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 Stephanie West Monday, January 24, 2022 6:00 PM Virtual 1. Welcome and Introductions This meeting was held virtually and was attended by Bicycle and Pedestrian Subcommittee members Marci Frederick, Jessica Pyle, Benjamin Craig, Jenny Toth, Dudley Bonsal, and Stephanie West. This was the first meeting with Stephanie West as a member of the subcommittee. Also in attendance for the meeting were Tom Hartman, Erin Yancey, Jakob zumFelde, and Timothy Mason representing the Public Works Department and Kyle Lawrence from the Transportation Safety & Advisory Commission. The Subcommittee also reviewed the meeting schedule for the year, which included 7 meetings. The proposed schedule included six Bike-Ped meetings and one joint meeting with TSAC, scheduled for February 28 to review the city’s SMART SCALE applications. 2. Election of Chair Jenny Toth made a motion to elect Dudley Bonsal to the position, Marci Frederick seconded the motion, and it was approved unanimously. 3. Evaluation of Potential Roadway Reconfigurations Jakob zumFelde provided information about evaluations being completed regarding potential reconfigurations of portions of Gay St and Mt Clinton Pike. As part of a VDOT funded study, consultants are looking into the traffic volume, turning movements at intersections and historical crash data for City of Harrisonburg Page 1 Printed on 7/31/2023 Bicycle and Pedestrian Meeting Minutes - Final January 24, 2022 Sub-Committee various road segments. The study is to identify if the corridors could be reconfigured to create bike lanes as well as a center turn lane in place of an undivided four-lane roadway. The consultants will provide the City with their findings and projections. Members of the subcommittee raised the question of whether the bike lanes could be protected along the corridors using medians or bollards. Public Works staff agreed that it would be worth evaluating, although there are concerns regarding the drainage and snow removal, as well as the road width requirements of fully separating the bike lanes from the vehicle travel way. 4. S. Mason St crosswalk safety Public Works staff asked the committee for input on the conditions of the South Mason Street crosswalks, as several residents had brought up safety concerns in the area. Ben Craig noted that he had concerns about sight distance for drivers, as it causes them to encroach onto crosswalks and into the path of bikes. Other members of the subcommittee asked about pedestrian volumes and requirements for improvements to the intersection. Public Works responded with information about VDOT standards for intersection improvements, including crosswalks, and notified the members of plans to take pedestrian counts for the corridor. 5. Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Funding Jakob zumFelde explained the projects being considered as applications for Community Development Block Grants for sidewalk construction. The locations being considered are on Commerce Drive, W Wolfe Street, Sterling Street and Vine Street. 6. Project Updates - see attachment Public Works offered updates on projects that had previously been presented to the Subcommittee. 7. Announcements/Other Business Subcommittee members offered questions regarding the city’s snow removal process, noting that many sidewalks are unwalkable due to snow City of Harrisonburg Page 2 Printed on 7/31/2023 Bicycle and Pedestrian Meeting Minutes - Final January 24, 2022 Sub-Committee build up. They noted that despite the high volume of snow fall and the long period of freezing temperatures, there should be a plan for the city to clear sidewalks and bike lanes. The response from Public Works Director Tom Hartman is that he understands the public frustration. He added that the plan usually is to get the snow off the roads and designated high priority sidewalks as quickly as possible and, in the case of lingering cold weather, to clear lower priority sidewalks as well. One problem that he pointed out was that understaffing and a surge of the COVID-19 virus through the Department (the reason for the meeting being virtual) is making it difficult to stay ahead of each new storm, which deposits higher amounts of snow. He clarified that the department is still working to clear what they can, however there are many instances of snow piling up where the department is not in a position to clear it. In most of these cases, it is the responsibility of the business or homeowner it fronts, so the department has to first notify them of violation and give them 48 hours to comply before removing the snow. He advised the subcommittee members and the public to notify both the business and Public Works so that the process can be started as quickly as possible. City of Harrisonburg Page 3 Printed on 7/31/2023