HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-13-13 Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee MinutesBozeman (Area) Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee
Minutes of the November 13, 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)
Vance Ruff (Bozeman School District)
Frank Manseau (Gallatin County)
Sue Brown
(Member At-Large)
Non-Voting Committee Members:
John Van Delinder (City of Bozeman Streets Department)
Dave Fowler (Gallatin County Road and Bridge Department)
Liaison Officers:
(none
in attendance)
Guests:
Carson Taylor (City Commission)
Chris Mehl (City Commission)
Taylor Lonsdale
Sharon Glick
Heather Drake
Brian Todd
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. None at this time.
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. Ralph asked Taylor if we could postpone the
discussion on Walk Friendly Communities to later in the meeting and Taylor said yes. We will also postpone the discussion on Huffine crossings because there is no one here to discuss
that topic.
Minutes. Gary made a motion to approve the minutes of the October 9, 2013 meeting, second by Vance. Wendy Thomas’ title should be changed on the list of guests from
Planning Director to Director of Community Development. The minutes were approved as modified.
Announcements. Ralph announced that Carson Taylor was elected as Mayor, and Chris Mehl was also reelected to City Commission. He also announced that Gary was recently given the Lifelong
Trails Master Award by the Bozeman Beautification Advisory Board for his long-time contributions toward the Main Street to the Mountains trail system. On behalf of the committee, Ralph
extended congratulations to all three individuals.
Update on Previous Actions. The Montana Chapter of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) recently hosted a webinar on
“Designing and Retrofitting Intersections for Accessible Pedestrian Signals.” Danielle provided a brief summary and offered to send a copy of the slides to anyone that may be interested.
Chris
Mehl provided a summary of the recent discussion at the City Commission meeting regarding the use the Trails and Parks Bond funds to provide matching funds for the trail to the M. Many
of us were in attendance and Danielle spoke on behalf of the committee. The Commission voted in favor of the request 5-0.
Ralph reported that this group supported three proposals
for the Transportation Alternatives program. Ralph recently sent out an email noting that there were 72 applications for a total of $23 million. MDT staff is evaluating applications
and will make a recommendation to the Transportation Commission in December.
Liaison Officer Reports. Liaison officers were not in attendance today.
City Street Department Report.
John reported that construction on city streets is winding down, and so is the leaf cleanup. Feel free to contact John regarding areas that may still need sweeping or you could also
bring leafs to the shop complex this Saturday morning.
County Road Department Report. Dave reported that the County is working on finishing gravel road grading. The new bridge installed
on Nelson Road just opened up yesterday. They have another bridge on Johnson Road that they would like to install before the first of the year, weather permitting.
Bozeman School
District. Vance did not have anything specific to report. John asked how the change-over to propane has been going. Vance said it’s been good for noise and exhaust levels, but the
primary issue is that it’s difficult to hear the bus coming.
Transportation Coordinating Committee (TCC). Gary attended the most recent TCC meeting on Ralph’s behalf. The turn lanes
on S 19th Avenue at Goldenstein and Patterson are in the planning stages and are anticipated for 2015 construction. MSU is still discussing and will work with the City regarding the
crosswalk proposals on College between 8th and 11th. Gary also presented a proposal to construct a separated pathway on Rouse between the Oak Street Trail and Story Mill to provide
a connection to the upcoming trail to the M.
Bozeman Area Bicycle Advisory Board (BABAB) Report. BABAB has been working on summarizing their bicycle counts and have been talking at
drivers education classes and getting feedback from students.
Inter-Neighborhood Council. This committee has been providing information to residents in the neighborhoods around MSU, primarily for MSU students. They have given them tips on how
to be a good neighbor, coupon for a free shovel from Ace, etc.
Willson Avenue Pedestrian Crossings. John, Gary, Sue and Frank conducted a site visit to evaluate the crossing locations
along Willson Avenue. Ralph distributed a copy of the notes from that meeting and John provided a verbal summary.
Sharon Glick has sent us emails previously about the crossing locations
near Lincoln & Willson and made a few comments. There are at least four Longfellow students that are currently using the crossing, as well as many others in the neighborhood. They
have concerns about the visibility of the crossing and are interested in removing some parking spaces, installing curb extensions and possibly a rectangular rapid flash beacon. Brian
Todd added that he would like to see us look at some other solutions, particularly the flashing beacon or some other visual indicator. He is also interested in considering a speed indicator
sign like those that have been installed in other locations around town to hopefully address speeds along this segment.
Carson Taylor also expressed concern about the difficulty with
making a left-hand turn from Grant onto Willson. He suggested consolidating many different crossing locations and wondered if the Lincoln crossing should be relocated to Grant. There
is a Galligator Trail connection at both locations. John said both crossing locations are well-used, but he agrees that it’s good to consolidate crossings whenever possible. It would
probably be best to have Engineering look at them. The speed indicator signs have shown to be effective in many locations around town, but will tend to lose some effectiveness over
time without additional enforcement.
Sharon asked what our next steps will be. John said he would take the proposal to Engineering, but it would not hurt for them to continue to send
letters. Taylor Lonsdale also encouraged them to talk to the Police Department about increasing enforcement in this location. They are always good about responding to these requests,
both for enforcement of speeds and yielding to pedestrians. Taylor agreed that it may be worthwhile to consider the primary crossing at Grant. Brian expressed some concern with the
steep route down to the trail from this location, particularly in winter. He also noted that the trail automatically directs people to the Lincoln crossing location. Taylor noted that
some wayfinding signage would also be beneficial to help people find the preferred crossing location.
