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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation Board - Minutes - 01/20/20161 MINUTES of the CITY OF FORT COLLINS TRANSPORTATION BOARD January 20, 2016 6:00 p.m. Snow Plowing Command Center Streets Department 598A Linden Street Fort Collins, CO, 80524 FOR REFERENCE: Chair: Olga Duvall Vice Chair: Eric Shenk Staff Liaison: Paul Sizemore 970.224-6140 BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: CITY STAFF PRESENT: Olga Duvall, Chair Gary Thomas York Annabelle Berklund Cari Brown Eric Shenk Pat Jordan Greg Oakes ABSENT: Boardmember Tim Sutton Councilmember Ross Cunniff Paul Sizemore, FC Moves Program Manager Amy Lewin, FC Moves Seth Lorson, City Planner Rick Richter, Director of Infrastructure Services Joe Olson, City Traffic Engineer Larry Schneider, Streets Superintendent Scott Bowman, Senior Database Analyst 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Duvall called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm with a quorum. City Staff and Boardmembers introduced themselves. New Boardmember Cari Brown discussed her interest in transportation. 2. AGENDA REVIEW Sizemore stated there were no changes to the published agenda. 3. PUBLIC COMMENT None. 2 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES York made a motion, seconded by Thomas, to accept the December 2015 Board minutes. The minutes were approved unanimously. 5. COUNCIL LIAISON Councilmember Cunniff was unable to attend. 6. BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE REPORT – Greg Oakes Oakes stated the last meeting was a potluck with little BAC discussion. 7. DISCUSSION/INFORMATIONAL ITEMS • Downtown Plan – Seth Lorson/Amy Lewin Lewin discussed the downtown area boundaries and mentioned the public outreach events completed as part of the process. She discussed the various character districts into which the downtown has been divided and noted working groups have been developed for specific topic areas, including parking and transportation. Lewin further detailed transportation issues, including transit, park-and-ride lots, the mitigation of congestion due to trains, and bicycle parking. She discussed the possibility of a downtown circulator, quiet zones, intersection and corridor improvements, car-free zones, alley enhancements, and car/bicycle sharing. Lewin went on to discuss the importance of communication and real-time information regarding transit, parking, and train schedules. Additionally, she discussed marketing and travel-demand management. Lewin requested input from the Board regarding bicycle parking in the downtown area. Suggestions included additional on-street bicycle parking taking up vehicle spaces, parking at the ends of parking sections in the medians, secure parking in parking garages, and parking near dismount zones. Berklund asked if there is a program for abandoned bikes. Lewin replied in the affirmative. Lewin announced an open house at the Rio Agave Room on Monday. Lorson detailed the parking plan for the downtown area, noting citizens are skeptical of on-street paid parking given it has not been utilized in the city. He went to on discuss the importance of turnover in parking in the downtown area and the importance of employees parking in appropriate areas. Additionally, he discussed the importance of individuals parking in appropriate areas based on the amount of time they plan to be in the downtown area. Lorson also discussed possible changes in parking enforcement. Brown asked if safety issues have been expressed. Lorson replied in the affirmative stating parking garage safety is of utmost importance. Jordan asked about the Bustang Denver route possibly starting from the Downtown Transit Center rather than the Harmony Park and Ride. Lewin replied she would look into the issue with Transfort. 3 York suggested the use of a reward or incentive system for employees in terms of which level of the parking garage they can use. Brown asked who pays for employee parking passes. Lorson replied it depends on the business. York asked if City employees are required to use parking structures. Lorson replied that is not a requirement. Shenk asked how much downtown parking is currently utilized by employees. Lorson replied that information is not known at this point; however, the parking plan estimates 20% of on-street parking is employees. Thomas expressed support for paid parking assuming it could be instant rather than requiring coins or credit cards to be placed in meters. Berklund suggested the possibility of subsidizing transit passes for employees. Lorson stated many of these suggestions could be incorporated in a transportation demand management program and outlined the timeline for upcoming meetings before Boards and Council regarding the parking plan. • Transportation Construction and Closures – Rick Richter/Joe Olson Richter reviewed 2015 construction projects and stated traffic has increased. Olson provided traffic volume data and Richter noted the increase in traffic in addition to the construction