Citizens Advisory Committee on Transportation

Citizens Advisory Committee on Transportation November 14, - 7:00 pm- 10:15 pm 300 Park Ave-Oak Room Draft Meeting Minutes Attendance CACT Members Member Present City Staff Andrea Caumont, Chair Yes Jeffrey Sikes Paul Baldino, Yes Bill Ackerman Yes Others in attendance: Doug Devereaux Yes Phil Duncan Addison Heard No Shaun Dakin No Dave Gustafson, Vice Chair Yes Liaisons Liaison Present David Snyder No (City Council) Melissa Teates No (Planning Commission) Sarah Fong Yes (Youth Representative) Agenda 1. Public Comment 2. Action Item: Approval of October 2019 Minutes 3. Committee Member Reports 4. Staff Reports 5. Information Item: CACT 2019 Priority Tracking Sheet 6. Discussion Item: Bike/pedestrian connection between West End Park and MEHMS/GMHS 7. Action Item: Letter to Council Recommending the use of surplus local funds for NTC projects in the queue  8. Information Item: Scooter Policy update 9. Action Item: Letter to Council on scooters 10. Information Item: W Annandale Rd/Gundry Dr NTC Project 11. Information Item: Great Falls/Little Falls NTC Project 12. Information Item: “DC residents weigh in on future of e -scooters in the Nation’s Capital”, Washington Post 13. Information item: “NTSB wants Mandatory Helmet Laws” 14. Information Item: “Separated bike Lanes” 1. Public Comment: Two residents of W Marshall Street asked for additional traffic calming measures for the street. Pamela Houghtaling, a driver safety instructor with AARP attended the meeting to observe and to learn about the issues that come before the CACT. She is a City resident and teaches driver safety classes for seniors at the Community Center. Her next classes are scheduled for March 2020. 2. Action Item: Approval of Minutes for October 2019: The minutes for October had not been completed by staff. 3. Committee Member Reports: Andrea reported that the Pace Car Program had made some progress. We will need to revise the brochure. Final product likely to be a brochure and magnet. Paul reported that the Arlington Board will be considering a 2 mile long dual W&OD trail expansion in Arlington at its next Board meeting. Doug commented on his recent trip to Boise where he observed scooters on sidewalks and their version of a Pace car program. Dave commented that he intends to reach out to the EDA on the Way Finding Program consultant. He also mentioned that construction had now resumed on the bike parking at EFC metro. 4. Staff Reports: Since many of the items on the agenda would be included in the staff report , there was no staff report. 5. Information Item: CACT 2019 Priority Tracking Sheet: The Priority tracking sheet was updated to reflect changes to the Pace Car program status and Scooter Policy. 6. Discussion Item: Bike-Ped Connection Between West End Park and MEHMS/GMHS: Andrea shared with the committee a proposal for a more direct bike/pedestrian connection from the W&OD Trail via West End Park to MEHMS/GMHS. The route would involve public streets and private property. The route would begin where the W&OD trail connects to West End Park, travel over the gravel lot to Falls Ave, follow Offutt Drive to Birch Street, cross Birch Street and use the alley behind the Giant Food shopping center to reach Haycock Road and the connection to the schools. This would be a long-term project and is included in the Small Area Plan for this area. 7. Action Item: Letter to Council Recommending the use of Surplus Local funds for NTC Projects in the Queue: The CACT has taken a position that a substantial portion of the local surplus funds (part of the $2.4 million) should be used to implement traffic calming projects currently active or in the “queue” awaiting selection. The proposal would concur with the City Manager’s proposal to use some of the surplus to fund an active project, and implement solution for projects which have qualified, but not yet been selected for implementation. Another set of projects in the part of the City where the streets intersect Rt. 29 would also have measures implements in a neighborhood wide approach. Funding for these projects would come from the federal grant. Staff will develop cost estimates for these projects. The CACT letter proposes that a substantial sum of the surplus be dedicated to the NTC program. A budget amendment is scheduled for Council consideration in January 2020. The letter was forwarded to the City Manager and Council and is included in this packet. 8. Information Item: Scooter Policy Update: The latest Staff Report on Scoter Policy dated November 12, 2019 was provided to the Committee. This report has a different recommendation compared to earlier versions. The latest staff recommendation now supports no riding of scooters on City sidewalks with the exception of sidewalks adjacent to Rt. 7 and Rt. 29. 9. Action Item: Letter to Council on Scooters: The CACT voted 5-0 to send a letter to Council indicating their strong support to allow scooters on sidewalks, but requiring scooter riders to not exceed 6 mph and requiring them to yield to pedestrians. This was the original staff recommendation previously presented to  Council. The letter was forwarded to the Council and City Manager and is included in this packet. 10. Information Item: W Annandale Rd/Gundry Dr NTC Project Jeff reported on the status of the active NTC project on W Annandale Road and Gundry Drive. A concept plan for the intersection improvements was provided to the CACT. Staff plans to implement this project this calendar year, weather permitting. The concept plan was approved by the Winter Hill HOA and presented to residents at their October HOA meeting. Estimated cost for the project is $150,000. 11. Information item: Great Falls/Little Falls NTC Project: Jeff reported on another active NTC project: Little Falls and Great Falls Streets. A Working Group meeting was held on November 7th and the group was presented a refined concept plan for the project. Copies of the plan were also in the CACT materials packet. The Working Group voted to approve the concept plan, with the next step to hold a public meeting of residents in the study area. This will be held in January and then a petition seeking 67 percent approval will be circulated. If approved, construction could happen in summer 2020. Funding for the project would likely come from surplus local funds. 12. Information Item: “DC residents weigh in on future of e- scooters in the nation’s capital” 13. Information Item: “NTSB wants mandatory helmet laws” 14. Information Item: “Separated Bike Lanes”