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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-05-20 Minutes MINUTES OF THE Edina Transportation Commission Thursday, May 20, 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, Nathan Franzen MEMBERS ABSENT: Julie Sierks STAFF PRESENT: Jack Sullivan, Sharon Allison I. Call to Order The meeting was called to order by chair Janovy. II. Approval of Minutes a. Regular Meeting of April 15, 2010 The following corrections were made: page 2, item V.a., remove parenthesis from …”(even though the County is not in favor of bike lanes);” page 3, item X, ‘and’ was added to “..local and collector…” III. Old Business a. 66th Street Speed Study Assistant city engineer Sullivan said a petition to lower the speed limit was received in 2007. He said the Traffic Safety Committee reviewed the request and forwarded it to the Council to approve a speed study. February 2010 it was forwarded to the ETC by Council for review and after discussion, the ETC passed a motion to table further discussion to allow staff to research adding bike lanes, changing road to park designation, and getting clarification on state statute to determine when it is necessary for Mn/DOT to perform a speed study. Mr. Sullivan said staff’s findings were as follow:  Adding bike lanes is not an acceptable solution because the road width is 28 ft. and Mn/DOT’s Bikeway Manual recommends 6 ft. bike lanes and minimum travel lane width of 11 ft. Based on roadway width and Mn/DOT’s requirement only 3 ft. remains for the bike lane.  Changing road to park designation in not an acceptable solution. While state statute allows 20 mph on park roads, the roads must be fully located within the park and this is not the case with Rosland Park being adjacent to W. 66th Street.  The area is considered Urban District and if Mn/DOT had done a prior speed study, it would be necessary to do one again; however, because Mn/DOT does not have a speed study on file, and the lawful speed limit for an Urban District roadway is 30 mph, 2 the speed limit can be reduced from 35 mph to 30 mph without a speed study. Therefore, this is an acceptable solution. Mr. Sullivan said staff is recommending lowering the speed limit to 30 mph and if the ETC agrees with the recommendation, Council will need to adopt a resolution to do so. He said if the recommendation is acceptable, the resolution could be sent to Council by their June 1 meeting and if passed, re-signing of the new speed limit could be done before the pool at Rosland Park opens. He said in an effort to educate drivers of the new speed limit, the variable speed sign monitor “Your Speed Is…” would be set up. The Commission asked questions of Mr. Sullivan about the road’s right-of-way width to preserve right to have bike lanes, Blake Road’s 5 ft. bike lane, 85th percentile speed of 38 mph, restriping to allow buffer between cars and cyclists, recounting after speed limit is reduced, consider merging traffic on the other side of Valley View for pedestrian safety at crosswalk, having two 11 ft. lanes and a left lane on the south side and tabling for BETF to review, and using signage in addition to reducing speed since the 30 mph may not slow vehicles. The Commission then reviewed and revised the resolution as follow: RESOLUTION NO. 2010-44 REDUCING THE SPEED LIMIT ON WEST 66TH STREET BETWEEN TH-100 AND VALLEY VIEW ROAD WHEREAS, on February 16, 2010, the City Council requested the Edina Transportation Commission review residents’ request to reduce the speed limit from 35 mph to 30 mph on West 66th Street between TH-100 and Valley View Road; and WHEREAS, after much research, the Minnesota Department of Transportation has not established a speed limit pursuant to an engineering and traffic investigation for this portion of roadway; and WHEREAS, West 66th Street between TH-100 and Valley View Road meets the definition of an urban district as defined in State Statue 169.011 subd. 90; and WHEREAS, State Statute 169.14 subd. 2 establishes the speed limit at 30 mph for an urban district; WHEREAS, the Edina Transportation Commission concurs with these findings per the May 20, 2010 Edina Transportation Commission Meeting; NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council of the City of Edina, authorizes the resigning of the speed limit signs on West 66th Street between TH-100 and Valley View Road from 35 mph to 30 mph. Dated: June 1, 2010 Attest: Debra A. Mangen, City Clerk James B. Hovland, Mayor 3 STATE OF