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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBicycle Advisory Committee - Minutes - 04/12/2010 Draft Minutes 2010-04-12.doc 1 MEETING MINUTES of the BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE April 12, 2010 6:00 PM Community Room 215 N. Mason Fort Collins, CO 80521 FOR REFERENCE: Chair: Dan Gould 970-482-1074 Vice Chair: Chris Gaughan 970-223-1146 Staff Liaison: Kathleen Bracke 970-224-6140 Staff Support: Dave “DK” Kemp 970-416-2411 BOARD/CITY ORGANIZATION MEMBERS PRESENT Bike Fort Collins: Jeff Morrell Transportation Board: Bill Jenkins UniverCity Connections: Rick Reider Economic Advisory Commission: Rick Price Natural Resources Advisory Board: Clint Skutchan Air Quality Board: Greg McMaster Fort Collins Bicycle Co-Op: Doug Cutter Poudre School District: John Holcombe Colorado State University: David Hansen AT LARGE MEMBERS PRESENT Dan Gould Cathy Mathis Kim Sharpe ABSENT Senior Advisory Board: Unfilled Parks and Recreation Board: Greg Miller Lands Conservation and Stewardship Board: Chris Gaughan Downtown Development Authority: Kathy Cardona OTHERS IN ATTENDANCE FCBikes Coordinator: Dave “DK” Kemp City of Fort Collins: Randy Maizland City of Fort Collins: Jin Wang City of Fort Collins: Kyle Lambrecht City of Fort Collins, Transportation Planner: Jen Petrik City of Fort Collins, Senior Transportation Planner: Scott Weeks City of Fort Collins: Craig Foreman Draft Minutes 2010-04-12.doc 2 Gail Neben, Transportation Planning Administrative Assistant Call to order Called to order at 6:03 PM Agenda review Dan Gould reviewed the agenda. 3 informational presentations (see below) Public Comments: None Approval of minutes: Chair Dan Gould received a few corrections prior to the meeting. No other corrections. March, 2010 minutes were accepted as corrected. Action items: NRRC presented by Jin Wang Pedestrian & Bicycle Grade-separated Crossing of BNSF Railroad The slide showed a map of the project on College near Whole Foods. Jin presented a photo comparison of the existing condition and the project design. The Mason bike trail has a fence to block access across the railroad, but the public still uses the path. There needs to be corrective action due to safety issues with the railroad and the widespread use of the path. BNSF has the authority to revoke the lease if not corrected. Using another fence can create another problem. The planned BRT will be on the east side of the railroad. The conceptual design showed an overpass which will meet ADA requirements for funding. Qu: Rick Price-Does that design show a road? Ans: Jin-Yes, but it is privately owned by CSU. It extends out 25’ for the BRT on the east side of the railroad. The overpass was in the final design from conception 2 years ago. Jin showed the design of the overpass and BRT. Qu: David Hansen: How big will the elevator be? Ans: Jin-It is big enough for a bike, and it has 2 entrances. Qu: Jeff Morrell: Will this be an event center? Ans: Jin-No Qu: Jeff Morrell: What is north of Whole Foods and the Bank Center? Ans: Jin-The design is from the perspective of looking north. Looking south there is another elevator with 2 entrances again. Qu: Doug Cutter-What is the height of the overpass? Ans. Jin-It is 25’ above the railroad, which is required. The column is 46 feet high, and the bridge is 10 ft high. Qu: Cathy Mathis-Will there be a canopy? Ans: Jin-Yes. About 3-4 feet square to protect people from the weather. Qu: Rick Reider-When will you break ground? Ans: Jin-We are planning June or July, 2010. Draft Minutes 2010-04-12.doc 3 Qu: Doug Cutter-Is there a property limitation for a ramp that would be bike accessible? Ans: Jin-Yes. 25 feet is needed which is a large ramp. We would have to integrate the BRT station and we would lose space. The fire code requires a wide enough area to pass through. There also needs to be parking space. Also, the utility lines dictate where a ramp could be. FUNDING presented by Randy Maizland: Project funding total is $1,080,146 Local match required: $232,961 Overmatch Need $1,159,205 Qu: Have we reached the overmatch amount? Ans: Not yet. Total estimated cost of the project: $2,472,312 This amount includes 2010 & 11 BOB pedestrian plan and bike plan funds. We will get bids by the end of June, and construction would be later this year. Since the local match has not been met, the city put in the Pedestrian and Bike Plan funds to get the match. We hope to get competitive bids and the savings would go back into those programs. This is a realistic estimate, so it might be close. We have spent $345,988 of the funding on design. The construction cost estimate is $2,370,606. Qu: How can you get