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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation Board - Minutes - 10/02/19960 0 eQOzr�, CITY OF FORT COLLINS TRANSPORTATION BOARD Meeting Minutes October 2, 1996 Paul Valentine, Chair Paul Perlmutter, Vice Chair Will Smith, City Council Liaison The Meeting of the Transportation Board began at 6:02 p.m. at the Ben Delatour Room of the Fort Collins Public Library, Fort Collins, Colorado. Board Members present included: Paul Valentine, Paul Perlmutter, Alan Beatty, Mark Egeland, Sara Frazier, Tim Johnson, Kathleen Kilkelly, and Ray Moe. Staff Members present included: Tom Frazier, Ron Phillips and Eric Bracke. Moved by Mr. Perlmutter, seconded by Mr. Hopkins to approve the minutes of the September 18 meeting. The new format is preferred. The use of headings provides for more readability. Motion approved unanimously. PUBLIC COMMENT Mr. Hopkins complimented Vice Chair Paul Perlmutter on his handling of the public input at the last meeting. Mr. Phillips shared that Mr. Lemberg, in his phone message, was extremely critical of the response to the petition to remove speed humps. As expressed at the September 18 meeting, Mr. Lemberg was critical of any kind of slowing device. Mr. Perlmutter posted Alan Krcmarik's request for retention revenue on the HP Notes. Many of the people found this to be an opportunity to express complaints with the City. The two main complaints seemed to be: Placement of stop lights or signs which seemed to slow down the general flow of traffic; and whether or not construction projects are worth the cost. Due to the high response to the HP Notes, the following comments and suggestions were shared with regard to alternative methods of attracting public comment: • A newspaper notice be posted to invite more people to Board meetings. • Board meetings are currently posted in the paper, and there is always opportunity for public comment. • Mr. Smith and Mr. Phillips expressed availability to dedicate the noon hour to listening to any of the City topics that people at Hewlett-Packard and other places of employment want to talk about. • An occasional publicized neighborhood meeting would also be a good outreach to the people. • Change of location for the Board meetings to more conducive locations for attendence by the public. Transportation Board Minutes October 2, 1996 Page 2 It was commented that while the above suggestions are good, response will be greater to methods such as the following: An occasional on-line meeting. An on-line address where public comment mail can be sent. A City questionnaire or comment page in the newspaper. A hot line where voice messages my be left. The radio talk shows have proved to generate comment. SPEED HUMPS Mr. Bracke reviewed the Speeding on West Stuart Report. City Staff received several complaints from the citizens who lived along West Stuart Street stating that there was a safety problem in this area due to speeding drivers. Other tactics were unsuccessfully used previous to the speed humps. Over 75 percent of the neighborhood residents supported the installment of the speed humps. The speed humps have been the best solution to reduce speeding on Stuart Street. There were different humps designed and tested before the installation. The fire department do not support the speed humps. They are concerned about their response time. They are losing approximately 40 seconds from their response time. The fire departments are working on the Internet to find out if anybody has a design that calms traffic and is acceptable to fire departments. Mr. Bracke reviewed the petition to City Council to remove speed bumps on Stuart Street. City Council received this petition with 101 signatures petitioning to remove the speed humps. At this point the Board is requested to review Stuart Street and make a recommendation to City Council. There has been discussion about holding a public meeting in that area within two or three weeks. Some members of the Board should plan to attend the public meeting. Attending Board members would report back at the next scheduled Board meeting to assist in making a recommendation. Following Mr. Bracke's review of the above -mentioned documents, the following comments were shared: The traffic volume is not indicated to have reduced. At this point there is not an accurate study that can be made due to the possibility that the construction on Drake may be affecting the traffic volume on Stuart Street. Timing is unfortunate; however, there was great pressure from the Stuart Street citizens to get the speed humps installed. The speed humps were purposely put in during this construction period, because when people detour, they tend to speed. • The 101 petitioning signatures do not include a signature from a Stuart Street address. The citizens who requested the speed humps are pleased with the results and would like the speed humps to stay in place. In fact, they were r Transportation Board Minutes October 2, 1996 Page 3 not pleased that they were tapered down. The requests for traffic calming in other neighborhoods have gone up since the speed humps were installed. • Funding for the speed humps, signs, and trimming trees