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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation Board - Minutes - 06/19/1996• C�_ �911n City Council Liaison: Staff Liaison: Commission Chairman TRANSPORTATION BOARD MEETING MINUTES June 19, 1996 Will Smith Ron Phillips Colin Gerety The meeting of the Transportation Board began at 5:50 p.m. in the CIC Room, 300 West Laporte Street, Fort Collins, Colorado. Board members present included Chairman Colin Gerety, Vice Chair Paul Valentine, Tim Johnson, Paul Perlmutter, Alan Beatty, Mark Egeland, Sara Frazier, Dolores Highfield, Donn Hopkins, Elizabeth Hudetz, and Ray Moe. Will Smith was present from City Council. Ed Secor was present from the Natural Resources Board. Staff members present included Tom Frazier, Mike Herzig, Eric Bracke, and Matt Baker. Moved by Mr. Hopkins, seconded by Ms. Hudetz: To approve the June 5th meeting minutes. The following correction were noted: Page 7, last line: Change 'change" to "chance." Page 10, last line: To insert the word "extra" before " $5." Motion passed unanimously. No public comment was offered. Mr. Frazier gave an overview of the Master Street Plan. Although much of the street design will deal with automobiles, but the new proposed system, with its street design standards, deals with pedestrian and bicycle ways as well. Mr. Eric Bracke presented the Master Street Plan (MSP). It is required by State law and is an important element of the Master Plan. The MSP is used to determine street widths and rights -of -way. The MSP in existence was originally adopted in 1980-1981 and has been amended several times in the ensuing years. The Structure Plan and Comprehensive Plan have impelled a revision of the MSP, starting from scratch. The Land Use Plan is now significantly different than that seen in 1980. Some assumptions that have entered into the new MSP: The development of a regional transportation plan; and improved bicycle, transit, and multimodal opportunities. Single -occupant vehicle use will be reduced from 48 to 30 percent, and other modes will increase by usage. Meeting these assumptions are critical in order for the new MSP to work. The City is taking an aggressive stance on reducing the growth of VMTs to less than the population growth rate of Fort Collins. The Air Quality Board is also concerned with the growth rate and has recommended a continual monitoring program to allow for implementation of any changes that occur. Transportation Board Minutes June 19, 1996 Page 2 The original 1980 MSP envisioned a great deal of additional load to streets and pavement. A few arterials, such as Harmony, will need expansion; most of the other arterials, such as Overland, will need much less expansion than anticipated. The Board was shown a number of arterials and the lanes needed to meet the anticipated demand. The switching yard at Vine presents some logistic problems; perhaps overpasses can be used. Vine is also being seen as a potential bypass for trucks to use. New areas of street patterns, as envisioned in the City Plan process, were pointed out. Air quality models have not been run on the new MSP. Some emission factors are either not available or are potentially faulty. The City's goal is to achieve 25 percent less than the 1999 levels. That goal may be problematic, but the Federal goals will certainly be reached. Mr. Frazier observed that the City must not only see its goal of 10 percent reduction in single - occupant vehicles but probably needs to exceed that goal in order to attain the targets in the new MSP. Transportation management must be an element of the new MSP for these goals to be achieved. Transit services will need major investment. In answer to questions by the Board, Staff noted that the switch from single -occupant vehicles to other modes of transportation will depend on what the City does, as well as entities such as the Transportation Board. The Structure Plan and changes in land use will weigh in as well. The five and six per acre densities required by the new Structure Plan will guide more people to mass transit or working at home, thus reducing trip generations. In further response to Board questions, Staff stated that the Smart Trips Program is currently hiring a marketing firm to direct a campaign to children and adults concerning the travel choices they make. The culture of travel is to be changed for work, recreational trips, and shopping. The media use for ads will be comprehensive, to include areas such as radio and newspaper. Employers will be provided with incentives to reduce trip generations by employees. Bike Week is coming up and will be promoted as well. Staff noted the schedule for the MSP includes a review by City Council on July 2. A multimodal corridor is being discussed in the College Avenue vicinity. A new category of connector street is being explored to help expedite traffic; this category falls between local street and collector street. Its function is to funnel autos to the