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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBicycle Advisory Committee - Minutes - 05/24/2021 BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE TYPE OF MEETING –REGULAR May 24, 2021, 6:00 p.m. Virtual Meeting via Zoom 5 /2 4 /2021 – MINUTES Page 1 FOR REFERENCE: Chair: Jordan Williams Vice-Chair: Jerry Gavaldon Staff Liaison: Cortney Geary 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Williams called the meeting to order at 6:03 PM. 2. ROLL CALL BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: CITY STAFF PRESENT: Jordan Williams, Chair, At Large Member Jerry Gavaldon, Vice Chair, Transportation Board Mike Tupa, Parks and Recreation Board Mike Webber, Land Conservation and Stewardship Board Whitney Allison, At Large Member Dave Dixon, Bike Fort Collins Ed Peyronnin, Colorado State University Campus Bicycle Advisory Committee Todd Dangerfield, Downtown Development Authority Kevin Krause, Natural Resources Advisory Board Aaron Buckley, Fort Collins Bike Co-op (arrived late) ABSENT: Greg Wells, Senior Advisory Board Rick Arneson, Bike Fort Collins Ben Mayer, Poudre School District Jason Miller, Air Quality Advisory Board Katherine Chu, At Large Member Matt Day Cortney Geary Nancy Nichols PUBLIC PRESENT: Aaron Fodge (CSU) Erika Benti (CSU) Fred Haberecht (CSU) Spencer Clark (Economic Advisory Board) BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 5 /2 4 /2021 – MINUTES Page 2 3. AGENDA REVIEW Chair Williams reviewed the agenda. 4. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – APRIL 2021 Peyronnin made a motion, seconded by Gavaldon, to approve the minutes of the April 2021 meeting as written. The motion was adopted unanimously. 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Active Modes-related BFO Offers Gavaldon stated the Committee may want to consider the BFO offers in a more robust fashion in order to lobby for specific offers in conjunction with the Transportation Board. Geary noted she gave a BFO presentation to the BAC in April, similar to Iverson’s for the Transportation Board. Krause commented on the importance of ensuring all expected offers are included and on advocating for specific needs that may fall below the line in terms of the recommended budget. He suggested having a high-level conversation on the offers. (**Secretary’s Note: Aaron Buckley arrived at this point in the meeting.) Chair Williams asked Geary what would be helpful for her moving forward. Geary replied any discussion of offers during future agendas would be helpful and she noted she will come to the Committee before offers begin to be developed for future budgets. Gavaldon stated he would like additional information about adding staff members at FC Moves and suggested the Committee could ask questions and move forward with recommendations prior to Council looking at the budget in September. b. Safety Stop Legislation Update Chair Williams stated the state level legislation related to safety stop was not introduced this session. Gavaldon expressed concern about a possible safety stop legislation. He stated he would like additional data and information about liability and enforcement. Peyronnin noted the campus Bicycle Advisory Committee will also be receiving a presentation on possible safety stop legislation. Krause made a motion, seconded by Buckley, to continue the discussion around BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 5 /2 4 /2021 – MINUTES Page 3 safety stop and how it may be applied in the city based on further discussion. Dangerfield noted this discussion occurred in 2013-2014 and stated there could be some efficiencies in looking at the minutes and debate from those discussions. Gavaldon expressed concern about moving forward with safety stop legislation and requested statistical data related to accident rates and information about enforcement be shared prior to moving forward. Krause stated he read previous minutes and would like to have the discussion as it relates to FC Moves goals. He stated this type of law could contribute to promoting a modal shift to active transportation. The motion was adopted unanimously. 7. NEW BUSINESS a. Parks and Recreation Master Plan & Poudre Trail Linden Underpass – Matt Day Matt Day, Parks Planning and Development, discussed the feasibility study of the portion of the Poudre River downstream from the whitewater park to Linden, or reach 4. He noted the Linden crossing is one of the last remaining at-grade crossings and one of the main goals of the study was to facilitate a grade-separated crossing. He stated the plans were broken into four goals: refreshing Heritage Park, enhancing the Gustav-Swanson Natural Area, celebrating the river, and enhancing and improving connections. He discussed the plan to switch the Poudre Trail to the north bank and create an undergrade crossing at Linden. He noted there are a number of challenges with the plan and estimated the trail component cost at $2.5-3 million. Tupa stated the proposed trail design would require users to cross back over the river to get back on the trail. Day replied the Poudre Trail will now cross the pedestrian bridge at the whitewater park and he further explained the alignment. Tupa commended the plan for the Linden Street crossing citing the existing traffic conflicts. Gavaldon asked about the project cost. Day replied the trail connectivity portion is estimated to be $2.5-3 million based on conceptual plans. Gavaldon expressed concern about the cost and suggested improvements should be made to the existing trail unless there is a compelling reason it will not work. Buckley asked about the priority level and timeline for the project. Day replied there is no specific timeline; however, it has been discussed by leadership as being the next reach to consider, which is why the feasibility study has occurred. He stated the study will help to understand the priorities and what is desired by the public. BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 