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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Bicycle & Pedestrian Committee - 12/14/2022 1 South Burlington Bike & Pedestrian Committee APPROVED Regular Meeting Minutes Wednesday, December 14, 2022 @ 5:30 p.m. Room 301, City Hall AND Virtual Committee Attendees: Havaleh Gagne (Chair), Donna Leban, Bob Britt, Nic Anderson (Clerk) Committee Attendees - Remote: Ann Mason, Amanda Holland, Doug Goodman, Joel Klug Committee Absent: Dana Farr Other Attendees: Erica Quallen (City Staff Liaison), Alyssa Smith, Todd Sumner and Zach Roussel (Hoyle Tanner), Susan Grasso (Local Motion) Public: Ann Cousins, Jeff Hawkins, Joanne and Paul Travers, Cathy Frank 1. Welcome, Virtual Meeting Instructions, Gratitude –Havaleh (5:30 PM) 2. Changes or additions to the agenda – Havaleh (5:35 PM) 3. Comments from the public not related to the agenda – Havaleh (5:40 PM) a. None 4. Consideration of minutes from November 9, 2022 – Havaleh (5:45PM) a. Bob made motion to approve b. Seconded by Donna c. Amanda abstained d. Vote: All in favor 5. Updates from the City – Erica (5:50 PM) a. Read through updates from meeting packet. i. Budgets-Bob asked to make sure impact fees are talked about. Also grants covered. ii. All documentation for budgets has been made fully virtual this year. iii. Donna now also a Planning Commission member (and will stay on BPC and Climate Action Committee as BPC representative) iv. Bob asked if we could add the connect to Spear Meadows shared use path project or others for UPWP scoping. v. Amanda asked about CCRPC Sidewalk Assessment. Erica – Will likely bring this forward in collaboration with ADA assessment. b. Two additional items i. Havaleh presenting to City Council on Monday on Committee Charge and Safety and Policy Recommendations ii. Erica submitted a VTrans grant application for lower Allen Road today. 80% request. City to come up with $140K. Likely P4P or Impact Fees if that gets passed. CCRPC Active Transportation Plan posted. This area is a high priority. iii. Discussion of shared use path pricing methodology iv. Bob asked about location of Patchen Road mid-block crosswalk at Jaycee park that is planned to be built during the remainder of FY23. 1. Erica noted it would be towards the south side of the park 6. (Warned for 6:00 PM) Multi-Site Crosswalk Feasibility Study Presentation – Todd Sumner, Zach Roussel, Alyssa Smith a. Hoyle Tanner consultant – Local Concerns and Alternatives b. Presented slides. c. Bob asked about Warrant Criteria 2 i. Alyssa jumped to last slide to detail ii. Discussion of measurement of peak hour ped volumes. d. Discussion of Songbird options. No warrant issues noted. Consultants recommended moving crosswalk several yards south of intersection and building bump-out on the east side of Dorset to make the crosswalk safer for pedestrians and to prevent drivers from using the shared use path as a travel lane when passing vehicles making a left turn from Dorset onto Songbird. e. Consultants reported that the proposed Nicklaus Circle crosswalk does not meet warrants as not enough crossings are occurring now. If one were to be built, they recommended placing a crosswalk at the south side of the Park Road intersection and installing an island in the middle of Dorset and using RRFBs and constructing a sidewalk from Nicklaus Circle to the driveway of the water tower. f. Bob noted that 38 homes were going in on the east side of Dorset at the north side of Park Rd. that could add to crossings as neighbors cross the road to visit other neighbors across the street. g. It was also noted that most of the neighbors on Nicklaus Circle were retired and may need additional safety measures to cross h. The Consultants noted that the City engineer could sign off for the need for a crosswalk even if it did not meet the crossing warrants. i. Doug suggested narrowing lanes on Dorset St at Nicklaus as a traffic calming measure j. Nic suggested sidewalk could go through grass k. Amanda suggested the sidewalk could be a path instead or another alternative, so the City did not have to clear a small stub sidewalk. l. Speed discussion at Dubois. Does not meet warrants solely because of speed. If speed could be addressed. m. Ann mentioned east-west connections and focus needed. Benefit of being able to cut through neighborhoods. Nerve racking to end up on the busier roads. n. Joel asked if a four way stop sign could be possible. o. Suggestion to leverage GMT as a partner for advocacy p. The consultants also suggested installing Advanced Warning Crosswalk Signs stating Crossing 500 Ft. Ahead as an interim measure for the Nicklaus Circle and Dubois proposed crosswalk locations q. Susan noted that adjusting the speed limit may not adjust speeds. Purpose of the road has changed and need VTrans to