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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-07-21 MinutesDraft Minutes☒ Approved Minutes☐ Approved Date: 1 Minutes City of Edina, Minnesota Transportation Commission Council Chamber July 21, 6:00 p.m. I. Call To Order Chair LaForce called the meeting to order. II. Roll Call Answering roll call were members Bass, Boettge, Brown, Iyer, Janovy, LaForce, Loeffelholz, Miranda, and Olson. Absent at roll call were members Ding and Ruehl. III. Approval Of Meeting Agenda Motion was made by member Iyer and seconded by member Bass approving the meeting agenda. All voted aye. Motion carried. IV. Approval Of Meeting Minutes Motion was made by member Bass and seconded by member Olson approving the edited June 16, 2016, minutes. All voted aye. Motion carried. V. Special Recognitions And Presentations A. Southdale Area Transportation Study Mr. Chuck Rickart, traffic engineer with WSB & Associates, presented the final study. Mr. Rickart reviewed the purpose of the study which included updating the existing traffic model, updating the transportation planning model, transportation analysis of land use density scenarios, and review and analyze pedestrian/bicycle connections. He reviewed the study process, noting where changes were made since the April 21 presentation which included updating the existing Average Daily Traffic volumes, adding transit usage to the 2040 Forecasts, and adding the Pedestrian and Bicycle Network Analysis. Mr. Rickart said the Pedestrian and Bicycle Network Analysis present challenges because of a lack of dedicated facilities. He said the Bike, Comp and Sidewalk Plans have proposed facilities. Mr. Rickart said the study’s recommendations are: 1. Intersections improvements (signal timing, turn lane geometry, new traffic signal); 2. Enhance/expand the pedestrian/bike network in the Southdale area; 3. Balance roadway improvements with pedestrian/bike improvements; continue to work with developers to improve pedestrian/bike conditions; 4. Continue to work with Southdale and the Galleria to improve their pedestrian/bike facility. Discussion • Was any scenario planning done? Mr. Rickart said scenario planning was noted in the 2030 Comp Plan for commercial properties and it was increased for residential properties in the 2040 Forecast. • There is a draft Small Area Plan for the Southdale area that recommends making the block size smaller; should this be included in the study as anticipated change? Mr. Rickart said it was discussed and they decided not to include it because it is not an approved plan. Planner Nolan added they could find a way to include the principle of the plan. • How are pedestrians factored in with intersections Level of Service (LOS)? Mr. Rickart said they are already included so that pedestrians can cross in one traffic signal cycle and it is factored in as a percentage of traffic volume. Including this information in the study was suggested. Draft Minutes☒ Approved Minutes☐ Approved Date: 2 • The Nine Mile Trail wasn’t included and it would be helpful to include it. Planner Nolan said the crossing will be at Gallagher Drive. • Was employment forecasting for the major employers in the area identified? This is related to concerns about potential redevelopment at W. 69th Street near the water tower. Mr. Rickart said not specifically. He said he worked with planner Teague on residential redevelopment forecasting and while this was their focus, they assumed increases in employment and traffic. He said the study considered development at W. 69th Street because a restaurant was proposed for that area. • Is the next step to seek Council approval? Not necessarily, said planner Nolan, but the study may be given to the Council informationally. He said the information will be used to update the Comp Plan, used for future planning, and is available to traffic engineers when evaluating sites for redevelopment. • Mr. Rickart was asked to explain intersections LOS which range from A-F. Mr. Rickart said similar to letter grades in school, each intersection gets a rating based on wait time at the intersection. He said in urban areas like Edina, a certain amount of wait time is acceptable. • The study conclusion states small, low cost improvements can make a difference, are these quantified in the model in terms of LOS improvements? No, said Mr. Rickart because the improvements are specific for each intersection. If the improvements are low cost, why not make the improvements now and improve the LOS? Planner Nolan said the LOS ratings are degradation that will happen over time and staff will plan for improvements by including them in the Capital Improvement Plan. VI. Community Comment None. VII. Reports/Recommendations A. Discussion with Edina Police Department Representative Sgt. Dan Conboy explained that each month they pick a topic to focus on as part of their Focus In program that focuses more on educating the public rather than writing citations. He said they’ve changed the name to Directive Patrol Initiative with a goal of being more visible on foot and in squads. He said in January, they focused on bars, restaurants and hotels because more people are inside. April and August they focused on residential neighborhoods on foot, on bikes and in squads. Chair LaForce asked if there is anything that his department