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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-06-18 Minutes MINUTES OF THE Edina Transportation Commission Thursday, June 18, 2009 Edina City Hall 4801 West 50th Street Council Chambers MEMBERS PRESENT: Geof Workinger, Jennifer Janovy, Julie Sierks, Marc Usem, Warren Plante, Michael Schroeder MEMBERS ABSENT: Tom Bonneville, Jean White, Paul Mooty, Usha Abramovitz STAFF PRESENT: Wayne Houle, Jack Sullivan, Sharon Allison I. Call to Order The meeting was called to order by chair Workinger. II. Comments a. Chairman Comments Chair Workinger welcomed Commissioner Michael Schroeder to the ETC. Commissioner Schroeder will serve as the Planning Commission’s liaison. b. Community Comments None. III. Approval of Minutes a. Regular Meeting of April 16, 2009 Commissioner Plante motioned to approve the minutes of April 16, 2009. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Janovy. All voted aye. Motion carried. IV. Old Business a. Halifax Avenue Neighborhood Traffic Management Plan (NTMP) Assistant City Engineer Sullivan explained that an NTMP petition was submitted at the same time that a sidewalk was planned for Halifax Avenue. He said a decision was made to wait until after the sidewalk was installed to see if residents still wanted to move forward with the petition. Mr. Sullivan said at the April 16, 2009, ETC meeting, the petition was brought up again for and it was determined that a survey should be sent to the residents to gauge their interest now that the sidewalk is completed. Mr. Sullivan said the survey was sent to residents and less than half responded (an amount that does not meet the criteria for moving forward). For this reason, Mr. Sullivan said staff’s recommendation is not to move forward with the NTMP. 2 After discussion, Commissioner Usem made a motion to accept staff’s recommendation. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Plante. All voted aye. Motion carried. V. New Business a. Complete Streets Assistant City Engineer Sullivan said that Hennepin County’s Complete Streets Resolution is one of the first in the state. He said Mn/DOT and St. Paul is in the process of developing theirs and Mn/DOT is expected to complete a study and report to the legislature December 2009. Mr. Sullivan explained that the purpose of Complete Streets is to reduce foot prints, get people out of cars and get them walking, biking or onto mass transit. He explained further that while Edina does not have a Complete Street resolution when neighborhood reconstruction projects or redevelopments are planned every opportunity is made to include elements such as sidewalk and biking lanes. After a discussion, Commissioner Janovy agreed to conduct research to see what other cities are doing as it relates to Complete Streets. Chair Workinger said they should be mindful not to create a document that is going to replicate information that is already included in documents such as the Comp Plan. b. Transportation Funding Presentation Assistant City Engineer Sullivan explained that there are three general sources of funding: federal, state and local. He said an example of federal funds is the stimulus package; however, Edina is not receiving any stimulus money (applications were submitted for funding for two projects). State funds, he said, are in the form of gas tax, license tabs and vehicle sales tax for which Edina receives approximately $1 million annually to be used on State Aid roads. Mr. Sullivan said local funds are special assessments to residents for the full cost of work that was done. Other local funds include 20% from property taxes for general maintenance such as snowplowing. c. Transportation Issues in Edina Assistant City Engineer Sullivan said transportation issues were also discussed at the work session with Council. He explained that the ETC began as a result of the Local Traffic Task Force, to work on the six issue areas that were identified by them. Mr. Sullivan said the six areas are either completed or nearing completion. Moving forward, Mr. Sullivan said the Comp Plan as a list of areas that the ETC can work on, namely: the Gateway Area Redevelopment; France Avenue – Crosstown Interchange; W. 70th Street (Hwy. 100 to France Avenue) [in the implementation phase]; East/West Connector Corridor; I-494/Th 169; TH 169/Bren Road; and Crosstown/Xerxes Avenue. VI. Planning Commission Update (Commissioner Schroeder) Commissioner Schroeder reported that the Planning Commission has not been seeing a lot of development; therefore, the focus is on bringing the ordinances in compliance with the Comp Plan. He said the process should take about 20 months and it will include meetings with the various boards and commissions as well as developers to understand how they view the ordinances. 3 VII. Bike Edina Task Force Update Commissioner Janovy) a. Bike meeting minutes (April, May and June 2009) Commissioner Janovy said the Promenade bike and walking trail grand opening is scheduled for Saturday, June 20. Chair Workinger asked Mr. Sullivan to show the commission the conceptual drawings for the Promenade at the next meeting. Commissioner Janovy also reported that several bike rides with the Mayor are scheduled and that Interlachen Blvd should be signed for bike lanes soon. VIII. Staff Comments a. Work session with Council – Meeting Minutes In the recently held work session with the Council, Mr. Sullivan said the Council noted that one of the ETC’s purposes is to help alleviate the Council’s responsibilities. Commissioner Schroeder asked that the minutes be corrected to show that he was present. b. Greater Cornelia Area/70th Street Study Update Assistant City Engineer Sullivan said plans for Phase I, removal of the free right turn from Highway 100, will be sent to Mn/DOT within the next week for review; the expected completion date is still this fall. Phase 2, which includes everything east of France, is currently being surveyed to make sure they stay within the existing foot print of the roadway. A fall approval from Council and spring 2010 reconstruction is expected. Mr. Sullivan said funding will be State Aid dollars and 20% assessment to residents. He said it is still too early to identify an estimated cost. c. Northeast Edina Traffic Study Update Assistant City Engineer Sullivan reported that the Country Club Reconstruction Project is progressing nicely. He said the north half is complete and the contractor is now working on the south half. Meeting adjourned at 8:05 p.m.