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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Bicycle & Pedestrian Committee - 12/08/2021 1 South Burlington Bike & Pedestrian Committee FINAL Special Public Forum and Regular Meeting Minutes Wednesday, December 8, 2021 @ 5:30 p.m. City Hall Room 301 Committee In-Person Attendees: Havaleh Gagne (Chair), Nic Anderson (Clerk), Amanda Holland, Bob Britt (Vice-Chair), Donna Leban Committee Remote: Dana Farr, Cathy Frank, Matty Larkspur Committee Absent: None Other Attendees: Ashley Parker (City Liaison), Audrey Beaulac, Nicole Centerbar (Consultants) Public in Person: Shawn Goddard, Linda Bradley, Jim Keosian, Linda Norris, Betsy Bahrenburg, Public Remote: Monica Ostby, Tim Riley, Terry Brennan, Juli Bonanno, Doug Goodman, Ravi Venkataraman, Dorothy Pumo, Lani Ravin, Avalon Styles-Ashley (The Other Paper), Laurie Smith, Robert McDonald, Ariel Jensen-Vargas, Kris Steppennuck 1. Welcome, Virtual Meeting Instructions, and Emergency Evacuation Procedure 2. Public Forum: Spear Street Bike/Ped Improvements a. Ashley introduced and followed presentation from the Meeting Packet b. Audrey Beaulac and Nicole Centerbar From Hoyle Tanner consultants c. Linda asked if project would continue further south. She lives off Spear St. Encourage to look at the rest of Spear Street. d. Appreciate the ability to provide public comment e. Audrey walked through presentation in Meeting Packet. f. Linda Bradley asked about crossing points. Seems logical to have on the west. g. Bob noted that there will be a development just north of the Forest Service at 600 Spear Street and there will be a crosswalk with an RRFB installed across Spear Street h. Betsy Barenberg asked about potential development. i. Kris Steppennuck asked if traffic light would be installed at Songbird j. Audrey noted it would be a RRFB, not a traffic light. k. Linda B asked how to connect at Swift and Spear. l. Bob mentioned it could connect on the East side. m. Amanda mentioned that with the proposed alternatives for Swift and Spear there would be all way crossings n. Bob asked about terrain on the west side due to the embankment and old growth trees. o. Audrey – Bank on west side would be difficult. May need to move the road to accommodate a path. p. Doug Goodman commented that the west side would connect well with the existing paths. q. Kris mentioned that people don’t stop for flashing lights r. Lani Ravin – UVM and was commute to work route for a number of years. Maps could be north/south. Would also like photos to be notated. Asked if on the west, would it be a two way path? Would there need to be a road realignment at the underpass? Concerned about conflict points at Songbird. Could be pinch point and wouldn’t want bike crashes. Could bike lanes on either side be considered. s. Audrey – Would be shared use path. SB typically 10 ft wide so would try to fit 10ft. Will still have some cyclists on the road who want to go fast. A shared use path gives a safer 2 space for those that wanted to use it. Bike lanes are typically within roadway but this project is more looking at a path. t. Linda B asked about bike lanes and possible configuration of path u. Donna noted that sometimes the buffer between the road and path gets used by cars to pass when someone is turning or parking. Wondering what strategies to prevent cars going onto shared use path. v. Audrey – Can look into options to make sure this is kept in mind when designing. w. Shawn Goddard – Used to commute a lot, and would like to make sure there is efficient connection to the 189 path. People will continue to use that grass so need to make it safe there. x. Monica – Clarified it would be a separated path. Question on safety. Blind curve on west near songbird, is it safer on west or east? y. Audrey – Would need to look into this. If we moved the roadway, there could be better side distances. We will look into all those when we make the assessment. z. Monica – Asking to make safest design. Could it be better to have safe permanent barrier instead of just path. aa. Doug asked about discussion of existing lanes on Songbird bb. Robert asked for motion activated or push button warning lights. cc. Kris made comment about lights going into your eyes so maybe paths on both sides would be good. dd. Lani asked about the crossing and making sure there is safe stopping area. ee. Linda commented on plowing and making sure its taken into consideration. ff. Lani noted the white line is gone on the curve on west side, showing that people don’t stay in the lane and cut the corner. gg. Monica wants to make sure that it connects well with the possible roundabout. There could be more things on that corner of the UVM property in the NW corner of the intersection. hh. Doug noted there are good videos on roundabouts from the Netherlands. Section proposed is really beautiful. Some sections of existing path are disconnected and wanting to help connect these neighborhoods near Farrell St. One of the most direct paths to connect between the two. Queen City Park Road project is important to this. Doing good jobs with striping lately. If trying to get to Burlington, is the goal to go down to QCP or to use the 189 Path? Need to consider connectivity. ii. Linda does get concerned with multi use paths and the lack of delineation. Is it possible to delineate it? jj. Dorothy Pumo – Commute that stretch all the time. Used to riding in road. Uses paths all over the place. If there is a person with a kid or dog trailer, the divider makes it very difficult to get around things. Much better to have an occasional situation than it is to have to deal