arterials but maintain a residential character. Staff noted a new major activity center being planned as part of the Structure Plan. Calthorpe has recommended a diagonal from Vine and Lemay to Mountain Vista and Timberline; Staff is not convinced of the necessity. Mr. Smith noted the awkward jogs that sometimes occur at arterials. He noted the Lemay/Swallow/Centennial exchange as an example where citizens become less enamored with the planning process of the City. Transpportation Board Minutes June 19, 1996 Page 3 Staff noted the changes that are being considered: arterials with medians to control access as well as movement; offset connector streets coming into arterials to prevent cut -through traffic; engineer for four-way intersections and regulate collector traffic within the residential development. Discussion was held on cut -through traffic. Problems were noted on residential streets such as Swallow and Whalers Way where traffic has become heavier and faster than intended. Bicyclists tend to use collectors, and it is inconvenient to be forced to take stretches of arterials between collectors. It was also noted that cars using collectors help cut down on the volume on arterial streets. Heavy use by cars of collector streets also reduces the desirability for bicyclists to use those streets. An example of where heavier use has not hindered access is Columbia and East Stuart. These collectors have become minor arterials. The use of such streets also accents the advantages the grid system has in helping to smooth out traffic. The desirable number of minor arterials per half mile was discussed. Not all collectors are on the Master Street Plan. Extensions have been made of existing collectors to attach them to arterials. Others have occurred as development has occurred. The Master Street Plan has not addressed how to interconnect collectors to arterials among different developments. It was noted that West Troutman does not cross the tracks, as represented on the map. Overland Trail has been downgraded from the original MSP. The favored use of Taft Hill over Overland as an arterial was discussed. The need exists to widen streets such as Shields to six lanes but is simply not affordable. Overland Trail is also presently pushing its capacity. Direction has come to not consider one-way streets, although the City could use more of them. Further discussion was held about the desirability of a collector street from Harmony Road through the Environmental Learning Center. Problems were noted with traffic moving to Drake from the industrial centers on East Prospect. A new water treatment plan is being planned, but not until at least the year 2000. The potential movement of Water Treatment Plant 2 was discussed. The proposed MSP and the Transit Plan differ in number of trips because the Transit Plan is a seven- year plan; the MSP is a 20-year plan. It was again stressed that the success of alternative modes of the MSP were critical for the Plan's implementation. If these goals are not met, the City will require massive laneage on its existing arterials and will be facing gridlock situations. With regard to the possibility of dedicated lanes for alternative transit modes, Staff noted that such concepts work better for freeways or areas like the 16th Street Mall. Problems arise in property access, tuming movements, and loadingtunloading. There is a need to develop a Harmony -to -Cherry transit system, and perhaps a pedestrian and transit corner from Prospect to Harmony. If the City Transportation Board Minutes June 19. 1996 Page 4 builds a sewage treatment plant near Ptarmigan, it will be paying for people to move out of the city and thereby increase traffic into the city. Staff stated that they were attempting to prepare the issue for presentation to City Council on July 2nd, and were looking to the Board for a recommendation. Such a recommendation may entail approval as is, postponement, or changes to the MSP. Mr. Smith noted a need on the map to show more graphically the bicycle and other transit routes envisioned that will make traffic management work in the future. Very little public outreach has been done on the new MSP. Electronic mail messages have indicated a desire on the part of citizens to confront traffic as it exists and prepare for high levels of automobile travel. Education must start immediately to provoke this change of behavior that is needed, and the electorate may not be accepting of the City policy. Many of these policies will start to gel in the next few months as the City Plan process is finalized and the principles, policies, implementation, capital improvements, and Structure Plan are brought together in a comprehensive package. Several compelling arguments exist for the new MSP: the tremendous cost of building in accordance with the old MSP; and the halving of the average arterial speeds, giving the projected crowding of the arterials. The development of the new MSP contemporaneously with the Structure