should be addressed. The funding may also be an issue for the neighborhood. • Because the street is wide, it tends to invite higher speeds. It was suggested that the street be narrowed and more grass area and sidewalks be installed. While this is a good idea, it is extremely costly. The street could also be narrowed by installing the cement barrels; however, that would be a maintenance problem. • Build more of the white speed trailers that have proven to be effective. • Put a police officer out there every day to reduce the speed. • It is impractical to put a police officer on location every day. • There are a number of schools in the area. It was agreed by the Board that the City must do what it can to reduce speeds for the residents in that neighborhood. The speed humps should be viewed as a short-term solution. The Board needs to find a long-term solution. Mr. Bracke is attempting to schedule a time for the public meeting at the Senior Center. Mr. Johnson suggested that the meeting take place possibly a month or two from now. If there is a cooling period, the discussion may be more beneficial. There may also be some solution that came forth from the Fire Department during this time. The meeting will take place within the next month. The citizens who are requesting speed humps in other areas around the city and also those who are requesting speed humps be removed should be included in the public meeting. Their inclusion would hopefully avoid having to hold multiple meetings. It would also be beneficial for both sides to meet the citizens who oppose their point of view. The information available should be presented at the meeting both in overhead form and in handout form. The types of behavior that are listed in the petition are rare. TRAFFIC OPERATIONS PROGRAM Mr. Bracke handed out the traffic operations packet. There is not an official name for the program. At this time the suggestions include: Neighborhood Traffic Control Program, Traffic Impact, and Traffic Tamers. Mr. Bracke requested that the Board forward any ideas for the program name. The packet was reviewed with the Board by Mr. Bracke. The document is a draft of how each of the neighborhoods can compete for funds. Transportation Board Minutes October2, 1996 Page 4 CITY PLAN PRINCIPLES & POLICIES Mr. Frazier explained the ongoing process taking place at the City Plan Advisory Committee meetings. The draft copy that the Board received this evening is not current. The document is always being updated; therefore, it is difficult to get the most recent version to every group. This document is intended to be incorporated with the Land Development Guidance System. It is the superstructure upon which the codification will be built. The following are Board comments and suggestions: • The gray boxes at the end of each section that list the related plans and policies are an excellent change. • Principle T-4 states that private automobiles will continue to be important means of transportation. The first policy under that states that automobiles will be limited. That limitation would be better stated under Principle T-1. Something more positive towards automobiles should be inserted under Principle T-4. • Since the automobile will continue to be the single most important means of transportation, there should be some statement about increasing capacity of transportation systems and structures. There was also opposition to the usage of the word 'capacity." • In T-4.2 "enhance" suggests building. A straightforward approach should be used in the wording. • There needs to be more linking with the Principles & Policies document to the Master Street Plan. • Principle T-4.1 should be under Principle T-1.7. • The transit needs to run at night. • TC-2.2 needs work on the wording. The current wording suggests that nothing will be done until the conditions are unmanageable. The pairing of not increasing capacity with increased choices is a good idea. • The term 'composite level of service" requires a definition. Further comments and suggestions for the Principles & Policies document should be submitted by citing the particular section, number and the suggested wording. Changes may also be made directly on the page and faxed in. Comments and suggestions will be taken until Tuesday, October 9. A composite of those comments will be submitted to the City Plan Advisory Committee. Transportation Board Minutes October 2, 1996 Page 5 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM / BUDGET UPDATE Mr. Phillips complimented Chair Paul Valentine on the excellent presentation of the Board's recommendations to Council. Council member Mr. Smith commented on the budget process. Each of the projects will be put into a rough matrix. Council will apply some weighting factors to each of the projects. As soon as a copy of the matrix is available, it will be forwarded to the Transportation Board. A very significant suggestion is for the Board to review our projects in the framework of this matrix system. That would provide valuable input to Council and would give the Board an opportunity to detail some of the strategy. The only two projects that were discussed relative to the Capital Improvements Program were