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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-12-17 TPC MinutesDraft Minutes☐ Approved Minutes☒ Approved Date: 1/21/2016 1 Minutes City Of Edina, Minnesota Transportation Commission Community Room December 17, 2015, 6:00 p.m. I. Call To Order Chair Bass called the meeting to order. II. Roll Call Answering roll call were members Bass, Boettge, Ding, Iyer, LaForce, Loeffelholz, Nelson, Olson, Ruehl, and Spanhake. Absent at roll call were member Janovy. III. Approval Of Meeting Agenda Motion was made by member Nelson and seconded by member LaForce approving the meeting agenda. All voted aye. Motion carried IV. Approval Of Meeting Minutes Motion was made by member LaForce and seconded by member Iyer approving the edited Nov. 17, 2015, minutes. All voted aye. Motion carried. V. Special Recognitions and Presentations V.A. Presentation: Local Circulator Options for Edina Mr. Dave Jacobson and Mr. Matt Fyten with SouthWest Transit (SWT) explained the general services their company offered and the Prime Service they recently began providing to the City of Eden Prairie. Also in attendance were Mr. Charles Corcoran and Mr. Dave Simoneau with SWT. Mr. Jacobson said SWT is an opt-out of the Met Council (Metro Transit) commuter service. They provide transportation to downtown Minneapolis, the University of Minnesota and special services to municipalities such as cities of Eden Prairie and Plymouth, and Carver County. Mr. Jacobson said they can assist Edina with planning and expert advice; for example, they could help to identify private providers. He said SWT would not be able provide transportation services to Edina because Edina isn’t an opt-out city (legislative action would be required to make this change). Mr. Fyten reviewed the current transit services in Edina. Metro Transit’s high frequency routes were the Southdale area and the 50th & France area to downtown Minneapolis. The hours of operation are 4 a.m. to 2 a.m. He said there are connecting routes to Bloomington and the Mall of America from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mr. Fyten said SWT operates one commuter route that runs through Edina in the mornings and evenings. Additionally, Transit Link operates Dial-A-Ride 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. in Edina and frequent locations are the Community Center, Southdale, Valley View Middle School and Gallagher’s Apartment. Mr. Jacobson asked what was Edina’s objective and some examples mentioned were optional transportation for residents in new housing in the Southdale area to get around the surrounding area; transportation for seniors that the ETC began working on a few years ago; transportation for low income Draft Minutes☐ Approved Minutes☒ Approved Date: 1/21/2016 2 youths that attend Edina Schools for after school activities; and, the City has started doing small area planning around commercial nodes and they need to plan an option for moving people around other than by cars. Mr. Fyten explained the Prime Service that they offer to City of Eden Prairie. He said they offer curb-to- curb drop-off and pick-up and customers can either call, schedule a ride online or via smartphone for $3, plus $1 for transfer to another route. He said the average wait time is 15-20 minutes, plus another 20-30 minutes to your destination because they pick up other customers along the way. The customer base includes seniors because they marketed directly to them and a fair number of people in the 20-50 age range. He said during the football season it is used heavily after football practice. Mr. Fyten said it is difficult to plan suburban routes, especially fixed routes, and after much discussion, they decided to do the Eden Prairie Prime Service. He said initially they operated from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. but eventually cut back to 6:30 p.m. and this schedule is working better. Mr. Jacobson said the cost of buses like the ones used for Dial-A-Ride is $85,000 and bigger buses for fixed routes are $300,000. He said the smaller buses would be more appropriate. He said there is legislation that makes it possible to receive potential funding. Individual commission members asked the following of the presenters: • Would they need to involve the Met Council or Metro Transit? Mr. Jacobson wasn’t sure. • Is the Bloomington B-Line still operating? Yes, as a fixed route under the Met Council. • Why do fixed routes when you have Prime Service? Fixed routes are better for densely populated areas and require fewer buses because they are bigger. • Could Edina remove a fixed route and replace it with a Prime Service? Probably not because fixed routes in Edina are controlled by Metro Transit, and secondly, if the route is in place there is a demand for it and you would not want to lose it. Mr. Fyten said Minnetonka is an opt-out city that uses Metro Transit to provide transportation but because they are an opt-out city, they may have more control over their routes. • Does Metro Transit evaluate their routes? Yes said planner Nolan. • How would people find out that Prime Service is available in their community? Initial marketing was done to seniors apartments and then it spread by word-of-mouth; soon they will be marketing to the younger population and will do this by going out to employers, communities, posters, etc.; a survey was done but response rate was extremely low. • Do I have to stand outside and wait for the bus? No, you will receive a notice when the bus is three minutes away. In summary, chair Bass said we need to define what it is we are trying to fulfil and determine if the community is interested in this type of service and what the cost would be. VI. Community Comment – None. Draft Minutes☐ Approved Minutes☒ Approved Date: 1/21/2016 3 VII. Reports/Recommendations VII.A. Traffic Safety Report of Dec. 2, 2015 A.1. How long would it be until funding is available? Planner Nolan said one to two years. A suggestion was made