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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-28-20 Minutes - Transportation Coordinating Committee Bozeman Area Transportation Coordinating Committee Minutes 10:30 am, Wednesday, October 28, 2020 This meeting will be using Webex, an online videoconferencing system. You can join this meeting: Via Webex: https://cityofbozeman.webex.com/cityofbozeman/onstage/g.php?MTID=e7170876c788b1b9c01c1672c 52bfcd43 Click the Register link, enter the required information, and click submit. Click Join Now to enter the meeting. Via Phone: This is for listening only. Call-in toll number 1-650-479-3208 Access code: 126 357 5613 A. CALL TO ORDER – Introductions & Attendance Committee Member - Scott MacFarlane, County Commission: Present Committee Member – Cyndy Andrus, City Commission: Present Committee Member – Mark Egge – City Planning Board: Present Committee Member – Jeff Boyle, County Planning Board: Present Committee Member – Bill Fogarty, District Administrator, MDT Butte District: Present Committee Member – Bill Brownell, County Road Department: Present Committee Member – Mitch Reister, City of Bozeman Public Works Director: Present Committee Member – Taylor Lonsdale, City Transportation Engineer (City Manager Designee): Present Committee Member – Marty Matsen, City of Bozeman Community Development Director: Absent Committee Chair – Christopher Scott, County Planning Department Representative: Present Committee Member - Ralph Zimmer, Bozeman Area Pedestrian & Traffic Safety Committee: Present Committee Member – Katie Potts, Supervisor, Statewide and Urban Planning Section, MDT: Present Committee Member – Duane Libel, MDT Engineering Services Supervisor: Present Committee Member – Dan Martin, City Citizen Representative: Present Committee Member – Dave Fowler, County Citizen Representative: Absent Committee Member - Candace Mastel – MSU Representative: Present Committee Member – Todd Swinehart, Bozeman School District #7: Present Committee Member – Jason Delmue, Bozeman Area Bicycle Advisory Board: Present Committee Member – Jeff Patten, Federal Highway Administration: Present Committee Member – Kyle DeMars, MDT, Bozeman Maintenance: Absent Committee Member – Lee Hazelbaker, Transit Advisory Board: Absent Also in attendance: Colin Chidester, Country Inn and Suites; Marilee Brown, Safer Bozeman and Gallatin Alliance for Pathways; Danielle Scharf, Sanderson Stewart; Staci Venner, RPA; Wade Kline, KLJ; Lisa Fischer, HDR; Richard Rudnicki, MSU; Mitch Buthod, MDT; Levi Ewan, Gallatin County; John Van Delinder, Matt Workman, Shawn Kohtz, and Katherine Maines, City of Bozeman. B. PUBLIC COMMENT #1 Limited to any public matter within the jurisdiction of the Bozeman Area Transportation Coordinating Committee. Please limit your comments to three minutes. Marilee Brown – Gallatin Alliance for Pathways – We have a 3 miles separated pathway project on Frontage Road that starts near 7th and ends at Valley Center Spur. The pathway has been approved as a City TOP project. We will be moving ahead with design and will build the portion near MDT property first. C. MINUTES – October 23, 2019 and January 22, 2020 Candace made a motion to approve the minutes of October 23, 2019. Katie seconded the motion and the minutes were approved unanimously. Ralph made a motion to approve the minutes of January 22, 2020. Jeff Boyle seconded the motion. The minutes were approved unanimously. Draft minutes can be found here: http://weblink.bozeman.net/WebLink8/0/fol/226206/Row1.aspx D. ELECTION OF OFFICERS Mitch made a motion to nominate City of Bozeman Transportation Engineer, Taylor Lonsdale, as chair. Duane seconded the motion. The motion to elect Taylor as chair passed unanimously. Ralph mentioned that the Transportation Coordinating Committee bylaws require that election of officers be held during the first meeting of the calendar year, therefore, officers elected at today’s meeting will only be in place until January. Chris made a motion to nominate Scott MacFarlane as Vice Chair. Cyndy seconded the motion. The motion to elect Scott as Vice Chair passed unanimously. E. TCC COMMITTEE/MEMBER REPORTS & PROJECT UPDATES (Members of the TCC who sit on other related committees, are invited to report on such activities that are of interest to the full TCC) 1. Transit Committee Dan