Athens in Motion Commission

Athens in Motion Commission Tuesday, December 22, 2020 – 4:00-6:00 pm Online via ACC WebEx: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW4tBXAMa6Y&feature=youtu.be PRESENT Julia Johnson (host) Lauren Blais Mark Ebell Teresa Friedlander (Secretary for the Day) Roswell Lawrence Carol Myers Aaron Redman Craig Topple ABSENT Jake Maas Lauren Called the meeting to order at 4:00 pm and shared the agenda (attached). The meeting was small due to the holidays. Lauren stated that the agenda had changed since it had been posted on the ACCUG website to allow for a discussion of the Prince Avenue Corridor. She asked for a motion to approve the agenda. Aaron made the motion to accept. Jake seconded and the motion was approved unanimously (There is no need to describe Teresa’s embarrassing technical malfunction with the YouTube live stream.) Lauren asked Julia (ACC Staff) if there were any public comments. There were none. Lauren asked the commission if there were any changes to the minutes from the November meeting. Jake volunteered to remove his editorial comments about an interruption to the meeting. No one objected to this. Teresa made a motion to approve the minutes. Mark seconded. The motion was approved unanimously. Carol shared recent conversations with Clint McCrory of the Prince Avenue Corridor User Group, Elliott Caldwell of Georgia Bikes, Scott Long of Bike Athens, and Tony Eubanks (affiliation?). - GDOT project extends from Oglethorpe to Pulaski - ACC project extends from Pulaski to Milledge - There is $4million in TSPLOST funding for bike/pedestrian projects but none of the parties is discussing bicycle traffic in the context of the corridor improvements. - AiM should advocate for bicycle infrastructure on Prince Avenue especially given that there are Tier 1 projects for this corridor. Mark regularly rides his bike along Prince and dodges high speed traffic daily. He observed that unused parking spaces could be turned into bike lanes. GDOT dominates corridor meetings and AiM is missing an opportunity to advocate for bicycle safety. Carol mentioned, in the context of Prince Avenue, that the Bethel Homes community redevelopment will require significant investment in infrastructure and that there may not be sufficient funding for everything that needs to be done. Residents have safety issues which need to be addressed and AiM should be keeping an eye on the planning especially along College Avenue. Mark concurs that crossing College avenue is dangerous for residents of this area. Carol pointed out that ACC has projects spread all throughout the city and some of the projects could be bundled with redevelopments and areas where connectivity could economically be improved. Lauren moved the agenda to unsafe Greenway connections and crossings, the worst of which is located at Lexington Highway at the inner Loop entrance and exit, the so-called “Waffle House Crossing”. Greenway users should have a safe and easy connection across/over/under Lexington highway to the Firefly Trail. Instead, cyclists and pedestrians must contend with four traffic lanes plus right turning slip lanes and signalized left turn lanes, tiny “safety islands” and high speed, high volume traffic. The responsibility for this road design belongs to GDOT. Pedestrian and bicyclist safety was not considered in planning this intersection. According to Mark, the cost of a bridge over Lexington Highway is quite high, but there are other options, such as a tunnel, which has not been considered. Of course the best time to have created a tunnel was during the intersection redesign! Other measures which might help include better signs, raised crosswalks, thermoplastic bike boxes, etc. According to Carol, there are other places on the Greenway where bicyclists and vehicles can easily collide. It is safer to use MLK Avenue from Dudley Park to North Avenue rather than cross Broad Street to the Greenway. Lack of wayfinding signs and roadway markings for Greenway users is another problem for both cyclists and drivers. Jake (Vice Chair of the Greenway Commission) said that road designers for the most part have only considered the needs of drivers. Furthermore, a TSPLOST proposal to build the Greenway along the river was rejected. The North Avenue bridge will be replaced through the USDOT BUILD program and will include bicycle/pedestrian facilities. There are long term plans which do not address immediate hazards. Currently the “Mama’s Boy Crossing” at Oak and Poplar Streets and Trail Creek Bridge are going out for bids soon. The Mama’s Boy crossing is critical as this is the only Oak Street crossing for a long section of the road. Teresa wondered if AiMC could write a letter to the Mayor and Commission asking for their help/guidance in eliminating some of the safety hazards to pedestrians and cyclists. Carol suggested that AiMC communicate to the M&C that we would like to address intersection and crossing safety issues as policy development. Next topic on the agenda was the Firefly Trail routing options near Winterville. The railroad easement provides the best route for the trail from a safety and ease of use standpoint. Unfortunately, a few homeowners have built structures