Athens in Motion Commission

Athens in Motion Commission Tuesday, August 25, 2020 – 4:00-6:00 pm Online via ACC WebEx https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIgnjq6Wgwk PRESENT Carol Myers Aaron Redman Mark Ebell Teresa Friedlander Jake Maas Craig Topple Lauren Blais Hillary Essig (TPW, Bike and Pedestrian Coordinator) Matt Courtenay and Ashley Ayers (Bulldog Bikes) Derek Doster (SPLOST) Rani Katreeb (TPW) Todd Miller (LS) Scott Long (Bike Athens) ABSENT Roswell Lawrence James Barlament 1. Call to Order a. Carol called the meeting to order at 4:02. 2. Agenda Additions and Approval a. Teresa moved to approve the agenda; Mark seconded. Agenda approved. 3. Public Comment a. We received a lengthy public comment through our FB page, attached as Appendix A. [We did not get the full text of the public comment until after the meeting. Carol read what we had received later in the meeting – see #9 below.] 4. Approval of Minutes a. Jake asked for clarification from Derek on some statements Derek made about Jennings Mill Road and Heyward Allen flyovers; the point was that new sections would be built with bike and ped improvements and place, with the additional potential to divert some traffic from Atl Hwy. Minutes revised accordingly.  b. Aaron moved to approve; Teresa seconded. Minutes were approved. 5. Bulldog Bikes (Matt Courtney and Ashley Ayers) a. Gotcha Mobility is the company partnering with UGA to provide this service. b. 100 bikes stationed at 22 hubs across campus, each with 2-8 bikes depending on location. There are also a couple of racks where you can park bikes downtown (city racks), e.g., Firefly Trailhead. They will adapt based on user patters. c. Students moved in on 8/15, 10 days before this meeting. d. Bikes use Gotcha Mobility app. Matt walked us through the tutorial [if you want to see it, download the app. It’s free.] e. University pays for part of the membership for students. Membership provides 90 free minutes per day and no cost to unlock bike. There is a wallet feature where money can be loaded on to an account – for customer service issues, etc. Customer service team is very responsive to user feedback, according to Matt. f. The focus is to serve UGA students, faculty, staff (anyone with UGA email address: $6/month). But there is an option for non-UGA people – monthly membership is $6.99/month g. Mark: data security and privacy: how is the information we provide, including geolocation, being used? Ashley: It’s all in the user agreement. Mark: I skimmed it and didn’t see anything about data. Ashley will get with Gotcha counsel and follow up on this. h. Lock mechanism is built into the bike itself – doesn’t actually need a rack to lock. But there is a $5 fee if you park somewhere else within service area. Matt demonstrated how to lock bike, and some other features. First rev of pedals feel like a traditional bike; motor kicks in after second revolution, and will bring it up to 15 mph on flat land. Three gears allow for more rider engagement if desired. i. They will be able to better maximize access to the system as more and more people start using bikes. They have an in-town mechanic who will work on maintenance issues, etc., either in the field or back at the shop. j. Since the 15th, they have tripled ridership from summer. Are averaging over 100 rides per day. Slowed down by how many classes are online – less demand for campus rides. Their highest ridership campus is 3.5 trips per day. k. Craig: is it a public/private partnership, or just a private endeavor? Ashley: we have an exclusive agreement with the university. Gotcha is a publicly traded company. Craig: Do you do advocacy? How does UGA compare with other university campuses? Ashley: that is a big piece of it – we use data to help cities with reporting and infrastructure changes. “Gotcha empowers communities to lead happier, more productive lives through the transformative power of affordable, accessible microtransit.” Works differently in every market. Matt: Bird mismanaged their endeavor, and that set micromobility back in Athens. l. Jake: what is the term of the contract with UGA? Ashley: 3 years. Jake: I am wondering what will happen if UGA goes all remote for a long period of time. m. Matt provided his email address in the chat in case we have further questions: mcourtney@ridegotcha.com. Matt thanked the AiMC for what we are doing for Athens. 6. Firefly Trail TSPLOST Subproject #3 (Derek) a. [See Youtube link above for full presentation.] b. Purpose is to build a pike/ped trail along the abandoned railroad corridor, including rebuilding the bridge at Dudley Park.  c. History: In 2006, ACC partnered with ALT to purchase an easement from Ms. Eugenia Langdale. The railroad itself is not inside the conservation easement, to allow for the trail to be built. [See Appendix B for the rest of the timeline.] d. Subproject 2 (Winterville stretch) will be completed in September. e. Subproject 3 will be a 12’ long concrete trail, barring budgetary concerns. 