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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-28-09 Minutes, Transportation Coordinating CommitteeAlrnutes of the l rctnsportation f 'frnrdrnatrxrg Comnuttee, Uctotaer 2Y, 2009 MINUTES BOZEMAN AREA TRANSPORTATION COORDINATING COMMITTEE WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2009 ITEM 1. CALL TO ORDER AND ATTENDANCE Chairperson Christopher Scott called the meeting to order at 10:07 a.m. on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 in the City Commission Room, City Hall, 121 North Rouse Avenue, Bozeman, MT and directed members to introduce themselves. Members present: Rick Hixson Christopher Scott, Planning Department, Gallatin County, Chair Jeff Ebert, MDT, Butte District Joe Olsen, Engineering Services Superintendent. Butte District MDT Andy Epple, Planning Director, City of Bozeman Bob Lashaway, Montana State University Ralph Zimmer, Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee Carol Strizich, Statewide and Urban Planning, MDT Rob Bukvich, MDT, Bozeman Division Bill Cochran, Bozeman Area Bicycle Advisory Board George Durkin, Gallatin County Roads Sam Gianfrancisco, County citizen representative Rick Hixson, City Engineering, proxy for Debbie Arkell Brian Caldwell, City Planning Board Lee Provance, County Road Superintendent Marianne Amsden, County Planning Department Guests present: John Van DeLinder, Street Superintendent Brianne Rogers, Field Director for Senator Max Baucus P.J. Kolnik, Montana State University Civil Engineering Student Leigh Hotchkiss, Montana State University Civil Engineering Student Nathan Ward, Montana State University Civil Engineering Student Bill Brooks, Montana State University Civil Engineering Student ITEM 2. PUBLIC COMMENT i Public comment limited to any public matter within the jurisdiction of the Bozeman Area Transportation Coordinating Committee not on this agenda with a three minute time limit per speaker.; Chairperson Scott opened public comment. 1 of 12 hnette: ITEM 3. MINUTES No report. No report. rf1he 1 ran. p rtotu>n Coo u Mr. Hixson informed members that this TCC meeting would be the last for City Director of Planning, Andy Epple after twenty -two years of service. Mr. Hixson recognized the many contributions that Andy has made to this community to rousing applause from all present. Andy Epple Mr. Epple thanked everyone and said that as the director of planning in this community for the past twenty -two years, working with TCC has been the most rewarding and practical board that he has worked on and he will miss it. Christopher Scott Seeing no further public comment, chairperson Scott closed public comment. Chairperson Scott asked TCC members if anyone had any changes to the minutes of July 22, 2009. Ralph Zimmer Mr. Zimmer asked that he receive the minutes in word version rather than PDF. Motion and Vote to approve the minutes of July 22, 2009. It was moved by Sam Gianfrancisco, seconded by Lee Provance to approve the minutes of July 22, 2009. The motion passed unanimously. ITEM 4. TCC COMMITTEE MEMBER REPORTS A. Transit Committee Report B. Gallatin County Report Christopher Scott Mr. Scott announced new subdivision regulations related to transportation have been adopted and are now in place. C. City of Bozeman D. Bike Advisory Board No report. nunatte e, October 2fs', 2(109 E. Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee 2 of 12 iinutes at the Trcrnsp Coordinating Committee Uetobea- 2N, 2009 No r eport. No report. Ralph Zimmer Mr. Zimmer said the Committee has some concerns about the differences in the way pedestrians get the walk signal on Main Street. He has been in contact with Montana Department of Transportation regarding this issue. He explained that going one direction pedestrians do not need to push the button to get a walk signal, however going in the opposite direction the button must be pushed. F. Other TCC Member /Committee Reports G. Montana Department of Transportation H. Federal Highway Administration No report. ITEM 5. OLD BUSINESS A. Recommended urban project priority list (Arkell) An e -mail regarding the urban priority list went out to all members prior to the meeting. Rick Hixson Mr. Hixson explained that the list provided was the suggested urban project priorities from the City of Bozeman staff and was mainly based on the transportation plan. Sidewalks and curbs on Willson Avenue and South Church Avenue were listed as number one because the hope was to do a project there using urban funds. After looking into it, they feel there would be too many stumbling blocks for obtaining urban funding for that, they feel they may need to let that go by with this funding. College Street, Main to 19 #2 on list) has been a priority for at least two generations of the Transportation Plan. This route has a very high pedestrian and bicycle usage that does not show up on the transportation counts. There are no bike lanes and very few sidewalks. Kagy Boulevard. 