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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-08-18 Minutes 1 MINUTES OF CITY OF EDINA, MINNESOTA TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION COMMUNITY ROOM AUGUST 18, 2011 6:00 P.M. ROLLCALL Answering rollcall were Members Bonneville, Franzen, Janovy, McKlveen, Nelson, Schold Davis, and Thompson APPROVAL OF MEETING AGENDA Motion was made by Member Thompson and seconded by Member Nelson approving the meeting agenda. All voted aye. Motion carried. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - REGULAR MEETING OF JULY 21, 2011 Correction was made to the spelling of member McKlveen’s name. Page 2, TLC Grant Update, delete “…ramps parallel to crosstown…” and replace with ‘…ADA compliant ramps on both ends approaching the pedestrian bridge…’ Motion was made by Member Franzen and seconded by Member Thompson to approve amended minutes. All voted aye. Motion carried. Traffic Safety Report of August 3, 2011 City engineer Houle said section A, item 1 was pulled because no longer needed by requestor. Section C, item 2, chair Janovy said this came from the NE Edina Traffic Study and requested an update at a future meeting on the parking issues with City of Minneapolis and Hennepin County at 44th/Sunnyside and France, and pedestrian improvements at White Oaks and Morningside. As a quick update, Mr. Houle said City of Minneapolis has not responded to any of his requests to improve parking, and the NE Edina Traffic Study area has been under construction for the past few years and traffic counts would be skewed; therefore, counts will be done when the construction is completed. Section C, item 3 was referred to Mn/DOT because the traffic signal is within their jurisdiction. Mr. Houle said the “no turn on red” allows traffic from Rabun Dr. to get onto W. 70th and that Mn/DOT could remove it if traffic is backing up onto TH-100. The ETC supports the “no turn on red.” Section D, item 4, member Nelson said this has come up before. Mr. Houle explained that complaints have always been that drivers cannot see oncoming traffic on the straight-away which is not necessary in a roundabout. He said drivers only need to see traffic entering the roundabout and pedestrians entering the crosswalk. Mr. Houle said staff is formulating the process for the TSC and will be bringing it to the ETC for review and feedback. Motion was made by chair Janovy to forward their comments to Council and seconded by member McKleven. All voted aye. COMMUNITY COMMENT None. REPORTS/RECOMMENDATIONS 2 Transit for Livable Communities – Bike Boulevard Update Chair Janovy said Mr. Houle and City Manager Neal spoke with Mr. Steve Clark of TLC and that TLC requested a letter from the City explaining the progress to date, as well as a letter from the BETF and ETC supporting or not supporting the Council’s decision from its 8/3 meeting, including the 3/2 conversion at Valley View. The BETF supports the conversion but would like to see a parking study on Wooddale to determine need. Mr. Houle was asked if the residents are aware of the potential parking loss and he said no because the public process is not typically done when a project is in the preliminary stage. He said a consultant would have to do the parking study due to staff’s workload. After discussion the following motion was made: Motion by member McKleven to: do parking study on Wooddale, draft alternative designs and then schedule public hearing; support bike lane on 54th; acknowledged that proposed route ends at W. 70th; support the continuation of dedicated bike lanes on Valley View from TH62 to W. 70th and additionally, look at the east bound exit from crosstown onto Valley View towards the aquatic center to improve operation; and member Franzen will draft the letter from the ETC to TLC with assistance from members Thompson and Nelson. The motion was seconded by member Schold Davis. All voted aye. France Avenue Pedestrian Crossing Update Members were presented with revised approved City Council meeting minutes from August 3. Chair Janovy noted the revised approved minutes were different from the minutes previously distributed, specifically, the wording of the Council's motion on the France Avenue bridge Request for Proposal (RFP)/Request for Qualifications (RFQ) had been revised. Member Franzen noted an RFP and RFQ are different things. Chair Janovy noted some council members may have been confused during the discussion because there is a difference between RFQ and RFP. Mr. Houle said it can be an RFP or RFQ but he would prefer an RFP and this works best to stay within the timeframe if the pedestrian bridge is to be built. He said TIF funds can pay for the study; however, he is not sure if TIF funds can be used to study at grade crossings since it’s a new feature. In regards to the pedestrian bridge being used, Mr. Houle said the owners of Byerlys, and the building at 72nd & France are excited about the bridge because customers/tenants would have access across