MINNESOTA) COUNTY OF HENNEPIN) SS CITY OF EDINA ) CERTIFICATE OF CITY CLERK I, the undersigned duly appointed and acting City Clerk for the City of Edina do hereby certify that the attached and foregoing Resolution was duly adopted by the Edina City Council at its Regular Meeting of June 1, 2010, and as recorded in the Minutes of said Regular Meeting. WITNESS my hand and seal of said City this ______ day of __________, 20___. _______________________________ City Clerk Commissioner Nelson motioned to accept staff’s recommendation to “Recommend to the City Council adoption of the revised resolution lowering the speed limit on West 66th Street from 35 mph to 30 mph from TH 100 to Valley View Road.” The motion was seconded by Commissioner White. All voted aye. Absent: Sierks Motion passed. IV. New Business a. Edina’s GreenStep Cities Dianne Plunkett-Latham, chair of the Energy & Environment Commission, explained what GreenStep Cities was and how it relates to transportation. She explained that the program grew out of a 2009 report to the Legislature on what cities could do to help the State meet greenhouse gas reduction goals, and to improve economic, environmental, and social responsibility. She said it is a voluntary program that offers cost-effective, simple pathway leading to implementation of sustainable best practices that focus on greenhouse gas reduction. She said the Statewide GreenStep Cities are made up of various partnerships and five pilot cities, including the city of Edina. Ms. Plunkett-Latham explained that as a pilot city, they are required to implement eight to ten of 27 best practices, but they have selected 14, including Transportation. She said there are seven categories to choose from, plus a required category which is – (1) Adopt a complete streets policy and modify street standards accordingly. She said Edina minimally qualifies at this level because there is a Complete Streets plan in place for the arterial streets. She said if the ETC would like to do some things beyond the minimal qualification, and Council approves the steps, the ETC can choose two additional steps from the following six categories: 2) Document installation of trees and rain gardens or other green storm water infrastructures and sewer water pipe restorations as needed, as part of at least one street construction project. 3) Identify and remedy non-complete street segments (at least one existing non-complete segment) to better facilitate walking and biking. 4) Identify and remedy gaps (at least one existing gap) between city streets and walking trails/bike trails to facilitate walking and biking. 5) Implement traffic calming measures in at least one street redevelopment project. (Done) 4 6) Adopt level of service standards for street types including ped/bike performance goals. (Done) 7) Adopt zoning language for selected areas equivalent to LEED for Neighborhood Development. Discussion included status of Complete Streets Policy which Mn/DOT recently approved and is working on guidelines that cities will need to incorporate into their State Aid streets design, lack of funding source could affect implementation, items 2, 3, & 4 looks like they can be done without much expense, would like to talk to staff about how item 2 could be implemented (this involves maintenance), and Complete Streets is in the Comp Plan but should consider adopting a formal policy. b. CVS Transportation Impact Analysis (69th and York Avenue) Assistant city engineer Sullivan explained that redevelopment of this site was first presented to the ETC in 2006 for 85 senior apartments and 39,000 sq. ft. of retail space; it was again presented in 2008 for 114 apartments and 18,000 sq. ft. retail space. In 2008, the ETC approved the traffic study with the condition that the developer improve their W. 69th exit across from the car dealership. Mr. Sullivan said the apartment building was completed in 2009 and the improvement was made to W. 69th Street. He said CVS Pharmacy is requesting approval to develop the retail space into a 13,013 sq. ft. building with 90 parking stalls and two drive-thru windows. Mr. Sullivan said in 2006 and 2008 the Transportation Impact Analysis (TIA) policy was not in existence but is required now. He said the focus of the TIA was on W. 69th Street and York Avenue, the right in/right out off York Avenue, the right out from the drive thru windows, and full shared intersection on W. 69th Street to determine the build and no-build level of service. Mr. Sullivan said