HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-09-12 Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee Minutes I Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee
2 Minutes of the May 9, 2012 Meeting
3 Upstairs Conference Room Alfred Stiff Office Building.
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 Frank Manseau (Gallatin County)
12 Sue Brown(Member At-Large)
13 Vance Ruff(Bozeman School District)
14
15 Non-Voting Committee Members:
16 (none)
17
18 Liaison Officers:
19 Rick Musson(City of Bozeman Police Department)
20 Tommie Franscioni (City of Bozeman Police Department)
21
22 Guests:
23 Chris Mehl (City Commission)
24 Taylor Lonsdale (MT Safe Routes to School Coordinator)
25 Steve Johnson(Bozeman School District)
26 Kevin Barre (Bozeman School District)
27 Andy Wunsch (Citizen—Friends of Cooper Park)
28
29 Quorum: present
30
31 NEW BUSINESS:
32
33 Ralph called the meeting to order at 12:05 PM.
34
35 1. Public Comment. Ralph offered the opportunity for public comment on items not on the
36 agenda. No public comment.
37
38 2. Consideration of Meeting Agenda. Ralph offered the opportunity to provide input on the
39 agenda and noted that he will take some liberties as we have many items to discuss. No
40 additional comments were made.
41
42 3. Minutes. The minutes of the April 11, 2012 meeting were approved with minor edits made
43 by Ralph Zimmer prior to distribution.
44
45 4. Liaison Officer Reports. Tommie Franscioni and Rick Musson were both in attendance
46 today representing the Bozeman Police Department. Tommie explained that due to changes
47 in his schedule, Rick will be helping him to be sure at least one of them will be able to attend
48 our meeting. At-Large Member Sam Miller was not in attendance today, but had previously
49 asked Ralph to ask the Police Department about citations related to the cell phone ordinance.
50 Tommie reported that they are currently issuing citations, but they do not have specific
51 numbers to report today. The Sheriff's Office representatives were not able to attend the
52 meeting today, but did send Ralph a brief email report on the recent fatality on South 19t1i.
53
54 5. Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Report. Taylor Lonsdale (MT SRTS Coordinator) reported
55 that today is the national Bike to School Day. Bozeman schools will be holding theirs on May
56 16 to coincide with Bike Week.
57
58 6. CTEP Report. No new information to report.
59
60 7. Bozeman Area Bicycle Advisory Board (BABAB) Report. Chris Mehl noted that BABAB
61 is busy planning for Bike Week events next week. See the City website for more information.
62
63 8. Distracted Driving Education. Ralph asked Rick about the current status of the distracted
64 driving education task force. He reported that most of the money has been spent on
65 promotional and educational materials. The task force will not be meeting again unless they
66 are awarded additional funding or if there is a significant increase in the number of citations.
67 Rick asked about our general impression of the distracted driving signs that are posted around
68 town. Many agreed that they don't really stand out/catch your attention. Rick and Chris will
69 suggest to Lieutenant Johnson that they consider an alternative sign that may be more visible.
70 Chris will report back on this at the June meeting.
71
72 9. Transportation Coordinating Committee (TCC) Meeting Report. Ralph attended the
73 TCC's quarterly meeting last month. One of the members brought up some concerns related
74 to vehicle speeds past rural schools. The TCC didn't feel that was an appropriate issue for
75 them to address, but Ralph offered to have PTS discuss it. He has not yet heard anything
76 more about it.
77
78 10. Vehicle Barrier at 6th and Cleveland. The City Manager reported at the last Commission
79 meeting that he has reviewed the traffic counts and has no interest in pursuing removal of the
80 barricade any further. This topic was not on the regular Commission agenda, but it was
81 brought up during the FYI portion at the end of the meeting. After the meeting, Rick Hixson,
82 City Engineer, wrote Ralph that the City would not pursue the removal of the barrier.
83
84 Ralph has received a copy of the traffic counts and received comments from five concerned
85 citizens. Andy Wunsch was in attendance representing the Friends of Cooper Park and he
86 wrote one of the letters provided in the packet that Ralph distributed. Ralph's biggest concern
87 is that the traffic counts showed that 22 vehicles per day violate the restriction. He
88 acknowledged that it is probably a moot point at this stage, since the City Manager has
89 already made his decision to not pursue removal of the barricade.
