City Council Agenda

CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION AGENDA February 10, 2020, at 7:00 p.m. City Hall Council Chambers, 201 First Avenue East A. CALL TO ORDER B. DISCUSSION ITEMS 1. Legislative Update from Representative Frank Garner 2. Woodland Park Waterfowl Management – Restoring Back to Nature 3. Core Area Trail and Complete Street Update C. PUBLIC COMMENT Persons wishing to address the council are asked to do so at this time. Those addressing the council are requested to give their name and address for the record. Please limit comments to three minutes. D. CITY MANAGER, COUNCIL, AND MAYOR REPORTS E. ADJOURNMENT UPCOMING SCHEDULE / FOR YOUR INFORMATION City Offices Closed – February 17, 2020 – Presidents’ Day Next Regular Meeting – TUESDAY, February 18, 2020, at 7:00 p.m. – Council Chambers Next Work Session – February 24, 2020, at 7:00 p.m. – Council Chambers Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to attend this meeting. Please notify the City Clerk at 758-7756. Page 1 of 1  City of Kalispell Post Office Box 1997 - Kalispell, Montana 59903-1997 Telephone (406) 758-7700 Fax - (406) 758-7758 MEMORANDUM To: Honorable Mayor Johnson and City Council From: Doug Russell, City Manager Re: Legislative Update from Representative Frank Garner Meeting Date: February 10, 2020 BACKGROUND: The Montana Legislature recently held a “Legislative Week”, described on their respective website as follows: “The Legislative Council and the Legislative Finance Committee sponsored a Legislative Week when all legislators were invited to get together and receive training. Tuesday and Wednesday were scheduled for all legislators to attend training sessions. Many interim committees met Monday, Wednesday afternoon, Thursday, and Friday which provided an opportunity for legislators that are not on the committees to attend. The purpose was to bring legislators together to “cross-pollinate” and provide opportunities to receive some additional training and share information. It is also being held in conjunction with the study in Senate Bill No. 310 that is looking into annual sessions and this was a chance to meet in January 2020 as a small way to try on meeting every year.” Representative Garner, House District 7, attended the Legislative Week and will be present at the meeting to discuss the week, legislative trends, and anticipated areas of importance for the next legislative session. ATTACHMENTS: 2018 Legislative Priorities  City of Kalispell Montana Legislative Priorities November 2018 The City of Kalispell is supportive of efforts to improve financial options related to all areas of municipal operations where local control and decision- making can be effectively applied. While this list of priorities does not single out any specific proposed bill, in general the City of Kalispell has identified these areas of policy interest. Local Option Sales Tax: The City of Kalispell supports legislation that would provide local communities the option of enacting a voter approved sales tax ( or increasing the population limit of the current resort tax) within municipal limits that would provide an opportunity to maintain infrastructure and services for our community that is impacted by a large number of people that do not reside within the City of Kalispell. Tax Increment Financing: The City of Kalispell supports existing or more expansive legislation that provides municipalities the opportunity to use Tax Increment Districts as part of an Effective Economic Development Strategy, and opposes legislation that would limit the effectiveness of the options currently present in state statutes. Special District Legislation: The City of Kalispell supports legislation enhancing the opportunity for the creation of special districts. The City of Kalispell feels the current requirements place unnecessary financial and procedural burdens on special district creation. Environmental Quality: The City of Kalispell supports legislation that would mitigate the economic impacts of the unfunded liability caused by increased regulatory standards on municipal operations such as water production, wastewater treatment, solid waste, and storm water management. Public Infrastructure Assistance: The City of Kalispell supports legislation that would assist in the local infrastructure costs associated with our rapid growth. The City of Kalispell also opposes legislation that decreases or removes current revenue streams. Service Delivery: The City of Kalispell supports legislation that enhances the opportunities for expanding service delivery options throughout all areas of municipal operations, including revising legislation that limits the options available to communities to take advantage of alternative and innovative service delivery methods.  