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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation Board - Minutes - 07/16/2008MEETING MINUTES of the TRANSPORTATION BOARD July 16, 2008 6:00 p.m. Community Room 215 North Mason Street Fort Collins, CO 80521 FOR REFERENCE: Chair: Gary Thomas 482-7125 Vice Chair: Ed Robert 224-4864 Staff Liaison: Mark Jackson 416-2029 Administrative Support: Polly Bennett 224-6058 BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Sara Frazier Bill Jenkins John Lund Kip McCauley Shane Miller Ed Robert Sid Simonson Garry Steen Gary Thomas Scott VanTatenhove ABSENT: James Clausen CITY STAFF PRESENT: Mark Jackson, Transportation Group Director/Staff Liaison Polly Bennett, Executive Administrative Assistant Joe Olson, Parking Services Manager Helen Migchelbrink, City Engineer Rick Richter, Pavement Management Engineer Randy Hensley, Parking Services Manager OTHERS IN ATTENDANCE: Mary Smith, Citizen Nancy York, Citizen 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chair Thomas at 6:00 p.m. with a quorum present. 2. AGENDA REVIEW Randy Hensley will truncate his presentation, and Work Plan Review may be postponed. The Board approved the Agenda with those changes. 3. PUBLIC COMMENT Mary Smith, Agricultural Research Service. Mary is a 28-year citizen. Her concern is the trash system because of the impact on the streets due to the number of trash vehicles due to three companies providing the same service. On her street, one company picks up 22 houses. The other two companies service the remaining five houses. Each company makes two passes with the trash truck and two with a recycling track. They are among the heaviest vehicles using the streets. She would like the Transportation Board to consider whether there is a better way for the city to provide the service, perhaps districting, where only one company would service a street at a time. Regular Meeting Minutes July 16, 2008 Page 2 Side note: Ann Tumquist, Policy & Project Manager with the City Manager's office requested time on the September agenda to present an update on the Trash Districting Study. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES (May 2008) Robert moved to approve the May 2008 Transportation Board meeting minutes. Steen seconded. The motion carried unanimously. (Note: there was no June meeting) 5. COUNCIL LIAISON REPORT Wade Troxell, Council Liaison Mr. Troxell attended. His message tonight was about the public input regarding Transportation. The message from a general community standpoint is that Transportation will continue to rise on the radar screen. Darin pointed out all of the major projects underway. The main question surrounds the comprehensive plan and what is on tap for Fort Collins. Jackson: I was glad to hear the public comments. There is a lot on the radar screen, but I would particularly like Council to focus on funding. The $4.1 million dollar figure we presented during BFO for Pavement Management, for example, is out the window due to increases in fuel and asphalt. The Transfort Strategic Operating Plan Update is underway and being broadened by the addition of Poudre R-1 and Latimer County; there are updates to the Master Plan and CityPlan coming. A more realistic capital construction plan is being developed. 6. DISCUSSION ITEMS a. Thoughts and Observations After a Month on the Job — Joe Olson, City Traffic Engineer Joe expressed how impressed he is with City employees from the City Manager all the way down to seasonal, hourly workers. As a new person, you worry about poor attitudes and I have seen none of that. There are many interesting challenges ahead. I hope to be back in the future to talk about things as we get up and running. If there are things you are interested in relating to Traffic Operations, mention them and we will try to cover them. Joe is a 20-year traffic engineering oriented Civil Engineer. He started his career as an entry-level engineer working in traffic engineering in Idaho, then got the job in Longmont. Observations: it is interesting getting to know the staff and listening to their observations. While they are all working hard and doing there jobs, there has not been a lot of direction. I am working to set goals and make their work more productive. For instance, although the ATMS system is fabulous, they have not touched the surface of what it can do. There are decisions to make about signal timing that need to reflect the desire of the community. It leads to interesting discussions. I can make recommendations, but I think that the users should have some input as well. Performance needs to be measured with a method that takes into account the fact that you cannot always move traffic as efficiently as desired due to the constant increase in