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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 03/29/1993CITY COUNCIL/SHELBURNE SELECTBOARD 29 MARCH 1993 The South Burlington City Council held a meeting with the Shelburne Selectboard on Monday, 29 March 1993, at 7:30 p.m., in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset St. Members Present: Michael Flaherty, Chairman; John Dinklage, James Condos, William Cimonetti Also Present: Charles Hafter, City Manager; Peg Strait, Asst. City Manager Sally Martel, Alice Winn, Barbara Mann, Ann Dutton, Ken Albert, Shelburne Selectboard; Bill Finger, Shelburne Town Manager; Frank Evans, Agency of Transportation; Liam Murphy, Clem Thompson, Tom Nolder, Peter Cole, Tom Chittenden 1. Review of Project Status: Frank Evans, VAOT Project Manager: Mr. Evans said the project is being handled the same way as the Circumferential project: a small staff of Agency people and a large staff of consultants. The design is largely complete. There will be a median and jughandles at the major points of access. They are now trying to get caught up with environmental assessment and are also working on preliminary design for the Laplatte River Bridge (which is now part of the project). Survey work needs to be done for the bridge and the southern part of the project. Mr. Cimonetti asked Mr. Evans to describe a typical section of the project. Mr. Evans said there would be a 14 ft. median. Each side of the median would have 2 12-foot travel lanes, and 8 ft. shoulder, 5 ft. grass plot and 5 ft. sidewalk. At some intersections, there would be a 4 ft. median with a 10 ft. turning lane. Mr. Cimonetti asked how much right-of-way taking there would be. Mr. Evans said there wouldn't have to be much. Right-of-way taking is scheduled for fiscal 1994. Mr. Cimonetti asked about opportunities to turn between accesses to businesses, etc. Mr. Evans said they have analyzed that to try to get the distance between turns down to no more than a mile. They are looking for the ability to U-turn at the end of an island in most places (this wouldn't apply to trucks as the turn radius would be too short). Mr. Dinklage felt there may need to be a few more breaks in the median in some areas. He said there are two types of traffic conditions on Shelburne Rd., rush hour traffic and slower periods of traffic. He asked about the possibility of some left turn areas signed for no turns during peak traffic hours. Mr. Evans felt signs were not effective in such cases as people didn't pay attention to them. Mr. Dinklage then asked about the possibility of traffic cones, similar to those used in Burlington. He noted that the Dorset Street project was held up for two years by a minimum number of landowners who contested necessity all the way to the Supreme Court. He said he didn't want to see that happen here. Mr. Evans said it is a tough decision as to who gets such a cut. Mr. Albert said there have to be touch decisions. He noted the area of Tennybrook Square/Francesca's and said there are residents, shoppers and through traffic using the road. He added that he liked the median concept but felt there had to be some changes to the "through road" concept. Mr. Evans said he has been told this is how it has to be. Ms. Dutton noted that by adding more accesses, one is planning where development will occur. She noted there is a lot of land to be developed near Tennybrook Square. Mr. Condos noted there is provision for access management on Williston Rd. prior to construction and widening and felt this is also appropriate on Shelburne Rd. Ms. Dutton then raised the question of traffic management during construction. Mr. Evans said the plan is to do one side of the road at a time. Traffic won't be detoured to other streets. He noted there is also a plan for rail traffic being considered. Mr. Cimonetti elaborated on the rail plan. 2. Questions from Public: Mr. Thompson asked why there can't be a fifth lane instead of a median. He felt the islands were dangerous with large trucks and there are also problems with ambulances. He asked who would maintain the islands and noted maintenance is cheaper without islands. Mr. Evans said maintenance is the state's responsibility. He noted there had been a series of public hearings and there had been a lot of support for the island concept. The fifth lane concept had a lot of negative response. He added that islands are safer and there is less delay because of turning traffic. He said it is hoped to delay the need for a parallel road. Mr. Murphy, an attorney representing some Shelburne Rd. businesses, said he thought there were very few people who support the median concept. They are concerned with the effects of the road on pre-existing businesses. For areas that are not currently developed, a median could be OK, but existing businesses that rely on drop-in business will have a problem. To get to Perry's Fish House, for example, a person heading south would have to go 3/4 of a mile, through 3 lights, to make a turn. The same is true for other businesses. Mr. Murphy said he would like to recommend a committee be formed to come up with varying approaches to serving existing businesses. He felt the businesses could work together to combine accesses rather than have a jughandle concept. He said he had copies of studies which show that medians are not much safer than a fifth lane and are much more detrimental to business. He said the business people want the road improved but will fight the median concept. Mr. Nolder said a compromise is needed. He said everyone wants a safer, wider road, but there needs to be a way to access their businesses. He said they are fighting for their livelihood and for their employees. Mr. Cimonetti said he had spent a lot of time on this project. He stressed that he doesn't represent the AOT. He said he has learned that it is very difficult to get the public to understand the length of time between infrastructure projects. He added the he hoped the business community will consider the 20-year impact on their business, not only the two year impact. Merchants have suffered on Dorset Street, he said, but that's nothing compared to how they would have suffered if the city of S. Burlington hadn't found a way to rebuild Dorset St. He predicted that it will be very hard to get in and out of business on Shelburne Rd. in the next 20 years without the project. Mr. Nolder said that when you limit access to businesses, business goes down. Better access is needed. Mr. Condos noted that the fifth lane near Laurel Hill doesn't work. There have been very serious head-on collisions there, and it is a tragedy waiting to happen. It is also terrible for people trying to get out of businesses onto the road. Mr. Cole agreed something has to be done. The road is essentially the same as it was in 1950, but the traffic is much more. He felt the economic consequences of the proposed plan would be severe. He felt traffic would go faster with limited access, and faster isn't safer. He said the only significant median in the area now is Rt. 15 from Winooski to Essex Junction. There are only 6 businesses not located at intersections along that median. One business person said that after all these years, people still can't figure out how to get to their business. He suggested a fifth lane with a turn lane in the middle that might suffice for 5 to 15 years, then put up a barrier. Mr. Chittenden said medians look terrible after two years. Mr. Murphy gave Mr. Hafter a copy of a study on medians which said they aren't safer and there was a negative effect on development and reduced traffic to all local businesses. 3. Discussion of Further Action: Mr. Dinklage felt an advisory committee was an excellent idea and felt CCTA should be involved as well as citizens from both communities. Mr. Hafter asked the purpose of such a committee. Ms. Martel felt there hadn't been enough input from the communities. Mr. Dinklage then moved that an advisory committee be established as a joint action of the South Burlington City Council and Shelburne Selectboard and that it include representatives from each community and a representative of CCTA and that this Committee report to the joint bodies on a schedule to be determined by the bodies. Ms. Winn seconded the motion which then passed unanimously. Mr. Hafter added that all meetings should be open and should require public notification. As there was no further business to come before the joint bodies, the meeting adjourned at 9:30 p.m. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.