Parks and Recreation Department st 306 1 Avenue East PO Box 1997 Kalispell, MT 59903 Phone: 406-758-7849, Fax: 406-758-7719 www.kalispell.com / Parks-Recreation TO: Doug Russell, City Manager FROM: Chad Fincher, Parks and Recreation Director SUBJECT: Restoring Back to Nature – Woodland Park MEETING DATE: February 10, 2020 Woodland Park pond has increasingly become a topic of negative conversation over the years for the public due to degraded pond health, the amount of waterfowl feces and the aggressiveness of the waterfowl towards the public. Over the last couple years, we have looked at options to address the publics concerns. Attached is an outline of the history, problems with the current waterfowl population, objectives and potential solutions and methods that could be utilized to address the overpopulation and other impacts resulting from the waterfowl. We have also met with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks to discuss the problems and potential solutions. Through meetings with MFWP, a preferred solution was identified by a wildlife biologist as the population of domestics in the park can have adverse effects to migratory waterfowl. Currently, the only managing of the waterfowl we have done is to promote only feeding healthy alternatives to bread and not feeding of waterfowl in the roadway. At the meeting, it is recommended that council review and discuss the effects of overpopulation of waterfowl at Woodland Park and possible solutions. ATTACHMENTS: Restoring Back to Nature Woodland Park Report  Kalispell Parks & Recreation 306 1st Ave E. P.O. Box 1997 Kalispell, Montana 59903-1997 (406) 758-7715 Fax (406) 758-7719 Restoring Back to Nature Woodland Park Waterfowl Population Reduction History and Facts: Woodland Park is a historical park that was donated to the City of Kalispell from the Conrad Family. The pond is fed by natural springs and through an artesian well. Water flows from the pond through a 10-inch pipe towards the backwater area below Woodland Avenue. The pond is 3’ at its deepest. Since the donation of Woodland Park to the City, the pond has been a community gathering spot to feed waterfowl. Lacking any natural predators, the pond is a haven for both migratory and domestic waterfowl. Problems: The overpopulation of geese and ducks (both non-native domestic and native migratory) has created common issues for the community such as; degraded pond health, wildlife-human conflicts, accumulation of feces on pavement and trails, over grazing of landscape vegetation, safety hazards for vehicles, and increased potential disease outbreaks in waterfowl (Fish Wildlife and Parks Region 1). Public Feeding: Feeding waterfowl and other birds can be a popular pastime for some people and is a major cause of high urban bird populations, especially when natural food sources are in short supply. However, migratory waterfowl do not need handouts to exist. Feeding of the waterfowl has compounding issues. • Bread, chips, crackers, popcorn or other processed foods provide little nutritional value to waterfowl and can result in angel wing and other deformities. • Artificial food sources can attract large congregations of ducks and geese to areas that wouldn't normally support them. The resulting high density of birds at artificial feeding sites like Woodland Park result in stressful competition among birds. • The artificial feeding of waterfowl has also resulted in an increase in the number of gulls at Woodland Park. They have become a secondary nuisance due to their numbers increasing and their feces being more prevalent in the park. • Increased concentration of feces poses health risks on land and in the pond. Overcrowding and unsanitary conditions increases that risk. • Artificial feeding has been known to alter or even eliminate migration patterns of waterfowl. Migratory birds can become reluctant to leave a reliable food source despite the onset of winter, and then struggle to survive as temperatures falls.  • Feeding waterfowl encourages them to congregate in an area and may make geese more aggressive toward people. (Smith, Craven, Curtis 1998) • Food that is not readily eaten by waterfowl can contribute to increased pond nutrient load, which can trigger algae blooms. Food remaining on land decomposes, is unsightly and a potential disease vector. Bread that is contaminated with mold can result in additional disease issues. Steve Carr professor at Canada's Memorial University has stated the following about mold and bread - "The second thing is, a lot of people will bring down bread that has gone bad. And when it goes bad, it has that little green mold in it, and that mold actually causes specific diseases in ducks. It causes lung diseases, so