Plan has not allowed for much public input. If the new MSP is approved, it will move to be incorporated into the implementation of the new City Plan. At that point, many components of the City Plan will be a different format with more data available. Council has stated that the City Plan is a dynamic process, subject to change as different facts and concepts are realized. Changes must be made quickly in order to accommodate the timetable set for the City Plan. A desire was expressed for collector streets to occur frequently - perhaps every third to half mile - in order to ease traffic pressure from the arterials. Staff noted that their traffic models indicated a third of a mile was too short. Mr. Valentine noted European models which indicated a half mile was too long. It was noted that while a 50 percent growth is foreseen for the city, growth in roads is significantly less. Higher level of alternative transit connections will not only aid bicyclists and pedestrians, but auto traffic as well. Conversely, congested roads affect bicyclists, as well as motorists, adversely. Board members noted that they did not object to the plan; but neither, because of the short time involved in reviewing it, did they automatically approve it. Some open questions involve the level of funding needed. 20 years may be too long to attempt to plan for traffic levels. Staff noted that the E E Trans pportation,1996 Board Minutes June 19 Page 5 MSP is critical for obtaining the necessary rights -of -way in planning for street location. If Harmony had not been anticipated for expansion, the cost of obtaining the rights -of -way would have been prohibitive. A need was noted to plan for collectors in order for Staff to lay out the collector locations needed in future developments. Staff noted that a presentation must be made to Council on July 2, with or without the Board's recommendations. The MSP is a plan for transportation corridors of the city, which are generally comprised of arterial streets. The collectors are not modeled for traffic volumes within the MSP. The next phase of the City Plan is principles and policies; it is at that point that such concepts as street design standards will come into play that will plan collector streets within developments. Staff further noted that much of the discussion taking place does not fit into the plan they must present to Council. Board members noted that the philosophy of establishing minor arterials every half mile, if approved, was an element that should be included in the MSP. Staff stated that the elements of City Plan that are designed to direct development in certain areas will contain the street definitions that will be applied. Board members noted that the minor arterials being discussed are bicycle arterials for many people and as such need to be included in the MSP. Moved by Mr. Hopkins, seconded by Ms. Hudetz: To adopt the proposed MSP, with a recommendation that more incremental minor arterials are included in the grid system in order to enhance the MSP. Motion carried 6-4. A question was raised whether a minority opinion should be issued that the plan needs more discussion before a final vote. It was decided that the minutes would reflect the Board's concerns and the split vote. It was noted that the MSP issue encompassed an hour and twenty minutes. Concern was expressed whether the agenda could be finished at this meeting. Mr. Frazier noted that the level of service item would not be developed for the Council until August. After discussion, that item was removed from the agenda. It was decided that the Board would continue discussion of the remaining items. Mr. Frazier presented handouts on street standards. Certain philosophical shifts have occurred on street standards, but the new philosophy is in consonance with the Board's views. Mr. Herzig stated that Staff has done cross -sections of all city streets in trying to balance all of the transportation modes set forth in the Community Visions and Goals for 2015. Mr. Herzig set forth the following goals of the revised street standards: Transportation Board Minutes June 19, 1996 Page 6 To balance transportation among pedesrians, bicyclists, and motor vehicles. To elevate pedestrian travel as a viable mode of transportation. To improve bicycling as a mode of transportation. To provide for neighborhood streets that are attractive and safe for pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers. The following goals for street standards were added by the Council Growth Management Committee: To reduce street widths in order to reduce costs, to assist in producing affordable housing. Mr. Herzig noted that the right-of-way is proposed to be increased to allow for detached and wider sidewalks, and parkways between sidewalk and curb. Reduce street widths to reduce speeds and provide traffic calming. Provide options for flexibility. Provide standards for alleys and backyard accesses. Mr. Herzig detailed the cross -sections of the following