vehicles/trips. The Feds are pushing to solve incidents that disrupt the commute (i.e. trains, accidents, malfunctioning lights, etc.). We also need to address pedestrian crossing criteria. This is all part of my planned work plan. Thomas: Roundabouts. For `em or agin' em? Olson: I think they are a tool in the toolbox and we need to look at each individual case. They are good in some situations and not in others. In coordinated arterials, there are better solutions. In isolated locations, they are often the best solution. Miller: Regarding the Federal Government's desire to measure efficiencies. Is there anything to measure the cost of a vehicle per mile traveled? Regular Meeting Minutes July 16, 2008 Page 3 Olson: Not as far as performance measures, but that is not to say the tools do not exist. The North Front Range MPO runs that kind of a model. We model cars second -by -second and report out fuel consumption, emissions, pollution as well as travel time. Robert: On the street feedback program, I would think the Police would be an excellent source for safety impact, but we are not aware of a program that connects that program. They come to you when they have something to say. Olson: One of my goals is to build our relationship with the Police Department for neighborhood traffic speeding mitigation and accident analysis. Thomas: When the lights go to flash at night, the people who get reds assume everyone has a red and it causes T-bone accidents when they pull out in front of someone who gets a yellow flash. Olson: We are reviewing out night flash policy. Studies find there are more accidents when signals are on flash than when they are on a normal red/green cycle. When you run a fixed cycle, people on side streets get frustrated when they have to wait at an intersection with no one coming. We may flash big intersections on all red. Miller: Along the same lines, the officer suggested that unsignalized left turns (without an arrow) are probably the most dangerous and the greatest amount of good could be done by changing them. Does that filter into your philosophy? Olson: Yes, left turn phasing (permissive only; protected permissive; protected only). There are pros and cons to all three. Protected only is the safest for preventing accidents. It does have a downside. If an intersection works fine with permissive phasing I probably will not change it. If there is an intersection with a high accident rate, I might change it. Miller: When the left -turn lanes are offset, it seems that the drivers' view is obstructed by oncoming traffic. Many times, I cannot see beyond the oncoming traffic. Olson: That is an astute observation. I was just discussing it regarding Shields & Harmony where the median is needed for a pedestrian refuge. Nothing comes without a cost. You cannot set people up to fail. Steen: I was glad to hear you address the timing issue, as I think about Timberline & Harmony around 5pm. The straight -ahead light northbound is too short. I only got about 2 seconds of green. Olson: The detectors may not have detected cars or an emergency vehicle may have been coming. I will check into that. Steen: I saw the same thing at Harmony & Boardwalk and thought 1 was not paying attention. Olson: It is very likely that it could have been a detector issue. It will be part of the philosophical discussion (minimum green time). We will discuss what is an adequate green to satisfy driver expectancy. Robert: Which type of detection is best, in -ground or video? Olson: Video is better because it is immune to construction, movement of pavement, and it detects bicycles. Video cameras detect anything that comes into range. Shadows are still a problem, but the overall benefits outweigh the problems. b. Pavement Management 101— Rick Richter, Pavement Management Engineer Thomas: Before we start, I hope Rick understands that he is preaching to the choir, as we are all very supportive of his program. Jackson: I wanted to have Rick come and give some updates about what we can and cannot do as we are facing deteriorating funding month by month. Plus, it's just interesting. Richter: Pavement management is the right treatment at the right time. We postpone the worst streets as long as possible... to maintain the good streets. Treat them early before it gets too expensive. Pavement begins deteriorating the day it is laid. The key is spending money on it when it is in the excellent to good category. We use slurry and hot -in place the first 3 — 12 years; fabric overlay 12 — 20 years; and reconstruction 20+years. Regular Meeting Minutes July 16, 2008 Page 4 Treatment costs run from $0.17 - $27.60 per square yard. Crack seal is very inexpensive during the first 5 years. At 16 — 18 years, you are faced with reconstruction and stabilization, which