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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-129ORIGINAL RESOLUTION PRESENTED TO COUNCIL -SEE 09 -129A / 09 -129B FOR ACTIONS MARCH 24, 2009 APRIL 14, 2009 09 -90 09 -129 ORDINANCE FIRST READING SECOND READING (CARRIED LOST LAID OVER WITHDRAWN ) PURPOSE: APPROVAL OF LOADING ZONE CHANGES ON KENTUCKY STREET AND PARKING REGULATIONS CHANGES ON KENTUCKY STREET, MEADOW STREET, PEARL AVENUE AND 17TH AVENUE INITIATED BY: TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT A GENERAL ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF OSHKOSH AMENDING SECTIONS 27- 23(A-5) and 27- 23(A -11) OF THE OSHKOSH MUNICIPAL CODE PERTAINING TO LOADING ZONES, AND PARKING REGULATIONS ON DESIGNATED STREETS AND ALLEYS. The Common Council of the City of Oshkosh do ordain as follows: SECTION 1. That Section 27- 23(A -5) of the Oshkosh Municipal Code pertaining to loading zones is hereby amended as follows: A -5 LOADING ZONES Delete Therefrom Kentucky Street, east side, from New York Avenue to 685 feet north of New York Avenue on school days between 7:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Add Thereto Kentucky Street, east side, from 25 feet north of New York Avenue to 481 feet north of New York Avenue on school days between 7:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Add Thereto Kentucky Street, east side, from 531 feet north of New York Avenue to 685 feet north of New York Avenue on school days between 7:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. SECTION 2. That Section 27- 23(A -11) of the Oshkosh Municipal Code pertaining to parking regulations on designated streets and alleys is hereby amended as follows: MARCH 24, 2009 APRIL 14, 2009 09 -90 09 -129 ORDINANCE FIRST READING SECOND READING A -11 PARKING REGULATIONS ON DESIGNATED STREETS AND ALLEYS KENTUCKY STREET Delete Therefrom No parking, west side, from New York Avenue to 70 feet north on school days between 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Delete Therefrom No parking, stopping, standing, waiting, west side, from 70 feet north of New York Avenue to 375 feet north of New York Avenue on school days between 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Add Thereto No parking, stopping, standing, waiting, west side, from New York Avenue to 375 feet north of New York Avenue on school days between 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Add Thereto No parking, east side, from New York Avenue to 25 feet north on school days between 7:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Add Thereto No parking, east side, from 481 feet north of New York Avenue to 531 feet north on New York Avenue on school days between 7:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. MEADOW STREET Delete Therefrom 2 -hr. parking, both sides, from 308 feet north of Witzel Avenue to Southland Avenue between 7:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. on school days. Add Thereto 2 -hour parking, both sides, from Southland Avenue to 527 feet south of Southland Avenue between 7:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. on school days. PEARLAVENUE Delete Therefrom No parking, both sides, from Osceola Street to Main Street except on the south side from Jackson Street to 613 feet west on weekends and holidays. Add Thereto No parking, both sides, from Jackson Street to Main Street. MARCH 24, 2009 APRIL 14, 2009 09 -90 09 -129 ORDINANCE FIRST READING SECOND READING Add Thereto No parking, south side, from Osceola Street to 613 feet west of Jackson Street. Add Thereto No parking, south side, from Jackson Street to 613 feet west of Jackson Street, except on weekends and holidays. Add Thereto No parking, north side, from Osceola Street to 515 feet west of Jackson Street. Add Thereto No parking, north side, from Jackson Street to 515 feet west of Jackson Street, except on weekends and holidays. 