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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-11-14 Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee MinutesBozeman (Area) Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee Minutes of the June 11, 2014 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) Sue Brown (At-large Member) Official Non-Voting Committee Members: John Van Delinder (City of Bozeman Streets Department) City Commissioners, County Commissioners, and School Board Members (Non-Voting on PTS): (None in attendance) Liaison Law Enforcement Officers (Non-Voting on PTS): (None in attendance) Guests: Andy Kerr (City of Bozeman Engineering) Larry Watson (Gallatin County Grants & Projects Administrator) Todd Swinehart (Bozeman School District Facilities Director) Mitch Overton (City of Bozeman Parks & Recreation Director) Quorum: Present. NEW BUSINESS: Ralph called the meeting to order at 12:00 PM. Consideration of Meeting Agenda. Ralph offered the opportunity to provide input on the meeting agenda and noted that he will take some liberties as we have many items to discuss. No comments were made. Public Comment. Ralph offered the opportunity to provide comments on items not on the agenda. No comments at this time. Minutes. Gary made a motion to approve the minutes of the May 14, 2014 meeting, second by Sue. Motioned passed. Update on Previous Actions. Pedestrian crossings of S 19th Ave at Lincoln and Garfield were discussed in detail at our previous meeting. We received comments from members of the public prior to our discussion and Ralph shared our meeting minutes with them. They may consider using video to record pedestrian crossings at Lincoln and will follow up with us if they do that. Ralph also followed up with MDT about the potential for a signal at 19th and Garfield. They told him they are considering a detour route through that intersection and are considering a permanent signal there. MDT gave notice to both the City and County that they needed to allocate any remaining CTEP funds by June 1st. Larry Watson was at our last meeting and presented the three proposals the Commissioners were considering at that time. Larry reported that they made a decision at their meeting the following week. They allocated $50,000 for the Three Forks trail, and the Town of Three Forks also had $44,000+ that they allocated to the same project. The Commission also funded a short trail section and bridge over an irrigation ditch adjacent to the elementary school in Manhattan at $44,889. The third project from Anderson School for their on-site ADA trail was not funded. No other proposals were presented during the second public hearing. MDT confirmed that the applications were received and appear to meet eligibility requirements. Those projects will be scheduled for construction in spring 2015. Ralph asked if they ever got a proposal from Big Sky and Larry said no, but they are working on an affordable housing project in Big Sky. Gallatin County agreed to support a TIGER grant application for transportation access to the proposed site of the affordable housing complex. They hope to hear on the TIGER grant by September. Ralph asked if they would need more than one access and Larry said they probably would for fire access. Dustin Johnson also attended our last meeting but was unable to attend today for an update. He reported that the Commission memo regarding the new CTEP allocation was approved without modification. MDT also confirmed for them that their application was received. There was some discussion about whether the way finding signs will qualify for CTEP funding, but a decision has not yet been made on that. Dustin also provided Ralph with a copy of the bids from the current City CTEP project. They received 3 bids and the low bid was approximately $50,000 over the engineer’s estimate, so those funds will have to come out of the new CTEP allocation. Gary noted that the way finding sign budget was $50,000, but we were not able to confirm that immediately. Ralph asked what the way finding sign would include and Mitch reported that they help to direct users to various local landmarks, including parks and other community landmarks. They will be placed along roadways and designed for all users, rather than just along trails. The application deadline for the Walk Friendly Community designation is coming up on June 16th. Danielle reported last time that she and Taylor were working on an application and may still try to make the June 16th deadline, but may also consider holding off until the next deadline in 6 months. Ralph reported on a recent letter to the editor complaining about poor synchronization of traffic signals along Main Street. Ralph encouraged MDT and City officials to prepare a response and also prepared a letter response himself. MDT and the City said they were preparing a joint response, but he has not seen it yet. He sent his letter in two weeks ago, but it has not yet been published and he does not expect that it will be since it hasn’t yet. He received an email from Craig Woolard (Public Works Director) stating that he would be preparing a transportation related article, but it would not be for several weeks. Reports from City Commission, County Commission and School Board. None of these representatives were in attendance today. Liaison Officer Reports. Liaison officers were not in attendance today. City Street Department Report. John reported that the Main Street overlay is underway and is going smoothly. Mendenhall construction will likely start next month and will include a full closure