Ralph asked what this committee can do to help move these proposals forward. He
suggested that we prioritize the list. Gary noted the competing interests for crossing locations at Willson (Longfellow, MSU, and trail users) and he feels that we should have accessible
crossings in as many locations as possible. He thinks Lincoln should be the priority, then we should also focus on improving ADA ramps in other locations. Gary made a motion to that
effect, second by Frank. John said he could move forward with the elimination of the parking right away, but larger enhancements would need to be reviewed by Engineering. Chris echoed
Carson’s comments that a flasher may be more appropriate at the other location, so he’s concerned that our motion is limited to Lincoln. Just keep in mind that alternative may still
need to be considered. Motion passed unanimously.
The same group also made a site visit to evaluate the proposed crossing location on Willson in front of the Medical Arts Building. John will have Andy Kerr from Engineering review the
crossing location and check grades for ADA accommodations. Gary also noted the missing ramps at College and Tracy. John said they intend to make those improvements next summer. Taylor
said there was Safe Routes to School (SRTS) funding approved for sidewalks along College between Tracy and Black, so perhaps those improvements could made at the same time. All agreed
to pursue implementation of crosswalk improvements in all the locations discussed along Willson. Ralph asked John what the chances are of getting Engineering to approve a mid-block
crossing at the Medical Arts Building. John said on a local street like that they would probably support it, but he will check to make sure.
Walk-Friendly Community Designation.
The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) has a program that designates communities as “Walk-Friendly.” Taylor and Danielle have been discussing the idea of applying for
walk-friendly designation for Bozeman. BABAB applied for the bike-friendly designation and he thought we should do the same for pedestrians. Taylor is more than happy to do the majority
of the leg work, but just wanted to be sure we don’t have any objections and that we would be willing to provide contact information and help with the application. There are many different
levels of designation (honorable mention, bronze, silver, gold, etc.) and they also provide good feedback for where improvements can be made.
Ralph asked if this committee supports
the effort to submit an application. Frank made a motion to support the effort and list us as a sponsor. Motion passed unanimously. Gary and Danielle have both offered to help Taylor
with the application.
Proposed pathway along Rouse Avenue from Oak Street to Story Mill. Gary provided copies of a map and email describing the proposed pathway connection from Oak
to Story Mill. Gary lobbied for a separated bike-ped path on the east side of Rouse in this location to MDT as part of the Rouse project. He was unsuccessful then, but he feels it
is timely to ask again now that the Commission has just approved the matching funds for the trail to the M. He is asking this committee to provide a letter of support for the proposal.
He said Jeff Ebert from MDT said it isn’t too late for them to change the sidewalk design. We may need to consider a separate bridge over the river, which could cost around $100,000.
Gary has also spoken with the Trust for Public Land who owns quite a bit of property along this corridor and they would be willing to grant right-of-way for the trail.
Taylor is glad
to hear that MDT has said it’s not too late. His concern is how to make the connection along East Griffin and how we connect Oak across Rouse to connect to Story Mill. His other concern
is the possibility that MDT may say they need to take away the planned bike lane on Rouse in order to do it. Gary said that he sees this trail as being not only recreational, but also
for transportation with a straight-forward connection. He is not lobbying for the bike lanes being taken away. He thinks they should stay. He would also like to see a future connection
off the end of Rouse to the Story Mill spur trail, but is concerned about the difficulties of crossing the railroad right-of-way. He’s interested in making those connections too, but
feels this is the more direct and feasible solution for now.
Ralph asked for clarification on how this applies to the recent City Commission vote. Gary said the Commission voted to
provide the matching funds for the trail from Story Mill to the M. This trail would provide the connection from Oak to that project. Danielle made a motion
that we provide a letter of support in favor of the project, second by Frank. Motion passed unanimously. Danielle also suggested that we consider talking to Dustin about putting this
project on the list for the remaining CTEP funds, in case that would help provide the additional funds needed to add it to the MDT project.
Huffine Crossings. Ralph received an inquiry
from a concerned citizen about pedestrian crossing safety on Huffine Lane near Four Corners. Ralph responded to him and invited him to attend this meeting, but has not heard back yet.
We will table the discussion for now and discuss it again at a later date. Taylor and John noted MDT’s future plan for signalization and access control along the corridor.
Implementation
of Bozeman Community Transportation Safety Plan. Danielle contacted Rick Hixson and found out that the Plan has not yet been adopted by the City Commission. He still plans to proceed
with that and with scheduling an implementation strategy meeting in the near future. He will keep us in the loop as the process progresses.
Webinar Next Tuesday. Ralph announced a
webinar next week dealing with highway funding policy from 6:30 am to 11:00 am. Ralph can provide a link to the webinar for anyone that’s interested.
Next Meeting. Our next meeting
will be scheduled for December 11th at 12:00 pm. No conflicts for those in attendance. (electronic postscript: the next meeting was January 22.)
The meeting was adjourned at 1:45
PM.
Next Meeting: December 11, 2013 at noon as noted above. (electronic postscript: the next meeting was January 22, 2014.)
Minutes by Danielle Scharf
Edits by Ralph Zimmer