Transportation & Safety Committee

Village of Lombard Village Hall 255 East Wilson Ave. Lombard, IL 60148 villageoflombard.org Minutes Monday, March 10, 2014 7:00 PM Village Manager's Conference Room Transportation & Safety Committee Transportation & Safety Committee Minutes March 10, 2014 1.0 Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Foltyniewicz at 7:00 p.m. 2.0 Roll Call Present 8 - Reid Foltyniewicz, Michael Corso, John Larkin Jr., John Schwarz, Bob Corbino, Jerry Shaefer, Jennifer Perkins, and Gary Cation Absent 1 - John Mullins Staff Present: Carl Goldsmith, Director of Public Works Matthew Lew, Civil Engineer, Public Works Department Deputy Chief Tom Wirsing, Police Department 3.0 Public Participation 4.0 Approval of Minutes A motion was made by Bob Corbino, seconded by John Larkin, Jr., that the Minutes of the January 13, 2014 meeting be approved. The motion carried unanimously. 5.0 Unfinished Business 6.0 New Business 140091 Village Board Policy - Complete Streets (6.D.) Goldsmith presented the first draft of the Complete Streets. In concept this plan provides for multi-modal transportation on public streets. It looks at how pedestrians, bikes, cars, buses, trains and commuters move. It also takes into account disabled individuals. Right now there is no reqirement for the Village to have a policy, except when any of our projects impact State right of way. However, that is going to change in the near future. It will be required for state or federal funding. Rather than waiting until it is required, it is better to get a policy in place. The policy is designed to provide staff, officials and consultants an element of review. The goal is to make improvements that are safe for all intended users. Many previous concepts, i.e. the Lilac Bikeway, will be rehashed in Complete Streets. The policy will be applicable to three areas; Village projects, when we Village of Lombard Page 1 Transportation & Safety Committee Minutes March 10, 2014 work with other agencies (i.e. IDOT) and private development projects. Schaefer asked if this will address incomplete sidewalks. Goldsmith replied that Public Works Committee is reviewing the sidewalk policy. It has been found that the policy is lacking in one area. The policy has a 3 by 1 rule, within three blocks from every school there has to be sidewalk on one side. There is also "fill lthe gap", through which the Village will pay to install sidewalk in gaps that are three houses or less. However, there is no way to fill a block. Through the proposed complete the block program, if homeowners agree to pay 50% the Village will pick up the other 50%. Schwarz asked if staff knows the cost of complete streets. Goldsmith answered that the goal at the end of the day is to provide accomodations that are reasonable, make sense and aren't going to break the bank. The area that will be the most expensive is anything around Roosevelt Road. Highland Ave. has no sidewalks and Main St. has a number of limiting factors as well. There are other things within the plan as well, like shelters for bus stops. Those organizations want to increase ridership. When we did sidewalk on Westmore-Meyers through a CDBG grant, staff worked with Pace to establish a better bus stop. Those are employment factors. As we look at 22nd, S Finley Rd, there are commercial corridors that could use some upgrades for multi-modal transportation. Corso asked if there is any funding. Goldsmith listed several funding sources such as, CMAQ through DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference and TCM for congestion management. a lot of the grants do or will soon require these types of policies. Corso asked if Complete Streets would address something like the Prairie Path crossing at Main Street. Goldsmith replied that it will not directly correlate to that intersection improvement. He went on to say that he sits on the West Suburban Transportation Alliance which is comprised of people from the Active Transportation Alliance, the Trails Coordinator from the County and many other individuals. At these meetings he has asked the County to recommend consistency throughout the trail system. The municipalities need their guidance for safe crossings consistently down the trail. When people approach the intersections they're all different. The County should define it by policy that if configuration is "X" we would recommend that this is how you eliminate it or sign it, etc. Will probably have a finished report in July. Goldsmith added that when we look at data to support improvements at that intersection we don't track near misses, we deal with hard facts. The data doesn't support doing something, the accident data we have at the intersection is mostly car on car. We don't have bike or pedestrian vs car, which is good. Village of Lombard Page 2 Transportation & Safety Committee Minutes March 10, 2014 Goldsmith stated that the policy is designed to give us more tools in the toolbox, however, nothing would require us to make improvements. It will make us mindful and meet federal and state requirements for complete streets. STP is funding that we tap into often, they pay 70% of construction costs and the Village pays the engineering. That pot of money is shrinking every year and becoming more competitive. This policy will go a long way in pushing us to the forefront when applications go in. General discussion ensued regarding the jurisdiction of Highland Avenue and Grace Street. 