Everett Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC)

TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING NOTICE Thursday, February 17, 2022 8:00 a.m. – 9:45 a.m. Microsoft Teams Virtual Meeting In attendance: Members Staff Guests Hal Gausman Liz Vogeli, City Council Brock Howell Tyler Rourke Michael Schmieder, Transit Bob Creamer Andrea DePaolo Tim Morgan, Police Carl Leighty Gracie Geremia Tom Hood, Public Works Christina Strand Richard Smith Kathleen Baxter, Public Works Colton Davis Stephen Fickenscher Corey Hert, Public Works Kern McGee Jeffrey Marks, Public Works Dana Oliver Christina Curtis, Public Works Euneka Richards, Public Works Kate Low, Public Works Tom Hingson, Transit Meeting called to order at 8:00 a.m. by Chair Tyler Rourke ➢ M/S/P for January 2022 Minutes ANNOUNCEMENTS & REQUESTS FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ➢ Discussion of prospective photo enforcement camera program o Goal to provide safety improvements reducing serious crashes o Revenue generated would need to be spent on safety improvements under the ordinance o Safety improvements at intersections and revenue sources to fund other safety improvements for pedestrians and bicyclists o TAC weighed in on red light cameras based on city’s evaluation of crash data and precedence set by other communities. o Councilmember Vogeli indicated some Council members have concerns with the equity of photo enforcement. Many on Council believe in the safety benefit. Hal asked if the concern is social equity or geographic equity. Councilmember Vogeli indicated social equity of citations and those disproportionately impacted is the primary concern. o Tyler asked if TAC should make a vote to support a photo enforcement again with new TAC members. Corey advised it could be a vote should TAC choose, would be part of the minutes and public record, and/or a letter to Council. Tom Hood recommended doing both a vote and a letter, and in the letter include the results of the vote. ➢ Tyler made a motion to take a vote for the current support to implement red light camera program, reiterating support to Council. 1|Page  ▪ 4 TAC members voted yes – Tyler, Hal, Gracie, and Richard. ▪ 2 TAC members abstained - Stephen and Andrea. ➢ Corey advised with the number of members who voted yes and those who abstained, may not have have a quorum. ➢ Corey suggested a presentation for next month’s Agenda to answer any questions in depth about a photo enforcement program. ➢ Corey advised he reviewed the idea of abstention and whether it contributes to the quorum. Based on best information, TAC does have a quorum and they can make the votes for the photo enforcement cameras with abstentions, as they count toward the quorum. o Requested to revisit the vote in support of a photo enforcement program. Vote already taken for support. Tyler requested to have an agenda item to review this for the new TAC members and answer their questions/have them add their support. ➢ Tyler made a motion that TAC draft a letter to City Council in support of a photo enforcement program. ▪ 4 TAC members voted yes – Tyler, Hal, Gracie, and Richard. ▪ 2 TAC members abstained - Stephen and Andrea. ➢ Tyler and Corey will work on the letter together and will be send out to TAC members ➢ Tyler discussed an article “Safe Systems Approach to Transportation”. PUBLIC COMMENTS ➢ Brock Howell commented on traffic cameras and making streets safer for low-income households, people of color, youths, seniors, and veterans. Encouraged the TAC body to send a letter to the Council showing unequivocal support for a traffic camera program and encouraging implementation to be equitable. ➢ Christina Strand commented on safety issues for cyclists and Bicycle Master Plan. Also discussed circuity of route crossing 41st and Colby Ave. ➢ Colton Davis discussed red light cameras. o Addressed speeding issues in Everett, emphasized tactical urbanism and focusing on temporarily redesigning the streets. Advocated implementing an income based fine system and publicly reporting automated enforcement data. o Carl Leighty requested wait time on bike signal at California St and Broadway be checked. Also he requested root heaving to be smoothed on the Interurban Trail. ENGINEERING REPORT ➢ Tom Hood commented regarding that delivery of new projects has slowed the last couple of years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. External agencies that the city relies on for approval of funding and construction are experiencing longer lead times. ➢ Discussed active construction projects. o Reservoir #2 site on Rucker Hill. o Port Gardner Storage Facility. ➢ Design work ongoing at Water Filtration Plant and Wastewater Treatment Plant for upgrades. ➢ Upcoming projects: o 2023 Annual Pavement Marking Project. o Pavement Maintenance Overlay Project. Advertisement for bids in the next few weeks. 2|Page  o Maintenance contract to repair knocked down illumination poles. ➢ State Transportation funding package in state legislature “Move Ahead Washington”. Not approved yet, this is just through the House and Senate. More work and potential changes. o Projects that benefit Everett: ▪ 100th St Corridor: $8.4 million in construction funding. ▪ Pedestrian bridge across North Broadway at EVCC and WSU Everett: $12.9 million. City will be lead agency. Pedestrian Safety benefit with elevated pedestrian crossings across Broadway. ▪ Westbound US 2 Trestle: $210 million design funding toward capacity improvements for the westbound trestle. TRAFFIC ENGINEERING REPORT ➢ Corey is putting together a shared site for access to past minutes and agendas, presentations, proposed agenda items, and other information. Email forthcoming with the link. ➢ Recommended Tyler’s opinion peace in the Herald regarding photo enforcement. It explains balance and competing interests of social equity for people that are citied and contrasts health equity with the