HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-10-14 Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee MinutesBozeman (Area) Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee
Minutes of the September 10, 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)
Vance Ruff (School District)
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):
Rick Musson (Bozeman Police Department)
Tommie Franscioni (Bozeman Police Department)
Cody Porter (Bozeman Police Department)
Guests:
Kesleigh
Walin (MSU/Western Transportation Institute)
Tony Becken-Gaddo (Dowl HKM)
Sam Miller (Bozeman Deaconess Hospital)
Bud Jarvis (Citizen)
Todd Swinehart (Bozeman Public Schools)
Rob Bukvich
(MDT)
Quorum: Present.
NEW BUSINESS:
Ralph Zimmer, PTS Committee Chair called the meeting to order at 12:10 PM.
Agenda. Ralph offered the opportunity to provide input on the
agenda. No comments at this time.
Public Comment. Ralph offered the opportunity to provide comments on items not on the agenda. None at this time.
Sidewalk Policy Research Project.
Kesleigh Walin, an MSU senior doing an Undergraduate Research Program project, was in attendance today to share with us an update on her sidewalk funding research project. She’s been
working with Rebecca Gleason of the Western Transportation Institute, her faculty advisor. Kesleigh provided a presentation overview of
what she’s done so far and asked for our input on what else should be included. A copy of the slides from her presentation will be attached to these minutes for reference.
Danielle
asked Kesleigh if the ultimate goal is to provide a list of recommendations to the City of Bozeman on how they may update their sidewalk policy. Kesleigh said yes, that is the ultimate
goal. Bozeman currently assesses property owners for sidewalk maintenance. Ralph asked if she would be presenting recommendations to the City Commission. Kesleigh said she and Rebecca
are still discussing how the project will be finalized. We recommended that they do that if the policy will be changed.
Our recommendations on whom to invite to focus group meetings
were: this committee, Rebecca, Taylor Lonsdale, Rob Bukvich, and Chris Nauman. PTS would cover a lot of the interest groups, including the School District and Police Department. Gary
also suggested someone representing people with disabilities. Kesleigh will email us the final dates. They will most likely be on a Tuesday or Thursday.
Kesleigh asked if we thought
any of these example policies would not work in Bozeman. All agreed that all are on the table. Sue asked if the construction industry would be involved in the process for new sidewalks.
Kesleigh said she hasn’t really been focused on new construction, but she did find an example where for every mile of new construction, they are also required to rebuild one mile of
old roadways.
Minutes. Draft minutes of the August 20, 2014 meeting were discussed. A motion to approve the August meeting minutes was made by Gary, second by Sue. Minutes were approved.
Report
on Results of Previous Actions. None at this time.
Reports from City Commissioners, County Commissioners or School Board Members. None of these representatives were in attendance
today.
Reports from Law Enforcement Liaisons. Rick said with back to school, they’ve been busy with increased enforcement and patrol checks in school zones. Includes a focus on crosswalk
compliance, speeding, cell phones, etc. Todd asked if any of the school zones are worse than others. They don’t necessarily have any that are worse than others, but Meadowlark, Irving,
and the High School are the busiest.
Rob asked if they provide any assistance to crossing guards. Rick said one of their sergeants will be reaching out the school district to provide
training for crossing guards. Ralph asked if the flaggers at events such as were out for the marathon last weekend are given any training. John and others explained that they are required
to be certified flaggers, which includes a significant level of training. The training is offered by the Local Transportation Assistance Program (LTAP) at MSU. School crossing guards
are not required to take the same training, which is probably appropriate given that the majority are volunteers.
Membership. This committee was established by an inter-local agreement
between the City, County and School District. All are to appoint two voting members and one non-voting member. The Committee then has the option to appoint zero, one or two at-large
voting members. Sue is currently an at-large member and Sam Miller has been in the past. We
could choose to elect one more now if we would like. They serve for a calendar year, so if we appointed someone else now, they would only fill that vacancy until the end of the year.
Ralph
talked with Todd this morning and they agreed that Ralph would contact the School District to see if they would appoint Todd as a second official voting member of the committee.
Two
others are interested in at-large membership and are in attendance today, Tony Becken-Gaddo and Bud Jarvis. Ralph asked each to say a few words about themselves. Ralph explained his
concerns with Tony being a transportation engineer. Because we already have two (Danielle and Ralph), there may be too many for a public advisory group. His only concern with Bud is
that he attends the same church as Ralph, Frank and Sue.
