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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-10-22 TPC MinutesDraft Minutes☐ Approved Minutes☒ Approved Date: 11/19/2015 1 Minutes City Of Edina, Minnesota Transportation Commission Council Chambers October 22, 2015, 6:00 p.m. I. Call To Order Chair Bass called the meeting to order at 6:05 p.m. II. Roll Call Answering roll call were members Bass, Ding, Iyer, Janovy, LaForce, Loeffelholz, Nelson, Olson, Ruehl, and Spanhake. Absent at roll call was member Boettge. III. Approval Of Meeting Agenda Motion was made by member Nelson and seconded by member Spanhake approving the meeting agenda. All voted aye. Motion carried IV. Approval Of Meeting Minutes Motion was made by member Nelson and seconded by member Janovy approving the Sept. 17 minutes. All voted aye. Motion carried. V. Special Recognitions and Presentations V.A. Metro Transit Green Line LRT Extension Presentation Mr. Dan Phieffer, assistant manager, public involvement, Metro Transit, shared that the Southwest LRT which is expected to begin operating in 2020, is an extension of the Green Line. The 14.5 mile line will have 15 stations with the Eden Prairie Town Center Station deferred due to cost. The closest station to Edina will be the Opus Station at Bren Road, west of TH-169. Stations will have park and ride and bus connections. A sector study will be done in 2018 to identify bus connection needs and Mr. Phieffer recommended that the ETC participate because this will directly impact Edina. He also recommended that the ETC contacted Hennepin County who is responsible for developing pedestrian and bike access at each station. Also in attendance with Mr. Phieffer was Mr. Nkongo Cigolo; Mr. Cigolo is the contact for Edina, Hopkins and St. Louis Park. VI. Community Comment – None. VII. Reports/Recommendations VII.A. 2016 Neighborhood Reconstruction Project Draft Engineering Studies City engineer Chad Millner presented the following draft engineering studies: Morningside A & Whites Oaks C Total roadway to be reconstructed is 1.0 mile, plus utility improvements. Mr. Millner said staff was surprised to learn from area residents that their biggest concerns were traffic issues and not wetland related. Because of this, staff is proposing several Living Streets traffic calming measures on specific streets, for example, a section of Sunnyside Road will be narrowed and bump-outs added; the intersections of Draft Minutes☐ Approved Minutes☒ Approved Date: 11/19/2015 2 Grimes Avenue and Curve Avenue at Sunnyside Road will be realigned and narrowed, and a marked crosswalk added at Grimes Avenue; bump-outs will be added on Grimes and Curve Avenues on certain sections; additionally, there are varied street widths and some will be narrowed or widened slightly. Mr. Millner said the proposed changes for Sunnyside Road are specifically meant to calm traffic and shift it to W. 44th Street which is the state aid road designed to carry the traffic that is currently on Sunnyside Road. Mr. Millner asked specifically for feedback regarding an access “road” off of Townes Circle. He explained that it is a private road with four properties that is being maintained by the City. It also has a utility easement that is signed by three of the property owners. Staff is proposing to upgrade the watermain, adding a fire hydrant and allow the property owners decide if the road remains private (City would stop maintenance) or turn it over to the City. Individual member’s feedback included the following: • Concerned about diverting traffic from one street to another; • Understands the need to control speeding but narrowing to 20 ft. and 21 ft. seemed very narrow; (Mr. Millner said the turning movement software shows that fire trucks and school buses will be able to navigate through but other vehicles at the intersection will need to allow them to get thru first; the design is for smaller vehicles); • Impacts will be to three neighborhoods with over 800 households, and two cities, and proposals made based on feedback from fewer than 100 households; • Solving a speeding problem that doesn’t exist because the 85th percentile speed on Sunnyside Road is 30.3 mph for a 30 mph road; volume seems to be the issue – has volume increased? (Mr. Millner did not know if volume increased); implementation should be based on threshold; • Threshold and engineering judgment are important; • Use the ‘donut’ concept to see how the broader community will be impacted. • Agreed with staff regarding Townes Circle access “road.” Also present with Mr. Millner were Mr. Andrew Scipioni, engineering technician and Mr. Toby Muse, from Short Elliott Hendrickson, the consultant working on this project. Golf Terrace B and Strachauer Park A Mr. Millner said both neighborhoods are similar – one is 2.7 miles, the other is 2.0 miles. Improvements will include utilities, new curb and gutter, sidewalks, one-sided parking only and intersection realignment in Strachauer Park. Mr. Millner answered questions related to residents’ feedback on one-sided parking (Strachauer residents are in favor and only few have commented from Golf Terrace); which side of street to place sidewalk (follow existing pattern or look for side with least impacts). VII.B. Traffic Safety Report of October 7, 2015 A.1. Planner Nolan explained that the distracted driver study was the traffic safety coordinator observing and documenting what drivers were doing. Chair Bass requested that this information be added to the appendix in the future. Regarding the vegetation, Planner Nolan said it is not an issue for drivers but could Draft Minutes☐ Approved Minutes☒ Approved Date: 11/19/2015 3 be for pedestrians so staff will evaluate further. He said based on feedback from other roundabouts in the cities of Minneapolis and Richfield, staff did not plan to move the crosswalk. A.2. This section will be revised to clarify that adding a centerline was the recommendation. B.1. Planner Nolan stated he was not aware of warrants for stop sign removal. Two improvement suggestions were made: 1) consider moving stop sign to the other side of the street – difficult to see because of tree; 2) good location for a traffic calming circle. C.1. It was noted that this was an example of why observational data is important because pedestrians will cross wherever it is most convenient for them. Planner Nolan clarified that the Grandview Study will begin immediately and some implementations will be short term and others long term. C.2. Planner Nolan said staff was reviewing a school speed zone study that was done previously. Change ‘Antrim’ to ‘St. Patrick’s.’ D.5. Change ‘state statute’ to ‘city code.’ Motion was made by member Janovy and seconded by member LaForce to forward the amended Oct. 7, 2015, TSC report to the City Council. All voted aye. Motion carried. VII.C. Results of 2015 Open Streets on 50th Event Planner Nolan said the event was very successful with approximately 9,000 attendees. He said there were lessons learned that they will improve upon for next year’s event. VIII. Correspondence And Petitions VIII.A. Board and Commission Communication with City Council Regarding the memo from Manager Neal clarifying purpose and expectation of advisory boards and commissions submitting an Advisory Communication to City Council, the consensus was that the ETC started this process to communicate their opinions when they differed from staff and it is a useful tool for them to share their feedback with Council. If it is linked to their work plan and the minutes insufficiently reflect their feedback, they should be able to include an advisory communication with staff’s report clearly stating their view. Furthermore, the ETC does not use advisory communication to communicate new initiatives; it is generally work plan related, and, communicating at an annual meeting with Council is not enough. IX. Chair and Member Comments IX.A. Discussion: Review and Recommend Modifications to Traffic Safety Request Process After discussion, chair Bass motioned to form a committee to review the Traffic Safety Committee process and their responsibility will be to evaluate and recommend improvement to the process that align with multimodal and Living Streets policy. Committee members are Bass, Janovy and Loeffelholz and they will submit their recommendation in November. The motion was seconded by member Loeffelholz. All voted aye. Motion carried. Draft Minutes☐ Approved Minutes☒ Approved Date: 11/19/2015 4 IX.B Guiding Principles for Transportation Studies Chair Bass said the City Council had positive feedback for the ETC’s work plan and they asked that the ETC include Guiding Principles for Transportation Studies into the work plan which will be tied in with information requested from developers. Chair Bass said she will be attending the City’s first annual all-chair meeting on Oct. 26. Chair Bass said that MNDOT is updating two of their transportation plans and is seeking feedback from the public on Nov. 6; she suggested having someone from the ETC attend. Member Nelson said the City of Bloomington recently publicly stated their opposition to improving the bridge that would result in more freight train traffic on the Dan Patch rail line and asked if staff could report on this next month. Planner Nolan said he’s aware of a study the City of Savage is doing to evaluate improving a swing bridge that would allow TH-100 to continue through Bloomington and into Savage and Bloomington has stated their opposition because this would run through residential neighborhoods. Chair Bass suggested waiting for the conclusion of the study to see if there is any connection to the Dan Patch rail line. Member Spanhake invited commissioners to a workshop on Nov. 9, titled ‘Man vs Machine or Man Plus Machine,’ and informed them of a survey that MNDOT is conducting seeking feedback on what makes your community walkable and features to improve walking experience for developing their statewide pedestrian system plan. Member Janovy reminded residents not to blow their leaves into the streets. X. Staff Comments • The 2015 projects are either complete or, are nearing completion; the W. 54th Street bridge will open in 2-3 weeks. • The Grandview Transportation Study was approved by City Council on Oct. 20; the consulting company will present to the ETC in November. • Preparation work is underway for the sidewalk on Oaklawn Avenue at W. 72nd Street to the cul- de-sac – staff is reaching out to four property owners for an easement and will be applying for grant funding. • City of Eden Prairie has a circulator that is doing very well and staff met recently with the operator and invited them to give a presentation to the ETC in November or December. • In 2015, 2 miles of sidewalk were added to public works’ snow plowing responsibility; 2 miles will be added in 2016 and 1.25 miles in 2017. XI. Adjournment at 8:31p.m. Draft Minutes☐ Approved Minutes☒ Approved Date: 11/19/2015 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 11 NAME TERM (Enter Date) 6/17 Bass, Katherine 2/1/2017 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 10 91% Boettge, Emily 2/1/2017 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 10 91% Ding, Emily 1 1 2 100% Iyer, Surya 3/1/2018 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 10 91% LaForce, Tom 3/1/2018 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 10 91% Loeffelholz, Ralf 3/1/2018 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7 78% Janovy, Jennifer 2/1/2017 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 10 91% Nelson, Paul 2/1/2016 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 100% Olson, Larry 3/1/2017 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 10 91% Whited, Courtney 2/1/2015 1 1 100% Spanhake, Dawn 2/1/2016 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 10 91% Ruehl, Lindsey 1 1 2 100% Rummel, Anna 9/1/2015 1 1 1 3 27% Campbell, Jack 9/1/2015 1 1 1 1 4 36% *cancelled