France. Additionally, he said there are 700 homes that would be able to cross the bridge to get to Centennial Lakes and this is why funding was approved. After discussion, consensus was to study the bridge and three at grade crossing intersections (suggestions were 66th, 70th and 76th). Gallagher will not be included because Three Rivers District will be studying that intersection. Staff will draft the RFP and bring back to the ETC for review. Living Streets RFP Update Continued to the next meeting. Transportation Options Committee Member Schold Davis said she is asking that they form a subcommittee to review transportation options for Edina. She handed out information on a volunteer drivers’ program that has grant money available ($240,000) this fall. She said she has been meeting with an ad hoc group (Minneapolis, Carver, and St. Paul) that is working to start a program in the twin cities. The program would match volunteer drivers to users. Mr. Houle suggested contacting Sue Weigle at the Senior Center because they had explored a program that was being used in Plymouth but decided not to implement it in Edina. Chair Janovy explained that the proposal is for the subcommittee to meet for one year and it would be chaired by member Schold Davis. She explained further that they would need to identify who would be the lead in the joint venture with other cities/counties; determine if they need to follow the Open Meeting Law, publish press release, and receive statement of interest from volunteers. 3 Motion was made by member Bonneville to approve the Transportation Options Subcommittee as written except that the groups listed as representative is not limited to one member, and approval to publish a press release. The motion was seconded by member Nelson. All voted aye. Motion carried. Student Mentors Chair Janovy said there are two new student members starting in September and asked how the ETC could get them more involved. Working on Safe Routes to School projects and traffic issues at the high school were suggested. Member McKlveen volunteered to arrive at 5:30 p.m. for the next meeting to meet with the student members. Sidewalk and Bicycle Facilities Maps City engineer Houle said staff has more detailed maps than those in the Comp Plan and the ETC requested the more detailed maps. They asked if Rebecca, GIS administrator, could attend a meeting to give an overview of GIS and what kinds of maps can be generated. Mr. Houle said Rebecca can give an overview and that Rebecca can generate a variety of maps. He said requests for maps should be coordinated through him or Mr. Sullivan. 2012 Proposed Street Reconstruction City engineer Houle said open house dates are set for the 2012 (9/13) and 2013 (9/22) street reconstruction projects and specific neighborhood information meetings will be scheduled for October. He said staff will present plans to the ETC in October and hold public hearings in December. Mr. Houle was asked if Complete Streets is used when planning these projects and he said they have always incorporated the ideas of Complete Streets even though they did not have a formal policy. After discussion, the following were suggested: 1) members to drive the 2012 areas and bring back ideas; 2) adding the ETC to the mailing list for the 2012 and 2013 letters; and 3) members to sign up to receive City Extra emails for projects within their quadrant of the City. Commission Recommendation Process Continued to the next meeting. Bike Edina Task Force Update None. Grandview Small Area Study Update Members Nelson and Bonneville said the group continues to meet on the same night as the ETC and tonight the nine consultants that they have selected will be presenting to the group. 44th and 70th Street Updates W. 44th Street: curb and gutter should be in from France to Wooddale next week; lots of utility work are ongoing; and next week the road will be closed from TH100 to the east. W. 70th Street: the roundabouts are in and open to local traffic only; the 5 ft gutter pan was incorrectly installed and had to be ripped out and replaced (a $20,000 error for the contractor); to the east all the curb and gutter have been installed; in some areas the boulevard would will shrink to 2½ to 3 ft and be filled in with aggregate and when residents realized this they complained to Council and staff was directed to plant day lilies with homeowners responsible for maintenance; and, most of Cornelia will be open in time for school. Sunnyside Avenue: residents like having the speed table. Staff’s recommendation is to not put it in on streets 10 years or newer and a policy will be drafted regarding usage. CORRESPONDENCE AND PETITIONS None CHAIR AND COMMISSION MEMBER COMMENTS 4 Member Schold Davis said the Safe Routes to School conference was interesting and the same was echoed by chair Janovy. Member Nelson said the Southwest LRT is starting to meet again. STAFF COMMENTS None. ADJOURNMENT Motion made by member Nelson and seconded member Schold Davis to adjourn the meeting.