Everett Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC)

TAC MINUTES May 20, 2013 In attendance: Members Staff Guests Kris Hausmann Ryan Sass, Public Works Tim Miller, Public Works Robert Strickland Michael Brick, Public Works J.T. Dray George Baxter, Everett Transit Victor Harris Bruce Bosman, Everett Police William Weber Ken Dorn, Everett Police Ed Koltonowski Jeraud Irving, Everett Police Tom Norcott Heather Magnuson, Everett PW Kris Hausmann Paul Roberts, City Council liaison 8:18 a.m. Edward Koltonowski called the meeting to order. M/S/P approving May 2013 meeting minutes. Announcements & Requests to Add Agenda Items  None. Citizen’s Comments  None.  Victor asked Paul Roberts to comment on the council meeting with regards to major projects and developments in conjunction with required street improvements. Paul stated that a particular citizen was not happy with the improvements required by a development in their neighborhood. The matter was presented to the hearing examiner and Council didn’t know if the requirements made of the developer had been met or not. The Hearing Examiner has not issued a decision at this point. City Attorney, Jim Iles, noted that the City doesn’t have the ability to change requirements after the projects have been vested. Ed questioned if we should make this an Agenda Item at a later date. Bob Strickland suggested a comment item after the hearing examiners ruling. Ryan Sass stated the after the Hearing Examiner makes a decision, staff would make a summary to the committee. Ryan stated that developers are required to take care of the frontage of the development, he mentioned that the City has limited authority to make developers construct improvements beyond the scope of their project. Occasionally, it’s better to have a developer give a Fee in Lieu of doing the frontage important if a future project may be tearing those improvements up in the near future. 1 of 4 Engineering Report  Ryan gave an update on the Broadway Bridge Project. The City is close to signing an agreement with BNSF. The City is still coordinating with VOA in regards to the appraisal on the effect of the project on their property. Also the City is still working on coordination of the paperwork for federal funding. We are schedule to go to bid in the fall/winter. Police Report  Sgt. Bruce Bosman reminding us of the upcoming 4th of July activities. Plans are to remain with traffic control schemes close to those used in the past.  Sgt. Ken Dorn commented on the DUI task force. He said the county received $175,000 in grant money. The task force goal is a Target Zero emphasis.  Ed requested an update on the motorcycle unit. Officer Dorn said there was a call for applicants in place and closes 6/21. They foresee promoting one staff member to this opening. The City’s goal had been to have 5 motorcycles and we currently have 3. The department doesn’t know if they are going to fill one or two positions. They currently have two bikes on the road and one in storage.  Ryan stated his staff typically collects data in speeding areas and then the police department will analyze as to which locations need the most attention.  Sgt. Jeraud Irving stated the Carnival at the Everett Mall starts 6/20. There will be plenty of buses making runs and they don’t expect an increase in traffic due to this event.  It was also stated that the week of 6/23 was the start of soccer camp. Other Items  Ed asked for an update on the red light camera situation. Ryan stated there was nothing new. Due to the pending lawsuits the City has opted to hold off on proceeding with this project. Ryan also said that it’s been long enough that if we were to proceed forward we would likely start at square one again.  Tim Miller shared he had a situation of showing a citizen that traffic really wasn’t as fast in their neighborhood as they thought. Engineering staff loaned an old radar gun to one of the neighbors and asked them to measure vehicle speeds in their neighborhood and bring back the data when they had measured 100 vehicles. The citizen brought back they gun and stated they wouldn’t have enough time to get up to the number of 100. Therefore we suspect he realized how few people were actually travelling through the neighborhood and that the speeds were not as high as he thought. Transit Report  Georg Baxter stated that Steffani Lillie would be leaving Everett Transit  The digital Radio System has been up and running with only minor glitches. They are still fine tuning the system, but it has shown increased range and clarity. 2 of 4   Hybrid buses on the road and running. Also flow has improved on the low floor buses with the use of ramps instead of lifts.  Transit is working to finalize service changes for the end of August. There will be no cuts or additions. They will be adjusting trip times for improvements. Everett Transit is working with Sound and County transit to coordinate transfer between agencies to be more efficient.  Victor asked how much down time there was for the drivers at the station to allow for transfers to be completed. George stated that most runs begin and end at the station which helps with connections; Route 7 is the only route that does not terminate at the station. Victor also asked when the next public meeting was, George didn’t have that information.  Bob Strickland commented to George about the new 4 foot long benches at Hoyt/Hewitt. He commented that everyone liked them and he would like another. George also commented that the benches were designed to alleviate the sleeper problem. George said they are looking to install more benches along the Hewitt Corridor as money allows.  Ed asked whether transfers were tracked, or how many are boarding Everett Transit from other agencies. George said the number of boarders is tracked but figuring out transfers is more difficult. He would check with the other agencies.  George stated Boarding had decreased but efficiency was up. Electronic and manual counters are still meshing together to complete the conversion. They are looking to analyze the error rate by overlapping the two systems for a year. Agenda Items: Item 1 ‐ Service Parking Permits (Tim Miller)  Tim gave a presentation regarding the existing Service Parking Permit program, requesting TAC recommendation that the Service Parking Permit Program be reviewed for revision jointly by Traffic Engineering, Parking Enforcement and City Clerk’s Office.  Service Parking Permits are provided to Contractors (Length of parking issue) and Couriers (Repark Ordinance issue). The number of permits has grown to an 8 page printout. Permits are administrated by the Clerk’s office and are $25/each up to a maximum of $250 per company annually. It was stated that Clerk’s office usually gives permits to most anyone who applies.  Parking Enforcement officers have noticed abuse of over parking on these permits. Businesses located in the CBD shouldn’t need these permits. Bruce also stated the majority of the permits are abused.  Ryan stated that a CBD parking utilization report had not been done for a long time and he would like to do one again. Such a study would measure the parking utilization on a busy day. Ryan feels the parking utilization may be getting close to the point where Pay to Park may be beneficial.  Victor questioned about Taxis taking out parking spots, and wondered where they fall in this decision (stating that we have no cab zones or cab stands). Bruce said the police take each situation into consideration before issuing a citation. If cab drivers are being courteous they will let them off the hook. Its was M/S/P that the TAC recommend the Service Parking Permit Program be reviewed jointly 3 of 4  by Traffic Engineering, Parking Enforcement and the City’s office for possible revision to reduce the number of permits, increase CBD parking availability and prevent abuse. Item 2 ‐ Removal of Flashing Beacons at California and Rockefeller (Tim Miller)  Tim gave a presentation regarding the flashing red beacon system at this intersection. This intersection has low traffic and zero accidents. The beacons do not meet current standards. It is questionable whether the beacons are necessary. They are left over from the days when the fire station nearby had fire trucks running. Now it is just an administration office. Tim stated these are 8” incandescent lights and not LED, therefore they are not efficient. Tim would like to remove the flashers and upgrade the STOP as needed.  Victor stated his concern in wanting to keep the flasher, due to the adjacent YMCA. It was also pointed out to review how much the angle parking next to the intersection block the view of the stop signs. Ed questioned whether it’s time to make this change with the Broadway Bridge project coming, removing might cause some confusion. Ryan stated if we remove now it will give several months to get used to the change in advance of Bridge detours. A motion was made to concur with staff’s recommendation to remove the flashing beacons at California and Rockefeller, which was Seconded and passed with a vote of 5 Yes and 2 No. Meeting adjourned at 9:37am The Next Scheduled Meeting is Thursday August 15th 4 of 4