Citizens Advisory Committee on Transportation

Citizens Advisory Committee on Transportation July 13, 2016- 7:00 pm- 9:40 pm Meeting Minutes Attendance CACT Members Member Present City Staff Paul Baldino (Chair) Yes 1. Stephanie Rogers 2. Jack Trainor Hal Morgan (Vice-Chair) Yes 3. Jeff Sikes Bill Ackerman Yes Andrea Caumont Yes Doug Devereaux Yes Addison Heard No Steve Knight Yes Liaisons Liaison Present Karen Oliver Yes (City Council) Russ Wodiska No (Planning Commission) Bhaskar Singhvi Yes (Youth Representative) Agenda 1. Public Comment 2. Minutes Approval- Action to approve minutes of the June 2016 CACT meeting 3. Committee Members Reports 4. Staff Reports 5. Discussion Item: CACT 2016 Priorities-tracking sheet 6. Action Item: Approval of Summer 2016 Bike Routes 7. Discussion Item: Walkability Survey-Final Edits to Survey Instrument 8. NTC Project Report: a. Pennsylvania Ave. b. N. Maple Ave. 9. Articles of Interest: a. Transportation Survey 1. Public Comment: A resident of Grove Ave. inquired as to when their street would be selected for traffic calming now that Pennsylvania Ave was under construction. 2. Minutes Approval for the March 2016 Meeting: The minutes for the June 2016 CACT were approved with no changes by a vote of (5-0). 3. Committee Members Reports • Chairman Baldino indicated that he attended a public meeting on June 14th on the recommended alternative for the Rt. 7 Transit alternatives project being proposed by NVTC. The recommended alternative is Bus Rapid transit (BRT) and the alignment would run from the Spring Hill Metrorail Station at Tysons to the Mark Center in Alexandria with a connection to EFC Metro. He also said he attended the Visioning session on June 18 where he heard speakers such as Roger Lewis (architecture critic) and Bob Wolf of GMU talk about the strengths and weaknesses that Falls Church faces to secure sustainable development. The visioning effort is an attempt to determine what residents want the City to be like in 25 years. Paul also announced he had been appointed to the NOVA Parks Board. Finally, Paul distributed an article on bicycle roadway markings that found the sign “Bicycles May Use the Full Lane” were more effective than “Share the Road” signage. • Andrea Caumont reported on the Play Streets event that took place on June 24th on Pine Street. She thanked Stephanie for her help with drafting Play Street guidelines and procedures. Stephanie showed the Play Streets banner that is displayed at Play Street events. • Bill Ackerman commented on the Streetscape Task Force. He attended the second meeting on June 12th and indicated the Task Force seems to be taking a long time to become organized and may not meet its goal to complete its work in the fall. He also mentioned the super fines being pursued by the Treasurer’s office. The Treasurer has estimated that $30,000 in extra fines could be realized if the ordinance is passed. He mentioned that the development project proposed for Broad and Spring Streets has been withdrawn. He also asked about the status of the re- establishing the 3T bus line. 4. Staff Report • Stephanie reported on the Spring Bike Routes project. With only around $20K in available funding, the contractors estimate came in at $80k. Staff will review the projects and select priority the routes that can be implemented with the amount of available funding. • Stephanie also reported that she had attended a meeting with Arlington County staff on a proposal to elevate the W&OD trail over Lee Highway at Fairfax Drive. She also indicated that  work had begun to reconstruct and repave Roosevelt Boulevard from Wilson Boulevard to Roosevelt Street. • Jeff reported that on June 27th Jack Evans, Chairman of the WMATA Board of Directors and Jack Requa, Acting WMATA COO made a presentation to City Council on the Metrorail safety projects and answered questions about WMATA. Several residents spoke about the loss of the 3T bus service as a direct connection to the EFC Metrorail station. As a result, the City has requested that this service be re-established and ask that it be put on the next Bus Route Hearing in the fall. • Jeff reported that DPW Director Mike Collins is leaving the City in mid-August to go to work at the Arlington County Dept. of Environmental Services. • Jeff reported that Bike Share will come to the City through a deal with Fairfax County. The County will advance $2M in federal funds for the capital costs to implement Bike Share in the City. More details will follow, but securing funding is very good news for us as the project was not likely to be funded by NVTA as part of the I-66 Multimodal Inside the Beltway projects. 5. Discussion Item: CACT 2016 Priorities Tracking Sheet: The 2016 Priorities Tracking Sheet has been updated to reflect recent activities. 6. Action Item: Approval of Summer 2016 Bike Routes: The CACT was informed of the Summer Bike Routes on Hillwood Ave and Roosevelt Blvd by intern Jack Trainor and Stephanie Rogers. The CACT recommended that buffered bike lanes be installed on Hillwood Ave (W Annandale to Douglass) and bike lanes on Hillwood Ave (Douglass to Cherry St). On Roosevelt Blvd bike lanes would be added as part of the reconstruction and repaving project from Wilson Blvd to Roosevelt St. A public meeting on the Summer Bike Routes will be held on August 3. 7. Discussion Item: Walkability Survey-Final Edits to Survey Instrument: The CACT made final edits to the Walkability Survey instrument. Stephanie stated the survey deserved wide circulation and posting on the city’s website. She offered a DPW intern to analyze and prepare the report. She plans to work with the City’s Office of Communications on a press release and communications strategy for the survey. 8. Project Report: Traffic Calming Projects Jeff reported that construction had begun on the Pennsylvania Ave traffic calming project. Construction should be complete at the end of the month. For N Maple Ave, the survey to determine support for the heavy solutions is being returned by residents. At this point, the survey is very close to reaching the required minimum of households to approve these measures. A final tally will be presented to the CACT at the August meeting.