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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-08-13 Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee MinutesPedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee Minutes of the May 8, 2013 Meeting Upstairs Conference Room Alfred Stiff Office Building. Those Present: Voting Committee Members: Ralph Zimmer (Gallatin County) Gary Vodehnal (City of Bozeman) Danielle Scharf (City of Bozeman) Frank Manseau (Gallatin County) Sue Brown (Member At-Large) Non-Voting Committee Members: John Van Delinder (City of Bozeman Streets Department) Liaison Officers: (None in attendance) Guests: (None in attendance) Quorum: present NEW BUSINESS: Ralph called the meeting to order at 12:05 PM. Public Comment. Ralph offered the opportunity for public comment on items not on the agenda. No public comment. Consideration of Meeting Agenda. Ralph offered the opportunity to provide input on the agenda and noted that he will take some liberties as we have many items to discuss. No comments were made. Minutes. Minutes were distributed from our March 13, 2013 “gathering” with the County Commission and our official meeting on April 10, 2013. Frank made a motion to approve the March 13th minutes, second by Sue. The minutes were approved. Gary made a motion to approve the April 10th minutes, second by Frank. John noted that he was not in attendance at the April meeting, so the minutes will be amended to reflect that change. The minutes as amended were approved. Updates on previous actions. John verbally read two emails Ralph had received with updates on the South 19th Avenue turn lanes. Both indicated that there will be a preliminary field review in June and construction will likely take place during the summer of 2015. John also provided a summary of the upcoming Main Street overlay from Grand Ave to 19th Ave. The bid will be let in August so a portion may be done this fall, but some may wait until next spring. There will not be a midblock crossing near the Co-op because new standards would require that it be signalized and the intersections/driveways do not line up. A crossing in this location could be reevaluated with the development of the Safeway lot. MDT is still considering a signal at 3rd, but it is not included in the maintenance project at this time. Street Department Report. John noted the upcoming redesign of Kagy that will be done by MDT. He also noted several upcoming mill and overlay projects around town. They are still considering striping some sharrows at the request of the Bozeman Area Bicycle Advisory Board (BABAB), but BABAB is currently reevaluating their request. Gary asked if there’s an update on when the CTEP projects will be constructed and John said he thought they were still planned for next year. Bozeman Area Bicycle Advisory Board (BABAB). Bike sharrows are still be discussed (as noted above) and bike week is next week (May 13-17). Gary distributed a schedule of locations offering free coffee to bike riders for the week. Community Transportation Enhancement Program (CTEP). Gary presented the proposed Bridger Drive trail at our last meeting. Gallatin Valley Land Trust (GVLT) helped to prepare the Federal Lands Access Program (FLAP) grant and they received notice that it made it through the first round of review (12 applications were narrowed down to 8). The next step will be for MDT to review the project. The minutes of our last meeting indicate that we will provide a letter of support for the project. Danielle drafted a letter and Ralph made some minor revisions. John read the letter aloud for the rest of the committee. All agreed with the content of the letter so Ralph signed it and handed ti to Gary. Frank asked when the Oak Street Trail will be constructed. Danielle said it would be late summer, possibly into fall. Safe Routes to School (SRTS). Danielle reported that Anderson School received a SRTS infrastructure grant for the previously unfunded portion of their trail along South 19th Avenue. The project is currently partially funded by Gallatin County CTEP funds and under design as part of the same project as the Oak Street Trail and Norris Road Trail. She has not heard yet if any other local projects have been funded by SRTS this year. Transportation Coordinating Committee (TCC). John provided a summary of topics discussed at the recent TCC meeting. They reported that the Belgrade underpass will be bid this summer, including bike-ped facilities and a roundabout. They are currently constructing a new on-ramp near River Rock as part of a separate project. The County also talked about a flashing red light at the intersection of Stucky and Cottonwood where there was a recent fatal accident. Even though it wasn’t part of the TCC meeting, we had a brief discussion regarding the recent proposal to redevelop the Town Pump site at the east end of Main Street. They are proposing to pipe the ditch through the property. The redevelopment will also include sidewalk improvements along Main Street and a signal at Main/Broadway. Community Transportation Safety Plan. The last advisory committee meeting was April 17, 2013. Danielle provided a summary of the safety strategies presented at the meeting and an overview of the remaining schedule for the project. The next steering committee meeting is tentatively scheduled for May 22nd where they will present the draft plan. Those meetings have been at 3:00 pm at City Hall. This should be the last meeting of this group so Ralph encouraged all to attend and participate in the discussion. Additional Business. Gary recently received a letter from Jami Morris, Land Use Planning Consultant requesting comments on the Spring Creek Village Subdivision near The Ridge off of Huffine west of Ferguson. Gary said there was talk of placing the trail a ways back from Huffine because of concerns about the speed of turning traffic. John said it should line up with the existing trail/ramp at the intersection of Huffine and Ferguson. Gary is also concerned about pedestrian connectivity within the subdivision. Gary suggested that we invite the consultant to attend our next meeting to discuss the project. John reported that there is a group looking at completing the missing gaps in the trail along North 19th Avenue. The path is not in the right-of-way so it will require easements. Funding is also not yet in place. Gary also noted that they now have permission to construct approximately 2 miles of trail along Hospital-owned property from the softball complex area up to Kagy. Gary would also like to install a marked crosswalk on Kagy mid-way between Highland and Bozeman Trail. Next Meeting. Our next regular meeting time will be June 12, 2013 at noon. The following meeting would be July 10, 2013. There is a possibility that Ralph may not be able to make the June 12th meeting. We’re not sure what Vance’s availability will be for either meeting. Because Jami Morris would like to attend our June meeting, we will proceed with that date. Gary will Chair if Ralph is not able to attend. The meeting was adjourned at 1:05 PM. Next Meeting: June 12, 2013 at noon as noted above. Minutes by Danielle Scharf Edits by Ralph Zimmer