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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-09-15 PTS minutesBozeman (Area) Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee 1 Minutes of the September 9, 2015 Meeting 2 Upstairs Conference Room Alfred Stiff Office Building 3 4 Attendance: 5 6 Voting Committee Members: 7 Ralph Zimmer (Gallatin County), Chair 8 Danielle Scharf (City of Bozeman), Vice Chair 9 Marilee Brown (At-large Member), Secretary 10 Tony Becken-Gaddo (At-large Member) 11 Vance Ruff (Bozeman School District) 12 Absent: Bud Jarvis (Bozeman School District), Tom Foster (Gallatin County), Vacancy (City) 13 14 Official Non-Voting Committee Members: 15 John Van Delinder (City of Bozeman Streets Department) 16 Todd Swinehart (Bozeman School District) 17 Absent: Bill Brownell, Interim Road & Bridge Superintendent (County) 18 19 City Commissioners, County Commissioners, and School Board Members 20 Absent: Cyndy Andrus (City Commissioner), (County Commissioner), (School District Trustees) 21 22 Law Enforcement Liaison Officers 23 Sergeant Jeremy Kopp (patrol) and Dan Springer (Under Sheriff) 24 Steve Crawford (Chief) (Bozeman Police Dept.) 25 26 Regular Attendees and Guests (City, County, Bozeman School District, and Montana Department 27 of Transportation Staff): 28 Rob Bukvich (Montana Department of Transportation) 29 30 Citizens and Other Guests: 31 Chris Naumann (Downtown Bozeman Partnership) 32 Eileen Guthrie (Citizen) 33 34 Quorum: Present. 35 36 1. Call to Order, Introductions and New Business. Ralph Zimmer, PTS Committee Chair 37 called the meeting to order at 12:05 PM and introductions of attendees were made. 38 39 2. Agenda. Ralph offered the opportunity to provide input on the agenda. No comments at this 40 time. 41 42 3. Public Comment. Ralph offered the opportunity to provide comments on items not on the 43 agenda. Eileen Guthrie resides at 2 Cronager Lane off of Valley Center Lane. She spoke 44 about issues on Valley Center Road and the Spur. She believes that they have problems 45 because there are not enough major north/south routes through the Valley and the new very 46 tight traffic circles at the Airport Interchange (the East Belgrade Interchange)change are 47 difficult to navigate. From the traffic circles off of Frontage Road, Alaska dead ends at Valley 48 Center. These issues put more pressure on Valley Center Spur Road. She would like to see 49 more advance planning before subdivisions go in. 50 51 She also asked when the Montana Department of Transportation and County will make 52 upgrades to Frontage Road which she thinks is very dangerous and what the long term plans 53 are. She wanted to know why the roads in Helena and Billings seem to get all the attention 54 instead of us. 55 56 John Van Delinder suggested that she get involved on commenting on the Long Term 57 Transportation Plan Update, which is just getting underway, or attend the Transportation 58 Coordinating Committee on October 28 as they might explain how to submit comments on the 59 update. 60 61 Rob Bukvich stated that roads in this County are built by sub-dividers along a grid system as 62 the subdivisions are built. Frontage Road is on the Departments plan. There are at least two 63 projects that the MDT is proposing now. The first is a corridor study, which will have a public 64 information and comment phase. The second is a project that has been proposed to rebuild, 65 reconstruct, and add shoulders to Frontage Road starting at about Middle Creek and going 66 past Mountain View subdivision. This will include turn lanes to Mountain View. It can be 67 found on the MDT website called Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) 68 which is a five year program. 69 70 John Van Delinder stated that in a couple of years Love Lane will have a signal at Valley 71 Center. 72 73 4. Minutes. Draft minutes of the August 12, 2015 meeting had been distributed electronically 74 and hard copies were distributed at the meeting. A motion to approve the August 12 meeting 75 minutes as distributed was made by Tony, second by Danielle. Minutes were approved. They 76 were sent to County Clerk and Recorder even though it is not crystal clear we are legally 77 obligated to do so. 78 79 5. Report on Results of Previous Actions & Consideration of Follow-Up Action. 