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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation Committee Minutes 11.14.2023 (approved) Transportation Committee Meeting Minutes November 14, 2023 Attendees: Al Hartman Lynnsey Erickson, Council Jim Collins, Transportation Director Evelyn Meuret Deb Martin Steve Tomasik, Operations Manager Jeff Armstrong Sean Lynch Jane Weber, Secretary Also Present: OPD Representative – Lt. Robertson Excused: Jim Stapel The meeting was called to order by Al Hartman who then explained protocol for public comment. Public Comment Citizens present were there for an agenda item and not general comment. Roll Call & Approval of Minutes After roll call, Sean Lynch made a motion to approve the minutes from the September meeting, seconded by Lynnsey Erickson. Motion carried after roll-call vote. Old Business N/A New Business 1. Review proposed layout of Waugoo Ave. from N. Main to Mill Street Jim Collins said he wanted to give an overview of this project because it will be one of the larger ones in 2024. He does not require any action from the Committee at this time. He said he invited Justin Gierach (City Engineer) to give an overview of the project. Justin said the proposed goal is two 12’ driving lanes and two 8’ parking lanes from Main Street to Court Street (near downtown), and then past Court the plan is two 11’ lanes and one 8’ parking lane on the north side of the street. He opened the topic up for questions from the Committee. Al Hartman asked if this project will ever come back to the Committee for action; Justin replied probably not but possibly after the final street is done. Jim Collins added if no parking changes are planned, no ordinance change will be necessary so this Committee woud not be involved. 2. Request for no parking on the south side of Short Ave. from Spruce St. to Walnut St. Jim Collins explained that a citizen reported that he and his neighbors are having ongoing issues with vehicles parked too close to their driveways, parking overnight, and restricting travel on the road by parking on both sides of this narrow roadway. The road is 26’ per GIS which could support 2 | Page parking however; if cars are parked on both sides only 10’ of space is left for two-way traffic. Since there were several citizens present to speak on this agenda item, Chairman Hartman explained the proper protocal and opened the podium up for comment. • Suzette Fagan (1260 Spruce St.) Suzette feels the current layout is a safety concern and in winter it is very difficult because the cars that don’t get moved are an obstruction for the city plow and they aren’t able to do their job properly. The cars that are parked on the street also make it very difficult for home owners to back into their own driveways. Her other conern is being in the way for emergency vehicles. She supports no parking on Short Avenue. • Louise Kunstman (1301 Spruce St.) stated often there are 6 cars parked on both sides so she is also very concerned for safety and it is causing a big problem with leaf pickup, snow removal and garbage services. Her main question is how are the permits given. She also supports no parking. • Molly Buhrow (1216 Short Ave.) said she has lived in the area for 20 years so is very familiar with the street. She feels the college students are using the area for parking but often do not move their cars to the opposite side of the street in winter. She said one car hasn’t moved in 3-days so it continues to be a big problem as the street is simply too short and there isn’t adequate room for parking. AL who share the same address said he has witnessed plows struggle to go around cars parked on both sides and doubts a fire truck could even get down the street. When cars are on the wrong side of the street when the plow does comes through, it leaves a huge pile of snow after they finally decide to move their car. He observed one car in the same spot for well over a week. Years ago it used to be 2-3 cars which was maneageble, but now it is consistently 4-6 cars at all times. He thinks no permits should be issued as it isn’t wide enough to accommodate. They both also support no parking. • Nick Schroeder (1260 Spruce St.) shared some photos he as been taking since early August. He has called OPD with the issue and made his rounds through the city trying to get help with this issue. He measured the street and said it is only 23’ 11” so is also in favor of no parking. • Katelyn (1259 Walnut St.) said she mimicks the same issues her neighbors mentioned and said because the snow cannot be properly removed, cars often get stuck for over a week. The cars also park too close to driveways causing an issue for leaf pick-up. Ideally she would like to see no parking permits being issued but knows that probably isn’t an option. Jeff Armstrong asked if there are a lot of rental homes on Short or if the vehicles are mostly off-campus student vehicles. She said she has observed a campus vehicle pick a group of kids up in this area so it appears to be college kids. Kelli Hess who resides at the same address, said her main issue is backing up her trailers and camper into her own driveway. She feels sorry for the college kids that need to park so far away and thinks their might be a better option for them. When she calls in to get temporary access for her camper to park by the easement, that also can be a struggle. She resorted to asking the kids to not park by her driveway for a specific night so they leave room for her camper. They both also support no parking on Short Avenue. Al Hartman said he is a little confused why students would even use this area for parking. Some of the residents feel it may be because on Spruce Street, the no parking is 6am-6pm and the other side has no restrictions. It could be difficult for a student to keep track of time and opt to walk a little further with no restrictions. Sean Lynch said he attended UW-Oshkosh and the area is reasonalbly close to the campus. Jeff asked if the answer is to contact the University to discourage them from providing the shuttle service but the citizens stated they think a group of them share a house on New York Avenue so 3 | Page the shuttle isn’t to and from classes. Often the off-campus housing can not accommodate parking for multiple vehicles and this seems to be the case. Sean isn’t sure if leaving parking on one-side will solve the issue presented. Jim Collins said he recommended to allow parking on one side because if the no parking is issued for both, the residents would also not be allowed to park on that street. He suggests to start with no parking on one side and revisit this in the future if it continues to be an issue. Deb Martin made a motion to approve the recommendation; seconded by Lynnsey Erickson. Motion carried after roll-call vote. Evelyn Meuret asked how soon this will be implemented or if it will have to wait until 12/12/23 for the 2nd reading. Jim said the Committee can request that he ask council to waive the 2nd reading and approve at the first reading. That would meant it would be up for approval on November 28, 2023. The Committee was in agreement to make this requests as part of their recommendation since it appears to be a pretty straight forward situation. One follow-up question Lynnsey had was if there was a recent assessment done regarding parking availability for the campus. Jim said parking is always an issue in college towns regardless of what you do similar to the issues at West High. There is room in the school lot but students would rather park on the street for free than pay for a lot permit. He said there has not been a formal study. Staff Statements ❖ Wisconsin Street Update. Jim Collins stated that after the last meeting, some Citizens on Wisconsin Street were not happy with the Committee recommendation not to allow parking on both sides of the street. They opted to comment at this week’s Council Meeting to see if a Council Member will sponsor a new Resolution to allow parking on both sides of the street. AL asked if the speed trailer that is on Wisconsin records data of the speed the car was going before slowing down; Jim stated yes, after collecting data for a while, OPD will be able to download a report for him. ❖ Transit Development Plan Update. Jim Collins stated the process is about 50% complete and the meeting in January will start the discussions of recommondations based on the data they gathered. ❖ Parking Lots. Jim said all of the major parking lot projects scheduled for 2023 have been completed. ❖ Student Ridership. Steve Tomasik gave an update on Transit bus ridership year-to-date: Fixed Route Riders: 14.27% Paratransit Ridership: 4.51% Student Ridership: 5.87% Steve also gave an update on the GO Connect pilot program now that he was able to gather data since April when it switched to the on-demand program vs. a designated bus to operate Route 10 from Oshkosh to Neenah. In comparison, the ridership is down 81%. GO Connect only gave 126 rides YTD, compared to 688 rides on Route 10 last year in the same timer period. Jim Collins added, the on-demand cab service doesn’t seem to be very popular and the County will have to decide what they want to do next March when the year test-pilot program is complete. Future Agenda Requests Chairman Hartman asked if there are any future agenda requests; to which there were none. Evelyn Meuret made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Deb Martin. Meeting adjourned at 4:47 pm. 4 | Page