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.
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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.
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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.
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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.