Citizens Advisory Committee on Transportation

Citizens Advisory Committee on Transportation August 12, 2015- 7:00 pm to 9:45 pm Meeting Minutes Attendance CACT Members City Staff Member Present 1. Mike Collins Paul Baldino (Chair) Yes 2. Stephanie Rogers Hal Morgan (Vice-Chair) No 3. Paul Stoddard Bill Ackerman Yes 4. James Mak Andrea Caumont Yes 5. Jeff Sikes Doug Devereaux YES 6. Maj. Richard Campbell Addison Heard Yes Steve Knight No Liaisons Liaison Present Karen Oliver Yes (City Council) Russ Wodiska No (Planning Commission) Ian Reusch Yes (Youth Representative) Agenda 1. Public Comment 2. Minutes Approval- Action to approve minutes of June 2015 meeting 3. CACT 2015 Priorities a. Walk Friendly Communities-Discussion b. Bicycle Master Plan-Update c. W&OD Park Master Plan-Discussion d. Paper streets-Discussion 4. S. West Street Reconstruction and Restriping Plan-Discussion 5. N. Oak Street/Mt. Daniel school –Special Event Street Closure-Discussion 6. Capital Improvement Program-Transportation Project Update-Information 7. NTC-Update on current projects-Information 8. I-66 Inside the Beltway-Information 9. Correspondence and Comments to Council 1. Public Comment There were no speakers during public comment period. 2. Minutes Approval for the June 10th CACT Meeting – The minutes for the June 10th CACT meeting were approved with no changes by a vote of (6-0). There were no July 2015 Meeting Minutes as the CACT did not meet in July. 3. CACT 2015 Priorities a. Walk Friendly Communities-Update: Jeff Sikes updated the CACT on the Walk Friendly Communities Program.. Based upon limited staff resources and staff’s belief that Falls Church is not as “walk friendly” as it could be, staff recommends that we not pursue Walk Friendly application at this point. Our focus should be on developing and adopting Pedestrian Friendly Design standards, developing and adopting a Pedestrian Friendly Facilities program and implementing some projects, with the ultimate goal of applying for and receiving Walk Friendly Community designation at some time in the future. These planned Policy Actions are identified in the “Mobility for All Modes” document. b. Bike Master Plan- Paul Stoddard reported that the Bicycle Master Plan-Connecting Communities was adopted by City Council on July 13, 2015. c. W&OD Park Master Plan- Paul Stoddard discussed the progress made on the Master Plan including the work session with the Planning Commission on August 3. This is a 2015 priority project of the CACT with the objective to construct at least one plaza along the trail. This item will be heard by the CACT in September. d. Paper Streets-Paul Stoddard spoke about the Paper Streets project and the work of Hal and Doug. This project is also a 2015 CACT Priority and a Work Session was held with the Planning Commission on August 3. This initiative is a follow up to “Parks for People-Parks, Open space and Recreation Chapter of the City’s Comprehensive Plan”, adopted February 2015. e. Neighborhood Pace Car Program: City staff was asked to contact the Washington Area Bicyclist association for information on the Pace Car Program. (WABA runs the Pace Car Program for the DC Department of Transportation and staff is awaiting information from DDOT) 4. S. West Street Reconstruction and Restriping Plan -Information Stephanie Rogers provided a presentation on the Reconstruction and Restriping Plan for South West Street. The project will reconstruct the entire roadbed from Ellison Street west to the City Line. Once roadbed construction is completed, the street will be repaved and pavement markings will be added. Stephanie presented several options for marking the street that will be discussed at a neighborhood meeting on September 15th. The plan shows few pedestrian crosswalks across S. West Street because there is no sidewalk on the north side and most of the intersections are off-set. Stephanie asked for guidance from the CACT about which residents should be invited to the September 15th meeting. The CACT recommended using the criteria from the NTC program for determining which residents to invite to the meeting. 