Citizens Advisory Committee on Transportation

Citizens Advisory Committee on Transportation November 5th, 2015- 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm Meeting Minutes Attendance CACT Members Member Present City Staff Paul Baldino (Chair) Yes 1. Stephanie Rogers 2. Jeff Sikes Hal Morgan (Vice-Chair) Yes Bill Ackerman Yes Andrea Caumont Yes Doug Devereaux YES Addison Heard Yes Steve Knight No Liaisons Liaison Present Karen Oliver Yes (City Council) Russ Wodiska No (Planning Commission) Ian Reusch No (Youth Representative) Agenda 1. Public Comment 2. Minutes Approval- Action to approve minutes of October meeting 3. Discussion Item: NTC Project Selection process 4. CACT 2015 Priorities a. Information Item: Play Streets-update b. Information Item: Pace Car Program-update c. Information Item: Pedestrian Friendly Design Standards-Planning Principles 5. Discussion Item: CACT Priorities for 2016 6. Correspondence and Comments to Council a. Memo to Mayor Tarter- CACT Comments and recommendations on the Mason Row Project  1. Public Comment: There were no speakers for Public Comment. 2. Minutes Approval for the October 14th CACT Meeting: The minutes for the October 14th CACT meeting were approved by a vote of (6-0) with minor changes. 3. NTC Project selection process review: Jeff Sikes reviewed the selection of the N. Maple street NTC project at the October 14th CACT meeting. Although staff had recommended the selection of Little Falls Street as the new project, the CACT voted 7-0 to select N. Maple Ave. based on factors such as speed, volume and neighborhood density rather than the risk of pedestrian accident. This has caused some confusion with staff and a discussion began as how to provide weight to other factors such as speed, volume and street design deficiencies. The NTC guide is not clear as to how these factors are to be used to prioritize project selection. In addition, other ambiguities are also present. For example, • The working group is not defined as to composition or how selected • Additional factors should be considered for case prioritization such as pedestrian volumes, neighborhood density and lack of sidewalks • What is the role of the Working group? • Is the CACT the proper body to determine whether light or heavy solutions are the most appropriate for a particular case or is this a staff function? Staff was asked to develop refinements to the process and report back to the CACT with these refinements. These will be clarifications to the existing guidelines and not a revision to the NTC Guide requiring Council action. 4. CACT 2015 Priorities: a. Play Streets update: Andrea reported that she had made a presentation on a potential Play Streets Program to the Recreation and Parks Advisory Board on November 4th and that it was well received. A presentation to the Planning Commission is scheduled for December 7th. b. Pace Car program Update: Jeff reported that he had spoken with the former program manager for the District of Columbia Department of Transportation concerning the Pace Car Program,  which is a part of their Safe Routes to school program. He obtained a copy of the program brochure from WABA and will continue to pursue information about the program. It may be possible to pay WABA to modify the brochure for Falls Church by removing reference to DDOT. A copy of the brochure will be provided to CACT members in the December meeting packet. c. Pedestrian Friendly Design Standards-Planning Principles: Jeff Sikes reported on the progress to date on the Pedestrian Friendly design standards project. He reported that a literature review/search had been completed and that planning staff had met to discuss the findings and planning principles that could apply to the City in the development of pedestrian and street design standards. The next step will be to present theses principles to staff from DPW and EDA for their input. The memo laying out the work plan was provided in the meeting packet. 5. CACT Annual Report for 2015 and 2016 Priorities: Chairman Baldino had prepared a draft of the annual report to the City Council summarizing the accomplishments and priorities of the CACT for 2015, and began to develop a list of priorities for 2016. Accomplishments for 2015 included the adoption of a new Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program, the administration of two traffic calming projects, W&OD trail projects, plan reviews Bike to Work Day and Mason Row transportation comments. Preliminary priorities for 2016 include Pedestrian Friendly Design Standards as a precursor to walk friendly Community designation, joint work session with EDA and a walkability and bikeability survey of the City. A revised draft will be reviewed by the CACT on December 9th with the intent that the CACT will approve sending the report on to the City Council.