HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-12-11 Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee Minutes
1 Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee
2 Minutes of the January 12, 2011 Meeting
3 Upstairs Conference Room Alfred Stiff Office Bldg.
4
Those Present:
5
6
7 Voting Committee Members:
8 Ralph Zimmer (Gallatin County)
9 Frank Manseau (Gallatin County)
10 Gary Vodehnal (City of Bozeman)
11 Danielle Scharf (City of Bozeman)
12 Sam Miller (At-large Voting Member)
13
14 Non-Voting Committee Members:
15 John Van Delinder (City of Bozeman – Street Superintendent)
16
17 Liaison Officers:
18 Tommie Franscioni (Bozeman Police Department)
19 Ryan Stratman (Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office)
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21 Guests:
22 Sean Becker (City Commission)
23 Bill Bartlett (BABAB Member)
24 Rob Bukvich (Montana Department of Transportation)
25 James Lusby (Bozeman Police Department)
26 Daniel R. Peterson (Concerned Citizen)
27
Quorum:
28 present
29
NEW BUSINESS:
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31
32 Ralph called the meeting to order at 12:05 PM.
33
Public Comment.
34 1.Daniel Peterson noted that there is a window out at the bus shelter near
35 the Senior Center and explained how he thought it should be Plexiglas instead of glass. He
36 suggested that the City consult with pedestrians and transit riders before making these types
37 of decisions. John wasn’t sure about that particular shelter, but noted that they are often
38 installed by volunteer organizations. Gary offered to share this feedback with Streamline.
39
Consideration of Agenda Items.
40 2. Ralph explained that we won’t be able to cover all items
41 on the agenda and any items we don’t get to will be carried over to the next meeting. He
42 requested input on the agenda items and did not receive any comments.
43
2011 At-Large Membership.
44 3. Most of our voting membership is appointed by other groups
45 including the City Commission, County Commission and School District. We also have the
46 option of appointing zero, one or two at-large voting members. We have had two this past
47 year – Sue Brown and Sam Miller. Sue is not seeking reappointment this year, but Sam is
48 interested in being reappointed for 2011. Ralph suggested that new non-voting members
49 serve through the first meeting of the next calendar year (2012) and the group agreed by
50 consensus to this proposed term of office. Ralph has asked Elizabeth Bird several times if
51 she would be interested in serving as an at-large member, but she does not currently have
52 time to do it. Ralph also previously asked Taylor Londsdale and he’s been interested but
53 concerned that it may create a conflict of interest for him as Montana Safe Routes to School
54 Coordinator, a position which receives grant requests from communities across the state.
55 Ralph asked if the group had a preference to elect zero, one or two at-large voting members
56 during this meeting. Frank and Danielle both stated that they would support voting for one
57 now since Sam is interested and leave the other position open. Ralph also explained that he
58 and Gary were recently reappointed by the County and City Commissions, respectively.
59 Daniel Peterson was the other applicant through the City Commission. Frank nominated
60 Sam Miller and Gary made a motion to close nominations and proceed with voting. Frank
61 seconded Gary’s motion. The motion passed and Sam Miller was re-elected for the 2011
62 term. Ralph asked for any nominations for a second at-large voting member and, in hearing
63 none, concluded that we will leave the other membership open for now and consider
64 nominating someone at a later date.
65
2011 Election of Officers.
66 4. Ralph is currently serving as Chair, Gary as Vice Chair and
67 Danielle as Secretary. All are willing to run for their respective offices again this year, but
68 Ralph noted that nominations are also open to anyone else that’s interested. When Ralph
69 requested nominations for Chair, Sam nominated Ralph and no other nominations were
70 made. Gary made a motion that we close nominations and elect Ralph Zimmer, Danielle
71 seconded, and the motion passed unanimously. Frank nominated Gary for Vice Chair and no
72 other nominations were made. Frank made a motion to close nominations and elect Gary,
73 Sam seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously. Gary nominated Danielle for
74 Secretary and no other nominations were made. Sam made a motion that we close
75 nominations and elect Danielle, Frank seconded the motion, and the motion passed
76 unanimously. Ralph, Gary and Danielle will all continue to serve in their respective
77 positions for the 2011 term.
78
Safe Routes to School Grant Application.
79 5. The deadline for this year’s application was
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80 December 31 and at our last meeting we were unsure whether or not an application had been
81 submitted for Bozeman. Taylor Lonsdale was going to attend our meeting today, but wasn’t
82 able to make it at the last minute. However, he told Ralph that the School District submitted
83 an application for an infrastructure project for sidewalk infill (primarily at Chief Joseph) and
84 non-infrastructure for education and encouragement at several other schools. Rob Bukvich
85 noted that he thought the application was for sidewalks around Sacajawea. Rob is the liaison
86 for the Safe Routes to School infrastructure projects in this area, but he is not involved in the
87 selection process or any of the non-infrastructure projects.
88
89 Frank asked about the raised crosswalks at Longfellow Elementary School, a project that has
90 been discussed by this committee on several previous occasions. He recently talked to
91 school representatives and they are in favor of the project. John mentioned that it will be
92 difficult to install raised crosswalks in the recommended locations because of driveways,
93 hydrants, and on-street parking. This project was not included in this year’s funding
94 application according to the report that Ralph received from Taylor.
95
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South 19 Avenue Turn Lanes.