estimates without bids? Ans: There is information and cost history available from other projects. Road construction bids could be 30% lower than the estimate because it is competitive. Qu: Doug Cutter-Are there funds contributed by any property owners? Ans: No. These figure are all city funds. This has been in the plan from the beginning, so the overpass plan is not just reactive to the railroad. This is a needed crossing. This project is not far off schedule with the BRT. The overpass is designed at an angle to keep from going on Federal land, and that way it cuts off 2 years time. We have secured the CSU easement. Qu: Rick Price-How does the funding fall out of the Bike/Pedestrian plan? Ans: $250,000 is from the bike plan, $300,000 per year from the ped plan. Qu: Rick Price-Isn’t the PDT director no longer here? Ans: Yes, he is no longer here. Qu: Rick Price-What is process now & who decides to allocate the bike/ped funds? Ans: Diane Jones is now taking over and Diane has reviewed the plans with them. The first decision was made by Jeff Scheik, and was also approved by Diane Jones later. She asked us to talk to BAC. We do not have any bids yet. With the opportunity to lose funding, we are looking for input now, without a request for action. The question is, should we build it or not? Comment: Rick Price-Is this an action item? Or, are we asked to advise? It is a little late in the game. Ans: That is why this is an update only for tonight. Comment: Rick Price-The decision was made in Dec, 2009 to allocate funds. Four (4) months later we are informed of the December decision. This is inappropriate. The BAC Draft Minutes 2010-04-12.doc 4 is here to advise council. We should have been asked when it was put to PTC director. Who will stop it now? I am frustrated with the timing. Ans. From Engineering’s standpoint, if we were to stop the project now, it would be the same as stopping it in December. It has not gone any further since Dec. It is the same effect and we have not committed the funds yet. Qu: Jeff Morrell-On the previous slide, $232K is the local match? Comment: Rick Reider-From the city budget. It seems that BNSF could sever access to the west if we do not build the overpass. Ans: Yes, they can block it or force us to block it. The property is in the CSURF plan is that 350 students would use the Mason corridor. A bridge like this is critical to success of the corridor. Comment: Rick Reider -Yes, it is a feeding point of development into the station. The railroad controls and they could easily build a fence. That could have a negative impact on the corridor. Comment: Rick Price-All the employment is on the west side. The development is on west side. This benefit is for people to go shopping and eating in the area? Comment: David Cutter-Actually, the BRT is on the Whole Foods side. Comment: Clint Skutchan-This tactic is good for the Mason corridor. There will be more than this one instance. Like it or not we cannot dictate to the railroad. We can’t argue on this. Comment: Greg McMaster-This is the worst section. Comment: DK Kemp-The BOB fund of $25,000 balance in 2009 has not been appropriated yet. It rolls over to the 10-11 year. Comment: Bill Jenkins-If this goes right, it is making a statement about alternate transportation. It is a great deal in this aspect. It will be a hard sell and very visible. Qu: DK Kemp-Is this is large enough for child bike trailer? Ans: Yes, it is large enough to not have to disconnect the trailer. Qu: Jeff Morrell-What is the size? Comment: DK Kemp-We can enter it forward, go up, and it is pointing to the way you are facing to get off. We don’t need to flip it around in the elevator. North College Improvements, Phase II Preliminary Engineering presented by Jin Wang & Randy Maizland (Jennifer Petrik, Transportation Planner and former project manager present.) This has been a collaborative effort with the NFCBA and CDOT. History: We have developed 60% of the plans for the project along College Avenue from Vine to Conifer/Hickory. We are currently short on funds, but we did the design for the entire project in case funds became available. If we did get additional funding, $10.8M would fund the entire project plus $2.7M from URA. Based on contributions from area. The entire cost estimate is $12M Plan Overview: From $10.8 we can build from Vine to Conifer improvements, less medians. It costs $385,000 to do dual lefts turn lanes. Draft Minutes 2010-04-12.doc 5 Schedule: The final engineering is to be complete June 2010, ROW acquisitions have been made thru Jan 2011. It is critical to get clearance right away of environmental defects. Randy-This photo highlights JAX with uncontrolled access which is unsafe. We