HomeMy WebLinkAbout03 09 21 TPAB Minutes
TRAFFIC & PARKING ADVISORY BOARD
MEETING MINUTES
March 09, 2021
Attendees:
Jake Krause, Council Lisa Marone, Board Jim Collins, Transportation Director
Jim Stapel, Co-Chairman (4:43 pm) Jane Boucher, Secretary
Ross Wandschneider, Board
William Christianson, Board Absent: Daniel Becker, Dan Sciezinski
Guests: Lt. Hotter (OPD), James Rabe (Public Works Director), Stacy Groff-Vincent &
Su Van Houweligen (Housing Board)
Jake Krause called the meeting to order at 4:06 pm and requested roll.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Jake Krause explained protocol for public comment and said the emails and letters
applicable will be shared by Jim Collins in regards to Agenda Item #2.
1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES. Lisa Marone made a motion to approve the
Minutes of the meeting held on February 9, 2021, seconded by Bill Christianson.
Motion carried after a roll-call vote.
OLD BUSINESS: n/a
NEW BUSINESS:
2. NO PARKING REQUEST. Transportation Director Jim Collins stated he
received a staff request from the Public Works Department, as well as residents in
the area of Cumberland Trail from 9th Avenue to Greenfield Trail. Currently there
are no parking restrictions posted. This area has cars parked on both sides of the
streets daily which becomes an issue for our bus drivers, and deters from the city
plows to properly perform snow removal due to all the street parking.
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Jim stated he counted a total of 21 parked cars when he observed and since this
road is on a bus route and has a lot of curves, approving some type of restriction is
definitely justified. When the meeting notices were sent to the home owners in that
area, he did receive comments from 4 home owners that strongly agree it is an issue
and something needs to be done, plus 1 anonymous elderly resident that did not
agree year round was necessary because she hires a landscaping firm in the summer
that needs to park their large trucks on the street.
Jim summarized the complaints listed in the letters as follows:
Difficult to back out of driveways
Mailboxes are often blocked by cars or snow that couldn’t be removed
Difficult for garbage & recycling
City bus & school bus cannot pass at the same time due to both sides of the
street being full of parked cars
Cars parked 24/7…many have no plates and are very loud with no respect for
home owners. The neighborhood used to be a nice quiet place with no issues
until the parking became a problem.
James and Kevin from Public Works also added the streets that are bus routes
are given plowing priority so more trips are made in this area. They agree having
vehicles parked on both side make it challenging to properly clear snow and home
owners often have to snow blow and shovel to gain access to their mailboxes. By
having no parking on the west side at least during the winter months, that problem
could be solved as they do get complaint calls regularly at Public Works as well.
The issue appears to be the apartment residents located on the East side not using
the parking lots at the apartment complexes. Originally the NO PARKING request
was going to be year-round, one side of the street but after discussion with Sue &
Stacy from the Housing Board, a compromise may be SEASONAL NO PARKING to
allow for proper snow removal. Sue stated the complex does provide free parking in
the lot, however a stipulation is that the resident needs to have a valid driver’s
license and proof of insurance to get a parking permit. She said approximately 15
residents do not qualify for a permit and do rely on street parking at this time so a
year-round stipulation could be very challenging.
Bill Christianson asked if there is a restriction on how many can get street
permits; Lt. Hotter confirmed there is no limit at this time. Ross Wandschneider
asked if it is switched to a one-side restriction, how it will affect those that park
there. James Rabe said it follows the every-other-day ruling based on the even-odd
system, during the day is okay but on the East side every other day parking would
not be allowed overnight. Sue said that would be a concern if every other day no
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overnight parking is allowed from 2am – 5 am. She said out of the 72 apartments,
only 15 people park on the road. Jim Collins said he did speak with legal to see if
proof of insurance and valid license is a requirement for street permits and was told
it is not and it would be difficult to require as these people could not afford the extra
financial burden of a ticket. Also enforcement would be a challenge. Jake asked if
signage gets posted and removed accordingly; Jim stated no parking signs would be
installed that state the restriction is from Nov. 1 to April 30th.
A motion was made by Lisa Marone, seconded by Ross Wandschneider to
approve the request to post SEASONAL NO PARKING (East side of street).
Motion Carried after roll-call vote.
STAFF STATEMENTS:
3. 2020 CRASH STUDY. Jim said included in the meeting packet were two
maps showing the area crash analysis from 2020 data. He worked with East
Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission to create the maps based off data that is
collected by the state from police crash reports in the Oshkosh area. One thing to
note is there are decreased injuries and the severity also has decreased since the
additions of roundabouts. Another focus has been bike and pedestrian safety.
Efforts to keep pedestrians safe and more visible include neon crossing flags and
rectangular rapidly flashing beacons. In 2021, Jackson Street will be re-striped in
addition to getting more visible pedestrian crossings, rectangular flashing beacons
and speed boards.
As part of the study, Jim looks at identified high crash locations to see if they
could benefit from some improvements. The top 10 crash areas have been I41
interchanges and the roundabouts just off the interstate which makes sense due to
these are the areas with the highest traffic volume. One successful change was
restricting left turns since July of ’18 on Jackson & New York during peak hours.
Distracted driving, disobeying flashing red signals and blocked views from two
vehicles both turning are leading causes of crashes. As the budget allows, continued
improvements will be made. Lisa Marone asked if anything can be improved at the
crosswalk by Wisconsin & Pearl near the University. She said the crossing by the
UW-O Student Union with flashing beacons is easy to cross and cars always stop
for pedestrians. Jim said the flashing beacons are actually a step-down from having
an actual traffic signal. Ross Wandschneider asked if something can be done at the
9th & Knapp intersection as it is very easy to get hung up when turning. Jim said he
thinks that he looked at that in the past and there was not enough traffic to justify a
turn signal but will take a look again.
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4. PENDING PROJECTS. Jim gave the following updates:
W 9th Ave Project (Oakwood to Linden Oaks): Per Public Works, the contract
is set to start the week of April 12th.
Ceape (Bowen to Lake): Per Public Works the bids were open this week so
the project will be awarded soon.
James also said there will be road restrictions throughout the summer by
Oregon Street and Fond Du Lac Avenue when that project gets underway.
Jim stated that a good resource for searching an interactive map for ongoing
projects is located on the City Website under Capital Improvements (see below):
NEXT MEETING TOPICS
Jake Krause asked if the board had any specific topics requests to add to the next
agenda; however there were no additional requests presented.
ADJOURNMENT:
A motion was made by Jim Stapel to Adjourn, seconded by Ross Wandschneider.
Motion Carried after roll-call vote. Meeting adjourned at 4:57 pm.
(See attached letters/emails in reference to Agenda Item 2)
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