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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-11-15 PTS minutesBozeman (Area) Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee Minutes of the February 11, 2015 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 (School District) Bud Jarvis (School District) Official Non-Voting Committee Members: John Van Delinder (City of Bozeman Streets Department) Bill Brownell (Gallatin County Road and Bridge Department) City Commissioners, County Commissioners, and School Board Members (Non-Voting on PTS): Cyndy Andrus (City Commission) Liaison Law Enforcement Officers (Non-Voting on PTS): Tommie Franscioni (Bozeman Police Department) Rick Musson (Bozeman Police Department) Guests: Marilee Brown (Citizens for Safer Bozeman) Craig Woolard (City of Bozeman Public Works) Rich McLane (Bozeman Police Department) Andy Kerr (City of Bozeman Engineering) Rob Bukvich (Montana Department of Transportation) 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. Marilee Brown from Safer Bozeman suggested we look into ways for the community to get more involved in pedestrian safety issues and make information accessible on the City and County websites. She noted that there is a place to report potholes on the City website and would like it if there was something similar to report pedestrian safety issues. She would also like the Commission to address a safety issue on Baxter between Davis and Buckrake where the bike and pedestrian facilities currently end abruptly. John noted that is a location where it transitions between City and County. Craig suggested Marilee look at the maps section of the City website to see what’s in the City and what’s in the County. He also suggested that she call the shops complex (or John directly) to report pedestrian safety issues. Craig said the City does not yet have the right-of-way to address the issue on Baxter, but they are aware of it and are working on it. City Street Department Report. John reported that they are currently working on street sweeping with the nice weather and general maintenance. Please report pot holes to the City shop complex. County Road Department Report. Bill Brownell (interim county road and bridge superintendent) reported that he was appointed when Dave retired in December. The County is also taking advantage of the nice weather doing street sweeping, etc. School District Report. Todd Swinehart was not in attendance today. Extension of 15 mph Speed Limit on South Church. Ralph acknowledged the attendance of Rich McLane, Interim Police Chief and former member of PTS, who also has some history with the South Church speed limit. Rich commented on the fact that the existing 15 mph sneaks up on you because of the signage location relative to the hill for northbound traffic on South Church. The Police Department does do increased enforcement in this area. He is in favor of the idea of extending the speed limit further south. Andy Kerr was also in attendance today. He did some research and was not able to find a City ordinance that set that speed limit, so he thinks we would need to go to the State Transportation Commission to have the speed limit reduced according to state law. Craig noted that it’s an MDT urban route and federal aid highway. Rob said he thought we would not be able to reduce it to anything less than 25 in an urban area by state law, except for the 80% reduction for school zones. We may be opening up a can of worms if pursue this any further. Andy also noted that he has done some studies adjacent to city parks that have shown an increase in speed limits after speed limit signs have been posted. He’s concerned that we would be disappointed if we’re expecting signs alone to reduce speeds. If extended, it will be a ¼-mile long 15 mph speed zone, which he feels is too long. Rob suggested the idea of posting advisory 15 mph speed zone signs (yellow and black, instead of black and white). Andy said he would probably use the Park warning sign with the advisory speed limit supplemental plaque below. There is currently a bill before the legislature that would allow cities to set lower speed limits within their jurisdiction. Cyndy asked what we’re trying to solve and Rich said the purpose it to try to improve safety of the crosswalk at Pete’s Hill. She suggested that we might consider rectangular rapid flash beacons instead. Rob noted that there is a beacon flasher there, but it flashes all the time. Gary said he has seen increased use of this crossing in recent years. He is interested in improving the safety of the crossing and lowering the speed limit is just one option to consider. He likes the idea of using a 15 mph advisory speed limit, but would also like to see other crossing improvements evaluated such as ped activated flashers and ADA accessibility improvements. Andy said he also thought that the south crossing should go away and everyone should have to use the Galligator crossing. We should not have two crossings that close together and cannot put ped activated flashers on one and not the other. Gary said the south crossing location is used a lot for access into Burke Park. He’d rather not give up the connector trail and thinks the flasher does get your attention. Rick feels that it becomes just another sign for people who drive it every day. Rob also noted that the presence of pedestrians near the roadway or kids playing the park is what encourages people to slow down. Rich suggested we ask for the installation of the advisory speed limit sign and consideration of