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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03 28 11_Peach Street Bike Lanes_7Commission Memorandum REPORT TO: Honorable Mayor and City Commission FROM: Andrew Kerr, Engineering Assistant Rick Hixson, City Engineer Chuck Winn, Assistant City Manager SUBJECT: Peach Street Bike Lanes MEETING DATE: March 28, 2011 AGENDA ITEM TYPE: Action RECOMMENDATION: Deny request to designate bike lanes on Peach Street from Rouse Avenue to N. 7th Avenue BACKGROUND: The Bozeman Area Bicycle Advisory Board (BABAB) has requested that we proceed with designation of bike lanes on Peach Street from Rouse Avenue to 7th Avenue as recommended in the Bozeman Transportation Plan 2007 Update. Although Peach Street is an Urban Route, the Montana Department of Transportation has advised us that their approval is not required in order to designate bike lanes on Peach Street. Installation of bike lanes as recommended by BABAB would be achieved by eliminating parking on the north side of Peach Street, striping and marking bike lanes, and installing appropriate “No Parking” and “Bike Lane” signs. The centerline of Peach Street would have to be moved three feet to the north (see attached Typical Section). A 5-foot bike lane would be striped on the north side of Peach, an 11-foot bike/parking lane would be striped on the south side of Peach, and there would be two 10-foot wide vehicle lanes. This bike lane configuration is also contained in the Whittier School Safe Routes to School Improvement Plan (Engineering Next Steps – Eng-2). Public comment was solicited on this proposal with letters sent to all adjoining property owners and with a notice on the city’s website. Fourteen comments were received, with nine in favor of bike lanes and five opposed (comments attached). The most significant impact from loss of parking would appear to fall on Cravins, a business located at 515 W. Peach Street. They rely on the on-street parking for their business. The owner has asked that if bike lanes are installed, that they would still be allowed to have a loading zone available. Allowing a loading zone is not recommended with this bike lane configuration (no parking on north side) as it would force west- bound traffic to cross the centerline to maneuver around vehicles in the loading zone. In response to the comments received, public comments were solicited from the adjoining property owners about removing parking on both sides of Peach Street to install the bike lanes. Seven responses were received, with three being opposed to bike lanes due to the loss of parking. The Bozeman School District is generally in favor of bike lanes, but is concerned that there is the potential for increased vehicle speeds with bike lanes. They recommend that curb extensions be 194 installed at the intersection of Peach and 5th as proposed in the Whittier School Safe Routes to School Improvement plan. Parking on Peach Street is currently un-restricted, with the exception that the south side between 5th and 6th, next to Whittier School, is designated as a 20-minute loading zone from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. Parking demand has been observed to be light, with no more than two vehicles parked on the entire stretch of Peach Street at a time, with the exception that the south side of Peach by Whittier School is sometimes filled up for evening events at the school. The School Crossing Guard at 5th and Peach indicated that the loading zone is not heavily used during the school day. After review of the comments received, and considering the various alternatives, staff is recommending to not designate bike lanes on Peach Street at this time for the following reasons: - Removing parking on one side only will result in vehicle travel lanes and bike lanes at the minimum required width. Truck traffic on this street accounts for over 9% of the traffic, which is high. Lanes wider than 10 feet are preferable when truck traffic is significant. Removing parking on the north side will negatively impact Cravins. Removing parking on the south side was opposed by two property owners, one at Grand and one at Rouse. In addition, if parking were to only be removed from the south side, with the subsequent 3-foot centerline shift to the south, the alignment of the westbound lane of Peach Street across 7th Avenue will have an offset of 9 feet. The recommended maximum shift across an intersection is 6 feet. The loading zone at the school would also be eliminated with this configuration. - Due to the low parking demand, bikes have ease of travel along the shoulder at this time. As the adjoining properties have been fully developed, it is unlikely that parking demand would change much in the future. - The Complete Streets policy requires transportation corridors to accommodate all users, but allows for exceptions such as: where the existing right-of-way does not allow for accommodation of all users; there is no need; or where accommodation would result in significant impact on neighboring land uses. We believe Peach Street qualifies for an exception, as far as designation of bike lanes at this time. UNRESOLVED ISSUES: If bike lanes are approved for designation, how to mitigate impacts. ALTERNATIVES: 1) Add bike lanes and restrict parking on the north side; 2) Add bike lanes and restrict parking on the south side; 3) Add bike lanes and restrict parking on both sides; 4) Install Shared Lane Markings (“Sharrows” – see attached information); or as suggested by the Commission. FISCAL EFFECTS: The estimated cost to contract out the installation of the required signs and markings to install bike lanes while retaining parking on one side is approximately $30,000. Currently there is $17,500 designated in the Street Maintenance fund for bike lane projects. Accomplishing installation of the bike lanes with the funds available could be done by contracting out the lane line markings and having the signs and bike symbols installed by the Sign Department, which they would be willing to do for cost of materials only. The estimated cost to install the bike lanes in this manner is $15,620. The estimated cost to install bike lanes with no parking on either side is approximately $11,000 (signs and markings installed by the Sign Department, line obliteration not required). The maintenance cost of these bikes lanes is estimated to be approximately $1,400 per year for annual re-striping, sign depreciation, and occasional replacement of bike lane symbols. Installation cost of Shared Lane Use Markings is estimated to be $7,000. 195 Attachments: Letter from BABAB Public Comments Question Responses 2nd Round Public Comments Typical Sections Whittier School Improvement Plan, Eng-1, Eng-2 Shared Use Lane Markings (“Sharrows”) Report compiled on: March 9, 2011 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227