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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-10-20 Minutes1 MINUTES OF CITY OF EDINA, MINNESOTA TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION COUNCIL CHAMBERS October 20, 2011 6:00 P.M. ROLLCALL Answering rollcall were Members Bass, Braden, Nelson, Schold Davis, Thompson, Janovy, McKlveen, Housh, Bonneville, Franzen, Schweiger APPROVAL OF MEETING AGENDA Chair Janovy proposed moving Traffic Safety to after item D and add Transportation Option Working Group Update just before BETF, item G. Motion was made by member McKlveen and seconded by member Franzen approving the amended meeting agenda. All voted aye. Motion carried. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - REGULAR MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 15, 2011 Motion was made by member McKlveen and seconded by member Braden to approve the minutes. All voted aye. Motion carried. COMMUNITY COMMENT Bob Boettcher, 5250 Grandview Square, representing Edina Community Lutheran Church at 54th Street, one block from France Avenue, requested that the ETC considered several parking options on 54th Street because on-street parking during the week is important to the church and bike lanes on both sides would restrict parking. He said the church has a variance from the City for on-street parking and asked that this be kept in mind and that consideration be given to finding solutions that will accommodate bikes, cars and parking. REPORTS/RECOMMENDATIONS Karen Kurt – Edina Assistant City Manager, Introduction Karen Kurt, assistant city manager, said one of her charge is working with boards and commissions to ensure they have all the tools needed and one project that is currently underway is developing a bylaw template. She said commission staff liaisons are working with her on a draft and representatives from each commission will be invited to review and comment on it. Additionally, she said a boards and commissions survey will probably be done in November to get feedback in several areas, including training that will be scheduled for next year. Jack Broz – “A complete streets discussion of France Avenue” Mr. Broz said instead of focusing on France Avenue specifically, his report would include a blend of Complete Streets which have been emerging over the past decade and which will affect many streets differently, even more so than the effect of the highway system. He said over the years, the term has been coined differently (Context Sensitive Solutions, Green Streets, Complete Streets, and now Living Streets) but they all have the same meaning -- integration of land use and transportation. He said Complete Streets tries to move the emphasis from just vehicles to finding a new balance of transportation regardless of the mode. He said the conventional approach, based on federal law funding which included three categories of arterial, collector and local streets did not fit very well; therefore, functional classifications were developed and still, not every road fits into these categories. Roads were designed using level of service and peak hour of service with forecast for the next 20 years. The designs, however, did not include off peak hours or the weekends. France Avenue, for example, was designed to handle peak hour traffic. Complete Streets tries to find a balance between peak and off peak hours. 2 He said further that the industry is changing based on research that shows a focus on vehicles. A coalition of partners working to make a difference including Blue Cross Blue Shield said they realize that the way people move has to change. Realistically, he said people will not start riding the bus because the curb is ADA compliant; however, if it is made safe -- lighting, no gaps in sidewalk, convenient and advantageous they might. The 2010 Highway Capacity Manual has acknowledged all level of services for the first time. With a community based design that is land use driven, community aspiration, and quality of life, he said any infrastructure change can be used as an inspiration for achieving balance. He said City of Richfield installed a sewer pipe and the completed project included a Three Rivers Trail, bike lanes, sidewalks, trees, crosswalks, etc. In conclusion, he said France Avenue is a unique roadway and the challenge for the industry is designing a road that will work in a network while keeping the traffic patterns in mind. He said design flexibility is key. TLC Phase 1 Bike Boulevard – Steve Clark, Transit for Livable Communities Mr. Sullivan said over 670 property owners were invited to the October 6 open house and approximately 38 attended including some ETC members. He said residents did not appear to be against the bike lanes but were concerned with how residents and businesses would be affected if parking were eliminated. He said the second step in the process was to have a discussion tonight based on feedback from residents; however, no correspondences from resident have been received to date, except for the resident in attendance tonight. The third step is to forward this to Council for a public hearing on December 6. As background information, chair Janovy explained that the letter sent to TLC in August did not clearly state that Wooddale would have a bike lane and since that time the TLC board has proposed removing parking on Wooddale (from 54th to Valley View) to accommodate a bike lane. She said a creative option that has been suggested to retain parking would be advisory lanes (remove center stripe and have shared lane marking) like 14th St in Minneapolis. Mr. Tony Hull, in attendance for Steve Clark, explained that advisory bike lanes are used where lanes or sharrows cannot be used. He said the driver can go into the advisory lane when cyclist is not present. He said they are common in Europe and works well on streets with 6,000 or less vehicles. He said it can have a traffic calming effect because without a centerline drivers have to yield or slow to oncoming traffic. He said to date, they have not had any negative reports and in his observation, cars are traveling closer to the center and away from the bike lane. He said learning curve is to be expected with something new and that data will be collected next spring/summer. Discussion took place regarding lane widths and variance but there was not a definitive answer because advisory lanes are very new and therefore would require feedback from MnDOT. 