17TH AVENUE Delete Therefrom No parking, north side, from Iowa Street to 54 feet east, between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday. SECTION 3. This ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage, publication, and placement of the appropriate signage. SECTION 4. Publication Notice. Please take notice that the City of Oshkosh enacted ordinance #09 -129 (A GENERAL ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF OSHKOSH AMENDING SECTIONS 27- 23(A -5) AND 27- 23(A -11) OF THE OSHKOSH MUNICIPAL CODE PERTAINING TO LOADING ZONES, AND PARKING REGULATIONS ON DESIGNATED STREETS AND ALLEYS, on April 14, 2009. The ordinance pertains to loading zones on Kentucky Street and parking regulations changes on Kentucky Street, Meadow Street, Pearl Avenue and 17th Avenue. The full text of the ordinance may be obtained at the Office of the City Clerk, 215 Church Avenue and through the City's website at www.ci.oshkosh.wi.us Clerk's phone 920/236-5011. MARCH 24, 2009 APRIL 14, 2009 09 -90 09 -129 ORDINANCE FIRST READING SECOND READING Add Thereto No parking, north side, from Osceola Street to 515 feet west of Jackson Street. Add Thereto No parking, north side, from Jackson Street to 515 feet west of Jackson Street, except on weekends and holidays. 17TH AVENUE Delete Therefrom No parking, north side, from Iowa Street to 54 feet east, between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday. SECTION 3. This ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage, publication, and placement of the appropriate signage. SECTION 4. Publication Notice. Please take notice that the City of Oshkosh enacted ordinance #09 -129 (A GENERAL ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF OSHKOSH AMENDING SECTIONS 27- 23(A -5) AND 27- 23(A -11) OF THE OSHKOSH MUNICIPAL CODE PERTAINING TO LOADING ZONES, AND PARKING REGULATIONS ON DESIGNATED STREETS AND ALLEYS, on April 14, 2009. The ordinance pertains to loading zones on Kentucky Street and parking regulations changes on Kentucky Street, Meadow Street, Pearl Avenue and 17th Avenue. The full text of the ordinance may be obtained at the Office of the City Clerk, 215 Church Avenue and through the City's website at www.ci.oshkosh.wi.us Clerk's phone 920/236-5011. OfHKOlH OH THE WATER MEMORANDUM TO: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager FROM: Christopher Strong, Transportation Director DATE: March 18, 2009 RE: Explanation of Traffic Regulations Ordinance Changes SECTION 1: SECTION 27- 23(A -5) LOADING ZONES A REQUEST FOR NO PARKING ON THE EAST SIDE OF KENTUCKY STREET FROM NEW YORK AVENUE TO 25 FEET NORTH ON SCHOOL DAYS BETWEEN 1:30 P.M. TO 3:30 P.M. (CURRENT CONDITION: LOADING ZONE.) This is a Police Department request. Related to the previous request, this request would provide for greater clearance at the intersection of Kentucky Street and New York Avenue. This would reduce the likelihood of accidents at this intersection during the school dismissal period. A review of recent crash history did not find any accidents at this intersection. However, there is a significant amount of vehicle and pedestrian congestion during the dismissal period. This could help to reduce some of that congestion, making it easier for vehicles to see pedestrians. While this request would slightly shorten the loading zone on the east side of Kentucky Street, I observed that this area is coned off during school dismissal times, so there should be no loss of parking for parents. PASSED BY TRAFFIC REVIEW BOARD (4 -0). A REQUEST FOR NO PARKING ON THE EAST SIDE OF KENTUCKY STREET FROM 481 FEET NORTH OF NEW YORK AVENUE TO 503 FEET NORTH ON SCHOOL DAYS BETWEEN 1:30 P.M. TO 3:30 P.M. (CURRENT CONDITION: LOADING ZONE.) This is a Police Department request. This area is around a driveway that provides access to the north side of Merrill School, and is used as a bus loading area at Merrill School. According to the Police Department, buses sometimes have difficulty turning into this driveway, depending on how vehicles are arranged in the loading zone. This difficulty is more common when there is significant snow accumulation. The curb is painted to indicate no parking for approximately 12 feet south of the driveway opening. This request would simply lengthen the no parking zone another ten feet to the south. This change should provide additional clearance for buses, which would allow them to go onto school property more quickly and not block traffic on Kentucky Street. This should have minimal impact on the capacity of the loading zone. Page 2 of 3 PASSED