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Action Minutes Transportation 07/08/2002 CITY OF BOULDER, COLORADO BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS MEETING SUMMARY FORM NAME OF BOARD/COMMISSION: Transportation Advisory Board • DATE OF MEETING: July 8, 2002 NAME/TELEPHONE OF PERSON PREPARING SUMMARY: Robin Madel, 303-441-4073 NAMES OF MEMBERS, COUNCIL, STAFF AND INVITED GUESTS PRESENT: BOARD MEMBERS -TAB: John Tayer, Jim Rettew, Brant Liebmann, Jerry Wyss, Krista Holland STAFF - Tracy Winfree, Randall Rutsch, Bob Whitson, Kate Patterson, Micki Kaplan, Mike Gardner-Sweeney and Robin Madel, secretary WHAT TYPE OF MEETING [REGULAR] Pre-meeting dinner. The pre-meeting dinner was cancelled in lieu of the Transportation Master Plan Update Phase 2 Open House that was held from 5-6 p.m. before the TAB meeting. Agenda Item 1 - Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 6:08 .m. Agenda Item 2 - Approval of Minutes Minutes from the May 13, 2002 and June 10, 2002 meetings were not approved because of several issues with the wording of the Longwood NPP item. Both sets of minutes will be revised and resubmitted at the next meeting. Minutes from the June 3, 2002 retreat were not submitted for approval. Agenda Item 3 - General Citizen Participation Mim Dixon, 1618 Spruce St., Boulder, 80302, said that she has been a participant in the NTMP and NPP processes for the Whittier neighborhood. She said the staff is doing an excellent job of listening to the residents and reflecting their wishes in the recommendations. Crystal Gray, 1709 Spruce St., Boulder, 80302, said that she thought the NTMP process went well and that the staff really listened. She said that the design will be really important and she is disappointed to see the funding dwindling down to nothing. The memo states that the process started in 1995 but Gray said that it started at least • a decade before that. Gray also said that she thought the city council had directed staff to find a new term to describe delay-inducing devices. Gray said that the memo did not mention the reduction in injury accidents in the Whittier from four per year to zero. Finally, Gray said that since the Whittier NPP has been managed by the Downtown Management Commission, enforcement has trailed off and she asked to have its' management returned to the Transportation Department. Premena, P.O. Box 1038, Boulder 80306, spoke about bike signage. He said that he spoke with staff about the policy for placement logistics of signs. He said that for years the issue hasn't been solved. There is a standard in effect for such areas as the Broadway Boogie but there is no standard that deals with path crossings, although there is one for autos. He pointed out that in the Boulder Valley Connections Plan there is nothing about bike signage and using bike paths as an alternative mode system. He said there is no concept of how signs should be placed to indicate a crossing and would like to have some indication that there is a route. He said there could be something in the criteria about the logistics of how and where signs should be placed. Alan Streater, 2830 Dover Dr., Boulder, 80302, said that the Americans with Disabilities Act has been a tremendous benefit to all people who ride bikes and skateboards or push strollers, etc. because ramps have to be built to adequately accommodate people in wheelchairs. He said that the ramps built in Boulder, especially South Boulder, are inadequate because there is no staging zone and the ramps are slanted enough that they dump the wheelchair into the street. He said that rebuilt sidewalks are being constructed in the same manner. The ramps are hard to manage in a wheelchair or on a bike. He asked the staff to review the standards and to stop building inadequate ramps. He said the city might be vulnerable to legal action for building against the standards. Kim Hult, 1837 Mapleton Ave., Boulder, 80302, said she lives in Whittier and shares the compliments for the staff. She has concerns with the existing speed bumps on Mapleton. She said they have flattened out and the cars don't really need to brake much to get over them. She is asking for additional speed bumps in the area and she said that she heard that the design being considered now is different from the design of those that are installed on Transportation Advisory Board Summary Minutes July 8, 2002 Page I • her street. David Newman, 2502-B Bluff St., Boulder, 80304, lives in the Whittier neighborhood and said that the intersection of the 2400 block of Spruce Street has slipped through the cracks, especially where Greenleaf Park exits