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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-10-26 MinutesDraft Minutes Approved Minutes Approved Date: 11/16/2017 1 Minutes City of Edina, Minnesota Transportation Commission Mayors Conference Room October 26, 2017, 6:00 p.m. I. Call To Order Vice Chair Miranda called the meeting to order. II. Roll Call Answering roll call were commissioners Ahler, Iyer, Kane, Ma, Miranda, Olson, Richman, and Ruthruff. Absent: Commissioners LaForce and Yeager. III. Approval Of Meeting Agenda Motion was made by commissioner Richman and seconded by commissioner Ahler approving the meeting agenda. All voted aye. Motion carried. IV. Approval Of Meeting Minutes Motion was made by commissioner Olson and seconded by commissioner Ruthruff approving the amended September 28, 2017, minutes. All voted aye. Motion carried. V. Community Comments Ms. Gayle Castro, 5217 Doncaster Way, said she has been working with traffic safety coordinator Bauler about parking on Doncaster Way by the park. She said it gets out of control when there are sporting events and submitted a photo to demonstrate. She said a portion of Glengarry Parkway, on the other side of the park, has no parking signs, and she suggested doing the same on Doncaster Way to force park patrons to use the parking lot. Mr. Steve Schwantes, 4412 Brookside Avenue, said the projects on Highways 100 and 169 increased traffic in his neighborhood and his concerns are increased daily traffic and speeding. He said he has been working with traffic safety coordinator Bauler and he’s since learned that his request for a 2-way stop sign at W. 44th Street and Brookside Avenue would not meet warrants. He said there is a stop sign at Division Avenue and Brookside Avenue that would not meet warrants today. Instead of stop signs, he requested a permanent radar sign like the one that was recently installed on Interlachen Boulevard. He said data shows the 85th percentile speed to be 33-34 mph. He said the area is underserved by the police. VI. Reports/Recommendations A. Edina Circulator Bus Pilot Mr. Dave VanHattum with DARTS, said he could answer questions related to the handout that the ETC received from him. He said DARTS has been doing Loops for 23 years and will be starting their fourth Loop in Lakeville on Nov. 9. He said their primary focus is seniors because they pick up and drop off at senior apartments, and seniors are surveyed before routes are set up to determine need (routes are similar from city to city). Discussion Edina has double the number of units (six senior buildings) compared to other cities. Rides are limited to seniors because of pick up locations but there could be outliers that ride. What if others would like to ride? This is not likely, but is possible and needs would be different requiring different planning; 80-90% of riders are seniors. Will need an advisory committee and some members should be seniors. Research where needs are with Metro Transit. Existing Loops tend to serve low income and those without cars. Draft Minutes Approved Minutes Approved Date: 11/16/2017 2 Edina’s current budget is $100,000 for two years but there is no long-term commitment yet to funding. Existing Loops started with City funds and over time changed to sponsorship funds. Who owns the Loop? DARTS would be the operator. Next steps: determine funding; establish advisory committee; select day of week (Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday are not preferred because of current constraints). In conclusion, planner Nolan said the next first step would be for the ETC to establish an advisory committee and this can be done based on the current budget. B. Comprehensive Plan Update: Transportation “Tool Kit” Planner Nolan explained that the Tool Kit was to be used as a guide to identify parts of the plan that would stay or be deleted. Some commissioners expressed feeling overwhelmed because of the complexity of the plan and their lack of experience with transportation related matters. Planner Nolan reassured them that staff would be available to answer questions or provide data, and vice-chair Miranda added that the idea is to update the plan, not rewrite it. Discussion to form a committee took place and commissioners Richman, Ahler, Kane and Iyer volunteered for the committee. Motion was made by commissioner Iyer and seconded by commissioner Kane to form a committee to work on the Comprehensive Plan Update: Transportation Chapter, with the goal of following up with the ETC in November. All voted aye. Motion carried. C. Transportation Impact Analysis Process Review Planner Nolan said this was a work plan item for both the ETC and the Planning Commission (PC). According to director Teague, the PC has not talked about it yet, but staff is hoping to plan a joint meeting for discussion. Discussion The TIA is a policy but is not being used exactly as intended. It is on both work plans to figure out how to include transportation in PC’s redevelopment approval process. It may not be meeting the PC’s needs. Most of what is in the TIA is used by staff for traffic studies. ETC is always an afterthought in decision-making process. Estelle project was noted as an example with tremendous transportation impacts, but the ETC was not part of the discussion. PC meets twice monthly and ETC only once – this has always been an issue. Maybe the ETC should meet twice monthly. Staff was asked to provide the specific numbers that “trigger” the TIA process. Planner Nolan said it is outlined in the Policy but not used as intended. Traffic study process for redevelopments: City hires the consultant to conduct the study; money is collected from the developer to pay the consultant. Suggestion to expand scope of study further out from closest intersection. Suggestion to incorporate more forms of transportation. Developers pay to improve Level of Service (LOS) at intersections when their development will negatively impact LOS. There is a push for more density especially in the Southdale area. How do they improve the TIA to accommodate these? Planner Nolan said that during the Southdale Area Transportation Study the base model was updated to include higher densities. Draft Minutes Approved Minutes Approved Date: 11/16/2017 3 D. Parkwood Knolls Neighborhood Traffic Planner Nolan said this neighborhood was impacted when Highway 169 was closed and residents asked for permanent solutions. Traffic counts were done last year, end of October, and two weeks ago, and the counts showed lowered average daily traffic (ADT) from last year. Staff met today with a representative from the neighborhood and he reported that things are quieter and calmer so they have no concerns now. E. Traffic Safety Report of October 4, 2017 B.1. Planner Nolan explained that if they installed no parking signs, drivers would simply find another street to park on. Discussion ensued about what could be done and they concluded that there was no adequate solution. B.4. Leave as is and planner Nolan will talk with staff about the resident’s new request. Motion was made by commissioner Ruthruff and seconded by commissioner Olson to forward the TSC report of October 4, 2017, to the City Council. All voted aye. Motion carried. VII. Correspondence and Petitions A letter was received from a resident about Passenger Rail after the report was presented to the City Council. VIII. Chair and Member Comments Commissioner Ruthruff suggested picking two commissioners to begin attending PC meetings (not as commissioners but as regular residents). Commissioner Ahler said she watched councilmember Stewart’s comments on Passenger Rail and realized how little knowledge she had on the subject. Discussion ensued about councilmember Stewart’s and residents’ comments. Commissioner Olson asked who was paying for the crosswalk improvements at W. 68th Street and Valley View Road and planner Nolan said the developer; Commissioner Olson reminded commissioners of the upcoming school board election and encouraged everyone to vote. Commissioner Iyer said based on his comment earlier about the Estelle project and the ETC’s lack of involvement, he would consider the TIA as top priority for the ETC and the community. Commissioner Richman expressed similar sentiments to commissioner Ahler. She said maybe Council’s guidance was very narrow. She asked if they should re-establish a Bike Task Force because one is included with the Bicycle Friendly Community Certification – the consensus was not now. Commissioner Kane commented on councilmember Stewart’s comments and the resident’s letter and asked about engaging the business community and providing updates to Council and getting feedback from them. Planner Nolan said the consultant reached out to businesses but they did not participate. He said the timeline for this project was short so they did not have an opportunity to follow up with Council for feedback. Commissioner Kane suggested improving the process for communicating with the business community and getting feedback from Council and he will work with planner Nolan to add this to a future agenda. Commissioner Ma asked why the TIA was given to the PC and staff explained that the PC met more frequently than the ETC and therefore could not meet the PC’s deadlines. IX. Staff Comments Planner Nolan announced that this would be engineering specialist Allison’s last meeting with the ETC because she has a new job assignment. Draft Minutes Approved Minutes Approved Date: 11/16/2017 4 France Avenue, north of Market Street, is currently signed no parking except on Sunday, and a request was received to allow parking. Staff is considering this all the way up to Sunnyside Road which would bring this side of the street in symmetry with the Minneapolis side. Hennepin County will allow it with a resolution from the City Council. Planner Nolan was asked if a boulevard could be added for pedestrian safety on the sidewalk and he said maybe. Consensus from the ETC was to remove the no parking signs and stripe for parking. Mark your calendar for Mar. 28, 2018, 5:30-7:00 p.m., Comprehensive Plan Update Work Session (non- mandatory meeting). X. Calendar of Events A. Schedule of Meeting and Event Dates as of October 26, 2017 For information purposes - no discussion. XI. Adjournment at 8:16 p.m. J F M A M J J A S O N D SM # of Mtgs Attendance % Meetings/Work Sessions 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 10 NAME (Date) Ahler, Mindy 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 80% Bass, Katherine 1 1 2 100% Boettge, Emily 1 1 2 100% Brown, Andy 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 80% Iyer, Surya 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 80% LaForce, Tom 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 9 90% Janovy, Jennifer 1 1 2 100% Kane, Bocar 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 100% Miranda, Lou 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 10 100% Olson, Larry 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 9 90% Richman, Lori 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7 90% Ruthruff, Erik 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 100% Jenny Ma 1 1 2 100% Tessa Yeager 0 0% Koester, David (student)1 1 1 1 4 40% Olk, Megan (student)1 1 1 3 30% TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION ATTENDANCE RESIGNED