from Wallace to 7th. They are also working on pot hole patching in various locations. The current CTEP project will likely start soon, definitely this summer. Mitch asked if the sidewalk along Rose Park and Centennial Park will be included, John and Andy confirmed that both are included in the current project. County Road Department Report. Larry reported that there will be a couple of bridge replacement projects coming up on Old Town Road outside of Three Forks and the Axtell Anceney Road bridge in Gallatin Gateway. They would be funded by pending Treasure State Endowment Program (TSEP) grant applications. Larry also reported that the County’s new Administrator, Jim Doar will start July 1st. School District Report. Todd Swinehart (new Facilities Director) reported that the School District has an ongoing project to upgrade Longfellow School property along the alley and adjacent roadways. They are also underway with upgrades to the Willson School auditorium. There is a traffic concern on Babcock with the work that’s going on Main Street. John said they have received some complaints and have requested an increased police presence in the area. Todd also noted the coordination with the City Street Department on the work they’re doing on 5th St. Todd said Vance was unable to attend today because it’s the last day of school. Gary asked about future condos in Willson School and Todd said they will be part of a separate contract that is still being planned/designed. Some of it may end up being done concurrently. One phase of the auditorium will be completed in 2014 and additional phases may extend into January and February. Mitch asked about the closing north of Meadowlark. Todd explained that there was a lien on the property and they extended the buy-sell to clear that up. Reports from Related Groups. None at this time. Pedestrian and Vehicular Access to the new Sports Complex. Mitch Overton (Parks and Recreation Director) distributed concept plans showing the proposed 80-acre sports complex location and three concept alternatives. This plan is very conceptual and has not yet been through a master planning process. They’ve been working with Gary and GVLT to discuss trail access to the property and have also been talking with the schools about access from the south. The open land to the east (between the regional park and this property) has recently been through subdivision review and the trail corridor through that property has been reserved. The City is under contract for this property, but does not yet own it. Gary asked about the requirement to improve Oak along the frontage of that property and John said they will be required to do half with each phase on either side. Larry also noted that Ferguson will be extended through this area in the near future. John said that Cottonwood will still end at Oak. Mitch reported that the stream will likely be moved with the development to the west, eliminating one of the constraints to constructing Oak. After the Commission meeting Monday night, the City is moving forward with the partnership for constructing the aquatics facility at the regional park. This would be in addition to the Swim Center at the high school that is under a 50-year inter-local agreement with the School District that has 10 years left. They plan to keep that agreement in place, but have not decided what to do with the Bogert pool yet, other than to hold off on any major capital improvements. Related to transportation access to the new sports complex, Ralph asked if there was anything Mitch would hope this group would advocate for. They are planning two access points at Baxter and Flanders Mill. They haven’t decided yet about providing on-street parking along those major roads, but he understands it’s probably not typical. He would definitely like to see bike lanes on all streets. John noted that Flanders Mill was constructed to the minimum local street standards so it won’t have bike lanes along school frontage and he’s concerned about it failing under the level of traffic volumes that will be generated by two schools and a major sports complex. Mitch said he will advocate for bike and pedestrian access to the complex as much as possible. Ralph noted that BABAB may also have input on the process. Andy said that the classification of Flanders Mill may need to be reconsidered with the upcoming transportation plan update. Ralph said that the extension of Highland north of Main is an example of where a reclassification could be done prior to the plan being updated. Danielle asked if a traffic impact study would be done for any of these projects, for the schools or the sports complex. Andy said the schools are exempt from those requirements, but the City generally tries to follow their own requirements. Ralph asked if this committee would like to advocate for anything related to this development. John noted that it is still very early in the process. The closing date is a week from Friday. They will likely phase the development from north to south and likely only construct 40 acres at a time. All agreed that it’s good be aware at this early stage, but it is not necessary to immediately advocate for anything. Ralph asked that the City staff members in attendance keep us posted on when the process does move forward and when we’ll need to weigh in. Willson Pedestrian Crossings. Andy Kerr (City Engineering Department) has reviewed the north Willson pedestrian crossing location and noted several issues. Pedestrians want to cross mid-block between the parking lot and the Medical Arts building. If they were to install a crossing on the