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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-13-15 PTS minutes Bozeman (Area) Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee 1 Minutes of the May 13, 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 Tony Becken-Gaddo (At-large Member) 11 Marilee Brown (At-large Member) 12 Vance Ruff (Bozeman School District) 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 (none in attendance) 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 Tom Foster (Guest) 26 27 Quorum: Present. 28 29 NEW BUSINESS: 30 31 Ralph Zimmer, PTS Committee Chair called the meeting to order at 12:00 PM. 32 33 1. PTS Membership. Tom Foster is interested in filling the County-appointed position on our 34 committee vacated by Frank Manseau’s recent passing. Tom was in attendance today and 35 provided the committee with a brief overview of his background and interest in serving on the 36 committee. 37 38 2. Agenda. Ralph offered the opportunity to provide input on the agenda. No comments at this 39 time. 40 41 3. Public Comment. Ralph offered the opportunity to provide comments on items not on the 42 agenda. No comments at this time. 43 44 4. Minutes. Draft minutes of the April 8, 2015 meeting were distributed. A motion to approve 45 the April meeting minutes was made by Gary, second by Marilee. Minutes were approved. 46 47 5. Report on Previous Actions. At our last meeting, we voted to have our Chair support HB 48 604 to establish a fund for trail maintenance and education. This bill was passed by the House 49 and was reviewed by the Senate Transportation Committee. They did not kill the bill, but 50 they amended it to only establish a study group to review the issue prior to the next 51 legislature, and the amended bill was subsequently passed by the House. House Bill 280 (the 52 bicycle cleanup bill) did pass. 53 54 Monforton School Road Speed Limit. Morrison-Maierle recently completed a speed study for 55 the County and the County Commission is now moving forward with establishing the entire 56 road as a school zone so they can have the authority to reduce the speed limit as much as 57 desired. Apparently, before they can declare that road a school zone, the County 58 Commissioners have to meet with the School Board. There is a meeting this afternoon at 3:00 59 pm at the County Courthouse. We’re not sure yet what the new speed limit with be, but Ralph 60 has heard them talking about a 30 mph limit. We previously voted to support a 25 mph. 61 62 Our committee also previously discussed crosswalk signage at 5th and Peach/Durston. It was 63 reviewed during a recent walking audit that Gary participated in and comments were that the 64 pedestrian sign was too high and too wordy for school-age children. 65 66 We have talked recently about the update to the Bozeman Area Transportation Plan. Several 67 firms submitted proposals and the review committee selected Robert Peccia & Associates to 68 complete the project. Rob clarified that they have been selected to enter into negotiations, but 69 have not yet officially been awarded a contract. Ralph was told that the Transportation 70 Coordinating Committee will not be providing the same level of guidance as they have in the 71 past, but they will instead be establishing one or more smaller oversight committees. 72 73 On Monday night, May 18, the City Commission will consider adopting the Community 74 Transportation Safety Plan. Ralph, Danielle, Rick Musson and Jessi Malcolm will all be 75 speaking as part of the staff presentation. Ralph encouraged others to attend and speak in 76 favor of adoption during the public comment period. It was noted that the Commission will 77 also be discussing the transportation budget for the coming year at that same meeting. 78 79 6. County Commission Report. Not in attendance today. 80 81 7. City Commission Report. Cyndy Andrus was unable to attend the meeting today. 82 83 8. School Board Report. Vance was in attendance today, but did not have anything to report on 84 behalf of the School Board. Marilee asked if the school district has had any more discussions 85 on a request to eliminate parking on one side of Kimberwicke Street in front of Chief Joseph 86 Middle School. Vance was not aware of any discussions. 87 88 9. Liaison Officer Reports. None were in attendance today. Ralph mentioned that he and Gary 89 talked with Rich McLane last week and he meant to ask him if there would be another officer 90 appointed to replace Tommie on this committee, but he did not. 91 92 10. City Street Department Report. John’s department is busy with construction season 93 starting. As Marilee mentioned, the transportation budget discussions will begin at 4:30 pm 94 on Monday at the City Commission meeting. The Story Street project is underway and they 95 intend to complete it by end of July. 96 97 11. County Road Department Report. Bill Brownell was not in attendance today. 98 99 12. School District Facilities Report. Todd Swinehart was not in attendance today. 100 101 13. Bozeman Area Bicycle Advisory Board (BABAB) Report. Ralph recently reached out to 102 BABAB to get the Community Transportation Safety Plan on their agenda at their last 103 meeting. He was not able to get it on their agenda in time to take official action, but several 104 have said they will attend the Commission meeting and speak in favor of it as individuals. 105 John said they also spent a good portion of their last meeting discussing Bike Week activities, 106 which is this week. 107 108 14. Gallatin Valley Land Trust (GVLT). Gary reported that as part of Bike Week, GVLT is 109 hosting a reception at their office on Thursday evening. GVLT is still pursuing a trail 110 connecting the Oak Street Trail to Story Mill along Front Street. He is expecting that the 111 Trails, Open Space and Parks (TOP) bond request will be considered by the City Commission 112 soon. It will be a 10-foot wide paved trail. The updated cost estimate is on the order of 113 $180,000. They have not heard back on the Recreational Trails Program (RTP) application. 