runs $27.60 per square yard (2007 prices). Asset Management Software launched in 1989. Our current software launched in 1997. It allows us to make decisions based on pavement conditions. We test pavement condition on a three-year cycle. This helps us evaluate budget scenarios when we see increases in asphalt, fuel, etc. It will give us accurate projections 10 — 15 years out. All of the data we have collected since 1989 is in the database. The program can be used for bridges. We have a consultant who provides the data collection vans. They are here for three weeks a year with their million -dollar van. We do 50% of the streets each year for two years, and then take a year off because of the cost in bringing the vans here. Robert: Can you generate a map that shows the conditions? Richter: As a matter of fact, my next slide illustrates it. Robert: I would like to see a map published in the paper. Is that a Pandora's Box? Richter: Producing the map is easy. Distribution is the question. We try to do a proactive approach. We continue to investigate new products and instituted extended warranties on new developments (1998) and do not plan any maintenance the first 5 years of a new street. We look at the use of streets and design them to carry projected loads. One size does not fit all when you come to pavement. There are fees and fines if someone cuts a brand new street. The street cut fee forces Xcel and others to plan ahead and do their work ahead of us. We collect around $100,000 a year from the fee. We completed our hot -in -place recycling project yesterday. It is a great program and this year was the largest program yet. It is well worth the investment as oil prices continue to rise. Foam injection process — used to inject urethane foam into sunken concrete to raise it to level. It has been used on I-25 for the past 15 years and is less expensive than replacing the concrete. We are looking at this type of treatment to lower costs. Slurry seal. Chip seal is the #1 treatment but is really rough. The impact on bicycles and roller bladers made us stop. We come back and top it with slurry and you get a less aggressive surface. Unfortunately, we may need to return to chip seal with rising costs. In 2007, we contracted with Applied Pavement technology, Inc. to do an independent technical review of our program. It was a positive experience for us. They found that 1) our data collection and software systems are state-of-the-art; 2) 75% of recommended projects are included in City's work plan and 3) Progressive use of preventive treatments. We are in the ballpark with Westminster and Denver as far as our expenditures. Recommendations: Previous level of service target 75. Proposed 70 — 85 (good); designate separate LOS targets for arterial, collector, residential; link to CityWorks; expand crack filling program; more maintenance, less reconstruction as costs escalate. Rick showed photos of the different levels of service. We figure an average annual increase of 3%. Looking at an inflationary increase of 10%. We add 10 street miles per year (500 now). We were funded below our need in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. That catches up over time and starts eating away at routine maintenance costs. An average annual increase of 6.5% and our network condition continues to decline. We dip into LOS "C" in 2012 with the 6.5% projected increase. 2% of our streets are at a "D" or "F" right now (safety issue). If we continue under our current offer scenario, 45% of our streets will be in failing condition by 2017. It is a substantial increase that will be noticed by the public. Current condition: LOS "B" We are hearing 35%- 50% increases in asphalt prices by 2009. It jumped 25% in one month. It is having severe impacts on our 2009 budget. Frazier: How do bridges figure in your report? Richter: We do visual inspection but they are not in the management system. Migchelbrink: We will be coming to the Board in the next few months. Many factors come into play with bridges. Regular Meeting Minutes July 16, 2008 Page 5 VanTatenhove: Have the prices of concrete vs. asphalt changed dramatically in the past few years? Richter: Traditionally concrete was 35 — 40% higher than asphalt, but it lasts longer. Now it is 10% higher or possibly equal with asphalt. Overlaying with concrete is a risky business. We build intersections with concrete. Maintenance on concrete involves sealing cracks every 5 years. Robert: When you are redoing Timberline, it is done during the day. Why not at night? Richter: You had two calls about that? I had 15 calls the night we worked until 9:30 p.m. Night work is 100% non -impacting on the traveling public, but costs are higher. It takes a crew about 2 weeks to shift their processing