Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTPAB Minutes 11 13 18Committee Name: Traffic & Parking Advisory Board Date: 11/13/18 Location: City Hall 1 Attendees: Absent: Jim Collins, Transportation Director Director William Christianson, Board Marlene Binder, Secretary Dan Scieszinski, Board Daniel Becker, Chairman Jim Stapel, Board Steve Haas, Vice-Chairman Ross Wandschneider, Board Steve Herman, Council Topic Facilitator Discussion Actions Call to order Meeting Minutes Daniel Becker Daniel Becker called the meeting to order at 4:01 pm. The minutes from the 9/11/2018 TPAB meeting were accepted. 1st: Dan Becker 2nd: Steve Herman Agenda Items A request for no parking on Sunnyview Rd., both sides, from Cty. Rd. A east to its terminus (Current Condition: Parking permitted, both sides) Jim Collins Steve Herman Jim Collins explained the original complaint stems from a vehicle that attempts to park on the grass shoulder in the right of way on the north side of Sunnyview Road at the T of the intersection at Sherman Road. Steve Herman said Sherman Road has a greater traffic volume with employees of Winnebago Mental Health Center and the two correctional facilities traveling in and out of the area. 1st: Steve Herman 2nd: Dan Sceiszinski Carried: 7 – 0 Committee Name: Traffic & Parking Advisory Board Date: 11/13/18 Location: City Hall 2 Topic Facilitator Discussion Actions A request for no parking on W. Lincoln Ave., both sides, from Jackson St. to 45’ east (Current Condition: No parking 10’ from the fire hydrant; Parking permitted beyond 10’ restricted area, both sides) Jim Collins Jim Collins told most intersections off Jackson Street have parking restrictions to enable vehicles to clear the intersection. He said, if passed, he intended to install no parking here to corner signs. Captain Kaiser said there are 3 9-month, 1 monthly overnight parking permits issued with the possibility of one more overnight parking permit being issued for this block. Jim Collins explained there would still be parking available just a bit further east from the intersection. 1st: Daniel Becker 2nd: Dan Sceiszinski Carried: 7 – 0 A request for parking on Westhaven Dr., east side, from Hwy. 21 to Witzel Ave. (Current Condition: Designated bicycle lane, both sides, from 9th Ave. to Patriot Ln.) Jim Collins Jim Collins said the Common Council received a petition from property owners on Westhaven Dr. to remove the bike lanes and allow parking on the east side of Westhaven Drive from Hwy. 21 to Witzel Ave. He explained the Bike & Ped Advisory Committee identified this as a major north south thoroughfare to connect the Westhaven neighborhood to the commercial district on Hwy. 21. He said the Bike & Ped Committee brought this forward in 2017, notices were sent to property owners, there was discussion at the April 2017 Traffic Review Advisory Board meeting, Common Council passed the item in May and the pavement was marked in late June 2017. Jim told he received telephone calls from Aurora, Festival Foods and the credit union objecting to on street parking in their area. Mr. Collins assured these businesses the area of concern for restoring parking on Westhaven Drive is from Noel Court to Springmill Drive, not the business district. Committee Name: Traffic & Parking Advisory Board Date: 11/13/18 Location: City Hall 3 Topic Facilitator Discussion Action A request for parking on Westhaven Dr., east side, from Hwy. 21 to Witzel Ave. (Current Condition: Designated bicycle lane, both sides, from 9th Ave. to Patriot Ln.) Jim Collins Gen Steinhilber Mr. Collins told he received an email from Al & Diana Hartman of 2425 Patriot Lane opposing parking on Westhaven Drive. He told the reason the Hartmans oppose parking on Westhaven from Patriot Lane to Hwy. 21 is that all businesses in this area have their own parking lots and single lane traffic would create a great deal of congestion in this area. Jim also said the Hartmans oppose parking on Westhaven Drive from Witzel to Springbrook because traffic flow would be decreased by vehicles unable to get around other vehicles turning left into the apartment complexes. He explained they oppose parking on Westhaven Drive from Springbrook to Patriot for two reasons: there are no houses facing Westhaven Drive and there is a curve where parked vehicles would obstruct the view of oncoming