it's not just nutritionally bad — it can just kill them outright." Population: The current over-population of birds results in several issues: • Interbreeding is occurring between domestics and migratory waterfowl. Interbreeding can threaten the genetic diversity of wild species and their conservation. Hybridization is occurring in Woodland Park. • Domestic and Migratory Bird disease spreading – the chances of disease occurring, and spreading is greatly increased in a population where wild birds are not encouraged to migrate and are allowed to cohabitate and breed with domestic birds. • Public dumping of exotic nonnative species is increasing. Typically, after Easter, there is an increase in the abandonment of domestic waterfowl, rabbits and chickens at the park. Unfortunately, this trend is increasing.  Domestic Muscovy duck recently spotted at Woodland Park. Conflicts with park users: The overpopulation of waterfowl at Woodland Park has resulted in increasing conflicts with park users: • The most common complaint by park users is the large quantities of duck and geese feces throughout the park, including in the expensive engineered fall surface wood chips and sidewalks surrounding playgrounds. Not only is it visually unappealing, high concentrations of feces can spread disease. • Waterfowl congregate in large numbers near the playground, walking trails and the pond in anticipation of food. Feeding waterfowl can make waterfowl more aggressive toward people. • While fishing is not encouraged at Woodland Park, a few anglers utilize the pond, and waterfowl are often injured by fishing hooks and lines. Objective: To reduce the impacts of domestic waterfowl on the park, pond, park users and diminish diseases spread to migratory waterfowl. Population Control Methods: Eliminate/Reduce Public Feeding Pros: Cons: • Reduce the chances of waterfowl being • Public has historically fed waterfowl as fed foods with little nutrient value and a pastime in the park. There may be contribute to diseases such as angel wing pushback as some may view it as a and other deformities. historical use. • Reduce concentrated feeding as it often • To enforce a no-feeding rule, a new leads to aggressiveness in waterfowl. ordinance would need to adopted. • Reduce the secondary issue of gulls in the • Could be difficult to enforce due to park. limited resources available and the • Reduce artificial feeding to promote hours the park is open. normal migration. • Reduce pond water quality issues (nutrient loading) from excess feed and feces. Capture and Euthanization Pros: Cons: • Immediate reduction of the population of • These measures are subject to public waterfowl at the park by culling domestic criticism and opposition. waterfowl. • Roundups and euthanization have been • Remedies waterfowl damage. criticized as inhumane. • Remedies high concentrations of feces. •  Addling (Oiling) Goose egg addling is a wildlife management method of population control for waterfowl. The process of addling involves temporarily removing fertilized eggs from the nest, testing for embryo development, terminating embryo development, and placing the egg back in the nest. Returning the egg to the nest misleads the goose into believing the egg is still developing. Otherwise, the goose would begin laying again. Pros: Cons: • Allows waterfowl to still go through their • Would need permission and a permit nesting process. from US Fish and Wildlife Service as • Park users would see a gradual decline in there are migratory birds that may be the waterfowl population through attrition. affected. (No permits needed for domestics) • Labor intensive as you need a team to do this effectively. (Herders, Egg handlers, data collection and oilers) Would need to test each egg 14 Day incubation period float) • It would take several years of dedication to this plan to start to see a decline. Egging (Removal) Pros: Cons: • Frees adult geese from tending flightless • Would need permission and a permit goslings, so they can be encouraged to from US Fish and Wildlife Service as move elsewhere. there are migratory birds that maybe • Park users would see a gradual decline in affected. (No permits needed for the waterfowl population through attrition. domestics) • Labor intensive as you need a team to do this effectively. (Herders, Egg handlers, data collection and oilers) • It would take several years of dedication to this plan to start to see a decline.  