Athens in Motion Commission

Athens in Motion Commission MINUTES – SEPTEMBER 26, 2023 Location: ACC Gov Planning Department, 120 W. Dougherty Street Planning Auditorium Attendees In Person AiM Commissioners ● Lauren Blais ● Art Edison ● Teresa Friedlander ● Randy Halstead ● Julie Jaeger ● Allen Jones ● Ed Maioriello ● Craig Topple ● Blaine Van Note ACCGov Staff ● Daniel Sizemore Virtual ACCGov Staff ● Rani Katreeb Ex-Officio • Scott Long, Bike Athens Absent AiM Commissioners ● No one!!! Welcome Lauren opened the meeting at 4:15 pm 1 Roll Call – Quorum achieved. 100% attendance!! Public Comment – No public comments Agenda Lauren shared the agenda and entertained a motion to accept. Craig moved to add an item to the agenda regarding a discussion to draft a letter to the District Attorney regarding citizens that have been killed. Teresa seconded to add this item to the agenda. Ed moved to accept the agenda, Craig seconded. The agenda was approved unanimously. Minutes Lauren shared the previous meeting minutes and entertained a motion to accept. Randy moved to accept the minutes, Ed seconded. The minutes were approved unanimously. Minutes Major Items (07:03) Bike and Pedestrian Improvement Programs - update ● Staff presentation at M&C work session on October 10 ● Over the next few years, staff will collect data and will develop programs. Project prioritization and recommended options to come before AiMC/M&C ● Six proposed programs ○ Sidewalk gaps, Bike lane gaps, ADA improvements, Pilot Projects, Complete Streets Implementation, & Grant Matching Funds ○ Reviewed remaining TSPLOST funding, as well as available funding for Proposed Programs and Future Tier 1 Capital Projects Fall tabling Events ● Reportback - UGA Safety Day ○ Spoke to many students about safety, distributed AiM reflective vests (40 total) ○ Saw many scooter riders without helmets ○ Sidewalk/bike lane gaps, street lighting not effective ● Porch Fest – Sunday, October 15th, 12pm-8pm ○ Need organizers and tablers from 11am – 6pm ● Other opportunities: CCSD Family Day (Spring), UGA SafeDrive event in November (handouts, but no tabling opportunity) ● Daniel offered to store AiMC tabling equipment/supplies at the new TPW garage Georgia Bike/Walk/Live Summit ● November 16-18 at the Graduate Hotel ● AiMC can pay for your attendance. Check schedules by next meeting (Daniel) 2 People who are killed biking or walking in Athens ● 30 pedestrian and 5 bicycle fatalities in ACC since 2013 ● What can we do as a commission to bring awareness? ○ Hold Vigil on location or in prominent location (Craig) ○ Signage to increase awareness at accident site or in prominent location (Art) ■ Note: statistics have shown increase in accidents in some of these areas due to increased anxiety and/or distractions ○ Letter to District Attorney or notice on social media (Teresa) ○ Hold event during Bicycle Awareness Week (Julie) ● Lauren will send an email to Daniel asking for staff assistance on acquiring data for bike/ped injuries or fatalities due to vehicles and litigation outcomes from the last XX amount of years Staff Updates (1:04:00) Parking Planning – Todd Miller, Park Planning Coordinator (update delivered by Daniel Sizemore) ● Greenway Trail Carr’s Creek – Grading work is 80-90% complete, concrete walls being formed. Concrete trail installation has begun. Estimated completion February 2024 ● Firefly Trail Expansion Phase III – Construction Plan development phase. SPLOST office working on acquiring construction easements. Goal is out for bid in early 2024 Transportation and Public Works – Daniel Sizemore, Bike, Pedestrian and Safety Coordinator/Shirelle Hallum, Vision Zero Coordinator Shirelle Hallum – Vision Zero Coordinator ● Reconnecting Communities – Planning Grant, application due on 09/28/23. Completely written, with letters of support from many elected officials and local groups. Would cover preliminary planning and engineering for the project ● Lexington Road Safety Screening – completed a walk audit with Pond from Southeast Clarke Park up to Winterville Rd. Collected many short-term, mid-range, and long-term issues that could potentially be addressed using the Lexington Rd SPLOST bucket. Pond generated a road safety