The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About05-19-10 Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee Minutes Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee Minutes of the May 19, 2010 Meeting Upstairs Conference Room Alfred Stiff Office Bldg. Those Present: Voting Committee Members: Ralph Zimmer (Gallatin County) Frank Manseau (Gallatin County) Gary Vodehnal (City of Bozeman) Danielle Scharf (City of Bozeman) Sue Brown (At-large Voting Member) Non – Voting Committee Members: John Van Delinder (City of Bozeman – Street Superintendent) Liaison Officers Sgt. Jake Wagner (Sheriff’s Office) Guests – Elizabeth Bird (Bozeman Area Bicycle Advisory Board) Tenara Blood (Guest) Quorum: present NEW BUSINESS: Ralph called the meeting to order at 12:05 PM. Public Comment. 1.Our guest, Tenara Blood introduced herself. She will be spending the summer working for GVLT building trails. She has held previous positions with the Forest Service and Right Now Technologies. Minutes. 2.Minutes from April 14, 2010 meeting were approved with minor edits made by Ralph Zimmer prior to distribution. One specific edit that Ralph mentioned is that there is technically no room number for the upstairs conference room in the Alfred Stiff Building. Liaison Officer Reports. 3.Nothing to report from the Sheriff’s office at this time. The representative from the Bozeman Police Department was not in attendance at this meeting. Report from Bozeman Area Bicycle Advisory Board. 4. Elizabeth Bird reported that the board has been busy with Bike Week this week. They are interested in seeing the potential cell phone law extended to bicyclists. Elizabeth is no longer Chair, but is now serving as Secretary through December. The Board is also looking to propose a City Ordinance regarding winter street maintenance. 5.Main Street Pedestrian Signals. Ralph recently received an email back from Danielle Bolan, MDT State Traffic Engineer, stating that MDT will proceed with changing the pedestrian signals as requested, but MDT has not contacted the City about the changes yet. John said he would continue to track the project and check back with MDT. Street Department Report. 6. John reported that MDT will be making a presentation to the Commission very soon on recommended improvements the intersection of College and Willson. The presentation will likely be made by Jeff Ebert, Butte District Administrator. th The design is almost complete for the College/11 roundabout and the City is still hoping to start construction this summer. Update on Distracted Driver Issues. 7.Ralph noted that the City Attorney is drafting a proposed ordinance related to cell phone use while driving, but at our last meeting, Sean Becker said that it is unlikely that this will be a high priority for future Commission agenda items. CTEP Program. 8.Gary provided an overview of the CTEP program and provided a summary of projects for discussion at an upcoming CTEP Committee Meeting. CTEP stands for Community Transportation Enhancement Program. It provides federal dollars for the construction of bike and pedestrian improvements, historic preservation and beautification. Bozeman receives $140,000 per year and the most recent project to be funded is the trail th from College/11 to Huffine/Ferguson. It will be a 10-foot wide asphalt trail along the south side of College and north side of Huffine, crossing Huffine at the Fowler intersection. The trail will be constructed this fall, but there will still be concerns related to crossing College from neighborhoods to the north. th The CTEP Committee will be meeting next week on May 26 to discuss future CTEP projects, including the following:  Street crossings and accessibility ramps in the neighborhoods near MSU th  South 8 boulevard improvements thth  Sidewalks on Babcock from 11 to 19 – right-of-way is a major issue thth  Sidewalks on the north side of College from 13 to 19 – at top of the list for urban funding with College reconstruction  City Park Parking Lots – East Gallatin Recreation Area, Rose Park, etc. th  Sidewalks on North 7 near the I-90 Interchange thth  Sidewalks and Bike Lanes on Kagy from 11 to 19 –could also be constructed with urban funds th  Path along Oak from Rouse to 19  Sidewalks on College from Black to Tracy  Path to the “M” along Bridger Canyon Rd (MDT’s Rouse reconstruction will include sidewalks or a path to Story Mill, but construction has been postponed)  Path along Huffine from Ferguson to 4 Corners th  Path along 19 to Hyalite  Path along the Frontage Road from Bozeman to Belgrade  Mendenhall and Babcock streetscape improvements  Sidewalk on south side of Durston from Meagher to Flathead  Soroptomist Park – lead paint abatement for mural  Sidewalks in Bronken Park, Rose Park, and Bogert Park Frank asked if the City could share the cost of sidewalk improvements so the property owners would not have to absorb the entire cost. John said that program hasn’t gone anywhere because there wasn’t a source of funds for the match. Elizabeth thought the th priority should be the sidewalks on North 7 and the path along Oak. Frank thought the thrd priority should be North 7, South 3 and crossings on College. It was noted that these concerns will be addressed with high-priority urban fund projects. In general, all agreed that filling in missing sidewalk links would be a good use of CTEP funds. On behalf of the PTS Committee, Gary will encourage the CTEP Committee to focus on sidewalks and street crossings and note that projects near schools should be coordinated with Safe Routes to School efforts. Next meeting. 9. Ralph will not be available for our next regularly scheduled meeting on June th 9, the second Wednesday in June, so he asked if the committee wanted to meet in his absence with Gary chairing the meeting or whether the committee wanted to change the meeting date or whether the committee wanted to cancel the meeting. A motion to cancel the thth June 9 meeting was approved, so our next meeting will be on July 14. Election of At-large Members. 10.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. At our last meeting, Sue Brown was elected as an at-large voting member. Ralph followed up with Taylor Lonsdale to see if he may still be interested in being the second at-large committee member. He responded by saying he didn’t think his schedule would allow it, but then said he’d be willing as long as the committee understood that he wouldn’t be able to make it to many of the meetings. Elizabeth Bird would also be a good person for this position. Ralph will ask her if she’s interested. Future Agenda Items. 11. The following items will be considered as future agenda items.  Path along Bridger Canyon Road  Galligator Trail crossing at South Willson & Lincoln – review # of crossings along Willson from Kagy to Garfield and consider a recommendation to install another at Mason?  South Willson & College intersection improvements  Citizen proposal to install flashers on South Willson at Dickerson  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 1:20 PM. th Next Meeting: July 14, 2010 (the June 9 meeting was cancelled, as noted above) Minutes by Danielle Scharf minor edits by Ralph Zimmer