Beacons Pros: Cons: • Non-intrusive or disruptive. • Will only work on Canadian geese. • Park users would see a gradual decline in The light disrupts their sleeping the waterfowl population as geese would patterns to which an alternative habitat look for other habitats. is looked for. Domestic geese are structurally different making it difficult for them to fly any distances. • Ducks wouldn’t be affected by the flashing beacons either. Consultants: Area experts provided insights and solutions. • On July 17, 2019, we met with Rocky Mountain Wildlife Services to discuss our issue of over population and ideas they might have to mitigate the over population. Through the course of conversation, we discussed the potential solutions outlined above and practicality of them. Another potential solution was offered during this conversation of removing waterfowl from the site completely. • To follow up with our meeting with Rocky Mountain Wildlife Services, we met with Fish Wildlife and Parks to discuss the waterfowl at Woodland Park. On August 7, 2019, we met with information and education program manager and a wildlife biologist from Region One. The wildlife biologist has dealt with urban waterfowl issues such as ours and provided insight from a wildlife biologist perspective. Since this meeting, Fish, Wildlife and Parks has agreed to be an active partner. Preferable Method/Solution: Fish, Wildlife and Parks along with Kalispell Parks and Recreation assembled the following proposal. • Phased approach (Title of the project: restoring back to nature) o Public Process (Open house/workshop/Council Meeting) o Newsletter, Facebook Posts of not feeding waterfowl, water quality, hybridization o Informative signs placed around the pond to discourage feeding and stop introduction of domestic waterfowl or other poultry. o Look for other Partners to support the process and educate the public. ▪ Local sporting and Audubon groups o Remove domestics from Woodland Park through Capture and Euthanization. FWP would perform this process with staff providing assistance. o After project “Restoring Back to Nature”, it would be the City of Kalispell’s policy to remove immediately any domestics that maybe introduced to the park. Restoring Back to Nature Proposed Time Frame (Tentative) Participants Action Date Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks Discussion of issues and potential 19-Aug-19 & KPR solutions, partners and mutual benefits City Council Work Session Discussion of issues and potential 10-Feb-20 solutions Kalispell Parks and Recreation & Public education of the issues 19-Feb-20 FWP Kalispell Parks and Recreation & Open House - Public input 26-Feb-20 FWP City Council Meeting Provide public feedback and seek 16-Mar-20 Council recommendation Kalispell Parks and Recreation & Install informative signs around park 6-Apr-20 FWP Kalispell Parks and Recreation & FWP works with KPR on removal May - June 2020 FWP efforts  Planning Department 201 1st Avenue East Kalispell, MT 59901 Phone: (406) 758-7940 Fax: (406) 758-7739 www.kalispell.com/planning MEMORANDUM REPORT TO: Doug Russell, City Manager FROM: Katharine King, Assistant Director of Community Development MEETING DATE: February 10, 2020 (Work Session) SUBJECT: Core Area Trail and Complete Street Update BACKGROUND: The City of Kalispell was awarded an USDOT TIGER grant in 2015 for the purpose of building a new industrial rail park between Whitefish Stage Road and Highway 2 East at the former McElroy and Wilken gravel pit site. With the rail park constructed and Kalispell’s last two rail served businesses relocated to this site the original rail line running through the City is no longer in service. The second phase of the TIGER project is the design and construction of a linear park/trail utilizing the BNSF right of way running approximately 1.6 miles through the City from the west side of Meridian Street to the north side of the rail overpass bridge at Highway 2 East. The purpose of this City Council Work Session presentation is to provide an update on the project progress, expected timeline and trail/park naming. RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended that City Council direct staff with further input on the project. FISCAL EFFECTS: Consideration of the Core Area Trail and Complete Street update information would have minimal fiscal impact to the City at this time. ALTERNATIVES: City Council could direct staff to modify proposed work. ATTACHMENT: Kalispell Trail Hwy 93 PHB Analysis Memo Link to Kalispell Trail and Complete Street 30% Design c: Aimee Brunckhorst, Kalispell City Clerk  MEMORANDUM www.altaplanning.com To: Julie Wotring, P.E., Montana Department of Transportation From: Joe Gilpin, Matt Fralick P.E., Alta Planning + Design Date: January 30, 2020 Re: Kalispell, MT Trail and Complete Street TIGER Project Background: The Kalispell Trail will become a transformative project for the City, generating a wide variety of benefits for area businesses and residents alike. To make the trail as welcoming as possible, a safe crossing of Main