Bicycle and Pedestrian Sub-Committee

City Hall City of Harrisonburg 409 South Main Street Harrisonburg, VA 22801 Meeting Minutes - Final Bicycle and Pedestrian Sub-Committee Marci Frederick Jessica Pyle Benjamin Craig Jenny Toth Dudley Bonsal Monday, January 25, 2021 6:00 PM Virtual 1. Call To Order The Bicycle & Pedestrian Subcommittee meeting on Monday, January 25, 2021 at 6:00pm was held using a GoToMeeting. The meeting was not held in person due to the state of emergency related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Subcommittee members attended by calling in using a phone or joining by audio/video on a computer. Information allowing members of the public to watch the meeting live was provided in the agenda and posted on the City website in the week prior to the meeting. Members of the public were given the opportunity to provide comments on the items discussed by phone or e-mail prior to the meeting. Mr. zumFelde opened the meeting and asked everyone to introduce themselves, so that all members knew who was on the call. Those present were the following. Subcommittee members: Marci Frederick, Jenny Toth, Jessica Pyle, Dudley Bonsal Staff: Tom Hartman (Public Works), Erin Yancey (Public Works), Jakob zumFelde (Public Works) Other attendees: Kyle Lawrence (Transportation Safety & Advisory Commission chair) 2. Follow up Items · N. Liberty reconfiguration between Rock St and Gay St Mr. zumFelde said that efforts were continuing regarding planning the reconfiguration of this block that had been discussed at a previous meeting. City of Harrisonburg Page 1 Printed on 4/6/2021 Bicycle and Pedestrian Meeting Minutes - Final January 25, 2021 Sub-Committee · Chicago Ave & Waterman Dr improvements Mr. zumFelde provided an update on the island that was created at this intersection. He said that staff plan to slightly reduce the size of the island in order to improve viewing angle for vehicles approaching this intersection, as this concern was discussed at a previous meeting. A minimum island width of 6’ will be maintained to ensure safety and comfort for people walking and biking who are stopped in the island. · Old Furnace Rd bicycle climbing lane Mr. zumFelde provided an update on the plans for improvements at this location. He said that the 34’ pavement width on the steepest part of the hill will allow for bike lanes in both direction on this segment. The westbound (uphill) bike lane will be 6’ wide and the eastbound bike lane will be a 4’ bike lane. Mr. Hartman added that VDOT will be implementing this change as part of the Smithland Rd Bridge detour traffic plan, which he indicated may be implemented in the fall or winter of 2021. Ms. Pyle said that she thought the bike lanes would be beneficial and that she would encourage staff to pursue implementing bike lanes between Vine St and this location. Mr. zumFelde said that staff will have this in mind, as some segments between Vine St and this location do have adequate width for bike lanes already, but additional funding would be necessary to create the bike lanes along the whole segment. Mr. Lawrence asked about the speed limit on Old Furnace Rd at this location, which is 45 miles per hour. Mr. Hartman provided context about speed limits on adjacent road segments, and said that staff are working to lower the speed limit on the Smithland Rd bridge segment to 40mph. But he said that the 85th percentile on Old Furnace Rd is considerably higher, around 50mph, which he said would indicate that a speed limit lower than 45mph would not be appropriate. Mr. Lawrence said that he doesn’t see the eastbound, downhill, bike lane as being particularly beneficial since it ends at a location where people biking will then have to merge with vehicles. Mr. Lawrence expressed a desire to have a buffered uphill bike lane in place of the downhill bike lane. Mr. Hartman and Mr. zumFelde said that a variable width buffer could be provided, but that staff see more benefit from the eastbound bike lane. Mr. Harman said that staff would review Mr. Lawrence’s concerns and consider potential changes. Ms. Yancey asked if anyone was aware of best practices for bike lane ending merge treatments. She said that a green pavement treatment could improve City of Harrisonburg Page 2 Printed on 4/6/2021 Bicycle and Pedestrian Meeting Minutes - Final January 25, 2021 Sub-Committee safety for where the bike lane ends east of Oriole Lane. · Port Republic Rd and Bluestone Dr/Hillside Ave intersection Ms. Yancey provided an update on the Small Area Study that has been ongoing to study improvements at the intersection of Port Republic Rd and Bluestone Dr/Hillside Ave. She said that the study initially evaluated a bridge concept, but determined that that was too expensive and would not likely be desirable for people walking. She said a second concept has been developed and will be presented in early March for online public engagement. · Garbers Church Rd Shared Use Path Naming Mr. Hartman said that staff have reviewed the name ideas submitted by the public, as well as other name ideas that staff have created. City staff are continuing to review the names prior to asking for the public to state their preference on the ideas. Following public input, City Council will choose a name for the path. 3. 2021 Meeting Schedule Mr. zumFelde listed the proposed meeting dates for 2021. No Subcommittee members had concerns with the proposed schedule. 4. Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Applications Mr. zumFelde said that the City receives CDBG funding each year for projects that primarily benefit Low- and Moderate- Income (LMI) persons. He said that staff are only beginning to identify projects that could be submitted for CDBG funding. He said the main project being considered would provide sidewalk along the west side of N. Main St between Charles St and the Community Services Board site. Ms. Yancey added that the Wolfe St sidewalk safety improvements which have been discussed previous with the Subcommittee, located near Restless Moons Brewery, could also be submitted as an application. 5. Pedestrian Signals at Intersections Mr. zumFelde said that staff have been working with consultants on signal timing on multiple corridors. For the High St, S. Main St, and Port Republic Rd corridors, staff have identified improvements to pedestrian signal operations on these corridors. Mr. zumFelde explained a few concepts, including pedestrian recall, “rest in walk”, and “leading pedestrian interval”. City of Harrisonburg Page 3 Printed on 4/6/2021 Bicycle and Pedestrian Meeting Minutes - Final January 25, 2021 Sub-Committee He said that the benefits of having signals programmed with pedestrian recall and “rest in walk” include reduced delay for pedestrians and likely increased compliance with pedestrian signals. He said that the only potential concern that staff have identified is that people walking may be less attentive to vehicles than they would be if they had to press the pedestrian button before getting the walk sign. Mr. zumFelde then explained the criteria staff used to determine which intersections were changed to have pedestrian recall and “rest in walk”. In looking at the Main St and Bluestone Dr intersection, he said that recall and “rest in walk” was not added across the major roads, such as Main St. But it was added at many locations, such as Bluestone Dr at this location. Mr. Lawrence asked if the countdown time was changed with the planned changes. Mr. zumFelde explained that the changes will increase the amount of ‘walk’ time by reducing the amount of ‘don’t walk’ time and will not impact the countdown time. As a second example, Mr. zumFelde showed the High St and W. Market St intersection. He said that recall and “rest in walk” was added for the east side of the intersection. But he said that the geometry associated with the crosswalk on the west side of the intersection, combined with the number of vehicles turning right at this location, led staff to decide that it would be preferable to not implement recall and “rest in walk” for this crosswalk. 6. Project Updates - see attachment Ms. Toth asked whether the Dogwood Dr sidewalk will be completed this summer, or whether that could change as a result of Sunset Heights traffic calming efforts. Ms. Yancey and Mr. Hartman said that construction of the sidewalk is independent of the traffic calming efforts and will be completed this year. 7. Announcements/Other Business Mr. zumFelde gave an update on SMART SCALE project applications. He said that 5 of the City’s 7 applications have been recommended for funding, with final decisions being made by the Virginia Commonwealth Transportation Board in June. He listed the 5 projects as the N. Main St sidewalk project, the Port Republic Rd and Bluestone Dr turn lane extension project that includes a block of sidewalk on Port Republic Rd, the project that adds a traffic signal at Port Republic Rd & Bradley and associated improvements on the corridor, the S. Main St median and sidewalk project between Mosby Rd and Stone City of Harrisonburg Page 4 Printed on 4/6/2021 Bicycle and Pedestrian Meeting Minutes - Final January 25, 2021 Sub-Committee Spring Rd, and the S. Main St improvements at I-81 Exit 243 which includes a segment of sidewalk along the west side of the road. Mr. zumFelde said that this means that the Bluestone Trail Extension and the Pear St & Erickson intersection improvements projects are not recommended for funding. [Editor’s note: detailed project descriptions are available in the April 2020 TSAC agenda.] There was some additional discussion about potential funding opportunities for the Bluestone Trail Extension. Mr. Hartman provided a brief update on the Downtown Master Plan. He said that the consultants who have been selected are Interface Studio, a planning consulting firm, working with local partners including Monteverde Engineering & Design Studio. He said that the consulting team is reviewing past efforts and plans, and preparing a visit to Harrisonburg as well as interviews and other efforts related to the planning process. Mr. Hartman said that the public outreach efforts will depend on what is safe and feasible to do this summer. Mr. Lawrence said that he had been approached by a community member who indicated concern about Chesapeake Ave between Bruce St and Grace St where there is limited delineation between the public road, where people walk and bike, and the private property including Monger Lumber. Mr. Hartman said that staff would look at the Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan, and that improvements to Chesapeake Ave could be considered as part of the Downtown Master Plan. 8. Adjournment Next Meeting: March 22, 2021 @ 6pm City of Harrisonburg Page 5 Printed on 4/6/2021