street types: Arterials, divided among: Major arterials, three lanes each direction, with turn lanes. Example: College Avenue. Arterials, two lanes each direction, with turn lanes. Examples: Shields, Lemay, Horsetooth, but with medians. Minor arterials, one lane each direction, with turn lanes. This is a newly -developed cross- section. Bicycle lanes will be added to major arterials rather than encourage bicyclists to use sidewalks. Bicycle lanes will be increased in width from six feet to eight feet, to be adjusted as necessitated by traffic volume. Sidewalks on major arterials will continue to be seven feet wide, to allow for bicycle travel. Sidewalks will be widened near activity centers or on routes to activity centers. Collectors, 50 feet wide, divided into two categories: Higher -speed collectors, without parking. Collector with parking. Collectors are to have parking whenever possible. Parking buffers the traffic from the neighborhood and results in slower traffic as well. Transpportation Board Minutes June 19, 1996 Page 7 Developments would front on collectors with parking but not front on higher -speed ones. Backyards may front the higher -speed collectors. Bicycle lanes will be present on both collectors. Residential streets, divided into the following categories: Connectors, to carry higher volumes of traffic and connect neighborhoods, or connect neighborhoods to arterial or collectors. Basic residential streets, 30 feet wide (from the present 36-foot standard). One travel lane is shared by both travel directions, and two parking lanes exist. When cars meet, if parking space prevents one car from pulling over, two cars will be able to pass, albeit slowly. The traffic friction will have the effect of slowing the cars. Narrower residential streets, 24 feet wide, with one parking and one travel lane. The travel lane has more width than the parking lane in order to allow for emergency equipment to pass through. A concern exists that drivers will still park on both sides of the street, thereby blocking traffic. Alleys are proposed for such developments for access to house parking and garages. The narrow residential streets are envisioned for unique neighborhood settings that wish this configuration. They will have a maximum length of 660 feet and no dead ends. The Fire Authority now requires loop connections in order to fight fires from two directions. New alleys must be paved to intensify land use and to meet air quality concerns. Rural residential, 28 feet wide, with no sidewalks. This standard is presently used in some areas with one -acre or larger lots. Industrial/commercial streets, divided into two categories: Commercial streets, 44 feet wide, with combined parking and bicycle lanes, with two travel lanes. Intersections will have bicycle lanes of six feet, with two I 1-feet travel lanes and a 10-feet left tum lane. Industrial streets, 44 feet wide, will have two large travel lanes and two large parking lanes to accommodate larger vehicles. Pedestrian/bicycle path connections, to go between lots, to connect cul-de-sacs to other cul-de-sacs or arterials, in order to encourage interconnectedness and bicycle and pedestrian use. Discussion between the Board and staff included the following issues: Many people feel less safe in such neighborhoods due to the existence of the alleys. Transportation Board Minutes June 19, 1996 Page 8 » Do streets plus alleys result in larger rights -of -ways than streets alone? » People may tend to associate with neighbors across an alley than across a street. » People prefer attached garages to detached garages, for safety, privacy, and other concerns. » A dichotomy of opinions exist whether narrower streets with alleys or wider streets without alleys are preferable. The street standards presented by Staff are in accordance with nationally accepted standards. » Setbacks vary by street type. Houses on the narrowest streets cannot venture over the utility easement. Other streets will require 20-foot setbacks. » The street widths presented are standards, not minimums. » A goal of narrower streets is to reduce the City's maintenance costs. Alleys are to be paved for the same reason, although the City's alley maintenance program is presently close to nonexistent. » Costs to maintain a narrow street and accompanying alley may be more than to maintain a street alone. The alley and narrow street configuration conforms to a more people -oriented, neotraditional design. » These standards will apply to fringe and infill developments, and redevelopments. » Due to the fact that the City will have far more older streets than newer streets, perhaps a program should be undertaken for redeveloping existing streets to the new standards, particularly when heavy maintenance occurs. » It would probably cost more money to redevelop a street with parkways and medians than to construct a new street. Issues to be dealt with would include reconfigured driveways, entrance walks, sidewalks, and curbs. Simply