Traffic and Transportation Committee

COMMITTEE ON TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION October 11, 2016 A meeting of the Committee on Traffic and Transportation was held this date beginning at 4:01 p.m., at Grace on the Ashley Baptist Church, 2014 Bees Ferry Road. Notice of this meeting was sent to all local news media. PRESENT Councilmember Seekings, Chair; Councilmembers Moody, Wagner, and Wilson and Mayor Tecklenburg (arrived at 4:08 p.m.) Staff: Dan Riccio, Director of Livability and Tourism, Robert Somerville, Interim Director of Traffic and Transportation, Janie Borden, Assistant Corporation Counsel, Amy Southerland, Tourism and Special Events Manager, Also Present: Councilmember Waring, Broderick Christoff The meeting was opened with a moment of silence by Councilmember Moody. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes of the September 27, 2016 Committee on Traffic and Transportation meeting were deferred on the agenda. Resolution Approval  Approve a resolution to demonstrate support and approval of a temporary carriage route pilot program developed by the several neighborhood associations and the carriage industry Dan Riccio stated that there were a few questions posed at the last Committee meeting. The video shown at the previous meeting was of Meeting and Broad Streets, and the Committee wanted a bigger scope, which he anticipated doing during this process with his tourism code enforcement officers. There had also been concerns about County employees exiting the County parking garage onto Meeting Street, and the City would be monitoring that, as well. Mr. Riccio acknowledged Chairman Seekings’s concern about the inundation on Logan Street. Mr. Riccio stated he spoke with Angela Drake, neighborhood president for Ansonborough, and she had been very supportive of the pilot program. Referring to the maps attached to the Resolution, Mr. Riccio stated the two lighter green lines were points of ingress into Zone 5, which would inundate Harleston Village. The four ingresses into Zone 5 would hopefully relieve Chairman Seekings’s concern about every carriage traveling down Logan Street. During the removal, the amount of carriages would decrease from an average of 14 per hour to 4. Councilmember Moody asked if one drew Zone 5, did they also draw 5 ‘A,’ ‘B,’ ‘C,’ and ‘D’? Councilmember Moody said that if someone was traveling on 5A, they would then travel down Wentworth or Hasell, and Mr. Riccio confirmed. He explained Zone 5 would be just like the other zones, except for Zone 4, which would serve as a relief valve. He stated that you would not have all four traveling up the same street. There would be two ‘5’s’ and two ‘5A’s’, so that everything would be split up. Councilmember Moody asked if the routes would be alternated in some way, and Mr. Riccio confirmed. This would ensure that no one would be forced on the same routes. Councilmember Moody asked if Wentworth was an ingress and if Hasell was an egress. Chairman Seekings replied that Hasell was two ways, but Wentworth between Meeting and King Streets was one way going west. Mr. Riccio said that if a carriage could not get out, they would have to take another route out. Robbie Somerville stated one could not travel north on King Street, and Mr. Riccio agreed. Chairman Seekings said there would be no legal way to get out  Committee on Traffic and Transportation October 11, 2016 - page 2 and back. Mr. Riccio asked if Chairman Seekings was referring to traveling up Wentworth, and Chairman Seekings reiterated that Wentworth was one way between Meeting and King Streets, so one could not get out on this route. Mr. Riccio explained that once someone was in Zone 5, they could always exit south to get out. Amy Southerland stated that one could use Market Street, as well. Councilmember Moody said the only way one could exit onto Hasell Street would be to travel down Market Street. One could only come out on Smith Street or Logan Street. Chairman Seekings clarified that one couldn’t exit onto Logan Street because it was one way. Mayor Tecklenburg arrived at 4:08 p.m. Mr. Riccio stated that, generally, they had never received a complaint from Harleston Village about the number of carriages in that area and that they actually wanted the ambiance of carriages in the neighborhood. Having the four ingresses and egresses would help with this. Mr. Riccio stated that they focused on complaint-based sections of the city like George Street in Zone 4. The carriage industry said they tried to avoid George Street to limit complaints. Chairman Seekings stated he just wanted to know where they were getting out and that he didn’t think one could get out on any of the routes shown. Ms. Southerland stated one would use Market Street and that the map only showed ingress. Mr. Riccio stated that this left the option open, so one could be smart about what route to use, and if another carriage was traveling on one of the routes, one could make the decision to go the other way. He also stated that they planned on meeting and training with the carriage industry about how to get out of each zone. Councilmember Moody stated that it was solid on ingress. Chairman Seekings stated his other question was about Zone 4 and asked if the carriages would have to travel back down South Market and back up Anson Street from the gatehouse, and Mr. Riccio confirmed. Chairman Seekings stated Zone 4 was