Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee

City of Mountain View Minutes Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee Wednesday, August 26, 2020 6:30 PM Video Conference with No Physical Meeting Location This meeting was conducted in accordance with State of California Executive Order N-29-20, dated March 17, 2020. All members of the Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee participated in the meeting by video conference, with no physical meeting location. 1. CALL TO ORDER Greg Unangst called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL Staff members present: Transportation Manager Ria Hutabarat Lo, Transportation Planner Aruna Bodduna, Assistant Public Works Director Damian Skinner, Police Lieutenant Michael Canfield, Management Analyst Harsha Ramchandani, and Public Works Director Dawn Cameron 4 members of the public were present Present 5 - Committee Member Valerie Fenwick, Committee Member Kalyanaraman Shankari, Committee Member Theron Tock, Vice Chair Lada Adamic, and Chair Greg Unangst 3. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC Greg Currey from Caltrans District 4 provided information on their funding proposal to a statewide competitive process within Caltrans. They have been coordinating with City staff on a proposal to add Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon (PHB) crossings on El Camino Real at Pettis, Bonita, Crestview as part of the 2020 SHOPP cycle. This would help to implement part of the City’s Streetscape Plan. They are also seeking funding for bikeway improvements within the Los Altos segment of the SHOPP project. Their proposals are due September 25th. Caltrans’ contact is sergio.ruiz@dot.ca.gov. Bruce England made a comment that many bike sensors around the City do not work correctly and should be addressed. April Webster reiterated Bruce’s comments about bike loop detectors at Hope/Evelyn and California/Bryant. 4. Minutes Approval Attachments: B/PAC Meeting Minutes June 24 2020 Approve the B/PAC Meeting Minutes of June 24, 2020 with corrections to titles for Chair Unangst and Vice Chair Ladamic. City of Mountain View Page 1 Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Minutes August 26, 2020 Committee Yes: 5- Committee Member Fenwick, Committee Member Shankari, Committee Member Tock, Vice Chair Adamic, and Chair Unangst 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None. 6. NEW BUSINESS 6.1 Pedestrian and Bicycle Collision Data Attachments: https://www.mountainview.gov/depts/pw/transport/walkingandbicycling /collisions_involving_pedestrians_and_bicyclists.asp Lt. Michael Canfield presented pedestrian and bicycle collision data from Q1 and Q2 which is lower than previous years due to Shelter in Place. He also provided clarification on key abbreviations such as PCF (primary collision factors). Public comments: Bruce England asked for information on trends over time, and thanked staff for providing information in excel as well as pdf format. He also requested that near-miss data also be provided. April Webster requested that the spreadsheets include metadata such as the timeframe of collection, and full headers. It would also be helpful to have a point person for the data. She also requested the City would pass along near miss information. Committee comments: B/PAC members expressed appreciation for the data and commented that the format for 2020 Q1 was more helpful than 2020 Q2. More thorough content was also preferred, including parameters in the 2020 Q2 report. Theron Tock requested that information on the party at fault be included in the reports. B/PAC members also requested more information on trend lines over time. B/PAC members also requested information in future updates on near miss data that are submitted via AskMV. Valerie Fenwick wished to confirm that near miss data was shared with Public Works staff and being used to improve City infrastructure. Valerie Fenwick and Lada Adamic also suggested making near miss data publicly available. Shankari requested using near miss data to provide more meaningful heat maps (with a larger sample size). Greg Unangst also suggested providing a year-end summary report of collisions to compare with previous years. Valerie Fenwick requested that future collision reports be accompanied by a brief presentation to make information more accessible for visual learners. She also suggested that the data be accompanied by a legend. Finally, Greg Unangst asked about how information is collected regarding collisions on trails such as Stevens Creek Trail under U.S. 101. He was aware of a number of collisions in that location including injury collisions that are not reflected in the collision data system. City of Mountain View Page 2 Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Minutes August 26, 2020 Committee MOTION #1: City staff and MVPD to return to a later B/PAC meeting to discuss AskMV near miss data, what is happening with this data, and how the data is influencing infrastructure in the City. If it is not, how that can be adjusted. M/S - Fenwick/Shankari - carried 5/0/0 MOTION #2: As part of the future discussion on near miss data, to discuss how or if the AskMV data should be made publicly available. M/S - Fenwick/Tock – carried - 5/0/0 6.2 TFCA Bike Rack Project Attachments: Citywide Bike Racks Memo Ria Hutabarat Lo provided a presentation