19 to Willson #3) has been on two generations of Transportation Plans and has high pedestrian and bicycle use with limited facilities. South 8 Main to Cleveland #4) is an urban route and is in poor condition. Highland (#5) is the hospital road and becomes more important as that becomes a more used facility. Those are the big items and the others would be in a little bit longer planning window. While these are the city staff recommendations, the priority list still needs to be adopted by both the TCC and City Commission. Christopher Scott Mr. Scott clarified the process asking if the TCC" Was looking to make a fo 3 of 12. 1 adoption today. 4lrne(te he l ransportcttron Coordinating, i, (ttee. October 28, 2009 Carol Strizich Ms. Strizich explained that for the State's purposes, the adoption of the list needs to come from the TCC. Andy Epple Mr. Epple said that what city staff would like to see today is a recommendation from the TCC to the City Commission and then once the City Commission endorses an urban priority list, it would come back to the TCC for final adoption. Carol Strizich Ms. Strizich said that the urban balance currently is about $3 million. Given the uncertainty with the federal funding picture, she's been directed to stay within the available funding, not needing to borrow from future funding. Rick Hixson Mr. Hixson said that some of these projects would require more than $3 million and would need a number of years to save up to complete. Regardless, he does not think we should pick a priority based on the fact that it fits within the price range. Carol Strizich Ms. Strizich said that just looking at the available funding, Highland and Frontage Road projects are out of the funding, but just looking quickly, the others probably do fall within what's available. Jeff Ebert Mr. Ebert asked whether the $3 million was through Sept. 30 2009 previous to the 2009 allocation. Ms. Strizich replied in the affirmative. Mr. Ebert then went on to say, that he agreed with Mr. Hixson and thought we should pick the biggest priority and could use the $3 million to at least get the engineering started and see what happens with the expiring transportation bill. Jeff Krauss Cr. Krauss said the priority list closely mirrors what has been talked about in the last year. Specifically College and Kagy had been discussed and South 8 has bubbled up in the last year with the work IMSU completed a sharp contrast. The Highland connector is now being used as an arterial to get on the interstate from Montana State University. The first five closely mirrors what the Commission has discussed for a very long time. Rick Hixson Mr. 1-Iixson responded to a question from Cr. Krauss about sidewalks and curbs #1) beginning another discussion about the issues with securing urban funding for this project. In other communities this has not worked well. 4 of 12 Minutes of the I runsporttxt C'oordinatmg ('ornmrttee, October 1h, 2009 Jeff Ebert Mr. Ebert said the problem lies with federal urban funding under the jurisdiction of MDT. To utilize that funding through federal highways, the city would have to be certified under the local area guidance program. The other issue is that based on department policy the city would have to front the federal funds and then after complete, MDT would reimburse those funds through federal highways. Carol Strizich Ms. Strizich clarified that if the City wants to do this work they would need to become certified. Rob Bukvich Mr. Bukvich said this was a timely issue. City staff wanted to do this work before a pavement preservation job. This puts it several years out. Getting the city certified to do the work themselves will take time and may or may not be worth it. City staff thought it might be better for the City to pay for the sidewalk work themselves and leave that money in the pot to do another project. Mr. Bukvich said the pavement project is scheduled for next summer. Mr. Bukvich explained why he thought this would take 2 -3 years to go through the process. Jeff Ebert Mr. Ebert said that the issue was that if this was an urban project, it would be beyond the time frame for Bozeman preservation projects. The ability to program those funds is up in the air because the program may not be funded in Washington. Rob Bukvich Mr. Bukvich said that one of the options is not to do pavement preservation on that it is brand new pavement. Maybe the city could do some of that and nominate this as the urban priority. Rick Hixson Mr. Hixson said he's not sure what's required to get certified, but we shouldn't have a problem measuring up. It would take about 5520,000, plus the additional chip seal. Responding to a question from Mr. Olsen, Mr. Hixson clarified that the sidewalk and curb project on Church is from Main Street to Story Street. Joe Olsen Mr. Olsen suggested that the state could still go through with the pavement preservation on that street and just leave out those 4 or 5 blocks. Motion that the Transportation Coordinating Committee recommend to the City Commission the urban project priority list provided. It was moved by Ralph Zimmer, seconded by C'r. Krauss that the Transportation 5 of 12 ti/irztates of the Frans 'portation Coordmottng Committee, October 28. 