5 /2 4 /2021 – MINUTES Page 4 Dangerfield also questioned the priority level noting there are several expensive trail projects being considered. Chair Williams noted having the trail on both sides of the river could disperse some of the trail traffic, specifically given continued development in the downtown area. Day noted the trail that would stay on the south bank would be a functional part of the improvements to Heritage Park. He stated he could not specifically speak to the trail project priorities at this time. Chair Williams asked about the source of funding for the feasibility study. Day replied the funds came through City Gives and were donated by the New Belgium Brewery foundation. Dangerfield suggested Parks provide a list of trail projects to allow BAC to comment and discuss priorities. Chair Williams agreed with that idea and stated that could tie into master planning. Regarding the Parks and Recreation Master Plan, Day stated there was a full policy plan update that looked at three primary areas: level of service, developing a policy framework, and working through design guidelines. He noted there was a great deal of community engagement and analysis as part of the project. He discussed the history of the Parks program and noted one of the aspects of the update was to include the idea of a holistic approach to public spaces. He noted Parks and Recreation hits all of the City’s key outcome areas. Day discussed the new park classifications and recreation facility definitions that are part of the Master Plan and noted that has allowed for the tailoring of better design guidelines. He also discussed the policy framework and goals of providing quality recreation, equity, and safety. He noted each park site was evaluated for whether it needed a major refresh, minor refresh, or small lifecycle improvements. Gavaldon asked about the classification of Sugar Beet Park. Day replied it is a neighborhood park. Gavaldon commented on parking difficulties around Romero Park and asked about the possible use of parking spaces near Vine and Lemay citing the need for friendlier pedestrian access. Day replied he was unsure of exact opportunities, but he will discuss it with staff. Krause noted a couple of the top ten input areas for the Master Plan were bike parks and bike trails. He asked if there is an opportunity to understand what is being considered regarding input related to bikes. Day replied there is a pump track in Trailhead Park, which is now under construction. He stated he would have other members of staff provide additional details on bike park input and how that will affect plans moving forward. BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 5 /2 4 /2021 – MINUTES Page 5 Tupa asked how trail systems play into bike park classifications. Day replied the trail system weaves parks together; however, the two have separate master plans. Dixon commented on urban single-track trails wherein mountain bike features are built into a trail paralleling a paved trail. He also commented on bike parks and mountain bike courses being separated into two line items for the purposes of the Master Plan planning process. b. Vision Zero – Erika Benti (Parking and Transportation Services, CSU), Aaron Fodge (Alternative Transportation Manager, CSU), Fred Haberecht (Facilities Management, CSU) Erika Benti, CSU Parking and Transportation Services, discussed the history of Vision Zero initiatives and stated the main point of the initiatives is to reframe the consideration of safety on roadways and to make fatal and severe roadway crashes unacceptable. She noted common themes among all Vision Zero initiatives include the highest levels of leadership declaring it as a priority, doing data collection and analysis and ensuring that data is transparent, publicly available, and used to prioritize improvements to the transportation system, doing community engagement and looking at the initiative through an equity lens, using different strategies to manage speed to a safe level, and setting a timeline for reaching the goal of zero traffic deaths. She stated CSU may be the first university in the country to have its own Vision Zero initiative. Fred Haberecht, CSU Facilities Management Campus Planner, discussed the Vision Zero task force which was formed after the death of a student on the first day of classes in September of 2019. He stated Vision Zero is an umbrella initiative that will encompass safety and access on campus. He commented on the need for infrastructure changes, policy, enforcement, and education as means to deconflict campus. Aaron Fodge, CSU Alternative Transportation Manager, discussed the five milestones for the Vision Zero initiative: complete street standards to support all users, a safety and access assessment to ensure transparent investment prioritization, crash evaluation reporting, conceptual review, and safety and prioritization reporting. He stated the goal is to do stakeholder engagement over the next four weeks with the hope of delivering the first recommendations and associated budget requests to CSU administration in July. He noted CSU will be participating in the City’s upcoming Active Modes Transportation Plan. Gavaldon asked if CSU is adopting the Larimer County Urban Area Street Standards. Mr. Fodge replied that has been the model for CSU for a number of years, though they are not being formally adopted. He said the plan is to use those standards as a model for developing standards unique to CSU. Gavaldon asked if these standards would be applied to the Hughes Stadium BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 5 /2 4 /2021 – MINUTES Page 6 property. Mr. Haberecht replied that is outside the purview of this group. Gavaldon asked if the Foothills Campus and other off-main campus areas will have the same standards. Mr. Haberecht replied the standards would apply to all Larimer County campuses. Chair Williams asked if it would be possible to add Vision Zero or bicycle safety categories