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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-09-19 Minutes1 MINUTES OF CITY OF EDINA, MINNESOTA TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION COMMUNITY ROOM SEPTEMBER 19, 2013 6:00 P.M. ROLL CALL Answering roll call was members Bass, Boettge, Franzen, Iyer, Janovy, LaForce, Nelson, Spanhake, Van Dyke and Whited. New student member Jackson Van Dyke was welcomed to the ETC. APPROVAL OF MEETING AGENDA Motion was made by member LaForce and seconded by member Franzen to approve the meeting agenda. All voted aye. Motion carried. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES REGULAR MEETING OF AUGUST 15, 2013 – Approved as corrected. Motion was made by member Bass and seconded by member Franzen to approve the amended minutes of August 15, 2013. Eight voted aye; one abstained (Janovy). Motion carried. COMMUNITY COMMENT Mr. Robert Shockwell, resident of Richfield, member of the Richfield Transportation Commission and liaison to the ETC, stopped by to see if there was anything the ETC would like to share with Richfield’s Transportation Commission. A brief discussion ensued about Mr. Eastling’s presentation last month on his proposed expansion of TH-62 and the importance of improving 66th St. W. REPORTS/RECOMMENDATIONS 2014 Neighborhood Reconstruction Projects Director Houle said a special public hearing meeting is scheduled for Dec. 10 for the City Council to consider approvals. He said the ETC could review and approve the projects tonight or wait until October. Assistant city engineer Millner presented the five neighborhoods: Birchcrest B Current conditions include poor pavement, some utility issues, existing curb and gutter on some streets, some streets are concrete and while others are bituminous. Proposed improvements are new bituminous pavement (concrete streets to be replaced with bituminous), spot repair to curb and gutter, install sidewalk on Normandale Road (petitioned) and continue to Valley View Road (based on pedestrians count); curbs at three intersections will be narrowed (neck down) to help with speed reduction, and utility improvements. The proposed costs are $1,461,000 (City) and $1,950,000 (residents) for an assessment of $14,000. Member Whited said the survey response showed that residents are not in favor of sidewalks. Mr. Millner said staff will be recommending it to City Council and let them make the decision; he stated further that a sidewalk meeting was held with residents along the proposed route and of the 28 in attendance, most were in favor. Regarding sidewalk maintenance, Mr. Houle said the policy is that the City maintains sidewalks on State Aid roads and in school zones and the rest are maintained by residents. He said one distinction is that City maintained sidewalks are 5 ft. while others are 4 ft. or less and the City does not have the proper equipment to maintain sidewalks that are less than 5 ft. With varying sidewalk widths, the question was asked how wide should sidewalks be and the consensus was that this requires more discussion. 2 Concerns were raised by members Franzen and Iyer about the PACS fund not being sufficient to cover all the sidewalk needs and potential inequities. Mr. Millner said the Living Streets Advisory Group is working on creating a sidewalk plan as part of the Living Streets Policy; the plan should be ready by next fall. Member Iyer suggested a global plan that includes prioritization and criteria which would eliminate the sidewalk question from the questionnaire. Member Janovy said the Living Streets Policy has criteria. It was noted that some streets were secondary bike routes but Mr. Millner said they do not have a plan in place for secondary routes at this time. Streetlights are not recommended based on feedback but member Bass asked if the lighting is insufficient for people/pedestrians or for drivers and she added that the Living Streets Advisory Group may address this. Member Janovy asked if there is a specific way to measure the level of lighting. Mr. Houle said a study was done 10 years ago and the decision was made to install lights every 200 ft. He said the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul install lights every 75 ft. He said to meet pedestrian safety lighting standard, they would need to install a lot more lights and noted that the Country Club which currently has more streetlights, for example, does not meet pedestrian safety standard. Member Janovy asked if they could neck-down the intersection at 60th St. based on traffic speed and counts and Mr. Millner said they are counting again in two weeks and will review and consider it then. On page 3 under Equity, member Bass suggested also addressing health and mobility; and in the Powerpoint, under “What is Included?” she suggested revising the last bullet point to include ‘…and City policy.’ She also asked if the extra space created by the neck-downs could become rain gardens instead of sod and Mr. Houle said yes; he said they are doing this on Tracy Avenue and residents and have agreed to maintenance. Member Janovy suggested sorting residents’ comments by street because it would be easier to read. Member Franzen asked if sump pump is the standard in all projects and Mr. Millner said yes. He said homeowners often connect during the street project and added that the new building code requires a sump pump in all new construction. Bredesen Park D Current conditions include poor pavement and existing curb and gutter on some streets. Proposed improvements are new bituminous pavement with pavement being narrowed approximately 1 ft. on each side, and new barrier- style curb and gutter. The proposed costs are $739,000 (City) and $1,041,000 (residents) for an assessment of $13,500. Member Whited asked about water pooling in the cul-de-sac and Mr. Millner said the new barrier-style curb and gutter will help; also noted were traffic merging issue at Tamarac and Vernon to which Mr. Millner said there is good sightline at the corner because of the parking lot; and parking on Tamarac by park users and Mr. Houle said he, Mr. Nolan, and Mr. Eric Boettcher, recreation supervisor, met last week to talk about how to deal with this because it is a problem at all parks throughout the City. Member Janovy asked if traffic-related issues are referred to the TSC and Mr. Houle said Mr. Nolan will review them. Countryside F Current conditions include poor pavement, existing curb and gutter and storm sewer issues. Proposed improvements are new bituminous pavement, spot repair to curb and gutter, and storm sewer improvements. The proposed costs are $394,000 (City) and $384,400 (residents) for an assessment of $13,000 and $12,000. 3 Morningside B Current conditions include poor pavement and existing curb and gutter. Proposed improvements are new bituminous pavement, spot repair to curb and gutter, sidewalk on the north side of 42nd St. from France to St. Louis Park border and also on Grimes Avenue (petitioned), and complete the missing segments on Scott Terrace and Alden Drive; plus, staff proposed a bituminous path around the park and Park & Recreation likes the idea. Mr. Millner explained that the 42nd St. sidewalk is proposed for the north side because there are less conflicts and a section of the Grimes Avenue sidewalk will meander into the park behind some trees in order to save them. The proposed costs are $1,326,000 (City) and $1,250,000 (residents) for an assessment of $9,000. After discussion, the consensus is to make the sidewalk 5 ft. on W. 42nd St. and Grimes Avenue. Member Janovy said the area where the Grimes Avenue sidewalk will go behind the trees is filled with buck thorns and Mr. Millner said they will be removed. Scott Terrace and Alden Drive sidewalks would match the existing 3 ft. sidewalk. Strachauer Park B Current conditions include poor pavement and existing curb and gutter. Proposed improvements are new bituminous pavement, spot repair to curb and gutter, adding a parking bay with a 5 ft. sidewalk along the park and complete a missing segment of sidewalk further down the street. Existing trees would be taken out and new ones planted. This was approved by the Park Board. The proposed costs are $759,000 (City) and $945,000 (residents) for an assessment of $10,500. 60th St. W. and Xerxes Avenue traffic issue was mentioned, and while it is not included in this project area, Mr. Houle said a meeting is scheduled for Sept. 24. He said Hennepin County is proposing bump-outs and a 170 ft. turn lane which would eliminate parking for 3-4 residents. Member Janovy suggested assessing the City 3 REUs (instead of 2) since the parking bay is being added for the park. After discussion of all five projects, the consensus was to wait until October for final approval. Staff will submit a summary of changes noting the ones they will include. Traffic Safety Committee Report of September 4, 2013 After a brief discussion, the report was approved for forwarding to the City Council. Updates Student Members - None Bike Edina Task Force Member Janovy said they are having discussions about their purpose, reviewing their bylaws and will be looking for new members and she is the new chair. She said they are also working on finding out the status of the group as it relates the City and Mr. Nolan is helping with this; she said the group was started by City Council as a task force but she was told by manager Neal that they are an outside organization. Received minutes of August 8, 2013. Living Streets Working Group The two working groups each met once to work on schedule and workplan. The $5,000 grant increased to $15,000 and a media company was hired. One of the groups requested a sidewalk map and it was distributed