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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-09-18 Minutes1 MINUTES OF CITY OF EDINA, MINNESOTA TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION COMMUNITY ROOM SEPTEMBER 18, 2014 6:00 P.M. ROLL CALL Answering roll call were members Bass, Boettge, Campbell, Janovy, LaForce, Nelson, Olson, Rummel, Spanhake and Whited. ABSENT Member Iyer. New student members Ana Rummel and Jack Campbell were introduced and welcomed. APPROVAL OF MEETING AGENDA Motion was made by member LaForce and seconded by member Whited to approve the amended meeting agenda. All voted aye. Motion carried. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES REGULAR MEETING OF AUGUST 21, 2014 Motion was made by member Janovy and seconded by member Whited to approve the amended minutes of August 21, 2014. All voted aye. Motion carried. COMMUNITY COMMENT Adam Gildner, 5436 Brookview Avenue, said he was in attendance to provide an update to the ongoing requests from residents for a 4-way stop sign at 55th & Brookview. Mr. Gildner said a request was made June 2010, March 2011 and again in July 2014. He said he understood that the criteria was not met to warrant installing stop signs but believes special consideration should be given because of the near-miss accidents that are seen almost daily. He said there is broad support in the community for control improvements at the intersection which he believes would be low cost and easy to fix (he stated that there is not a speed issue). REPORTS/RECOMMENDATIONS Traffic Safety Committee Report of August 13, 2014 A.1. Planner Nolan was asked why the video study was done during the mid-day when the busiest is the mornings and evenings and he said this was probably due to availability of the camera. Discussion ensued about members’ experiences and observations of the intersection and the consensus was that an alternative to stop sign was needed. Traffic calming in general will be added to a future agenda for discussion. A.2. Planner Nolan was asked about the proposal and he said it was for installation of the north-leg crosswalk (west-leg has existing crosswalk). B.1. Member Janovy said she did not see the reason for denying warrants. She recommended a better explanation for the denial and moving the request to Section C to review the warrants more critically. B.2. The consensus was that traffic calming was needed instead of stop signs. Traffic calming will be discussed at a future date not just for this intersection but to address citywide concerns. B.3. The posted speed limit is 30 mph and planner Nolan explained that this was a temporary situation that would be corrected before staff could implement anything. B.4. Member Janovy suggested forwarding this request to Park & Recreation. C.7. Planner Nolan said the City does not have a policy for handicap permit parking. 2 D.1. This request is partially related to TH-169 reconstruction. Motion was made by member Janovy and seconded by member LaForce to approve the August. 13, 2014, Traffic Safety Committee Report with the following amendment: move B.1. to Section C and refer B.4. to the Park and Recreation Department. All voted aye. Motion carried. Draft Sidewalk Facilities Plan Planner Nolan said the Planning Commission (PC) will be holding a public hearing on Oct. 22 for feedback on the plan. He said the PC is holding the public hearing because City Council plans to amend the Transportation Comprehensive Plan to include the Sidewalk Facilities Plan immediately upon approval and the PC is the authorized body to handle this. Planner Nolan said the plan was developed with input from the ETC, Living Streets Advisory Group, and Engineering staff. He said staff reviewed each sidewalk and supporting data and some were removed or added based on supporting criteria. Feedback provided by the ETC included the following:  If City Council approves this plan, the sidewalk on Valley View Road that was not approved as part of Birchcrest B Neighborhood Roadway Reconstruction should be included in construction next year because it is on the plan for installation.  Be transparent with the data for each sidewalk; verify that the sidewalks on the plan are the ones that make sense; do they advance the vision of the community for the residents to be able to travel safely, independently and have mobility; is the right criteria being used; does it create a network. Consensus was yes and it is a plan that can change in the future if needed.  Staff did a good job of using supporting data for the sidewalks that are included.  Revise page 2, 3rd paragraph to read ‘Sidewalks and paths provide safe movements for individuals of all ages and many abilities.’  Should the plan state construction schedule? Planner Nolan said the Living Streets Plan is probably a better place to talk about construction schedule.  Planner Nolan was asked if Park & Recreation was included and he said staff is having ongoing conversation with Director Kattreh.  In addition to including supporting data, also include what hasn’t been decided yet, for example, the side of street the sidewalk will be on.  