HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-09-11 Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee Minutes I Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee
2 Minutes of the November 9, 2011 Meeting
3 Upstairs Conference Room Alfred Stiff Office Bldg.
4
5 Those Present:
6
7 Voting Committee Members:
8 Ralph Zimmer (Gallatin County)
9 Gary Vodehnal(City of Bozeman)
10 Danielle Scharf(City of Bozeman)
11 Sue Brown (At-large Member)
12
13 Non-Voting Committee Members:
14 John Van Delinder (City of Bozeman—Street Superintendent)
15
16 Liaison Officers:
17 Jim Anderson (Gallatin County Sheriff's Office)
18
19 Guests:
20 Sean Becker (City Commission)
21 Keri Thorpe (City Planning Department)
22 Kevin Jacobsen (Morrison-Maierle, Inc.)
23 Taylor Lonsdale (Montana Safe Routes to School Coordinator)
24
25 Quorum: present
26
27 NEW BUSINESS:
28
29 Ralph called the meeting to order at 12:05 PM.
30
31 1. Public Comment. No public comment.
32
33 2. Consideration of Meeting Agenda. Ralph offered the opportunity to provide input on the
34 agenda and noted that we will have the discussion on the Peach Street Reconstruction project
35 first so that Keri and Kevin don't have to stay for the entire meeting. We will review the
36 minutes later in the agenda.
37
38 3. Peach Street Reconstruction (Rouse to Plum). As representatives of Northeast Urban
39 Renewal Board, Keri Thorpe (City Planner) and Kevin Jacobsen (Consultant for Morrison-
40 Maierle) presented preliminary plans for the Peach Street Reconstruction project. Peach
41 Street is a collector roadway that was identified for improvement in the current transportation
42 plan. It has a constrained right-of-way, so the consultant has developed design alternatives
43 with deviations from the City's current design standards. The design includes elimination of
44 parking and addition of a 5-foot sidewalk and drainage swale on the north side. Minor
45 changes on the south side consist mainly of curb repair. The design also includes sharrow
46 markings to designate the shared travel lane and bike lane. The preferred design alternative
47 and resolution will be presented to the Commission for approval in January.
48
49 It would be nearly impossible to gain the 30 feet of additional right-of-way that would be
50 required to meet the current city design standards for a collector roadway. The proposed
51 deviations that would affect pedestrians and bicyclists are the 5-foot sidewalk (instead of 6-
52 foot), narrower boulevard width, and sharrows instead of bike lanes. The sharrow is a new
53 pavement marking in the most recent update to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control
54 Devices (MUTCD), but they have not been used in Bozeman yet. The proposed lane widths
55 of 11.5 feet conform to the minimum standard of 11 feet. The available right-of-way is 60
56 feet wide, or even less in several locations. Taylor suggested they consider using 11-foot
57 lanes, instead of 11.5-foot lanes, since that is the lane width on Peach west of Rouse.
58
59 Sean asked why they haven't used the right-of-way at the corner of Peach and Rouse recently
60 acquired by the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT). Kevin explained that this
61 project will stop just short of the intersection (near Perkins Place) and MDT will improve the
62 intersection with their project. This project will avoid improvements within the extents of
63 MDT's project, so they aren't removed when that project is constructed.
64
65 Gary asked about the location of existing sidewalk and if trees could be planted within the 4-
66 foot boulevard swale. Keri explained that sidewalk is intermittent along the length of the
67 project under existing conditions. She said trees could likely be planted within the 4-foot
68 width, but she would have to check to see if the swale conditions would be appropriate for
69 trees. The swale will be used to collect and treat stormwater before it enters Bozeman Creek.
70
71 Gary and Keri discussed the potential for several future sidewalk and trail connections, as
72 well as the use of wayfinding totems (the signs used to designate the Main St to the
73 Mountains trail system). The Northeast Urban Renewal Board has also talked about making
74 North Ida a shared-use facility similar to Peach.
75
76 Sean asked what the estimated cost is for improvements. Kevin said they will complete cost
77 estimates very soon, during the final design phase. Sean asked how the improvements will
78 be paid for and Keri explained that they would require the improvements as commercial
79 properties are developed and/or as other funding sources become available. The City may
80 also pursue grants to fund construction.