Street (Highway 93) is crucial. The design team has proposed a Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon (PHB) since the first design activities in Summer of 2018. This crossing device combined with a channelizing median refuge island can isolate conflicts and improve the flow and safety of this minor street intersection. Figure 1 depicts the crossing location. The Montana Department of Transportation has requested that a traffic study be performed to analyze the potential impact to traffic along Highway 93. This memo explores these potential impacts. Figure 1: Proposed Trail Crossing 1 | Alta Planning + Design Main Street Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon Analysis Existing Analysis: Two existing Synchro models were provided by the Montana Department of Transportation for the intersections of Main Street at Center Street and Main Street at Idaho Street. The two separate models were combined into one file and the unsignalized intersections of Main Street at Market Place Street and Main Street at Montana Street were included into the model by Alta. Existing signal timings and vehicular volumes for the signalized intersections were provided in the Synchro models. The turning movement counts included in the Synchro model were collected in May of 2019 for the intersection of Main Street at Center Street and in July of 2019 for the intersection of Main Street at Idaho Street, and were provided by the MDT. Turning movement counts for the unsignalized intersections were assumed based on volume balancing from the throughputs at the signalized intersections. The AM peak hour is from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM and the PM peak hour is from 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM. Table 1 shows the delay (in seconds) for each Level of Service (LOS) thresholds for signalized and unsignalized intersections. Table 2 and Table 3 shows the existing AM and PM peak hour analysis, respectively, for each intersection in the study area. Table 1: LOS Thresholds for Signalized and Unsignalized Intersections Level of Service Criteria (sec) A B C D E F Signalized ≤10 >10 - 15 >20 - 35 >35 - 55 >55 - 80 >80 Unsignalized 0 - 10 >10 - 15 >15 - 25 >25 - 35 >35 - 50 >50 Table 2: Existing AM Peak Hour Analysis Existing AM Peak Period EB WB NB SB Intersection Delay (sec/veh) 30.4 30.2 29.0 21.9 Main St @ Idaho St LOS C C C C 27.8/C 95th Percentile Queue (ft) 223 222 278 140 Delay (sec/veh) 11.4 13.5 - 0.1 Main St @ Montana St* LOS B B - A 0.3/A 95th Percentile Queue (ft) 43 38 56 18 Delay (sec/veh) - 11.2 - 0.1 Main St @ Market Place LOS - B - A 0.1/A St* 95th Percentile Queue (ft) - 39 3 18 Delay (sec/veh) 32.8 36.5 14.3 12.4 Main St @ Center St LOS C D B B 19.7/B 95th Percentile Queue (ft) 180 115 211 175 *Unsignalized Intersection 2 | Alta Planning + Design  MEMORANDUM www.altaplanning.com Table 3: Existing PM Peak Hour Analysis Existing PM Peak Period EB WB NB SB Intersection Delay (sec/veh) 38.7 32.0 35.9 30.5 Main St @ Idaho St LOS D C D C 34.2/C 95th Percentile Queue (ft) 377 310 310 364 Delay (sec/veh) 12.6 14.2 - 0.1 Main St @ Montana St* LOS B B A 0.3/A 95th Percentile Queue (ft) 43 45 174 17 Delay (sec/veh) - 11.6 - 0.1 Main St @ Market Place LOS - B - A 0.1/A St* 95th Percentile Queue (ft) - 40 - 18 Delay (sec/veh) 30.8 34.9 18.2 14.8 Main St @ Center St LOS C C B B 21.8/C 95th Percentile Queue (ft) 190 152 238 254 *Unsignalized Intersection Items to note: • All intersections and approaches operate at acceptable levels of service. • Based on the SimTraffic simulations, the northbound movement approaching the intersection of Main Street at Idaho Street experiences queueing to the south of the Main Street at Montana Street intersection of approximately 310 feet during the PM peak. Montana Street is approximately 270 feet to the south of Idaho Street. The proposed trail crossing at Market Place Street is approximately 710 feet to the south of the northbound stop bar. Queues typically clear every cycle. • Similarly, at Center Street, southbound queues max out at 250 feet in the PM peak. The proposed trail crossing at Market Place Street is approximate 420 feet north of the southbound stop bar. • Queues in the southbound direction at the intersections of Main Street at Montana Street and Main Street at Market Place Street are due to the southbound left turn movement and not the thru movement in both the AM and PM peak. • The queues for the northbound direction in both the AM and PM peak at the intersection of Main Street at Montana Street is due to the spillover of vehicles from the queues at the intersection of Main Street at Idaho Street. 