City Council should hold the public hearing and then forward the approved plan to the PC for inclusion in the Comp Plan. The concern is that the plan is the ETC’s responsibility and not the PC’s. There are probably legal and philosophical reasons for amending the Comp Plan but it does not need to be done immediately.  Can the ETC and PC have a work session to make sure the PC understands the ETC’s vision of the plan since they are taking public comments?  This plan is very different than the previous sidewalk map; are sidewalks prioritized? Planner Nolan said the understanding is that Active Routes to School will get priority.  What is the risk of the PC holding the public hearing? Residents may feel short-changed if they are not heard directly by the City Council. It needs public acceptance and if it appears that they did not reach out to the public it could backfire.  A risk might be that certain sidewalks are taken out. Planner Nolan said he was led to believe the PC would not do this. Motion was made by member Janovy and seconded by member Olson to recommend approval of the Sidewalk Facilities Plan, and whereas, the plan reflects thoughtful construction of criteria, is data driven, and most importantly is consistent with the vision and value of supporting the transportation needs of all residents. All voted aye. Motion carried. 3 2015 Valley View Road Reconstruction Draft Engineering Report Planner Nolan said staff has already identified changes that will be made before the report goes to City Council. Public Works, Fire and Police are also reviewing the report. Staff is recommending decorative streetlights along the sidewalk based on feedback from the ETC and residents, and residents are currently being surveyed to determine the style of light. Planner Nolan said he would take comments back to the project engineer. Comments  What caused traffic volume to go down so much from 2005?  Add the new Sidewalk Facilities Plan to the report when it is approved.  Explain the purpose of the right-of-way to residents and that they are not taxed on land in the right-of-way; this may help to get more support for sidewalks. Motion was made by member Janovy and seconded by member Nelson to forward the report with comments. All voted aye. Motion carried. 2015 Work Plan Approval Planner Nolan will make minor amendment to the plan. Motion was made by member Nelson and seconded by member Whited to approve the plan. All voted aye. Motion carried. Ordinance Discussion: Bicycling in Municipal Parking Facilities Member Janovy said the current ordinance does not allow riding bike in municipal facility and this includes parking lots. She suggested striking the word “bicycle” as the simplest fix as recommended by Bike Edina. Another recommendation was to add ‘except for the purpose of parking and/or thru travel’ at the end of the current ordinance because the intent is to allow all modes of transportation but prevent people from recreating in these areas, example, skate boarders. It was asked if they are trying to fix a problem that does not exist and chair Bass said recommending a revision to the ordinance allows them to make future plans for municipal facilities where they may want to have bike parking, repair stations, etc., similar to other cities. Motion was made by member Janovy and seconded by member Whited to draft an advisory communication recommending that City Council add ‘except for the purpose of parking and/or thru travel’. After further discussion the motion was withdrawn because there wasn’t consensus that this was the right solution although there was acknowledgment that the current ordinance creates a hurdle for future changes. Member Janovy suggested writing an advisory communication to the City Council similar to the one they did for the taxi cab ordinance revision where they did not suggest a solution. Motion was made by member Janovy and seconded by member Nelson to write an advisory communication to the City Council recommending that the ordinance be revised. The advisory will clearly state the ETC’s intent but not suggest any particular revision language. All voted aye. Motion carried. Walk Edina Working Group Member Boettge who will chair this working group said it will be similar to Bike Edina and will be a forum for pedestrians to talk about pedestrian safety issues. Chair Bass recommended pursuing a Walk Friendly designation similar to the Bike Friendly designation as one of their first goals. 