audit and will generate a report. Potential solutions will be presented to the user group ● Safe Streets for All Grant – Process is underway. RFP has been posted and now we’re waiting for consultants to submit their proposals. We will host a Pre-Proposal Conference on October 3rd for potential consultants to learn more about the project and ask questions ● North Avenue RAISE Project – Public Engagement is about to begin. The survey for North Avenue will be open until October 25th. RFQ is underway, working on grant agreement. Meeting with GDOT about schedule 3 Daniel Sizemore – Bike, Pedestrian, and Safety Coordinator ● Projects ○ WikiMap - need to organize comments ○ Barber Street Bike/Ped (AiM) ■ Project managed by Jacobs ■ CDO passed ○ Riverbend Road MUP (AiM) ■ Preliminary Engineering (first to go to M&C) ■ Met with designer (Arcadis), finalizing 85% plan comments ■ No budget for lighting along path ○ Jefferson River Road MUP (AIM) ■ Preliminary Engineering (second to go to M&C) ■ In progress ○ Prince Avenue Project (TSPLOST 2018 Prince Avenue User Group) ■ Long-term design is underway ■ Working on permanent barrier options ○ Lexington Sidewalks (TSPLOST 2018 Lexington User Group) ■ Southside, from Johnson Dr to Gaines School Rd ■ Fills all gaps, will create one continuous sidewalk ○ Atlanta Highway (TSPLOST 2018 Atlanta Highway User Group) ■ Finalizing plans for Timothy and Mitchell Bridge Road MUPs ○ Bike Rack Subsidy Program ■ ACCGov purchased 20 bike racks, looking for locations to install ■ Policy & Projects Committee will review and make recommendations ○ Crosswalk Policy Revision ■ Will discuss further at October 24th meeting Committee/Org Reportback (1:32:13) Corridor Committees ● Atlanta Highway – Teresa Friedlander ○ Timothy/Mitchell Bridge Rd project will be discussed at October 10 meeting ● Lexington Road – Randy Halstead ○ No updates ● Prince Avenue – Lauren Blais ○ Looking to replace Chair (previous Mark Ebell) 4 AiMC Committees ● Executive Committee ○ TBD ● Ad Hoc Plan Revision Committee – working on plan revision ○ Will meet briefly after this meeting to discuss schedule ● Grants and Data – Need new chair ○ Next meeting: ○ Members: ● Policy and Projects – Chair: Randy Halstead ○ Small projects plan will be presented to M&C in September ○ Small sidewalks ○ Next meeting: October 17th at 4:00 pm ○ Members: ● Education and Communications – Chair: Teresa Friedlander ○ Julie will be the new chair of this committee ○ Working on two maps, wikimap and story map (pictorial version of AiM plan) ○ Canva Pro account. Should AiMC purchase a license? Could potentially split with TPW ○ Next meeting – Tuesday, October 3rd at 4:30 pm Other Committees/Commissions ● UGA – Appreciate the info from students, will pass that along. Scooters are becoming more and more common on campus. Working with campus safety, they recently requested information and video from transit ○ Light carts working well on the Greenway, thank you Ed for helping to facilitate ○ Lights for pedestrian path on Riverbend Rd – will discuss internally and pass along ● Greenway – Audubon bird watch, leaving from E23 Park & Ride lot ○ Paving at Sandy Creek nature center will create partial closure ○ Rose West, new Greenway contact ● TSPLOST 2023 – Allen Jones ○ Pavement and bridge maintenance plan allocating funds towards grant funds on analysis feasibility on bridge study 5 AiM Commissioner Round ● Julie – World Day of Remembrance for road traffic victims on November 19th ● Ed – crosswalk needs in Five Points. No crosswalks from Southview Dr to Five Points intersection ● Randy – Would like to see completion of the Firefly trail in Winterville ● Teresa – Be safe out there ● Art – Make our community safe and convince people to bike/walk ● Allen – Taking some vacation time, hoping to get 500 miles on bicycle across six different states ● Lauren – Action is the antidote for despair ● Daniel – Rotated home desk 90 degrees, much more efficient ● Scott – BikeAthens September Joy Ride – Friday, September 29th at 6PM Adjourn Lauren moved to adjourn the meeting. Teresa motioned, Allen seconded. Meeting adjourned. Adjourn: 6:15 pm Next meeting date: Tuesday, October 24th at 4:00 pm Courts Courthouse1 6