systems back to day work, leading to lower productivity. We look at it, but noise impacts on people who are sleeping are huge. Thomas: Will there be a request for extra money for Pavement Management in the exception process? Jackson: As we interpret the process, if we ask for additional money it will have to come from Transportation Reserves, which we will discuss a little later so I can really depress you. c. Parking 101— Randy Hensley — Parking Services Manager Randy needs no introduction, but there is a lot of discussion about parking in the downtown/Old Town area. The goal is to keep downtown/Old Town vibrant. Next Tuesday night there will be discussion about an upcoming hotel project. We will give you an insight into how parking fits into a vibrant community. I will do three things tonight: 1. I will tell you what we do. 2. I will tell you why we do it. 3. We will talk about how we can do it better. John: Business owner — more customers Scott: Downtown shopper — parking spaces! Ed: Traffic Engineer — less congestion Nancy: Air Quality Advisory Board member — less pollution Gary: City Budget Manager — new revenue Sara: Parking Enforcement Officer — less confrontation What we do: Enforcement - (30,000 citations per year; 15,000 of those are wamings/freebies) all electronic. Permit sales — all done at the front counter. Facility management — 2 parking structures for long-term and hourly parking. 2 security officers, 1 attendant supervisor, 2 full-time attendants, 12 part-time attendants. New automated pay machine — big boost in revenue, as the gates are now operational at night. We are faced with an ideal opportunity to add parking with the downtown hotel project at the Oak/Remington lot. It will add 400+ parking spaces. Complaint resolutions/appeals — court scheduling, management review/response of complaints Parking Services — Mission Statement To help support the economic vitality of Downtown Fort Collins by creating on -street parking space turnover and providing parking alternatives for those with long-term parking needs; and To contribute to safe and orderly traffic flow and neighborhood quality through the enforcement of parking regulations. In a nutshell: Balancing competing needs for scarce resources. Downtown Strategic Plan Regular Meeting Minutes Page 6 July 16, 2008 Priority for on -street customers and visitors Priority for off-street, long-term parking Enhanced enforcement preferred Economic value of parking Fines schedule is designed to encourage parkers to move their cars, but not high enough to be punitive. We intentionally target repeat offenders who feel like they can subvert our mission and get away with it. The schedule works on a 180 cycle. If you are clear for 180 days, the slate is wiped clean. Robert: Have you considered a carrot like a discount at a downtown merchant for paying a ticket? Hensley: That has some merit. We do allow people to apply it to a parking permit. YanTatenhove: Can you still pay $1 if you put the ticket in a drop box before the end of the day? Hensley: No, that ended 12 years ago. Bob Gibbs, Gibbs Planning Group (consultant) "Each on -street parking stall can generate up to $300,000 in annual retail sales." Another consultant estimates 25% of a store's annual income. How can we do things better? We have 100% occupancy in many core areas. 85% is optimal. 100% causes "cruising." Competition for on -street spaces: we have time limits and the four-hour rule. The four-hour rule says when you leave a timed limit space, you cannot return to that block for four hours. The situation has improved. Turnover rates are up but could be better. The upside down dilermna of pay vs. free parking. On street = free makes the parking structures the second choice for most rational people. It is estimated that cruisers looking for free parking cause 30 — 50% of traffic in a vital downtown. Optimizing our parking resources with on street, pay parking. Many pros, few cons. Simonson: What time does parking enforcement end in downtown Fort Collins? Hensley: 4:30 p.m. York: I notice fewer vehicles downtown, probably partly because of the increase in fuel. That is one of the benefits of that I suppose. Lund: Who objects to pay parking more, customers or business owners? Hensley: Initially the business owners, but through education, people began to understand and switch their view. They initially thought people would go to the Mall rather than pay. Lund: What is the magic number that people will pay? Hensley: That has to be determined by looking at the situation and occupancy levels. The motivator cannot be revenue driven. Most Councils are not good at setting parking pricing because they do not look at occupancy instead of revenue. Robert: The Engineer's opinion when looking at