3 | Alta Planning + Design Main Street Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon Analysis Proposed Conditions: The only proposed design along the Main Street corridor is at the intersection of Main Street at Market Place Street. The proposed design will remove the existing abandoned railroad line through the intersection and a shared-use path crossing with a refuge island will be installed in the same location. To create a safe and comfortable crossing for bicyclists and pedestrians, a pedestrian hybrid beacon (PHB) is being proposed as the number of travel lanes and available gaps are not suitable to users of all ages and abilities without positive control. PHB’s are signal heads that remain dark until activated by a pedestrian or bicyclist, turning on briefly to stop vehicles and allow the user to cross before returning to a dark state. In most communities, PHB’s are actuated on demand and will immediately begin the signal notification for vehicles to stop. Market Place Street will become a one-way approach in the eastbound direction, which will remove any conflicts from Market Place Street at the PHB in the westbound direction. The remaining intersections along the Main Street corridor will not change. The proposed median refuge will channelize north and southbound lefts onto Market Place Street and the Bank entrance. Methodology: Synchro does not have any features specific to PHBs. To model a PHB at the intersection of Main Street at Market Place Street, a signal was placed at the intersection in the Synchro model. A westbound left phase was included at the intersection with a volume of 50 vehicles for the westbound left turn movement to simulate trail users activating the beacons with a random arrival rate. A minimum green time of 34 seconds for the westbound movement was included to provide the maximum crossing time for pedestrians. In reality, the PHB will follow MUTCD guidance in Chapter 4F 1 and enter a wig-wag phase after trail users have cleared half of the roadway and vehicles may proceed after stopping. This additional efficiency is not modeled in Synchro. The intersection was placed on a 90 second cycle to match the intersection of Main Street at Center Street. On average, the trail was accessed most phases, indicating an approximately 70 second to 80 second activation. This represents a worst-case scenario where activations are very frequent, which may only occur at peak times of the day or in peak seasons. In proposed conditions, the westbound approach will be changed to a one-way street in the eastbound direction. With this change, there will be no side street volumes in proposed conditions. The remaining intersections along the Main Street corridor were not changed and signal timings at the intersections of Main Street at Center Street and Main Street at Idaho Street were not optimized as to not affect the recent retiming projects that occurred on Center Street and Idaho Street. 1 https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/htm/2009/part4/part4f.htm 4 | Alta Planning + Design  Main Street Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon Analysis Proposed Analysis: After making the necessary changes to the Synchro model, the following results were recorded. Table 4 and Table 5 shows the proposed AM and PM peak hour analysis, respectively, for each intersection in the study area. Figure 2 and 3 show the approximate 95th percentile queues for the existing versus proposed conditions visually to better understand the extent of the queueing. Table 4: Proposed AM Peak Hour Analysis Proposed AM Peak Period EB WB NB SB Intersection Delay (sec/veh) 34.2 29.0 29.9 23.3 Main St @ Idaho St LOS C C C C 28.9/C 95th Percentile Queue (ft) 234 246 285 246 Delay (sec/veh) 11.3 12.2 - 0.1 Main St @ Montana St* LOS B B A 0.3/A 95th Percentile Queue (ft) 42 43 61 17 Delay (sec/veh) - - 5.2 4.9 Main St @ Market Place LOS - - A A 5.5/A St** 95th Percentile Queue (ft) - - 235 238 Delay (sec/veh) 32.8 36.5 14.3 12.4 Main St @ Center St LOS C D B B 19.7/B 95th Percentile Queue (ft) 183 119 205 191 *Unsignalized Intersection **Proposed Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon Location Alta Planning + Design | 5 Main Street Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon Analysis Figure 2: 95th Percentile Queues for Existing vs. Proposed Conditions - AM Peak 6 | Alta Planning + Design  MEMORANDUM www.altaplanning.com Table 5: Proposed PM Peak Hour Analysis Proposed PM Peak Period EB WB NB SB Intersection Delay (sec/veh) 38.7 32.0 35.9 30.5 Main St @ Idaho St LOS D C D C 34.2/C 95th Percentile Queue (ft) 377 331 315 405 Delay (sec/veh) 12.4 13.3 - 0.1 Main St @ Montana St* LOS B B - A 0.3/A 95th Percentile Queue (ft) 42 42 196 15 Delay (sec/veh) - - 5.2 5.0 Main St @ Market Place LOS - - A A 5.5/A St** 95th Percentile Queue (ft) - - 263 303 Delay (sec/veh) 30.8 34.9 18.2 14.8 Main St @ Center St LOS C C B B 21.8/C 95th Percentile Queue (ft) 180 152 233 254 *Unsignalized Intersection **Proposed Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon Location 7 | Alta Planning + Design Main Street Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon Analysis Figure 3: 95th Percentile Queues for Existing vs. Proposed Conditions - PM Peak Items to note: • All intersections and approaches operate at acceptable levels of service. • Based on the SimTraffic simulations, the northbound movement approaching the intersection of Main Street at Idaho Street experiences queueing to the south of the Main Street at Montana Street intersection. This queue length does not change significantly (315 from 310 feet), and is still far away from the trail 8 | Alta Planning + Design  Main Street Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon Analysis crossing at 710 feet. It still will back up past Montana Street for a short time. Queues typically clear every cycle. • Similarly, at Center Street, southbound queues max out at 254 feet in the PM peak. The proposed trail crossing at Market Place Street is approximate 420 feet north of the southbound stop bar. • The intersection of Main Street at Market Street experiences 95th percentile queues in the northbound direction of 235 feet and 263 feet for the AM and PM peaks, respectively, and in the southbound direction of 238 feet and 303 feet for the AM and PM peaks, respectively. The distance between Center Street and Market Place Street (northbound approach) is approximately 420 feet. The distance between Montana Street and Market Place Street (southbound approach) is approximately 370 feet. In both the AM and PM peak, the 95th percentile queues indicate there will not be spillover to the adjacent intersections. • Queues in the southbound direction at the intersections of Main Street at Montana Street are due to the southbound left turn movement and not the thru movement in both the AM and PM peak. • The queues for the northbound direction in both the AM and PM peak at the intersection of Main Street at Montana Street is due to the spillover of vehicles from the queues at the intersection of Main Street at Idaho Street. Conclusions: Overall, the analysis shows that the addition of a pedestrian hybrid beacon creates 95th percentile queues on the Main Street corridor during the AM and PM peak hours in the range of 200 feet to 300 feet when running a worst case scenario. In the vast majority of the time, PHB activations will likely be much lower and some vehicles will be able to clear the Market Place intersection during the wig-wag phase of the PHB cycle. Based on the results and the distance between intersections accomodating the queues for a worse case sceario of frequent activations and traffic stoppage for the full pedestrian crossing time, the installation is highly recommended to provide safe crossings of pedestrians and bicyclists without creating major queuing issues along Main Street. Additionally, it is recommended that the activitation of the PHB be on demand, with the activation beginning when the push button to cross Main Street is pressed. If activations occur with extreme frequently once implemented and queues become problematic, the PHB could be examined for peak period coordination with Main Street at Center Street by providing a set time for the PHB to activate to allow for thru vehicles at the crossing to mostly clear before stopping vehicles again; though this should be a last resort as cities that have coordianted PHBs have reported compliance issues from pedestrians due to crossings when a gap occurs leaving an empty beacon activation. This also results in driver frustration due to occasional needless stopping. Alta Planning + Design | 9 Main Street Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon Analysis The phasing of the PHB may be another item to consider. The MUTCD provides specific phasing guidance that puts the device into the wig-wag pattern once a pedestrian has cleared half of the intersection. This phase allows cars to stop and then proceed if clear. Since the Kalispell Trail will see substantial bicycle use, this operation could put bikes in conflict with cars if they enter the signal on the countdown and cars are beginning to move again during the wig-wag. The NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide recommends an alternate phasing pattern for PHBs that see heavy bike use. This minimizes the wig-wag phase to the last 5 seconds of the pedestrian countdown minimizing the chance of any conflicts occuring with late entering bicyclists. The way the PHB was modelled in Synchro is consistent with this alternate phasing pattern. 10 | Alta Planning + Design