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Home My WebLink About02/08/2011 - Transportation Master Plan - Air Quality Advisory Board Natural Resources Department 215 North Mason PO Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 970.221.6600 970.224.6177 Fax fcgov.com/naturalresources M E M O R A N D U M TO: Mayor Hutchinson and Councilmembers FROM: Greg McMaster, Chair, Air Quality Advisory Board CC: Darin Atteberry, City Manager Lucinda Smith, AQAB Staff Liaison DATE: February 8, 2011 SUBJECT: AQAB Recommendations on Transportation Master Plan ______________________________________________________________________________ The Air Quality Advisory Board has been involved in the Plan Fort Collins process and discussed the Transportation Master Plan at three meetings over the past several months. The Board appreciates the efforts that have been made to coherently integrate transportation, environment, and air quality challenges into the updated proposed Transportation Master Plan. At our January 24, 2011 meeting, the AQAB developed the following recommendation on the Transportation Master Plan for your consideration. The DRAFT excerpt of the full AQAB discussion on January 24th is provided on the following pages of this memo. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Thank you for the opportunity to provide input on the Transportation Master Plan. Dave Dietrich moved and Rich Fisher seconded the following motion: Because of the impact of transportation to air quality and climate change, the AQAB supports the Transportation Master Plan but strongly recommends a greater sense of urgency in implementing the new transportation-related paradigm such as enhanced multi modal transportation included in the plan. Motion passed unanimously (7-0-0) 2 AQAB Draft, Unapproved Minutes Excerpt – January 24, 2011____________ Transportation Master Plan Transportation Planner, Matt Wempe summarized changes to the Transportation Master Plan since November and asked the board for any comments or recommendations: • Matt Wempe stated the Transportation Advisory Board had concerns about dictating modes of travel instead of giving people the option to choose. • Council asked the Green Streets demonstration project to be moved up to a 1-2 year time frame. • They tweaked several policies regarding how roads are designed in infill and redevelopment areas. • Expanded transit to include bus and rail. • The Master Street Plan will not have Corbett Drive extending from Front Range Village to English Ranch. • The extension of Laurel Street behind Albertsons at Riverside was determined to be infeasible. • Updated the Pedestrian Plan in a final draft. • Updated implementation chapters of the Capital Improvements Plan regarding funding strategies to generally discuss how transportation is funded in Fort Collins and at local, state and federal level. There needs to be a large conversation this year about long-term sustainable funding for transportation. • Some travel demand management policies in environmental section of City Plan were removed and put into the Transportation Policy section of the Transportation Master Plan. o Lucinda Smith pointed out City Plan still has overarching transportation policies and principles but there are more details are in Transportation Master Transportation Plan • Matt stated he was at the AQAB meeting for any further recommendations they may have. Discussion • Lucinda pointed out last month the AQAB made a recommendation on City Plan regarding street oversizing, but has not yet made a recommendation on the Transportation Master Plan. • Nancy York asked for clarification about the capital improvement plan being updated every two years with a five year horizon. She suggested a longer horizon to plan the future and anticipate the growth need. o Matt Wempe stated The Capital Improvement Plan is basically a ranked wish list of things needed to fully achieve the transportation vision for Fort Collins. It is opportunistic and implemented when funding is available. The two year items tie into the Budgeting For Outcomes (BFO) process. o Nancy York stated, since transportation contributes to air pollution and climate change and the price of oil is increasing, she think the plan needs to be more sustainable (i.e. focusing on other modes of transportation) so Fort Collins is able to function economically and environmentally into the distant future. 3 AQAB Draft, Unapproved Minutes Excerpt – January 24, 2011____________ • Dennis Georg stated he has been critical of past transit plans and suggested we marry our urban density realities with what is affordable since Fort Collins does not have the urban density for urban transportation. However, he thought this was a good plan because of the integration of pedestrians, bicycles, transportation and streets. He would like to see how Fort Collins’ urban density might change over long time and how it might form the type of transportation the City needs. • To answer Rich Fisher who asked how funding for trails affected by this plan, Matt Wempe stated GOCO/lottery money funds many trails. Parks funds trail maintenance when there are funds to do so. Transportation funds portions of trails when they cross streets and the Mason Trail. The Transportation Plan does not have any extra funds allocated to trails. Matt was unsure any more funds will be allocated for trails in the future. He stated prioritizing money for trails is a challenge. They are looking at having a City-wide capital improvement plan for streets, bikeways, pedestrian walkways and utility improvements. Discussion: • Dave Dietrich suggested the motion should relate to the Transportation Plan. He also stated future single occupancy vehicles could be electric or very environmentally friendly. • John Schroeer suggested there be plans for park and ride locations near Prospect and I-25 for people who are carpooling. • Nancy York stated this is an economic justice issue because people will not be able to afford to drive cars in the future and asphalt roads will be more expensive. She felt the motion should be in stronger language. • Hugh MacKay suggested the AQAB make a recommendation that it generally supports the Transportation Plan and encourages the Transportation Department to continue to be flexible as new technological developments come along to support reduction of fossil fuels. • Greg McMaster stated the Transportation Plan is good, but what is missing is urgency to move faster. Nancy York made the following motion: Given that oil is a finite resource and some technical methods to get more oil is environmentally damaging and the fact that local sources are the primary contributors to ozone pollution, fine particles, nitrous oxides and greenhouse gasses, the Air Quality Advisory Board advises a minimalist approach to: 1. road widening and new road construction 2. greater efforts to expand transit service 3. focus on long term needs of future residents Motion died from lack of a second 4 AQAB Draft, Unapproved Minutes Excerpt – January 24, 2011____________ • Dennis Georg stated multi modal should be emphasized in the Transportation Plan but did not feel the AQAB should prescribe how to do it. Dennis Georg suggested the City needs a deeper capability of multi-modal transportation and suggested the following statement. “Because of the impact of transportation on air quality, the Air Quality Advisory Board supports the proposal for the Transportation Plan and encourages the City to adopt a greater sense of urgency in adopting deeper capabilities for multi modal transportation.” • Rich Fisher stated the objective is to get more people out of vehicles is already in the Transportation Plan because it is encouraging them to drive less. He suggested adding a vision statement such as, “The City will be a world leader in building a cleaner, cheaper, safer transportation system that reduces individual vehicle miles travelled but satisfies all citizen’s transportation needs.” -------end of excerpt------ Dave Dietrich moved and Rich Fisher seconded the following motion: Because of the impact of transportation to air quality and climate change, the AQAB supports the Transportation Master Plan but strongly recommends a greater sense of urgency in implementing the new transportation-related paradigm such as enhanced multi modal transportation included in the plan. Motion passed unanimously