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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation Board - Minutes - 05/17/2006MEETING MINUTES of the TRANSPORTATION BOARD May 17, 2006 5:45 p.m. Fort Collins -Loveland Municipal Airport 4824 Earhart Road Loveland, CO FOR REFERENCE: CHAIR: Brent Thordarson 679-2165 VICE CHAIR: Gary Thomas 482-7125 STAFF LIAISON: Mark Jackson 416-2029 ADMIN SUPPORT: Cynthia Cass 224-6058 BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: James Clausen Don Edmondson Neil Grigg Jeannette Hallock-Solomon Tim Johnson Rick Price Ed Robert Gary Thomas Brent Thordarson CITY STAFF: Don Bachman Eric Bracke Kathleen Bracke Cynthia Cass Mark Jackson Ron Phillips 1. CALL TO ORDER ABSENT: Sara Frazier Kevin Westhuis OTHERS IN ATTENDANCE: Dale Adamy Dave Gordon Lisa McCabe The meeting was called to order by Chair Thordarson at 6:38 p.m. APPROVED Regular Meeting Minutes Transportation Board May 17, 2006 2. AGENDA REVIEW Page 2 of 10 Chair Thordarson stated that the order of items 7a and 7b would be reversed. 3. PUBLIC COMMENT Dale Adamy: My topic is "How to protect pedestrians". It started one day when I was crossing the railroad crossing at Drake. There was a family that was coasting up to the street and stopped. I imagined that one of the little kids in that group kept going and my heart sunk. Nothing happened and they moved on. I drive Timberline a lot and the thought occurred to me that this would be a great place, having talked to ... who said that someday it will be six lanes. That fact stimulated my imagination that it would nice if there were some grade -separated crossings that people could go underneath the road. As I travel Timberline, my imagination continues to be stirred. I start walking around that area and I noticed that the railroad is kind of level with the ground and it's about 10 feet above grade at one point and I imagined the Power Trail that is now paved could jump across the rail road track, shoot across this high point where there is a ditch, go underneath Timberline and come out into this development. My imagination keeps on soaring and it turns out that I went to a charette and on the map there was a fox buffer way out in the middle of the field. So I asked someone what the fox buffer was. It was explained to me that there is a fox den out there and if development occurs we want to protect the foxes. So here's my imagination all stirred up. I wrote a document and gave it to Karen Weitkunat back in 2003. Since then, I've had no success in getting any grade separated crossings because the first comment is that they're pretty expensive. So let your imagination run with mine. It would be kind of nice, I think, if we had development proposals and the plans would show some kind of a proposal for a grade separated crossing in the future, we'll call that a buffer, kind of like the fox buffer. We'll put it on the plans and say if we were going to have a lot of traffic here and if we wanted to transport pedestrians back and forth, let's ... on the plans so that if they were digging up the street and if money was available, we could put in a grade separated crossing. So I came up with a picture for a crossing. (Showed drawing on paper.) So there's my imagination. I think you guys probably have the best opportunity to consider this and see if maybe there's some way we could get to the goal which is have arterial street construction standards include he provision for grade separated crossings. So that's my idea. I gave Cynthia a copy of my Case for Grade Separated Buffers if anyone is interested. Jackson: Do you have it electronically? Adamy: I have it on WordPerfect. Jackson: Maybe we can scan it and send it out to the group. APPROVED Regular Meeting Minutes Transportation Board May 17, 2006 Page 3 of 10 Adamy: Would you do one more thing? When you drive down Timberline, near Bacon school, you'll notice that there's a vacant lot to the west. It's two lanes there. Someday you're going to see them start to dig it up and you're going to say, gosh this is a school and the street is getting wider and wouldn't it be nice if... so I'll leave you with that and use your imagination. **INTRODUCTIONS WERE MADE FOR NEW BOARD MEMBER JAMES CLAUSEN** 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES (April 2006) There was a motion and a second to approve the minutes as presented. Robert stated that he would like to clarify his comments on page 9. The current wording is probably the way it was said at the meeting, but he would like the word "hit" in the fourth line to be replaced with "approach " and insert the words: Adjacent ped/bike crossing after "activated the" and before `flashing" in the sixth line. Chair Thordarson stated that on page 6, there are 2 changes to be made in the 6`s paragraph, 4µ line. "Allies" should be "alleys" and "very" should be "every". With these revisions, the motion carried by a unanimous vote, 9 — 0. 