south side of the driveway, there are issues with installing a ramp at the bottom of the existing on-site ramp that doesn’t meet ADA standards. If they put the crossing on the north side, they would have to cross the driveway that also does not meet ADA standards. His recommendation would be to install the crossing just south of their onsite ramp, approximately 20 feet south of the driveway and 5 feet south of the existing on-site ramp on the east side. It could have a slight angle in the crosswalk to limit distance between the driveway and crosswalk on the west side. Andy talked to the building manager about the proposal and told her they would need to eliminate some parking spaces, approximately one space on either side. She didn’t seem to have a problem with that. There was a consensus in support of Andy’s recommended crosswalk location. Andy said they could move forward with hiring a contractor for the concrete work and the streets department could do the signing and striping. He’s already talked to the property owner and they are in support of the project so no additional public notice is required. Ralph said we are in support of the project and would like to see the City move forward with it as quickly as possible. Andy also provided an overview of his assessment of the crosswalk proposal at Willson and Grant. It is currently an unmarked crossing location. There’s a gravel street to the east that provides access to the Galligator trail and to the west is a primary access route to MSU. He completed some observations at this location during several times throughout the day and found an average of 18 pedestrian crossings per hour with the highest being 30 per hour during the noon hour when MSU was in session. He also noted that a lot of bikes cross here as well. About 50% of the crossings are on the south side and about 50% cross on the north side. He thinks a marked crosswalk is warranted in this location. We would probably need to mark both sides, south and north. There are also some accessibility issues, so they would need to install new ramps on all corners. No parking zones would also need to be extended. We would lose 3-4 spaces on the east side for northbound traffic south of the crossing and would also lose 1-2 spaces north of the crossing. The next step would be to send a letter to the property owners. Ralph asked what happens if the property owners are opposed to it and Andy said they could bring it to the Commission for a decision. If they are not opposed, it doesn’t have to go to the Commission. Craig Woolard (Public Works Director) has the option to decide to proceed or take it to the Commission. Andy noted that there is not a crash history here, but there is a higher demand for pedestrian crossings than at Lincoln where there is a marked crosswalk. Danielle asked about our previous discussion about the potential for a rectangular rapid flash beacon. Andy said he would recommend just installing the crosswalks and signage to begin with, along with sight distance improvements, because there is not an existing problem with pedestrian delay. Danielle made a motion to support the improvements as Andy has recommended (marked crosswalks, signage, ADA upgrades, and parking limitations) and encourage City staff to proceed with the improvements. Second by Gary. Motion passed unanimously. Gary also suggested that the City install some no-parking signage to eliminate the issues associated with people parking right in front of the trail. John said he could take care of that. Andy also observed crossings at Willson and Lincoln and found that there was an average of 7 crossings/hour in this location. He didn’t observe too many issues with pedestrian delay, but he does think the no-parking zones should be extended to provide better sight distance for pedestrians waiting to cross. The no parking zone on the west side for southbound traffic should be extend by 50 feet. It should also be extended back to the existing driveway south of the crossing on the east side for the northbound traffic. He does not feel any additional improvements are necessary in this location. He also noted the non-typical location of the crosswalk sign on the south side approaching the intersection. It’s not at the stop bar location because of an existing tree. They may consider moving it if it would require tree trimming only. If that does not work, they’ll leave the sign where it is. Gary made a motion that we support Andy’s recommendation to extend the no parking zones at the Lincoln crossing and move the signage, if possible. Second by Sue. Motion passed unanimously. Ralph asked Andy to please let us know if there’s anything we can do to help move these improvements forward. Community Transportation Safety Plan Implementation. Danielle reported that Rick told us previously that he would identify a staff person to help move this forward, but for now they are holding off on doing anything until after City budget discussions. Next Meeting. Our next meeting would be scheduled for July 9th at 12:00 pm. Ralph and Gary will both be gone on July 9th and if one other member was not able to attend, we would not have a quorum. Ralph is not currently aware of any pressing issues that will need to be discussed at that time. Therefore, we will tentatively cancel the July 9th meeting. The next meeting would be August 13th. Danielle would not be able to attend on August 13th, but there were no conflicts for others in attendance. The meeting was adjourned at 2:00 PM. Next Meeting: August 13, 2014 at noon as noted above. Minutes by Danielle Scharf Edits by Ralph Zimmer