3.4 miles of trail requiring 75 property easements – a lot of title work to do. 6 properties with structures in close proximity, and 2-3 outbuildings that might require relocation. f. [See Appendix B for route details.] g. TSPLOST/M&C will work with all property owners along route as needed. h. There is a $1.4million shortfall in the budget. There is contingency that can be used as needed, depending on needs of Subprojects 2 and 4. i. M&C vote will be October 6th. j. Mark: What kind of facilities will be put in place to make road crossings (of which there are several – Gretchen Rd, Rannick Ln, etc.) as safe as possible? Derek: Great question, We will work with TPW and LS on each intersection for best combination of signage (on both trail and road), striping, RRFDs, speed reductions (including radar signage), etc. Mark: I hope you will consider RRFDs and raising crossings, using green paint etc. 7. Jefferson River Road Cost Re-estimate a. Hillary provided the same PowerPoint as last time, but with adjustments to the costs of all of the options provided by a consultant. [See Youtube link above for full presentation.] b. Hillary went through the alternatives again with the revised cost estimates. c. The cost difference of the AiMC-approved MJU alternative is still less than 50% from the preferred sidewalk option -- $718,500 more. The difference with the incorrect cost estimate we approved was around $300,000. d. Discussion: i. Teresa: Still in favor of the M-U path; there are frequent bicycle users on JRR; many of them are young people who really should not be on the road, as they are not paying as much attention to what’s going on around them as more experienced riders. ii. Carol: does anyone want to speak against this? Is anyone wavering? Jake: I want to speak for it, especially in light of the potential for Greenway trail projects within this TAD and the resultant potential for connectivity – the ORGC letter to M&C includes the possibility of connecting a 5-mile loop of bikeable/walkable roads/paths. I’m not sure how costs and connectivity balance out in every case, but this doesn’t reach that threshold for me. iii. Mark is still in favor. iv. Lauren: Jake, are you referring to the SPLOST 2020 project proposed by the ORGC From Holland Youth Sports Complex to the existing Greenway at SCNC? Jake: yes [describes potential loop – see Greenway Network Plan for the general idea]. Lauren: but for now Vincent Drive is just a sidewalk. Carol: Yes, although now all sidewalks seem to be being considered for M-U paths. Hillary: This was for AiM specific projects originally. If there are AiM TSPLOST funds left, we could look at cost-sharing the difference in costs between some sidewalks and multi- use paths. Stephen: The decisions made on JRR will impact the decisions made on Vincent Drive later on. Carol: Old JRR connection? Is that one of our projects? Yes – Old JRR from Whitehead to Buena Vista is a Tier 3 bike project and Tier 1  ped project in the Aim Plan. Only $1.3-$1.7m for 2.4 miles. (Everyone expresses their skepticism about that low cost.) v. Lauren: Putting the M-U path here kind of makes drivers think that cyclists are not allowed on the road, so there is some confusion there. Thinking about people shopping at the dollar store, a M-U path would make sense. Carol: as a “spandex” cyclist, we never go out on that road – we go out farther, because of the traffic. But a spandex cyclist who is going 30-40 miles will not hop on that M-U path for 1 mile, “unless it’s me trying to prove a point.” vi. Teresa: If we go with M-U path, are we saying that that would put a little pressure on the Vincent Drive project to expand into an M-U path? It would be great if we could. Carol: Money isn’t there for an M-U path; we would be taking money away from another project in order to do that, but that’s a discussion down the road [pun intended?]. Teresa: Since it’s illegal to ride on a sidewalk, I feel like we really need a M-U path. Jake: No offense Carol, but I don’t think we need to worry much about the spandex people – we need to worry more about kids, etc. Carol: I agree, but there is a misunderstanding on the part of commissioners, who might think that everyone is supposed to go on it. Lauren: That’s what I am trying to avoid: the perception among drivers that when there is a M-U path all bikes need to use it rather than the road. vii. Lauren moved to re-approve option 4 with the updated cost; Mark seconded. Motion approved 7-0. 