5. COUNCIL LIAISON REPORT None. 6. DISCUSSION/INFORMATIONAL ITEMS a. RICK PRICE BICYCLE ISSUES DISCUSSION — K. Bracke Board member Price stated that he's been very interested in the experiment with the shared lane arrows, also known as "sharrows" on Laurel Street. I thought we'd wait and see what the experiment yields and wait til the fall. But then Council Member Manvel sent an email to the Council expressing concern with parking and bicycling on Laurel Street, so I thought that if Council is going to raise this, then I at least want the Transportation Board to be aware of it. Just wanted to get an update and see if we want to provide any thoughts to Council. Kathleen Bracke said that Eric is here tonight as well to answer any questions there might be on signing and striping on Laurel. She then showed a few slides and a video clip that illustrates a bicyclist and cars sharing the street with sharrows in place. She explained that sharrows are used for the safety of cyclists. Whether you have a striped bike lanes or sharrow lanes, there are door zone issues. Cyclists must be aware and cautious while riding no matter what. APPROVED Regular Meeting Minutes Transportation Board May 17, 2006 Page 4 of 10 The ultimate goal for Laurel is to remove on -street parking, have standard on -street bike lanes, and therefore avoid door zone issues. There is a public meeting scheduled for May 31 at CSU from 4:30 — 6:30 p.m. Hallock-Solomon suggested that there be an educational pamphlet similar to what was done for the roundabout. She also suggested that there should be a dismount area east of Howes because College is already a dismount area. It's so busy there. Johnson inquired if something like the Remington option was considered for Laurel. K. Bracke stated that based on the heavy traffic volumes on Laurel, it was not a feasible solution. E. Bracke stated that the new striping plan that would be put on Laurel from Howes to Shields will have an effect on traffic and left turns. They will be eliminated to make this work. There will be a little more congestion because of that, but staff feels that it's a fair trade-off. Price asked if this has to be approved by City Council. Phillips said that they can direct staff not to if it becomes a political situation, so maybe. Price said that he would like to add this comment: We're talking about Laurel from Remington to Howes in terms of congestion in bikeways and parking. I think those two and half blocks would be a good candidate for sharrows, but keep the parking and then eliminate the parking west of Howes, which I think is a fine idea. As far as the placement of the sharrows, in serious urban environments, you'll find that they're placed dead center in the lane. I believe that would be the desirable solution. E. Bracke stated that if there is a major public outcry at the public meeting, then it will be reconsidered. If there isn't, then he'd like to start removing the parking during the construction phase in June while the students are gone. Once it's all tom up and repaved, just go in there and restripe it at that time. Chair Thordarson said that he'd like to see what happens at the public meeting and have staff come back next month with an update. Robert suggested that the yellow "share the street" sign should have same sharrow symbol on it, so people could understand that they're tied together. Price agreed that if a pamphlet is created for this, E. Bracke should design it as the one for the roundabout was dynamic. E. Bracke stated that it's important to keep in mind that this is an experiment and is not in the manual. Clausen commented that to the average motorist, the "share the road" thing sounds more like a courtesy or a suggestion. It doesn't sound like you have to share the road. Perhaps it could be made to sound more firm. APPROVED Regular Meeting Minutes Transportation Board May 17, 2006 Page 5 of 10 b. DOWNTOWN RIVER DISTRICT DESIGN PROJECT UPDATE — K. Bracke K. Bracke explained that the DRDD project is a result of the City and the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) partnership. It's an infrastructure analysis and design project that involved Transportation, Utilities, and Streetscape. It's based upon City Plan and the Downtown River Corridor Implementation Program. K. Bracke gave a presentation that included the following highlights: • A map of the project area • Provides a tool for public and private improvements • The design of improvements will address streetscape, safety for all modes, traffic circulation and capacity, parking, utilities, linkages with Downtown and surrounding areas • Celebrates the unique river district area and historical character • Project schedule — winter 2005 through Spring 2007 • Current Scheduled Events • The project respects the Poudre River • Poudre River Floodplain Map • Fits with the "Beet Street" concept developed by DDA, Bruce Hendee, and David Neenan • DRD Streetscape Concept • Poudre River Enhancment Project • Land Use Code Concept for area along Willow, from Linden to Lincoln There were a few questions and answers and the general consensus was that it's a great idea that is supported by the Board. K. Bracke closed by saying that there will be Open Houses coming up in August or September. 