onto Spruce Street. He said that there is no good place to cross the street and would like to see a small • pedestrian island included in the NTMP for that area. TAB comment Brant Liebmann asked about the sidewalk issue that Alan Streater spoke about. Tracy Winfree said that she would get back to the TAB on that issue. She said that in South Boulder the sidewalks are adjacent to the street and the city would need to take more property for a right of way to expand the pan size. Jerry Wyss said that he looked at the national standards for sidewalks and ramps and couldn't find the standards that Streater says the city is violating. Tracy Winfree said she would research the applicable standards and the ramp issue. General Citizen Participation was closed. Agenda Item 4 - TAB review and input on the Transportation Master Plan Update - Phase 2:Policy Refinement phase completion (Randall Rutsch). Randall Rutsch briefly discussed the open house that was held prior to the TAB meeting. At the open house there were display boards with presentations about the process and the schedule. Jean Townsend with Coley-Forest discussed funding sources to achieve the programs outlined in the TMP update. She said that almost 50% of the city's revenues are generated by sales and use tax and the city's largest transportation expenditure is on transit. She discussed innovative financing ideas used by peer cities. Ray Moe with LSA Associates discussed the multi-modal component of the TMP update. He discussed the purpose, objectives, the analysis of segments, performance, land use along the corridors, local and regional components and regional travel. David Unsemah with Urban Trans Consultants discussed Travel Demand Management (TDM). He discussed the objectives of TDM, the TDM subcommittee, the strategies and the evaluation criteria to be used. Tracy Winfree said that Phase 3 would focus on integrating the four focus areas and will include modeling, evaluation of alternatives, updates and inclusions. Citizen Participation Fred Porter, 706 Iris, Boulder, 80304, was involved in the last update and worked a lot on bike issues. He has since joined a group that works on energy efficiency and renewable energy in response to the interest of some • city council members to meet Kyoto principles. The group is trying to integrate transportation plans into their program. He said that the Transportation Master Plan Update lacks a focus on fuels or energy efficiency and he asked the city to consider adding a section on this. He recommended a program at the National Renewable Energy laboratory that distributes expertise and funding to Front Range municipalities to deal such issues. Richard Parish administers that program. TAB/Staff Comments Tracy Winfree said that the staff had received a request from the city council in March to include a technology component in the TMP update. She said that she would have Joanna Wilson contact Fred Porter to exchange information. She said that the component would include an evaluation of city, transit and private fleets. Citizen Participation was closed. TAB Comments In general the TAB members supported the update and recommended staff move forward to Phase 3. They felt it was comprehensive enough. They made specific recommendations about the presentation to improve it before it goes to the city council. Specific comments included inconsistencies in land use, selling TDM to the business community to get them on board at the beginning of the process, indicating where the city will find cost savings, making sure that the information goes to the media and ensuring that it is well-tracked. Transportation Advisory Board Summary Minutes July 8, 2002 Page 2 • Agenda Item 5 - Public hearing and consideration of a recommendation to City Council on the Boulder Valley Regional Center (BVRC) Connections Plan (Bob Whitson). Bob Whitson gave a brief overview of the map, which the TAB had seen before. Bill Fox with TransPlan consultants discussed the plan associated with the map. TAB Questions TAB questions included the legal consequences associated with BURA adoption of plans, the review process associated with development under the plan, the method for prioritizing development in the area, bike/pedestrian crossings, who will fund the improvements, issues around adding a third lane for bikes and buses on 28'h Street and incorporation of the University of Colorado Transportation Plan. Citizen Participation Premena, P.O. Box 1038, Boulder 80306, discussed the Burlington Northern Trail that could be used but has been closed off. He also discussed the plan and asked the staff to pay attention