a big zone and asked if carriages would go across East Bay Street. Dan Riccio stated the tours tended to stay away from the high traffic areas. Chairman Seekings asked if they chose to go down Calhoun Street to the aquarium, was the City allowing them to do so? Mr. Riccio confirmed, and Chairman Seekings stated this was a bad idea. Ms. Southerland stated that there was currently one carriage company that crossed Calhoun Street. Chairman Seekings asked if they went down Calhoun Street, and Ms. Southerland stated they did not and that they crossed at Anson Street. Councilmember Moody asked if they crossed at the light, and Ms. Southerland confirmed. Chairman Seekings stated he thought they should make it clear that there should be no carriages on Calhoun Street other than to cross. Mr. Riccio stated that the carriages were not using this to go up and down Calhoun Street. They were using it to just cross over. Mr. Somerville asked about the egress from Zone 4. Mr. Riccio stated there was a free zone in the center to get back to the gate. Ms. Southerland stated that a carriage could cross over using the area shaded white in between the two zones. Mr. Somerville asked if the carriages would have East Bay, Meeting, King, and St. Philip, and Mr. Riccio confirmed. Mr. Riccio stated this was a process with the neighborhoods and carriage industry, and they were hoping it would work. If it did not work, he had the authority to pull out of the pilot program and go back to the drawing board to see what would work. He said this was just one part of the pilot program. Mayor Tecklenburg asked if one could currently go into Zone 4 on any day, and Mr. Riccio confirmed. Mayor Tecklenburg stated to Mr. Riccio that this would limit the carriages to the 30 busiest days a year, and Mr. Riccio confirmed. Mayor Tecklenburg said he thought the net effect for Zone 4 would be that there would be a lot less days where there would be carriages in the zone. Mr. Riccio confirmed and stated that the number of carriages would be reduced, and the accountability would be better in terms of water breaks and temperature checks for the horses, as well as the aspect of regulating the number of carriages traveling into both zones. Mr. Riccio stated that currently, they did not have any control, and he was tired of responding to citizen complaints that there was not anything he could do about it. Mayor Tecklenburg stated that it was a 60 day trial period, and if there was something they needed to changes, they could. Mr. Riccio stated that the pilot program would be between March 1st through April 30th, which were  Committee on Traffic and Transportation October 11, 2016 - page 3 peak times in the carriage industry and would demonstrate whether the program would work. Councilmember Moody said he would add the dates of the pilot program, March 1, 2017 through April 30, 2017, to his motion to approve. On the motion of Councilmember Moody, seconded by Councilmember Wagner, the Committee voted unanimously to approve a Resolution to demonstrate support and approval of a temporary carriage route pilot program to be conducted between March 1, 2017 and April 30, 2017 developed by the several neighborhood associations and the carriage industry. Councilmember Moody asked if the pilot program would go into effect after April 30th if the Committee did not do anything, or if it would have to come back for a positive approval. Janie Borden stated it would have to come back for a positive approval or it would expire. Chairman Seekings stated they could have a special meeting, if needed, and they would keep their eye on it. Councilmember Moody then asked about the status of the horse study. Mr. Riccio responded the study was going well, but Hurricane Matthew had thrown them back a little bit. At this point, all the carriage companies had given the days and the temperatures of the horses. Using the WeatherBug app, they used the temperatures at the DoubleTree Hotel and the Dock Street Theatre, they picked the days for the last four years when the temperature was 90 degrees and above, and gave this information to the two veterinarians on the Committee. The carriage industry then gave staff the same dates and information on the internal temperatures of the horses that were touring those days, and a cross comparison would be done with this information. They wanted to determine at what outside temperature a horse’s internal temperature start to rise. This would help them determine at what temperature or heat index they should stop activity. Some states went with either/or in terms of temperature and heat index, and some went with both. All of this information was with the vets whom had their own staff working on it. Councilmember Moody asked Janie Borden about the status of the parking study. Ms. Borden stated they had received some numbers from the Department of Traffic and Transportation which they were reviewing and would hopefully bring them back at the next meeting. Mr. Somerville stated he had been working with Tracy McKee in GIS to pull the TMS numbers in the district, which were about 620. He stated that he broke it down, and he thought there were about 393 actual addresses. So, there were multiple TMS numbers for residential addresses. Chairman Seekings stated that they would get the numbers to the Committee members in advance. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4:23 p.m.