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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-04-15 Minutes MINUTES OF THE Edina Transportation Commission Thursday, April 15, 2010 Edina City Hall 4801 West 50th Street Council Chambers MEMBERS PRESENT: Usha Abramovitz, Tom Bonneville, Jennifer Janovy, Paul Nelson, Michael Schroeder, Josh Sprague, Jean White, Geof Workinger MEMBERS ABSENT: Nathan Franzen, Julie Sierks STAFF PRESENT: Jack Sullivan, Sharon Allison I. Call to Order The meeting was called to order by chair Workinger. II. Election of Chair Commissioner Sprague nominated vice-chair Janovy and the nomination was seconded by Commissioner Nelson. There being no further nominees, all voted aye. Chair Janovy’s term will expire in one year. III. Comments a. Chair Comments Chair Janovy took leadership immediately and thanked the commission. She said election of a vice-chair would be tabled until the next meeting. b. Community Comments None. IV. Approval of Minutes a. Regular Meeting of March 18, 2010 The following corrections were made: Item IV.a., last sentence, strike “She…” and replace with “The…” Item IV.b. 3rd paragraph, strike “…because 66th Street is a State Aid road…” and replace with italic “…a speed study is required by Mn/DOT to be consistent with state statute…” Commissioner Workinger motioned to approve the minutes with the above corrections. Motion was seconded by Commissioner White. All voted aye. V. New Business a. France Avenue Restriping Assistant City Engineer Sullivan explained that Hennepin County is planning to mill and overlay France Avenue from the Crosstown to W. 54th Street and the City has met with them to discuss options to address how the road is currently being used such as is it a 4-lane, is 2 parking allowed, etc. After discussion, the proposed plan is to restripe the roadway with one- lane in each direction with parking allowed everywhere with the exception of the intersections at 58th, 60th and 62nd Streets which would be striped with designated left turn lanes. Mr. Sullivan stated further that the width of the roadway would remain the same. He also said that bike lanes were discussed but Hennepin County was not in favor since Xerxes Avenue is their primary bike route. Discussion ensued and concerns raised included the fact that the recently approved Comp Plan includes France Avenue as a bike route even though the County is not in favor of bike lanes; from a bike perspective, the project should have been brought forward in November when the discussion began; and were all options considered. Commissioner White motioned to accept staff’s recommendation that the “City Council not oppose the restriping of France Avenue from Highway 62 to W. 54th Street as depicted in the attached Plan from Hennepin County.” The motion was seconded by Commissioner Nelson. Commissioner Workinger offered an amendment to include a ‘traffic merge sign’ or restriping at W. 54th Street for southbound traffic traveling from a perceived two-lane roadway going into one-lane. His amendment was accepted by Commissioners White and Nelson. Ayes: Abramovitz, Bonneville, Nelson, Sprague, White, Workinger Nayes: Janovy, Schroeder Absent: Franzen, Sierks Motion carried. b. Introduction to the Edina Transportation Commission Assistant City Engineer Sullivan explained the purpose, duties, membership and history of the ETC. Mr. Sullivan said the ETC was formed by Council with 10 members from different geographical areas of the community. The ETC’s purpose and duties include advising Council on matters related to streets operation, enhancing mass transit opportunities, offer recommendations and implementations for the Local Traffic Task Force findings, and evaluate methods for traffic calming and speed and volume mitigation. He said the guiding documents are the Local Traffic Task Force Findings and Recommendations (2003); the ETC policy (2005); and the Transportation Chapter from the Comp Plan. VI. Planning Commission Update (Commissioner Schroeder) Commissioner Schroeder said the continued focus is on the ordinance update. VII. Public Works Small Area Guide Process Update (Commissioner Sprague) Commissioner Sprague said four meetings have taken place so far that included selecting quadrants and at-large representatives, orientation and tour of the site, and developer and business owner roundtable discussions. Next meeting will be a community input session, followed by a summary meeting, design charrettes, and an open house. VIII. Bike Edina Task Force Update (Commissioner Janovy) Chair Janovy said a bike rodeo is planned for this Saturday, 10-Noon, at Highland School. Other events include a self-powered vehicle ride on May 15, 9-Noon, at Roslyn Park; and a ride to Quality Bicycle Products in Bloomington, date and time will be announced later. IX. Staff Liaison Comments a. 66th Street Speed Study (Hold over until May) This item is held over until May to pursue all options related to reducing the speed limit. 3 b. 70th Street Reconstruction Update Plans are at Mn/DOT for review and the construction schedule remains the same. c. 169/494 Project Update Mn/DOT received funding for this $170M project (the City’s portion is expected to be $1.2M from its State Aid funds). The schedule at this time is to accept bids in early October to November and begin construction in 2011. It is expected to be a 2-3 year project. d. 2010 State of the Commute Agenda Mr. Sullivan said earlier this month, he attended the 494 Corridor Commission’s 2010 State of the Commute meeting. He said the commission is made up of businesses, cities, etc. along the TH-494 corridor that uses the corridor to travel primarily to and from work. He said their goal is to increase multi-modal transportation and they recently opened a bike library for the purpose of loaning bikes to individuals who would like to commute using a bike but do not have one. X. Commission Comments Commissioner Sprague said he is looking forward to delving into the ETC policy as mentioned by Mr. Sullivan, possibly in a work session format as well as local and collector street policy. He said the City of Bloomington has some great examples. Commissioner White suggested looking at alternative striping for Vernon Ave (between Hwy. 100 and Crosstown) when it comes up for reconstruction. Commissioner Workinger said at the next meeting, he would like to hear the types of options given to residents on West 70th Street for driveway turnarounds (to prevent backing out onto the street) and the number of homeowners who were given this option to be paid for by the City. He also suggested allowing residents to give input into the landscaping because they could probably do a better job than anyone else. Commissioner Sprague said they sent a letter to the City and in a response, they were told that the east and west end would be landscaped and the boulevards would be grass, and that a landscape architect would do the design and the plans would be posted to the website as part of the bidding process and residents can provide input at that time. Mr. Sprague said he has heard that some residents would like to do boulevard gardens so an opportunity for input would be good. Chair Janovy said an interesting presentation probably would be to see how landscaping shapes traffic calming. Commissioner Nelson said he is a member of the Southwest Corridor (for light railway) and he will be able to give updates in the future. Commissioner Bonneville said he would like the ETC to look at Xerxes Avenue from TH-494 to Crosstown because he thinks of it as a reliever route which is already designed with multiple lanes. And discuss with Mn/DOT the possibility of increasing access from TH-494 and as a partial solution as a truck route, instead of W. 70th. Commissioner Bonneville reminded the commissioners of the streamline development process that was discussed at an earlier meeting as it relates to the Planning Commission. Commissioner Schroeder was asked where the Planning Commission was in their planning efforts. Commissioner Schroeder said they have curtailed their work on the Zoning Commission due to the Small Area Study. He also said they do not have a timeframe in which to finish what they’ve started because the processes that they are looking at do not need to 4 conform to the Comp Plan. Commissioner Sprague said this could become a part of a work session as the ETC discuss its own policy. VIII. Adjournment. Meeting adjourned.