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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-08-15 PTS minutes Bozeman (Area) Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee 1 Minutes of the April 8, 2015 Meeting 2 Upstairs Conference Room Alfred Stiff Office Building 3 4 Those Present: 5 6 Voting Committee Members: 7 Ralph Zimmer (Gallatin County) 8 Gary Vodehnal (City of Bozeman) 9 Danielle Scharf (City of Bozeman) 10 Bud Jarvis (School District) 11 Tony Becken-Gaddo (At-large Member) 12 Marilee Brown (At-large Member) 13 14 Official Non-Voting Committee Members: 15 John Van Delinder (City of Bozeman Streets Department) 16 17 City Commissioners, County Commissioners, and School Board Members (Non-Voting on PTS): 18 Cyndy Andrus (City Commission) 19 20 Liaison Law Enforcement Officers (Non-Voting on PTS): 21 (none in attendance) 22 23 Guests: 24 Rob Bukvich (Montana Department of Transportation) 25 Sam Miller (Bozeman Deaconess) 26 Taylor Lonsdale (Western Transportation Institute/Bike Walk Montana) 27 28 Quorum: Present. 29 30 NEW BUSINESS: 31 32 Ralph Zimmer, PTS Committee Chair called the meeting to order at 12:00 PM. 33 34 1. Agenda. Ralph offered the opportunity to provide input on the agenda. No comments at this 35 time. Ralph thanked Marilee for her assistance with getting the dates of our meetings 36 corrected on the City and County websites and the dates of Transportation Coordinating 37 Committee meetings corrected on the County website). 38 39 2. Public Comment. Ralph offered the opportunity to provide comments on items not on the 40 agenda. Rob mentioned that MDT is in the process of updating signal timings on North 19th 41 Avenue. Implementation of signal timing improvements on South 19th has been delayed until 42 after the College project is completed. Kittelson will be conducting counts for the Main Street 43 signal timing project this month. Sam shared a poster that the hospital has developed for a 44 promotional campaign related to distracted driving. John also noted that this month is 45 distracted driving month. 46 47 3. Minutes. Draft minutes of the February 11, 2015 meeting (but without the attachment 48 dealing with relevant legislation being discussed in Helena) had been distributed 49 electronically prior to the meeting. At the meeting, a “hard copy” of those minutes including 50 the attachment were distributed. A motion to approve the February 11 meeting minutes was 51 made by Gary, second by Marilee. Minutes were approved. 52 53 4. Report on Previous Actions. At our last meeting, we voted to have our Chair provide letters 54 of support for two grant applications that the Gallatin Valley Land Trust is working on. Ralph 55 did that and provided copies today. Gary reported that they are meeting with the Trails, Open 56 Space, and Parks (TOP) Bond review committee tomorrow, but they have not heard back on 57 the Recreational Trails Program (RTP) application yet. 58 59 Ralph also reported that the County hired Morrison-Maierle to conduct a speed study on 60 Monforton School Road. After their results are available, they will draft an ordinance to 61 reduce the speed limit and present it at a public meeting. 62 63 5. City Commission Report. Ralph noted a previous comment that the Commission would be 64 discussing transportation infrastructure in mid-March. Cyndy said Dr. Woolard presented to 65 the Chamber recently and there is also an RFP (Request for Proposals) out for the upcoming 66 update to the Transportation Plan (proposals are currently under review). Cyndy said there 67 will be a budget work session on transportation on May 18th beginning at 4:30 pm and the 68 Community Transportation Safety Plan is also on the agenda for that meeting. She will let 69 Ralph know when any follow up discussions will take place on these agenda items. 70 71 Ralph noted that four proposals were received for the Transportation Plan Update and they are 72 currently under review. Cyndy, a member of the review committee, said the committee has 73 completed their review and turned the scoring sheets back to Rick Hixson. Rob said his 74 understanding was that they will be deciding this week or next which firms to interview. 