8. Bike/Pedestrian Coordinator Report (Hillary) a. b. Teresa: can we put signs out in Spanish? Stephen: we can look for money to put signs out. Teresa: and hopefully we can have someone at the public input meetings who speaks Spanish. Hillary: we can look into that. c. Approval Dates: Cherokee Sept; JRR Nov; Riverbend Jan; Barber March d. Summer Repavement: See video starting at 1:36:00 for incredibly detailed discussion of these streets and their potential to accommodate bike lanes. i. Hull street into Waddell. Bike lanes on South side of Hull: there are sharrows on one section because the roadway is not wide enough to do bike lanes; there is curb and gutter on both sides of the street. You need at least 5 feet of rideable pavement for a bike lane; you can do 4’, but there isn’t even that much existing pavement to be able to do that. We do have “Bike May Use Full Lane” signs on this stretch to keep bikes from getting doored. Lauren: this looks great; I am very familiar with this street. ii. Rocksprings from Baxter to Broad: Commissioner Link wanted us to look at this section. But there is not enough room for bike lanes here either. Can’t reduce the left turn lane because of the traffic from the high school. It’s possible to remove parking spots, but there would be community opposition. So there is a bike lane, sharrows, “Bike May Use Full Lane” signs. Aaron: the parking is utilized a lot by families, so I understand why they wouldn’t want it taken away. Carol: Is Rocksprings on the Master Plan? Hillary: No, this is just opportunities through repavement. Rocksprings was Commissioner-initiated; Hull street was Hillary-initiated. iii. Lauren: I thought ACC owns the roads that go through UGA? Stephen: part of Hull street is one of their roads – some roads that go through UGA are owned by UGA.  iv. Lumpkin. Two-stage Q-boxes are a great alternative to bike boxes, but will need some help from us in terms of education/outreach to public. There is a new scramble at Baldwin/Baxter. Lauren likes it. v. Broad is owned by GDOT, and will require a significant partnership with them in order to make improvements. 9. Carol read the first section of Claude Lett’s public comment (see Appendix A). 10. Project Prioritization Process discussion moved to next meeting. 11. Letter to M&C Concerning Cherokee Road M-U Path vs. Sidewalk Issue a. Lauren moved to accept the letter and its edits as our official statement to M&C on this matter. Mark seconded. Approved. 12. AiMC Policy Committee a. They are working on incorporating equity into Complete Streets – waiting for discussion with ACC Equity Officer. 13. AiMC Education Committee a. Teresa has material that she will send to everyone. 14. AIMC Grants and Data Committee Update a. We have grant ideas, meeting again in a couple of weeks. Matching ideas to opportunities. 15. Meeting Adjourned at 6:12. Appendix A: Public Comment AIM, My name is Claude Lett and I reside at 172 Tawnyberry Drive. I am very grateful for the work this committee does. I look forward to the day I can get on my bike and ride from Epps to Winterville and I know you are working toward that goal. I am writing to you to express my strong support and appreciation of the Bulldog Bikes service. I have used it myself and found it easy to use, fairly priced. If I had even more access to the bikes I would use them daily but I do not live near downtown. I feel they have proven themselves and I hope that if they ever want to expand we would help them to do that. To help them and other bikers I would like to see at least one parking space downtown per street turned into a bike corral. I would like to see bike racks at some of our most popular bus stops. And I would like us to continue the push for complete streets. I also would like to ask Bulldog to consider a monthly rental program. If I could take the bike home I would use it every day. Secondly, Recently the 300 Epps bridge Road multiuse complex was approved to be built. The design seeks to provide for a mixture of uses including retail and restaurants, office, and residential uses. The mixed-use project is the perfect place to serve as a neighborhood center and provide a walkable destination for the residents of the area. It also is one of the rare places in our bus stop, bike lane and sidewalk neglected district that has a bus stop, bike lanes, and sidewalk. This project serves a unique melting pot of both ends of the financial and age spectrum and keeps the area beautiful. The express purpose of the proposed plan is to provide for a walkable destination to the residents that live nearby and discourage auto-centric development. The plans that include a true complete street main boulevard that is extremely accommodating to pedestrian and bike traffic. Vehicular traffic entering the site is slowed by intentionally narrowing the street and providing street trees and planters as a protection measure for the pedestrian. This creates a safe, well-proportioned space and environment for gathering, dining, and socializing. There are designated bike corrals that I hope would turn into a perfect location for rentable bikes. Easily, residents from many surrounding neighborhoods will be able to walk to this area to visit their favorite locally-owned small businesses. But it is a shame that residents of nearby Timothy Road will be severely limited to walk to this area due to lack of a full sidewalk on Timothy and no bike lanes. The residents of Timothy have been denied bus service, complete sidewalks, and bike lanes. Considering that we will now this above area combined with the existing five churches, Elementry school, nursing home, and an ever-growing population that is unable to drive I strongly hope you will move Timothy higher on the priority list. Thank you for your time and consideration. Claude E. Lett IV