Transportation Commission

Transportation Commission Minutes February 13, 2024, 6:00 PM Call to Order Commission Chair Addie Candib called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM Roll Call Members Present: Addie Candib, Chair; Tim Wilder, Vice Chair; Cindy Dennis; Keith Moore; Jacki Quinn; Betty Sanchez; Katy Scherrer; and Addie Yake Staff Present: Michelle Cristelli; Riley Grant; Michael Hintze; Natalie Monro; Karrie Neuhauser; Joel Pfundt, and Mike Wilson Approval of Minutes Approved unanimously with clarification sought per Keith Moore’s request. Public Comment Walk and Roll representative expressed interest in the Holly St pilot project and gave input on the bike and pedestrian master plans. Agenda Items: Draft Pedestrian Master Plan NOTE: Transportation Commission board members were not given enough time to adequately review the draft Pedestrian Master Plan prior to the meeting. Presentation by Michael Hintze with Toole Design – gave a recap of the process on developing the draft pedestrian and bicycle master plans. Community input shaped the plan by helping add projects to address additional identified needs. On the programmatic side, there were recommendations for creating more space for pedestrians and more policies and actions to reduce vehicle speeds. Contents of the Pedestrian Master Plan have network recommendations including crossing enhancement projects, pedestrian connection projects, and off-street connections. The implementation plan will show the prioritized projects and how projects could be bundled with other opportunities, for example aligning with utility work that the city is already planning on doing. The plan will provide a table of performance measures that are trackable to help better understand the complete network. Discussion – TC Member asked what role the Transportation Commission will have in the implementation plan. Joel said the consulting team will be the one making the recommendations in coordination with city staff, and a list of catalyst projects will be developed. The implementation plan will be used as a reference document and the commission will be presented with additional information at the next meeting. Michael said the implementation plan does reflect community feedback but not all projects made it through the evaluation phase. All the projects are mapped and prioritized, and the plan describes how projects are implemented and how they affect other projects. Holly Street Bike Lane Pilot Project Presentation by Natalie and Joel on the pilot project – the purpose of the pilot project is to fill a missing link in the bike network that goes through the middle of downtown. In the previous Bike Master Plan and in the new plan it is highlighted as a high priority as it connects a lot of existing facilities. Bike counts and pedestrian counts will be conducted in advance of projects implementation and then in summer to see how the pilot project is working. A big part of what we want to hear from the community during the pilot, is if people feel safe biking or walking as well as driving on Holly St, this is part of determining if it is a successful project or not. Discussion – TC members discussed their concerns with the pilot project (safety for pedestrians and bicyclists, impacts on visually impaired community, traffic delays, transit operations, education/outreach, reducing speed, adequate signage) and city staff noted these comments and responded regarding how these concerns are addressed. Staff also stated there would be plenty of outreach throughout the summer to get feedback from members of all groups that are impacted by the pilot project. 2024 Work Plan Joel walked briefly through an updated work plan spreadsheet of all current and upcoming Commission work items. There was an emphasis on this document being more for reference rather than city staff requesting feedback on the spreadsheet. TC Member requested that the work plan be included in every meeting agenda to be able to keep track of progression. Chair Report Chair Candib brought the Commission vacancy to the attention of the other members. Announcements TC Member expressed appreciation on the emphasis of safety in the Bike Master Plan. Also appreciated the separation of bikes and vehicles along with the separation of bikes and pedestrians. Adjournment Meeting adjourned @ 7:54 PM