to identify data that could be used for a more holistic approach to installation, for example, Metro Transit data for ridership, number of children in the neighborhood, etc. A.2. Did staff approved a crosswalk before there was a demonstrated need? Yes, said planner Nolan based on engineering judgment and expected future use. He said the crosswalk may not be installed because it is dependent on Hennepin County’s approval and it is likely they will not approve it. If not approved, the crosswalk 250 ft. to the west at the signalized intersection will be restriped. D.1. The second sentence needs to be edited. Motion was made by member Nelson and seconded by member Iyer to forward the Dec. 2, 2015, Traffic Safety Report to City Council. All voted aye. Motion carried. VIII. Correspondence And Petitions – None. IX. Chair and Member Comments IX.A. Traffic Safety Process Review Committee Chair Bass said the committee met with planner Nolan and traffic safety coordinator Totten and the committee is analyzing three years of data to identify the greatest number of requests, and approval and denial rates. She said they will be drafting a recommendation for the ETC soon. Based on the local circulator discussion with SWT, student member Ding asked if some of buses could be electric to lessen carbon footprint and member Nelson said SWT said they did not have any electric buses at this time because they are very expensive; another low carbon footprint option is compressed natural gas which they also do not have because of facility restriction. Continuing, member Nelson said one feature that helps with customer experience but not carbon footprint, is that the exhaust pipe goes towards the top of the bus and not at ground level. One suggestion was to involve the Energy and Environment Commission as planning moves forward. Member Nelson noted that last month, the ETC was told that residents on Curve Avenue wanted bump- outs but he was told by a resident that there wasn’t consensus. He reiterated the need for a crosswalk on W. 66th Street at Normandale Park, especially given the one that was approved above. Member LaForce thanked member Nelson for attending the 2016 Neighborhood Roadway Reconstruction public hearing and reminding the City Council that they approved the Living Streets Policy and that aspects of it was featured for the first time in the 2016 Neighborhood Roadway Reconstruction design. X. Staff Comments • The 2016 projects were all approved at the recent public hearing: o Tracy Avenue – Council added two parking bays Draft Minutes☐ Approved Minutes☒ Approved Date: 1/21/2016 4 o Golf Terrace B – Council approved two-sided parking instead of the recommended one- sided; Public Works will plow the Concord Avenue sidewalk; and they asked staff to study an east-west sidewalk on W. 56th Street, Tower Street, or Woodland Road, between Concord and Wooddale Avenues. Residents are being surveyed for their input and also taking input from the school district; staff will report back to Council in January. o Strachauer Park A – Council approved two-sided parking instead of the recommended one-sided; Beard Place residents are being surveyed for input on parking. • Interlachen Boulevard Sidewalk Phase 2 is in the 90% design stage and is scheduled for construction in 2016. Dynamic speed signs for Phase 1, west of Oxford Avenue, may not be installed until 2016. • Xerxes Avenue South (W. 56th St. to W. 60th St.) and Vernon Avenue (Gleason Rd. to Blake Rd.) Sidewalks – seeking residents’ input for these sidewalks that are scheduled for 2016. • Oaklawn Avenue (W. 72nd St. to cul-de-sac south of Gilford Dr.) Sidewalk – an input public meeting is scheduled for January and staff is still working with several property owners for an easement. • Grandview Transportation Study – the consultants completed the input sessions and will present again to the ETC in February. • Staff is looking for ideas for a Capstone project; one idea that will be submitted for consideration is to study improvements to the pedestrian bridge over TH-62 to Rosland Park. • Redevelopment projects at W. 66th Street and York Avenue – a project at the old Best Buy site was approved and the developer agreed to pay to remove the free right turn. A second project is coming soon for review. Staff is looking at continuing W. 65th Street thru to Xerxes Avenue and City of Richfield is supportive. This is a long term plan but staff is looking to acquire the easement when possible. • A concept plan is being developed for the Southdale/France Avenue area, including a transportation plan and staff would like the ETC to attend an optional meeting and provide input; date still to be determined. XI. Calendar of Events XI.A. Schedule of Meeting Dates/Events XII. Adjournment at 8:10 p.m. Draft Minutes☐ Approved Minutes☒ Approved Date: 1/21/2016 5 TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION ATTENDANCE J F M A M J* J A S O N D SM WS # of Mtgs Attendance % Meetings/Work Sessions 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 13 NAME TERM (Enter Date) 6/17 Bass, Katherine 3/1/2017 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 12 92% Boettge, Emily 3/1/2017 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 12 92% Ding, Emily 9/1/2016 1 1 1 3 75% Iyer, Surya 3/1/2018 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 85% LaForce, Tom 3/1/2018 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 12 92% Loeffelholz, Ralf 3/1/2018 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 9 82% Janovy, Jennifer 3/1/2017 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 85% Nelson, Paul 3/1/2016 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 13 100% Olson, Larry 3/1/2017 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 12 92% Whited, Courtney 2/1/2015 1 1 100% Spanhake, Dawn 3/1/2017 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 12 92% Ruehl, Lindsey 9/1/2016 1 1 1 1 4 100% Rummel, Anna 9/1/2015 1 1 1 3 23% Campbell, Jack 9/1/2015 1 1 1 1 4 31% *cancelled