Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation Committee Minutes 6.11.2024 Attendees: Al Hartman Paul Esslinger, Council Jim Collins, Transportation Director Evelyn Meuret Sean Lynch Jane Weber, Secretary Jeff Armstrong Deb Martin Excused: Jim Stapel Also Present: OPD Representative – Lt. Kraemer, Justin Gierach (Engineering) The meeting was called to order by Al Hartman who then explained protocol for public comment. Public Comment - N/A Roll Call & Approval of Minutes Chairperson Hartman requested roll call, and later Evelyn Meuret made a motion to approve the minutes from the April meeting, seconded by Sean Lynch. Motion carried after roll-call vote. Old Business - N/A New Business Bowen Street Reconstruction Design Presentation Jim Collins reminded the board that they reviewed this project at the January meeting so this was the updated presentation with the goal of getting a recommendation from the Transportation Committee tonight to forward to Council. He then turned the meeting over to Steve Plachinski from Aecom. Steve said Jessica was also present who was the main designer for this project. Construction for this project is scheduled for 2027 so the project design needs to be finalized in 2026. This stretch of roadway was constructed in 1969 and the average daily traffic is between 4000 – 5300 vehicles. The average speed is 31.7 mph and it is included in the 2019 city bike plan however, after gathering public input, the preference is maintaining parking vs. adding bike lanes. Public feedback was obtained by direct mail efforts, emails, meetings with neighborhood associations, website mailers, calls to local businesses and project website updates. Six alternatives were evaluated, however due to substandard widths and right of way requirements, some alternatives are not viable and only Alt A, Alt B and Alt C will be considered. ▪ Alt A – Replace in Kind (Leave as is) ▪ Alt B – Maintain Parking, Standard Width (Slight upgrade from 2 ½ to 3’ – no bike lanes. ▪ Alt C – Bicycle Lanes, Standard (Add bike lanes but eliminate parking) Transportation Committee Meeting Minutes June 11, 2024 2 | Page Chairperson Hartman then opened the meeting up for public comment and instructed citizens to approach the podium, state name and address and keep commentary to 3-5 minutes. Public Comment: • Josh Belville (721 Washington Ave, Oshkosh) This resident said he is very excited for this project. Although he is a bike rider, he feels parking is more important so will not push for bike lanes as he really doesn’t notice a lot of bikers in this area. He said crosswalks need some improvement and was wondering if a round-a-bout was ever considered to slow traffic down. Another thing he saw at a different meeting were bump outs and was wondering if that could be done at least on his corner by Washington & Bowen to help with the pedestrian traffic. Chairperson Hartman then opened the meeting for Committee questions and comments. Sean Lynch asked if a hybrid option was considered that would have parking on one side and a bike lane on the other? Steve said the issue is that would only be available for one direction and requires a 5’ minimum lane width. Plus the other challenge is there really isn’t a good option for a bike lane on a neighboring street to allow bike travel in the opposite direction. Sean then asked about a sharrow marking. Jim Collins wanted to clarify that “sharrow” is a painted street marking to increase awareness of vehicles and bikes sharing the same roadway. Aecomm explained that the road was not wide enough for sharrows that could meet WisDot standards and allow room for parking as well. Al Hartman asked if bump outs are an option like the home owner suggested; Jessica (Aecom) said only if they took the parking lane out due to needing an extra 5-8’ width to make that happen. Paul Esslinger said the overall objective is to move traffic efficiently and safely and he agrees the challenge is not enough space to work with in this stretch of roadway. He said bikes always have the option of using the sidewalks if needed so he will be in support of Alt A(returning the roadway back to the same confirguration). Deb Martin asked if better striping or painting could be done to improve pedestrian walkways. She said the driveways are very small in this neighborhood so she is in support of keeping parking in this area. Al asked if the committee recommends parking vs. bike lanes if the Council will need to edit and approve a new City Bike Plan. Justin Gierach (Engineering) said that can be handled by Staff. Jeff Armstrong also agrees that Alt A seems to be the best option to keep parking like the home owners requested. Justin wanted to clarify that Alt B would still be the option as it is basically like Alt A but has some astheic improvememts. Alt B is what staff is recommending if parking remains. Sean Lynch made a motion to recommend Alt B, seconded by Jeff Armstrong. Motion carried after roll-call vote (5-0) Boards and Committees Manual from City Attorney Jim Collins explained that included in this month’s meeting packet is the updated Boards and Committees Manual form the City Attorney. He also said he forwarded some helpful videos to committee members and encouraged everyone to watch at their leisure as they contain very good information. Staff Statements ❖ Ridership Update – Jim said year-to-date ridership is trending up but not quite to the 2019 numbers. 3 | Page ❖ TDP Plan – Jim said the TDP recommendations that were approved in April are moving forward. The fare changes and new routes will take effect in August. Additionally, a contract was signed in May for an electronic fare payment system called WisGO. The tentative date of roll out hopefully will be by September 1. This new system will give riders the ability to purchase and utilize fares via a mobile app. or reloadable cards. The cards will be able to be purchased and loaded at locations such as CVS and Family Dollar as well as the Transit offices. The students will get new photo ID cards in August on the new scannable cards. ❖ Another update Jim mentioned was that Bay Shore Drive will receive sharrow markings from Broad to Mill when it is reconstructed next year. The road is not wide enough for bike lanes without parking removal. Future Agenda Requests In regards to future agenda items, Jim said Council has requested an analysis be done on city parking policies. This is a complex issue so he is hopeful to have it done for the August Agenda. In July, a Truck Route study will be presented that will evaluate city truck routes in the Central city area. There were no additional agenda requests. Adjournment Evelyn Meuret made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Paul Esslinger. Meeting adjourned at 4:51 pm after a roll-call vote.