to the ETC. Communications Committee – no update. CORRESPONDENCE AND PETITIONS - None CHAIR AND COMMISSION MEMBER COMMENTS Member Franzen said he was excited about Mr. Eastling’s proposed plan to expand TH-62 but was disappointed 4 when checked and found out that it is not on MnDOT’s schedule for reconstruction. Member Iyer said he was in Cambridge, MA and was surprised at the number of bikers on the street, even late at night, unlike you would see in Minneapolis which he considers to be a biking city. He wondered if this was because Minneapolis’ bikers are routed to places like the Greenway. Member Bass said she saw the draft Active Routes to School plan; Mr. Houle said he needs to follow up with city manager Neal for an update since their meeting. She said also that she attended the Richfield Open Street Pedestrian Fest on Penn Avenue and it was awesome! Member Whited said she too attended the Fest and will be attending Bloomington’s this weekend which is dubbed as an extension of Richfield’s. Member Boettge said neighbors brought to her attention a stretch of sidewalk on Cornelia Drive that is not regularly maintained by the City. She asked what can be done for it to get regular maintenance like the one on W. 70th St. Mr. Houle said he would pass this on to Public Works. Member Janovy asked about the video camera on W. 44th St. and Mr. Houle said he would check with Mr. Nolan to see why it was out there. She asked what has happened on Wooddale Avenue since the bike lane was restriped and Mr. Houle said is he is not aware of any accidents and they will be collecting data this fall. Member Whited said there is a group in St. Louis Park called Safety in the Park that would like to give a presentation to the ETC on the Southwest Light Rail because what is happening in their city could affect rail in Edina. Chair Nelson said Mayor Hovland sent out an email about a seminar on Monitoring and Modeling Non-motorized Traffic in Minnesota on Oct. 3 and Mr. Houle said Mr. Nolan will be attending. He also said rail usage has increased in Edina and that he can hear the bell as late as 11:30 p.m. Mr. Houle said he has had no success reaching CP Rail so he’s contacted MnDOT for assistance. He said they need to improve the crossings and create a ‘no whistle sound’ area. STAFF COMMENTS Updates from director Houle: • Lake Edina and Braemar Hills Neighborhood Roadway Reconstruction are just about completed, while Mendelssohn will be completed within two weeks. There have been complaints about the amount of weeds growing with the grass – staff decided to use a hydroseed method vs. sod; the hydroseed does produce weeds but after mowing, the grass blends in nicely and holds up better than sod. • There was some congestion on France last week as Centerpoint completed their work at the right-in/right- out lane by Byerly’s. The median at 72nd is being rebuilt. • Vernon Avenue – Hennepin County will be doing the following: o A bike lane will be stripped from the traffic signal at Gleason & Vernon to 53rd (they did not go down to TH-62 because a better termini is needed); o Designated left turn lane at certain intersections; o Crosswalk at 53rd and City to install a pedestrian activated stoplight; The bike lane will be 8 ft. with a 1-2 ft. gutter pan; the City will work to reduce the speed limit from 40 mph to 30 mph after completion. • Edina Promenade Phase 4 (final phase) – URS is designing this final phase which will include designated bike lane from 70th St. to Gallagher and then east; water features; benches and artwork; and a joint water filtration project between the City and Nine Mile Creek Watershed District. The pedestrian path plan will be submitted to the ETC next month for review and comment. Construction is scheduled for summer, 2014. ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned. ATTENDANCE TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION ATTENDANCE - 2013 NAME TERM J F M A MJJ A S 0 N D Work Session # of Mtgs Attendance % Meetings/Work Sessions 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 10 7/16 Bass, Katherine 2/1/2014 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 9 90% Boettge, Emily 2/1/2014 1 1 2 100% Braden, Ann* 2/1/2014 1 1 1 1 1 5 50% Franzen, Nathan 2/1/2016 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7 70% lyer, Surya 2/1/2015 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 80% Janovy, Jennifer 2/1/2014 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 9 90% 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 1 10 100% Schweiger, Steven student 1 1 1 3 30% Sierks, Caroline student 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7 70% Spanhake, Dawn 2/1/2016 1 1 1 1 1 5 63% Van Dyke, Jackson student 1 1 100% Whited, Courtney 2/1/2015 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 9 90% f Ily submitted, n Allison, Secretary 5