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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-10-18 MinutesMINUTES OF THE Edina Transportation Commission Thursday, October 18, 2007 Edina City Hall 4801 West 50th Street Council Chambers MEMBERS PRESENT: Les Wanninger, Steve Brown, Marie Thorpe, Jean White, Marc Usem, Geof Workinger, Paul Mooty MEMBERS ABSENT: Hilah Almog, Warren Plante STAFF PRESENT: Wayne Houle, Jack Sullivan, Sharon Allison I. Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Chair Wanninger. II. Comments a. Chairman Comments None. b. Public Comments None. III. Old Business a. City of Edina Comprehensive Plan – Transportation Chapter Assistant City Engineer Sullivan said a series of public meetings are planned by the Comp Plan Task Force to review and receive feedback on the Comprehensive Plan. He said each meeting will cover an individual chapter and the Transportation Chapter is scheduled for November 8 and 13, 6:30 p.m., at Cornelia Elementary School. Commissioners and the public can continue to review and submit comment on the draft plan through December 2007. IV. New Business a. Bike Edina Task Force – Bike Comprehensive Plan This item was stricken from the agenda because the task force has not presented their plan to Council as of this date. It should be back on the Council’s agenda November 5. b. Southeast Edina Traffic Model Presentation Traffic Consultant Chuck Rickart of WSB said the purpose of the model is to provide consistency and continuity in traffic studies that come out of the southeast area. The boundaries are Highway 62 to the north, Highway 494 to the east and Highway 100 to the west. The model will be used to analyze traffic data when redevelopment proposals are presented to the City. The Edina Gateway – Pentagon Redevelopment is currently using the model. c. Edina Gateway – Pentagon Redevelopment Assistant City Engineer Sullivan said the presentation tonight is for informational purposes only, no action is required; he said it will be back on the agenda as an actionable item on 2 November 15. The plan was presented by Paul May of Miller-Dunwidde, architect for the project and JoNette Kuhnau of Kimley-Horn and Associates, traffic consultant. Mr. May gave a quick overview of the very large multi-phase and multi-year project. He said the area includes three levels of study including the AUAR which is an environmental study. The redevelopment will include Pentagon Park (businesses), townhomes and senior living. The first phase in the 10-year plan would be the Pentagon Park where a hotel is to be built. Mr. May said they are using the traffic model submitted by WSB, however, the mitigations measures being used does not include everything. He said specific details will follow as each individual building/phase is implemented. The ETC expressed concerns that traffic will increase drastically in the area at a time when they would like to make it easier to travel east and west between Edina and Richfield. d. Northeast Edina Traffic Study Implementation City Engineer Houle said in 2005 a utility and roadway reconstruction plan was brought to the Council for approval, but the Council decided to wait for the Northeast Edina Traffic Study to be completed. He said SEH has been working on the implementation and reconstruction plans and the project is almost ready for approval. They will give a brief overview of the project and in November it will be presented again with a recommendation for approval. An open house for residents in the NE area and Country Club is scheduled for November 14, in City Hall. Michael Kotila, Traffic Engineer for SEH, presented an overview of the treatments that are proposed for the NE and Country Club areas based on the traffic study that was completed in 2005. He said the project will be done over two phases with Bridge Street being the dividing street. Paul Pasko, SEH, project manager for this project, explains the project schedule as follows: 2008 All streets north of Bridge Street to be completed 2009 All streets south of Bridge Street to be completed 2008 November 13 –Meeting with Heritage Preservation Board November 14 – Open House November 15 – Presentation to the ETC for approval December 4 – Public Hearing 2009 January 24 – Open House March 6 – Open bids e. W. 70th Street/Cornelia Area Traffic Study – set dates for Open House and Public Hearing The tentative dates are January 24, 2008, Open House; and January 30, 2008, Public Hearing. V. Approval of Minutes a. Regular Meeting of September 20, 2007 The following correction was made: Paul Mooty was added to the ‘Members Present’ section. All voted aye to approve minutes. VI. Planning Commission Update (Commissioner Brown) Commissioner Brown said the primary focus has been the Comprehensive Plan. 3 VII. Open Discussion None. VIII. Staff Liaison Comments (Sullivan) a. Election of ETC Chair and Vice Chair To be discussed in January. b. Final AUAR – Gateway Study Area A few comments were received on the second round. It is anticipated that the Council will adopt the study on November 5. c. “Pace Car” signage As part of the educational component, a sticker for cars telling drivers to slow down was suggested. Sullivan said there is funding to order 500 each. Chair Wanninger suggested having them available for the open house, putting it on the City’s website and the ETC’s webpage and Engineering Houle said if approved, the stickers would also go on the City’s fleet of vehicles. d. York Avenue and Hazelton Pedestrian Indicators Joint effort is underway with Hennepin County to do pedestrian count-down head crossing indicators. The City will purchase the equipment and Hennepin County will maintain them. e. Project updates W.70th roundabouts is nearing completion and the education component will include a brochure to businesses for distribution to customers and there is a video on our website that was done by Mn/DOT. Channel 5 is also doing a series on roundabouts and there was an article in About Business. IX. Miscellaneous Articles for Information Various articles distributed to Commissioners. X. Correspondence from Residents A letter was received from a resident regarding the flashing pedestrian light at Halifax. It is not being addressed as part of the mill and overlay. A suggestion was made to do some striping in the area and the light will be looked at then. Speeding was also noted as a concern but the speed limit is set by the State. Meeting adjourned at 8:43 p.m.