Athens in Motion Commission

Athens in Motion Commission Policy and Projects Committee Wednesday, July 21; 4-5:30pm Location: WebEx Minutes - Draft In attendance: Randy Halstead Lauren Blais - taking notes Teresa Friedlander Daniel Sizemore Scott Long Cole Scott Welcome - 10 minutes - Call to Order 4:03 pm Call to order Review Agenda Motion 1 - Lauren; Motion 2 - Teresa; approved unanimously Assign minute taker Lauren volunteers. Minutes May 18 - Daniel notes that sending approved minutes to him as PDF would be helpful. Daniel notes that with the extension of emergency order, meetings will continue online until August 2 Motion 1 Teresa, Motion 2 Randy; approved unanimously Crosswalk Policy Review - 30 minutes ● Review the current ACC crosswalk policy and prepare comments for Daniel. - Randy/Daniel ● Current ordinance from 2017 was a memorandum, not a policy. ● Will take back to traffic engineering and then come back to AiMC to vote. ● Is this actually a policy? - Teresa asks. ● Daniel’s understanding is this is a policy for staff to follow. ● MLK Section of Greenway at Ruth Drive (note this is Ruth Drive, not Ruth Street). Daniel notes that years ago, were not permitted to put in a crosswalk because it didn’t connect to anything at the time. Now there’s a greenway. But Leisure Services does not have operational funds to do this. ● Teresa notes there should be a provision that anticipates these needs instead of waiting for the facilities and having to tear up infrastructure. ● Mark EBell’s notes: requiring 10 people per hour to risk their lives is not an ideal metric. 300 feet is too much to have people walk. Asks what federal standards like NACTO say? ● Randy agrees, notes examples he’s seen of people crossing along Atlanta Highway. ● Daniel asks, what are the considerations for transit stops? Areas besides stop lights and schools. ● Teresa observes that the policy is car-centered and we would like to get away from that. Lauren agrees. ● Daniel suggests homework– find other policies around the country that may use a different metric, NACTO. This policy was also from 5 years ago. ● Our infrastructure should promote and not just be in reaction to, Daniel says. ● Criteria for features. Daniel notes things that are missing - what about crossings regarding bikes? All ped-focused. ● Lauren brings up the crosswalk at the Oak/Lexington, where Firefly Trail Connects to Greenway at the Park and Ride. Multi-use path. ● Daniel suggests leading pedestrian interval. ● Discussion of school zone versus midblock crossings. ● Consideration for zig zag crossing and including PHB– pedestrian hybrid beacon– (Hawk) says Daniel. ● Raise refuge islands - Daniel suggests range, not just over 10k vehicldes. Because 100k vehicles would not work. ● Teresa wondering if we should start from scratch, concerned about not making the best decisions with this ● Randy says rural roads should be a consideration. ● Teresa notes that crossings that are more bothersome to vehicles less likely to kill people. ● Firefly trail collision last week: bike versus big truck. The stop sign is on the trail. ● Who has right of way? Teresa asks. ● Daniel: MUTCD says - higher speeds/volume, you have right of way. Daniel notes that speed on trail is higher and probably has more volume than the driveway. There’s some data but not at this specific location. Yield signs should be used unless absolutely necessary. ● Scott says signs on Firefly trail are small, Daniel says they are what the MUTCD recommends. ● Lauren notes that it doesn’t matter what the person biking was riding, wearing, did, whatever; they are the most vulnerable user. ● Teresa says clarification is needed on rules and roads.  ● Important to make the smart engineering decision based on safety, Daniel says. Don’t want to over-sign everything. ● Daniel suggests Yield to bikes/pedestrian. ● Do we want to do a new outline for everything we’d like to see and provide that for Daniel, or would AiMC rather see what staff can come up with. ● 1st option - we make outline, send to staff, 2nd option - summarize notes, suggestions, and next meeting, and then Daniel and staff create outline and policy and bring back. ● First approach is better for Daniel. ● Discuss and decide to go with first approach. ● Action item: find cross walk policies for next meeting. High level outline. Categories. Can point/link to other policies. ● Teresa says we need a model so we can make decisions. ● We come back together and summarize with spreadsheet like with the bike ordinances, the “Cole Scott” method. In one month. Bike Ordinances - 15 minutes Review ordinance wording for feedback - Daniel ● Ones that Daniel wants to explore or we’ve already taken action on: ○ Bike is a vulnerable road user ○ Promotion of Vision Zero Biking Fatality Plan - already working on as staff with Vision Zero Resolution on consent agenda ○ Driver must yield to Bicyclist in Bike lane - could be something about drivers not entering bike lane, except when dashed. Notes people turning on to Pulaski from Prince. ○ Prohibit stopping in a bike lane - already drafted up ○ Bike routes must be maintained during construction ● Others: ○ Establish Bike Mobility program coordinator/commission - we have handled this, AiMC is established by resolution and we have bike/ped coordinator. ● Daniel goes through Bike Friendly Communities application and guidelines ● Lauren notes the importance of these ordinances in addressing equity: communities of color over make up 57-58 percent people biking in Clarke County according to GDOT statistics. ● Daniel will start with these ordinances and will reach out if he needs assistance. Randy will keep as standing item on the agenda as update. Athens in Motion Master Plan Update - 30 minutes Discuss the process of updating the Master Plan and develop a timeline for completion. - Lauren/Daniel ● Lauren talks about timeline, goal to have a year from now ● Daniel notes effort in doing Greenway plan update, bi weekly meeting, six months.  ● Wants to have individual conversations with AiM Commissioners. ● Remove, expand, fix items in plan. ● Example regarding goals: Expand connectivity and equity, keep users and education goals, yellow implementation, revision. ● Teresa asks about reprioritization? ● We are adding new criteria, says Daniel. Under equity we did not include race. Huge oversight, on US transportation planning organizations and documents. ● Accessibility, level of comfort, regional network. ● Map should show tier one projects. List other projects in tables. ● Lauren confirms that Daniel would like to meet with us individually if we would like. ● Wants to explore organization of the plan. ● And create a “digital destination” for plan. Not just story map, but interactive map. So people wouldn’t have to read a 200 page doc. But could link to technical stuff if desired. Choose your own adventure. But still need physical copy for records. ● Lauren mentions idea of having Mayor provide introduction, as some cities have done this for their Complete Streets and transportation documents. Other business/Next meeting date - 5 minutes August 18, 4-5:30pm Adjourn, 5:35pm