81
82 The design will be approved by Commission resolution. They are still able to make changes,
83 such as reducing the lane widths to 11 feet as Taylor suggested. Kevin explained that the
84 11.5-foot width was based on the one short section of Peach that currently has curb and
85 gutter on both sides. If the rest were narrower, there would be a slight jog to match that
86 existing section.
87
88 Gary made a motion that we forward a recommendation to the City Commission in support
89 of the project with a recommendation to reduce the lane widths to 11 feet, widen the new
90 sidewalk to 6 feet, and include street trees. Sue seconded the motion. (It had previously
91 been noted that cutting the lane widths to 11-feet would both make the lane widths consistent
92 with those on Peach Street west of Rouse and allow the sidewalk to be built to the full 6-foot
93 width called for in city standards.) There was no additional discussion. All voted in favor of
94 the motion. Keri will communicate our support and recommendation back to the
95 Commission.
96
97 4. Minutes. Minutes of the October 12, 2011 meeting were reviewed and unanimously
98 approved with minor edits made by Ralph Zimmer prior to distribution.
99
100 5. Liaison Officer Reports. Sgt. Jim Anderson has taken over for Ryan Stratman as the
101 Sheriff's Office representative on our committee. This is his first meeting, so he doesn't
102 have a formal report at this time. Ralph explained that we rely on the liaison officers to bring
103 matters of interest within the City of Bozeman and Gallatin Valley to the committee.
104
105 6. Reports from related groups. Taylor provided a report on Safe Routes to School (SRTS).
106 Bozeman SRTS has been working with MSU through the Campus Corps program to get a
107 college student to help coordinate SRTS efforts for Bozeman schools. The student's name is
108 Katie Webster and she will contribute 450 hours to the effort by helping to put together
109 SRTS applications and work on implementation of the plans. Taylor sent an email
110 introduction to Katie, Gary and Danielle and asked that they be included on planning efforts
111 (our committee previously designated Gary and Danielle to be our official representatives on
112 the local SRTS planning team).
113
114 Bozeman currently has $19,000 in SRTS funds for non-infrastructure projects for education
115 and encouragement programs. They will also be working with a professional advisor to
116 identify barriers to implementing additional walking school bus programs. Katie has already
117 been working with the principal of Whittier School on one of these programs. They are also
118 working on Train the Trainer programs for education through PE classes. The School
119 District has taken charge of being the project sponsor to obtain the funding for infrastructure
120 improvements, instead of the City. Taylor explained the importance of close coordination
121 between the School District and City for infrastructure improvements not located on school
122 property and implementation of the plan.
123
124 Taylor said it would be fine for us to contact Katie directly. Her contact information is 509-
125 222-0037 and katie.webster@ live.com. Taylor hopes that Katie will have the same position
126 through Campus Corps again next year. He will also encourage Bozeman to pursue funds to
127 offset the cost of the Campus Corps position. Dillon has also had a successful walking
128 school bus program through the use of a Campus Corps position.
129
130 Ralph noted that School District representatives will attend the Commission meeting on
131 November 28th to discuss topics of mutual concern. Ralph will try to attend, but will just be
132 getting back into town that day. Ralph encouraged Danielle and Gary to attend and speak on
133 behalf of the committee. Taylor is also planning on attending.
134
135 7. Street Department Report. John explained that the Bozeman Area Bicycle Advisory Board
136 (BABAB) is planning to provide a wish list for pavement markings at the December 12th
137 Commission meeting. They will include bike lanes and sharrows.
138
139 8. Distracted Driving. The Commission packet for the November 14th meeting has a 56-page
140 memo including a draft ordinance. Sean explained that it is essentially identical to the
141 Billings ordinance and the Commissioners will provide comments to customize it for
142 Bozeman. Helena's ordinance was adopted this week, but enforcement will not start for
143 another 30 days. Preliminary and final adoption was unanimous in Helena. Ralph
144 encouraged as many of our committee members as possible to attend the November 28
145 Commission meeting and feel free to make comments to the commission that evening. Ralph
146 will provide a copy of the memo and draft ordinance to the committee and friends list via
147 email.