are planning curb and gutter, crosswalks, and enhanced treatments on the corner. There will also be a way finding monument. It was a group idea to include a monument to enhance business way finding. We have planned 6 transit stops and the project will build concrete pads and match the aesthetics with the concrete pads. We are doing enhanced bike racks. This is an opportunity to carry though the project theme. They will be spread throughout the corridor. Qu: DK Kemp-Will they have curved corners on the rack? Ans: Yes, will have to round them off. Qu: Jeff Morrell-How many racks per stop? Ans: Transfort will work with them on that. Now there is only one per stop. A couple locations will have 2, based on Transfort’s input. Qu: Jeff Morrell-Is that based on the drivers’ perception on what is needed? Ans: 4 at a stop will be the maximum. They can only carry 2 bikes on a bus now. Comment: Jennifer Petrik-The idea is, if the racks on the bus are full, they can lock up their bike and ride the bus safely. There are three (3) levels of way finding. Standard street signs for motor vehicles and bikes, stencil on the walk for the pedestrian level, and business visibility on monuments. Qu: Doug Cutter-About the right hand turn lane, what is the distance between access points? Ans: There are entrance standards for spacing and drives. We have shifted as far north as possible. Comment: Doug Cutter-This is a concern for bikes crossing traffic. Ans: There are only two (2) turn lanes being built in the project. Your concern is certainly a safety issue. Qu: Rick Price-Didn’t Matt Wempe tell us it is required by law to use the right lane for right turns? Joel Olson was here and said this is creating a confusing situation. Can this be a future topic for BAC? Right turn vs. bike lanes. Presenter: With way finding we have dedicated funds with Art in Public Places. We have incorporated an artist into the team. He specializes in iron works. We have asked him to develop unique pieces for each corner. This can continue into the next phase. The sidewalks are the standard shared use path of 8 feet wide. How can we continue the urban design? We have included scoring along the outside edges which reduces the overall field and keeps it usable. It feels smaller, like Maple and Mason. We have not decided on the materials. There is not much difference from concrete and asphalt. Both have a stencil. So, how do we stripe bike lanes? Next Steps: Potholing, surveying right-of-way needs ROW, acquisition process for ROW, and going to council for eminent domain if necessary because of the tight time schedule. Qu: Dan Gould-What is the timing for materials? Draft Minutes 2010-04-12.doc 6 Ans: By June so we can show it on the final design plans for June. Bike Trail Improvements presented Craig Foreman Funding: Council designated some funding through the lottery. We now have $.0025 for funding and this is pretty steady. The lottery distribution is by population. As population increases, then the percentage goes up. The Lotto came in 1990’s & is divided into 4. GOCO special grant cycle was used for the last program. Bike trails gets grants from the 4th quadrant. The northeast trail system, at Turnberry and Richards Lake was shown. The trails angle up and BOB funds are for improvements projects with underpasses. This was planned for 2010, but street oversizing has increased costs. Comment: Dan Gould-This was an issue before the realignment of Mulberry/Lemay: The bridge across Poudre will have ramps to the trail under the bridge. CDOT will replace the Mulberry bridge in 2011. Trails’ bridges are city owned. He explained the new plan to build new bridges. It will be a large grant. If CDOT has funding, we will apply for a large grant in 2011. We will have 3 bridges to deploy. There is a question if CDOT will have the funding. This is the worst bridge in northern Colorado. The project would be $800K or $700K cost. Qu: Where is the existing bike lane? Ans: Explained current path. Qu: DK Kemp-Is there interim improvement for signage? Ans: Yes. We will get it for you. Right now handicap vehicles have a hard time with steep ramps. CSU and Mason trail: The current Mason trail was explained. Qu: Can DK put a time frame on the maps instead of dates for future trails? Having proposed trails on the bike map is important because some people moving her want to be near trails. Qu: Rick Price-What parks are coming? Are parks in the plan for events and opportunities? Is there a bike park? Ans: No. Qu: Rick Price-Can we have an action item to research economic viability over the next 5 years? Are parks on the horizon? Craig explained parks on the horizon up to 2015. BMX move to Southeast park is coming