BY TRAFFIC REVIEW BOARD (4 -0) 3 -18 -09 SECTION 2: SECTION 27 -23 (A -11) — PARKING REGULATIONS A REQUEST FOR NO PARKING ON THE WEST SIDE OF KENTUCKY STREET FROM NEW YORK AVENUE TO 70 FEET NORTH ON SCHOOL DAYS BETWEEN 7:30 A.M. TO 8:30 A.M. AND 1:30 P.M. TO 3:30 P.M. (CURRENT CONDITION: NO PARKING ON SCHOOL DAYS BETWEEN 7:30 A.M. TO 8:30 A.M. AND 2:30 P.M. TO 3:30 P.M.) This is a Police Department request. Police officers have reported significant congestion problems on the west side of Merrill School during dismissal periods. While the existing parking regulation has been helpful, the time limits do not work effectively with the school on early release days. Starting the no parking restriction earlier in the afternoon should help to alleviate congestion on early release days. The City typically uses parking restrictions during a school's normal arrival and dismissal hours, without consideration of early release days. Nonetheless, I think this is a reasonable request unless this would have a significant impact on other property owners on Kentucky Street. PASSED BY TRAFFIC REVIEW BOARD (4 -0) A REQUEST FOR UNRESTRICTED PARKING ON BOTH SIDES MEADOW STREET FROM 308 FEET NORTH OF WITZEL AVENUE TO 587 FEET SOUTH OF SOUTHLAND AVENUE. (CURRENT CONDITION: 2 -HOUR PARKING BETWEEN 7 AM AND 4 PM ON SCHOOL DAYS.) This is a citizen request. The two -hour parking zone on this street is intended to discourage all -day parking by students and employees of Oshkosh West High School. While this has been effective, the citizen making this request would like to see the length of the two -hour parking zone shortened so that residents would be able to use the street for parking during the day. A similar request was considered by the Traffic Review Advisory Board in June 2002, when it was proposed that the 2 -hour parking area would end 360 feet south of Southland Avenue. The request was rejected unanimously by the Board, primarily due to concerns from residents that the area in front of their houses would be used as all -day parking by students and teachers. This request differs from the 2002 proposal by keeping the 2 -hour parking restriction for the street in front of four more properties on each side of the road. I believe it is good to allow on- street parking on local streets when there are no compelling reasons to restrict it. However, the residents of Meadow Street will be most directly affected by this change. PASSED BY TRAFFIC REVIEW BOARD (4 -0) A REQUEST TO ALLOW PARKING ON WEEKENDS AND HOLIDAYS ON THE NORTH SIDE OF PEARL AVENUE FROM JACKSON STREET TO 515 FEET WEST OF JACKSON STREET. (CURRENT CONDITION: NO PARKING.) This is a Board member request. This section of Pearl Avenue is between a church and the Marion Road redevelopment area. During certain high attendance events, the church's parking lot reaches capacity quickly. This Page 3 of 3 3 -18 -09 request would allow parking on weekends and holidays in order to help accommodate the parking demand. Parking is currently permitted on the south side of Pearl Avenue in this area on weekends and holidays, so this would result in the same parking restrictions on both sides of the street. At 36 feet wide, Pearl Avenue is wide enough to safely allow parking on both sides of the road. Once development occurs in the Marion Road redevelopment area, there may be a greater need to use Pearl Avenue to handle traffic volumes. Until then, I do not believe that allowing parking here will introduce any significant safety or congestion issues. PASSED BY TRAFFIC REVIEW BOARD (4 -0) A REQUEST FOR UNRESTRICTED PARKING ON THE NORTH SIDE OF 17 AVENUE FROM IOWA STREET TO 64 FEET EAST. (CURRENT CONDITION: NO PARKING BETWEEN 6:00 A.M. AND 6:00 P.M., MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY.) This is a Transportation Department request. This no parking area was requested by the Transportation Department in 1988, due to a transit route that ran on that street, in addition to concerns over the high crash frequency at the intersection of Iowa Street and 17 Avenue. There have been several changes which make this parking restriction no longer necessary. A 4 -way stop was installed at the intersection of Iowa Street and 17 Avenue in the early 1990s. The city no longer runs bus service on this street. When it was reconstructed in 2007, Iowa Street was widened from 30 to 32 feet, which has also improved the sight distance at this intersection. There have been no reported crashes at this intersection since at least 2002. 