HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-12-14 Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee MinutesBozeman (Area) Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee
Minutes of the March 12, 2014 Meeting
Upstairs Conference Room Alfred Stiff Office Building
Those Present:
Voting Committee Members:
Sue
Brown (At-Large)
Frank Manseau (Gallatin County)
Vance Ruff (Bozeman School District 7)
Ralph Zimmer, Chairperson (Gallatin County)
Official Non-Voting Committee Members:
(none
in attendance)
City Commissioners, County Commissioners,and School Board Member (Non-Voting on PTS)
Cyndy Andrus (City Commissioner)
Liaison Law Enforcement Officers (Non-Voting
on PTS):
Tommie Franscioni (Bozeman Police Department)
Rick Musson (Bozeman Police Department)
Guests:
Mike Delaney (resident)
Daniel R. Peterson (resident)
Kelly Pohl (Gallatin
Valley Land Trust)
Lloyd Sparks (Montana Independent Living Project)
Craig Woolard (City of Bozeman Director of Public Works)
Quorum: Present.
BUSINESS:
Call to Order.
When a quorum was achieved, Ralph called the meeting to order at 12:12 PM.
Secretary. In the absence of the committee’s normal secretary (Danielle Scharf), Raly begged for someone
to substitute. When no one was willing to do that, Ralph said he would do his best to generate a set of minutes following the meeting.
Introduction of Those in Attendance. Every
one in attendance introduced themselves.
Public Comment. Ralph offered the opportunity for public comment on items not on the agenda.
Lloyd Sparks of the Montana Independent Living Project reported his group is currently working with Butte and Helena in developing accessible sidewalks and indicated they could also
work with Bozeman.
Daniel Peterson expressed concern about the removal of snow from sidewalks. He specifically mentioned the east side of Soth Third between Hill Street and Kagy
Boulevard.
Consideration of Meeting Agenda. Ralph offered the opportunity to provide input on the agenda and noted that he will take some liberties if it appears advantageous to
do so. One such change will be to move the discussion of Highland Boulevard earlier in the agenda since guests are present who wish to participate in that item. It was also pointed
out that the printed agenda erroneously referred to January 12 when it should have referred to February 12 as the date of the minutes to be approved in Item VI.
Minutes. Theere
was a motion to approve the minutes of our February 12 meeting as distributed. Cyndy pointed out that she is an official representative of the City Commission (i.e., an official liaison
to our committee) and thus should not be listed in the minutes as simply a “guest”. With that change, the minutes were approved as distributed.
Update on Previous Actions. At
our February 12 meeting, we agreed to support the application of Kesleigh Walin (a MSU student majoring in civil engineering) to research innovative funding of sidewalks as a Undergraduate
Scholars Program project. Ralph reported that on behalf of the committee he did submit a letter recommending approval of Kesleigh’s project. We do not yet know with certainty whether
she submitted that proposal or not. According to the MSU website, any projects approved at this point will not commence until summer.
Ralph still has not yet contacted the Sheriff's
office regarding the continuing absence of their liaison officer, but still says he will do so. He also has not yet contacted the Greater Gallatin Safety Coalition.
City Commission,
County Commission & School Board Reports Cyndy gave a report fro the City Comission. (In comments later in the meeting, Cyndy emphasized the committee should work with City staff rather
than taking issues directly to the Commission.)
Liaison Officer Reports. No reports.
City Street Department Report. In John Van Delinder’s absence, Craig gave a report. Snow
removal has been consuming a lot of time and effort and snow storage remains a problem.. The POLICE Department has a compliance officer who is involved with property owners who do not
adequately shovel their sidewalks. Craig said he would check into snow removal on the section of South Third that Mr. Peterson spoke about during the public comment period.
Some
reconstruction is planned on Story Street.
The City is contracting with a vendor who will “level” vertical gaps or lips between two adjacent sidewalk slabs.
The City has inventoried sidewalk condition in the “old” part of town and anticipates inventorying the rest of town.
In one portion of town, the City will absorb the costs of sidewalk
repairs if the damage is caused by trees growing in the City’s right-of-way. At least for the time being, residents in other portions of town will have to continue paying such costs.
Ralph asked specifically what action did the City Commission recently take relative to the MDT project on West College between Main Street and South 19th. Craig said the Commission
authorized the signing of the contract. Ralph asked if the Commission has yet authorized the signing of the contract for the MDT project on North Rouse/Bridger Drivel between Oak and
Story Mill. The answer was “no”.
County Road Department Report. Dave Fowler was not in attendance today.
School District. There was no report.
Proposed Northerly Extension
of Highland Boulevard. Developer Mike Delaney presented his proposal to extend at his expense Highland Boulevard north from Main Street to where it would intersect with Front Street
if and when Front Street is ever constructed.
That segment of Highland would be built to local street design standards with a sixty-foot right-of-way rather than the one hundred-foot
width that otherwise would be required.
The “default” design would be one moving lane of traffic in each direction, bike lanes in both directions, unpaved boulevards on each side,
and five-foot sidewalks on both sides. It would be necessary to relocate one of the existing traffic lights at the intersection with Main Street. The road would be built to City standards,
not MDT standards. There would be a steep grade immediately north of Main Street but the grade would not exceed City standards. While the road would fit inside the proposed 60-foot
right-of-way, the height imediaely north of Main will result in the side slopes extending much further out.
If Highland Boulevard is extended in this manner, Mike indicated he would
not pursue extending Haggerty Lane north from Main.
There was discussion about the suitability of having five-foot sidewalks on both sides given that ssouth of Main there is a 8-10
foot shared use pathway on just the west side of Highland. Craig assured the group that issues such as this could be resolved later when the design is being finalized and public hearings
are held.
The Bozeman Area Bicycle Advisory Board apparently has not scheduled any discussion of the proposal, but Mike indicated they would be glad to present the proposal to BABAB
if asked.
In his capacity as Bozeman’s Director of Public Works, Craig said he was comfortable with designing the proposed section of Highland to local road standards and he does
not envision there being a need to service higher traffic levels.
Vance moved that we support the proposal for a 60-foot width and that Ralph write a letter to that effect. Frank seconded the mothion and it passed.
Related Groups. In part because
of the shortness of time, there were no reports.
State of Montana Bicycle/Pedestrian Coordinator. Angie Walin, an MDT elployee in Helena, had hoped to attend our meeting but family
health problems prevented that. Hopefully she will be at our April 9 meeting.
Bozeman Community Transportation Safety Plan. The plan has yet to be submitted to the City Commission.
Additiomal Topics. Ralph advised the committee of an opportunity to nominate someone for an award for work on pedestrian issues. There is an almost immediate deadline for nominations.
The group agreed to nominate Taylor Lonsdale if time permits.
Next Meeting. Our next meeting will be April 9th at 12:00 noon. We are expecting the State’s new Bike/Ped Coordinator,
Angie Walin, to attend.
Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned.
Minutes prepared by Ralph Zimmer with input from Sue Brown