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Home My WebLink About2013-08-15 Minutes1 MINUTES OF CITY OF EDINA, MINNESOTA TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION COMMUNITY ROOM AUGUST 15, 2013 6:00 P.M. ROLL CALL Answering roll call was members Bass, Boettge, Franzen, LaForce, Nelson, Sierks, Spanhake and Whited. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES REGULAR MEETING OF JULY 18, 2013 – Approved as corrected. Motion was made by member LaForce and seconded by member Franzen to approve the revised minutes of July 18, 2013. All voted aye. Motion carried. COMMUNITY COMMENT – None. New member Emily Boettge was welcomed to the ETC. REPORTS/RECOMMENDATIONS Mr. Mike Eastling, director of public works for the City of Richfield, was in attendance to explain his City’s approach to dealing with congestion on TH-62. Mr. Eastling said they received federal funds to reconstruct 66th Street but first they must deal with the congestion on the crosstown in order to achieve their goal on 66th Street. Mr. Eastling said the number of vehicles traveling on 66th Street is due to a lack of capacity on the regional system, i.e. crosstown is the only highway for traveling east/west, whereas north/south has TH-494, TH-169, and TH-100. He said the recent expansion of 35W was good but it created choke points on the crosstown and this is a regional problem that MNDOT needs to address. Mr. Eastling’s idea is to add one lane in each direction on the crosstown using the existing right-of-way and portions of the frontage road. He said this is feasible without the need for additional right-of-way (buying out homes). Mr. Eastling is looking for general support of the concept and will seek ETC support as he moves it forward to MNDOT. 2014 Work Plan Update Staff clarified that $10,000 budgeted under Living Streets was coming from the PACS fund for graphics and mapping. Member Bass suggested adding a safety campaign to have respect for all modes of transportation as they move towards a multi-modal community. She also suggested working on a plan to look at alternatives like traffic circles for calming traffic (stop signs are most often requested by residents). Director Houle suggested getting through the Living Streets plan first. He noted that they once had the NTMP with alternatives for traffic calming but it was not used by residents. Chair Nelson suggested adding Southwest LRT under ‘Ongoing Responsibilities.’ The work plan will be submitted to City Council in Sept. or Oct. for approval. Motion was made by member Bass and seconded by member Whited to forward the 2014 Work Plan, as amended, to City Council. Traffic Safety Committee Report of August 7, 2013 After a brief discussion, motion was made by member Franzen and seconded by member Spanhake to forward the Traffic Safety Committee Report of August 7, 2013, to the City Council. Updates Student Members - None 2 Bike Edina Task Force – no update. Received minutes of July 11, 2013. Living Streets Working Group Transportation planner Nolan said assistant city manager Kurt would be presenting the Living Streets policy to the City Council on Tuesday for approval. He also said the $5,000 grant for promotion of the policy increased to $10,000 and staff will hire a firm to help with outreach; and the Living Streets Advisory Group will hold its first meeting on Sept. 4. Communications Committee – no update. CORRESPONDENCE AND PETITIONS A. Correspondence relating to transportation issues – letter from Dr. McKlveen and Ms. Ellen Jones to Hennepin County regarding Vernon Avenue. The ETC agreed that the location identified was a problem area and that the residents’ recommendation was good. Director Houle said Hennepin County has offered to turnback Vernon Avenue to the City but they’ve always refused because of financial reasons. He said now might be a good time to take it back to get local control – the County has no plans for improvements for at least 10 years. There was consensus for taking it back so that the City could make improvements along the corridor. The communications committee will draft a response to Dr. McKlveen and Ms. Jones. CHAIR AND COMMISSION MEMBER COMMENTS Member Franzen said he is lives in a neighborhood that is currently being reconstructed and it has been a pleasant experience. He said he was asked why not all aprons were being replaced and director Houle said the determination is made based on structural integrity. Member LaForce said the sidewalk in the cul-de-sac looks good (part of School Road Sidewalk). He asked if staff has ever considered way-finding signs in neighborhoods, e.g. ‘This way to freeway.’ After a brief discussion, the consensus was to not post these types of signs. Member Whited asked when the parking lanes on Xerxes Avenue would be striped and about plans for the old public works site. Director Houle said the re-striping would be done after the Penn Avenue Bridge re-opens. He said the advisory team for the Grandview District will begin meeting soon to guide redevelopment plans for the old public works site (member Janovy is co-chair of the advisory team). Member Spanhake said there are various projects that they are working on at the University of Minnesota that the ETC and staff might want to be a part of. She offered to add commissioners’ email address to a listserv. Member Boettge asked if there were any plans to reduce the speed limit. Director Houle said the State has given cities the option to reduce the speed limit to 25 mph and locally, they have reduced the speed on two streets with bike lanes. STAFF COMMENTS Updates from director Houle: • The right-in/right-out lane at Byerly’s is under construction; the City will pay 80% of the cost. • Another Urban Design meeting is scheduled for Aug. 21. • Next week, Centerpoint will be on France Avenue, between 70th & 76th, upgrading their high pressure gas main; in 2017 they will be back to replace a main line that circles the city and staff is working with them to put the main on the eastside of France so that they do not disturb the work that the City will be doing in 2014 (contingent on getting easements on the eastside). • Hennepin County will begin the mill and overlay on Vernon Avenue next week. • Neighborhood projects are progressing on schedule. submitted, • The section of School Road Sidewalk up to the school will be completed before school starts and the rest in two weeks. • The first public meeting for the W. 54th Street Reconstruction and Arden Park Stormwater Management Plan is scheduled for Aug. 19. Updates from transportation planner Nolan: • Handout from member Janovy - Considerations for Sidewalk Prioritization (Draft); • The PACS fund has a remaining balance of $360,651 that could be spent in 2013 or roll over to 2014. Four small segments of sidewalks were suggested and two were recommended for construction in 2013. They were: o Vernon Avenue (north side, Gleason Road to Blake Road) [Recommended, est. $273,000] o Vernon Avenue (north side, Schaeffer Road to Blake Road — portion of Vernon Avenue above) o Interlachen Blvd (south side, Oxford Avenue to Hankerson Avenue) [Recommended, est. $136,000] o Metro Blvd (Public Works facility to Industrial Blvd) After a brief discussion, the consensus was to accept the recommendation and next year, distribute the funds in other quadrants of the city. ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned. ATTENDANCE TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION ATTENDANCE - 2013 NAME TERM J F M A M J J A S 0 N D Work Session # of mtgs Attendance % Meetings/Work Sessions 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7/16 Bass, Katherine 2/1/2014 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 89% Boettge, Emily 2/1/2014 1 1 100% Braden, Ann* 2/1/2014 1 1 1 1 1 5 56% Franzen, Nathan 2/1/2016 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 67% lyer, Surya 2/1/2015 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7 78% Janovy, Jennifer 2/1/2014 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 89% LaForce, Tom 2/1/2015 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 9 100% Nelson, Paul 2/1/2016 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 9 100% Schweiger, Steven student 1 1 1 3 33% Sierks, Caroline student 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 67% Spanhake, Dawn 2/1/2016 1 1 1 1 4 57% Whited, Courtney 2/1/2015 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 89% / Shar. Allison, Secretary 3