Citizens Advisory Committee on Transportation

Citizens Advisory Committee on Transportation December 9, 2015- 7:00 pm-10 pm Meeting Minutes Attendance CACT Members Member Present City Staff Paul Baldino (Chair) Yes 1. Susan Bell 2. Paul Stoddard Hal Morgan (Vice-Chair) No 3. Jeff Sikes Bill Ackerman Yes Andrea Caumont Yes Doug Devereaux YES Addison Heard No Steve Knight Yes 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 November meeting 3. Committee members Reports 4. Staff Report 5. CACT 2015 Priorities a. Information Item: Play Streets-update b. Information Item: Pace Car Program-update 6. Action Item: Bicycle Parking- Comparison with other Jurisdictions 7. Action Item: CACT Annual Report to Council for 2015 a. 2015 accomplishments b. 2016 CACT priorities 8. Information Item: Winter Hill Residential Permit Parking Program 9. Correspondence and Comments to Council:  a. Memo to EDA Chair about Planning for Increased Transit Service in the City b. Article “The Future of Transportation and Mobility-An accelerating Change”,” Virginia Town and City” c. Memo to Mayor Tarter on the Reclassification of Paper Streets for Public Use in the City. 1. Public Comment: A resident of Grove Avenue commended on the Mason Row Project, expressing her disapproval, and indicted that traffic counters were placed at 2 locations on Grove Avenue to collect volume and speed data.. 2. Minutes Approval for the October 14th CACT Meeting: The minutes for the November 5th CACT meeting were approved by a vote of (5-0) with minor changes. 3. Committee Members Reports • Chairman Baldino reported that the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) has approved the I-66 Inside the Beltway project today at their Public Meeting in Alexandria. This will lead the way for dynamic tolling on I-66 inside the Beltway to begin in 2017. He also reported that a joint meeting of the CACT/EDA was scheduled for February 2 to discuss increased transit in the City (shuttle service) and asked members to identify other transportation topics for the meeting. • Andrea Caumont reported on the proposed Play Streets Program. She had presented the plan to the Recreation and Parks Advisory board in November and to the Planning Commission on December 7th. The incoming president of the Falls Church Elementary Parent Teacher Association (FCEPTA) has agreed to present the program to her board in January 2016 to determine how much support there is for such a program. • Bill Ackerman commented on traffic conditions around the Mt. Daniel School site. 4. Staff Report • Jeff Sikes also reported that the CTB had approved the I-66 Inside the Beltway project earlier in the day. Tolling and expanded HOV hours will begin in mid-2017. • Staff met with several neighbors on site at the intersection of Pennsylvania Ave. and Fulton Ave. to discuss the NTC project. The engineering study has indicated it not feasible to construct a raised crosswalk In the manner proposed by our consultant because of drainage issues. An alternative was shown that would construct a conventional at-grade crosswalk with ADA ramps and a speed table nearby. This may not be acceptable to adjacent residents. This issue will be brought to the CACT in January for discussion. [UPDATE: Working with DPW staff, I believe we  have resolved the issue and can design and construct a raised crosswalk at the original location and not get into the issue of changing the project scope or trying to find an acceptable location for a speed table]. • Staff met with the N. Maple Street working Group on November 19th to begin the planning effort. Several concepts/alternatives were discussed. The final plan will likely consist of a combination of light and heavy solutions. Staff will meet Working Group members on site on December 11 to walk the street to become more familiar with resident concerns and street conditions. • Staff indicated that traffic counts were being collected on Grove Avenue, Great Falls Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. Data should be available in early January. 5. CACT 2015 Priorities a. Play streets Program update: See previous report in the Committee Members Report section. b. Pace Car Program update: Staff reported that the City had obtained permission from WABA and DDOT to use the brochure and decal used in the DDOT program, with some attribution in the text that these were originally produced by WABA for DDOT. Staff is working with the Office of Communications to determine if a modified decal and brochure are appropriate. 6. Action Item: Bicycle Parking-Comparison with other Jurisdictions Susan Bell presented an updated version of her parking study with suggested changes to the current ordinance to reduce the parking ratios, particularly for office uses since surveys of commercial parking garages both in the City and neighboring jurisdictions show many spaces not being used. At a recent City Council meeting, bicycle parking, particularly the number of bicycle racks required of development was discussed and the Council recommended that more racks be provided than has been the standard for jurisdictions with highly-developed bicycle programs. The CACT voted (5-0) to recommend to Council approval of the proposed amendment to Chapter 48, Parking, pertaining to reductions in office and retail parking ratios; TDM plan requirements for special exceptions; parking garage design changes and increased parking space widths; conversion of parking spaces to specific alternative purposes; elimination of variances for parking; addition of bicycle parking and storage requirements with consideration that the minimum number of loops should be aligned with the requirements of exemplar jurisdictions ; and reduction in the length of off-site parking agreements. 7. Action Item: CACT Annual Report to Council for 2015 The CACT voted (5-0) to send the Annual report of accomplishments for 2015 and CACT priorities for 2016 to the City Council. The report will be presented to the City council at the January 11, 2016 Council Meeting. CACT members are invited to the presentation and a final version of the report will be sent to members prior to the meeting. 8. Information Item: Winter Hill Residential Permit Parking Proposal Jeff Sikes presented the residential permit parking program proposal for the winter Hill community. As a result of the occupancy of the West Broad Apartments at 301 West Broad Street, the winter Hill residents are concerned that new residents will want to park on neighborhood streets rather than pay a monthly fee to park in the garage. On-street parking supply is already limited because of the lack of off street parking. The parking restrict1on would be in effect from 9 pm to 6 am seven days per week. Staff has been working with the 2 HOA’s and rental apartments to craft a program responsive to residents. The draft proposal was presented to the community on December 16th. A parking decal would be issued to each resident with a vehicle registered in the City. Visitor passes would also be issued and for events requiring more than one visitor pass, extra visitor passes could be issued by going to the Police Department. The schedule calls for HOA input to be received by the end of January and staff will decide upon the pilot program by the end of February, with the goal of implementation by the middle of April.