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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation Minutes September 2017ASHLAND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION MINUTES September 28, 2017 Transportation Commission September 28, 2017 Page 1 of 4 CALL TO ORDER: Graf called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. Commissioners Present: Joe Graf, Dominic Barth, Sue Newberry, David Young, Corinne Vièville, and Kat Smith Commissioners Absent: None Council Liaison Present: None Council Liaison Absent: Mike Morris, and Rich Rosenthal SOU Liaison Absent: Janelle Wilson Staff Present: Scott Fleury, Brandon Goldman, and Tara Kiewel ANNOUNCEMENTS Fleury announced the new Public Works Director, Paula Brown. Brown thanked the commission for their work and said she looks forward to meeting and working with everyone. CONSENT AGENDA Approval of Minutes: August 23, 2017 Commissioners Newberry/Young m/s to approve minutes as amended. All ayes. Minutes approved. PUBLIC FORUM Huelz Gutcheon- 2253 Hwy 99 Huelz spoke about electric cars and safety. He wondered where the electricity would come from to run the electric cars and spoke about the distribution of power and solar panels. He would like the commission to think about using solar panels to get electricity for electric cars. NEW BUSINESS Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) Region 3 Active Transportation Presentation Jenna Marmon, Active Transportation Coordinator gave a presentation about Active Transportation in our region. See attached presentation. Barth asked how we can change the mentality of parents who believe that driving their kids around is important quality time. Marmon said that time spent walking with children would be quality time with fewer distractions. Barth asked about Siskiyou Blvd. and what ODOT can offer the City to expedite a continuous surface. Marmon said that ODOT is big system with a lot of needs and suggested that the City let them know what our priorities are so we can focus on those areas. Newberry asked if Oregon has a standardized curriculum for children biking and walking in traffic. Marmon said there is no standardized program, but there is curriculum developed that has been used in multiple communities and that the Oregon Safe Routes to School website is a great resource. Newberry asked if there was funding available to develop action plans for schools. Marmon said there is still programming money for Safe Routes to Schools, but it hasn’t been decided how the new funding will be implemented. Vièville asked if resources included funding for Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), sidewalk, and crosswalk improvements. Marmon said the Rural and Small-Town Design Guide is a reference for ADA. Vièville asked if ODOT had ADA training that would be available for the commission. Marmon said that once ODOT develops ADA internal training for staff it would be available for other interested parties. ASHLAND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION MINUTES September 28, 2017 Transportation Commission September 28, 2017 Page 2 of 4 Smith asked if ODOT could be a resource or liaison for future downtown projects. Marmon said she would be happy to help where she can. 475 East Nevada Zoning Change/Comprehensive Plan Change Amy Gunter, Rogue Planning and Development Services presented a Type III planning action to the commission. Gunter is assisting Dr. David Young (no relation to Commissioner David Young) with a 4.5 acre parcel located at East Nevada Street and North Mountain Avenue. This property is currently split between the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) and the City Limits. The proposal is to rezone the parcel within the City Limits from Rural Residential to North Mountain Multi Family. Gunter said there has been preliminary engineering with Thornton-Daley to work with the existing street layout system. Gunter explained the plan is to make improvements to a new street, proposed name Franklin, on the west side and East Nevada Street would be improved up to Camelot Street. East Nevada is a major collector, but not built to the width of a major collector and the vehicle trip count was 107 when last counted in March, 2017. Newberry stated that East Nevada is classified as an Avenue and asked if the proposal will meet the Avenue standards. Gunter said it would not meet Avenue Standards and this proposal will ask for exceptions due to the typography which contains steep slopes with rock outcroppings adjacent to East Nevada. The planning process has an exception request process within the code and standards. Gunter explained the proposed street improvements include; 10 on street parking spaces, 6 foot sidewalks, 5 additional feet of right of way behind the sidewalk, and park row where feasible. Newberry asked if there would be bike lanes and Gunter explained that there is limited right of way due to topography and no bike lanes are proposed. Gunter said there are proposed sidewalks between Franklin and Camelot up to where the rock embankment starts. The proposal also includes an enhanced intersection at Camelot with scored concrete and benches which directs traffic to the existing sidewalk system. Newberry expressed her concern that when we make exceptions to the standards we are compromising our future. Young asked if the Ashland Transportation System Plan was consulted and in what ways has this proposal addressed them. Gunter told the commission that the proposal includes interconnected sidewalks, bike parking structures, a 22 foot alley, and sidewalks that lead to commercial development. Everything is proposed to connect in a modified gridded street system at Camelot. Gunter explained East Nevada was built the way it is currently because there is a 60% slope with 6 inches to 18 inches of soil on top of bedrock. Young talked about connectivity and stated this appears to be a car centric plan that does not address multi modal transportation infrastructure. Gunter stated they tried to put in a foot path, but the typography would not allow it. Graf mentioned that the commission inherited this situation because the existing East Nevada Street was put as close to the rock outcrop as possible without full right of way. Newberry questioned what would happen if a bridge is put in this location because we do not have a street that is adequate to carry the traffic. Barth asked why the rock could not be blasted. Gunter explained the composition of the rock is shale, granite, and bedrock and that