traffic when exiting Patriot Lane. Gen Steinhilber, of 340 N. Westhaven Drive, said there is room for only 2 cars to park side by side in the driveways of the 16 condos in this area. She told this past Saturday she went Christmas shopping with 4 of her grandchildren. She said the truck bringing the grandchildren had to park in a neighbor’s driveway that were gone for the winter, she backed her 7 passenger minivan out and her daughter parked beside her. She told with Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, most people will be having company with no place to park. She went on to say next year the 23 plus year blacktop driveway will be replaced with concrete which means they will not be able to drive on it for some time. She told that her husband has two knee replacements and cannot walk very far or stand for any length of time so she is wondering where to park. She said she thinks giving an occasional bike rider preference over a taxpayer who pays for their own street and sidewalk does not make sense. She told the ages of the owners of these condos are in their 70’s and 80’s. Committee Name: Traffic & Parking Advisory Board Date: 11/13/18 Location: City Hall 4 Topic Facilitator Discussion Action A request for parking on Westhaven Dr., east side, from Hwy. 21 to Witzel Ave. (Current Condition: Designated bicycle lane, both sides, from 9th Ave. to Patriot Ln.) Continued Judy Seiler Jim Stapel Ed Pollex Carol Sullivan Judy Seiler, of 384 N. Westhaven Dr., said none of the people in the condos got a notice that you were going to put a bike lane in so it was a surprise for us when you put the bike lane in. She said she agreed with everything Ms. Steinhilber said and we need to have parking for our friends to come. She also said in all the time the bike lane has been there she has seen only two people ride a bike so she does not think it is fair to them to have to sacrifice and have parking removed from the east side of the street. Jim Stapel asked if notices were sent to each condo owner. Jim Collins replied the owners were sent a notification before the April 2017 meeting. Ed Pollex, of 460 N. Westhaven Drive, states he and his neighbors did not receive a notice for the bike lane. He told his wife’s sister and brother-in-law come for Christmas and had to park half way down the street. He stated he seldom sees anyone riding a bike in the bike lane but sees more bikers use the sidewalk. Carol Sullivan, of 2475 Patriot Lane, opposes parking on Westhaven Drive from Springmill Drive to Hwy. 21 but has no problem with parking the rest of the way. She explained that there is a curve in the road where Westhaven Drive intersects with Springmill which already makes it difficult to pull out of Patriot Lane and thinks it would be very dangerous to add parked cars here. Committee Name: Traffic & Parking Advisory Board Date: 11/13/18 Location: City Hall 5 Topic Facilitator Discussion Action A request for parking on Westhaven Dr., east side, from Hwy. 21 to Witzel Ave. (Current Condition: Designated bicycle lane, both sides, from 9th Ave. to Patriot Ln.) Continued Lois Jaenke Emily Dieringer Lois Jaenke, of 480 N. Westhaven Dr. next to Ed, stated there was an accident in September in front of her house where a speeding car took out her mailbox, a fire hydrant, a light pole and just missed a pedestrian by an arm’s length. She said this street is so busy she can’t imagine anybody taking their life in their own hands to even ride on that street so she would like to see parking restored on the east side for family and friends. She explained the condos are all owned by older people and they have to beg neighbors to park in their yard. She went on to say there is no need for parking on the west side of Westhaven Drive because there is apartments on that side. She al so said removal of parking reduced their property values. Emily Dieringer, Community Health Strategist of Winnebago County Health Department, said she would like to stress the importance of bike lanes and how they impact all of our residents. She explained the speed and volume of traffic on Westhaven Drive warrants a separated, specific lane for cycles which allows all users to access that road safely. She told it is important to have multiple modes of transportation on major connectors between residential and commercial areas so