across the easement. The Leisure Services Department has looked at pushing the trail to avoid having to condemn the buildings but this encroaches further onto another neighbor’s property. Two alternatives to the railroad easement would re-route the trail to Moores Grove Road. Aaron has drafted a letter to Mayor and Commission from the Athens in Motion Commission advocating against the two alternatives and in favor of the original route for the Firefly Trail. Before we can finish the letter, AiMC needs to understand whether a different route through Carney Lake Road (suggested by Mark) has been explored and already ruled out. The consensus is that options B&C are inconsistent with the purpose of the greenway – which is to provide a safe and low-stress bicycle route through the county and connects to a larger network of bikeways. B&C put bicyclists in conflict with vehicles entering and exiting driveways. Option C involves a crossing of Moore’s Grove Street. Any discussion of Carney Lake Road as an option D could already be moot. More information is needed. Carol suggests our letter advocate option A as the safest choice. Options B&C are less safe and would require considerable mitigation to reduce the hazards. The end of the comment period for the Firefly Trail options is January 10. The AiM Policy sub- committee will meet in early January (possibly the 6th) with staff to get clarification before Aaron completes the letter. Carol suggested finding a design standard which would strengthen the arguments in favor of option A. Policy Committee Update: (Lauren) In addition to the Firefly letter, there are two more sections of the Complete Streets policy rewrite to go over. Communications & Education Committee Update: (Teresa) Teresa & Carol have met with Leisure Services and others about an Open Streets event targeted for April 25th. The location will be a circuit from the North Avenue Bridge to Broad Street, Willow Street and Martin Luther King Avenue. There are several organizations interested in participating and developing socially distant activities for the event which will involve strategic road closures from 2-5 pm. A critical goal is to welcome residents from the MLK side of the river to participate. Grants and Data Committee Update: (Mark) Mark will attend mandatory training in early January for the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety grant. There are funds available for bicycle and pedestrian safety and AiM should apply for some. The deadline is February 26th. New Business: (Roswell) Since our last meeting in which we discussed the challenges of working with UGA on the Riverbend Road project, Roswell has made significant outreach to UGA staff involved in planning. He now has a standing monthly meeting with Allison _____ and Laura ______ (who are also on the Greenway Commission) to share our questions and concerns with them. We have been operating under the assumption that UGA was uncommunicative and unwilling to work with us on developing the Riverbend Road project. Roswell will invite his UGA contacts to our January meeting so we can build a better working relationship. Finally: Our fearless leader, Carol Myers, officially resigned from the Athens in Motion Commission as she prepares to be sworn in to the Athens-Clarke Commission. We thank her for her leadership and hard work and wish her well in her new role. She will be our advocate at City Hall. The meeting adjourned at 5:32 pm. Grants and Data Committee Update . Heat Maps: if anyone has any suggestions for changes, or issues with usability, contact James. We don’t have some types of data that people might want. Lauren: is this just internal right now? James: It is a public facing map using data from 2015-2019, Policy Committee Update . Still working on Complete Streets Policy; waiting to work with Equity and Inclusion office on equity language. a. Will work on letter re: Firefly Trail alternative. Education and Communication Committee Update . Teresa has no updates. There is a shocked silence. 😉😉 Meeting Adjourned at 5:44 pm. . Next meeting will be on 12/22.  Athens in Motion Commission Tuesday, December 22, 2020; 4pm Location: WebEx Item/Activity Lead Time Action Required 10 m Call to order, Welcome Blais 4:00- None 4:10 Vote Agenda additions & approval Blais * Approval Public comments, if any Blais * None Vote Approval of minutes Maas * Approval 5m Prince Avenue Corridor Update Myers 4:10- None • User group has met 4:15 Discussion: Intersection safety concerns - Oak Street,, Greenway + Firefly • At Old Winterville Road (Waffle House Connector) 10m • At Poplar Street (Mama’s Boy) Ebell Determine next 4:15- • AiMC’s role? Blais steps 4:25 • How does the public voice concern regarding intersections? • Next steps: talk to TPW staff in January Policy Committee: Draft letter recommendation regarding Firefly Trail Alternates 30 m Blais Determine next • AiMC’s role 4:25- Redman steps • Public comment closes January 10 4:55 • Next steps AIMC Committee Check-Ins 15 m • Grants and Data Committee AiMC 4:55- None • Policy Committee 5:10 • Education and Communications 5m Other business, reminders, announcements AiMC 5:10- None 5:15 Adjourn Blais 5:15pm None Next meeting, Jan. 26, 4 pm