shoppers. There is a psychological barrier to pay parking. They like to park, get what they want, stay and eat, shop, etc. If you drive them away with pay meters/time limits, they will leave. Hensley: Parking meters give them the option. They can park in a structure for a lower cost. We have too much demand because people are driving around looking for spaces. We have to find the price that they will pay. With new technology, you can call on your cell phone and put more money on your meter. Jackson: I hear what you are saying, but I am not certain it will send downtown shoppers away. If you have a vibrant place to be, you will not lose that many people. The 16`' Street Mall in Boulder would be dead if that was the case. Hensley: That is where some trial and error happens. People will pay a price. Robert: Are the meters cost effective for the City? Regular Meeting Minutes July 16, 2008 Page 7 Hensley: Yes, there is a way we can install the meters for free and pay for them with the revenue they generate. I am not saying it is going to happen ... it is being discussed. VanTatenhove: As the shopper, there is a huge part of downtown shoppers who come downtown at night to go to the bars. If I do not want to drive home, I might have to call a cab at $20, and I will have to pay the parking. Hensley: Sundays are still free, so if someone parks at 1 Ipm on Saturday night, the first hour is free. VanTatenhove: Why do the Police have seven spots on Walnut? Hensley: You can talk to the Sergeant at that precinct. Steen: I like the way you presented this. Explaining the pricing makes it understandable. It does not seem that business owners are very concerned about how people get there as long as they do. Hensley: Many corridors are being improved to make pedestrian experience nicer. Frazier: The cost of the tickets deterred me from using time limit spaces. The parking garage is less expensive. Steen., I saw the gate down on Sunday and thought I would have to pay. I was pleasantly surprised to find out it was free. Cherry Creek's cost must be too low because they have a kiosk system and you still cannot find parking, York: How can you monitor the effects? Hensley: The only measure I have right now is the occupancy data we did in 2004. We have done spot checks since then, but we have to means to gather more data. York: Once Mason's MAX is operational, we may see many spaces available. d. Wayfinding/NAI Study — Blue Hovatter, UniverCity Mobility Committee Convener UniverCity is a public/private partnership. One of the recommendations of the UniverCity plan was to come up with a Wayfinding Plan for the area. An "interpretation" concept came into the project with National Association for Interpretation (NAI) as a consultant. The term interpretation is frequently used in museums and trails. We want to keep people downtown longer. We put together a workshop through the NAI. The Wayfinding system needs to meet the needs of both those of us who have been here a long time and for visitors. We need to consider how we get them around and how we keep them downtown. It is a design for the "experience economy." After the weeklong course, we took walks through downtown and gathered information about what is already here. We are compiling those findings so we can formulate action steps toward creating an enhanced downtown experience. We are in the middle of the project right now. Frazier: We are working on creative things to do... for instance, if you happen to be in a store or restaurant when the train comes through you might get a discount on a purchase or your meal. Hovatter: The project is designed to create caretakers of our history and tell stories about our heritage. Roberta One of my observations is that at around 10% of people outside of Fort Collins now know we exist. People in Cheyenne still ask me where I shop! Frazier: This is the P year that Fort Collins has rated in the top one or two places in Money magazine. Hovatter: We need to work to prevent a new Wayfinding project from falling into disrepair. Thomas: We really do not have much for pedestrians, so it is nice to hear this. e. Mid -year work plan review — Thomas/Jackson Postponed to September. ACTION ITEMS None Regular Meeting Minutes July 16, 2008 8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS Page 8 Lund: No report. VanTatenhove: Nothing. Simonson: Harmony Road improvements are fantastic. Thank you, too, for the Mason Corridor tour. The few times I've been on the Mason bike path I noticed the fence is big and people are jumping over it and/or cutting holes in it. Perhaps there should be some crossways in there? I also noticed some animals could not go under it. Jackson: Because of legal liability, the railroad requires the fence. We have grant funds secured for