2009 Coordinating Committee recommends to the City Commission the urban project priority list provided. Marianne Amsden Ms. Amsden said that as a citizen living south of Bozeman, she would like to see South Church move higher on the list because of the lack of routes into Bozeman and it does go all the way from Main to Kagy. Brian Caldwell Mr. Caldwell asked whether getting studies completed to determine whether Mendenhall and Babcock should be two way roads would be part of this document since it's an urban route. Andy Epple Mr. Epple said that further studies would be outside urban funding because further studies would help determine whether they should become a priority. Urban funding is used for already established priorities. Rob Bukvich Mr. Bukvich said it would not work as an urban project anyway because it is not a pressing need. Federal highways would not want to pay MDT to do it. Jeff Krauss Cr. Krauss said that South Church, Main to Kagy has a very narrow right of way and would require tens and tens of millions of dollars. It would require knocking down houses, carving up hillsides, crossing over wetlands and could have lots of public opposition. Bill Cochran Mr. Cochran said that South Church is one of the main bicycle routes to Main because of the low speed limit despite the narrowness of the road. He feels it's important to bicyclists as it is. Vote that the Transportation Coordinating Committee recommend to the City Commission the urban project priority list provided. The motion passed unanimously. No further old business. ITEM 6. Christopher Scott Chairperson Scott clarified that this item will cone back before the TCC for formal adoption at the January meeting after the City Commission has taken action on the list. NEW BUSINESS A. Babcock/Mendenhall one way status 6 of 12 thmites (V the f ran.sportation CoordinctimK Committee, October 28, 2009 Andy Epple Mr. Epple said the Downtown Economic Plan is scheduled to come before the City Commission on November 9th and the plan recommends that Babcock and Mendenhall be converted to two way roads. As has been pointed out by staff and Chris Naumann with the Downtown Bozeman Partnership, this idea needs further study and is a lot of expense. Sam Gianfrancisco Mr. Gianfrancisco asked how much support the two way status has with downtown businesses and how many were included in the discussions about it. Andy Epple Mr. Epple pointed out that as the consultant and the Downtown Bozeman Partnership ushered the plan through the review process, they made a lot of effort to include as many downtown business owners as they could. Like in most processes, they probably had about 10% participation. While there's been talk about studying that conversion, the real test of support will happen when they try to secure the money to do it. Bob Lashaway Mr. Lashaway said the plan really just states that one ways of that variety have been proven to be impediments to the type of development that we express the downtown should evolve into and those two routes warrant more study. Andy Epple Mr. Epple said the consultants confided that the project budget did not have the money to do the analysis to do a formal recommendation. Mr. Epple pointed out that our one way couplets that still have a Main Street in between with lanes going both ways is different than communities with numerous one ways, providing Billings as an example. Christopher Scott Chairperson Scott asked whether there were any other issues within the plan that would require the TCC to place it on a future agenda. Bob Lashaway Mr. Lashaway asked whether the TCC' is required to take any action on the Downtown Plan; if not everyone can look at it on their own and address it within the plans process. Andy Epple Mr. Epple said he agreed, but pointed out that the TCC has addressed the issue of Babcock and Mendenhall on a number of occasions over the last twenty years and its always valuable to evaluate in modern times and the current context. Ile would hope that if the Commission makes the decision to proceed with that, they would invite TCC to take a role. possibly leading the effort and the opportunity for public participation. 