80 81 Monforton School Road: The speed limit has been posted as 20mph 24/7 and was effective in 82 July. 83 84 Babcock and Fergusson: The Bozeman Police Dept. supplied the PTS and the City Engineers 85 office with the crash data and it is under review and consideration. To meet a crash warrant to 86 install a signal the applicable requirements are having 5 correctable crashes in a 1-year period. 87 88 Possible Code changes to parking and street regulations: Ralph received a letter from Chris 89 Saunders of the City saying that there would be no code revision. Rob Bukvich asked if we 90 were referring to the 7th street code. Ralph replied no. 91 92 6. County Commission, City Commission Report and Schools. No one was present to give a 93 report. 94 95 7. Liaison Officer Reports. City Chief Steve Crawford had hoped to introduce officer Quinn 96 Ellingson and officer Ben Green who will be the new liaisons. Rick Musson had hoped to 97 attend for historical purposes but was called away. 98 99 Under Sheriff Dan Springer will be the liaison and Deputy Sheriff Jeremy Kopp is visiting 100 today. 101 102 In response to Ralph’s inquiry of whether the Montana Highway Patrol should also be 103 included, Chief Crawford suggested that the MHP has technical expertise in occupant 104 restraints, impaired driving, and speed, which are their primary tasks. The Sheriff has a 105 broader mission that includes scopes well beyond roads. Under Sheriff Dan Springer stated 106 that their office responds to crashes but it is the MHP that investigates them in the County 107 jurisdiction. Therefore it was decided that an invitation would be extended to the MHP to join 108 PTS in the future. 109 110 8. Reports from Non-Voting Official Committee Members. Todd Swinehart (School District) 111 reported a lot of crashes have been happening and they are trying to raise public awareness. 112 Information on these crashes is funneled back through other sources other than police 113 department and that is fine. They would like the police to inform them though as to if buss 114 routes or lights need to be moved. 115 116 John Van Delinder (City) reported Harperpucket is being paved on Baxter today or 117 tomorrow. The City is providing the millings. Wilson will be closed for a running marathon 118 on Sunday. South Third at Kaggy will have controls on it. 119 120 9. Reports from Related Groups. Bozeman Area Bicycle Advisory Board, Gallatin Valley 121 Land Trust, Safer Bozeman, Bike Walk Montana, etc. Since time was running short it was 122 decided to move these groups to the end of the agenda. 123 124 10. Discussion of Mutual Concerns with Bozeman Police Chief Steve Crawford. Chief 125 Crawford stated that groups that work in partnership with the community and public safety are 126 important. The PTS mission is similar to theirs and he fully supports it. Currently he has only 127 one traffic officer and will soon be expanding it back to two. A new position is being created 128 for a civilian accident investigator so that proactive enforcement can be done full time by the 129 two sworn traffic officers. They will also be teaching at driver education classes. He is 130 welcoming suggestions and asks that we feel free to email or call. 131 132 Ralph Zimmer asked about school crossing guard training and was told that the police do not 133 currently do training. Vance Ruff stated that the School district does online training. Each 134 school is responsible for arranging the training themselves and the MDT has also offered 135 training to them. Vance has oversight of how all kids get to and from school. The hardest part 136 is finding employees to be crossing guards. Some schools therefore use volunteers. 137 138 Chief Crawford offered to help in training if it could be consolidated. Vance Ruff stated that 139 if there has been any issue it usually goes through the principle of the school and that 140 combined training is uncharted territory. 141 142 Rob Bukvich sees issues as a driver and feels that there needs to be more guidance given to 143 crossing guards. Kids need to be grouped together so that traffic has the ability to flow. The 144 crossing at Irving on 8th is the worst. 145 146 11. Discussion of Commercial Truck Traffic in Downtown Bozeman presented by Chris 147 Naumann, Executive Director of the Downtown Bozeman Partnership. The Western 148 Transportation Inst. was retained by the partnership to see if there were a real or perceived 149 problem. The study differentiated between local and “through” trucks. “Through” is defined 150 as traveling through town to get to four corners and Ennis or Yellowstone. The study tracked 151 trucks for 8 days one year ago, in 12-hour segments. They also studied sound and noise and 152 found that large trucks increased the sound levels between 9.3 percent to 23.2 percent. 