people can access services, groceries, healthcare and those kinds of things. She said streets and roads are shared public spaces and sometimes people think they own a section or part of the street but it is owned by the public, everybody in the community. She continued that better use of this public space is to allow multiple users, multiple modes and multiple options to get from point a to point b. Committee Name: Traffic & Parking Advisory Board Date: 11/13/18 Location: City Hall 6 Topic Facilitator Discussion Action A request for parking on Westhaven Dr., east side, from Hwy. 21 to Witzel Ave. (Current Condition: Designated bicycle lane, both sides, from 9th Ave. to Patriot Ln.) Continued Jim Stapel Emily Dieringer Steve Herman Jim Collins Jim Stapel Jim Stapel said he has observed some of the same type of things they have with the bike lanes, one out of twenty bikers ride in the bike lane – the rest ride on the sidewalk. He inquired if, after the individual bike lanes connect to form a network, is there a timeframe when an evaluation will be conducted to determine if bike lanes are the best use of this road space – are the bike lanes being used or are bikers riding on the sidewalk where they feel safer? Emily Dieringer answered that it is most cost effective to add pedestrian accommodations/bike lanes when a street is resurfaced or reconstructed therefore they are added when it fits in the budget or there is an opportune time. She said to remove a section of the network of bike lanes brings back that patchwork idea where sometimes there are accommodations sometimes not. She told that ultimately the routes will connect the residential areas to major destinations such as commercial, downtown parks, and schools. She added that biking/walking is the only mode of transportation for some people. Steve Herman said he thought the Bike & Ped Plan was up for review every 5 years or something like that. Mr. Collins said the Bike & Ped Committee is working to update the 2011 plan. Mr. Stapel said he does not want to inconvenience people if the bike lanes are not being used. Committee Name: Traffic & Parking Advisory Board Date: 11/13/18 Location: City Hall 7 Topic Facilitator Discussion Action A request for parking on Westhaven Dr., east side, from Hwy. 21 to Witzel Ave. (Current Condition: Designated bicycle lane, both sides, from 9th Ave. to Patriot Ln.) Continued Emily Dieringer Jim Collins Emily Dieringer Emily Dieringer stated that it is not definitely best practice to have people go in the road for a chunk of time and then tell people to ride on the sidewalk for a chunk of time and then go back to the road again. Emily explained a biker would need to make more frequent trips to the grocery store because they can only transport one or two bags per trip. She stressed the importance of hav ing both sidewalks and bike lanes so conflicts between a person in a wheelchair or walking and a bicycle on a sidewalk are reduced. She went on to say that here in Oshkosh cyclists can use the sidewalk, but it is more dangerous to bike on the sidewalk than the roadway. Jim Collins explained the City of Oshkosh must accommodate not just one group but everybody – young, old, different ability levels. He told in 2011 council approved a plan that took bikes, pedestrians, vehicles and transit into consideration for multimodal transportation. He said to restore the parking, the pavement markings would need to be removed or scarified and then repainted with an approximate cost of $2,000.00. Ms. Dieringer explained a sharrow is painted in the middle of the lane to alert drivers that there may be more bicycles in the area and that bicycles are allowed to take up the whole space as a travel lane. She told cyclists have the same responsibilities as a car and that motorists can pass the cyclist providing the pavement is not marked with a double yellow line and it is safe for them to do so. Committee Name: Traffic & Parking Advisory Board Date: 11/13/18 Location: City Hall 8 Topic Facilitator Discussion Action A request for parking on Westhaven Dr., east side, from Hwy. 21 to Witzel Ave. (Current Condition: Designated bicycle lane, both sides, from 9th Ave. to Patriot Ln.) Continued Emily Dieringer Citizen Jim Collins Dan Becker Sally Wesner Emily Dieringer said she understands residents in the area want to interact