7. ACTION ITEMS a. AIRPORT MASTER PLAN (AMP) — Dave Gordon & Ron Phillips Gordon stated that the AMP project has been going on for almost two years now. The project is funded by FAA. Every 10 years they fund a study. He then gave the Board an extensive presentation on the background, planning process, runway extension, development recommendations, conceptual development plan, and phase I, II, and III projects. hi summary, the role of the Airport does not change. It stays just the way it is today, and so does the fleet. The Master Plan simply represents improvements. This is going to Loveland City Council on for approval on July 11 and to the Fort Collins Council on July 18. APPROVED Regular Meeting Minutes Transportation Board May 17, 2006 Page 6 of 10 Robert: The position paper that addressed the concerns of the neighborhood was excellent. Good job. I don't see how they are going to have areal strong case. It's well covered. Secondly, what if a small, regional airline comes in here and says they'd like to establish commercial traffic five days a week as an example. What are the caveats here on that? What are the hoops they'd have to go through? It looks to me like you would accept them under the same arrangement you've made with the current airline. At what point do you say, no, we don't want you? Are there some big red flags coming out of these? Gordon: One, we're a public airport, with Federal money and we can't stop them. That would be discriminatory. If we don't have the facilities for it, we could say to them, if you want to come in, you will have to put up the money to build a bigger terminal or whatever. We don't have to spend money to help them be here. Chair Thordarson: Can there be "phased in" increases in some of the fees to cover the local government contributions? Gordon: That's one of our goals; to get the Airport funded and self sufficient. A couple of years ago, we did increase the land rental rate from .15 cents to .30 cents per square foot. Phillips: It's also important to understand that of that $120,000 there's not much of that that is used for airport operations. The operations are coming a lot closer to supporting themselves now than before. A significant amount of it goes into matching funds — there is a 2 % percent match for these capital dollars that we get from the FAA and from the State Division of Aeronautics. If we didn't have these capital dollars coming in, we'd be in horrible shape. There was a motion by Grigg to recommend approval of the Airport Master Plan to Council. There was a second by Robert. Discussion: Edmondson: I was copying down the numbers in my notes from the long-term plan and you were talking about a total requirement of $36M and you specified sources for that. The local for that is $3.8M. The question I have to ask is: will the City have the money given what's been going on with their budget shortfalls? Gordon: If they don't have the money, we won't build it. But for the next six years, we have a pretty good indication from the FAA how much additional money, discretionary, they're planning to give us. We are thinking pretty confidently about the next six years and meeting our match at the current level of $60,000 from each city per year. Edmondson: So if we endorse this plan and recommend it to the City, we are, in a sense, doing that to the City. We are saying we endorse this IF you have the money and IF you want to spend it that way? We're not essentially telling the City that we think this is a budget priority for you and we want you to allocate funds to this? APPROVED Regular Meeting Minutes Transportation Board May 17, 2006 Grigg: I'm seeing this more in a planning stage or a guideline. Page 7 of 10 Gordon: This is a plan and by the City's adopting it, there's no commitment to spend any money at all. Phillips: I should also clarify that regarding the $3.8M for the local share, only about a third of that is the matching funds required for the federal and state money. The rest of it is for projects that involve road and drainage improvements. The stormwater utility in the City of Loveland should pay for all the drainage improvements. Some of the street improvements that are off the Airport property and the surrounding perimeter would also fall under the City of Loveland's responsibility, so half of all that is not the City of Fort Collins' responsibility IF it's agreed to be done. If we can't afford to make street improvements or whatever, it's not going to happen. It's all subject to annual appropriation. The big ticket item is the runway extension and it has to undergo a total environmental review process which is a separate project funded by the FAA just for the environmental impact statement or the NEPA process. That has to then go through the whole public process again and then you will get more specific information on noise and all the environmental factors and it then has to be approved by both cities and FAA before money is ever appropriated by the federal government. We're jumping through FAA's hoops here. This is a plan they require, we try to put everything on here we think we may need because if it's not on the Plan, they won't consider it. Edmondson: I'm glad you expanded on that. Thank you. Phillips: The City of Fort Collins has a Transportation Master Plan that has over a billion dollars worth of funding needs in it. When the Transportation Board recommended approval of that, it was in no way taking a position that... Jackson: Has anybody talked about the economic generator benefit of having the Airport in the region? Phillips: Yes, at every meeting, a Loveland council member brings that up. This is a capital development plan and the way it's done is required by FAA and they don't spend money on economic development for things. The next step that we're going to take is to do a business plan that talks about those kinds of things and we'd love to have resources from Colorado State University that could help with that type of a thing. There was a business strategy plan done a number of years ago and we need to update it. That's where we're going next. The motion passed by a unanimous vote, 8-0 (Thomas was not present at time of the vote). APPROVED Regular Meeting Minutes Page 6 of 10 Transportation Board May 17, 2006 8. REPORTS a. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS Chair Thordarson: Joint Meeting Report. Did anyone have any strong feelings one way or the other about the joint meeting with the Air Quality Board last month? Grigg: It was a good discussion, but I kind of left the discussion feeling like there was more of a tilt toward the negative somehow. I guess that's what led to my idea, that I sent you all on email, about taking a positive spin in a different way. It seemed that meeting was more a less a [venting] session and I just didn't feel too good about it. I looked at our mission statement and it seemed like what we say in it is negative. A lot of the stuff that we do a lot of people would see as negative. I'm just saying let's see if we can put a positive spin on it and what I'm thinking is if we can take everything that we're already doing and we are doing a lot of stuff to promote a balanced transportation system in the community. If we can package that in a certain way then people would start talking positively about it and as far as making Fort Collins a livable community, I think it would attract high quality economical growth. People all over the country are talking about how a balanced transportation system and mobility and the ability to get to work easily is a key to economic development. So pushing bikes and peds and all that is a real positive thing. Price: I thought it was a positive meeting. I'd like to see more of them. Perhaps we should also meet with other boards, such as the Natural Resources Board. That Duck Lake issue would have been nice to discussion with them. Robert: EVSAG. The new Economic Advisor has taken on quite a work load. He seems to be moving out smartly and part of his thinking includes the infrastructure to include a balanced form of transportation and that little piece of it was very important. He's got a lot to do but that's part of the package. It looks good. Price: Expedition Plus! Distributed post cards — Pedal from St. Petersburg to Istanbul featuring Mrs. Price on the front. Price added that he would like to be on the agenda in September or October. Clausen: Routing Trucks. If I'd heard about the project before, I probably could have predicted that it was going to be a failure based on the over the road truckers I know and their priorities and stuff like that. The conclusion that APPROVED Regular Meeting Minutes Transportation Board May 17, 2006 Page 9 of 10 I came to after a lot of thought, other than making it a law, I don't see how you can keep the trucks out of Fort Collins. Edmonson: Technical Issue. I'll bring this one up when there is more time. Traffic Lights. This one Mark already knows about. It's the intersection of Wabash and Century. I talked to Eric before he left tonight and he said it can't be changed, but we'll see. Johnson: RTA. This comes up periodically and it's time. I'd like to pass around a couple of things from our previous years on the board. One has to do with the amount of money that is raised. This happens to be from the year 2002. As we get more to our own board discussion, I'd like to ask that staff provide us with a more current table. The other one has to do with the comparison of the impact fees on the Front Range and should be part of our discussion as well. Drag -out. There's lot of it west bound on Horsetooth from the UP tracks. There's an awful lot of stuff. Last week I saw where a truck had lost a lot of shingles with nails. Chair Thordarson: Roundabout. I noticed that it appears that there are former residents from New Jersey who are rallying against the roundabout. Are we addressing any of those letters in the paper about the roundabouts? Jackson: Ron asked Eric to draft a letter of response in Soapbox form which has been submitted to our Public Information Officer. It should be appearing shortly. b. STAFF REPORTS Bachman: Roundabout Bids. The bids came in high. The low bidder is Gerrard Construction along with LaFarge. Should start construction June 1. Timberline. Project is going well. We're optimistic we'll be out of there on schedule. Jackson: Truck Route. I sent electronically the Council packet that I prepared for next Tuesday night's study session to provide you with an update. Vine Drive Accident. It really tore my staff up when that happened. The section of vine Drive is pretty poor conditions. Most of it is in the County. There are no pedestrian facilities. You have to walk on the shoulder. It's a bad situation. To his credit, Eric Bracke jumped right on it and is working with Poudre School District and will put flashing school zone lights out there. It's a little after the fact, but we're doing what we can. Bike Week Activities. Things are moving along. APPROVED Regular Meeting Minutes Transportation Board May 17, 2006 Page 10 of 10 RTA Summit. Tuesday, June 13 from 7:30 — 11 a.m. in Windsor. Web site is: www.nfrsummit.com Next Aeenda • Ground new members in Funding 101 There was a request for a future meeting to walk the Mason Corridor when it's open, much like the board did years ago. 9. OTHER BUSINESS 10. ADJOURN Chair Thordarson adjourned the meeting at 9:33 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Cynthia Cass, Executive Admin Assistant City of Fort Collins — Transportation Services