Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-09-16 Minutes MINUTES OF THE Edina Transportation Commission Thursday, September 16, 2010 Edina City Hall 4801 West 50th Street Council Chambers MEMBERS PRESENT: Jennifer Janovy, Paul Nelson, Michael Schroeder, Tom Bonneville, Jean White, Geof Workinger, Nathan Franzen, Sarah Engbretson, Bohde Scheerer MEMBERS ABSENT: Josh Sprague STAFF PRESENT: Jack Sullivan, Sharon Allison I. Call to Order The meeting was called order by chair Janovy. II. Welcome new members Chair Janovy welcomed new student members Edina High seniors, Sarah Engbretson and Bohde Scheerer to the ETC. III. Approval of Minutes a. Regular Meeting of August 19, 2010 Commissioner Schroeder motioned to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of August 19. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Nelson. All voted aye. Motion passed. IV. Public Comment No public comment. V. New Business a. 2011-12 Street Reconstruction Projects Assistant city engineer Sullivan said as part of the Capital Improvement Program, there is a 5- year plan for street reconstruction, with an outlook to 10 years. Residents are notified 2 years in advance and approximately 1,300 were recently invited to an open house to learn more about the process. The open house is scheduled September 20 at the new Public Works and Park Maintenance facility located at 7450 Metro Boulevard. Sullivan said streets are selected based on pavement condition, utility deficiencies and drainage issues and there is a neighborhood street reconstruction map that shows all the streets that are scheduled to be redone over the next 10 years. The 2011 neighborhoods are Carson’s Hill, Killarney Shore, McCauley Heights, Golf Terrace, Minnehaha Woods, and Oscar Roberts. In addition to the open house, Sullivan said individual neighborhood meetings will be scheduled at a later date for each project area and a questionnaire is sent to residents to gather feedback on such things as sump pump, pet containment/irrigation system, sidewalk, streetlighting, traffic 2 management concerns, etc. He said residents are generally assessed for such things as street, streetlight, and sidewalk, while the City pays for all utilities. b. Site Traffic and Circulation Sullivan said they often talk about the right-of-way line being the marker for the ETC’s review responsibility while other groups are responsible for such things a site traffic and circulation. Sullivan explained that in addition to the ETC, development applications are reviewed by the City Engineer, Planning Director, other internal staff, Planning Commission, and the City Council. Explaining the role of each body, Sullivan said the ETC advises the Council on traffic volumes, congestion, functional classification, but not maintenance activities, and the review is usually in the form of a Transportation Impact Analysis. The city engineer reviews traffic circulation including directional signalization, channelization, turn lanes, increased street width, warning lights, stacking lanes and location, number and width of curb cuts. The planning director reviews on-site traffic and circulation including parking spaces, parking drive isles and drive entrances. He presents the development application to the Planning Commission and they hold public hearing(s) and make recommendation to the City Council. The planning director presents the Planning Commission’s recommendation to the City Council who may hold public hearing(s) and makes the final decision. Overall staff review includes the engineering, planning, fire and building departments. Commissioner Bonneville said he hopes that the ETC will still be able to make comments on areas outside of their jurisdiction and have them passed along. Commissioner Schroeder asked who has the responsibility for looking at local streets network with respect to buses, pedestrians, and transit. He said the code does not talk about how sites connect with other parts of the local network. Sullivan said the Transportation Plan, city engineer, BETF, etc. looks at these areas but better definition is probably needed. Chair Janovy said it does talk about mass transit. Chair Janovy asked if the ETC is in the right place in the order of the review process considering that a lot could change on the site by the time it goes through the process that could affect the roadway. Sullivan said it was set up this way to give ample time to the others in the review process. VI. Planning Commission Update (Commissioner Schroeder) Commissioner Schroeder said their major activity has been zoning code updates in areas such as ordinance for driveway widths and driveway pavement materials for R1 and R2 zoning classification; and adding a Planned Unit Development section to the code. The review process would be informal, no vote up or down, could involve the ETC, and getting neighborhood input early in the process. They are also looking at hardship for variances. He said most communities are not taking applications at this time due to a recent court decision. VII. Bike Edina Task Force Update (Commissioner Janovy) a. July and August 2010 meeting minutes Commissioner Janovy reported that construction of Phase I (bicycle route for which the City received a Transit for Livable Communities grant) is scheduled for 2011. She said the BETF would like to be kept informed and asked if the ETC should also have a role in receiving information about and/or commenting on this project. 3 She asked if the ETC would like to involved with the Nine Mile Creek Trail. VIII. Staff Liaison Comments a. 70th Street Reconstruction Update Sullivan said bids were opened and the low bidder will be awarded the project by Council at their next meeting. He said staff is having discussion with the contractor to see what can be done before winter. IX. Commission Comments Commissioner Workinger suggested to the new student members that they give some thought to traffic in their school zone and share their thoughts with the ETC at a future meeting. Commissioner Bonneville said he would like to see the ETC look at Xerxes Avenue from TH- 494 to the crosstown as a connection to TH-494 and determine if it would be an alternative truck route to France Avenue which is becoming more crowded. Chair Janovy asked that this be added to a future agenda for exploration and to identify agencies that would be involved. Sullivan said the process has already started with improvements to the bridge through Mn/DOT and city of Bloomington. He said Edina was recently included in their meetings and he will bring this up at their next meeting and report back. Chair Janovy said a resident reported a concern with stacking and the potential for collisions as a result of the restriping on France Avenue at 60th and she suggested looking at the timing of the signal. Sullivan said he will look into this and report back. Sullivan said a complaint was received regarding truck traffic on Gleason Avenue traveling towards 78th Street and traffic safety coordinator, Boyd Tate is checking axle count to determine how many trucks are using this road; however, the City cannot limit trucks on state aid roads (very similar to W. 70th Street). Sullivan said they are also checking to see how fast the trucks are traveling and will involve PD for enforcements. X. Adjournment. Meeting adjourned at 7:22 p.m.