Citizens Advisory Committee on Transportation

Citizens Advisory Committee on Transportation September 9th, 2015- 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm Meeting Minutes Attendance CACT Members City Staff Member Present 1. Stephanie Rogers Paul Baldino (Chair) Yes 2. Paul Stoddard Hal Morgan (Vice-Chair) No 3. Jeff Sikes Bill Ackerman Yes Andrea Caumont Yes Doug Devereaux YES Addison Heard Yes Steve Knight No Liaisons Liaison Present Karen Oliver No (City Council) Russ Wodiska No (Planning Commission) Ian Reusch No (Youth Representative) Agenda 1. Public Comment 2. Minutes Approval- Action to approve minutes of August 2015 meeting 3. CACT 2015 Priorities a. W&OD Park Master Plan-Discussion b. Paper streets-Discussion c. Play Streets-Action item d. Pace Car Program-Information e. Memo to Mayor Tarter on Walk Friendly Community Designation-Action 4. NTC-Update on Current Projects-Information 5. Correspondence and Comments to Council 1. Public Comment- There were three speakers for the public comment item. One resident of N. Lee Street spoke of the speed of traffic on the section of N. Lee Street east of Fulton Avenue and asked what could be done to deal with this problem. Another resident on the 300 block of N. Maple Avenue wanted to know why it was taking so long for his street to be selected for traffic calming since he had made the request in 2013. The final resident wanted to know when the CACT would consider the Mason Row project and how the impacts of the project would affect Grove Avenue. 2. Minutes Approval for the August 12th CACT Meeting – The minutes for the August 12th CACT meeting were approved with no changes by a vote of (6-0). 3. CACT 2015 Priorities a. W&OD Park Master Plan-Paul Stoddard made a presentation on the draft W&OD Park Mater Plan. Paul indicated the Park contains 16 acres and has a 100-foot right of way, and is the second largest park space in the City. The Park stretches across the City connecting residential neighborhoods and commercial districts. Because of the size and reach, the W&OD has the potential to offer numerous benefits to residents and others. The W&OD trail is a key feature and the draft plan explores potential for social and environmental benefits like gathering spaces and recreation areas, community gardens, removal of invasive plants and increasing the number of trees. The W&OD is referenced in many adopted planning documents, but the Master Plan is an effort to consolidate and further expand the planning for this great resource. The Mobility for all Modes”, the Transportation Chapter of the Comprehensive Plan calls for developing distinctive plazas along the trail with landscaping, seating areas and historical information displays. The Parks for People Plan (Chapter 6 of the Comp. Plan), calls for development of a greenway along Four Mile Run and enhancements to the W&OD trail to include pavilions, gardens and special crossings. The recently adopted Bicycle Master Plan calls for the creation of separate trails for pedestrian and cyclists, plaza and crossing updates to realize the goal of making the W&OD trail a Great Street. In terms of adoption the CACT will consider the W&OD Park Master Plan as an action item in February 2016, with Council Action in March 2016. b. Paper Streets-Paul Stoddard presented the draft Paper Streets report “Paper Streets in the City of Falls Church-Turning Overlooked Spaces into Community Amenities”. Paper streets are public rights of way designated as streets but were never developed as such. There are several paper streets in the City. Some of these are used for pedestrian passage but others are difficult to find or use and are often used for private uses. The Parks for People plan adopted in February 2015 specifies to update Future Land Use Maps to show paper streets as parks, open space or trails. Reclassifying paper streets as parks and open space on the future land use map would help to preserve these spaces for community benefit. The report also contained maps showing what uses could be made of several of the paper streets. The report will go to the Planning Commission for hearing and action on October 19th and to the City Council for hearing and action on November 9th.  c. Play Streets- Andrea Caumont presented her research on Play Streets. The CACT approved sending her request to the liaisons of the Planning Commission and the Recreation and Parks Advisory Board to present the Play Streets Program to these advisory groups to determine if there is interest in implementing a Play Streets program in the City. d. Neighborhood Pace Car Program- Jeff Sikes provided information on the Neighborhood Pace Car Program and shared the program brochures from Durham and Greensboro, NC. He indicated he had spoken with staff from WABA who have run this program for DDOT. The District uses the public school system to promote the Pace Car Program. WABA staff indicated the program did not work well in a large urban environment, but might work better in a suburban setting like the City. The CACT was encouraged by this comment and asked Jeff to pursue the Pace Car program information further. e. Memo to Mayor Tarter on Walk Friendly Community Designation- The CACT approved (6-0) to send the memo on Walk Friendly Designation to Mayor Tarter and the City Council supporting staff’s recommendation that the City not apply for Walk Friendly Community designation at this time, but move ahead with developing Pedestrian Friendly Design standards before applying for Walk Friendly Designation. 4. Neighborhood Traffic Calming (NTC) Update on Current Projects meeting. Jeff Sikes provided an update of the status of the current NTC projects: • Parker-Kent intersection: Contract awarded and construction to start September 16th and take 3-4 weeks to complete. Intersection to be repaved after concrete construction. Staff will organize a meeting with residents to alert them to timing and sequence of construction in early to mid-September. • Pennsylvania Avenue: survey work at the intersection of Pennsylvania Ave. and Fulton Ave. has been completed. The area in the curve was painted prior to the start of school. Staff met 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 installed the all-way stop signs at the intersection of Little Falls Street and West Columbia Street and refreshed pavement markings. • N. Maple Avenue: Data have been collected and project prioritization 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. • Great Falls Street- petition received from applicant; data to be collected in the fall. • S. Spring Street- Petition distributed to applicant in April, awaiting completion by neighborhood. • In October, staff will provide the CACT information and data for the selection of the next NTC project to be selected. Based upon the current workload, staff should be able to begin work with residents of the selected street in November.