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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation Board - Minutes - 02/16/2022 TRANSPORTATION BOARD – BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE JOINT MEETING TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR February 16, 2022, 6:00 p.m. Virtual Meeting Via Zoom 2/16/2022 – MINUTES Page 1  FOR REFERENCE: Chair: Nathalie Rachline/Jordan Williams Vice Chair: Council Liaison: Cari Brown/Dave Dixon Emily Francis Staff Liaison: Aaron Iverson/Cortney Geary 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Rachline called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM. 2. ROLL CALL TRANSPORTATION BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Nathalie Rachline, Chair Cari Brown, Vice Chair Jerry Gavaldon York Indy Hart Rob Owens Stephanie Blochowiak BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: Jordan Williams, Chair Dave Dixon, Vice Chair Mike Tupa Katherine Chu Kevin Krause Whitney Allison Mike Webber Tim Anderson David Hansen Ed Peyronnin CITY STAFF PRESENT: Cortney Geary PUBLIC PRESENT: Jamie Grimm, CDOT TRANSPORTATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 2/16/2022 – MINUTES Page 2  3. AGENDA REVIEW Iverson stated there were no changes to the published agenda. 4. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – JANUARY 2022 York made a motion, seconded by Hart, to approve the January 2022 Transportation Board minutes as presented. The motion was adopted unanimously. Tupa made a motion, seconded by Dixon, to approve the January 2022 BAC minutes as presented. The motion was adopted unanimously with Hansen abstaining. 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None. 7. NEW BUSINESS a. CDOT Update on SB21-260 – Jamie Grimm, CDOT Jamie Grimm, CDOT, discussed SB 260 which aims to create a sustainable funding stream for transportation funding in Colorado. She commented on the ways in which the gas tax is no long providing enough funding as vehicles have gotten more efficient and more electric vehicles have come on line. Grimm discussed the specific aspects of the funding sources provided as part of SB 260. She noted the bill created several state enterprises, which receive a stream of funding that can only be used for a specific initiative. She also discussed the American Rescue Plan Act funding for Colorado transportation. Ms. Grimm provided some estimates for the SB 260 and other funding that will ultimately come to Fort Collins. Blochowiak asked if the CDOT emissions reduction rule applies only to regionally significant projects within an MPO, and if so, what projects in Fort Collins and Larimer County might fall under those parameters. Ms. Grimm replied regionally significant projects are those that massively impact how the traveling public moves. She stated the north I-25 project would have fallen into this category. York noted there are multiple ways to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, including moving cars through an area more quickly and changing modes so people are not in individual vehicles. He asked what project plans must include related to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Ms. Grimm replied work is ongoing to determine that answer and those details should be out next month. She stated the spirit of the bill was to get people out of their cars and into other forms of transportation. York suggested a more explicit description of how greenhouse gas emissions will be TRANSPORTATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 2/16/2022 – MINUTES Page 3  considered may be helpful. Chair Williams suggested it may be beneficial to see dollar figures represented in percentages for various categories. He commented on a recent presentation from a CDOT representative at a BAC meeting during which the representative stated bike and pedestrian projects can be removed from a CDOT project if their cost is 20% or more of the total budget. Ms. Grimm stated developing percentages could be difficult, but she would do some research. Tupa commented on the lack of discussion about pedestrian and bicycle trail features and facilities and asked if there is someone in CDOT who analyzes projects from that perspective. Ms. Grimm replied the multi-modal options fund and main streets fund are two of the largest buckets of money in the bill. She stated it is up to each region of CDOT to review projects and include those types of aspects. Ms. Grimm briefly commented on the Highway 287 project north of Fort Collins noting Northern Water is funding the project and CDOT is a partner. b. Active Modes Plan Update – Cortney Geary Cortney Geary, FC Moves, stated the Active Modes Plan will update the pedestrian and bicycle plans and will also include micro-mobility. She stated the visioning and existing conditions phases have recently been completed and prioritization and recommendations are forthcoming and public input will be sought in March. She stated adoption by Council is anticipated for August. Geary discussed the engagement methods used for gathering information regarding visioning and goals, which has culminated in the vision statement, goals, and specific objectives for the Plan. Trung Vo, Toole Design Group, discussed draft programs and policies. He outlined the five strategies: prioritizing active modes, focusing on land use policies, aligning the standards with the active modes goals, thinking programmatically about supporting active modes, and engaging communities. Mr. Vo outlined the strategies related to policies, including prioritization, ensuring active modes projects are integrated into the City’s capital improvement program and maintenance schedule, revising the zoning code to address 15-minute communities, considering changing zoning and land use for mixed-use developments, considering parking demand mitigation strategies, and creating a Vision Zero action plan. He asked members to complete a survey on menti.com regarding the strategies. Hart commented on the survey and his