to limiting serpentine routing. He said he is opposed to a shared lane for bikes, buses and right turning vehicles. He said he was glad to see so much energy being put into the plan. Citizen Participation was closed. TAB Comments TAB comments included making the bike and pedestrian connections practical and evaluating bikes on 28'h street, current and possible other land uses for the Crossroads area and how that could change after adoption of the plan. Krista Holland motioned to recommend TAB approval of the Transportation Connections Plan with a recommendation that staff look at putting an on-street bike facility on 28,h Street from Arapahoe Avenue to Pearl Street during final design of 28"' Street. Brant Liebmann seconded the motion. Jerry Wyss disagreed with adding the recommendation for evaluation of the bike facility in the overall motion because he said it detracts from the overall recommendation. Brant Liebmann motioned to suspend the rules and continue the meeting past 10 p.m. Jerry Wyss seconded the motion. The vote was 4-1 in favor of the motion. Jim Rettew opposed the motion. Krista Holland withdrew her motion. Brant Liebmann withdrew the second. • Jerry Wyss motioned to recommend the Transportation Connections Plan for approval. Jim Rettew seconded the motion. The vote was 5-0 in favor of the motion. Krista Holland motioned to recommend that staff look at putting an on-street bike facility on 28 h Street from Arapahoe Avenue to Pearl Street during final design of 280 Street. Brant Liebmann seconded. The vote was 3-2 in favor of the motion. Jim Rettew and Jerry Wyss opposed the motion. Transportation Advisory Board Summary Minutes July 8, 2002 Page 3 • Agenda Item 6 - Matters From Staff: • Kate Patterson spoke about sunsetting commuter permits in Neighborhood Permit Parking (NPP) Zones. John Tayer said that his wife was a facilitator in the process of evaluating this program. Tayer said he spoke • with one of the city attorneys to determine whether or not he had a conflict of interest with this item but the attorney said that he doesn't. Patterson said that the program would sunset on 12/31/02 if no action is taken by the city council to renew it. Patterson said she would bring the staff proposal about the program to the TAB in the Fall 2002. • Kate Patterson gave an update on the Longwood NPP. Patterson stated that the city manager's recommendation would be to include a portion of the north side of Gillaspie Dr. in the NPP, from the entrance to student the parking lot to the fire hydrant approximately 170 ft. away. • Teresa Spears discussed the Whittier and Balsam/Edgewood Neighborhood Traffic Mitigation Plans. The staff went through the full public process to create proposals for both neighborhoods. Residents of the Whittier neighborhood fully embraced the proposal. Residents of the Balsam/Edgewood neighborhood had some concerns regarding the expense for a traffic circle at 17'h and Alpine because of flood mitigation. They felt the money would be better spent on photo radar. Spears said that the emergency service personnel were supportive of the staff proposals. • Tracy Winfree asked the TAB if they would be interested in taking a recess in August 2002. Winfree spoke with the city attorney's office to ensure that the TAB could take a recess. The attorney's office said that it was allowed under the ordinance. All the members agreed that they would like to take a recess. Jerry Wyss motioned for the TAB to recess in August 2002. Krista Holland seconded the motion. The vote was 5-0 in favor of the motion. Matters From the Board: • Jerry Wyss said that the bike path at the Elks Club on U.S. 36 is covered in dirt from a construction project. Robin Madel said she would check into it and respond to Wyss. • Krista Holland asked when the city's new sign policy will be presented to the TAB. Winfree said she would look at the To-do list and schedule it. • John Tayer requested that the pre-meeting dinner in September have as the guest the new acting city manager. • Agenda Item 7 - Discussion of Future Meeting Agenda There was no discussion of the next meeting agenda since the August meeting has been recessed. Agenda Item 8 - Adjournment Jim Rettew motioned to adjourn the meeting. Jerry Wvss seconded. The vote was 5-0 in favor of the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 11:13 p.m. Date, Time, and Location of Next Meeting: ■ August 12, 2002, meeting cancelled for TAB recess. • September 9, 2002, 6:00 p.m., Transportation Advisory Board regular meeting, at the City Council Chambers. Transportation Advisory Board Summary Minutes July 8, 2002 Page 4 • l