Martin gave an update for the Transit Committee. Buses will not be traveling to Bridger Bowl this winter. Services have also been cut down to one late night run on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Skyline is currently in the off season but is anticipated to run as scheduled soon. Scott asked Dan about the removal of the stop in Four Corners. Dan responded that this is scheduled to happen next year. They are still trying to determine what this will mean for Skyline. Jason asked how the decision to remove that stop was made. Taylor mentioned that this was part of the proposed changes that came out of the recently completed route study. Dan asked one of his coworkers, Dennis, who was more involved in that decision to answer the question. Dennis said that there are no stops between Belgrade and Four Corners so they were able to redirect that route down Frontage Road, avoid the train tracks, and increase ridership. 2. Gallatin County (Commission, Planning Board, Road Department) Levi Ewan spoke on behalf of Gallatin County. They’ve hired Robert Peccia and Associates (RPA) to perform a County Transportation Plan update. This project is expected to take one-year. They’ve constructed a ½ mile portion of Oak Street between City limits and Love Lane. Recent bridge inspections resulted in several weight limited bridges south of Bozeman, on South 19th and Cottonwood Canyon Road. They are working to raise those limits for emergency services and snow plows. Chris provided an update on the Triangle Trails Plan. They are currently holding stakeholder meetings and wrapping up the conditions report. Sanderson Stewart is the consultant on this project. Ralph asked Levi what kind of shoulders are being designed into recent street improvement projects. Levi responded that they are standard shoulders and do not include bike-ped facilities or wide shoulders. Once adopted, the Triangle Trails Plan will provide better direction on requirements for bike-ped facilities in the triangle area. At this time there isn’t a specific schedule but Chris should have more information by the next TCC meeting. Mark Egge asked Levi about the County Transportation Master Plan update. How will this study relate to the Bozeman Transportation Master Plan? The draft study boundary overlaps outside of City limits. It’s similar to the boundary used for the Triangle Plan but it expands further. This boundary has not been finalized yet and may be updated as the plan progresses. RPA completed both the City of Bozeman’s and the City of Belgrade’s transportation plans and will help tie these plans together. 3. City of Bozeman (Commission, Planning Board, Engineering Department) Shawn provided an update on City projects that have been completed. The Durston corridor from Flanders Mill to Fowler, Cottonwood from Durston to Babcock, Oak by the new High School, and the Graf and 3rd roundabout have all been completed. Manley Road improvements are nearing completion. The City is moving forward on the design of the Bridger Drive and Story Mill Road intersection. Also under design is the Griffin Drive corridor from 7th to Rouse. Construction on this project is scheduled to take place next year and will be coordinated with MDT’s improvements to the 7th and Griffin intersection. Shawn also mentioned that the City is doing more outreach for these improvements. They are meeting with BABAB and PTS for design review. Taylor added some information related to the Triangle Plan. The anticipated adoption of the plan is May 2021. A virtual open house will be held in November. Information can be found at triangletrailplan.com. Taylor also shared that there have been several large infrastructure improvements completed as part of development projects. These improvements include Cottonwood Road south of Huffine and widening of South 19th near Graf. Taylor also mentioned that the North 7th Streetscape project is ongoing but they are trying to determine where they will stop for winter shutdown. Mitch mentioned that the Cattail and Max roundabout is expected to be paved next week. The City is also kicking off the Fowler corridor design. Mark Egge updated the TCC for the Planning Board. The Draft Community Plan is in front of Commission for consideration. The plan includes two goals related to transportation. One is multimodal accessibility and the other is multimodal safety. 