funding street maintenance is currently a problem. » Compromises occur even when redeveloping streets to current standards. » Certain areas, such as Indian Hills, currently have streets that are similarly to ones proposed by the new standards. Some old town street around the Shields/Laporte/Mountain area have narrower widths. » Bicycle connections should be encouraged. » Medians and parkways should have xeriscaping to conform with the nature of the City's prairie environment. » Trees serve to break up views of large vertical masses. » Oversprinkling in some industrial areas tends to discourage bicyclists and pedestrians from those areas. » Plantings that obstruct views of traffic should not be used. Setbacks for such plantings are a part of the new standards. Transportation Board Minutes June 19, 1996 Page 9 » 660 feet for the narrow street length is due to (1) existing Old Town block lengths and (2) Fire Authority requirements. » Narrower streets have proved to be functional in other cities. » The traditional wide streets of Fort Collins are functional but contribute to urban sprawl. » The standards are for developers; if they choose a certain street style, they must build by the standards that apply. » Alleys have not yet been used in new developments. Indian Hills and Ridgefield have alleys, but they are private drives, controlled by the residents. Occasionally, the City received a request from an Old Town neighborhood to vacate an alley. » Home offices would be a logical setting for the new standards. » Although sidewalks will be widened on the arterials, the arterials are not a popular place for pedestrians. Sidewalks that carry more traffic, i.e., to activity centers, must be widened. » Unlike the streets, the sidewalks standards are minimum widths. » Narrow is not necessarily better than wider. They serve different functions. Narrow streets have reduced maintenance costs and improves the interaction of the neighborhood. There is less margin of safety for children playing in and around the street. » There is concern of overcrowding in narrow streets going through multifamily buildings. » Lack of parking availability discourages people from owning cars and promotes use of alternative transportation. » Narrower streets create sidewalks with improved access. » The Fire Authority has approved the narrow residential streets only for single-family housing. » Combined parking and bicycle lanes could work well on connector streets. » Developers of multifamily complexes must provide parking for residents beyond that available on the new residential street standards. » The speed limit for all residential streets will be 25 miles an hour. Narrower streets will necessarily slow down traffic. There will be occasional violators of the appropriate speeds. » The intent of the five-foot wide of the pedestrian/bicycle paths is to promote pedestrian traffic and still be accessible to bicycles. A wider path to accommodate more traffic would eventually require car barriers. » Ideally, the pedestrian/bicycle path would be maintained by the adjoining residents or a homeowner association. » No length of the pedestrian/bicycle path has been specified. The 12-foot wide will eliminate the tunnel effect of traveling through it. Transportation Board Minutes June 19, 1996 Page 10 » Pedestrian/bicycle paths should be well -lighted. However, lights may cause problems for nearby residents. » Cul-de-sacs should be actively discouraged in favor of the grid. » Cul-de-sacs are necessary for some areas to be developed. Moved by Mr. Valentine, seconded by Mr. Perlmutter: To recommend approval of the proposed designs. Motion approved 6-1. Mr. Matt Baker presented information on the City street oversizing program. Staff is recommending a two-phase approach to street oversizing. In July 1996, Council will be asked for an adjustment to the street oversizing program to: adjust for inflation; and do traffic operational improvements to the existing model. Residential will be split off in single-family and multifamily rates. Staff then wants to clarify the interaction of the various complex issues, including proposed street standards. The street oversizing fund is eight years old and was based on the 36-foot collector. If collector size shrinks, there should not be much growth in the fund. Alternatives will be studied, a public outreach performed, and the synthesis of the information should be completed by the end of 1996. The July proposed modifications includes an inflation adjustment of 10.19 percent. Operational improvements include reclassification of streets in the northeast area, additional traffic lights, improved bicycle lanes. Some areas are in need of additional turn lanes. The fund cannot cover the expenses incurred in the new policy changes. The 10.19 percent adjustment is based on actual expenditures. The adjustment is needed to cover rises in construction costs. One of Council's recommendations to the Cost of Services Group was to base