victims of angle crashes and those of pedestrians and cyclists. ➢ Participated in the SR-526 Improvements Value Engineering Study. The project as designed is about $20 million over established budget. Goal of the Value Engineering Study was to try and find solutions to close the budget gap for funds available through Connecting Washington funding package. Recommendations were made that get the project close to the budget for construction. Project is on track for construction in mid- 2023 through 2024 and should help reduce cut through traffic on Everett streets. ➢ On February 2nd, City Council heard briefing on “Revive I-5”, a pavement expansion joint rehabilitation project by the Washington State Department of Transportation. Purpose of project is to rehabilitate the pavement and expansion joints. Project will be on Northbound I-5 between Lowell Rd and Snohomish River Bridge. o WSDOT is going to replace 108 concrete panels and 8 bridge expansion joints. Construction is planned through summer and into first quarter of 2023. o 9 weekends where WSDOT contractors going to close I-5 and close 2 lanes on I- 5 NB. 6 weekends where they will close NB I-5 to East Marine View Drive Ramp and NB I-5 HOV to Broadway Ramp. 3 weekends where NB I-5 to 41st and Broadway ramps will be closed. o Closing 2 lanes of I-5 will push additional traffic onto Broadway, Evergreen Way, and Colby and Rucker. The state will ask drivers to choose off peak periods of time to travel and not cut through Everett. o Branding the work under “Revive I-5”. WSDOT updates on Twitter, social media tools, and a project website with more information. On weekends of high impact, there will be significant congestion on Broadway, NB. A signal coordination plan will be implemented that will give priority to NB Broadway. Traffic Engineering will identify those intersections that may lead drivers to cut into the neighborhoods. Barricades will be installed with local traffic only signs and will have someone on staff weekends to make corrective actions as needed. o Traffic Engineering will work with special events in Everett and local businesses that will be impacted by the project, and with Port of Everett to manage 3|Page  oversized loads and getting them in and out. o No scheduled start date yet, but they will be briefing TAC as soon as they have the information to start. POLICE REPORT ➢ Tim advised they have 5 motor officer positions and currently 1 full time motor officer. o Motor officer has an extensive list of complaint areas in Everett between north, central and south end, back up to the north end and still trying to do school zones every day. ➢ Patrol traffic officers are involved in taking collisions. ➢ Tyler asked if photo enforcement cameras were installed would that potentially free up police to do other things than to just respond to these crashes. Tim advised from his perspective and experience driving behavior seems to change when people know major intersections are photo enforced. Drivers are more focused on obeying the traffic laws. TRANSIT REPORT ➢ Michael Schmieder provided a presentation on Microtransit. ➢ Small scale on-demand public transit services that can offer fixed routes and schedules, as well as flexible routes and on demand scheduling. o Conceptualizing Microtransit: occupying the space between private sector rideshare companies and legacy public transportation solutions. ➢ Question arises whether this competes with rideshare. Does not compete as there is a need and space for both. Similar to the taxi industry, where taxis and public transportation have existed side by side historically. o Characteristics of Microtransit is technology driven and extends the reach and reward of public transit. ➢ Technology issue, presentation will be completed in March. AGENDA ITEMS ➢ Christina Curtis presented one of the Active Connections: Fleming Bicycle Corridor. o Active Connections Everett Projects: ▪ 100th Street Southwest ▪ California Street ▪ Citywide Bicycle Wayfinding ▪ Fleming Bicycle Corridor ▪ Fulton Street ➢ Fleming Bicycle Corridor: o 2 miles of bicycle corridor, funded through a grant by Puget Sound Regional Council. Tier 1 priority project in Bicycle Master Plan. o 2018 grant application. o Construction grant of $595,000, local funds $110,000. o Summer/Fall 2022 construction. o North/South Bicycle Boulevard. Connects multiple neighborhoods, Port Gardner, View Ridge/Madison, and Evergreen. o Route will get vehicle volume, speed management, and intersection safety treatments. Project will construct wayfinding and bicycle route signing and shared use pavement markings (sharrows). Select street centerlines will be removed. 4|Page  o Hal asked about branding the route with a trail name. Christina the current brand for the route and project is Active Connections: Fleming Bicycle Corridor. o Hal asked if wayfinding signs were going to be distinct for the section of trail, Christina advised the wayfinding signs will have primary destinations as well as direction signs that are specific to the corridor, signs would be MUTCD standard for bicycle boulevard. Corey mentioned this is part of a larger corridor from 35th St to Madison St. Federal Ave will install pavement markings on the 2023 overlay this summer they are going to start converting that also into a bicycle boulevard. o On Mukilteo Blvd, the left turn restrictions on 42nd St they have extended and shifted the time to try and keep as much traffic as possible off the North and Federal section. o Tyler asked about steep section on Fleming, asked about climbing lanes and narrowing car lanes. Christina advised section on Federal between 35th and Mukilteo Blvd would be part of the Northern Leg Project and her and Corey have discussed an Advisory Bike Lane. ➢ 2022 Safety Priorities presentation. Tabled tor future meeting in March for lack of time. Adjournment: 9:48 a.m. Next Scheduled Meeting: March 17, 2022 5|Page