5. North Oak Street/Mt. Daniel School –Special Event Street Closure - Discussion Jeff Sikes provided information on the N. Oak Street/Mt. Daniel School Special event street closure. In May, the Falls Church School Board passed a resolution called “Commitment to Maintain Traffic Calming Efforts in and Around the Mt. Daniel School”. Approximately 3 or 4 times during the school year, with the cooperation of the Falls Church Police, N. Oak Street is closed to all but local traffic, and staff and parents are shuttled to the school for large special events. Nowhere in the text of the resolution is the term traffic calming mentioned other than in the title. Staff does not consider the occasional closing of a street for a public event as a traffic calming measure, but more appropriately termed “event management” and should not fall under the City’s NTC Program for review and action. 6. Capital Improvement Program-Transportation Project Update- Information James Mak with the Department of Public Works (DPW) provided a presentation on several Transportation Improvement projects in the current Capital improvement Program (CIP).  Roosevelt Street pedestrian improvement plan was presented which will improve sidewalks and accessibility on the section of Roosevelt Street between E. Broad Street and Roosevelt Boulevard.  S. Washington Street Corridor Project- This project will add streetscape improvements and improve pedestrian accessibility in along South Washington Street (from Annandale Road to Tinner Street) and Hillwood Avenue. Project includes the intermodal plaza at S. Washington and Hillwood Avenue, a new traffic signal and utility undergrounding.  Van Buren Street Bridge Replacement-The bridge will be replaced with the expansion of the sidewalk to facilitate access to Metro. It will reduce the width of travel lanes (traffic calming benefits). The project will also provide the potential for further integration with existing bike trails. 7. NTC- Update on Current projects-Information Jeff Sikes provided an update of the status of the current NTC projects:  Parker-Kent intersection: Procurement close to issuing the PO to contractor. Construction to begin mid-to-late September. Intersection to be repaved after concrete construction. Staff will  organize meeting with residents to alert them to timing and sequence of construction in early to mid-September.  Pennsylvania Avenue: PO for engineering and design has been approved. Survey work to begin in late September. The area in the curve will be painted prior to the start of school. Staff will meet with the street residents on August 19th to discuss project. Construction to take place spring 2016.  N. Cherry Street: Data have been collected and project prioritization calculated.  Little Falls Street: Data have been collected and project prioritization calculated. DPW has approved request for all-way stop signs at the intersection of Little Falls Street and West Columbia Street and to refresh pavement markings.  N. Maple Avenue: Data have been collected and project prioritization needs to be calculated.  S. West Street (Ellison to Parker)- petition received from applicant in July. Data to be collected after completion of street construction in the fall.  Grove Avenue- Petition received from applicant. Data to be collected in the fall.  S. Spring Street- Petition distributed to applicant in April, awaiting completion by neighborhood. 8. I-66 Inside the Beltway- Information- Paul Stoddard provided a briefing on the status of the I-66 Inside the Beltway Project. In January, VDOT and (DRPT) reached out to jurisdictional staff to discuss the process for installing Express lanes/HOT lanes inside the Beltway. The proposal would convert existing lanes to HOT-2 form HOV-2, and would be in effect for four hour segments in both directions in both the morning and evening peak travel hours. Tolls would be variable, with the intention of setting toll rates to achieve a minimum travel speed on the roadway. Revenue from the tolls would first be used to pay for maintenance of the tolling equipment. Revenue beyond what is needed for maintenance would be available for other multi-modal projects in the Corridor. VDOT anticipates that these changes would be implemented in 2017. A project framework agreement is being worked out with the 3 jurisdictions (Arlington, Fairfax and the City) the NVTC and VDOT that would ensure that revenue from the tools are not used to supplement other state funded projects. The framework would also define a process for selecting projects to fund using toll funds beyond what is needed for maintenance of the tolling facilities. The City council is scheduled to review and take action on the project in September 2015. A public information meeting has been scheduled for October 6th at MEH School. 9. Correspondence and Comments to Council