114 The RTP application also included funding for the Snow Fill Recreation Area. Gary recently 115 received approval from the City Commission on his site plan so he expects that the 116 improvements will be complete this fall. Gary also mentioned that they are interested in 117 building a bike park on the 78-acre property adjacent to Snow Fill. 118 119 15. Citizens for Safer Bozeman. Marilee reported that Safer Bozeman was successful in getting 120 an oil pipeline replaced under the Gallatin River. She also recently met with John regarding 121 her concerns on Kimberwicke. She is continuing to research why City streets are so narrow 122 and she mentioned that SWMBIA recently commented in their presentation to the City 123 Commission that they would like narrower street standards. She also commented on her 124 concerns about the narrow shoulder along Baxter that she discussed with John. The lack of 125 funds is a common reason cited for not making improvements. 126 127 John suggested the idea to her about a gas tax. She’s already been talking with the County 128 about the process that would be required to get it on the ballot this fall. To get it on the ballot 129 would require a certain percentage of signatures or by petition to the County Commissioners. 130 She would prefer to see the Commissioners put it on the ballot, but is prepared to get 131 signatures if needed. Marilee is interested in getting a steering committee together to help 132 move this forward. She welcomes any comments or input we’re willing to provide. 133 134 16. Transportation Coordinating Committee (TCC). TCC met since our last meeting. MDT’s 135 State Traffic Operations Engineer, Danielle Bolan, gave a presentation on their statewide 136 signal timing activities. They have already implemented changes on North 19th and are 137 planning changes on South 19th after the College Street project is completed. They are also 138 studying Main Street on two sections and they will implement changes from 7th to the east. 139 Rob said they will collect data for North 7th this fall. They are updating controllers and 140 implementing improved signage for pedestrian crossings and also updating controllers to 141 accommodate flashing yellow arrow capabilities. The next TCC meeting will be July 22, the 142 fourth Wednesday in July. 143 144 17. Safety Recommendations at South Church & East Story. We previously reached 145 consensus on a recommendation that a 15 mph advisory speed limit be installed for 146 northbound traffic and that sign has been installed. At our last meeting, we discussed the need 147 for something similar for southbound traffic. Last Thursday, Ralph and Gary met with John 148 Van Delinder, Andy Kerr (City Engineer’s Office), and Rich McLane (Interim Police Chief) 149 on site and discussed this issue further. They agreed that we could not legally reduce the 150 speed limit below 25 mph. They discussed several options. One that cannot be done legally 151 is to add an advisory speed limit to the same post as the regulatory sign – this would not be in 152 conformance with the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). They 153 discussed leaving the 25 mph sign as is and adding a 15 mph sign nearby, but they agreed it 154 would be too close. Ralph’s preference was to move the existing 25 mph sign approximately 155 400 feet to the south, but Rich and Andy were opposed to that idea because they are required 156 to post the speed limit sign directly where the speed limit legally changes. Ralph suggested 157 that the Police Department could just not ticket within that 400-ft stretch for going greater 158 than 15 mph, but less than 25 mph. Rich did not like the liability that may be associated with 159 being able to legally stop a vehicle, particularly if there were a secondary offense that might 160 get thrown out. 161 162 The City is in the process of improving Story Street. The project will include a new 163 crosswalk across Church on the north side of Story Street including an advance crosswalk 164 warning sign. They agreed during the meeting that the extra crosswalk sign may help with the 165 speeds in that location. 166 167 Ralph mentioned that his biggest concern is vehicles increasing in speed as they are 168 approaching a crosswalk as (1) the vehicle will arrive at the crossing faster than the pedestrian 169 (particularly a pedestrian with a vision disability) is expecting and (2) because it will take the 170 driver a fraction of a second longer to commence breaking.. 171 172 Rob also suggested that the new crosswalk may be on school route, which would allow a 173 speed reduction further south of the park, but that would result in a speed limit of 20 mph as 174 opposed to the posted 15 mph park speed limit. 175 176 Ralph suggested that we continue to contemplate how to move forward on this. The group 177 reached consensus on our willingness to consider a 20 mph speed limit. 178 179 Gary expressed his concern that the Story improvements would not include a crosswalk across 180 Church on the south side of Story. He would like to see accessible crosswalks on both sides 181 and would like to improve access to the trail. Gary and Danielle agreed to check the slope in 182 the crosswalk location. 183 184 18. Community Transportation Safety Plan. Danielle provided a brief overview on the plan 185 for the Commission presentation on Monday night. Our next step will be to summarize 186 progress that has already been completed on the action items from the plan. 187 188 19. Additional Items. Ralph distributed a letter from the Gallatin County Attorney outlining the 189 requirements for preserving emails related to committee business. 190 191 Rob provided an update on the trail to the M. The crossing location will be at the last 192 intersection to the east, which may also be a potential location for a future grade-separated 193 crossing. Western Federal Lands is at about a 30% level design now and are planning for 194 construction in 2017. There will need to be some coordination with the Rouse reconstruction 195 project. 196 197 MDT just selected a consultant to design intersection improvements at Love and Baxter. 198 MDT also just put out a notice for applications for the next round of Transportation 199 Alternatives funding. 200 201 20. Next Meeting. Our next meeting will be scheduled for June 10th at 12:00 pm. 202 That date should work for all members in attendance. (Electronic Postscript: The June 10 203 meeting was subsequently cancelled and the next meeting is now scheduled for July 8.) 204 205 The meeting was adjourned at 1:45 PM. 206 207 Next Meeting: June 10, 2015 at noon as noted above. (Electronic Postscript: The June 10 208 meeting was subsequently cancelled and the next meeting is now scheduled for July 8.) 209 210 211 Minutes by Danielle Scharf 212 Edits by Ralph Zimmer 213