understand. This road as well as Dorset and Spear are now neighborhood roads not just pass-through roads. r. Alyssa – Need people entering this area in cars to have other visual clues to help drivers change. s. Susan – Opportunity to discuss this whole area and how we as a City want it to be. t. The committee suggested Pheasant Way should have option 3 with the sidewalk to be located on the west side of Spear Street so that there needs to be only one crosswalk needed to link to the sidewalk on South Pointe Road instead of two. u. Joanne and Paul Travers – Need to make sure people are doing the counts because they think there are definitely a lot of walkers. v. Doug mentioned to make shoulder wider and shared use. w. Bob noted Spear Street widening project proposed x. Nic mentioned that South Pointe will not be a dead end as at the eastern end, it will connect to the south entrance of Hubbard Park and the north entrance to South Village at North Jefferson Road via the Long Property. 3 y. Jeff Hawkins also supported west side sidewalk. z. Havaleh asked what they needed from us aa. Zach has enough notes. bb. Nic asked for cost estimates of proposals. cc. Erica said they could have that showing simple things like paint and then could have additional potential once situations change dd. Bob asked on timing of final report and whether a final public meeting was necessary at the January meeting or if it could wait until the February meeting since there was already a public meeting scheduled for the January meeting. ee. Erica and the Consultants were not sure if another public meeting was necessary. Left as TBD. ff. Doug asked about pole at Songbird. gg. Alyssa noted RRFB could be attached to pole at Songbird so that the pole wasn’t obscuring the RRFB. 7. “The Street Project” Screening Takeaways – DPW and Safety Subgroup (7:15 PM) a. Doug gave summary of the screening. Just under an hour and can be viewed on PBS America. Around 100 attendees. 8. 2024 Comprehensive Plan Discussion (7:25) a. Erica detailed memo in agenda packet, which asks the Committee to answer three primary questions including: i. What key topics within your area of focus should be prioritized in the 2024 Comprehensive Plan? ii. What input do you need from members of the public related to those key topics? iii. What further information does your committee need in order to provide feedback on the Comprehensive Plan? b. Havaleh asked what the deadline is, and Erica stated that the Planning Department wanted it discussed at the November or December committee meetings with responses sent around year-end c. Dana texted Havaleh with her list of key topics that included path connections, anything safety related, worked to gauge public input for the 2015/2016 4 quadrants. Use that study as a base line. d. Donna noted the last comp plan transportation section. More focus needed now on transportation cycling than before. Last plan focused more on off road paths. Need to focus now on complete streets and bikes from a transportation perspective. Inventory in old plan didn’t focus on alternative transportation. E-bikes have changed things. So many different types of vehicles around now. Need to assess busses. Limited corridors. What will it take to get you out of your car? What about parking. Free parking encourages use. Got to get people to stop driving. Climate action plan highlights this need already. e. Erica – Remember this is a transportation section as a whole. f. Amanda – Making sure of integrating new modes in complete streets. Key topic. Have done good work on planning such as zoning codes for bike facilities but if we want mode shift, this is a focus area. g. Bob – Bike ped safety, connectivity – Infrastructure, closing the gaps on theme of Complete Streets including the need for Grant and Transportation Impact Fees to leverage Penny for Paths funding, maintenance of existing infrastructure, need a plan for maintenance which is a key topic. 4 h. Erica – Can use term “State of Good Repair”. i. Amanda – Sub statement about ensuring we are making a sustainable system. Can we afford to keep up the future items such as one sidewalk on a road instead of both sides. j. Doug – Need to keep year-round maintenance. k. Nic – Number one for me is year-round snow clearing is key to a livable city, including wheelchair access. Would be impossible to live here in a wheelchair. l. Bob noted extra high number of households who have a disability. 