and engage with family and friends and be socially connected and stressed the importance of these interactions for health. She stated there needs to be balance between the residents’ needs who live on the road and residents who need to use this road. She said she understands it is scary backing out of the driveways onto Westhaven but one benefit of having bike lanes and no parked cars is you have a clear line of sight but the drawback is no on street parking. A citizen present said she has lived here a number of years and is used to backing out of her driveway and can see if there are cars coming. She thinks it is terrible what the bike lane has done because we have a lot of people with walkers and stuff too and she has groups of people that come to her house. She said she hosts a couple clubs and asked where they are going to park. Jim Collins said the street is 40’ wide, so it would be possible to have 2 – 5’ bike lanes, an 8’ parking lane, and 2 – 11’ traffic lanes. Dan Becker said 11’ drive lanes are a no from him. Sally Wesner, of 342 N. Westhaven Drive, said she has lived on Westhaven Drive for only a year and did not realize there was no parking on the street until she had guests coming over because she did not get a letter and didn’t know anything about it. She told she would be afraid she would end up in the next block if she rode a bicycle on Westhaven Drive because of the speed vehicle s travel here. Committee Name: Traffic & Parking Advisory Board Date: 11/13/18 Location: City Hall 9 Topic Facilitator Discussion Action A request for parking on Westhaven Dr., east side, from Hwy. 21 to Witzel Ave. (Current Condition: Designated bicycle lane, both sides, from 9th Ave. to Patriot Ln.) Continued Sally Wesner Bill Christianson Dan Scieszinski Bill Christianson Sally Wesner said she and her visitors can’t believe there is no parking so you just can’t have parties, showers, or a funeral, where are you going to put these people; you can’t put them down in the next block and expect them to walk and especially when the weather gets bad and icy and that type of thing, you have to take consideration of all these people. She also said if you want to ride a bike go like other people do and bike hike in parks and where ever but not on a busy street where you are taking your life in your own hands. She told she has seen people carrying grocery bags on the sidewalk and even on wheelchairs but people are more likely to fall down riding a bike in the road with groceries on it. Bill Christianson, as a resident of Jackson Street, he sympathized with these residents lack of on street parking. He suggested reducing the bike lanes to 4' wide, which would allow enough space for an 8' parking lane and 2-12' driving lanes. Dan Scieszinski said the bike lanes on Wisconsin Street are 4' wide. Jim Stapel agreed this seems a good compromise. Bill Christianson moved to amend this item to permit parking on Westhaven Drive, from Noel Court to Springmill Drive which can be accomplished by reducing the bike lanes to 4', with an 8' parking lane and 2-12 driving lanes pending statutory review as suggested by Dan Becker. Council member Steve Herman left the meeting at 5:00 p.m. Vote to Amend Item 1st: Bill Christianson 2nd: Jim Stapel Carried: 6 - 0 Amended Item 1st: Daniel Becker 2nd: Dan Scieszinski Carried: 6 - 0 Staff Statements Oregon Street Update Jim Collins Jim Collins told that after Common Council heard concerns of area businesses, they voted to reduce the turning lanes from 75' to 50' and thus restore 2 parking spaces on both sides of Oregon Street. He said the area will need to be repainted but is signed appropriately. Committee Name: Traffic & Parking Advisory Board Date: 11/13/18 Location: City Hall 10 Topic Facilitator Discussion Action Loading zone on South Park Ave. east of Main Street Jim Collins Mr. Collins said the Herd asked for a temporary loading zone to drop off passengers for third party transportation vendors such as Uber. He said police normally block this area off and only allow vehicles that park in the handicap stalls through there so it was decided to try it and see how it works this basketball season. He said it has worked well so far. Adjournment Daniel Becker The meeting adjourned at 5:10 p.m. The next meeting will be held December 11, 2018. 1st: Dan Scieszinski 2nd: Jim Stapel