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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation Board - Minutes - 11/17/2021 TRANSPORTATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR November 17, 2021, 6:00 p.m. Virtual Meeting Via Zoom 11/17/2021 – MINUTES Page 1  FOR REFERENCE: Chair: Nathalie Rachline Vice Chair: Council Liaison: Cari Brown Emily Gorgol Staff Liaison: Aaron Iverson 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Rachline called the meeting to order at 6:03 PM. 2. ROLL CALL BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Nathalie Rachline, Chair Cari Brown, Vice Chair York Jerry Gavaldon Diego Lopez Rob Owens Indy Hart (arrived late) BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: Kevin Borchert (excused for super board meeting) CITY STAFF PRESENT: Cortney Geary 3. AGENDA REVIEW Iverson stated there were no changes to the published agenda. 4. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – OCTOBER 2021 Gavaldon made a motion, seconded by Brown, to approve the minutes of the October 2021 meeting as written. The motion was adopted unanimously. TRANSPORTATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 11/17/2021 – MINUTES Page 2  6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None. 7. NEW BUSINESS a. 2022 Board Work Plan Chair Rachline suggested beginning this conversation with Council’s identified priorities. York suggested striking the reference to the ‘reimagining Boards and Commissions effort’ as work on that has been completed. Iverson outlined the Council priorities with transportation connections. (**Secretary’s Note: Hart joined at this point in the meeting.) Members discussed the priorities and connections to transportation issues. Hart suggested there are basically no changes and the Work Plan could be copied from last year’s plan. Chair Rachline agreed but commented on assuring applicable Council priorities are included. Hart commented on the Board’s robust Work Plan and stated it does not matter the language used as long as it is in keeping with Council’s ongoing priorities. He stated he would rather see the Board’s time spent discussing the Work Plan items rather than the Plan itself. Chair Rachline concurred. Gavaldon commented on the importance of developing the Plan and subsequently measuring the success of those items. Hart suggested adding a section relating to recognizing City Council’s 2022 transportation-related priorities. Hart made a motion, seconded by Gavaldon, to update the 2021 Work Plan to be the 2022 Work Plan with the addition of language in item 2 referring to the City Council’s priorities. Iverson clarified there are other language changes related to striking the reference to ‘re- imagining boards and commissions.’ Hart restated his motion and Gavaldon accepted the changes. The motion was adopted unanimously. b. Active Modes Plan – Introduction and Discussion – Cortney Geary Trung Vo, Toole Design, stated the intent of the Active Modes Plan is to consolidate and update the 2011 Pedestrian Plan with the 2014 Bicycle Plan while also including micro- mobility, shared micro-mobility, and Vision Zero. He noted Fort Collins is one of five platinum level bicycle level communities and stated it could be the first diamond level community. He discussed the core management team and associated committees: the TRANSPORTATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 11/17/2021 – MINUTES Page 3  technical advisory committee and the community advisory committee. Mr. Vo outlined the phasing for the project noting the first visioning phase was just completed and the team is nearing the end of establishing existing conditions. Next steps include developing recommendations and an implementation strategy with plans for adoption of the Plan in spring and summer of next year. He detailed the visioning outreach efforts and resulting takeaways. Cortney Geary, FC Moves Active Modes Program Manager, provided additional details on the results of the visioning outreach efforts, including a desire for additional capacity for all modes, addressing trail congestion, and enacting Vision Zero. Hart discussed his feedback on the survey related to direct routes and the islands that currently exist. He asked if most feedback was similar or more related to wanting straight connections. Geary replied it could be both and commented on peoples’ desire to travel in various ways. Mr. Vo commented on the way to move the needle on the number of people walking and biking is to address safety. He noted there are three core fundamentals related to safety: separating modes, reducing motor vehicle speeds, and eliminating or reducing conflicts at intersections. Gavaldon asked about the effects of reducing motor vehicle speeds on pollution. Mr. Vo disclaimed this plan is not related to air quality; however, he noted there are benefits of making walking and bicycling safer and more comfortable and part of that is reducing motor vehicle speeds. Additionally, having more walkers and bikers will lead to lower vehicle miles travelled and reduced carbon emissions. Gavaldon stated he would like to see some data on the topic. He also suggested there may be roadways on which bikes and pedestrians will not be safe. Mr. Vo replied the way those types of issues are tackled will influence the recommendations in the Plan in terms of both projects and policies. Mr. Vo discussed the existing conditions in Fort Collins related to infrastructure and crash data over the last five years. He detailed the primary causes of crashes and associated injuries. He noted 78% of car trips under six miles in Fort Collins, based on the 2017 travel survey. Chair Rachline noted there have been many changes since 2017 and asked how pertinent the data actually is. Geary replied the travel survey has not been funded since 2017; however, it is funded for 2022, though that data will not likely be ready in time for this process. She stated the information is still relevant and suggested the changes related to more people working from home means there is an even greater potential for mode shifts. York asked if any data from the more recent census transportation surveys and others that are newer than 2017 and whether that data supports the 2017 mode share TRANSPORTATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 11/17/2021 – MINUTES Page 4  information. Mr. Vo replied the American Community Survey data that does support the trends; however, it is not quite as granular. Mr. Vo provided an overview of the analysis approach to communicate the need for the Active Modes Plan and the intent and vision for the Plan, to influence project prioritization, and to develop an implementation strategy. Hart noted the railways in Fort Collins create difficulty for connections. Mr. Vo discussed the plans for the pedestrian and bicycle aspects of the Plan. Gavaldon asked if data related to areas needed more connectivity