96 6. Rob Bukvich from MDT has joined us today for this
97 discussion topic. He is a long-time employee of MDT, lives in Bozeman, and also serves on
98 the Bozeman-area Transportation Coordinating Committee. Frank explained his concerns
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99 related to turning traffic on South 19 Ave and why he feels we need a southbound left-turn
100 lane at Goldenstein and southbound left-turn and right-turn lanes at Patterson. There was a
101 fatality several years ago at Rainbow, so Frank is also concerned about these neighborhood
102 streets.
103
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104 Rob explained that South 19 Ave is eligible for federal funding for highways, which all
105 passes through MDT. However, the local jurisdictions have the say over where the funding
106 is spent within city limits. Beyond the city limits, the County has jurisdiction and they make
107 the call where the funding will be sent. MDT’s only other source of funding for these types
108 of projects is safety funding and they use accident records to determine where this money is
109 spent. They have installed some advance intersection warning signs at Goldenstein and have
110 offered to install lighting at the intersection, but the County didn’t agree to pay for
111 maintenance or the cost of power. Rob agrees that a left-turn lane at Goldenstein would be
112 good, but acquiring right-of-way would also be an issue. The need for a left-turn lane is
113 based more on the opposing through volumes, where as a right-turn lane is traditionally
114 considered a free movement. Another consideration with right-turn lanes is they present a
115 safety problem with the right turning vehicle blocking the view of a through vehicle for a car
116 waiting on the minor approach.
117
118 Frank expressed his concern again about turning traffic at Rainbow, Wildflower and the other
119 neighborhood streets in that subdivision. Danielle, who lives on Wildflower, agreed that this
120 may be a safety concern but noted that the volumes turning on these streets are much lower
121 and probably would never be high enough to trigger a left-turn lane warrant.
122
123 Gary asked Rob if we should lobby the County Commission to get these turn lanes installed.
124 Rob said we could, but didn’t expect we would have much luck. Our most likely chance
125 would be a rural subdivision improvements district (RSID). The only way MDT could spend
126 safety money on these turn lanes is if the locations showed up as an accident cluster with a
127 viable solution. They compare the cost of the improvements to the cost of the accidents to
128 justify the work. If the County chose to nominate these locations for their federal funds,
129 MDT would do the design. Rob isn’t necessarily discouraging Frank from going the County
130 Commission, but doesn’t want him to get his hopes up.
131
MDT’s policy on lobbying the State Legislature.
132 7.Ralph asked Rob what MDT’s policy is
133 on lobbying particular bills in front of the legislature. Rob said that the director, Jim Lynch
134 is very safety-minded and may be willing to support the bills related to distracted driving.
135 He suggested that Ralph contact the Director through his office if we would like to ask for
136 his support.
137
Minutes.
138 8.Minutes from the December 8, 2010 meeting were approved with minor edits
139 made by Ralph Zimmer prior to distribution.
140
Liaison Officer Reports.
141 9.Liaison officer were in attendance, but did not have anything new
142 to report at this time.
143
Street Department Report.
144 10. John did not have anything new to report at this time.
145
City Commission Priority Setting Meeting.
146 11. The Commission will meet to set their
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147 priorities for 2011 on January 24, likely beginning at 4:00, 5:00 or 6:00 PM. A PTS
148 representative will attend to lobby on behalf of the distracted driving ordinance and
149 identification of a City staff member to serve as bike/ped coordinator. Ralph will be out of
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150 town on January 24 and would like someone else to speak on behalf of our committee.
151 Gary will also most likely be out of town that evening. If neither Ralph nor Gary can attend,
152 Danielle will speak on behalf of our committee. Ralph suggested that we also invite Dexter
153 Tank to speak in favor of the distracted driving ordinance during the 3-minute public
154 comment period. Frank will contact him to see if he’ll be available.
155
156 Ralph will send a memo to the Commission regarding both topics, but has not decided yet if
157 it will be in one or two separate memos. Bill will encourage the Chair of BABAB to do the
158 same. Sean noted that it may also be beneficial to ask the Mayor if we could have a special
159 presentation by advisory committees to allow us more time to make our presentation than just
160 the 3-minute public comment period. Danielle will contact Laura Stanley from WTI to let
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161 her know we’ll be speaking about distracted driving on January 24 and ask if she would be
162 interested in sending a letter to the Commission or speaking that night.
163
Future Agenda Items.
164 12. The following items have been carried over from previous meeting
165 minutes as potential future agenda items.
166
167 Missing sidewalk sections and accessible curb ramps along Main Street
168 Sidewalk/trail along Oak from 7th to Rouse
169 Longfellow Crossing
170 Path along Bridger Canyon Road
171 Galligator Trail crossing at South Willson & Lincoln – review # of crossings along
172 Willson from Kagy to Garfield and consider a recommendation to install another at
173 Mason
174 South Willson & College intersection improvements
175 Citizen proposal to install flashers on South Willson at Dickerson
176 Continue discussion on Complete Streets Policy
177 Continue discussion on Sidewalk Encroachment Policy
178 Continue discussion on Distracted Driver Issues
179 South 19th Avenue turn lanes
180
181 The meeting was adjourned at 1:45 PM.
182
Next Meeting:
183 February 9, 2010
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186 Minutes by Danielle Scharf
187 Minor edits by Ralph Zimmer