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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBicycle Advisory Committee - Minutes - 01/27/2021 BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE TYPE OF MEETING –REGULAR December 7, 2020, 6:00 p.m. Virtual Meeting via Zoom 1 2 /7 /2020 – MINUTES Page 1 FOR REFERENCE: Chair: Aaron Buckley Vice-Chair: Marcia Patton-Mallory Staff Liaison: Tracey Lipfert 970-416-2355 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Buckley called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM. 2. ROLL CALL BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: CITY STAFF PRESENT: Aaron Buckley, Chair, Fort Collins Bike Co-op Jerry Gavaldon, Transportation Board Mike Webber, Land Conservation and Stewardship Board Mike Tupa, Parks and Recreation Board Jordan Williams, At Large Member Whitney Allison, At Large Member Ben Mayer, Poudre School District Dave Dixon, Bike Fort Collins Marcia Patton-Mallory, At Large Member Jason Miller, Air Quality Advisory Board Ed Peyronnin, Colorado State University Campus Bicycle Advisory Committee Katherine Chu, At Large Member ABSENT: Todd Dangerfield, Downtown Development Authority Greg Wells, Senior Advisory Board Kevin Krause, Natural Resources Advisory Board Becky Cramer, At Large Member Rick Arneson, Bike Fort Collins Larry Schneider Lauren Nagle Andy Meger Nancy Nichols PUBLIC PRESENT: Brian Kurotsuchi BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 1 2 /7 /2020 – MINUTES Page 2 Chair Buckley noted new Committee members Jordan Miller, Whitney Allison, and Katherine Chu are in attendance. Chair Buckley thanked Patton-Mallory for her service on the Committee noting this will be her last meeting. 3. AGENDA REVIEW Chair Buckley suggested adding a Vice Chair election or discussion to the agenda . Gavaldon made a motion, seconded by Patton-Mallory, to add an agenda item related to a Vice Chair election. The motion was adopted unanimously. Gavaldon and Chair Buckley commented on the need for meetings to be advertised through the City's webpage and on the need for meeting minutes to be uploaded. Lipfert replied she would take care of those items. 4. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – SEPTEMBER 2020 AND OCTOBER 2020 Gavaldon made a motion, seconded by Patton-Mallory, to approve the minutes of the September and October 2020 meetings. The motion was adopted unanimously. 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None. 7. NEW BUSINESS a. Winter Street Maintenance – Larry Schneider/Streets Team Larry Schneider, Transportation Operations Director, provided an overview of the street maintenance operations and various treatments used by the department for roadway improvements. He noted Fort Collins will be one of the first cities in the state to get a fully electric street sweeper and discussed the street sweeping schedule for the city. Schneider outlined snow removal operations, procedures and priorities. He outlined the forecast models used by the City and discussed the importance of utilizing pavement temperature and other data. He detailed the technology utilized in each plow truck and outlined the snow plow web page. Gavaldon asked about the Mulberry protected bike lane, part of which was damaged by snow removal necessitating repairs, and whether standards and coordination have changed to ensure that does no occur again. Schneider replied that protected bike lane was part of a pilot project and the railing has since been removed. He agreed coordination is critical. BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 1 2 /7 /2020 – MINUTES Page 3 Gavaldon discussed good examples of bike lanes in Aurora and encouraged staff t o look at those. Williams commented that after the arterial streets are plowed, the side street connections can become dangerous even days later for bicyclists due to ice and snow build up from cars turning out onto the main street. Williams asked if there was anything the plow crews could do about that issue, such as going through one more time to plow those areas or use product on the icy spots. Schneider replied that he knows these areas are challenging, but he will follow up with his team. Tupa asked about bike underpasses and issues with plows throwing snow over onto bike trails. Schneider replied he would discuss that issue with his plow team. Miller asked about the impact budget has had on bike lane sweeping. Schneider replied many of the crew members have been ill with COVID which has resulted in fewer sweepers. He noted the budget will be negatively impacted next year. Patton-Mallory noted there is a great deal of construction debris in the protected bike lane on Timberline Road between Mulberry and Vine and requested street sweepers take care to sweep in that lane. Schneider replied he would ensure that occurs. Gavaldon thanked Schneider for his presentation and work and stated he would like to do a plow ride-along when that is again allowed. b. Bicycle and Pedestrian Count Results – Lauren Nagle/Andy Meger Lauren Nagle, FC Moves, discussed the reasons for doing the bike and pedestrian counts noting they help to justify infrastructure improvements. She stated the counts include travel mode, numbers, directionality, turning movements, helmet use, gender, E-bikes, and other E-devices. She noted intersection counts only apply to cyclists, not pedestrians, and discussed the counts on trails by mode. Andy Meger, FC Moves intern, discussed the comparison of this year's data to previous years. He noted the air quality due to fires was an issue during this year's counts which occurred in mid-September. Nagle discussed gender data noting it is approximately split half and half, and noted the general trend is that more people wear helmets on trails. She also discussed E - bike data noting that mode accounted for about 2.9% of all bicyclists at intersections and 4% of all bicyclists on trails. Chu asked which and how many intersections are included in the count. Nagle replied there are about 30 intersections and stated she would provide members with a list. Meger discussed E-bike trends over the past five years, both with and without 2020 data given the pandemic and wildfire smoke impacts. Nagle noted volunteers BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 1 2 /7 /2020 – MINUTES Page 4 cannot always identify E-bikes, particularly by class, which may be leading to an undercount for that category. Nagle requested Committee input regarding what data is valuable and what additional information would be helpful. Tupa asked if there are any in-pavement counters. Nagle replied the Parks Department maintains 20+ automated counters that are not in -pavement but rather use a beam. Jason Miller asked about the count methodology. Nagle replied counts are