other crossing improvements. Craig said Story will be reconstructed in the near future so some of the improvements could be considered then. Gary agreed with Rich’s suggestion and also asked that the City evaluate other crossing improvements, Gary made a motion, second by Danielle. The 25 mph regulatory speed limit sign would have to remain in place, so we should post the advisory plaque for northbound traffic only. Motion passed unanimously. Craig said City staff would carry this recommendation forward. Community Transportation Safety Plan. This committee has previously discussed our willingness to help with implementation of the plan and pursue adoption of the plan by the City Commission. Ralph recently conveyed that intent at TCC where the mayor and other City staff were in attendance. Ralph asked Craig what we need to do to get it on the Commission agenda. Craig said that’s not a big issue and he will write the Commission memo. He would ask that we be there to talk to the Commission about why we feel it’s important that they adopt the plan. Ralph asked if City staff would also be part of the presentation and Craig said they can be. Staff can prepare the presentation and explain the help that will be received from PTS. Cyndy mentioned the Commission’s goals for bike and pedestrian safety and she would like the presentation to address how this fits into the other goals and work that City staff is doing. Craig said that his department can help with the goals related to improving bike and pedestrian infrastructure, but they will need help from us on the goals that are behavioral changes. Craig asked Ralph to let him know what date we would like to get it on the agenda, a couple week’s notice would be nice. Cyndy also wants to be sure they hear from the committee and our approach to implementation to assure them that it is not just another plan that will sit on the shelf. Rob explained that the idea of the plan was to come up with three different behavioral areas and a champion has been identified for each area, including Rick and Danielle. Rick and Danielle explained that they are still happy to help and were just under the impression that it should be adopted by the Commission first. Rich suggested that the three champions be included in the presentation to the Commission to provide a face for each emphasis area. All agreed. Ralph and Danielle will continue to work with Craig on this. Transportation Infrastructure Funding. Ralph asked Craig where we are in the process of additional future discussions and Craig said the next discussion will likely take place in the middle of March. Legislative Initiatives. Ralph asked Craig if he has any thoughts on current initiatives before he leaves. Craig said he is in favor of any that allow more local control (such as the speed limit legislation previously discussed) and transportation funding (such as local gas tax). City staff has not done any lobbying, but they may yet for something they are strongly in favor of. This committee previously voted in favor of supporting an expected bill authorizing cities to establish a local gas tax. However, it has still not been drafted and it appears it may not be introduced. Ralph heard that an alternative bill might be introduced that would not authorize a local gas tax but rather would establish an interim legislative committee to study the possibility of authorizing such a local gas tax. However, he has not seen such a bill on the website yet. Rich provided a handout summarizing some of the current bills related to pedestrian and traffic safety. This handout is attached to the minutes for reference. He provided an overview of each and noted his concern with how they will enforce the 4-foot passing distance under HB 394. Ralph noted a bill that would prohibit license plate readers and Rich said that is one that law enforcement members are lobbying against. Ralph asked if there were any action this committee should take in favor or opposed to bills before the legislature. Marilee said she is in favor of the one that would allow cities to set their own speed limits and she would be happy to lobby for that one. Rob clarified that local governments do currently have the authority to set limits on roadways that are under their jurisdiction but those limits need to comply with state law and, if on a federal-aid route, be subject to approval by the State Transportation Commission. The committee did not feel that it was necessary to advocate for or against any of these bills at this time. Minutes. Draft minutes of the January 14, 2015 meeting were distributed. A motion to approve the January meeting minutes was made by Gary, second by Vance. Minutes were approved. Report on Results of Previous Actions. Ralph noted the email he forwarded recently about the public meetings that will be held on February 18th and 19th for the Bozeman Area Alternative Transportation Study. Ralph and Danielle had met unofficially with the Gallatin County Commissioners and asked them to identify a replacement for Dave Fowler on this committee. Bill is the interim superintendent and attended today, but has not officially been appointed yet. Ralph and Danielle also communicated the Committee’s recommendation to reduce the speed limit on Monforton School Road. The Commissioners are requiring that a petition be submitted for the speed study request. Monforton School recently submitted a petition with close to 50 signatures and the County attorney will be making some decision in the near future. Ralph was told he would be informed in