Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation Board - Minutes - 09/19/2012MINUTES of the TRANSPORTATION BOARD September 19, 2012 6:00 p.m. 215 North Mason – Community Room Fort Collins, CO 80521 FOR REFERENCE: Chair: Garry Steen 420.7557 Vice Chair: Mary Atchison 217.9213 Staff Liaison: Mark Jackson 416.2029 Administrative Support: Polly Bennett 221.6601 BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: CITY STAFF PRESENT: Garry Steen, Chair Mark Jackson, Policy, Budget, and Communications Director, 416.2029 Mary Atchison, Vice Chair Polly Bennett, PDT Executive Administrative Assistant, 221.6601 Ed Robert Amy Lewin, Transportation Planner, Transportation Planning, 416.2040 Eric Shenk Megan Bolin, Economic Health Analyst, Economic Development, 221.6342 Clint Skutchan Kevin O’Toole Olga Duvall ABSENT: OTHERS IN ATTENDANCE Sara Frazier Dale Adamy, Citizen, 206.1875 Pat Jordan Shane Miller Sid Simonson Councilmember Ben Manvel 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Steen called the meeting to order at 6:05p with a quorum present. 2. AGENDA REVIEW The Agenda was approved as written. 3. PUBLIC COMMENT Dale Adamy: It is exciting to see the progress on the Mason Corridor! He attended the Economic Advisory Committee meeting and spoke about changing their goals to do more work across Boards & Commissions on tax alternatives. He urged the Transportation Board to do more across Boards & Commissions as well. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Skutchan moved to accept the August 2012 Board minutes. Shenk seconded. The minutes were approved unanimously. 5. COUNCIL LIAISON Councilmember Manvel was unable to attend. Regular Meeting Minutes Page 2 September 19, 2012 6. BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE – Garry Steen Steen: The BAC did not meet in September. 7. DISCUSSION ITEMS A. Trails Master Plan Update – Amy Lewin This is an update on the new Trails Master Plan. The Trail study was identified in Plan Fort Collins and the Transportation Master Plan update completed in 2011. It is a cross-departmental collaboration. The plan will assess: How well is our current paved trail system meeting the needs of the community? What needs to be done to meet needs in the future? OUTREACH: Community outreach through trail counters, trail intercept surveys, online survey, social media, news releases, Boards and Commissions discussions. Best Management Practices of other communities. Although our master plan document is somewhat unique, we are finding some useful information in a few other cities. TOPICS: Safety Connectivity Environmental sensitivity Street system connections Accessibility Trail standards Trail improvements Maintenance Trail funding Intercept surveys occurred in May/early June, July, September in 10 locations. The methodology is consistent with the National Bicycle and Pedestrian Documentation (NBPD) project (see bikepeddocumentation.org). Volunteers are needed, and we will have a volunteer appreciation event within the next few months. FINDINGS (based on May count data): Most locations have more bikes than pedestrians. Highest usage at Spring Creek Trail at Creekside Park; Spring Creek Trail at Drake/Dunbar; Poudre Trail at Lee Martinez Park. Lower usage on weekend of count (although the weather was poor) More pedestrians on weekends SCHEDULE: Outreach continues through September Findings to Boards and Commissions in October/November Council work session December 11 Study finalized 2013 Regular Meeting Minutes Page 3 September 19, 2012 Skutchan: Expressed concern that the trails south of Swallow don’t get as high use, but shouldn’t skew the findings. O’Toole: Asked if there was a question about using the trails to avoid traffic and what trail they use? Lewin: The intercept survey has a question about why a user chose to use the trail, and one of the response options is “lower traffic.” Robert: Was the purpose of trips asked? Lewin: We asked in the intercept survey. Robert: Who does the maintenance on the trails? Lewin: Parks does all but Mason and Power. Those are maintained by Streets. Robert: Wayfinding is important to the trail system. Lewin: There is an ongoing project for that. Some signs have been installed on the Poudre Trail already. Robert: Promoting the trails in a video that could be shown at CSU events might be feasible. Skutchan: The Spring Creek underpass at the Mason Trail is a dangerous intersection with poor visibility. Perhaps some sort of creative solution could be presented related to the road and asphalt area that would allow bikes to swing out before turning; this could provide a better visual for approaching the underpass. Lewin: The current configuration is an interim condition; in the future, the current asphalt section of the Spring Creek Trail west of Mason will be removed and replaced with a concrete alignment further to the north near the creek. This will create two “T” intersections (one at the underpass and one north near the creek). Skutchan: I would like to see some striping on the asphalt as a suggestion to direct bikes onto it. It is a sharp, blindsided curve out of the tunnel. Shenk: Remington is a disaster where the Spring Creek Trail crosses. B. Midtown Urban Design Plan – Megan Bolin, Economic Health Office This plan comes out of the Mason Corridor initiative. Staff is working with an outside consultant and other City departments. North Boundary: Prospect Road South Boundary: South of Harmony Road East Boundary: Commercial on east side of College Avenue West Boundary: Mason Corridor We have: Mason Corridor City Plan 2010 Midtown Redevelopment Study Midtown Urban Renewal Plan MAX Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) We don’t have: Cohesive design vision for buildings and streets. GOALS: Enhance connectivity. By understanding how people cross streets, we can design more effective facilities. Integrate the Mason Trail and MAX Develop a parking strategy. New parking ratios and requirements will be studied. Design recommendations. Understanding how different parts of the corridor may redevelop. Identify catalyst sites (Foothills Mall redevelopment; Commons Student Housing infill) Regular Meeting Minutes