reviewed by the Technology Board. Any final CIP projects that have a technology dominant to them should be brought back through the Technology Board. On Tuesday October 8, items specific to the 1997 budget will be reviewed by Council. The two major items are funding for the Harmony library and a private/public partnership that will create capital to generate low -interest loans for creating affordable housing. If the Board has other comments or items that are felt to be fairly important, now is the time to call Council or staff members. On October 15 the public will again have the chance to comment on the budget. It has been five years since the traffic lights were timed. Timing is probably the biggest thing to help improve air quality. It could enhance the overall traffic calming as well. Moved by Mr. Johnson, seconded by Ms. Kilkelly: To send a letter to Council addressing the intercity transit issues and the need for re -timing of the traffic lights. Motion approved unanimously. Mr. Phillips will draft the letter and will also send a copy to the Air Quality Board. Again, contacts to City Council members are recommended. T-NOTES (UPDATES) Rail: Mr. Phillips, Mr. Frazier and Mr. Smith attended a breakfast meeting with State representatives. During that meeting it was relayed that testimony was presented to the House Transportation Committee requesting funding for a major feasibility study for this corridor. The funding, if approved, would not be available until October of 1997. Work is being done with the State to see if additional funding through the MPE is available to start this process. There are five counties included. Fort Collins is getting the lead corridor attention from the ,State Advisory Committee. Transportation Board Minutes October 2, 1996 Page 6 Transfort received the Colorado Association of Transit Agency's top innovative award for the area employees group. A low-key presentation can be made at a City Council meeting, but the people making it work are the people who are on route. Letters will be sent to the companies. There should be a presentation to the companies. The parking plan was passed by Council on September 17. The changes for the 1997 budget increases on fines, permits and fees starting in January will be submitted. Action on the garages will take place in the summer after work with neighborhoods is done. The first neighborhood meeting regarding the Overland Trail extension is scheduled for October 16 from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. at the Olander Elementary School. Natural Resources is having a meeting on the management of Pineridge to be held at the Lincoln Center on October 7. Mr. Stephen Hanna and Mr. Andrew Trenka are new Bcard members. Mr. Phillips was selected as one of four scholarship winners to attend the Intelligent Transportation System World Congress in Orlando. BOARD MEMBER AND STAFF REPORTS Ms. Frazier suggested an event in which the citizens wrote in naming the streets that they were not able to find the posted speed limit signs. Ms. Frazier was hoping that this would get the citizens to be more conscientious of their traveling speed. To do some kind of event as suggested by Ms. Frazier would probably be faulty since the funds are not available to correct any problems that citizens may point out. Ms. Frazier stated that funding needs to be addressed to do the trimming of trees and putting up of signs. It has been her experience in driving around the city that signs are not readily observable. Mr. Hopkins suggested that trimming of trees may be a neighborhood issue. Mr. Phillips pointed out that the speed limit street paintings have not had a lasting effect. Mr. Egeland shared that the southeast area employers bus route was extended for another year. The University has started their annual Bike Enforcement and Education Program. To date over 3,000 bicycle contacts were made; 1,100 tickets Transportation Board Minutes October 2, 1996 Page 7 were written. Violators may have the moving violation fine reduced in half by going to an identification program. Ten percent of those cited attend the class. The class promotes safety for pedestrians. There has been a change of habit in a lot of the campus people. The number of bicyclists on campus has increased this year. There is an opening for the bicycle education position. There were over 100 applicants for that position. It was advertised in a cycling magazine and received national attention. Mr. Valentine reported his recent bus experience. The loading and unloading of wheelchairs was very timely and effective. The half-hour morning commute seemed to just fit his schedule. There was a 70-minute commute home. Overall he found the bus experience to be pleasant. Mr. Johnson's daughter takes the bus also. During that trip the bus passes through the orthopedic center. There has never been a passenger pick up that she can remember at the orthopedic center. That bus stop is being reevaluated. NEXT AGENDA The following Board meetings were scheduled: November 6, 20 and December 4. In order to make the meetings more efficient, members should strive to cut off discussion early. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:58 p.m.