will be shared with City staff. He commented on the lack of sidewalks in the north part of the city. Mr. Vo replied all of the results will be shared with City staff and noted the implementation of the Plan will be the critical part, not just the development of the Plan itself. Geary stated the input received from the community will inform the prioritization of recommendations as well as other data. She discussed the community survey for the existing conditions study and noted public engagement will occur during every phase of the development of the Plan. Brown asked what disability advocacy groups have been contacted and whether the Dial-a-Ride Transit Action Committee (DARTAC) has been contacted. Geary replied Amanda Mansfield will be giving an abbreviated presentation focusing on the mapping exercise to the Disability Advisory Board. Additionally, input is being sought from the occupational therapy department at CSU and small focus groups will be occurring around adaptive PE classes at Lincoln Middle School. She stated she will reach out to DARTAC and noted there is at least one individual with a disability on the community advisory group. Brown also suggested contacting People First through the ARC of Larimer County. York noted a great deal of this will likely impact the Land Use Code. Geary noted one of the big goals of the Climate Action Plan is live, work, and play nearby and stated the Active Modes Plan will directly support that, particularly the Council priority around 15- minutes communities. York noted multi-modal transportation works well for even longer than 15-minute communities. He noted interconnectivity between those 15-minute communities and between cities also needs to be considered. Geary concurred regional connections and connections across the city will be important to consider. Geary stated the community survey will be open through the end of November and stated it is primarily looking at how the pandemic has affected travel behavior. York asked where the survey boxes are located. Geary replied they are at the Harmony Library, Council Tree Library, Northside Atzlan Center, Senior Center and Murphy Center. York expressed concern the northwest part of town is not well-represented and TRANSPORTATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 11/17/2021 – MINUTES Page 5  suggested some possible locations for a survey box. Geary noted the commentors seem to be distributed well across the city. Gavaldon suggested adding survey boxes in the northeast part of town at the Museo de las Tres Colonias, Buckingham Park, or Sugar Beet Park. Owens asked if there is a shared database for the maps used by the City to determine problem areas. Geary replied that is beginning to happen and will occur with this effort and the Transportation Capital Project Prioritization Study. She also noted Traffic Operations takes all of the Access requests received into one platform. Geary went on to discuss outreach efforts to underserved and disproportionately impacted populations, through social media, E-newsletters, and postcard mailers. She discussed the upcoming existing conditions report and project survey online map results, recommendations and prioritization criteria in February, and the formation of a draft plan in May or June with final plan in July. Gavaldon commended the presentation and information. Hart commended Mr. Vo on his presentation. 8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS Hart commented on his commute times taking more than an hour on Transfort. He acknowledged the struggles with a lack of drivers but stated his normal route would still be almost an hour. He commented on the importance of having Transfort routes reaching all areas of the city and on them being within a reasonable distance for people making connections. Gavaldon reported issues with traffic backing up at Raising Cane’s and Starbucks on College Avenue still exist. He reported on the benefits of biking to CSU football games and discussed seeing Spin bikes left for days. Lopez reported on major items in the infrastructure bill, including $39 billion in funds for public transit, $7.5 billion for EV charging stations, $5 billion for electric and alternative fuel school buses, and $9 billion for hydrogen research. Owens noted there may be some funding in the bill for locally-owned bridges as well. York reported on the location of old detour signs on the Power Trail junction and he commented on the importance of ensuring detours are communicated to all modes of transportation. He stated he took the Transportation Capital Projects Survey and stated it had a bias toward motor vehicles, through the wording of descriptions, being the only mode that counted. He reported on attending the listening session for the new City Manager and noted there will be a recording available later of the Super Issues meeting. He stated he and Gavaldon attended the recent Planning and Zoning Board meeting during which Gavaldon was introduced as the new liaison. He stated the Board discussed the three-mile TRANSPORTATION BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 11/17/2021 – MINUTES Page 6  plan which does include a transportation component, and updates to the Land Use Code with the Housing Strategic Plan implementation. Brown shared a survey from a climate smart committee. Chair Rachline stated the joint meeting with the BAC will be in February and agreed with Gavaldon on the car backing up issue on College. Gavaldon stated the Vine and Lemay overpass dedication is tentatively scheduled for December 18th. 9. OTHER BUSINESS a. Bicycle Advisory Committee Report Gavaldon stated Owens was introduced as the new liaison at the recent BAC meeting. During the meeting, the Committee received an update on the Spin program, had a discussion on the East Pitkin Advisory Bike Lane project, and received a presentation from Dave Dixon at Bike Fort Collins regarding problem intersections. He suggested adding the Stuart and Lemay intersection to that list. Owens noted the intersections discussed by Dixon were Mulberry and Jackson, Elizabeth between Lemay and Stover, and the Mason Trail and Spring Creek Trail intersection. York suggested having someone from Police Services discuss the implementation of parking regulations related to keeping people from parking in bike lanes at the joint meeting with the BAC. b. City Council 6-Month Calendar Review Iverson noted the second reading of the budget was last night and the State of the City address will occur on February 1st. c. Staff Liaison Report Iverson stated Amanda Mansfield will be leaving the City for a job in Boulder. He commented on the recent asphalt art installations. York asked if the City will have a webpage on those installations. Iverson replied he would look into it. Gavaldon commended the Romero Street mural and coordination. 10. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:22 p.m. by unanimous consent.