HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation Committee Minutes 4.8.25 (To be approved)
Attendees:
Al Hartman Paul Esslinger, Council Jim Collins, Transportation Director
Evelyn Meuret Sean Lynch
Jim Stapel Excused: Jeff Armstrong, Jim Stapel,
Deb Martin
Also Present: Lt. Kraemer (OPD)
The meeting was called to order by Al Hartman who gave a quick overview for the public comment
protocol. No one in attendance wished to provide commentary.
Roll Call & Approval of Minutes
Chairperson Hartman requested roll call, and later Paul Esslinger made a motion to approve the minutes
from the March meeting, seconded by Sean Lynch. Motion carried after roll-call vote.
Before jumping into agenda items, Chairperson Hartman wanted to thank our Council committee member
Paul Esslinger for his dedication and years of service on various boards as our committee will have a new
assigned Council representative. His talent will certainly be missed and it was nice to have someone that
was always looking out for the city.
Old Business – N/A
New Business
1. Request for stop sign at the intersection of Nevada Avenue and Oak Street
Jim Collins gave some background information for the request. It was a resident request that lives near this
intersection. She said she has observed several crashes and near misses, and was hoping something could
be done. Director Collins researched the crash history and determined there has been 4 crashes in the last
two years all as a direct result from failure to yield. Although the intersection doesn’t quite meet the
warrants for a stop sign, that is a lot of crashes for a low volume street so he still recommends approval. If
approved, Oak Street will stop instead of yielding to Nevada Avenue.
Paul Esslinger made a motion to approve stop sign request; seconded by Evelyn Meuret.
Motion carried after roll-call vote.
Transportation Committee
Meeting Minutes
April 8, 2025
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2. Request to remove the loading zone, west side, from 525’ north of New York Ave. to Custer Ave and
No stopping, standing, waiting, west side from New York Ave to 525’ north of New York Avenue.
Jim Collins said the ordinance needs to be revised due to the former Merrill School being no longer active,
therefore school related restrictions are no longer needed. He recommends approval and stated it may be a
future agenda item depending on what type of activity happens at the site.
Evelyn Meuret made a motion to approve ordinance changes; seconded by Paul Esslinger.
Motion carried after roll-call vote.
3. Request to update/remove the parking restrictions on Winnebago Avenue in front of the former
Washington Elementary School. Jim said this is a similar request as Washington School is no longer active,
therefore school related restrictions are no long needed in this area.
Sean Lynch made a motion to approve ordinance changes; seconded by Evelyn Meuret.
Motion carried after roll-call vote.
4. Request to convert 4 stalls (numbers 25-28) from free 2-hour parking to permit parking in the 300 East
lot. Jim said this request came from permit holders and there is a high demand in this lot. Based on spot-
check observations, there will be plenty of stalls for 2-hour parking. These stalls will also be available for
users who may want a daily permit in this lot.
Paul Esslinger made a motion to approve request; seconded by Sean Lynch.
Motion carried after roll-call vote.
5. Request to convert 7 stalls (numbers 5-11) from free 2-hour parking to permit parking in the 300 West
lot. Jim said this request is to accommodate the new downtown OPD Field Office that will be staffed with 4-
5 officers... Based on spot-check observations, there will be plenty of stalls and plenty of free 2-hour parking.
Director Collins suggests adding 2 extra permit stalls that will be available for everyone to use as needed.
Evelyn Meuret made a motion to approve request; seconded by Paul Esslinger.
Motion carried after roll-call vote.
6. Review the report on the top 10 Crash locations in the City of Oshkosh for 2024. Director Collins Said
every spring he conducts an annual review of top crash areas. Out of 1512 total accidents, 18 were serious
and 59 involved a bicycle or pedestrian. There were 5 fatalities all involving unsafe driving, inattentive
driving or impairment. . He said most of the crashes occur at round-a-bouts which isn’t unexpected based
on the volume of traffic they move and they usually only result in minor injuries and/or fender benders. Al
said he noticed most accidents listed involved a round-a-bout; Evelyn wondered if it could be visitors that
are in town and not as familiar as residents with the proper etiquette to maneuver round-a-bouts. Jim said
the round-a-bouts keep traffic flowing as intended and have reduced the severity of crashes and injuries. Jim
also said he contacted his state contact in regards to the Hwy 44 / Hwy. 41 area as they have jurisdiction. One
area he will continue to monitor another year is the Jacksion Street corridor near the new Vel Phillips school
neighborhood to see if any issues develop.
He also reviewed some of the safety measures the city has been investing money in to improve the overall
safety for drivers, bicycles and pedestrians. Some examples are as follows:
➢ Continental crosswalk painting design
➢ HAWK signal
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➢ Rapidly Flashing Beacons
➢ Wider sidewalks
➢ Bump-outs
➢ Cross-walk flags to increase visibility
The Oshkosh Police Department also has a motorcycle unit and the city has an annual bike event and spends
a great deal of time educating the public on safety. There were no additional questions or comments.
Al Hartman moved onto Staff Statements since no motion was needed in regards to the 2024 safety report.
Staff Statements
❖ Jim wanted to mention the reason why there hasn’t been an updated ridership report this year is
due to some changes that are needed to accommodate the new WisGO program. The city will work
with the vendor will get the fields updated so the data pulls correctly. This was moved to lower
priority because this same vendor has been trying to get the mobile APP fixed as several riders have
registered complaints that the GPS bus tracking hasn’t been working since last fall. The IT vendor
said it was due to an issue with some changes with Apple/Google but should be fixed now.
❖ Jim said the grant for the pedestrian crossing bridge that was announced is currently on pause until
further notice. He will give updates when he gets them.
❖ Evelyn asked for a status update on the new Transit Center and was curious if the small building has
been demolished yet; Jim said it has been a long process as the site used to have coal stored on-site so
the Department of Natural Resources had to be involved. He said the goal is to get it out to bid at the
end of April with anticipation of completion in fall of 2025.
Future Agenda Requests
Al Hartman asked if there were any future agenda requests, but there were none.
Adjournment
Evelyn Meuret made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Paul Esslinger.
Motion carried after roll-call vote
Meeting adjourned at 4:34 pm.
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