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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSHIELDS & ELIZABETH STREETS UNDERPASS - SITE PLAN ADVISORY REVIEW - SPA160002 - MINUTES/NOTES -Questions and Comments from the Elizabeth-Shields Underpass Voluntary SPAR Neighborhood Open House on 9/14/2016 Table 1: Why Elizabeth Street? Why an underpass and not an overpass?  What are all the changes in design/plans since the May presentation?  How long is the slope/entrance into the underpass?  Is all of this information on a website somewhere?  What are you doing for safety at night during construction?  What are some of the objections to this project besides cost?  What are the contingencies in case of a fire/flooding event?  What are some other benefits besides the ease of students?  Why did it take so long for this to be initiated?  Why an underpass and not an overpass?  What are some of the other improvements that will occur along Shields (for stadium)?  Where did the data come from?  How will on-street parking be affected for the nearby housing/neighborhoods?  How wide is the underpass going to be?  How many people will an underpass this size accommodate?  Is the bike lane going to be put back along the west side of Taft Hill Road by King Soopers?  Has anyone counted the trucks on that corner (that don’t belong/aren’t delivery)? Table 2: Current Design  Will they have to widen Shields for the underpass?  What will be the loss to Campus West parking?  What is the width/length of the Elizabeth sidewalk on the south side going to be?  The underpass is designed so that during a flood event the flooding would stay out of the tunnel.  Who owns operation and maintenance of the underpass?  Positive response to Campus West angled parking.  Students will still be crossing at-grade, even with the underpass.  What is the approved process?  Concerns around time and budget.  North Shields pedestrian crossing is a positive.  Who paid for the design?  Concern about Qdoba losing left turn into it from Elizabeth and left turn out of Qdoba.  Net loss of three spots is a positive.  Lighting/Security concerns in the tunnel.  There should be directional signage for stairs once project is complete to indicate where the stairs are.  Safety concerns for bikes and pedestrians: Tunnel/site distance/mirrors.  Moving stairs to parking lot versus curb—desire to get to Campus West from tunnel.  Has the church been purchased?  Will there be drainage improvements on the north side of Elizabeth?  Provide better notations on the renderings that indicate the on-grade crossings are still acceptable and an option to the underpass.  Elizabeth signaled North-South crosswalk moved east is positive.  Positive feedback on the current design, including items already considered and figured out by CSU- City team were: impact on Campus West parking; no disrupting Subway, lighting at night (cameras, security); adding 10 CSU spaces; no effect on signal light cycles; snow removal (City versus CSU); timeline of beginning construction in December 2016, starting so soon.  Negative feedback on current design: Ramp access in relation EMS accessing tunnel; sidewalk width is too narrow further west (by King Soopers); concern over cars backing from north Campus West to bike lane; pedestrian crossing on Elizabeth times with lights.  Have you done a level of service study (for bikes/pedestrians at rush hour)?  When is the Planning and Zoning meeting?  What is the narrowest point in the tunnel? (Concern about bike/pedestrian congestion and conflict.)  Why not an overpass?  Why not segregate cars versus pedestrians and bikes—for example, separated by Plum & Elizabeth. (Plum would have pedestrians and bikes while Elizabeth would have cars/buses.)  Moving Campus West access west is a positive.  What will happen to the underpass when there is flood water?  Concerns over tunnel safety: Safety of the City? Vandalism. Comment about Greeley tunnel buried over—concern about spending money on something that may be removed or not used if it can’t handle security concerns.  Is the cost worth the improvements—final solution? Table 3: Impacts/Phasing/Timeline  Glad to hear parking for Campus West was retained.  Contamination issues with gas station? Monitoring wells in place.  How does this affect the church?  Funding? Effect on tuition?  Why is the project happening now?  Schedule? How long will construction last?  Why is the Prospect underpass taking so long?  Have you considered elevators?  Why not an overpass?  Where is the funding coming from?  How deep is the tunnel?  Full closure of Shields will cause a challenge for customers and other retailers on Elizabeth.  With a partial closure, at least cars are moving.  February–April in Shields may be a risk with weather.  What is the traffic control plan for the project?  Suggestion to route traffic to the University due to proximity of apartments.  How realistic is the schedule?  North crosswalk will remain until further study is done post-project.  Where will construction labor force park? Significant issue in neighborhood. Concern for safety of elementary kids at Bennett.  Why construction in winter? Dewatering strategy is in place.  Lane closure on Elizabeth?  Will each phase be complete before moving to the next phase?  Will there be access on the northside of Qdoba when access is removed on Elizabeth?  Signal at Elizabeth crossing?  What will the closure timeline be? (4 weeks)  How will PFA be routed?  When will ROW be acquired?  Will winter weather affect construction?  Plum should run to Overland and accommodate only buses and bikes.  Why is CSU running this?  There shouldn’t be semi-trucks in this area on Shields/Elizabeth.  How did you arrive at decision for full lane closure on Shields?  Phasing and construction method informed (in part) by high water table.  Length of ramps?  What is the budget? What are the construction costs?  Will the tunnel accommodate two-way traffic?  Pedestrians should be forced north—to Plum?  Pedestrian/bike mid-block crossing will cause too much traffic congestion.  Utility relocation?  How is the construction method different than the Prospect tunnel?  What signals will be used at the midblock crossing?  Concern that the end result is not worth the project cost.  Good that the north crosswalk is retained  Concern about bikes staying on-grade because they won’t be able to ride fast through the tunnel  Why not move all pedestrians to Plum and all cars on Elizabeth and should not mix both?  This solution of an underpass does not seem any safer.  What has caused the delay on the Prospect underpass? Table 4: Community Infrastructure Commitments  What is the IGA?  How much has CSU spent on IGA improvements?  How does the voluntary SPAR work with Planning and Zoning approval?  What feedback have you taken? And where has it gone?  Concern that underpass fails to improve traffic flow.  Why spend $10,000,000 on an underpass when the same money could fund 3–5 professors in perpetuity?  Are the IGA improvements just for CSU or also for the community?  Can I read the IGA? Where can I find it? (www.fcgov.com/CSUstadium)  Why is CSU funding this when it’s a joint project between the City and CSU?  What is the percentage of people who ride transit?  What is the parking situation for the stadium, once it’s finished?  Why do workers who are building the stadium park in our neighborhoods? Why doesn’t CSU compensate them to park at CSU? Where will they park when the underpass is being built?  Design transport through campus, not around, by using carts and slower forms of transport to assist in accessing greater number of buildings for students (golf carts versus the Horn).  When will the Prospect underpass be done?  What are the at-grade improvements related to the underpass?  Should there be a truck bypass solution for Elizabeth?  Is this funded by student fees?  What is the source of funding? Who approves it?  How much will it be?  When is the project up for approval with Planning and Zoning?  How will we access the underpass from the bike path/trail?  Why are the crossings for bikes on Mason so narrow by the MAX (Prospect area)?  What were the community concerns with the underpass that have been mitigated?  Will the underpass help bring students to Campus West?  Strong support of the underpass expressed from a bike commuter; underpass and bike paths are a big part of safety.  Are bike trails for the casual bike riders rather than the serious bicyclists who use roads?  What is the scheduling for the City process?