these types of development fees on a per capita basis. Street oversizing calls for a different basis. Some data exists as to trip generation broken down by single-family and multifamily. However, data has not been found to provide estimates for per capita trip generations. Comments were made that the street oversizing could be used to discourage multiple cars per household by charging for garage space. Other comments were made that this fee must be rigidly applied and cannot be used to skew behavior. Staff agreed that the street oversizing fund is not yet at a stage to encourage certain behaviors of residents. National studies have indicated that two cars per household tends to generate the most travel, and the levels tend to fall off beyond that number. Mr. Matt Baker outlined the following adjustments to the fees: From $584/dwelling unit to $895/single-family dwelling unit, and $594/multifamily dwelling unit. 0 Transportation Board Minutes June 19, 1996 Page 11 Light and heavy industrial, to increase approximately $1,000 per acre. However, the City can waive the oversizing fee and contribute like moneys from the general fund. Office use, to increase from $14,005 per acre to $19,443 per acre. The following fees are applied regionally: Loveland, $1913 per single-family dwelling unit; Greeley, $385; Longmont, $551; Boulder, $1217. The fee is applied commercially so that high -traffic generators have a larger adjustment than others. Board members commented that while commercial entities may have more trips, they are often shorter trips. Proposed street changes will be incorporated into the future adjustments of the fund. Once costs are determined for the street network that is being called for, the levels of adjustment will fall into place. At that point, Staff would seek advice of the City Attorney, begin a public process, and bring recommendations to the Transportation Board. Board members expressed a desire to adjust the fees based on the trip generations produced by a particular business. The fund has not yet taken into consideration public input of development paying its own way; rather, the minor modifications to the fee have been proposed to cover the cost of inflation. Once that is accomplished, the process will be started at the Staff and public levels to address oversize funding in a more comprehensive fashion. The following areas are to be addressed in the second phase of clarifying issues: Costs; street standards; Master Street Plan; impact fee legislation; incentive programs for base industry and reducing trip generations; the application of the fund to capital improvements. A question was raised whether oversizing fees can be used as incentives or disincentives in such areas as: discouraging too many cars to be associated with a use; and promoting affordable housing. Staff replied that the nature of an impact fee was to recover costs of the impacts. If a project has a large impact, it should generate large fees; smaller impacts should generate smaller fees. The graph presented does not show adjustments to the fee but rather the available funding. Mr. Matt* pointed out where the 10.1 percent adjustment falls on the graph. This is the first adjustment since 1988. Rises and falls in costs have kept the fees static. However, costs are now rising steadily and appreciably. Public outreach will be aggressive in the next six months, through focus groups with the development community, community forums, committee work, and presentation to Council. Street oversizing itself was explained as a fee paid by developments for improvements that they necessitate to the street infrastructure. The fee is based upon the amount of impact that a Transportation Board Minutes June 19, 1996 Page 12 development will cause. Street development is paid through the developer, the fee payer (purchaser), and the City. Moved by Mr. Gerety, seconded by Mr. Valentine: To support the immediate proposed increases for inflation; to continue to look broadly at the fees according to the proposed schedule; to attempt to determine impacts generated by each development and/or building in order that fees are specifically justified by the building's impact. Board members noted that the fees proposed are in line with other communities' fees. Mr. Matt* delineated the items that go into his calculation of costs. Discussion was held on the impacts generated by different sizes and types of businesses, in that fees should be for a business's level of impact on the system. Fee revenues are presently $1.2 million per year, and follow the levels of development pretty closely. Spending is approximately $1.8 million a year. Other income is generated by interest and general fund revenues. Motion approved unanimously. The level of service item was tabled to a future meeting. This presentation will be made to Council in August. Board members were encouraged to read the literature on this issue. The Board discussed capital improvements. A November ballot issue