responses. Krause stated prioritizing active modes may force Vision Zero to take place. York commented on selecting the priority that seemed to be the most all- encompassing. TRANSPORTATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 2/16/2022 – MINUTES Page 4  Peyronnin commented on some of the responses seeming incremental and the first response being the best to tie together the others. Hart discussed parking mitigation which he likened to adding lanes to highways resulting in increased demand. Mr. Vo discussed standards, including parking minimums and maximums in transit- oriented areas, updating the Municipal Code to include bicycle and pedestrian connectivity standards, updating the Larimer County Urban Area Street Standards (LCUASS) to make walking and bicycling easier, safer, and more convenient, investigating the multi-modal transportation level of service manual, and updating signal timing procedures to prioritize active modes use. He asked members to complete a survey on menti.com regarding the standards. Members primarily selected updating the Municipal Code to include bicycle and connectivity standards as the most important item. Hart stated he selected that item as updating those standards leaves little room for the interpretation of the standards to simply carry forward the tradition of prioritizing single-occupancy vehicles. Blochowiak asked why the Municipal Code would include the connectivity standards as opposed to the Land Use Code. Mr. Vo replied it could be either document, whichever is most applicable. Iverson discussed the differences between the Municipal Code and Land Use Code. Gavaldon suggested the survey descriptors may need to be more concise to cover pertinent areas such as the inclusion of the Land Use Code. Krause stated he selected updating the multi-model transportation level of service manual and requested more details on what that item means. He discussed the importance of prioritizing outcomes. York commented on the Municipal Code driving the Land Use Code and stated increasing the number of people using active modes is contingent on the Municipal Code rather than on waiting on development to occur. Iverson replied there are likely pieces of both Codes that will need to be addressed. Mr. Vo outlined programs, including expanding the Safe Routes to School program to include high school students, examining the sidewalk maintenance program to make it more effective and efficient, exploring a city-wide transportation demand management program for Fort Collins employers, ensuring that historically underrepresented and underserved groups of people are intentionally engaged in the planning process, expanding the Open Streets program, and considering the formation of a Pedestrian Advisory Committee. He asked members to complete a survey on menti.com regarding the programs. Hart requested additional information regarding transportation demand management TRANSPORTATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 2/16/2022 – MINUTES Page 5  programming. Mr. Vo replied it would involve incentives provided by employers to encourage employees to use a mode other than single-occupancy vehicle transportation to and from work. Incentives may include flexible work hours, providing transit passes, or creating an incentive program for biking or walking. Members primarily selected the transportation demand management item as being the most valuable. York suggested employers will need to be incentivized to provide transportation demand management programs. Krause suggested rethinking the programs category may be necessary to include more aggressive means of incentivizing active modes for everyone. Gavaldon stated a previous transportation demand management program for employers was not successful as follow-through did not occur. He agreed with York that employers will need to be incentivized. He stated he voted for ensuring that historically underrepresented and underserved groups of people are intentionally engaged in the planning process and suggested all of the items could be considered together in an equitable manner. Tupa suggested growing the Open Streets program would make the most impact the quickest. Hart stated he voted for the transportation demand management program as it may have the most impact on encouraging the use of active modes. Mr. Vo discussed the online mapping tool used to identify city-wide issues. He stated the tool will be used to help inform the areas to which network recommendations connect. He commented on the importance of adding protected bike lanes and highlighted three different sets of streets and facility types. Mr. Vo discussed prioritization among bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure projects. He stated bicycle infrastructure projects involve defining bicycle facility types along streets and roads followed by prioritization. Pedestrian infrastructure projects will involve a city-wide examination and generation of recommendations for high-priority areas. He detailed the proposed prioritization framework which involves ascertaining the importance of projects and thinking through each project’s implementation- readiness. He requested members provide feedback on implementation measures. Geary outlined the next steps for outreach and engagement. Chair Rachline encouraged additional time for feedback at the next presentation on this topic. TRANSPORTATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 2/16/2022 – MINUTES Page 6  8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS 9. OTHER BUSINESS a. Bicycle Advisory Committee Report b. City Council 6-Month Calendar Review c. Staff Liaison Report Iverson noted Diego Lopez and Kevin Borchert’s terms on the Transportation Board ended and the City Clerk’s Office has been directed by Council to hold off on any new appointments until the April 26th work session. He stated the Board will be voting on Chair and Vice Chair in March. 10. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 7:58 p.m. by unanimous consent.