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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-02-18 Minutes MEETING SUMMARY OF THE Edina Transportation Commission Thursday, February 18, 2010 Edina City Hall 4801 West 50th Street Council Chambers MEMBERS PRESENT: Jennifer Janovy, Tom Bonneville, Usha Abramovitz MEMBERS ABSENT: Warren Plante, Geof Workinger, Jean White, Michael Schroeder, Julie Sierks, STAFF PRESENT: Jack Sullivan, Sharon Allison I. Call to Order The meeting was called to order by acting-chair Janovy. II. Comments a. Chairman Comments Acting-chair Janovy welcomed new members Commissioners Franzen and Sprague to the ETC. Their first official meeting is March 18. b. Community Comments Mr. Mark Chamberlain 7004 Bristol Blvd Mr. Chamberlain made the following traffic-related requests: 1. East towards W. 50th Street & France Avenue, at W. 50th Street & Wooddale Avenue, by St. Steven’s Church, there is a sign that says “lane ends merge left,” but traffic drives as though there are two lanes. Consider taking the sign down or stripe the roadway to make it obvious that it is one lane. 2. At W. 70th Street & France Avenue, heading west on W. 70th Street, the right hand lane was striped as a turn only lane to go north on France, middle lane is straight ahead only lane and left lane is left turn only lane. Requested that same be done on the other side of France Avenue (going east) coming from the Cornelia neighborhood. Currently, a driver in the right lane going straight ahead (east) is competing with a driver turning from France Avenue onto W. 70th Street into a one-lane roadway, and there is the potential for three drivers to be competing for the single lane. Also, the driver in the right lane wanting to go straight ahead has two or three drivers behind him wanting to make a right turn onto France but cannot because the lead car is waiting to go straight ahead. 3. W. 70th Street & Hwy 100, going east, approaching the bridge (overpass), sign indicates that the left-left turn lane is for north Hwy. 100 and the right left turn lane is for Normandale Blvd; however, when you go under the bridge at the stoplight, there is only one sign that 2 says Hwy. 100 north and you’ll get a driver in the right left turn lane trying to go onto Hwy. 100. Make it clear that both lanes are for Hwy. 100 or one is for Hwy. 100 and the other is for Normandale Blvd. 4. W. 72nd Street & France Avenue, going east on W. 72nd Street toward France Avenue, drivers turn left onto France and the first possible right that they can make would be onto to Hazelton Road. From a safety standpoint, and convenience for those going south on France, consider making W. 72nd Street a ‘no left turn lane.’ Instead, cars could go up Lynmar Lane to Hazelton Road and safely cross France Avenue at the stoplight. 5. W. 72nd Street approaching Ohms Lane, coming from Metro Blvd, there is a sign that is only visible in the winter due to blooming trees other times of the year, indicating that both lanes are left turn lanes to go onto southbound Ohms Lane. There is not enough traffic to warrant two turn lanes. Request is to take the sign down and have one right turn and one left turn lane. 6. Please define school zone signs that say ‘reduce speed when children are present.’ 7. W. 70th Street between France Avenue and York Avenue at the roundabouts, the grasses is too tall which reduces visibility and impedes safety. 8. W. 70th Street & Metro Blvd, left turn lane from north Metro Blvd to W. 70th Street –stoplight was changed recently and it seems to be slowing traffic. There does not appear to be enough traffic making a left turn lane to justify having dedicated time. Consider making the light green for both north and south at the same. Acting-chair Janovy asked how the determination is made regarding which body is responsible for handling Mr. Chamberlain’s requests. Mr. Sullivan explained that Mr. Chamberlain’s requests are traffic safety related and are handled by the Traffic Safety Coordinator, Mr. Tate. He said generally residents call in or email their request directly to Mr. Tate. Mr. Sullivan said Mr. Chamberlain’s requests will be forwarded to Mr. Tate. III. Approval of Minutes a. Regular Meeting of January 21, 2010 Approval was postponed until the next meeting due to a lack of quorum. Acting-chair Janovy said the meeting notes that was sent to the Zoning Committee differ from the minutes so they will need to decide if it should be included with the minutes or if the minutes will serve as the official record. IV. New Business a. MnPass Cancelled. b. Transit Link-Metro Transit Dial-A-Ride Mr. John Harper, supervisor of Transit Link at the Metropolitan Council, explained the services they offer. Mr. Harper said Transit Link, formerly Dial-A-Ride, offers bus services where other bus routes are not available. He said it is different from Metro Mobility which requires a certification for ridership. The service is available in the seven-county metro area, Monday- Friday, 6 a.m.-7 p.m. Fares vary from $2.25 to $6.75. Passengers must make reservation 5 days in advance and is expected to walk a quarter mile in the winter and a half mile in the summer. More information is available at www.transitlinktc.org. 3 V. Planning Commission Update (Commissioner Schroeder) No update. VI. Bike Edina Task Force Update (Commissioner Janovy) Chair Janovy reported that they had a joint meeting with the Council this past Tuesday; they continue to work on projects listed in the minutes; a new application is being written to name City of Edina as a bike friendly city; and the phase I route along 54th Street and up Wooddale Avenue to Valley View Road is progressing. VII. Staff Liaison Comments a. W. 70th Street Reconstruction Update Mr. Sullivan said W. 70th Street is in the final design phase and the plans will be going to Mn/DOT in two weeks for approval. He said it is still on schedule for reconstruction this summer and utility coordination work has already begun. b. I-169 & I-494 Interchange Improvement Update Mr. Sullivan said on February 11, Mn/DOT held on open house for this design-build project which will begin in 2010 if funding is secured (already this week they were turned down for one funding source). The current design does not include access from I-494 to I-169; however, it is being designed to accommodate access in the future. Also, Edina is looking closely at the Valley View Road and I-169 design to be sure that it will serve the community in the long term. c. Metro Transit Route 6 Update Mr. Sullivan said Metro Transit met with the residents and has agreed to some revisions to their route. The new route is scheduled to begin May 15. New Business Mr. Sullivan said a petition was received requesting speed reduction from 35 mph to 30 mph on W. 66th Street, between Brittany Road and Cornelia Drive; and the Council has requested a resolution from the ETC to forward the request to Mn/DOT for study. Mn/DOT will do the study because W. 66th Street is a state aid road. The Annual Traffic Safety Report was distributed to commissioners. An article on Complete Streets by the Bicycle Alliance of MN was distributed. Acting-chair Janovy said it explains what Complete Streets are. Acting-chair Janovy asked for suggested topics for discussion for future meetings. Commissioner Bonneville suggested: 1) Streamlining the development review process; 2) The function of the ETC in regards to having jurisdiction of the process, e.g. should they review projects with 1,000 ADT or lower; and 3) Involvement the Small Area Planning with reference to the old Public Works building (Commissioner White has volunteered to serve on this committee). He said item 3 is considered old business and should be added to the agenda for follow-up discussion. Acting-chair Janovy suggested reviewing the idea of creating bylaws. Additionally, Commissioner Bonneville suggested discussing whether the ETC should be statutory to the Planning Commission. VIII. Adjournment. Meeting adjourned.