54th Street from France to Wooddale would have dedicated bike lanes and share the road from Zenith to France. The dedicated bike lanes would require removal of parking. Mr. Sullivan said based on feedback from the church and others, they could consider modifications on certain sections to minimize the impact on parking. Currently, there is no parking on 54th from the creek to Wooddale and staff believes that to continue with no parking would not be a hardship because parking is available on side streets. Concern was raised about removing the turn lane on Valley View and Mr. Sullivan said the plan is not to remove it; however, it was added in 2005 when density was higher. It was noted that 66th to 69th on Valley View does not show bike lanes and the ETC supported it there down to 70th. Mr. Sullivan said they are still working through some things to arrive at a final design. Because this is close to a park, the ETC would prefer to have bike lanes. Motion was made by member Franzen and seconded by member McKlveen restating support of the August 24 letter with the addition of advisory lane on Wooddale. All voted aye. Motion carried. 3 Member Thompson volunteered to type the recommendation report to Council. Parkwood Road/Londonderry Intersection Realignment Mr. Sullivan explained that one year ago, a request came in for an all-way stop sign at Parkwood Road and Londonderry Road. Currently, there is a stop sign. Traffic counts were collected and speed is reasonable and volumes are low. The request was denied and requestor presented additional information to Council and Council asked staff to look at the intersection again. Staff suggested that the requestor used the NTMP process but the requestor did not want to. Mr. Sullivan said staff is proposing to tighten up the intersection by bringing the north leg of Londonderry Road in perpendicular to Parkwood Road. The intersection will still be controlled by a stop sign for vehicles traveling south on Londonderry Road. Vehicles traveling on Parkwood Road and the south leg of Londonderry Road will have the right-of- way thru the intersection. The work would be done this fall. Motion was made by member Thompson and seconded by member Mcklveen approving the proposed design. All voted aye. Motion carried. Traffic Safety Report of October 5, 2011 Section B. I. – Mr. Sullivan explained that requestor was looking to define who had the right-of-way and it was more related to users of the park who are not familiar with the area. Section D – Commission requested traffic counts data. Section C. I. – Chair Janovy said BETF is prioritizing routes that they would like to see striped and signed and Benton Avenue is one of them. Mr. Sullivan said they are doing traffic counts currently on this street and the requestor was informed of the bicycle primary and secondary routes, as well as the sidewalk plans. Motion was made by member Nelson and seconded by member Franzen approving the Traffic Safety Report of October 5, 2011. All voted aye. Motion carried. Initial Feedback on LA County Living Streets Policy Chair Janovy said LA County’s Living Streets Policy looks a lot like what the ETC has been discussing and they are allowing other cities to use what they have. She suggested a working group of up to four members to review the policy of the cities of North St. Paul and Maplewood and to see how they can adapt a policy for Edina and get feedback from the public. Members Thompson, McKlveen, Nelson and Janovy will make up the working group with member Thompson serving as the chair. Chair Janovy said Council will need to approve the working group. Motion by member Bass and seconded by member Schold Davis forming the working group as stated. All voted aye. Motion carried. Questions/Updates from Student Members Member Schwieger said at the end of September he received an email (forwarded from the City of Edina) from a concerned parent at Concord requesting crosswalks be better marked and signs showing where the crosswalks are. And the upper parking lot does not have a crosswalk and requested a sidewalk there. Member Schweiger said he visited the area and thought the crosswalks did not look bad but could look better. He said her concern was legitimate but it appeared the area is well marked. Mr. Sullivan said staff is working on a feasibility report for sidewalk along School Road to 60th and additional signage for presentation to Council this fall. Member Housh said she is excited to see changes on France Avenue. 4 Transportation Options Working Group Member Schold Davis sought approval for the following four new members: Amber Cameron, David Mesenbourg, Linda Denel, and Milton Adams. The first meeting is scheduled for November 1. Motion was made by member Schold Davis and seconded by member Franzen to accept the four new members and hold their first meeting on November 1. All voted aye. Motion carried. Bike Edina Task Force Update Chair Janovy said they are prioritizing primary bike routes on State Aid roads and will be bringing this to the ETC for review in context with other work. Grandview Small Area Study Update Member Nelson said meeting 2 is scheduled for this week and will include four focus groups. 44th and 70th Streets Update Mr. Sullivan said 70th by CPC is expected to be completed over the next 2-3 weeks. Final wear course is going down on 44th tomorrow. Both projects are nearing completion. CORRESPONDENCE AND PETITIONS Chair Janovy asked if the commission could receive correspondences even if the ETC is not responsible for a resolution. Mr. Sullivan said yes and asked for one month to evaluate the types of correspondences that are coming in. CHAIR AND COMMISSION MEMBER COMMENTS Member Bass thanked whoever was responsible for the curb ramp and sidewalk work that was done at Gleason Rd on the overpass. She said it is much easier to maneuver with a stroller and for those traveling in a wheelchair. Chair Janovy commended the Edina Historical Society on their newsletter which included an exhibit on growing up in Edina. She said it relates to transportation because people most often reminisced about walking, playing outside and riding their bikes. She said these are what make childhood. STAFF COMMENTS Mr. Sullivan asked that commissioners review the draft RFP and forward comment to him by next week. ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned.