HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-10-11 Pedestrian and Trafffic Safety Committee MinutesPedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee
Minutes of the August 10, 2011 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)
Non-Voting Committee Members:
John Van Delinder (City of Bozeman – Street Superintendent)
Liaison Officers:
Tommie Franscioni (Bozeman Police Department)
Guests:
Sean Becker (City Commission)
Andy Kerr (City Engineering)
Jonah Shermer (Bozeman Police Department)
Quorum: present
NEW BUSINESS:
Ralph called the meeting to order at 12:05 PM.
Consideration of Meeting Agenda. Ralph offered the opportunity to provide input on the agenda. No comments were made.
Public Comment. No public comment.
Next Meeting. Our next regularly scheduled meeting will be September 14th. That date won’t work for Frank, but no others have conflicts. We will tentatively stick with September 14th
as our next meeting date.
Opportunity to Elect Additional 2011 At-large Voting Member. Ralph offered the opportunity to nominate an additional at-large voting member to the committee. No nominations were made
at this time.
Liaison Officer Reports. Tommie was in attendance. In follow up to our last meeting, Tommie noted that Philadelphia is the city that passed an ordinance against texting while walking.
Minutes. Minutes of the July 20, 2011 meeting were reviewed and unanimously approved with minor edits made by Ralph Zimmer prior to distribution.
Reports from Related Groups. Ralph asked for an update on current or future CTEP projects. Andy noted that CTEP administration will soon move to Engineering and Dustin Johnson will
likely be the new point person, but he’s not sure yet. He’s hoping Ron has already submitted an application for this year that included several different projects (accessibility ramps,
missing sidewalk, etc.), but he doesn’t know for sure. Ralph noted that Danielle officially represents this committee on the CTEP committee and Gary is also on the committee representing
GVLT. Gary will follow up with Ron to make sure we’re kept in the loop as this transition progresses.
Crosswalks. At our July meeting we discussed several desirable locations for new crosswalks and have invited Andy Kerr to our meeting today to provide input. Sam also provided input
on these locations via email prior to the meeting. Ralph explained our concerns about there being an inadequate number of marked crosswalks on Willson between Garfield and Kagy (just
one now at Lincoln) and on College between Willson and 19th (crosswalks located at 8th, 11th and 13th). Andy’s opinion is that crosswalk markings and signs tend to be overused. State
law dictates that every intersection is a legal crossing. Overuse creates sign clutter and people become less likely to stop.
Andy would not like to put another crossing at Mason, but would suggest putting signs on the trail telling users to cross at Lincoln.
The City has received several requests for marked crosswalks between 8th and 11th on College. If anything, the city should upgrade pedestrian ramps in that area. There is concern about
the elimination of on-street parking that would be required for the crosswalks. Students are still going to cross wherever it’s most convenient, so that problem won’t be solved by an
additional crosswalk. It might make sense to install one at 10th to limit the amount of parking eliminated. Gary said that even if we make the curbs accessible without striping crosswalks
it would be an improvement. That area should be on the CTEP list for curb ramp upgrades.
Gary noted that curbs also are not accessible at Willson and Grant, and there’s no curb at all where the Galligator trail intersects Willson. The City recently restriped the crosswalk
at College and 13th, but there is not an accessible route to the crosswalk. John said they could place some additional asphalt to make that one accessible. Gary asked if it would be
worthwhile to have a meeting with MSU about these crossings. The City doesn’t need their permission, but should still coordinate with them about installing accessible ramps.
Ralph understands the reluctance to stripe too many crosswalks, but he agrees with Gary’s comments about at least making these areas accessible due to his own situation.
The roundabout at College and 11th should be open next week. Frank asked about the purpose of the center concrete area. John and Andy explained that it’s a truck apron where a wheels
of a large vehicle can drag as it goes around the roundabout. The City is considering installing Rectangular Rapid Flash Beacons (RRFB) at the roundabout if there is an issue with vehicles
not stopping for pedestrians. They won’t be installed right away, but the City has installed conduit and pulled wires for easy installation later.
Frank thinks there should be another crosswalk west of 11th on College. There’s no existing curb on that stretch, but the City could place asphalt at additional intersections to provide
access to the trail on the south side of College. John said the City’s resources are limited so they should focus on 13th where the existing crosswalk is for now. Ralph said he would
strongly support the installation of accessible ramps in appropriate locations, although he won’t go so far as to say it has to be at every intersection. He asked what we could do as
a group to encourage that to happen as early as possible. Andy said those particular ramps on College are on the list for the next round of CTEP projects. John and Andy suggested that
we see if Ron has completed the CTEP application and if so, encourage Dustin to include these ramps as a priority project. Andy will check with Ron, as will Gary since he’s already
planning to contact him about the transition of CTEP administration to Engineering. All agreed that should be our next step.