with a barrier. Please make it a standard path like all over town. kk. Linda – Maybe just on the higher speed hill section. ll. Dorothy – the dangerous part will be trying to cross Spear. The curve is nothing to worry about. mm. Nic asked if pricing would be included in conceptual plans. Could be much more expensive to do the “road shift”. nn. Lani asked if we are staying within the ROW. oo. Ashley – That’s the plan but don’t have the layout just yet. 3. Changes or additions to the agenda a. One small agenda item from Havaleh. Gift to Shawn, outgoing Chair. Presented with gift 3 4. Comments from the public not related to the agenda a. Monica O – Here as resident. A request coming our way soon from Planning Commission. Friend of Family who was part of the crash. Seeing all over the city just how dark the city is. Far too dark in certain places. Noticed street lights light roads, not sidewalks. Lots of hot spots in the City that are much too dark. Noted that there was previously a decision by the City Council to turn off every second light. b. Nic asked for Monica to provide her list of Hot Spots. c. Monica – Dorset Street is number one. d. Nic agreed. Shocked that Kennedy Drive has ZERO lights and is a corridor beside the High School and a nice rec path which is very dark. e. Linda Norris – Hubbard Park is a park that is a great interest to her and her neighborhood. Concerned about paving a path right through a nice field. Thinks there are other ways to connect through than going through Hubbard. Would hate to see a path put through there. f. Havaleh – Commented on history and took comments g. Linda Norris – Could be better on west side at bottom of hill near Spear Street h. Ashley – There are water issues in that area as well. i. Other Linda –Concerned about cars coming up hill on Nowland. Raised sidewalk or speed bumps at entrance crosswalk. j. Cathy Frank – Lives in South Point – No safe way to go to Noland Farm without using Spear St. South Village has the same problem. So important that the inland route be available. No way to weave through neighborhoods on the east side. 5. Consideration of minutes from the November 10,2021 meeting a. Moved by Bob to approve b. Seconded by Amanda c. Approved unanimously. 6. Discussion with Chief Shawn Burke, SBPD: Recent Car/Bike Accidents a. Havaleh introduced. Crashes from October. b. Chief Burke – Two different incidents. One on Williston Road. Person on stolen bike, had a warrant for arrested, crossed against the law. Was arrested. Doesn’t align with a normal scenario. Dorset Street one was unfortunate. Emerged from High School against light, was hit by car. No helmet. Agrees that that section of Dorset St is rather dark. Time of year where people are adjusting to daylight changes. From an infrastructure scenario, perhaps lighting was a factor. But bicyclists entered traffic when they shouldn’t have. The City has built a lot of thoroughfares that are wide and encourage high speed. Noland Farm was built wide, has little traffic calming. Have speed trailer out a lot. Could do enforcement but as soon as officer is gone, it would go back to the same problem. Like to rely on engineering strategies and education. Speed radar captures great data. The Department is lean on human resources right now. Can have 39 officers and now only have 34. Stretched thin. Happy to talk with how police can intersect with committee work. c. Matty – On Safety working group. Wondering if there is data on hotspots for speeding, collisions or near misses. At some point it’s clear that it’s an infrastructure problem. Would love it if they could share data with the committee. d. Chief Burke – Data on Motor Vehicle Complaints could be provided. Would the crosswalk data be helpful. e. Mattie – Would like to pinpoint the infrastructure issues that allow crashes to happen. A series of choices made by City could possibly be undone. 4 f. Chief Burke – Wanted to remind that the problem here is that the individual crossed against the signal and was their fault. Maybe lighting could have been a factor. This case is less about infrastructure and more operator error. Would prioritize enforcement on areas where there are more incidents that could be changed and would work with DPW on possible improvements. g. Bob – Encouraged Matty to look into the VTrans Crash Reporting Tool. h. Chief Burke – We upload crash reports directly into that tool. i. Amanda – How could we use the other data to look into potential problems or challenges j. Chief Burke – Raw data that may be hard to go through as it’s a lift. Can get it to you but the devil may be more in the detail. Does not see any correlation between the number of traffic stops and crash reduction. k. Monica – Accident was 6:45pm, across from a school and was with a number of other kids the same age. Driver was also a young driver. Point is that it was so dark at 6:45 that this happened. Too dark for anyone to make another better judgement. Too damn dark. l. Havaleh – Agree that better lighting is needed there. It is dark. m. Nic asked for feedback on school zones n. Chief Burke – School Zone is 25 so Market St is ok and would get slower when built out. Has not had discussions with School about Dorset St. If the committee would want to go down that front, would need to discuss with the school and DPW. o. Havaleh asked if it could be something the safety committee could discuss. p. Bob said it could be on the list. The subcommittee will meet sometime soon. q. Donna – Difficult thing with lighting is the trees. The fixtures without trees would provide a lot more light. r. Monica – The lights are too high and point at the