1 do not believe that allowing parking, given the existing 4 -way stop sign, will create any new safety hazard. PASSED BY TRAFFIC REVIEW BOARD (4 -0) MEMORANDUM 4 O KO1H ON THE WATER TO: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager FROM: Christopher Strong, Transportation Director DATE: March 18, 2009 RE: Items Defeated by the Traffic Review Board at their March 10, 2009 Meeting A REQUEST FOR DEER CROSSING SIGNS ON OSBORN AVENUE AND SOUTH PARK AVENUE IN THE VICINITY OF THE VULCAN QUARRY. (CURRENT CONDITION: NO WARNING SIGNS.) This is a citizen request. According to Police Department statistics, there were 12 deer - vehicle collisions in the vicinity of the Vulcan Quarry between 2006 and 2008. There have been efforts to control the deer population in this area in order to help reduce the number of crashes. A citizen has requested that deer crossing signs be posted in this area, in order to provide a further crash reduction benefit. To my knowledge, the Traffic Review Advisory Board has not considered this type of request before. In the past, the Board has considered and rejected requests for "Slow Children at Play" warning signs. Some of the reasons for those decisions may also be applicable in this case: Most motorists tend to ignore signs that don't indicate an immediate, clear and ever present danger. The overuse of signs can seriously reduce the overall effectiveness of all signs. This type of sign is not enforceable by the Police Department. With wildlife crossing signs specifically, there are a couple of key questions to be considered: • Are the signs effective in improving safety? • Does it make sense to install signs at these locations? In general, warning signs are most effective when they advise about a permanent condition, such as reduced sight distance over a hill or the presence of a curve in the road. A recent national review of the use of signs for occasional hazards (e.g. icy bridges or wildlife crossings) found that there is scant evidence that these types of signs are effective in reducing the number of crashes (Western Transportation Institute report, 2008). The signs would be most likely to be effective in areas where there is a high percentage of motorists who are unfamiliar with the area. However, only 3 of the 12 crashes occurred in the summer months, when unfamiliar motorists would most likely be in the City. Since most of the motorists on these streets are familiar with the area and the potential presence of deer, it is doubtful that the warning signs would have had any direct consequence on avoiding these crashes. There is also a concern about where the signs should be posted. Typically, if they are used at all, wildlife crossing signs are used when there are well - defined wildlife corridors, such as around a streambed. In this case, the signs are proposed around an area where deer could cross the roads at a variety of locations. Without a well - defined wildlife corridor, there would likely be a need for a large number of signs. The sheer number of signs would likely reduce the potential effectiveness they might have, or divert motorist attention from the roadway and/or other signs warning of more permanent conditions (such as speed limit signs). There is a question of precedent as well. Deer are seen in many areas of our community, and there likely have been deer - vehicle crashes outside of this area. Under what conditions should these signs be posted? Under what conditions could the signs be removed? Some states have been concerned that removal of these signs could leave them vulnerable to increased litigation. Consequently, a point can come where there are so many of these signs that none of them will be effective. One state department of transportation official (outside of Wisconsin) wondered whether it would be just as effective and liability- resistant to put a single wildlife crossing warning sign on each road entering the state. DEFEATED BY TRAFFIC REVIEW BOARD (0 -4)