it cannot be chipped with typical equipment and we cannot blast in the city limits. Vièville asked if the sidewalks through the entire development will connect. Gunter described that the proposed 6 foot sidewalks will go north and south in the new street system and east and west on the alley through the development. A pocket park is also proposed, and all the sidewalks will lead to the park. Smith asked is there would be ADA compliance within the development. Gunter said that it should be compliant within the development and that there is a proposed enhanced crossing at Camelot with truncated domes at all intersections. ASHLAND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION MINUTES September 28, 2017 Transportation Commission September 28, 2017 Page 3 of 4 Fleury asked for clarification if all the improvements will fit within the existing right of way. Gunter explained that all improvements on East Nevada Street will fit in the right of way and the street will be wider to the north. Gunter told the commission that Traffic Engineer Kelly Sandow, P.E. gave preliminary results that the development does not meet the threshold to trigger a traffic impact analysis because it will only increase by 15 vehicle trips with the zoning change. Goldman told the commission that they can provide information to the applicant before they submit a formal application and this proposal goes before the Planning Commission. Newberry asked if this proposal could extend the sidewalks through the bulb outs at the alley to allow people to get to the street. There was discussion on how to improve the enhanced intersection to be more functional for people with disabilities. Gunter told the commission that the enhanced intersection had been added because it was something the Planning Commission would like to see in this proposal. Vièville explained that visually impaired people take directions from the curb cuts and it is not safe when the curb cuts direct into the intersection and they should line up with the sidewalk. Gunter summarized the improvements that the commission would like to see on this project; bike lanes on East Nevada if possible and muti-use pathways within the development. Young explained that were asking a lot of this project because these are items are priorities for our transportation infrastructure and he was acknowledging that this did not happen with the previous development in this area. Transportation Commission Goal Setting Graf discussed the annual goal setting session which will be facilitated by the commission and open to the public to create goals that reflect community priorities. Fleury mention that the Community Center would be a good facility for this event and staff will look at availability for early November from 6:30pm to 8:30pm. Newberry mentioned having the commission sending a list of stakeholders to staff that will be invited to the meeting. Fleury recommended inviting commission liaisons. Traffic Calming Program Development Graf postponed this item until the next meeting. TASK LIST North Main Improvements - Hersey/Wimer intersection signal, road diet review, and crosswalks Barth asked for a status update. Fleury explained that a report was presented to City Council and they requested a follow up session with visual details of what the improvements are. Fleury added that these improvements are already in the adopted budget. Young asked if the signal at Wimer was still under consideration and Fleury said not at this time. Super Sharrow Analysis Barth asked about the recommendation of installing a stop sign at Oak and E. Main. Fleury explained that this would cause issues with traffic back up in the plaza and our traffic engineer will make recommendations based on the modeling of downtown. FOLLOW UP ITEMS Transportation System Plan Update Fleury told the commission that one proposal was received, and the proposal was rejected due to lack of competition. We will be releasing a new RFP for the transit portion of the study next week. Young asked about getting a copy of the proposal and Fleury said he will send it to the commission. ASHLAND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION MINUTES September 28, 2017 Transportation Commission September 28, 2017 Page 4 of 4 Iowa Street walking audit Smith asked about the walking audit. Fleury said that we currently getting traffic counts and the audit will be scheduled in early October. 25 Gresham Parking Permit Fleury updated the commission that Council approved one parking space for 25 Gresham Street. There will be a sign posted that reads “residential parking this space only.”. Council would like the commission to recommend a policy for unique parking situations. Zagster Bike Share Program Fleury said he will have Zagster come and update the commission about usage. He shared that in August even with the smoke the City had high usage. Barth asked who to contact about bike maintenance and Fleury said there is a phone number listed on the bikes and Zagster has a maintenance schedule. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS Accident Report Newberry discussed an accident on the report where a bicyclist was hit by a vehicle in the bike lane and is concerned about the lack of citation of the driver of the vehicle. Smith volunteered to contact APD Chief to discuss the commissions concerns about enforcement. COMMISSION OPEN DISCUSSION Vièville discussed an issue with a citizen who has an electric wheelchair and cannot find a public charging station and questioned if we have stations for cars why not wheelchairs. Fleury was not sure what department oversees charging stations for the City. Newberry mentioned she followed up with Egon Dubois who teaches bicycle safety classes throughout Ashland. Newberry told the commission that he does not use a standardized curriculum and felt it would be difficult to promote this program. Graf asked if anyone else is having issues with parking after Southern Oregon University starts the term. He mentioned that people parking next to no parking signs and he would like the signs taken down or the curb painted yellow. Young asked who is responsible when a tree is damaging a sidewalk. Fleury said it depends on the location and the tree. Fleury explained there have been times with a mature tree that the City has worked with property owners to create a curb bump out to give the tree root zone more room to limit the damage to the sidewalk, gutter, and asphalt. ADJOURNMENT: 8:12 PM Respectfully submitted, Tara Kiewel Public Works Administrative Assistant