is working on related to the ETC. Sgt. Conboy said one main issue for them has been construction related traffic and being asked to assist in routing traffic per engineering detour plans. He said they haven’t figured out a way to make this work yet and the upcoming TH- 169 closure will probably be problematic the first few weeks. He said residents have already contacted them about several options that would be difficult to enforce, e.g. installing local traffic only signs and monitoring if drivers are local traffic. He said the police are considering speed bumps to slow drivers and they’ve also discussed directing traffic but this is an expensive option. Discussion • Whose responsibility was it to inform the public about the TH-169 project, and should this communication begin now? Can information be posted to the City’s website? Sgt. Conboy said he didn’t know the answers. • At the April 19, 2016, City Council meeting, MnDOT staff presented the TH-169 project including timeline, closures and detour routes. The meeting can be viewed online. • A certain percentage of drivers will follow the detour route; others will use software like Google Maps to find alternative routes. Is there a way to create a filter that would block alternative routes? Sgt. Conboy said he did not know if this could be done. • Can information on the upcoming closure be posted to the City’s homepage? • How are priorities made for enforcement, e.g. the complaint is that the police is always doing traffic enforcement on TH-100 but not in neighborhoods. Sgt. Conboy said enforcements are based on complaints. He said complaints are logged and officers must patrol those areas a minimum of five times daily. Draft Minutes☒ Approved Minutes☐ Approved Date: 3 • Vehicles stop in the crosswalks on France Avenue, is this monitored and enforced? Sgt. Conboy said he was not aware that this was an issue so calling in to register complaints helps. • Do you have matrix or goals that you are tracking? Sgt. Conboy said he’s not aware they have goals but they are tracking what each officer is doing. • Is this information shared with staff or City Council? Sgt. Conboy said it is available. • Sgt. Conboy said there are four traffic officers and complaints can be called in to 952-826-1600. B. 2016 Work Plan Updates Member Bass said she reached out to Strong Towns and is waiting to hear back about organizing a speaker/ session. Member Miranda said he’s been researching Hennepin and Ramsey counties Bike and Pedestrian Plan and they both have something called Active Living which is new to him. Member Loeffelholz said for the Southdale Circulator, he researched Metro Transit bus routes and it looks like they could request minor changes from Metro Transit to provide coverage using existing routes, including a route to the SW Light Rail. Chair LaForce said at the work session, it seemed to him that the City Council wanted a circulator that would travel France/W. 66th/W. 77th/York. Discussion • City of Northfield may be pursuing a route that would go towards St. Paul (away from Edina). • Pursue the circulator and light rail because they serve different needs. • How should we proceed with light rail planning based on what we heard from the City Council at the recent work session? • The City Council had two opinions on passenger rail: 1) get Edina connected to SW Light Rail; and 2) a longer route the south. • The southern cities are planning for passenger rail that would go towards St. Paul and this will take longer, but it sounds like the City Council is interested in a shorter connection. • Frame up the issues and involve the public. • The City Council does not have control over regional rail planning. • The City Council does not have control over regional planning but they could take leadership and advocate for light rail. • Seemed like the City Council was asking the ETC to see how the community feels about light rail to see if they should commit staff time and resources towards it. • Discuss what the public engagement should be at the next ETC meeting. • Public engagement requires a budget. • We first need to know the plan or method of engagement to see if a budget is needed. • Do we need a working group to focus on this? • Forming a working group requires certain conditions including representation from the public; a committee would just be members of the ETC. • For clarity, the ETC was not advocating for or against light rail at this time, but was to remain neutral. Motion was made by member Janovy and seconded by member Bass to form a committee to formulate a public engagement process and present a recommendation at the next ETC meeting. The committee will be made up of members Janovy, Iyer, Bass and Loeffelholz. All voted aye. Motion passed. C. 2017 Neighborhood and MSA Street Reconstruction Projects Draft Minutes☒ Approved Minutes☐ Approved Date: 4 Planner Nolan explained that staff is seeking general feedback at this time on the 2017 projects and next month, the ETC would receive project-specific information. Discussion • Are the sidewalks that are included part of the Sidewalk Plan? Planner Nolan said yes, and the idea is to plan street reconstruction according to approved Plans, including reducing street widths with sidewalks. • In reference to Chowen Park D, parking issues related to the restaurant at W. 58th Street & Xerxes