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HomeMy WebLinkAboutApproved MINUTES 01 14 20Committee Name: Traffic & Parking Advisory Board Date: 01/14/20 City Hall, Room 404 1 1 Attendees: Absent: Jim Collins, Transportation Director Bob Poeschl, Council Jim Stapel, Board Jane Boucher, Secretary Ross Wandschneider, Board Daniel Becker, Chairman William Christianson, Board Steve Haas, Vice-Chairman Dan Scieszinski, Board 1st Reading: Jan 28 (no action) 2nd Reading: Feb 11 (action) Topic Speaker Discussion Actions Call to order Meeting Minutes Dan Becker Dan Becker called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. The minutes from the 12/10/19 meeting were accepted. 1st: Dan Becker 2nd: Dan Scieszinski Public Comment N/A Agenda Items 1. Proposed 2020 Reconstruction Jim Collins Jim Collins stated Justin Gierach (City Engineer) will give an overview of two 2020 reconstruction projects. After discussion, the goal is to get input from the board on designated bike lanes on East & West Snell Road before finalizing plans and starting the bid process for that particular project. Agenda Items Proposed 2020 Reconstruction Projects (Cont’d) Justin Gierach Justin stated the first area is East Snell Road from Jackson to Moser which is currently 22’ wide, the new proposal is to be 46’. The City is proposing 5’ bike lanes on both sides, travel lanes, a two way left turn lane and 5’ sidewalks on both sides. Enclosed in the meeting materials was the preliminary design map. It will be going from one lane in each direction to a lane in each direction with a shared left turn lane, 5’ sidewalks, 5’ bike lanes, and about a 5’ green terrace with curb and gutter on each side. Justin stated the project stops at Moser because of Town limits starting shortly after. The Bike & Ped plan recommends this be a bike route and now would be the time to make that determination from a financial standpoint. The bike lanes will be all the way up to Jackson Street. Justin confirmed to Bob Poeschl that the sidewalks are already part of the project and the only item up for recommendation is the addition of bike lanes. He also confirmed that landscaping is not part of the project. Committee Name: Traffic & Parking Advisory Board Date: 01/14/20 City Hall, Room 404 2 2 Topic Speaker Discussion Actions Proposed 2020 Reconstruction Projects (Cont’d) Justin Gierach The second project is Oregon Street from 21st Avenue to 24th Ave that is proposed to be 44’ wide, and 24th Ave to the Creek Bridge is proposed to be constructed at 48 feet with no plans to change lane configuration or usage. Jim Collins confirmed that it is Phase 3 of the Oregon Street reconstruction. Designate bike lanes on East and West Snell Road Dan Becker Dan asked about the impact of the project to the Industrial Park given that it is a primary access point. One safety concern with a bike lane is the heavy truck traffic due to the blind spot when turning with a 70’ trailer. This will need to be well communicated with the Industrial Park, as well as the home owners that live further south. Justin said Fernau Avenue would be the designated access point during the construction and there aren’t a lot of homes within that area. Dan Becker invited input from the public at this time. Justin Weiss Justin resides on Snell Road (330 E Snell) and suggested in lieu of designated bike lanes, a multi-use path on the north side could serve both as the sidewalk and bike lane. Vicki Redlin Vicki stated Winnebago County Parks is in favor of bike lanes (specifically the north side as it will give better access to the park and connect with their path within the park). Better access is requested by many people and will be well received. She said ideally it would be good to have a bike lane on both sides, but one is better than none or the multi-use path idea would be a great option. Jim Collins & Bob Poeschl Jim Collins stated the bike lane would be both sides, to accommodate travel in both directions and a shared use path would require a right-of-way to accommodate. Bob Poeschl asked what the plan is to regulate the intersection at least during the increased seasonal traffic. Justin stated there is no concrete plan at this time other than a sign and pedestrian crossing accommodations. Jim stated it is controlled with a stop sign at this time. Dan Becker & Justin Gierach Dan Becker stated the multi-use path is intriguing and was wondering if it would be worth sacrificing a larger portion of roadway to make a dedicated path on the north side. He said it would get the bike traffic out of conflict with vehicular traffic. He supports sacrificing dollars for safety if it makes sense fiscally. Justin stated on the far west side it would be difficult to construct with a crossing at Jackson. In a bike lane, the bike has the right-of-way Committee Name: Traffic & Parking Advisory Board Date: 01/14/20 City Hall, Room 404 3 3 traveling on Snell even with the trucks turning. The bikes turning into the County Park would have the ability to use the designated turn lane just like any vehicle on the roadway. For pedestrians, ADA crossings could be added at a later date if something is warranted, no different than any other street. Jim Collins & Justin Gierach An addition of a multi-use path probably would require sacrificing sidewalks as there are rarely both in an area. As far as a crossing at Main, a volume study would be needed before approval, but a marked crosswalk could be added. Justin said there is a lot less truck traffic at Moser which is a much safer option for pedestrian’s to cross to get to the County Park. Deb Fernau & Justin Gierach Deb was representing the Winnebago County Employee Credit Union (567 E Snell) stating she agrees with the multi-use path idea. They never see a biker or walker on the south side of Snell, just the north side. They have huge concerns as there is a great deal of truck traffic, so she also suggests taking the bikers off the roadway via the multi-use path idea. Justin said the intersection of Jackson is not part of the project at this time. He stated crossing Jackson with the medians in place would make it very difficult to keep that option safe. Deb feels it is a safer option than the corners of Main & Moser. She also stated this is an area that has more than 50% semi traffic so a 90 degree turn is an issue for trucks. She feels a multi-use path is the way to go. Bob Poeschl Bob asked if it would be a better transition on the north side of Snell to have a multi-use path, but keep the sidewalks on the south side to create a more natural flow. Justin said his initial reaction is to offset the roadway to accommodate that option would also affect the road alignment. Another issue per City Ordinance is the maintenance of a multi-use path vs. sidewalk. Dan Becker Dan stated this topic appears to need more discussion and recognized that the multi-use path suggestion is a good idea that needs to be explored further. Jim Collins Jim Collins suggested the next step is to get the Bike & Ped Committee involved to see if a path vs. bike lane is desired and let Engineering look into whether a path is feasible. Justin stated the goal was middle to late February to finalize the plans and start the bid process and the change to a multi-use path would require new designs. Jim feels that Bike & Ped would have to weigh in their preference. The decision ultimately needs to go to Council. Committee Name: Traffic & Parking Advisory Board Date: 01/14/20 City Hall, Room 404 4 4 Topic Speaker Discussion Actions Bob Poeschl Bob Poeschl said the Bike & Ped Meeting is Thursday (1/16/20) so they would need a 24-hour notice to modify the agenda. Jim said he could have Bike & Ped look at it and bring the discussion back to the February meeting. Justin said it could delay the entire bid process and suggested a special meeting in a few weeks. Bob made a motion to TABLE the topic and suggested scheduling a 2nd meeting later in January to discuss in more detail so well thought out direction could be given on the topic. A tentative date is 2 weeks at 4 pm provided a meeting room is available. 1st: Bob Poeschl 2nd: Bill Christianson Staff Statements Oshkosh Avenue Bridge Closure Jim Collins Mr. Collins introduced the new Administrative Assistant that replaced Marlene Binder and gave an update on the Oshkosh Avenue Bridge closure. The start date is delayed to mid-February with a completion date by July. Adjournment Dan Becker The meeting adjourned at 4:54 p.m. The next meeting will be held January 28, 2020 1st: Dan Scieszinski 2nd: Ross Wandschneider