Citizens Advisory Committee on Transportation

Citizen Advisory Committee on Transportation/ City Interdisciplinary Transportation Team Meeting Wednesday November 12, 2014, 7:00 pm to 10:30 pm Meeting Minutes Attendance CACT Members 1. Paul Baldino 2. Addison Heard 3. Kent Taylor 4. Steve Knight 5. Doug Devereux 6. Andrea Caumont 7. Hal Morgan City Staff Present 1. Paul Stoddard 2. Captain Rick Campbell 3. Mike Collins 4. Stephanie Taylor Council Member Liaison 1. Karen Oliver City Planning Intern 1. Heather Scharfetter Student Member Liaison 1. Ian Ruesch City Residents 1. Winter Hill Resident (1) 2. Parker/Kent Residents (3) Page 1 of 4 Agenda 1. Introductions 2. Resident Petitions 3. Meeting Minutes Approval 4. Mason Row Update 5. Neighborhood Traffic Calming 6. W&OD Plaza and Crossings 7. 2014 Annual Report to Council 8. Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program (NTC) Program 9. Correspondence 1. Introductions CACT Board introduced newest member Ian Ruesch (City of Falls Church Senior High-school Student Representative) and continued around room with introductions 2. Resident Petitions Mr. Baldino opened the resident petitions • One Resident of Winter Haven commented on the intersection of Annandale Road and Winter Drive: o Not all traffic adheres to the four way stop o Crosswalks need to accommodate foot traffic from residents and students o Should there be a traffic light installed? Flashing light crosswalk? o It was noted that Paul Stoddard is available to discuss issues like this with residents o City staff responded that they are already investigating intersection in the neighborhood for traffic safety issues. Larger issues about intersection configuration would need to go through the Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program 3. Meeting Minutes Approval Approved 8-0, with the addition of Steve Knight to list of meeting attendees 4. Mason Row Update Staff are waiting for an updated submission from the development team, so there is no action for the CACT to take at this time 5. Neighborhood Traffic Calming Paul Stoddard discussed the 75% engineered plans for traffic calming at the intersection of Parker Avenue and Kent Street, including the history of the project, beginning with Page 2 of 4 neighborhood petition for traffic calming, neighborhood approval of a traffic calming approach, and Council vote to authorize funding for project discussion. During the discussion with neighborhood residents, the following topics and resolutions were discussed. a. Landscaping for additional curb area. Consistent with requests from adjacent property owners, the additional curb areas will be landscaped with grass. b. Stormwater. Stormwater will properly flow around the curb extensions, and will not flood. c. Retaining Walls. Existing retaining walls will be maintained. The ADA landing pads will not interfere with the walls. d. Vehicle Turning Movements. The curb extensions will permit a car or sport utility vehicle to make the turn without crossing into the opposing lane. A larger vehicle, such as a bus or delivery truck will have to pass into the opposing lane. This is ok, because there are sufficient breaks in traffic to allow this, and the tighter turning radius will better slow vehicle traffic, which is the intent of the project. These turning movements will be confirmed through an “AutoTurn” analysis. CACT board agreed that staff should move forward to 100% construction drawings based upon discussion and meetings between neighborhood and staff 6. W&OD Plazas and Crossings Paul Stoddard discussed ongoing efforts with Walter Phillips (funding by NVRPA) to design two plazas along the W&OD Trail as well as the associated crossings. The plazas are an expansion of ideas captured by the CACT earlier describing the lack of facilities along the City’s portion of the Trail relative to other jurisdictions. The Mobility for all Modes Plan, the Transportation Chapter of the Comprehensive Plan, calls for creation of five plazas along the W&OD Trail. The crossings are a response to repeated requests from residents to better define responsibilities for street and trail users at trail crossings and to improve safety for all users at crossings. CACT members voiced the following ideas: • Potential to partner with Boy Scouts/Eagle Scouts on landscaping / butterfly gardens • Implementation funding. Staff reported that federal and state grant funds are available for these kinds of projects. • Desire to move smaller parts of the project forward sooner, such as welcome signs funded by VPIS. • Potential to add bike-share stations along the Trail Page 3 of 4 7. 2014 Annual Report to Council Paul Stoddard asked the CACT to brainstorm 2015 priorities to include in its annual report to Council. Council Member Oliver recommended including recommendations at the front of the report to better highlight them. She also alerted the CACT that Council is looking for project ideas to invest in the Downtown Area of the City. The CACT agreed to individually brainstorm ideas and send comments to staff by November 26. 8. Neighborhood Traffic Calming (NTC) Program Paul Stoddard provided a recap of the work session with Council. Council was supportive of the program update and agreed that spending up to $200,000 / year on traffic calming was the right level of funding. The CACT agreed to keep the name Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program, with the addition of a subtitle to reinforce that the program is responsive to neighborhood requests. The CACT agreed to adjust study area definitions so that study areas for mid-block concerns do not extend through the intersection. Staff agreed to have a draft of case prioritization and breakdown of staff/CACT responsibilities at the December CACT meeting. Staff agreed to research in other jurisdictions how multi-family housing is counted as well as businesses for the purposes of input/voting. The expected timeline is for the CACT to make their recommendations on a draft program update in January or February of 2015. 9. Correspondence The CACT asked that memos sent out under the CACT name be emailed to all CACT members at the time the memo is sent, in addition to being included in the CACT package. Regarding the resident request for neighborhood parking restrictions, Mike Collins reported that staff is working on an informational report and would have it ready by early 2015. Page 4 of 4