projects caused some frustration in the community. Richter went on to discuss upcoming construction projects, including a number of projects on Prospect Road. Thomas asked how cable or other companies are monitored in terms of road or lane blockage. Olson replied excavation permits are required for any digging and Traffic Operations provides permits for manhole access or other traffic interruptions. York asked if all of the projects completed in 2015 have the same life expectancy leading to a similar issue when they all need to be redone again. Richter replied the bridges are a 75 year design and will likely not end up needing to be replaced at the same time. In terms of road construction, he stated the North College improvements were a one-time project; however, street maintenance is done cyclically. Richter briefly discussed the Lincoln Corridor project, Drake and Shields intersection improvements, and the CDOT resurfacing of College. He went on to detail the Prospect Road projects, which will primarily occur on East Prospect Road. He discussed the proposed schedule for the projects and closures. Olson noted Drake, Harmony, Horsetooth and Mulberry will all remain open during the Prospect closures. Richter detailed the Prospect and College intersection projects and discussed the Prospect cross section. Additionally, he noted funding for a feasibility study and right-of- way acquisition for the Vine and Lemay project is part of the 2015-2016 budget. He discussed possible changes for the railroads in terms of moving switching operations. 4 Olson discussed the possibility of a lane rental program for cable or other companies needing to block lanes in order to incentivize projects being efficient and completed on time. Richter stated a pilot lane rental project will occur this summer. Berklund asked if alternatives are presented when construction affects trails. Richter replied in the affirmative. York discussed the importance of advanced notice and communication regarding trail closures. • Streets Snow Operations Presentation and Tour – Larry Schneider Schneider discussed Streets Department programs, including maintenance, street sweeping, leaf collection, snow and ice removal, median maintenance, alley maintenance, work for other departments, and recycling. He went on to discuss Fort Collins’ desired level of service of 70, noting that level is being exceeded currently and is at 72.5. Schneider went on to discuss pothole filling and stated over 9,000 potholes were filled last year. Thomas asked if there is some type of preparation lag time in plowing for the first storm of the year. Schneider replied that should not be the base but acknowledged every storm is different. Schneider reviewed the training procedures for plow operators and discussed the prioritization for plow routes. He noted residential roads are quite difficult to plow as they are often packed down by vehicles. Brown asked how staffing works for snowplow operators. Schneider replied part of the staff comes from Utilities and seasonal operators are hired to be on standby. He stated shifts are 12 hours long, usually noon to midnight and midnight to noon. Schneider went on to discuss sidewalk snow removal, noting that work is all contracted out. Berklund asked about plowing on the bike trail along Mason, near Cherry. Schneider replied that issue was just discussed and stated people will now be dedicated to clearing that intersection. York asked if snow is occasionally plowed onto park sides of the roads rather than sidewalk sides. Schneider replied he would consider all options. Schneider discussed the City’s fleet of snowplow trucks and the various snowmelt products used on the streets. Additionally, he discussed communication outreach efforts, including Twitter and Facebook, and mentioned the number of cars towed from the downtown area during storms. Bowman reviewed the data received from the snowplows, including materials used, whether the plow is up or down and the location of the truck, among other bits of information. He also discussed sensors throughout town which indicate whether or not it is snowing, pavement temperature and pavement friction. 5 Berklund expressed concern about the Remington bikeway not being plowed appropriately. Schneider replied he would look into the situation. Schneider stated any of the Boardmembers could arrange a ride along with a plow operator. 8. ACTION ITEMS • 2015 Transportation Board Annual Report – Paul Sizemore Thomas made a motion, seconded by York, to adopt the Annual Report as presented. The motion was approved unanimously. 9. REPORTS • Boardmember Reports York reported on the Coalition for Infrastructure and discussions regarding roundabouts. Additionally, he discussed a meet-up group called Fort Collins Public Transit. Brown announced the Commission on Disability’s transportation questionnaire. • Staff Report Sizemore stated participation for the Winter Bike to Work Day was up about 11%. 10. OTHER BUSINESS None. 11. ADJOURN The meeting adjourned at 9:12 p.m. by unanimous consent.