road, and could not physically light sidewalk if it tried. s. Donna – Trees will block more. On Kennedy Drive the shared use path is on the north and not many trees could be a good solar powered light location. Need to think of street lighting costs to operate when we think of Climate action. There are some interesting illumination techniques that could be used. t. Nic mentioned bollards might be good on Kennedy. u. Donna mentioned that the biggest cost is the underground wiring. v. Amanda noted that education and outreach is still important and the committee is trying to work out ways to track and discuss with Public Works on infrastructure needs etc. Trying to work out how we can assist on safety concerns. w. Chief Burke – As places like south Dorset St get built out, there could be additional considerations on things like speed. Happy to come and talk anytime and happy to be a support as needed. 7. Updates from the City a. Bob asked recreation and parks department money for maintenance. Asked if Committee would be ok for Bob to write to Jesse and Council to make them aware that we asked for 3-5% of the paving budget to be assigned to paths in the Committee’s 2018 presentation or safety and policy issues without authorization being made at that meeting. Maybe we can go back and ask for 2-3% and make it mandatory to be dedicated to paths to keep the infrastructure up unless it was not needed in a particular year. b. Amanda – Curious about this too. Seems like the rec department is trying to close this gap in another way but it will be pushed. Would like to have a line item for maintenance or replacements, but doesn’t want it to be a percentage of the paving budget because if 5 that got cut then it would also cut maintenance for paths. We keep kicking this can and needs a line item. c. Matty – If the city plan is to make the city walkable and bikeable it should be maintained to continue to meet the plan goal. d. Havaleh – I think the committee should recommend an annual commitment for upkeep. e. Ashley noted this came about from Adam in DPW going to Parks based on needs at Stonehedge path. There is an awareness at all levels that we don’t have this funding piece in place. f. Bob – Doesn’t think the Council is aware of the problem. Staff maybe but need to help them be aware. g. Amanda – Excited for UPWP project to assess the condition of our paths. h. Havaleh – Seems that the collaboration with Parks and DPW may be more effective to get the issue addressed. i. Matty – Should we do a motion to go to City Council. j. Havaleh – Still seems like we are all in line if we deal with Parks and DPW. A unified group that helps show it fits with City plan. Agrees with % concept. Seems like Jesse is trying to get more collaboration between city entities. k. Bob asked on Hubbard Path if there were big changes to the path. l. Ashley – nothing significant m. Bob asked about Kimball Ave phase 2 ongoing scoping project . What is the scope and how long has it been going on? n. Ashley - No update. Check on CCRPC o. Nic – Hinesburg Road crosswalks are NOT painted. Asked if it’s possible to paint if there is a nice weather day or if the paint has temp constraints. Asked if Ashley could ask Justin. p. Ashley – Want committee to review City Priorities and make sure they understand the needs. There is reporting requirements. q. Havaleh – Sounds like we need to have this on the January agenda r. Amanda – Asked if the FY22 Policy Priorities and Strategies document is set in stone. There are some components where there is a role for the committee but we are not designated as the “Role”. Things like the Parks Master Plan and the TDM study, we are secondary and would like to make sure that we are noted where they are missing. s. Ashley – Would be worthwhile to request that we are added to those pieces. t. Havaleh will make sure to include those in the January report. 8. Review/Update subcommittee assignments a. Dana was supposed to be on Safety committee and Cathy was not. Update. 9. Updates Ongoing Committee Work a. Havaleh asked if there were any pressing updates as we are running out of time. b. Monthly DPW Meeting –Bob c. CCRPC Update –Amanda i. Bob - Queen City Parkway study received over 400 comments. At Dattilo’s, there were comments and a concept path that was very interesting which included path widening, button updates etc. One recommendation had a rec path all the way to Central Ave. Recommends going to public participation and second meeting on the web page for the mapping which was really interesting. d. Interim Zoning –Amanda & Donna e. DRB Update –Cathy f. Communication –Cathy 6 g. Safety –Bob h. Way to Go Schools –Donna i. City Bike/Ped Rankings (People for Bikes/League of American Cyclists) –Nic j. General Business -Havaleh 10. Confirmation: Next meeting Wednesday, January 12, 2021 @ 5:30pm a. Bob Britt to run meeting. Havaleh possibly out. b. Committee to consider setting alternate meeting day. When there are holidays, sometimes the DRB or City Council get bumped which will impact space. Will need to make a plan. c. Bob noted budget with CIP will go to City before next meeting. Noted Spear Street widening has continued to be bumped another two years when it jumped from Bike/Ped CIP to Road CIP. Wonders if we should be advocating for it to be pulled back to help possibly using infrastructure funding coming through from new infrastructure bill. d. Ashley AARPA funds can only be used for roads if it combines with other infrastructure improvements such as sewer lines etc. e. Bob – Will likely go to City Council meeting on January 3rd and just comment as a citizen. 11. Adjourned 8.09pm