90
91 11. South 19th Avenue Turn Lanes. There was a recent fatal accident near the intersection of
92 South 19th Avenue and Goldenstein. There is currently some speculation as to whether the
93 driver was affected by the queue of vehicles waiting to turn left at Goldenstein. The driver
94 was not wearing a seat belt. Ralph has spoken with representatives from MDT and the
95 County Road Department about joining us for a discussion on this topic at an upcoming
96 meeting.
97
98 12. Consideration of Pedestrian, Bicycle and Vehicle Safety Concerns at New Elementary
99 School. The bond issue for the new elementary school passed last night by a margin of 68%
100 to 32%, as well as the operating levy for next year. Steve Johnson provided a presentation on
101 plans for the future school site. It will consist of 43 acres northwest of the intersection of
102 Durston and Flanders Mill. It will include a future extension of Annie Street on north
103 boundary of the site. There is space available on the property for a future middle school and
104 ball fields. The new elementary school will be located toward the south end of the site with
105 its main frontage along Durston. Bus and emergency access will be provided along the west
106 and north side of the school. They will also have complete circulation around the building for
107 emergency services, deliveries, etc.
108
109 Off-site improvements will include full curb and gutter and sidewalks along the frontage on
110 Durston from Flanders Mill to Cottonwood. They are also planning some sort of walking path
111 all the way from Flanders Mill to Ferguson that will be installed with this project. They are
112 having a difficult time deciding what to do about Flanders Mill. It is not currently centered
113 within the right-of-way; it is partially on private property to the east. The new school property
114 is currently in the County but they are proposing to annex into the City. Flanders Mill is a
115 County road that is mostly paved with asphalt millings all the way to Baxter.
116
117 The School District will be meeting with property owners and their engineers to determine a
118 way to improve Flanders Mill without moving the road. They intend to install curb gutter and
119 sidewalk on their frontage, but they aren't sure what that will consist of yet—just widening or
120 realigning the road to the west. There are a lot of trees and an irrigation ditch that run along
121 the west side of Flanders Mill. They currently intend to install curb and gutter on both sides
122 and sidewalk on the west side to the extents of the elementary site only (the portion of the
123 property that will be developed first). If bids come in favorably, they will install curb and
124 gutter and sidewalk all the way to the north property line.
125
126 There is currently a trail through the 100-acre park and intermittent sidewalks and bike lanes
127 on both sides of Ferguson. There are also existing sidewalks on the south side of Durston
128 from Cottonwood to Ferguson. There are no sidewalks on the north side except from
129 Ferguson to the east. The School District doesn't know yet where the attendance boundary
130 for this school will be. They will do their boundary realignment just before the school opens
131 in 2014 — it could change significantly between now and then. Emily Dickenson is currently
132 over crowded, so they know they'll have to place the boundary in a location that relieves some
133 of that pressure, but they're not sure exactly where it will be located yet.
134
135 This project will be on the June 4th Commission agenda for zoning and annexation. That
136 meeting will consist of a series of yes/no questions. Chris said the Commission would be
137 happy to take comments from us now or anytime between now and June 4th. Taylor has a
138 comment as a citizen, not necessarily as Montana SRTS Coordinator. He is concerned about
139 the intermittent lack of infrastructure along Durston and he thinks that this is a good
140 opportunity to complete that infrastructure (SID, CIP, ordering for missing sidewalk links to
141 be constructed, etc.). He's happy to see the level of improvement the School District is
142 proposing, but he feels very strongly that we need to complete Durston for vehicles, bikes and
143 pedestrians. The improved section should extend all the way out to Laurel Glen, where
144 infrastructure is in place at the edge of the City limits.
145
146 Gary asked why the church wasn't required to construct sidewalk. Kevin explained that it
147 was primarily because their site was developed under a conditional use permit and there is a
148 mix of different right-of-way and roadway widths in the area. Steve added that with the trail
149 the School District would like to construct, they may be dealing with private property owners
150 to make it happen. Gary thought he remembered one of the city CTEP priority projects being
151 a missing sidewalk segment along south side of Durston, so that might be a way to help fill in
152 a gap. Gary feels that this should be even more of a priority now with the upcoming school
153 construction. We may need infrastructure along Cottonwood as well depending where the
154 attendance boundary ends up. Gary is also interested in exploring options for trail
155 connections across private property northeast of the school site.