25%. m. Erica – From Paul Connor’s report and census and American Community Survey. One of highest disability numbers in the state n. Doug – And 750 people without cars which is almost 10% of households o. Amanda detailed the six categories of disabilities. p. Ann asked about most recent dates on data. q. Havaleh – Depends on lines of data. r. Erica detailed 2020 census data from census data s. Havaleh detailed list t. Amanda wants to tie connecting gaps for access to services, schools, parks, retail, etc. u. Susan – Like the tie to climate action plan and to the goal of being able to choose options that don’t require a car. v. Donna – Development patterns are important. A lot of traffic in SB is pass through. Development in other Cities is what impacts South Burlington w. Susan – Are there strategies already that help people not use a car x. Donna – Park and Rides. Certain arterial roads attract traffic. y. Susan – Should integrate with Climate Action plan z. Amanda – Two thumbs up. Focus could be on main corridors and making them safer. Families at Orchard have Shelburne Road as a barrier which keeps them in their car. Making main thoroughfares safer could get at things we are talking about. aa. Erica – This could be a question to the public about barriers bb. Ann – Two components on both recreational and safety for commuting. Should be discussed with regards to funding. cc. Doug – Thinking how we can connect recreation with utilitarian such as biking to supermarkets and most direct routes make a big factor on bike trips. dd. Joel – One way to get people out of cars is making buses more convenient than parking. If parking is scarce or difficult it might discourage driving ee. Bob – What we need from public. How do we get people out of cars. Also get new input on gaps where paths, lights, etc. are needed. ff. Donna – Park and Rides again gg. Bob – Nice to know how many households have e-bikes. hh. Susan – Local Motion has data along these lines for Chittenden County. 6% own an e- bike ii. Amanda – Understanding barriers to e-bike ownership and potential users. jj. Susan – 56% commented that price was the biggest factor kk. Joel – Replacing bikeshare will give access to e-bikes ll. Erica – Concept of actual vs preferred. When at odds, can look into barriers. mm. Amanda – Data on neighborhood amenities with regard to access. Equity assessment. This data could help us understand places that are being underserved. nn. Donna – more Bikeshare nodes were needed oo. Susan asked if we have assessment yet of the 15-minute city. Where people and who can’t actually get to where they need. 5 pp. Amanda – Maybe the development of destination points etc. Data analysis. qq. Nic – Need Transit as a key topic. And then connectivity of transit routes, not just within the city but through it (such as St Mikes through to Shelburne St) rr. Bob – The maps in the existing comprehensive plan are good. He references them all the time and they help to make sure everyone is on the same page. They should include maps for: i. Existing shared use paths ii. Planned shared use paths, both City and Developer planned paths iii. Planned sidewalk gaps to be constructed iv. Planned crosswalks to be built ss. Susan – Would the CCRPC level of traffic stress analysis be helpful for this? Nice analysis. Not based on infrastructure but more peoples level of stress. Notes comfortability of places. Completed recently. tt. Bob mentioned that Traffic Calming Strategies like crosswalk bump-outs, speed bumps, lane striping narrowing, etc. need to be mentioned somewhere in the plan around safety uu. Erica can send bulleted list and minutes to Kelsey. 9. Updates Ongoing Committee/Liaison Work: (7:45 PM) a. Chair updates/comments – Havaleh – Not discussed b. DRB Update – i. New liaison needed. Donna now not available due to Planning Commission needs. Good to have someone that really KNOWS the places that are discussed as part of plans. Knowing the city is useful. Also get to know what’s going on. Shouldn’t be afraid to speak up. Don’t have to go to meetings, can participate online. Packets are public. Can look over agenda ahead of time and attend as you need to. ii. Nic thinks could just talk about it each meeting and then make a plan iii. No takers just yet. iv. Donna notes that you could just submit written to comments Marla instead of going. v. Amanda noted that we used to be flagged by Marla and be informed. They flag for public art right now because of regulations. Could they flag bike/ped things to be sent to Erica and committee could find out. To offer valuable feedback it would be nice to be flagged. Sometimes hard to understand when its appropriate to be providing comments. vi. Erica – Can loop in the committee on larger items. Much more intensive internal process now so no developers visiting committee any more. c. DPW/Safety – Bob, Dana, Amanda, Doug – Not discussed d. Bike Friendly Community Planning/Greenway progress – Nic – Not discussed e. Communications/Outreach –Donna, Havaleh – Not discussed f. Mapping – Amanda, Nic – Not discussed g. Signs – Nic, Donna, Dana – Not discussed 10. Schedule January Meeting – Confirmed. 11. Adjourned (by 8:26 PM)