the design of two grade -separated crossings; one at the Whole Foods site, the other one will be at Troutman. Robert: We sent a letter to the Police Department thanking Jeff Groves for coming and asking them to work with us on some things. Did we get a response? Jackson: No. I would like to have contact information for people who come before the Board. Is there a sidewalk plan? Jackson: Yes. You can see it online. Steen: Three bucks crossed Lemay at Harmony right in front of me. Frazier: Regarding our community input this evening, I think we listened courteously but we did not have any comment that we would look into it or anything. Where does it stand? Jackson: Ann Tumquist is working on it. Thomas: I would like to request a presentation on it. Jackson: We will arrange that. Note: On the September agenda. Jenkins: I was struck by how inter -connected all of our presentations were tonight. The issues are going to be a challenge for this Board. Thomas Pathways Past Poverty is a United Way program designed to help people work out of poverty. The Mobility Coordination Council formed to find help for the people who need it. 9. STAFF REPORTS: Jackson: We have made a large push to show people how interconnected our programs are, so I am glad you caught that, Bill. I would like to give you a snapshot of the budget problems we are facing. The Pavement Management portion is just a part of it. I commissioned a mid -year financial review of our five Transportation Departments and it is grim. In terms of the individual departments, the ones dealing with development are down. Engineering's development review staff is in dire straights. They have only collected 31 % of their projected revenues. Inspection is at 19% of anticipated revenues. These are real world ramifications of the downturn in the economy. Streets, because of the work they do for Engineering, is looking at a 25 — 30% downturn next year. Parking Services is down due to the turnover in officers. The income stream from Larimer County and the Feds is down. $550,000 hit in 2008 from Larimer County. The gas tax is down to the tune of $500,000 less than budgeted. $150,000 less on auto tax. We estimated that we would deplete undesignated Transportation Reserves by 2012. At this rate, it will be depleted by 2011. Council has not seen this information yet. The City Manager has not seen it yet. I spent 3.5 hours with Jeff Scheick discussing it yesterday and then addressed it with my Department heads. What I want you to walk away with is that we have done a great job telling the story of Pavement Management, but that is just a piece of the pie. It does not address capital needs. It does not address materials. Regular Meeting Minutes July 16, 2008 Page 9 Frazier: This is a national problem, maybe there will be a national solution. Jackson: All indications are that the solution is being down lower and lower. Thomas: Isn't money being rescinded? YanTatenhove: What about the news article about Mason not getting funding? Jackson: The same day that was printed, we issued a press release with a letter from Senator Allard congratulating us on receiving the first phase funding. We never believed we would get a check for $60 million dollars. We always knew it would be phased funding. YanTatenhove: Are smaller sister communities seeing the same thing? Jackson: Fee reliant enterprises are very concerning for us. Robert: Our City Council needs to set priorities. We have serious issues they need to address. Jackson: We are officially out of south Fort Collins with projects finished! Front Range Village is complete, Lowes is open. Other stores opening in 3 weeks. The roundabout is complete. Drake/Ziegler is ahead of schedule and will be a primary connection and relieve some of the congestion on Horsetooth. I will not be here for the August meeting. Marlys Sitmer and Transfort are going to host the meeting at the Portner Road facility. There may be road/field trips. You will learn a lot more than just storing buses. We have another vacancy in Transportation Planning. Kristin Kirkpatrick left us to go back to her primary field of Public Administration in the Health system. We are interviewing for both vacancies. Regarding safety, we had a couple of very near misses in work zones. Fortunately, no one was hurt. One person was confused and drove into a freshly paved area. The other person blatantly drove into a work zone. We are investigating using cameras in our work zones. The Parks Department just received a major grant to extend the Power Trail (bike) south of Harmony Road. 10. OTHER BUSINESS None. 11. ADJOURN The meeting adjourned at 9:17 p.m. Respectfully submitted, 1 t1��� "h-1 6t,L Lj Lrte Polly Bethiett Executive Administrative Assistant Transportation Group Administration