7 of 12 ihnutes of the Crunsportaturn ('oord (`oznnudlee, October 21)OY Jeff Krauss Cr. Krauss said that it would be wise to allow the City Commission to weigh in on the Plan first. Christopher Scott Chairperson Scott clarified that the Downtown Plan should be on the January agenda as an opportunity to report what the City Commission has said. B. Amendment to By -laws Chairperson Scott sent out a memorandum prior to the meeting highlighting and summarizing amendments to the by -laws and memorandum of agreement. These included: Deletion of City of Belgrade. Contact attempts to Belgrade were unsuccessful, but it was noted they now have their own transportation planning. (Hear comments made under Belgrade Project update.) o Adding a member from Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) to by -laws and MOU Title of Multi -Modal Planning Bureau to Planning and Policy Analysis Bureau for MDT. Talked with Mr. Zimmer regarding language in MOA about Pedestrian Safety Committee. Agreed it is not necessary. Adding non discrimination notice as exhibit A. Minor corrections, etc. Chairperson Scott explained TCC can amend the by -laws but the MOA will need to be re- routed to all the signatory parties for review and approval. We would be making a recommendation regarding the Memorandum of Agreement. Motion and Vote to approve the amended by -laws as presented with the understanding that the acronym for TAC will be corrected and with the section pertaining to the pedestrian and traffic safety committee removed. ft was moved by Andy Epple, seconded by Brian Caldwell to approve the amended by -laws as presented with the understanding that the acronym for TAC will be corrected and with the section pertaining to the pedestrian and traffic safety committee removed. The motion passed unanimously C. Recommendation to amend Memorandum of Agreement Motion and Vote that the Transportation Coordinating Committee recommend approval of the amendments to the memorandum of agreement for ratification by the other affected parties. 8 of 12 thnittes of the Transportatron Coordinating Committee, October 28. 2069 It was moved by Andy Epple, seconded by Rick Hixson that the Transportation Coordinating Committee recommends approval of the amendments to the memorandum of agreement for ratification by the other affected parties. The motion passed unanimously. No further new business. ITEM 7. PROJECT UPDATES A. MSU Projects Update Bob Lashaway Mr. Lashaway said they have improvements at Lincoln and 11 and 11 and Kagy and they are progressing well. MSU also supports the design of a roundabout at 1 1 th and College which is still in design and moving forward. B. Belgrade Projects Update Jeff Ebert Mr. Ebert said there was a chip sea] project on the interstate from Belgrade to Manhattan and a chip seal on Jackrabbit. There is a phased approach looking at the current Belgrade interchange proceeding through the design process, part of which would involve signalization of the east bound off ramp onto Amsterdam Road and the reconfiguration of Amsterdam Road. The possibility of adding a second ramp to connect Amsterdam road to the interchange, but that would also involve a reconfiguration of the existing access because under the federal highway administration they are not allowing any new accesses to the interstate. They are working through that process right now. C. CTEP Projects Andy Epple Mr. Epple said progress is being made on the College Street mixed use pathway project from 1 1 to Main Street. Ron Dingman is moving ahead with an eye to construction in summer 2010. D. South 19 Ave. Main Street to Kagy Jeff Ebert Mr. Ebert said this project is winding down. Crews from Knife River are working on median curb right now. Next season they'll come in and do the chip seal and placing the final pavement markings. The paving restrictions start November 1. Jeff Krauss Cr. Krauss asked when the extra lanes on Main going west and 19 going south will be opened. 9 of 12 bIintttes of the Ti lnsportation Coordinating Committee. October .7I109 Rob Bukvich Mr. Bukvich answered Cr. Krauss" question saying those lanes will open when the two lane is open on South 1.9 which should be soon. Rick Hixson Mr. Hixson said that none of the lights are on to the north on 19` from the signal at College to Koch and the lights on College. Rob Bukvich Mr. Bukvich said it sounded like an issue they would need to look into and added that sometimes the lights on College are on in the afternoon. Jeff Krauss Cr. Krauss mentioned that the painted poles look really good. Rob Bukvich Mr. Bukvich said the college officially has not wanted to paint the median caps blue. He said maybe there is a group from the college that