Tony works for Dowl HKM and has attended many of our meetings as a guest. He talked with Danielle and Ralph both about the
number of transportation engineers on the committee. He understands those concerns. He has two kids and is moving into the City soon so he has a personal interest in the topics discussed
by this committee. He is happy to be a part of the committee in any form, even if it continues to be as a guest.
Bud has been in Bozeman for about ten years. He is retired and looking
to get involved in a volunteer opportunity in the community. He’s from Boulder, CO where he was a middle school principal and also a high school principal. He moved to Bozeman to be
closer to his daughter and grandkids.
All agreed that we should appoint another at-large member, but before we proceeded with a vote, Vance suggested the idea of considering one of
the candidates as a school district representatives. Bud would be the obvious choice because of his school-related background. Ralph is not sure if it’s the Superintendent or the School
Board that makes that decision. He agreed that seems conceivable, but there’s no guarantee that they will do that. John suggested that we table the vote until next month and talk to
the school district in the meantime about appointing Bud (and Todd as well). Vance maded to table the election until next month, Gary second. Motion passed.
Transportation Coordinating
Committee (TCC). The TCC met at the end of July and we did not provide an overview at our last meeting. Several here today were present at that meeting. Ralph reported that the main
thing they discussed was moving forward with the Bozeman Area Transportation Plan Update. They discussed the fact that it will have a new format this time around, but he does not fully
understand the difference. Rob explained that the Public Works Department would like to have a plan that they can use more interactively including a model that can be updated with any
new development proposal. They are trying to determine if there is a model that is sensitive enough to do that. They are still working on the scope of work for the request for proposals.
Rob explained that a model has always been a part of the plan, but it is not continuously updated after completion of the plan.
Valley Center Spur Road. We discussed the potential
closure of the Valley Center Spur Road at our last meeting. Ralph invited the County and MDT to attend today to discuss this topic. County was not able to attend. With his public
notice about this meeting, Ralph also distributed a letter from MDT announcing a public hearing on Tuesday, September 16, at 6:00 pm at Hilton Garden Inn.
Rob explained that MDT is discussing closure because of recent crashes and concern about unsafe driver behavior at the spur. They’ve been studying it for a number of years. There
has been an increase in injury crashes over the past two years and vehicles stopping over the tracks and waiting in the turn lane while trains are passing through at 60 mph, 28 times
per day.
Options include the installation of signals at intersections on both sides or removal of the spur road. The second option is the preferred option at this time. Signals
would allow continued use and improve safety, but it’s difficult to provide coordination with the railroad crossing and they will introduce new delay on the frontage road. Benefits
to closure would be elimination of intersection conflict points and eliminate of a railroad crossing. Cons of closure would add traffic to other intersections and be an inconvenience
to traveling public. The timing of the closure would be appropriate given the new interchange. Ralph asked if it would be closed to bikes and pedestrians as well. Rob said yes, it
would be a full closure.
Ralph asked for clarification on the operation of a signalized intersection adjacent to railroad tracks. John noted the article in the Billings Gazette yesterday
regarding discussion about changes to a similar intersection adjacent to railroad tracks on Montana Avenue in Billings. Ralph commented that he believes signalization along Montana
Avenue in downtown Billings was changed to allow through vehicles a continuous green light when a train was passing.
MDT’s letter said they will accept verbal comment at the September
16 public hearing, but written comments can also be submitted until October 10th. He asked if this group would like to take any official position on this topic. We could do that today
or at our October meeting. Danielle noted that it sounds like they intend to do something about it either way, and that a no-build scenario is not being considered. Rob agreed that
no build probably will not be considered. Sam said the hospital’s emergency room staff is definitely interested in seeing it closed. We will discuss this topic again at our next meeting.
Community
Transportation Safety Plan. Ralph sent an email to Rick Hixson to check on the status, but did not yet hear back. None of the others that have been involved have heard anything yet
either.
Gallatin Valley Land Trust (GVLT). Gary said that GVLT just recently moved into the old Harrington warehouse. They are considering an effort to build a new bike and pedestrian
access from the street to the library parking lot and trail.
Next Meeting. Our next meeting will be scheduled for October 8th at 12:00 pm. Tony noted that he would be able to attend,
but would be late. There were no other conflicts for those in attendance.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 PM.
Next Meeting: October 8, 2014 at noon as noted above.
Minutes
by Danielle Scharf
Edits by Ralph Zimmer