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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation Packet May 2011G:\Pub-Wrks\Eng\Dept-Admin\Transportation Commission\Minutes\2011\5 19 11 TC Minutes.Docx Page 1 of 5 TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION Thursday, May 19, 2011 Council Chambers, 1175 East Main Street Minutes Attendees: Tom Burnham, Shawn Kampmann, Steve Ryan (Chair) Julia Sommer, Colin Swales, Brent Thompson, Corinne Vieville (via Telephone), David Young Absent: Eric Heesacker Staff Present: Jim Olson, Nancy Slocum I. CALL TO ORDER: Meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Chair Steve Ryan. Commission welcomed long time resident Shawn Kampmann. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Burnham moved to approve the minutes of April 21, 2011 with minor amendments. Young seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. III. ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AGENDA: Agenda items were reordered to accommodate the attending members of the public. Item E would be followed by Items A, F, B, C and D. IV. PUBLIC FORUM No one spoke to items not on the agenda. V. ACTION ITEMS: A. Request for Memorial Sign on Faith Avenue Olson provided the staff report. In June, 2010, Jesse Brandson was fatally injured in a skateboarding accident. His mother, Janet Brandsen, requested that a memorial sign of the City’s choosing be placed at or near the crash site. There was currently no policy or prior history of this type of request and Olson asked the Commission for guidance. Janet Brandsen, 570 Faith Avenue, was supported by her sister-in-law, Jesse’s girlfriend and his bestfriend. She requested the memorial sign to mark the one year anniversary of Jesse’s death. She said a small sign was okay. Mike O’Neele, 570 Faith Avenue, suggested a small approximately one foot square sign be mounted on the telephone pole. He suggested the sign remind children to wear a helmet when skateboarding. Sam Sheppard, 340 Normal Avenue, favored a memorial sign as a reminder to children as she had a 16 year old skateboarder at home. Nancy Boyer, 425 Normal Avenue, was the owner of the property (696 Faith Av) adjacent to the G:\Pub-Wrks\Eng\Dept-Admin\Transportation Commission\Minutes\2011\5 19 11 TC Minutes.Docx Page 2 of 5 accident site. She had concerns about where a sign would be located and whether or not property owners would be notified before a decision was made. Motion Burnham moved to draft a memorial street sign policy. Thompson seconded the motion. Discussion Young thought the issue was more complicated than he first thought. He agreed children should be reminded to wear their helmets, but this request set a precedent. He did not like the time limit pressure. He noted that no signs could legally be placed on telephone poles. He suggested perhaps posting a sign on private property while a formal policy was being developed. Olson suggested the policy consider a smaller 18” by 24” or 12” by 24” sign posted on a 2” powder coated pole. The sign would be placed for a period not to exceed two years. He pointed Commissioners to the policy samples included in the packet. Amended Motion and Vote Sommer amended the motion moving staff to draft a memorial street sign policy for the Commission’s review at the next Commission meeting. Thompson seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Vote on original motion passed unanimously. B. Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) Request for Funds Olson explained that this request was tied to Keith Massie’s request for funding of bicycle helmets at the previous meeting. The Commission had asked that distribution of helmets be administered through BTA’s classes and be based on need. Egon DuBois, 381 W Nevada and BTA Rogue Valley Coordinator, asked the Commission to help fund bicycle safety classes in Ashland’s middle and elementary schools. The classes and budget were described in the donation request letter from LeeAnne Fergason. BTA had subsidized bike safety classes in Ashland since 1999. He asked the Commission to grant BTA the balance of the Commission’s budget for this fiscal year. DuBois was asked to report on the recent bike swap. This year the swap sold 212 pieces of bike equipment (vs 196 in 2010) and grossed $18,822 (vs $17,604) in private money. He did not yet know the net proceeds for either BTA or the Parks and Recreation classes. The Commission was confused on how much money they granted BTA in the past. Young did not understand the budget written by Fergason and questioned some of the figures. DuBois explained the administrative limitations of a non-profit organization and assured Young that all the money received from the Commission would fund classes in Ashland only. DuBois believed last year the money came from the Public Works Department budget and not the Commission. The Commission asked staff to research funding history. Sommer agreed with Young’s concerns. Motion Young moved to defer action until June’s meeting with the stipulation that a more detailed, transparent budget with actual costs for bike safety classes in Ashland be provided by BTA. G:\Pub-Wrks\Eng\Dept-Admin\Transportation Commission\Minutes\2011\5 19 11 TC Minutes.Docx Page 3 of 5 Vieville seconded the motion. Discussion Vieville also questioned the accuracy of the budget. Thompson asked if the number of hours for each class could be reduced from ten hours in order to accommodate more students. Burnham stated that the school district had never had the funds to support these bike safety classes. Commission asked BTA to provide the cost per hour for classes, overhead costs (e.g. time to repair bicycles) and more realistic costs. Vote The motion passed unanimously. C. Siskiyou Velo Bicycle “Advocacy” Funding Grant Ryan asked that this item be tabled. He would ask staff questions regarding the grant via email. D. Request for Stop Sign on Homes at Normal Nancy Boyer, 425 Normal Av and 30 year resident, disputed staff’s traffic count. The area included a middle school, park, cemetery and senior center and at times traffic and parking use was very high. Relocating the mailboxes would help, but moving them further south was not convenient for residents. She was in favor of a stop sign and also requested a marked crosswalk. Beau Sheppard, 340 Normal, had three children and often