done in mid-September over the course of one week, typically two weekdays and one weekend day; however, this year the counts were only done on one weekday and one weekend day. Meger stated there were 66 total count shifts for intersections and 26 total count shifts on trails. Nagle described the orientation process for volunteer counters. Nagle stated age data has never been counted; however, she would add that to the list of requested information for 2021. Gavaldon suggested pedestrian counts be included at intersections and asked about accident data. Nagle replied the FC Moves department does not track accident data and noted many accidents are not reported. c. CDOT SRTS Grant – Nancy Nichols Nancy Nichols, Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Program Manager, discussed a CDOT grant for which SRTS has applied and the location for its use, which is a grade-separated crossing at a railroad on the new Mail Creek trail. She discussed previous grants received by SRTS from CDOT. Nichols provided a rough timeline of the project noting construction would occur in the summer of 2022 if grant funding is secured. Tupa asked if the trail follows along the south side of the ditch. Nichols replied in the affirmative. Tupa asked if the neighborhood on the north side of the ditch has access to the trail. Nichols replied that would be desirable from the City's perspective and will likely eventually occur. d. New BAC Members – Katherine Chu, Jordan Williams, Whitney Allison Chu introduced herself and discussed her interest in biking for commuting and transportation purposes. She stated she had interest in serving on the Committee to advocate for things cyclists would like to see in the city. Williams introduced himself and discussed his interest in trail connectivity and in encouraging bicycle commuting. BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 1 2 /7 /2020 – MINUTES Page 5 Allison introduced herself and stated she works in cycling and has road raced professionally for several years. She mentioned her interest in being able to interact with a variety of cyclists in town. e. Vice Chair Elections Chair Buckley noted he has been serving as Chair since March of 2019 and his term will end in March of 2021. Gavaldon expressed interest in the Vice Chair position. Patton-Mallory made a motion, seconded by Jason Miller to nominate Gavaldon as Vice Chair. The motion was adopted unanimously. f. Finalize BAC Work Plan – All Chair Buckley discussed the role of the Committee to advise the Transportation Board, which advises Council. He discussed the Committee's Work Plan as written and asked if there is any interest in removing the Enforcement "E" as other organizations have done and if there is any interest in considering soft surface trails in the Work Plan. Gavaldon commented on the need for linkages between the Transportation Board's Work Plan and that of the Committee. Chair Buckley noted the Work Plans do reference each other. Williams stated the document does a good job of mentioning equity; however, it should maybe be moved up the list. He also noted there are a couple redundant items. Members discussed the possibility of removing the Enforcement "E." Chair Buckley stated it may not necessarily need to be removed, but changing the order and priority of the items could help. Gavaldon suggested the possibility of combining education, safety, and enforcement into one item. Jason Miller made a motion, seconded by Gavaldon, to adopt the BAC Work Plan as amended per this discussion. The motion was adopted unanimously. Chair Buckley stated he would make the suggested updates and provide it to members. BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 1 2 /7 /2020 – MINUTES Page 6 8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS Tupa reported the Parks and Recreation Board discussed the decrease in recreation program funding due to COVID during its previous meeting. He stated the Board also discussed the Poudre Trail funding, park winterizations, and its Work Plan. Webber reported the Land Conservation and Stewardship Board discussed the new parking lot at Arapaho Bend Natural Area, I-25 construction and associated easements, new open land being purchased in the north part of town, 'reimagining' Boards and Commissions, and the Park Plan. Williams reported Larimer County is still accepting survey responses regarding its E- bike pilot program for Devil's Backbone and Blue Sky. Patton-Mallory stated she has enjoyed her time on the Committee. Dixon thanked Gavaldon for inviting him to the Transportation Board meeting noting he gave the Bike Fort Collins intersection prestation to the Board at its November meeting. He commented on preliminary conversations Bike Fort Collins has had with the City regarding painting streets as a traffic calming measure and noted the organization is working on bringing the Bicycle Film Festival to Fort Collins virtually around the new year. Peyronnin reported the CSU Bicycle Advisory Committee has been working on standardizing campus signage and making infrastructure improvements. He stated the Committee is working on acquiring grant funding for making a connection from Prospect to Spring Creek Trail. Mayer commented on the importance of alternative modes of transportation for students when on-campus activities are offered. 9. OTHER BUSINESS a. Transportation Board Report Gavaldon reported on the recent Transportation Board meeting during which Bike Fort Collins made an intersection presentation and the Board finalized its Work Plan. He noted a joint meeting between the Transportation Board and the BAC is forthcoming. b. Staff Liaison Report Lipfert stated staff is reviewing applications that came in from th e RFP for a new bike share/E-scooter vendor and a decision will likely be made in January. Additionally, staff is reviewing applications for the Active Modes Manager and a decision on that will hopefully be made in January as well. She stated the final 'light up the night' event just occurred and about 230 bike light sets were distributed during the events. BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 1 2 /7 /2020 – MINUTES Page 7 c. Call for Agenda Items Chair Buckley requested the Committee discuss updating the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plans. He discussed other upcoming agenda items including an update on the North Front Range Planning Organization's active transportation plan, a presentation from the Downtown Development Association on the downtown alley improvements, and a Bike Fort Collins presentation on needed intersection improvements. Gavaldon requested an update on mitigation efforts during Connexion installation around the city. 10. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:06 PM by unanimous consent.