153 154 A document summarizing the Study’s results was distributed. 155 156 Four alternative routes were identified and considered. Currently on average, 100 total trucks 157 per day travel through downtown. And 34% of them are considered as through traffic. The 158 study concluded that the I-90 to Jackrabbit alternative is best option for trucks even though it 159 is longest in mileage it is lowest in fuel consumption. 160 161 Chris Naumann asked if there would be any support in looking to eliminate through traffic 162 and if it were worth pursuing with the Federal government agencies. Main Street is a 163 designated route on the National Truck Registry and therefore would need to be changed in 164 Washington D.C. He is also asking for other ideas. His group is looking at how truck routes 165 are determined and has found that they happen in many ways, for example by trucking owners 166 etc. Many of the routes were identified in the 1970’s. And a lot of those routes contain more 167 signals now. An informational campaign to truck companies might be warranted. 168 169 John Van Delinder stated that in the past the City has asked trucks to use other routes when 170 making deliveries and placed signs up on West Main for events. They have found that drivers 171 say that their companies insist they use their established company route. This can be a 172 problem with them not being able to make turns on and off of Main Street. He also suggested 173 that truckers do not like to come to a high speed and then stop, and then get going again on 174 Jackrabbit. The Under Sheriff said that they do not come to complete stops anyway. 175 176 Rob Bukvich stated that the new Jackrabbit interchange update will add 3 signals. 177 178 Chris Naumann also added that Four Corner and Jackrabbit amenities can accommodate 179 trucks and that they need to figure out what is the best use of their time. Perhaps he needs to 180 make a good sell to the operators. Additionally, now that baseline data has been determined 181 in this study, perhaps less expensive update studies could be funded every few years. 182 183 Rob Bukvich from the MDT explained that Main Street is on the national highway system, 184 established in the funding act of 1991. Therefore it is open to all trucks. Several states have 185 tried to ban them on National Highway system roads but have run up against that “pesky” 186 interstate commerce clause in the constitution. It will be a waste of time and money to try and 187 ban them and would be far better to educate them. A very hard sell would be to remove Main 188 from the national Highway system because it leads directly to an interstate interchange. The 189 trucking industry is a strong lobby group. If Main Street were removed from the highway 190 system we would loose funding. 191 192 Ralph Zimmer added that in the old days a popular school of thought was that truck drivers 193 were looking for a variation from just being on the highway and that they often would take 194 Main just to look at “pretty girls”. Someone suggested perhaps they could put some 195 billboards up on Jackrabbit to have them look at. 196 197 PTS and the MDT thought that this was a worthy study. The MDT and the City will continue 198 to work with everyone to improve things. 199 200 Rob Bukvich asked if we need to restore a pedestrian friendly down town especially with 201 persons with disabilities since tables at the curb are an issue. He would like to reclaim 202 walkways for pedestrians. 203 204 Chris Naumann said that he has been asked by the City Public Works Director to come up 205 with modifications to the encroachment codes. There are too many impediments even if rules 206 were followed. He knows that he needs to reduce the amount of encroachments into the 207 Public Right-away. He worries that if we do not manage it then the MDT might take it away. 208 They are looking at getting some new regulations by winter. 209 Rob Bukvich stated that the MDT is not wanting to beat anyone over the head but just 210 wanting to make it more safe and manageable. The MDT will not remove approval – but we 211 still need to make it more accessible to the Citizens. 