to the existing Access Fort Collins app. Ms. Benti replied that could be considered but noted any engagement app would be used for prioritizing future investments. c. Active Modes Plan Update – Cortney Geary Geary noted there are current separate Bicycle and Pedestrian Plans and discussed the more multi-modal approach to the upcoming combined Active Modes Plan. She stated the RFP is currently open for a consultant team to help develop the plan and a consultant is planned to be selected by the beginning of July which will lead into the first phase of public outreach that will occur between July and September. She stated the second phase of public engagement will occur in November through February and then a document will be drafted with the hope of adoption in June of 2022. Geary stated Engineering and CSU are both contributing funding to the project. She also noted there are line items for bicycling and walking the Community Capital Improvement Program Fund. Geary stated there are tentatively scheduled presentations before the BAC in August and November of 2021, and April of 2022, with the option for additional presentations. She requested Committee members help to let community members know about public participation opportunities. Geary outlined key enhancements that she hopes will be made through the Plan process, including support for historically marginalized and underrepresented groups which will lead to an updated prioritization framework, and expanding the low-stress network. Geary stated staff has been asked by Council to develop a Vision Zero implementation plan, which will be a parallel process to the Active Modes Plan. Geary asked members to discuss how they would like to be involved in the Plan process and about key next steps. Chair Williams stated he would appreciate some type of specific email about the process that includes some type of social media post template. Geary replied one of the first tasks of the consultants will be developing a public involvement plan and those types of communication strategies would be a good part of that. Gavaldon asked if this presentation will be shared with the Transportation Board. BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 5 /2 4 /2021 – MINUTES Page 7 Geary replied she will ask Aaron Iverson about getting on an upcoming agenda. d. Super Issues Meeting Update and Discussion Gavaldon provided a report on the Super Issues meeting during which water use and conservation in Fort Collins was discussed. He commented on water conservation in his HOA and on the meeting presentation. Gavaldon reported on the Super Issues discussion around ‘reimagining Boards and Commissions.’ 8. OTHER BUSINESS a. Transportation Board Report Gavaldon reported on the recent Transportation Board meeting during which the Super Issues meeting conflicts with the BAC meetings were discussed. He stated the Board opted for having one joint meeting per year with the BAC and suggested the BAC may need to move its other three conflicting meetings if desired. Gavaldon stated the Transportation Board also received presentations on the Larimer County Urban Area Street Standards and Budgeting for Outcomes. b. Committee Member Reports Chair Williams stated the County Natural Resources Department gave a presentation to the County Commissioners and developed a press release regarding E-bikes on natural surface trails. He stated staff recommended E-bikes be allowed for mobility purposes. Tupa reported on a Parks and Recreation Board discussion of E-skateboard use on trails. Krause reported the Natural Resources Advisory Board met with their Council liaison, Julie Pignataro, who indicated her support of bicycling as a priority. Peyronnin reported the CSU BAC received presentations from Dave Dixon and Cortney Geary. He stated a community ride has been planned and the committee will be doing a bike tour in June of campus infrastructure improvements. Webber reported the Land Conservation and Stewardship Board discussed the natural areas inclusion and equity strategic plan, use changes at Gateway Natural Area, conservation easements in natural areas, succession planning, and the Hughes Stadium property. Dixon reported Bike Fort Collins is working on placing new road signage regarding giving bikes three feet of clearance on roadways. He thanked the City for making bicycle improvements at the Drake and Overland intersection and reported Bike Fort Collins is again doing Ride Around Town rides. BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 5 /2 4 /2021 – MINUTES Page 8 Allison commented on using the terms ‘crash’ or ‘collision’ rather than ‘accident.’ She also reported on the recent death of a national cyclist who was hit by a drunk driver. Buckley reported the Fort Collins Bike Co-op is seeking volunteers and staff as it begins to start offering classes again. c. Staff Liaison Report Geary requested input from Committee members regarding how to proceed with meetings that conflict with Super Issues meetings on a quarterly basis. Gavaldon stated he would prefer to reschedule the three meetings that conflict and hold the fourth as a joint meeting with the Transportation Board. Other members commented and Chair Williams stated a formal vote would be held next month. Geary commented on the City’s return to work sites and the opportunity for more in- person meetings. She outlined options for how to hold BAC meetings going forward and requested input. Gavaldon stated he would prefer to have the option for remote meetings. Other members expressed support for hybrid or rotating meetings. Geary provided information about Bike to Work Day on June 23rd and commented on the Microsoft Teams platform that may be useful in some ways moving forward. She asked if there would be interest in a training on the platform. A few members replied in the affirmative. d. Call for Agenda Items 9. ADJOURNMENT Gavaldon made a motion, seconded by Tupa to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 8:17 PM by unanimous consent.