Everett Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC)

TAC MINUTES March 17, 2016 In attendance: Members Staff Guests Edward Koltonowski Tim Miller, Public Works None Tim Manrow Sabina Popa, Transit T.J. Fournier Ryan Sass, Public Works J.T. Dray Jeffrey Marks, Public Works William Weber Paul Roberts, City Council Liaison Robert Strickland Mike Braley, Police Victor Harris Tom Hingson, Transit 8:20 a.m. Tim Manrow called the meeting to order.  M/S/P approving February minutes. Announcements & Requests to Add Agenda Items  J.T. asked for a moment to comment on Transit’s service change proposals during the agenda items portion.  Victor thanked transit providers Everett Transit and Puget Sound Transit for providing plans ahead of the roll-out. He also complimented on the lights at the new Broadway Bridge, mentioning that they were consistent with improvements on Hoyt. He also mentioned there is some public concern near Hawthorne School, in that traffic is not yielding to pedestrians and children. Citizen’s Comments  None. Engineering Report  Ryan reported on the Broadway Bridge lights. He stated that the upper lights will always be blue. Additional lights are coming towards the end of the month, and they will be of different colors. The contractor will also be finished up the pedestrian fence and then taking out the detours.  Ryan reported that the freight mobility project covering 41st Street to Rucker, Rucker to Pacific is going out to bid.  Ryan reported that the Hawthorne School safety project will be going out to bid shortly. This project will make revisions to sidewalks, lane channelization and crosswalks.  Other safety projects have been funded for the summer. Police Report  None Transit Report  Tom Hingson reported that data showed ridership down by 5% in comparison to last year. He stated Route 7 was down only 1%. Nevertheless, the City core is still vibrant.  Tom stated that Transit was pursuing a grant for all electric buses. He stated their grant application had passed the first round and was going to the regional level in August. This resulted in a discussion about how the grant process works.  Tom reported that the cleanup at Everett Station was completed, with repairs in restrooms that provided graffiti resistant surfaces and strong barriers between stalls.  Tom reported that the bus-bulb project on Broadway would be going to Council on March 30 th. The project will increase available parking space along the street. There is already a $3M commitment from the State, with design and engineering to be done in-house. J.T. asked to see the plan before going to Council in order to see where stops were going to be placed. There was some discussion on this, as the precise stop locations would not necessarily be known before going to Council for getting approval for the funds, as design will not happen until the funding ordinance is in place. Transit is still working with traffic engineers for the exact locations of stops. It was noted that the proposed stop locations will go out for public outreach. Agenda Items: Item 1: ET Proposed Service Change Presentation – Sabina Popa informed the committee that the outreach for these changes has already begun and will last through the end of the month. The proposed changes have been posted on the website, through press releases, rider alerts, and other employers. ET hopes to get as much feedback as possible. She reported that reviews have already been coming in, both positive and negative. The proposal contains three parts – Routes 4, 5, and 17. She stated Route 7 will be moved back to the original pathway with the completion of the new Broadway Bridge. She provided everyone with a copy of the Service Change Proposal booklet outlining these changes.  J.T. expressed issues with Route 4. He said it was unusable due to detours from construction. He wanted ET to find ways to communicate with riders when buses would be altered from their regular routes. He stated lack of ridership may be linked to a result of this lack of promotional/informational material, as riders will just “give up” in trying to find where they need to board. He stated he liked the new proposal for Route 4, in comparison to the old route.  J.T. expressed frustration that he felt calling the changes “proposals” was misleading. He stated that the changes will go into effect whether riders liked them or not. There was some discussion on this.  There was some additional discussion on identifying the route stops on the maps. Sabina stated there is an online map that allows a person to zoom-in that would show stops. The trip planner on the website also has all the stops and services, including those from other service providers. It would be difficult to try to print them all in the hard-copy booklet, as the page size would be too  inadequate for all the stops available in certain corridors (they would be stacked on each other in the print). Item 2: Grand Ave Proposed Parking Revision Presentation – Tim presented an overview of potential challenges regarding parking along Grand Avenue across from the new Farmers’ Market building. Two long-term businesses currently have an oversized section of the roadway marked out for their exclusive use. With the changes constructed by the Farmer’s Market, there is only a narrow strip of pavement to accommodate two-way traffic flow. He stated that the City is going to try to work with the business owners to narrow their reserved area to resolve the traffic flow problem, but it may become contentious. He presented a proposal narrowing the reserved area to 14’ wide. Adjourned at 9:50 a.m. Next Scheduled Meeting: April 21, 2016