212 213 Chris Naumann stated that they are also looking at other factors such as snow removal on 214 sidewalks. He will let the PTS know about sidewalk encroachment plan in the future. And 215 will bring those proposed revisions back before the PTS. 216 217 Ralph questioned Rob on whether there would be funding changes for snow plowing on Main 218 Street if truck use on Main Street were restricted. Rob stated that would only happen if Main 219 Street were taken off the National Federal Aid System. The issue of who maintains it is 220 separate from designation because the same regulations apply. 221 222 Rob Buckvich also stated that the Main Street re-timing of traffic signals will happen on 223 October 12. They are also working on the signals even on Jackrabbit to reduce travel times. 224 225 No further Action is required at this time by PTS. 226 227 12. Implementation of Bozeman Community Transportation Safety Plan The Greater 228 Gallatin Safety Coalition is apparently on the verge of disbanding as a result of the National 229 Highway Safety Administration’s cessation of funding for the Buckle Up America program.. 230 It had been suggested that Danielle Scharf on a purely voluntary basis assume the leadership 231 of the coalition and use that as a vehicle to rally support for the Bozeman Community 232 Transportation Safety Plan. 233 234 Our Committee previously discouraged Danielle from doing this and she has decided not to 235 do it. We expect to have other means and other stakeholders to assist in the implementation 236 of the CTSP. Danielle will be attending what probably will be the Coalition’s last meeting 237 tomorrow. If the coalition does continue to exist, the CTSP task force headed by Danielle will 238 still report to the Coalition and ask for their assistance in the implementation of the CTSP. 239 240 At tomorrow’s final meeting of the Coalition,Danielle will be presenting a status report on the 241 implementation of the CTSP. She has also sent the status report to City Engineer Rick 242 Hixson. 243 244 245 13. Status of Update to Bozeman Transportation Master Plan. The update is just getting 246 underway. The consultant is Robert Peccia and Associates (RPA) headquartered in Helena. 247 The update process is being guided by a local group called the Technical Working Group. 248 The TWG has ten members one of which is Ralph Zimmer representing our Committee. Four 249 of the ten are City employees (there are no County employees) and four of the ten are 250 engineers. MDT’s representative on the TWG is Katie Potts who supports transportation 251 planning studies in both Bozeman and Billings. Katie replaced Carol Strizich who is now in 252 charge of statewide urban planning and reports to Lynne Zanto. 253 254 TWG will meet tomorrow afternoon for its initial monthly meeting. Ralph sent out 255 information about the group, its meeting, and the study with the announcement of this 256 meeting. 257 258 14. Additional Business 259 Rob Bukvich was asked if there were any action needed on previous funding for MDT’s 260 Transportation Alternatives (TA) program. There will be a public comment period and it 261 usually about adjacent property owners since this has been approved and funded. The TA 262 application winner will be announced probably mid winter? 263 264 A report was distributed from GVLT which included: 1) They will be installing a new bridge 265 in Burke Park at the Peets Hill entrance this fall. 2) They have received funding approval for 266 the Front Street path connector, which will link the existing Oak Street pathway from the 267 Oak/Rouse intersection, east along the Front Street right-of-way, to the Story Mill Spur Trail 268 at Wallace Avenue. There will be a public hearing on the proposed project on September 28. 269 We supported 270 271 Marilee Brown reported that Safer Bozeman that the visibility issue on New Holland and Oak 272 was half solved. They are working on getting a crosswalk at Cattail and Davis. They will 273 also be filing an application for no parking across from the entire Chief Joseph school 274 property on Kimberwicke to allow right hand turns out of parking lot and two-way traffic. 275 276 Danielle Scharf mentioned that new arterial funding for the city projects has now passed. 277 Funding for that part of Oak is being scheduled. 278 279 15. Next Meeting. Our next meeting will be scheduled for October 14, 2015 at 12:00 pm. 280 That date should work for all members in attendance. Highland and Ellis will be discussed. 281 282 The meeting was adjourned at 1:57 PM. 283 284 Minutes by Marilee Brown 285 Edits by Ralph Zimmer 286 Additional Edits by Ralph Zimmer (10/12/15) 287