advance of any County public hearing where this topic will be on the agenda. As reported above, a bill authorizing a local option gas tax for cities was never drafted, so we have not done anything more related to this item. Reports from City Commissioners, County Commissioners or School Board Members. Cyndy did not have anything to report in addition to her earlier comments related to transportation safety. Law Enforcement Liaison Officers Report. Tommie reported that he will be moving out of the Traffic Unit so he will no longer serve as a liaison officer to this committee as of April 1st. Rick will stay on and Tommie’s replacement will also likely join the committee. Bozeman Area Bicycle Advisory Board (BABAB) Report. Not in attendance today. Transportation Coordinating Committee (TCC). Ralph reported that TCC met a couple weeks ago and he shared with them our support for the possible local gas tax bill and our support for implementation of the Community Transportation Safety Plan. He provided the Committee an update on other area projects that were discussed. The Belgrade Interchange will open this summer and MDT will wait until after it’s open to decide on what to do with the Valley Center Spur Road. They also talked about South 19th Ave turn lanes and Rouse Avenue improvements. The signal at the intersection of 19th and Garfield will be a permanent installation including pedestrian accommodations. The group also talked about moving ahead with the Bozeman Area Transportation Plan Update. Representatives of TCC will be included in the consultant selection process. There was also some discussion at TCC about Kagy being the next urban roadway reconstruction project for MDT in Bozeman. Ralph asked about the consideration of a roundabout at the Kagy/Willson intersection and was informed that roundabouts are always considered. Rob commented on the study underway to evaluate signal timing on North and South 19th and Main Street from the East Bozeman interchange to 5th and then a separate study to follow from 7th all the way out to Huffine. Rob said they will present their findings and recommendations to TCC upon conclusion of these studies. They will present at the April TCC meeting if they’re ready by then. He said they have found that the pedestrian timings are incorrect, so those are being evaluated. Bike Walk Montana. Ralph announced the Bike Walk Summit in Helena on March 2-3. They are lobbying on behalf of HB 280 to clean up miscellaneous bicycle laws and also the bill requiring 4-foot passing distance. Gallatin Valley Land Trust (GVLT) Report. Gary said he didn’t have anything in particular to report today on items not already on the agenda. Citizens for a Safer Bozeman. Marilee was in attendance today, but did not have anything specific to report. At-Large Voting Members for 2015. Our bylaws allow us to elect 0, 1 or 2 at-large voting members on an annual basis to serve for the calendar year. Ralph called for nominations and Danielle nominated Marilee Brown and commented on her willingness to serve on this committee. No other nominations were made and Ralph called for a vote and the motion passed unanimously. Other Items for Consideration. Gary would like to ask the committee for support on a couple of grant applications that he is working on. The first is a Recreational Trails Program (RTP) grant in the amount of $45,000 for a new east-west trail connection from Oak/Rouse to the Storymill Spur Trail. They would also like to install a new vault toilet and expand parking at the Snowfill recreation area. They are also planning to install a bridge at the entrance to Burke Park and enhance trail system signage. In addition, they are also asking for $150,000 from Bozeman’s Trails Open Space and Parks (TOP) bond program for the trail connecting from Oak/Rouse to the Depot Park connector trail and the Storymill Spur trail. He is asking for a letter of support for both grants. The first is a decision to be made by the start Parks Department and the second will be decided by the City Commission. Ralph commented on potential conflicts of interest that we may all have at any given time. This request from GVLT could be considered one of those occasions and expects Gary to abstain from voting. He asked that Danielle make note of those times when any particular member abstains from voting because of a potential conflict of interest. Vance made a motion to support both of the grant application requests, second by Marilee. Motion passed unanimously. Gary abstained from voting. North Highland Boulevard Extension. Ralph asked for an update from anyone in attendance about the possible future extension of Highland north of Main. Rob said the future connection is in the current transportation plan, but the developer that was proposing to construct the extension has recently sold his property. Willson Crossing at Medical Arts Building. Andy reported that they plan to install the pedestrian ramps as part of a larger ramp replacement project this year. The City Streets Department will complete the signing and striping after the ramps are completed. Next Meeting. Our next meeting will be scheduled for March 11th at 12:00 pm. Bud will not be able to attend in March, April or May due to an upcoming vacation. That date should work for all others in attendance. The meeting was adjourned at 1:50 PM. Next Meeting: March 11, 2015 at noon as noted above. (electronic postscript: March 11 meeting was subsequently cancelled and next meeting actually was April 8.) Minutes by Danielle Scharf Edits by Ralph Zimmer