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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation Committee Minutes 2.10.26 TO BE APPROVED Attendees: Al Hartman Jeff Armstrong Jim Collins, Transportation Director Evelyn Meuret Deb Martin Sean Lynch Excused: DJ Nichols, Kris Larson Also Present: Lieutenant Kraemer (OPD) Justin Gierach (City Engineer) The meeting was called to order by Al Hartman who gave a quick overview for the public comment protocol. Since there were no requests for comment, Chairperson Hartman requested roll call and approval of minutes. Roll Call & Approval of Minutes Evelyn Meuret made a motion to approve the minutes from the January meeting, seconded by Sean Lynch. Motion carried after roll-call vote. 1. Request to convert the alley running north and south between 9th and 10th Street, west of South Main St. to one-way for northbound traffic. Director Collins said this is a staff request and shared some preliminary development plans with the committee members. Justin Gierach (City Engineer) was also present at the meeting to answer additional questions. Since there was a member from the public presence for this agenda item, Chairperson Hartman instructed him to approach the podium at this time. Public Comment: James Gollnick (907 S Main Street Oshkosh) Mr. Gollnick said he owns several houses and commercial buildings in this area and has concerns about making this a one-way alley. He said it has been this way for many years and people have grown acostom to pulling in both sides so making it a one-way alley is not ideal. He also stated if it is in the direction forcing the exit onto 9th Street, that will not work as the car will be stuck through several lights as rarely do people on a busy street such as 9th Street let the vehicles exiting the alley merge into traffic flow. Evelyn asked if his machine shop is the large building at the end; to which he confirmed it was. He also said flatbed trucks use the alley to unload and come in both ways for a back door delivery. He concluded that he definitely is not in favor of this request and has yet to see the developers plans. Chairman Hartman explained to Mr. Gollnick this committee would have Transportation Committee Meeting Minutes February 10, 2026 2 | Page nothing to do with the planning side, just simply were tasked to decide about the one-way alley that is on the February agenda. Mr. Collins suggested to Mr. Gollnick that he get in touch with the Planning Department to ask some of his other questions and to follow the progress of the development. Al said he drove by the area and was surprised it was operating as a two-way alley due to its narrow width. Justin (Engineering) said he agrees it is extremely narrow and only has a 15’ lane functioning as a two-way alley and feels it is unsafe. Deb Martin asked if the request could be approved but change the the direction of the one-way so the vehicles exit on 10th vs. 9th Avenue. Both Justin and Jim said they had no issues with which direction is decided, just that it should be changed to one-way vs. two-way due to the width. Justin feels this change should have been done years ago but this alley must have fallen through the cracks and was grandfathered in with this current layout. Jeff Armstrong asked about the row of houses and was curious if they were also notified; Mr. Gollnick said he also owns that row of houses in the area. Jeff asked for clarification on entry/exit points and agrees this area could become busy based on all the new parking stalls of the new development on the proposed layout. Mr. Gollnick asked again who he needs to talk to as he has not seen plans for the proposed layout; Al Hartman said to contact the planning commission which Justin said generally meets on the first and third Tuesday of each month. Deb Martin made a motion to approve the request but changed the verbiage to exit out onto 10th Avenue vs. 9th Avenue and changed to “southbound traffic” vs. “northbound traffic” as written, seconded by Evelyn Meuret. Motion carried 3 – 2 after roll-called vote. 2. Request to convert the 30-minute parking on Irving Avenue to 4-hour parking near the former Newman Center on the UWO Campus. Jim explained this request came from the football coach at UW- Oshkosh due to their offices being relocated by the former Newman Center on campus. The coach wasn’t able to attend but he had a representative address the committee in his absence. Mason Robinson (860 Wisconsin Street, Oshkosh) Mason said the location has about 10-15 employees and often meets with over 350 new recruits at this location. Currently there are only a few parking spots that are almost always full. He feels it would be good customer service if the family members of these recruits had a better option of closer parking to their facility. Jim added that he already told the coach that there will be no way to control usage of this spot by the general public but that wasn’t a concern as most of the visits occur during the summer months so they are not competing with student volume. Deb Martin feels it makes perfect sense and seems like a reasonable request to better serve their needs. Evelyn Meuret made a motion to approve, seconded by Deb Martin. Motion carried (5-0) after roll-called vote. 3 | Page Staff Statements Jim said as far as the e-bikes topic, the recommendation from the Committee did pass Council last meeting. Also, the recommendation for the RRFB (Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons) passed through Council and the Electrical Manager is currently purchasing the equipment. He also said the Pedestrian Bridge remains a hot topic and if it gets approved, the city portion would be 20%. Jeff Armstrong said he has been following the project and noticed there seems to be a lot of controversy. Jim said there is a possible developer interested in some new options for the west side so there should be more information coming in the near future. Since there will be new a Council in April, there may still be additional changes depending on the support of the members as so far, there has been mixed opinions. Future Agenda Requests Al Hartman asked if there were any additional future agenda requests; to which there were none. Adjournment Evelyn Meuret made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Jeff Armstrong. Motion carried after roll-call vote. Meeting adjourned at 4:33 pm.