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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-14-10 Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee Minutes Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee Minutes of the April 14, 2010 Meeting Upstairs Conference Room Alfred Stiff Office Building Those Present: Voting Committee Members: Ralph Zimmer (Gallatin County) Sue Brown (elected At-Large member during the meeting) Frank Manseau (Gallatin County) Danielle Scharf (City of Bozeman) Non-Voting Committee Members: John Van Delinder (City of Bozeman) Liaison Officers Sgt. Jake Wagner (Sheriff’s Office) Tommie Franscioni (Bozeman PD) Guests – Sean Becker (City Commission) Sam Miller Quorum: present NEW BUSINESS: Ralph called the meeting to order at 12:05 PM. Opening Comments. 1.Sue provided some brief comments during the opening public comment period. She has been following the City Commission meetings on TV and is supportive of Ralph’s recent comments on the roundabout at College and 11th. Bozeman Cell Phone Initiative. 2.Sam provided a draft copy of the initiative for review, but noted that it has not been reviewed by the City Attorney yet. It would require the use of a hands-free device – no phone to ear and no texting. It would be a secondary law, meaning that a driver would need to be pulled over for another violation in order to get a ticket for cell phone use. Exclusions would be allowed for emergency use, dispatch systems, etc. Sam also provided an executive summary of research from Australia and summarized the findings. Arguments against going hands free include enforcement, setting level of standard for safety in the community that does not include texting, etc. Some of the research has shown that even with hands free, drivers are still distracted, but Sam feels a hands-free law has to be an improvement over no law at all. Bicyclists and pedestrians will benefit the most from a law like this because they have the least amount of protection around them. Frank asked why we wouldn’t make it a primary violation and Sam noted that it would be less popular with the public and suggested this may be the reason why it didn’t pass in Missoula. The issue with a texting ban only is that people could just say they were dialing, which would be within the law. Sgt. Wagner cautioned Sam in the use language regarding the note that law enforcement would “seek” another violation to pull over for the secondary violation. The State has previously looked at a law regarding cell phone use, but it hasn’t come out of committee. It’s also possible that the State could even pass a law preventing local jurisdictions from passing their own law on cell phone use. Sam would like support from this committee when it becomes an agenda item for the City Commission. We will leave this topic on the list of agenda items and discuss it again at our next meeting when Gary can be involved. It was agreed that it warrants further discussion, particularly if we will be asked to help push it through to get on the Commission agenda. No formal action was taken at this time. Minutes. 3.Minutes from March 10, 2010 meeting were approved with minor edits made by Ralph Zimmer prior to distribution. Election of At-large Members. 4.Under the inter-local agreement between the City, County and School District and our by-laws, we have the option of voting in zero, one or two official at-large committee members. We don’t currently have any at-large members. Sue Brown expressed interest and it was noted that Taylor Lonsdale has shown interest before, but was concerned he would not be able to attend meetings regularly. Ralph recently asked Taylor if he would be willing to reconsider, but has not received a response yet. Sue Brown was elected as an at-large voting member. We still have one position available for Taylor or someone else that may be interested. Liaison Officer Reports. 5.Neither had anything specific to discuss at this time. Main Street Pedestrian Signals. 6. Ralph recently sent another letter to the MDT State Traffic Engineer to follow up on our previous discussions, but has not heard anything back yet. Galligator Trail Crossing. 7. This topic will be postponed to our next committee meeting since Gary isn’t present. Two-way Conversion of Babcock and Mendenhall. 8. Danielle provided a report on the status of a potential feasibility study on converting Babcock and Mendenhall to two-way streets. This was a recommendation in the recently completed Downtown Bozeman Improvement Plan. The Chair of the Planning Board requested proposals from two firms for completion of the study and discussed the project at the March 16, 2010 Planning Board Meeting without taking any action. Although the Planning Board Chair technically cannot request a proposal in this manner on behalf of the City, it was understood that the request was meant more for just getting an idea how much the study would cost. Since then, the Downtown Bozeman Partnership has taken over the project and requested that the proposals be updated accordingly. The group was reminded that this project was not initiated by City staff. th Street Department Report. 9. John reported that the roundabout project at College and 11 is currently under final design and will hopefully be bidding soon. Upcoming meetings. 10. Ralph will be out of town on the dates our committee would normally meet in May and June. If he is present, Gary would chair a meeting in Ralph’s absence. We might end up cancelling or rescheduling the May and/or June meetings. Ralph will follow up on this via email. Frank expressed a preference for rescheduling the meetings rather cancelling. Future Agenda Items. 11. The following items will be considered as future agenda items.  South Willson & College intersection improvements  Galligator Trail crossing at South Willson & Lincoln  Citizen proposal to install flashers on South Willson at Dickerson  Trail project along Bridger Canyon Road  Continue discussion on Complete Streets Policy  Continue discussion on Sidewalk Encroachment Policy  Continue discussion on the operation of Main Street pedestrian signals  Continue discussion on Cell Phone Initiative The meeting was adjourned at 1:10 PM. Next Meeting: May 12, 2010 (this meeting may be cancelled or rescheduled, as noted above) Minutes by Danielle Scharf Initial Edits by Ralph Zimmer