140096 Elizabeth Street at Madison Street Request for No Parking on one side of the street. (DISTRICTS # 1 & 6) Goldsmith commented that the typical action would be to limit parking on the hydrant side. Staff can look at that, however, the concern is that driveways are fairly shallow, so people could be negatively impacted by this. Schaefer suggested that she should do a neighborhood petition. Cation agreed. Lew futher pointed out that at this time the problem is worse because of the snow. Goldsmith recapped that staff can get clarification and point her in the direction of a petition. Schaefer suggested tha it may be a during school hours issue. Wirsing commented that when he looked at it during the afternoon there were not any vehicles parked there. Lew will follow up with the resident. 140097 Jackson Street, Westmore-Meyers to Addison Speeding complaint. (DISTRICT #6) Wirsing explained that this was an email to the Police Department. PD observed it and wrote some seatbelt citations. The Department will continue to be out there for enforcement. Schwarz commented the problem was it was so cold there were more parents out there, the snow was piled up and people were trying to get out of there in a hurry. Foltyniewicz asked if Villa Park was out there as well. Wirsing replied that they were. Schwarz added that Villa Park had a marked squad sitting in a private drive and that calmed the traffic down. Schwarz further commented that there is more traffic building up on Addison at Jackson and said he would like to request that an updated count be done to see if it warrants a 4-way stop now. Three-quarters of the intersection are in lombard. Goldsmith replied that staff will do counts as soon as weather breaks and will try to have information for the May meeting. 140098 Lombard Circle at Westmore-Meyers Road Sight obstruction caused by landscaping. (DISTRICT #6) Village of Lombard Page 3 Transportation & Safety Committee Minutes March 10, 2014 Foltyniewicz explained that 140098 and 140099 were from Speak Out. He suggested that an articel be published in the Lombardian and Pride telling residents that there is a Transportation & Safety Committee and give them contact information for the Trustees, Staff and the committee. Schaefer suggest that something also be included regarding the Illinois Prairie Path crossing so they know it's not falling on deaf ears. Perkins commented that it sounds like the issue is turning right on red and they can't see, well they shouldn't turn if they can't see. 140099 Eastgate Shopping Center Entrance at Westmore-Meyers Road Traffic signal. (DISTRICT #6) Perkins asked what the concern is with Eastgate. Foltyniewicz replied that the issue is when turning left on to Westmore. Schaefer pointed out that they should go to Jackson. 140100 Walgreens Entrance/Exit at Roosevelt Road Lew explained that the porkchop is designed to permit a left turn into Walgreens. Wirsing added that you can turn left that close to the intersection. The double yellow only restricts passing. Schaefer commented that he thinks there's great potential for a rear end accident. Cation added that it really backs up the traffic. 7.0 Other Business 140101 Discussion of issues/concerns/feedback for Metra discussion at Lombard Chamber of Commerce Lunch Goldsmith gave an update on the underpass project. Village staf met with Metra last week. Metra opened bids in February, which came in at $7.6 mil. They asked the Village to reconfirm our commitment to the amenities portion of it. The Board of Trustees reviewed and approved the commitment for $300,000 for amenities. The Village signed a commitment letter and gave it to Metra last Thursday. Goldsmith reviewed the alternates. It is anticipated that the project will start at the end of May or early June with substantial completion by December 31st. The Village will be the communications source, as Metra will funnel information to us and we will disemminate. Notice should be going out soon to the commuters. Union Pacific will install quad gates at Elizabeth. The Village has been working with Union Pacific and the Illinois Commerce Commission on this project. It will be the second system in the state of Illinois. One factor that is unique is the primary detection device will be radar with loops as the secondary system. Radar is more effective Village of Lombard Page 4 Transportation & Safety Committee Minutes March 10, 2014 at picking up motorcycles, bicycles and small cars. It will be a short duration project. Corso asked if they will widen the platforms as part of the underpass project. Goldsmith said he will check. He also said that once Metra approves the contract we're hopeing to have an open house at the library. Village, Metra and contractor staff will be there for people to ask questions of. Goldsmith added that one of the biggest issues will be the whistle blowing. Once they start boring the tunnel it's a 36-hr process around the clock. We want every building to be analyzed structurally before the construction. Metra's resident engineer will document it. 8.0 Information Only Lew reported that when he talked to IDOT regarding the short signal length at Butterfield/Meyers, they did find there was inadequate green time and added more capacity. Foltyniewicz commented that there is a big difference. 9.0 Adjournment A motion was made by Gary Cation, seconded by John Larkin, Jr., to adjourn the meeting at 8:42 p.m. The motion carried unanimously. Village of Lombard Page 5