Frank also noted that we’ve discussed raised crosswalks at Longfellow School as a CTEP or SRTS project. John still doesn’t think they’re feasible because of the location of driveways,
fire hydrants, etc. Andy noted that the one crossing could go away because it is only needed for people that live on the west side of that block. Ralph explained that this group has
not necessarily determined that raised crosswalks are a solution that we support. Gary said accessible ramps need to be installed at Tracy and College. John noted that Longfellow is
more concerned about slowing traffic. Their process should be to go through Andy to request traffic calming, which was already done and the street didn’t qualify based on traffic data.
Andy feels it would be preferable to have kids living on that block walk down to where the crossing guard is at Dickerson.
Ralph asked who’s responsible for restriping the crosswalk on the west side of Garfield at 6th. John and Andy said that would be MSU’s responsibility. John will follow up with them.
Sean asked about the barricade at Cleveland and 6th. Andy said that was a Commission decision from when 7th was vacated because all the traffic was rerouted to 6th and neighbors were
concerned. It would take a Commission decision to remove the barricades. Andy said it was a condition of a street vacation so it cannot simply be done by staff decision. John will
ask Debbie Arkell how the City should proceed. It has helped to reduce the amount of traffic on 6th even without enforcement.
Pork chop at Highland and Ellis. Ralph recently spoke with Debbie about removal of the pork chop at Highland and Ellis and she said that the City has been discussing it. She said there
isn’t necessarily anything this group can do to expedite the process. Ralph is willing to go to the Commission to encourage it, if that’s what we need to do. Ralph will follow up with
Debbie.
Turn restrictions at College and Willson. Andy completed some observations soon after the turn restrictions were put in place that showed inadequate compliance. Ralph noted this during
a TCC meeting and Debbie responded by saying they were going to ask BPD to increase enforcement. Andy did some additional observations that didn’t show a significant change in compliance.
Ralph also recently spoke with a former City Commission member who said she would talk to Debbie. Tommie said they have increased enforcement and made many stops there. Andy noted
a recent accident there that Tommie will follow up on to see what the cause was. Most people who are pulled over for violation say they just weren’t paying attention.
Other items of concern. Ralph asked Andy is there was anything else we should be aware of. He noted that bike lanes have recently been installed on Peach. He has concerns related
to speeding traffic through the school zone and suggested that the City consider installing another radar sign going the other direction. Sean noted that at Hawthorne on Rouse there
is a radar sign, but no speed limit sign. John said they could check into installing a 25 mph sign in that location.
Ralph has not had a chance to contact Taylor about the SRTS task force or to contact local representatives about the transportation bill reauthorization. Andy noted that the School
District is working on a couple of small infrastructure projects that were just recently bid for construction.
Distracted driving. At our last meeting, Sam said he would check with Bill Bartlett to see what our next steps should be. Ralph also talked to Bill Cochrane since our last meeting and
they agreed that we should be doing something, but we need to follow up with Bill and Sam. Ralph asked John and Sean if they are aware any impending discussion at the Commission level.
John said they are scheduled to have the police chief discuss experiences in other communities. He will check on the date of that and get back to Ralph.
Citizen proposal to install flasher at Willson and Dickerson. Andy noted this may be another good location to try RRFB’s. A flasher may be appropriate there as long as it is pedestrian
activated. There is a crossing guard there for school traffic, but the crossing also gets a lot of use for events at Bogert Park. Grade and weather issues add to the need for additional
enhancements at this location. The Street Department also has in-street signs that they’ve offered to use in this location, but they can’t be left out and the school didn’t like having
to drag them out every day. Andy said this crossing would probably warrant additional study before money is invested to enhance it. We agreed to leave it on the list for now, but it
may not be a top priority.
Future Agenda Items. The following items have been carried over from previous meeting minutes as potential future agenda items.
Missing sidewalk sections and accessible curb ramps along Main Street
Sidewalk/trail along Oak from 7th to Rouse
Longfellow Crossings
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 Distracted Driver Issues
South 19th Avenue turn lanes
Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 PM.
Next Meeting: September 14, 2011 as noted above.
Minutes by Danielle Scharf
Minor edits by Ralph Zimmer