Avenue was noted for improvement. Planner Nolan explained that the project area is W. 54th Street. • Is the Countryside B sidewalk a PACS sidewalk? Planner Nolan will check and follow up on this. D. Traffic Safety Report of July 6, 2016 A.1. It was not clear if the City’s forester or the resident would be trimming the shrubs. Planner Nolan explained that the practice is for the resident to do this. A.2. Why is Maloney Avenue posted no parking? Planner Nolan did not know why. B.3. Staff sent a survey to nine property owners. Moving this item to section C was suggested because was not a denial. Motion made by member Olson and seconded by member Bass to forward the July 6, 2016, TSC report to the City Council. All voted aye. Motion passed. VIII. Correspondence And Petitions None. IX. Chair and Member Comments Member Iyer noted the poor condition of the road surface and landscaping on York Avenue where Centerpoint Energy is working. He said it appears certain areas are treated differently than others, e.g. work on France Avenue in the Galleria area was done much better. He asked if the City set standards for contractors and planner Nolan said yes. Member Iyer asked if MnDOT was contacted to see if the Rosland Park Pedestrian Bridge was moved if it would be considered a scope change in the project. Planner Nolan said it would be a scope change. He said staff decided to submit the grant application as though the bridge would remain in the same location. Member Miranda said after the work session with City Council where the discussion was on light rail and the circulator, and the need to stay updated on transportation issues, he thought that having a liaison from the Planning Commission would be useful to help stay abreast or updated on transportation issues that comes with redevelopment. After brief discussion, the consensus was to add this to a future agenda for discussion. Member Boettge asked about painting stop bars at the intersections on France Avenue and planner Nolan reminded her that stop bars were not painted because Hennepin County was not in favor of stop bars. He said there wasn’t any research of their effectiveness; however, coincidentally, Joe Totten, traffic safety coordinator, will be doing research on this for his master’s thesis beginning this fall. Member Bass said in reference to the transportation study that was presented tonight, it was helpful to hear that the budget was one-third of that of the Grandview study. She said when transportation studies are done in Edina, they are to include all modes, and the study presented tonight was very status quo with a focus on LOS for cars. She wondered if this reflected the values of the community or stated policy and if they should continue to accept it or pursue it. Draft Minutes☒ Approved Minutes☐ Approved Date: 5 Chair LaForce said he signed up the ETC for the Open Streets event and next month, they will discuss this and seek volunteers. He said the concrete work on Benton Avenue by MnDOT is completed but the crosswalk is not aligned yet and he’s hoping this will be done soon. He said he was at the traffic light at Parklawn Avenue & France Avenue and he was surprised at how difficult it was to see pedestrains; he knew a pedestrian was present because he saw the flashing pedestrian light; he said this demonstrated to him the meaning of what the ETC does. X. Staff Comments • The 2016 projects are progressing on schedule. • 2016 sidewalk projects: Cornelia Drive and Vernon Avenue are under construction; Interlachen Blvd will begin after a tree is removed on July 28; Xerxes Avenue is scheduled to begin September. • Comp Plan Update – staff is seeking feedback to see if the ETC would like to form a committee, a working group, or have the entire ETC participate in this process. • The W. 77th Street Bridge over TH-100 will close until mid-August for repairs. • Construction on the western half of the Nine Mile Creek Trail will begin this fall; the trail will open spring, 2018. • Grant applications were submitted for the Rosland Park Pedestrian Bridge and for Valley View Road bike lane. • Traffic Safety Intake tool – planner Nolan asked for an update on this tool; it is still in progress. XI. Calendar of Events A. Schedule of Meeting and Events as of July 21, 2016 XII. Adjournment at 8:25 p.m. J F M A M J J A S O N D SM WS # of Mtgs Attendance % Meetings/Work Sessions 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 NAME TERM (Date) 6/21 Bass, Katherine 3/1/2017 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7 88% Boettge, Emily 3/1/2017 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7 88% Brown, Andy 3/1/2019 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 100% Iyer, Surya 3/1/2018 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7 88% LaForce, Tom 3/1/2018 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 100% Loeffelholz, Ralf 3/1/2018 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 75% Janovy, Jennifer 3/1/2017 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 100% Miranda, Lou 3/1/2019 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 100% Olson, Larry 3/1/2017 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 100% Ding, Emily (student) 9/1/2016 1 1 2 25% Ruehl, Lindsey (student) 9/1/2016 1 1 1 1 4 50% TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION ATTENDANCE