156
157 Gary also suggested the School District consider opportunities for the use of loop
158 sidewalks/roadways around the site for PE classes. Taylor also noted the difference between
159 curvilinear and straight sidewalks. Curvilinear is aesthetically pleasing, but for transportation
160 it is more ideal for a sidewalk to be straight. There should be a way to find a good balance.
161 Gary also recommends a landscape buffer between the sidewalk and roadway. Kevin said
162 that City staff recommendations will also include something about the landscaping. They
163 want to screen the parking lot from the roadway, but they are also trying to balance that idea
164 with student safety. It was also noted that it would be nice to see better pedestrian access
165 within the parking lot. The two site accesses must line up with roadways across Durston, but
166 the rest of the site plan may change significantly.
167
168 Other traffic considerations are also still being worked out. There will be pedestrian
169 crosswalks across Durston at Cottonwood and Flanders Mill. They do not intend to provide a
170 midblock crossing location. Taylor agreed that this is the best solution; even though it's a
171 long distance between crossings, we don't want to encourage students to cross near the
172 driveways where there will be a high volume of turning traffic. If there were landscaped
173 medians on Durston in the future, it would be easier to do a midblock crossing location
174 because the median would provide pedestrian refuge.
175
176 This is our last scheduled meeting before the Commission meeting on June 4th. Ralph asked
177 if there were any other comments for the School District. Gary thanked them for the level of
178 improvement they are proposing. Chris will relay the comments we had today back to the
179 Commission. All agreed that we would not make any formal recommendations to the
180 Commission regarding requirements for development of this property, but we will encourage
181 the Commission to consider how to fund full development of Durston.
182
183 13. Future High School Site. The School District has also acquired a 20-acre property southeast
184 of the intersection of Stucky and Cottonwood for a future second high school. Development
185 of this site is currently 8-12 years away. Their current plan is to split to two high schools
186 when the attendance reaches 2400 students. They would demo the old part of the current high
187 school to have an ultimate capacity of 1500 student and would have capacity of 1500 students
188 at the new site. They currently have 1800+ students.
189
190 They have had discussions with MSU about another smaller high school (300-500 students)
191 that would delay the need for the future site. They are also considering potential land swaps
192 to find a better site for the future high school. The School District has been engaged with the
193 Transportation Coordinating Committee (TCC) and are currently developing a sub-committee
194 that will specifically address the level of infrastructure improvements required at the new site.
195 Ralph also encouraged the School District to pursue an advocacy role directly with both the
196 City and County.
197
198 14. Inter-Neighborhood Council (INC) Meeting Report. Danielle attended the INC meeting
199 on April 12. At that meeting, she provided a summary of our recent projects and priorities for
200 the coming year. Much of the discussion was focused on our position related to bike and
201 pedestrian improvements at the new school site.
202
203 15. Community Transportation Safety Plan. Bozeman will be receiving the necessary funding
204 from MDT to complete one of these studies. It would require that some sort of steering
205 committee be established for the project. Rather than develop a new committee, it has been
206 suggested that our committee serve in that role. The memorandum of agreement to fund the
207 study is currently under review. All agreed that we don't necessarily think that this committee
208 is that committee, but we should have a significant role. Many other representatives will be
209 required (City Engineering, Planning, etc.).
210
211 16. West College Street Improvements. There will be a public information meeting on this
212 project on May 17, 2012 at 6:30 pm in the south cafeteria at Bozeman High School (old part
213 of school near swim center). Danielle and Frank will both try to attend.
214
215 17. Next Meeting. Our next regular meeting time will be June 13, 2012 at noon. Ralph, Gary and
216 Sue would all not be able to attend. If we meet in June it will be on June 20th, but Frank will
217 not be able to attend. Otherwise, we may consider cancelling the June meeting. Ralph will
218 follow via email to schedule this meeting.
219
220 The meeting was adjourned at 2:00 PM.
221
222 Next Meeting: June meeting date to be announced via email as noted above. (Editorial note: the
223 June meeting was subsequently cancelled. The next meeting is scheduled for May 11.)
224
225
226 Minutes by Danielle Scharf
227 Minor edits by Ralph Zimmer