the analysis showed that the level of service would remain the same after development. He said the signal timing at W. 69th and York can be improved but this area is Hennepin County’s jurisdiction and the developer will work with them to make improvements after the store is open. Mr. Sullivan said staff is recommending that the ETC “adopt a motion recommending that the Transportation Impact Analysis for CVS Pharmacy at 69th Street and York Avenue does not adversely affect the adjacent transportation system.” During discussion, concerns raised included the number of parking stalls/do they need that many; is there a reciprocal parking agreement between CVS and the apartment building; reason for placing building in the northwest corner of site; drivers exiting onto W. 69th and cutting across to go north could be unsafe; installation of bike racks; traffic exiting onto York Avenue will cross to go left on W. 69th Street even if signed not to do so; and, is closing the York Avenue access an option. Addressing the concerns, Mr. Mike Spack, the traffic engineer of Spack Consulting, explained that the parking ordinance requires 80 parking stalls but no maximum; there is a shared use agreement for parking; the building was moved to the northwest corner of the site at the request of planning staff; research shows that exiting on W. 69th and dealing with traffic on one side first and then the next side is actually safer than cutting straight across to the other side; bike racks will be installed at the entrance; and, the expectation is that at least 2/3 of the traffic will exit onto W. 69th Street instead of York Avenue. Mr. Kevin McGhee, The Velmeir 5 Companies, said one delivery truck, on a weekly basis, can only enter the site from York Avenue so it is a useful access. Commissioner Nelson motioned to accept staff’s recommendation “…that the Transportation Impact Analysis traffic for CVS Pharmacy at 69th Street and York Avenue does not adversely affect the adjacent transportation system.” The motion was seconded by Commissioner Franzen. Commissioner Sprague requested an amendment to the motion to include an agreement with the developer that delivery trucks do not use W. 70th Street between TH-100 and France Avenue. The amendment was accepted. All voted aye. Absent: Schroeder, Sierks Motion passed. c. Upcoming Workshops Chair Janovy said the idea is to schedule workshops when they do not have official business to review and discuss such things as bylaws, policies and scope and responsibilities. After discussion the consensus is to schedule June and July for workshops and the meeting format would be the same and open to the public. V. Planning Commission Update (Commissioner Schroeder) None. VI. Public Works Small Area Guide Process Update (Commissioner Sprague) Commissioner Sprague said the study is completed and a number of principles were written, plus renderings of those principles which are online. VII. Bike Edina Task Force Update (Commissioner Janovy) Commissioner Janovy said the 3rd annual ride with the Mayor is scheduled for May 27, 4:45 p.m. Participants should meet at the Bush Lake parking lot in Bloomington for a ride to Quality Bike Products. The event is co-sponsored by the Energy & Environment Commission. VIII. Staff Liaison Comments a. 70th Street Reconstruction Update This project is delayed until the Variance Board meets on June 17 to review the City’s request to reduce the parking lanes from 10 ft. to 8 ft. A letter and City Extra email was sent out to the residents updating them on the status of the project. At the April 15 meeting, Commissioner Workinger asked to hear the types of options given to residents on W. 70th Street for driveway turnarounds to prevent backing out onto the street. Mr. Sullivan said the contractor will work directly with homeowners on this matter. IX. Commission Comments Commissioner Sprague said he attended a SW Transit meeting and he encouraged everyone to look at SWTransit.org. Also, the Center for Transportation Study has a research conference annually and their presentation is online. He encouraged Commissioners to review the handout he brought in and to visit the website for topics of interest. Commissioner White said she attended the final SW PAC meeting and the formal process is now under the Met Council. She also said Metro Transit is taking public comment until July 9 6 for the new I-35/46th Street transfer station, and that they will be realigning certain bus routes into Edina. X. Adjournment.