75 76 6. Liaison Officer Reports. None were in attendance today. Ralph reminded the committee 77 that Tommie Franscioni, a member of the Bozeman Police Department, had told us his duties 78 were changing and he would no longer be serving on this committee as of April 1st. 79 80 7. City Street Department Report. John reported that his department is currently getting ready 81 for a busy summer. They will have some chip sealing projects beginning soon, but the budget 82 for mill and overlay projects is still being determined. The Story Street reconstruction project 83 will be beginning soon. There will be a public meeting this Thursday at 6:00 pm at City Hall 84 where the contractor will be in attendance to discuss schedule. The project will be complete 85 this fall. 86 87 8. County Road Department Report. Bill Brownell was not in attendance today. 88 89 9. School District Report. Todd was not in attendance today but Todd had written an email to 90 Ralph apologizing for his recent absences and promising more regular attendance in the 91 future. 92 93 10. Bozeman Area Bicycle Advisory Board (BABAB) Report. John mentioned Bike Week 94 coming up the second week in May and the Bike Swap is this month at the Fairgrounds. 95 BABAB has been focusing most of their time lately on coordination efforts related to Bike 96 Week. 97 98 11. Bike Walk Montana Report. Taylor Lonsdale (Board Chair) reported that they have been 99 busy with four bills progressing through the Legislature. Two bills died in committee (one 100 clarifying when a pedestrian is ready to cross and one establishing a minimum four-foot 101 clearance when passing a bicyclist), but the other two are still active (“bicycle law cleanup” 102 and trail maintenance). They have also recently created a statewide commuter challenge and 103 have a great website at www.mtcommuterchallenge.org. They also had great attendance at 104 their summit in Helena during the first week in March. 105 106 12. Gallatin Valley Land Trust (GVLT). In addition to the two grant proposals discussed 107 earlier in the meeting, Gary said GVLT is working on a restroom and parking lot expansion 108 project at the Snow Fill Recreation area. 109 110 13. Transportation Coordinating Committee (TCC). TCC has not met since our last meeting, 111 but will be meeting again on April 22nd. The meeting will begin at 9:30 am according to Rob 112 Bukvich, instead of the usual 10:00 am start time. 113 114 14. Citizens for Safer Bozeman. Marilee is researching how to affect change. Kimberwicke 115 Street in front of Chief Joseph Middle School has become a major thoroughfare where there 116 are some safety concerns. She is interested in changing it to parking on one side only. Ralph 117 asked John if the Commission would have to make the decision to remove parking on one 118 side. John said yes if it has a City standard street width. Danielle also cautioned that on-street 119 parking has a traffic calming effect, so if it is removed, speeds may go up. John said the 120 school put in a request to the Engineering Department to have them review the location and 121 consider possible removal of parking on one side. 122 123 15. Extension of 15 mph Speed Limit for Southbound Traffic on South Church. At our last 124 meeting we reached consensus on a recommendation that a 15 mph advisory speed limit 125 should be place for northbound traffic. That sign has been installed and Ralph provided 126 photos. Ralph asked if it would be possible to post a similar sign for southbound traffic as 127 well. John said we have to keep the existing 25 mph sign designating the end of the reduced 128 speed limit for the park and he thinks it would be confusing to post the advisory sign next to 129 the 25 mph sign. The Parks Department is also looking into extending the park zone to the 130 south. John said that improved crosswalks will be installed with the Story Street project, so 131 he’d like to see what kind of improvement that makes before any additional signs are 132 installed. Ralph asked why we couldn’t just move the existing 25 mph sign further south and 133 John said it’s where it should be for the purposes of enforcement. Ralph said the police could 134 still choose not to enforce speeds over 25 mph with that interim zone. Rob added that even 135 though there is a 15 mph sign posted there, it is technically not enforceable because state law 136 does not allow a local jurisdiction to lower the speed limit below 25 mph except for schools or 137 senior centers. John said he would talk to Rick or Craig about the idea of moving the 25 mph 138 sign further south. Rob said he thought that was the best solution. 