would renew the three quarter - cent sales tax programs to go to capital improvements. Capital improvements costs over the next 20 years are projected to be massive. Board members were encouraged to submit projects of concern that are not yet listed. The issues immediately involved in capital projects are identifying projects and sources of funding. Board members discussed city-wide capital improvement projects that are being sought at a time when funding will not even cover transportation needs. These costs probably cannot be realized even through any proposed quarter -cent sales tax. Any overpasses to be built would be tremendously expensive. The pedestrian plan will be reviewed through July and is slated fob Council review on August 6. The budget for transit received a one-time contribution last year of $400,000 to make up for the fall in the Federal budget. That item has not been reinstated in the new target budget. Discussions to do so are ongoing. The final draft of the parking plan is anticipated for July 8. Input is still being received from DBA, DDA, and neighborhood groups. A concern was expressed that the parking situation would be highly stressed during construction of the new judicial center. Although incentives are proposed to use outlying downtown parking, many of the outlying areas are not conducive to walk-through traffic. Trans pportation Board Minutes June 19, 1996 Page 13 Downtown businesses do not want permit systems to be phased out. They are willing to pay for consistent access to parking. Ms. Frazier requested, with unanimous assent from the other members, that the minutes reflect the Board's gratitude to Mr. Gerety for his dedication and diligence in chairing the Board over the years. Ms. Frazier noted the high level of knowledge that he had brought to the Board's discussions. Mr. Egeland noted the upcoming Bike Week and invited Board members to help promulgate information on the upcoming events. Mr. Smith related the following items to the Board: There will be a three-day demonstration for passenger rail. Changes are being made to the regional transportation plan due to the available levels of funding. The Highway 34 bypass near Greeley is no longer slated for funding, causing some tension with local interests. In appreciation for his work as chairman, Mr. Smith presented Mr. Gerety a shirt promoting transportation alternatives. Mr. Frazier announced that three new members of the Board will appear at the next meeting. The next meeting will also include reports on local service, parking plan, and pedestrian plan, Mr. Frazier handed out a report concerning the Governor's blue ribbon committee to which Ron Phillips was appointed. Although the committee's recommendation is to not focus strictly on roadways, that recommendation may not affect the funding from the legislature. The Board will soon be inundated with material regarding the promotion by the City of alternative transportation. Mr. Frazier reported on the truck management issues that have been discussed among the Colorado Department of Transportation, Wyoming Department of Transportation, and individuals from various motor carriers. There will be technology placements along I-25 and 287 corridors, informing truckers of road access and the best routes to take. Weather information will be available on the radio. Counters will be placed in key areas to provide accurate data on traffic. Mr. Frazier stated that automated truck processing at the port of entry was presently denied funding. The goal of CDOT is for the entire I-25 corridor to be automated. CDOT is coordinating this venture with the trucking industry. Transportation Board Minutes June 19, 1996 Page 14 Mr. Frazier noted that marketing has taken place to encourage truckers to use the I-25/I-80 corridors. However, planned improvements to I-80 at Laramie over the next five years will divert increased traffic to Fort Collins. In addition, I-25 north of Wellington is slated for improvements up through the years 1999 or 2000, also increasing traffic through Fort Collins. Improvements to 14 and 287 are not slated for another five years. Mr. Smith noted that the WO has not supported any efforts for truck traffic diversion in Fort Collins due to the lack of a comprehensive plan. Citizens affected by a proposed bypass fought the concept, thus further delaying development of a plan that MPO would help fund. Mr. Frazier noted that speed limits on 287 and 14 will change to 60 or 65 miles per hour. Mr. Smith stated that weight limits for trucks are higher on 287 than on I-25. Discussion was held about blasting at night to reduce the interruption of traffic on the interstate. It was explained that this is not a viable option. Further discussion was held on the present high level of traffic and the further negative impact to be caused by these circumstances. Anything that is done to hinder truck traffic in Fort Collins will also hinder the city vehicular traffic. The meeting adjourned at 9:30 p.m.