4 Motion was made by chair Bass and seconded by member Olson to approve the Walk Edina Working Group and appoint member Boettge as chair. All voted aye. Motion carried. Updates Student Members Student member Rummel asked if the ETC controlled the high school’s parking lot and she was told no, but they’ve often talked about having a student body that would help to identify solutions. Member Rummel said a traffic circle may help because this would prevent drivers turning left from waiting a long time to get out. Planner Nolan said the school district recently received bids for reconfiguring the parking lot but they were rejected because the bids were too high. He said city engineer Millner is meeting regularly with the school district on this issue. Bike Edina Working Group – Minutes of August 14, 2014 Member Janovy said they had a guest that talked about bike maps; next month is their annual meeting and they will work on their Work Plan and bring to the ETC for approval. Living Streets Working Group The group reviewed and revised the Sidewalk Facility Plan. Communications Committee The committee wrote a blog post. One concern from the beginning was that they would not contribute to blog posts if they were not promoted by the other media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, etc. and it was not. They asked if they could do video blogs and asked about the requirements for photos releases. Planner Nolan will follow up on this. CORRESPONDENCE AND PETITIONS - no discussion. CHAIR AND COMMISSION MEMBER COMMENTS Member Nelson said it was interesting reading a Star Tribune article about the lid over TH-100 that he suggested 4-years ago when they asked for crazy ideas for the Grandview area. He said it was interesting seeing it coming up for discussion. Regarding the high school traffic, member Nelson said eventually they’ll have to begin discussion of this area to find a solution. He thanked planner Nolan for promoting Living Streets in the high school homecoming parade. Member Whited thanked planner Nolan for his work in submitting the request for the traffic study in the Chowen area to the University of Minnesota. Member LaForce said he noticed two ‘cross traffic does not stop’ signs at the top of the TH-100 ramp at Benton, an area that he’s mentioned in the past. Planner Nolan said he was not aware of their installation and that it was probably done by MNDOT. He said he attended the City’s visioning session and the conversation seemed to have been focused on transportation and sidewalks and everyone in attendance seemed to be in agreement that sidewalks are needed. He said he was not sure if this was a true representation of the citizenry or just a group of like-minded people. Member Boettge asked student member Rummel her opinion of school bus drivers in reference to how they drive and traffic at the high school. Member Rummel said the bus drivers use every opportunity to get back on the road as quickly as possible but she thinks student drivers are the biggest problem. Member Janovy said she would like to learn more about a sidewalk that City of St. Louis Park recently installed on W. 39th Street. She said they went to great expense to install a sidewalk on a low volume street and one of their councilmembers explained that it was done because it was a route to school and a couple other reasons that justified the cost. She compared this to Wooddale Avenue that failed due to cost because adding bump outs would have required moving catch basins even though this would have made it better. 5 STAFF COMMENTS 2014 Project Update:  The three remaining neighborhood roadway reconstruction projects are on schedule for completion this fall; two are already completed;  France Avenue Pedestrian Intersection Enhancement – stage 3 is on schedule for completion in Oct. The County does not allow ‘stop here on red’ signs so staff is looking at adding stop bars;  The roundabout at Hazelton Road is open;  2014 Sidewalk Improvements – York Avenue is completed; Vernon Avenue started this week; Valley View Road is next;  Olinger Blvd mill and overlay started this week;  Xerxes Avenue at crosstown mill and overlay is starting tomorrow and the bump outs next week;  The advisory communication to City Council regarding revision of taxi cab ordinance was approved;  The 60th & Chowen area traffic study that was submitted to University of MN was not selected; there are fewer students in the fall so it is on the list for consideration in the spring; ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned. ATTENDANCE TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION ATTENDANCE - 2014 NAME TERM J F* M A M J J A S O N D SM 2/27 SM 3/10 WS 3/18 # of Mtgs Attendance % Meetings/Work Sessions 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 10 Bass, Katherine 2/1/2017 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 80% Boettge, Emily 2/1/2017 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 10 100% Campbell, Jack student 1 1 10% Iyer, Surya 2/1/2015 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 80% Janovy, Jennifer 2/1/2017 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 10 100% LaForce, Tom 2/1/2015 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 10 100% Nelson, Paul 2/1/2016 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 9 90% Olson, Larry 2/1/2016 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 100% Rummel, Anna student 1 1 10% Sierks, Caroline student 1 1 1 3 30% Spanhake, Dawn 2/1/2016 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 75% Van Dyke, Jackson student 1 1 2 20% Whited, Courtney 2/1/2015 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 80% *Cancelled due to weather Respectfully submitted, Sharon Allison, Secretary