Montpelier Transportation Infrastructure Committee

Draft: Montpelier Infrastructure Committee Minutes November 1, 2016 6:30 – 8:30 pm Memorial Room, City Hall Members Present: Erin Aguayo, Dan Costin, Jennifer Gordon, Jonathan Harries, Dan Jones, Anthony Mennona, Mark Provost, Heather Voisin, Chris Loyer Members Absent: Jon Budreski, Per Tonn City Staff: Corey Line & Tom McCardle, DPW and Kevin Casey, Department of Planning City Council: Dona Bate AmeriCorps Vista: Rebecca Harris 6:30 – 6:30 Approve agenda Corey calls meeting to order. Corey calls for modified agenda. Dona makes a motion to approve, Dan C seconds. All in favor. 6:35 Public Comment:  Review ordinance (10-807) that doesn’t allow bikes on sidewalk in CBD. 6:35 – 6:45 Introductions/Guest Introductions Tom McCardle (DPW) discusses committee focus on Complete Streets, or designing streets to take into account all users. Zoning regulations, Montpelier in Motion Report, The Street Typology Study and the Storm Water Master Plan will inform complete streets design. 6:45 – 7:00 Organizational Structure of Committee Vote to appoint Chair, Vice Chair and Secretary for tenure. How long do we want terms to be?  Chris Loyer makes motion to make terms for one year Dan Jones seconds. All in favor.  Heather votes to nominate Jenn Gordon as committee chair. Dan Jones seconds. Jenn accepts. All in favor.  Jenn votes to nominate Anthony as Vice Chair. Heather seconds. Anthony accepts. All in favor.  Dona votes to nominate Heather as Secretary, Anthony seconds. Heather accepts. All in favor. 1   Dan C, Chris Loyer, Heather, Jon Harries and Mark commit for 2 years until October 31st 2018. Jenn Gordon, Erin Aguayo, Dan Jones, Anthony Mennona, Jon Brudeski and Per Tonn will serve for a term of 1 year. o Motion to approve tenure. Dan J moves to approve. Dan C seconds. 7:00 – 7:10 Committee Reminders Open meeting law review and acceptable email communication. MBAC Google Drive: discussion if a committee can have a Google drive. Discussion of work groups – need to be less than a quorum, can use Google drive. 7:10 – 7:40 Charge of Committee Be prepared to discuss, and ultimately identify, the committee’s charge, to be approved by City Council. Additionally, confirm your interest in serving on the Complete Streets Steering Committee. Draft memo from City staff describing charge of the committee reviewed and discussed.  A member should coordinate with Capital Improvement Committee.  Can we add a vision or aspirational statement to the charge?  Anthony will work on vision statement for our next meeting and suggest amendment to the charge, as appropriate.  Dan J makes motion to approve the charge of the committee as outlined in the memorandum. Dan C seconds. All in favor. 7:40 – 8:25 DPW 7:40 – 7:55 Topic 1: Review of street layout options for Northfield St. 7:55 – 8:25  Option 1: 5' wide uphill bike lane with 5' sidewalk following existing sidewalk alignment  Option 2: 5' wide uphill bike lane with 5' sidewalk on one side of the street  Option 3: a 10 ft. shared use path All options include 10' travel (vehicle) lanes with 2' shoulders. Dimensions follow state recommendations to have 10 ft. travel lanes, 5 ft. sidewalks, and 5 ft. bike lanes. Existing conditions include sidewalk less than 5 ft., narrowing to three ft. in some areas and limited to no shoulder 2  Option 3 gives us a 36 ft. wide travel way for all of all uses. The additional width associated with this option would require rebuilding the retaining wall on the east side of Northfield Street, adding considerable cost. Option 1 is the consultant’s recommendation (bike lane would be in lieu of 2 ft shoulder; there would be no buffer between travel lane and bike lane). In addition, it leaves room for green infrastructure. Project construction is set to begin in FY 2017 (with bond vote in March) or next summer and will be finished in FY 2018. A few members discuss the merits of additional crosswalks and or traffic calming mechanisms  Sidewalks can be done if there is demand.  Extend sidewalk to Econolodge  Anthony suggests proposing changing speed limit to 25mph or taking actions to propose this change to city council. Committee leans towards option 1 with an opportunity at the next meeting to make any final adjustments. Topic 2: Development of FY 2018 work plan to inform budgeting for the CI plan. How to best align goals/priorities. Review ATF monies and budget Bulk of discussion on this topic tabled, due to lack of time. Recognition that upcoming CIP meeting and budget setting season does not allow much time to delay in furthering this discussion. 8:25 - 8:30 Next Meeting Agenda Items Send items to Chair. Suggestions:  Elm St bike lane pilot, Barre/Main St pilot, crosswalk enhancements, etc.  ATF monies  Walk Friendly Designation  Bike Friendly Designation  VT Bike-Ped Small Grant Program 3   Elm and Spring Crosswalk  Discussion of one-pager: Economic Impact of Bike-Ped infrastructure on Downtown Retail "Homework" assignment from Alta (Complete Street Consultants): Take 3 pictures: 1. A vision- a picture of a street where the city is getting it right 2. An opportunity - a photo of a street, trail, neighborhood where community efforts driven by local stakeholders helped make our transportation network more accessible, safe, sustainable etc.. 3. A challenge or problem to complete streets in Montpelier. 8:30 Meeting Adjourned at 9:00PM- Next Meeting on December 6th at 5:15PM in Memorial Room. 4