139 140 Ralph brought up the bill that Rich McLane mentioned at our last meeting that would allow 141 local jurisdictions more flexibility in setting speed limits. Rob said that one died because the 142 state was concerned about local jurisdictions having the ability to set speed limits on the 143 Interstate through town. 144 145 16. Community Transportation Safety Plan. This committee has previously discussed our 146 willingness to help with implementation of the plan and pursue adoption of the plan by the 147 City Commission. Danielle agreed to lead the effort with assistance from Jessi Malcolm and 148 Rick Musson in two of the other emphasis areas. We are prepared to go to the City 149 Commission on May 18th to seek adoption of the plan. We will participate in the presentation 150 to the Commission on that evening. Cyndy clarified that it is currently on the draft agenda for 151 May 18th, but it is possible that the date could change. Danielle reported that she and Ralph 152 had reached out to both Jessi and Rick to confirm their willingness to help with the 153 presentation and implementation. 154 155 Ralph asked if we should pursue adoption by the County Commission as well. Rob and others 156 said it was pretty Bozeman-specific. All agreed not to pursue County involvement. 157 158 17. Report on Legislative Actions. Taylor reported that House Bill 280 (the bicycle law cleanup 159 bill) is scheduled to have its third reading in the Senate today. House Bill 604 was passed out 160 of the House and should be acted on by the Senate Highways and Transportation Committee 161 tomorrow. It will provide an opt-out vehicle registration fee and the funds would go toward 162 trail maintenance. 163 164 Ralph had previously asked Taylor if HB 280 would eliminate the need for reflectors and 165 Taylor said it doesn’t eliminate the need for them, but rather allows the cyclist to wear 166 reflective clothing as an alternative to having reflectors on their bike. He said that it is just in 167 acknowledgement of the way many bicycles are designed today and allows for more 168 flexibility in where the reflectivity is placed. 169 170 Ralph asked how HB 604 would allocate the funding for trail maintenance. Taylor explained 171 that it is meant for long term maintenance (not short term like plowing) and trails around 172 Bozeman (such as the Oak Street Trail) would be eligible for that funding. The funding will 173 be administered by MDT and the funding will likely go to trails in MDT right-of-way, at least 174 to begin with. It lays the groundwork and MDT could set aside a percentage for local trails. 175 Rob said it will be distributed to the highway districts, 20% will go to education, and the 176 remaining funds will go to on-system maintenance. Rob hopes that it really does result in 177 better trail maintenance and does not have any unintended consequences. 178 179 HB 280 is essentially a done deal because it will have its third vote today, but there is still 180 opportunity to contact legislators in support of House Bill 604. Ralph asked if we would be 181 interested in supporting HB 604 and Gary said he would be in favor of it. Gary made a 182 motion, second by Danielle. Cyndy expressed some concern about whether or not we should 183 be lobbying without obtaining permission from the City Commission first. She said it could 184 be more effective if we each reach out to them individually. Ralph said we have lobbied for 185 various bills many times in the past, as has the police department. Ralph also said they don’t 186 have to be mutually exclusive – we can comment individually and has a group. 187 188 Gary’s motion passed unanimously to lobby the legislature in favor of HB 604. Ralph will 189 therefore lobby on behalf of the committee, but he also encouraged us to do so as individuals 190 as well. Taylor noted that our local senators may not be the swing votes, but it is very 191 important that they hear from us. 192 193 18. Additional Items. Gary said he spoke at a meeting recently with Cathy Costakis and they did 194 a walking audit afterwards. One of the attendees pointed out that one of the crossing signs 195 near Whittier School was too high, too wordy/complicated and not in braille. Gary noted that 196 we should be aware of these things when posting signs in the future. Rob agreed with his 197 concern about ADA issues, but he thinks it’s better to have kids crossing with a crossing 198 guard. Gary and Rob both agreed to do some additional research on this. 199 200 19. Next Meeting. Our next meeting will be scheduled for May 13th at 12:00 pm. 201 That date should work for all members in attendance at this meeting. 202 203 The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 PM. 204 205 Next Meeting: May 13, 2015 at noon as noted above. 206 207 208 Minutes by Danielle Scharf 209 Edits by Ralph Zimmer 210