study at Meriwether. 150 151 Tom asked if there was a way to increase visibility. General discussion: the fences are behind 152 the sight triangle. Can we recommend tree trimming? Jena Reno stated that she will trim the 153 vegetation on her side of the road and the City will request tree trimming on the other side. 154 155 Also asked was would it be prudent to have a study done since there has not been one? The 156 needs of the community have changed since 2008. Head counts should be done in the 157 summer time when there will be the most children using the crossing and peak times don’t 158 currently seem to exist. (See motion below.) 159 160 Ralph was instructed to encourage the City that if they see something that can be done earlier 161 than this summer they should please take action. They are also encouraged to go ahead with 162 any studies they think might be appropriate prior to summer. 163 164 Tom asked about impact from developments and if they triggered studies as the growth 165 occurred. Answer: They are considered built out at this point. 166 167 Marilee stated that in the future on TMP’s we need to have consistent speed limits throughout 168 the City so drivers would instinctively know how fast to go. 169 170 Motion: (passed unanimously) PTS requests that the City of Bozeman do a traffic study and 171 look at the intersection of Durston and Meriwether for corrective interaction regarding 172 pedestrians in 2019. The study should be done no earlier than June 10 and no later than 173 August 31. If corrective action including visibility can be made prior to that date, the City is 174 encouraged to do so. [Ralph - Please note: summer camp is June 10 through July 3 and 175 July 15 through August 8.] 176 177 11. Consider Making Recommendations on Draft County Transportation Design and 178 Construction Standards. 179 180 Tony reported that at Ralph’s request, he had reviewed the proposed Gallatin County 181 Transportation Design and Standards. Comments are due by Friday of this week. 182 His notes include that the standards refer to ASHTO and require following the MDT and 183 Montana Public Works specifications and MUTCD. There is a process to follow through 184 on revisions and how to get approval from the County for signs etc. The plan follows the 185 Road and Bridge Design guidelines and ADA. It does not follow PROWAG and probably 186 should. There are some requirements on sidewalks and trails. All maintenance is to be 187 born by HOA’s. They state that there needs to be a 25-foot corridor for trails and a traffic 188 analysis is required along with an impact letter and TIS’s. The level of service needs to be 189 at least a C. Shoulders etc. will follow ASHTO guidelines and the amount of traffic. The 190 County will have to decide on future growth and make requests. 191 192 The only thing that caught his eye is that PROWAG needs to be mentioned as a guide and 193 otherwise it seems to be a very good guide. 194 195 Danielle asked if it addresses mountain terrain, which has been a challenge in the past. 196 Tony thought it was a good improvement. 197 198 Chris Scott of County Planning stated that the County has never had a stand-alone 199 standard guideline, so this is a big improvement. Mountain drives and cul-de-sacs now 200 have to be longer which for safety may need to be clarified. PTS needs to look at the 201 document and be more proactive. Often roads are designated by use and the County in the 202 future needs to say they have to be 60 foot. 203 204 We decided to send a letter to the County in support of the County Trans and Design and 205 construction standards. We ask them to consider adding PROWAG into the standards and 206 have added flexibility in the requirement for who is responsible for maintenance of 207 pathways since HOA’s do not always last. 208 209 Motion: (passed unanimously) PTS is to send a letter to the County in support of the 210 County Transportation Design and Construction Standards. PTS asks that the County 211 consider adding PROWAG into the standards and have added flexibility in the 212 requirement for maintenance responsibilities for pathways. 213 214 215 12. Meet and Greet County Commissioner Elect Scott MacFarlane. 216 Scott expressed his pleasure at finding out what PTS is all about and stated that he was 217 very impressed at how we could all work together. 218 He asked if it might not be appropriate to include Belgrade. We explained that Belgrade 219 was included when issues were brought to our attention within their jurisdiction and that 220 we had worked on problems in the Monfortan school district also. 221 We encouraged Scott or any other County Commissioner to attend when they liked. 222 223 13. Implementation of Bozeman Community Transportation Safety Plan. 224 Marilee explained to Scott what the plan was. She said that they would be gearing up in 225 the New Year to implement it including working with the school district. 226 227 14. Meeting Adjournment 228 The next meeting will take place on Wed. Jan. 16, 2019, which is one week later than 229 normal due to member’s absence. 230 231 232 Minutes by Marilee Brown 233 Initial edits by Mandee Arnold 234 Amended 1/16/19 235