has an interest in painting some of the median caps blue against the yellow no parking on some of that coming into the college. E. Intersection Improvement Projects Jeff Ebert Mr. Ebert gave an update on Willson and College, saying last summer the historic preservation board met on site and said there was not an issue with either a roundabout or signal at that location but the state historic office is going to weigh in on that finding. MDT will be making a presentation to the City Commission. Rob Bukvich Mr. Bukvich thanked John Van Delinder and staff for adding the turn lanes at Peach, Durston and 7 F. North Rouse Av enue Jeff Ebert Mr. Ebert said there is nothing new to report. They are completing the final design and have a recommendation from the consultant to break the project down into two segments. The first to build from Main to Oak and then Oak to Story Mill so those can be let as separate projects or together depending on funding. G. 1 -90 Improvements Jeff Ebert Mr. Ebert spoke regarding the MRI, structures involving replacement of the interstate overpass 10 of 12 t! notes of the Transportation C'oor•dinrzting Comm uc�. Uctoher 2•'s. 20(19 over Rouse Avenue and L Street. That project is going to bid right after the first of the year so work will start next construction season and then over two seasons. The plan would be to move traffic over to either the west or east bound lanes, remove the existing structure; put the new structure in and then the next season replace the other. There might be temporary closures. There is also some seismic work called the Bozeman Area Structures which are still several years out, but design work is proceeding. The North 7 overpass design work is proceeding. Responding to questions from Cr. Krauss, Mr. Ebert explained that North 7th would involve walking paths on the east and west sides of the structure and involves additional capacity on the ramps and widening the structure. He also thinks there are provisions for a bike lane and pedestrians across the structure. (Cr. Krauss said there would be a bike lane to the structure.) They also have a pavement preservation project on Bozeman Hill on 1 -90 East of Bozeman going to construction this coming, or the following summer. Joe Olsen Mr. Olsen said there is a pavement preservation project that will happen on Bear Canyon to the Jackson Interchange. He also spoke regarding a project at East Three Forks Interchange through the re- investment act. The wetlands project has been substantially completed and ducks have moved in. H. I- 90/East Belgrade Interchange Report Jeff Ebert Mr. Ebert said this project is the connection to the airport. They have hired a consultant to start design activities. They had a meeting with Knife River regarding the right of way needed. I. TSM's Report No report. J. Other Joe Olsen Mr. Olsen gave an overview of MDT projects on the interstate. The Valley Center Road east section has been let to contract and should be going full bore by next year. There are several pavement preservation projects including Gallatin Canyon and along Huffine Lane from Four Corners to South 19 next summer. Several other projects were mentioned, but the audio recording was not loud enough to hear. Cr. Krauss Cr. Krauss asked what the Valley Center project would look like from 27 to Love Lane. Rob Bukvich Mr. Bukvich explained that it will take off from the underpass and will be a wide two lane with dedicated left turn lanes at the major county roads NAith a mixed use bike /ped lane on the south 11 of 12 tfinzues of the Iran. o Non ('oordowting ('onunittee, O toiler 24 2009 side for part of it with part curb, gutter and sidewalk. It is actually two projects. One under contract right now, the other's designed right of way is purchased but we don't have funding for the west section. The east section which is under contract goes from about McGinnley's underpass to about Lake Drive and where residents are close will have curbs and gutter; after that area is an urban route with ditches. Lee Provance Mr. Provance asked whether stimulus funds had been obtained for the Jackrabbit Project. Joe Olsen Mr. Olsen explained that project has been submitted, but they have not heard_ Jeff Ebert Mr. Ebert said federal highway dept. has said sometime in February that announcement should be made. ITEM 8. 2009 -2010 MEETING DATES AND ADJOURNMENT January 27, 2010 Regular Meeting April 28, 2010 Regular Meeting July 28, 2010 Regular Meeting Motion and Vote to adjourn It was moved by Ralph Zimmer, seconded by Jeff Ebert to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed unanimously. Prepared by: Aime''n. Kissel, Deputy C "ity Clerk pproved on A I c blp b•ist opher Scot Chairperson Bozeman Area Transportation Coordinating Committe 12 of 12