used the bike path and intersection. He noted a stop sign and crosswalk would be helpful. He agreed with staff’s recommendation, but thought even a yield sign would be more helpful than no sign. Mike Sullivan, 127 Walnut Place Phoenix, represented the corner property owner. A minor land partition was recently approved and included removing the lilac bush and installing a sidewalk as conditions of approval. He had asked the post office to relocate the mailboxes, but they refused. He thought it important for staff to count pedestrians along with vehicles. Wendy Hood, 144 Normal, favored a stop sign. She had two young boys who were not allowed to retrieve the mail as she thought it too dangerous. Carol Block, 355 Normal, favored a stop sign and reported the mail carrier agreed. On some weekday evenings and Saturdays when Little League played there were many children walking and crossing the street. Vision was obstructed while making a right hand turn. Nicole Lee, 355 Normal, lived below the tracks off a private road. She favored relocating the mailboxes closer to the residents. She noted many cars parked on both sides of the streets at times. Leo DeMarinis, 145 Normal Avenue, frequented the Senior Center and favored a stop sign. He noted the confusion in the names Normal Street versus Normal Avenue. Sue DeMarinis, 145 Normal Av, thought there was no safe way to maneuver this intersection and favored a stop sign. She said it was very dangerous for children and seniors who perhaps had difficulty hearing. G:\Pub-Wrks\Eng\Dept-Admin\Transportation Commission\Minutes\2011\5 19 11 TC Minutes.Docx Page 4 of 5 Discussion Sommer asked staff if it was legal to place a stop sign where MUTCD warrants were not met. Olson said the City could waive warrants, but cautioned that stop signs were often misconstrued as the solution to all traffic problems. In fact stop signs could make things worse on low volume streets where residents eventually disregard the signs altogether. Sommer asked if the Planning Commission addressed the problems at this intersection. Sullivan answered no. Sommer asked if the property owner had the right to remove mail boxes located on their private property. Sullivan had not wanted to solicit a lawyer. Kampmann asked about installing a marked crosswalk. Olson noted that every intersection was a specified pedestrian crossing and that marked crosswalks often gave pedestrians a false sense of security. Burnham asked if a traffic study could be redone on a weekend. Motion Thompson moved to ask staff to work with the post office to relocate the mailboxes north of the intersection of Normal and Homes. Burnham seconded the motion. Discussion Young wondered if the location of mailboxes were within the Commission’s purview. Sommer agreed with staff’s recommendation for no stop sign, but would like staff to study the placement of a marked crosswalk. Vote Vote was four votes to four. Motion failed. Motion Young moved to install a stop sign on the south side of Homes at Normal. Motion failed for lack of a second. Motion Burnham moved to direct staff to redo the traffic study and review the accident history of this intersection. Motion failed for lack of a second. Motion Swales moved to endorse staff’s recommendation at this time and meantime direct staff to study the feasibility of a marked crosswalk at this location, work with the post office to relocate the mailboxes, and review other potential safety options. Kampman seconded the motion. Discussion Young thought the intersection did not warrant a stop sign and disagreed that more study was needed. Vote Seven to one in favor of the motion. Motion passed. E. Request for Stop Sign on Pinecrest Terrace Olson reviewed the staff report. Both Pinecrest Terrace and Ponderosa had low traffic volumes (540 vs 350 vpd). This was an older subdivision with wide streets and no sidewalk improvements. G:\Pub-Wrks\Eng\Dept-Admin\Transportation Commission\Minutes\2011\5 19 11 TC Minutes.Docx Page 5 of 5 He received one call in favor of a stop sign and one against (sitting noise and air pollution). Staff recommended against a stop sign. Swales asked if there was sufficient vision clearance at the northwest corner. Olson said that because of the angle of the turn, yes. Grant Miller, 990 Pinecrest Terrace, was not in favor of a stop sign. He could not remember any crashes or near misses. Two neighbors he recently spoke to agreed. Motion and Vote Young moved to accept staff’s recommendation against installing a stop sign. Thompson seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. F. Request for Left Turn Signal at the Siskiyou / Wightman / Indiana Intersection Cheryl Briggs, employee of Southern Oregon University, witnessed several near misses at this intersection she thought resulted from left turning traffic. She thought the intersection could benefit from the installation of a protected left turn signal. Staff recommended that a traffic signal analysis be conducted to determine if left turn signals, at a cost of $150,000, was necessary. Commission wondered if SOU could be expected to fund part of the study costs. Olson replied that the signal was under the jurisdiction of the City of Ashland only. Motion Burnham moved to accept staff’s recommendation that this engineering study be placed on the list of future projects and funded as money became available and to invite SOU to become involved with the analysis and future improvement of the intersection. Thompson seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Discussion Swales asked if any interim actions such as signal timing could be implemented immediately. Olson replied that signal timing was a necessary part of the engineering study. Vote Commission voted eight to one; motion passed. VI. NON ACTION ITEMS A. Update on North Main Road Diet Kittelson finished collecting data on the effects of the road diet on adjacent neighborhood streets. The town hall was scheduled for Tuesday, June 14. The format and venue were yet to be determined. VII. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS Sommer asked about other locations (besides Third Street) slated for on street bike corrals. Olson mentioned two: in front of the library and on Pioneer Street adjacent to Oregon Shakespeare. VIII. ADJOURN: 8:18 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Nancy Slocum, Office Assistant