Page 4 September 19, 2012 Signage recommendations for wayfinding in midtown. Process/Timeline: July – September 2012 – Existing Conditions: Tour the corridor, meet with staff, stakeholder outreach October – December 2012 – Design Alternatives: Community workshop, public open house January – March 2013 – Plan and Implementation Tools: City Council work session, public open house, plan adoption Skutchan: Urged more business involvement/input due to the nature of the corridor. Atchison: Walkability doesn’t work well in the area and needs to be considered. Walking around large parking lots is not feasible. The frontage road situation is also a nightmare. Steen: Someone at Council last night commented on access from MAX to the Mall and other businesses across College Avenue. Walkability is a key issue. O’Toole: Walkability will be crucial to the success of MAX. Robert: Two years ago we talked about exiting MAX at Troutman, Harmony, etc. and needing to know how to get people to the mall and Walmart. Running a shuttle is an option. Skutchan: Storefronts on the frontage roads need options. Shutting it down to car traffic isn’t feasible and would be a death knell for businesses facing the roads. Bolin: We will be considering options for the frontage roads. Alternatives will be addressed. There are access issues with College Avenue because it is a State highway. C. BFO Update – Mark Jackson Transportation was the topic du jour at Council last night. Council was positive and supportive, and is pushing for a few projects that were below the line. Transfort and the Mason Corridor were big topics. People from the southeast part of town turned out to speak for a transit route. Current Dial-a- Ride policy was clarified. Pedestrian projects were also a big topic. Street maintenance was a popular topic. We are making headway, but more emphasis is on arterial roadways per Council direction. Impacts are more localized. Old data is used for forecasting. Deighton just completed surveying our entire system to give us fresh data. There were many questions about the Bicycle Program including the Platinum level and the Pro Cycle Challenge. There was a lot of talk about multi-modal connectivity. The FLEX route was discussed, as CMAQ funding will run out soon and Larimer County had to drop their funding because of the dip in property tax revenue. MAP 21 may be a new funding alternative. The Board’s letter to Council was delivered on Monday. Snippets came out in their discussion last night. Well done…you were heard. SCHEDULE: September 25 – Third Council Work Session on the budget. October 2 – Budget Public Hearing October 9 – Budget general discussion, final direction October 16 – First reading of budget November 20 – Second reading of budget The Budget public hearing is a good place to have your voice heard if you so desire. Atchison: I am very concerned about Sunday service for Transfort/MAX and extended hours. Regular Meeting Minutes Page 5 September 19, 2012 9. ACTION ITEMS A. None 10. REPORTS A. BOARD REPORTS Atchison: I didn’t receive Dale Adamy’s letter, so please resend it. I signed up for UniverCity. Amy Lewin will take Kathleen Bracke’s place there. Shenk: I was reflecting on the Downtown Parking Plan and initially said modify, modify, modify. I reread it and changed my perspective. At some point there is going to have to be a tough choice about what we need to do. Are we going to do it sooner or are we going to wait. My conclusion is that I need to take a more hard line approach and have people scream sooner than later. So, I change my vote. Take the hit. O’Toole: I was pleased to see the editorial in Sunday’s paper about Smart Growth. It is outside of Transportation, but if we can push that to Council it makes access easier. I saw somewhere that there will now be a Diamond level for Bicycle Communities. Skutchan: I would like to tag onto that as it impacts the housing future in Fort Collins. It is Transportation related because of the Transit Oriented Development issues. Duvall: I want to see funding for Sunday service, extended hours, and connectivity. Robert: I was thinking back to the Structure Plan. We’ve lost some street connections (Conifer) that keep things accessible. Jackson: I would be happy to bring the Long Range Planners in to give you a primer on CityPlan and the Social Sustainability Group to speak to demographic shifts. Steen: Funding issues, interacting with other Boards & Commissions, and topics about how Transportation relates to health, etc. would be good topics for future agendas. B. STAFF LIAISON REPORT – Mark Jackson Kurt Ravenschlag was selected as the new Transfort General Manager. We have a preferred candidate for the City Engineer position. An offer was made and we have verbal acceptance. The Transportation Planning Director position is still open. The Bicycle Program Manager position needs to be readvertised. The City was awarded nearly $600k additional CMAQ funding for the Bicycle Program for a grant that DK wrote that has been in the queue. It will augment funding for the next three years. $55k in KFCG funding can be put back because of this new grant. The $600k is in addition to the $120k that Molly brought in in May. There are several exciting projects underway including the Foothills Mall Redevelopment and the proposed Woodward Governor use of Link ‘N Greens. Regular Meeting Minutes Page 6 September 19, 2012 Heads up: Mason is now a two-way street and should be reopened to Cherry by the end of the week. Skutchan: Is the traffic pattern the final pattern? Jackson: I will ask Joe Olson about that. Skutchan: I would like the Board to have a tour of MAX as construction gets underway so we understand and can be advocates for it. Mark your calendars! November 14 – 2012 Boards & Commissions Appreciation Event Mason to the MAX! Next Thursday, 5:30 – 7:30p at the Oak Street Plaza October Agenda: Capital Improvement Projects List - Amy Lewin Xcel Pipeline Project – Mark Jackson 11. OTHER BUSINESS • None 12. ADJOURN The meeting concluded at 8:34p. Respectfully submitted, ____________________________ Polly Bennett Executive Administrative Assistant Planning, Development, & Transportation Service Unit