4. Bicycle Advisory Board Jason said that the Bicycle Advisory Board is coordinating with the PTS on prioritizing spot corridor projects. They are looking at fiscal years 21 and 22 and will present their recommendations to the City. 5. Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee Ralph provided the update for the PTS. As Jason mentioned, BABAB and PTS are working on proposals for bike/ped projects for FY21 and FY22. These are independent projects. The City Manager attended the last committee meeting and Ralph and Marilee met privately with the City Manager and also the County commissioners. The PTS is pursuing funding for pathway, safety improvements on Valley Center Spur and it includes recommendations on annexations. They are particularly concerned with Valley Center Spur and the intersections at each end of the spur. Improvements to this road and intersections requires coordination between MDT, Gallatin County, the City of Bozeman, and Montana Rail Link. Ralph shared concerns that the PTS has related to the safety of nonmotorized traffic at the intersections of Valley Center Spur with Frontage Road and Valley Center Road. The signals do not face nonmotorized users and they would like to see a traffic light indication that does face those users. MDT has agreed to look at the intersections. 6. Montana Department of Transportation Bill Fogarty updated the group on MDT’s project. They are hoping to resume paving this week on Rouse Avenue between Tamarack and Lamme. The Big Sky Bridge decks project is substantially complete. Repairs are needed at the Baxter and Love Lane roundabout after a recent traffic accident. The Transportation Commission approved the 2021-2025 tentative construction plan. It can be viewed on MDT’s website. Projects in the preconstruction phase for 2021 include the I-90, Manhattan to Belgrade, mill/fill and guardrail upgrade project, the I-90 Bozeman Hill guardrail project, the Hebgen Lake erosion repair project, and the Gallatin Canyon variable message signs project. 2022 projects include: Four Corners East, which includes a mill/fill from 19th to Fowler and seal cover from Four Corners to 19th; turn bay north of Gallatin Gateway between Gooch Hill & Zachariah on 191; safety projects on Secondary 288 south of Manhattan. In 2023, MDT will perform intersection improvements on North 7th at Mendenhall, Durston/Peach, Tamarack, and Oak. This includes signalization, turn lanes, reconfiguring lanes, and ADA upgrades. They will also improve the 7th and Griffin intersection and mill/fill North 19th between I-90 and Main Street. Regarding the concerns at the Valley Center Spur, he has appointed preconstruction staff to review the intersections and mentioned that the underground infrastructure to accommodate pedestrian signals has already been installed. Katie told the group that the Corridor Study on US 191 from Four Corners to Big Sky has been completed. Ralph mentioned future plans to reconstruct Huffine Lane and the east end of Frontage Road. He asked about the timeframe for these projects. Duane responded that the timeframes would depend on funding and that these projects are currently unscheduled. Bill added that these projects are likely 7 to 10 years out. 7. Montana State University Candace spoke on behalf of Montana State University. Grant Street is still closed just west of Student Union Building and will likely remain closed during the new fitness center construction. 8. Bozeman School District Todd Swinehart gave an update for the Bozeman School District. Gallatin High School construction has been completed. Enrollment is down at the elementary level due to more students being homeschooled. This may delay the construction of elementary school #9. 9. Other TCC Member/Committee Reports None F. PUBLIC COMMENT #2 Marilee Brown, representing Safer Bozeman, thanked MDT for taking another look at the Valley Center Spur. G. UPCOMING MEETING DATES AND ADJOURNMENT January 27, 2021 – REGULAR MEETING April 28, 2021 – REGULAR MEETING July 28, 2021 – REGULAR MEETING October 27, 2021 – REGULAR MEETING For more information please contact Katherine Maines at 406-582-2273 Committee meetings are open to all members of the public. If you have a disability and require assistance, please contact our ADA coordinator, Mike Gray at 582-3232 (TDD 582-2301).