up. That could be in 2015-16. Qu: Clint Skutchen-Is that the best use? Many similar uses are not geared around sanctions, so there might be a higher use. Comment: DK Kemp-BMX been very popular. Could this be a future agenda item for ideas for this park design? Staff Reports: DK Kemp-Reminder that April 22 BAC has an invitation to the Boards and Commissions focus group on Plan Fort Collins. It will be at the Lincoln center from 6-8 PM. We are Draft Minutes 2010-04-12.doc 7 working on a BAC 6 month calendar (Gave out samples.) Let the chair person or DK know your topics to discuss to put on the calendar. Scott-Does the BAC want to give input on pedestrian plans? Rick Price: We have list of things for future agendas. What happened to the future agenda items on the bottom of agenda? How can we make that happen? Also, last October Kathleen was going to ask legal about the Idaho stop law. Can the city overrule state law? DK will ask Kathleen. Rick Price-Last May we discussed funding for crossover with natural areas. Can we hear about the process because of discretionary funds changes? I suggest we look at how council handles other issues. Could we be looking for a holding place like council does? We need to prioritize issues for each meeting. Share the Road comments: Rick Price will try to make a report for the May meeting. The Bicycle Pedestrian Education Coalition is meeting tomorrow. Kim Sharpe-They have a full agenda. They are addressing SWOT: Strength, weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Rick Price is going has been attending State Safe Routes to School Network meetings in Denver. Fort Collins is playing a pivotal role. Rep. Kefalas has a bill with 3 parts that play into this. We are a possible example with the safe routes grant as a prototype of curriculum. Chairman Gould: Can we present both items in tandem (with BPEC)? Rick Price-Yes Other Business: Future agenda items and issues: Dan-Can we form a sub work-plan committee? Lets get feedback at the next meeting. In severe bike crash situations, there is never any clear feedback on factors involved. It seems like all would benefit from a safety board type of investigation of accidents. We need to know what happened. I would be willing to lead the group. and work with law enforcement, CSU, traffic eng, and others to see if there could be final reports for the public record. Is there feedback from BAC to pursue? Also what pathways can we develop for this? Doug Cutter-There is a citizen’s committee to review when an officer is involved in a shooting. It would be nice to get more information to understand what bicyclists can do to prevent accidents. It does not have to be as formal as the Police Department. We are just asking for a more systematic process. This is hard to get on a voluntary basis. Rick Price – we can ask council members to get information, but it does not happen – often Police Services doesn’t follow through. It ends up in ambiguous state. Jeff Morrell: I can put you in contact with someone who started a couple of years ago. There was a Taft accident where a cyclist was rearended. He has dug into many accidents. Other comments: Draft Minutes 2010-04-12.doc 8 Doug Cutter -I would like to remind everyone that the bike coop sponsoring a series of community events for City Plan. JAX is tomorrow and Wednesday, talking about North College. Rick can mail all a schedule. Greg McMaster-The city did a climate wise bash at the center and essentially 3 bike racks were there off to the side. I mentioned it to the coordinator. They did not think of it. How can we raise more awareness for events to have temporary bike racks available? Cathy Mathis-Making the new owner of the building aware. It is an education opportunity to keep the city thinking more of bike racks. Election of chair and vice-chair: John Holcombe nominated Rick Price. All other nominations were declined. Clint seconded the nomination. Rick Price accepted the nomination and Cathy Mathis volunteered to be Vice-Chair. Rick added that he accepts, but if elected, he will resign if the position interferes with his ability to effect change. He will be gone a couple of months during the next year. Rick Reider moved to take a vote for the chair position. No discussion. Vote: 6 in favor, 3 opposed and 3 abstentions. Rick Price is elected Chair of BAC for the next term. Clint moves to vote on Cathy Mathis as Vice-Chair, and Greg seconds the motion. Vote: 12 in favor. Cathy Mathis is elected as Vice-Chair for the next term. Thank you to Dan Gould for all of his efforts this last year! Adjourn: Meeting adjourned at 8:15 PM Respectfully submitted, ____________________________ Rick Price, Bicycle Advisory Committee Chair