148
149 Ralph tasked the group at the last meeting with developing ideas for how the money (up to
150 $10,000) could be spent for education related to distracted driving. Sue suggested they put
151 an advertisement on the score board at the MSU football games. Taylor also noted that the
152 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has developed public service
153 announcements that could be used, along with an announcement about the Bozeman
154 ordinance (if it's adopted). MDT may also be working on something similar. If we're able
155 to use materials that have already been created, then the money set aside by the City could be
156 used to buy air time instead. The Chronicle had a nice educational piece about the
157 roundabout and could perhaps do something similar for distracted driving. Ralph asked that
158 we come back with additional ideas at our next meeting. Ralph has communicated to Chief
159 Price that our committee is interested in helping.
160
161 9. College and 23rd Intersection Design. There is an MDT project underway for the
162 reconstruction of College from 19th to Main. Project stakeholders have discussed whether to
163 install a roundabout or signal at the intersection of College and 23rd. The consensus appears
164 to be in favor of a signal due to concerns about too much variation in intersection treatment
165 along the College St corridor.
166
167 A roundabout at this location would be closer to a double-lane (or would at least include
168 extra turning lanes) instead of a single-lane roundabout like the one at College and l lth. The
169 U.S. Access Board is coming out with a requirement for pedestrian signals (not full traffic
170 signals, but something smaller) at crosswalks on multi-lane roundabouts. Ralph also believes
171 that the State of Montana has already adopted this new policy. The concern with
172 roundabouts then becomes related to cost, i.e. the cost of a roundabout plus pedestrian signals
173 may be too significant to justify over a signal.
174
175 Taylor has corresponded with Rob Bukvich at MDT about this intersection. Taylor rides his
176 bike through that intersection on a regular basis. He explained that the need for a multi-lane
177 roundabout is being dictated by the large eastbound through volumes and southbound left-
178 turn volumes. Based on how well the roundabout is working at College and l lth, he thinks
179 we would be missing a big opportunity by not installing one at College and 23rd
180 Roundabouts are a dream for bicyclists. Taylor asked Rob if PTS and BABAB will have an
181 opportunity to comment and his response was that we were represented at the Transportation
182 Coordinating Committee (TCC) meeting when the decision was made to proceed with a
183 signal. Taylor would like us to have another opportunity to comment because he's concerned
184 that they have not received adequate input from the bicycle and pedestrian community. The
185 design also includes a sidewalk on the north side, but could be an opportunity to provide a
186 multi-use pathway instead to accommodate high volumes of bikes and pedestrians.
187
188 Sean thought they were proceeding with a roundabout for the TIGER grant application. He
189 hadn't heard that they decided to proceed with a signal for final design. The City was
190 successful in convincing MDT that a 3-lane section is more appropriate than the 5-lane
191 section that MDT was originally proposing. Sean explained that they are also still hoping to
192 get input from the new executive director of the Tech Park, who would likely prefer the
193 roundabout as a nice entryway feature.
194
195 Ralph explained that the TCC was asked to take a position on the preferred alternative for a
196 signal two weeks ago. Ralph was present at the meeting, but he believes he abstained from
197 that vote. The president of BABAB and the Mayor were also present at that meeting. The
198 TCC voted in favor of a signal. The final decision will probably be made by the City
199 Commission. Ralph said he would inquire with Rob Bukvich or others to see if we can still
200 have the opportunity to provide input.
201
202 10. Next Meeting. Our next regular meeting time will be December 14th. We will meet on that
203 date as scheduled, unless Ralph hears otherwise from multiple voting members.
204
205 11. Future Agenda Items. The following items have been carried over from previous meeting
206 minutes as potential future agenda items.
207
208 • Missing sidewalk sections and accessible curb ramps along Main Street
209 • Sidewalk/trail along Oak from 7th to Rouse
210 • Longfellow Crossings
211 • Path along Bridger Canyon Road
212 • Galligator Trail crossing at South Willson & Lincoln — review 4 of crossings along
213 Willson from Kagy to Garfield and consider a recommendation to install another at
214 Mason
215 • South Willson & College intersection improvements
216 • Citizen proposal to install flashers on South Willson at Dickerson
217 • Continue discussion on Complete Streets Policy
218 • Continue discussion on Sidewalk Encroachment Policy
219 • Continue discussion on Distracted Driver Issues
220 • South 19th Avenue turn lanes
221
222 The meeting was adjourned at 1:50 PM.
223
224 Next Meeting: December 14, 2011 as noted above.
225
226
227 Minutes by Danielle Scharf
228 minor edits by Ralph Zimmer