on Citywide Bike Racks, which will provide bike racks in publicly owned locations around the City. Valerie Fenwick recused herself from discussion of the Rex Manor Tot Lot. However, there were no comments on the Rex Manor Tot Lot. Shankari recused herself from discussion of Eagle Park and the Library. B/PAC members supported additional bike parking at Eagle Park and the Library. Public comment on other locations: Bruce England supported providing more racks, particularly given the increase in biking during the pandemic. April Webster noted that she had had bikes stolen from the station, and supported providing inverted u-racks at shop locations rather than parks. Committee comments: B/PAC members recommended more permanent bike racks in Downtown Mountain View to improve confidence that people will be able to find spaces when needed. Potential locations suggested include Castro Street, CVS garage, the Post Office, the Mountain View Transit Center / Farmers Market (and the Library). Some members expressed concern about the adequacy of bicycle security at the Mountain View Transit Center and indicated that more secure bike parking such as lockers or bike cages was needed at this location. Greg Unangst noted, however, that bike lockers at San Antonio were largely unused. Lada Adamic and Greg Unangst suggested providing or incentivizing more bike parking near shops and grocery stores. Lada Adamic and Greg Unangst also recommended providing at least a small amount of bike parking in small parks within the such as Jackson Park and Del Medio Park. Valerie Fenwick indicated that demand for bike parking was high at Shoreline Amphitheater on event days, though perhaps bike valet services were a more appropriate mechanism for meeting this need. Theron Tock and Shankari also requested more outreach on bike rack locations in the City of Mountain View Page 3 Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Minutes August 26, 2020 Committee City. 6.3 Castro Street Bikeway Feasibility Study Attachments: Castro Street Bikeway Memo Attachment 1 Castro Bikeway Alternative 1 Attachment 2 Castro Bikeway Alternative 2 Aruna Bodduna provided a presentation on the Castro Bikeway Feasibility Study. Public comment: April Webster from MVCSP welcomed bike improvements and recommended that they align with improvements south of El Camino Real. MVCSP preferred Class II or IV facilities to reduce level of traffic stress, however, if the long term vision for Castro Street is to create a plaza further north, Class III facilities could be a strategic choice if accompanied by strategies such as raised pedestrian crossings and lowering the speed limit to 15 mph. Comments: Almost all B/PAC members expressed a preference for Alternative 1 (Class II Bike Lanes) because it would provide low-stress facilities for a key route to school while other alternatives would not. Several B/PAC members expressed concern that Class III sharrows were not respected by motorists and did not reduce collision frequency. For this reason, some members preferred doing nothing to installing sharrows, so that cyclists are encouraged to use parallel routes such as Hope or Franklin. Some B/PAC members suggested that, if Alternative 1 is not feasible, bike lanes could be extended further north to provide a better connection to parallel routes via Church Street or other side streets. Some members indicated that the recent 8-phase signal at Castro/Church was less critical than improved bike facilities, while others suggested that reconfiguring the intersection could provide even more pedestrian friendly conditions such as a scramble signal. One member also suggested that, if Alternative 1, is not feasible, improvements were needed to provide access at Yosemite. Most B/PAC members had specific comments for Castro Street near El Camino Real. Members recommended providing enhancements such as green paint and rubber bumpers near the intersection in order to reduce the potential for “right-hook” collisions between right turning motorists and cyclists making through movements at that intersection. Greg Unangst indicated that Alternative 3 Sharrows could work if Castro Street is closed near the railroad tracks, and becomes as slower, more pedestrian oriented street. B/PAC members also noted that the parking analysis needed to be corrected to reflect existing on-street parking spaces on Castro Street between Fairmont and High School Way. MOTION #1: That B/PAC supports the principle of Option 3, but the length of the bike lane is too short to deal with SRTS, and would like consideration of bike lanes further City of Mountain View Page 4 Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Minutes August 26, 2020 Committee north towards California. M/S Shankari/Tock – carried - 5/0/0 MOTION #2: B/PAC requests the City consider options at SB Castro towards El Camino to reduce potential car/bike right hook conflicts (using as an example Miramonte/Castro intersection) M/S Tock/Ladamic – carried - 5/0/0 6.4 Personal Delivery Device Pilot Program Tiffany Chew provided an update on the Personal Delivery Device (PDD) pilot program. Public comments: Bruce England expressed concerned that the PDD requirements imposed by Council were dropped by staff. He also noted that there is a big difference between Intuit and Downtown where the sidewalks are narrow. Committee comments: Greg Unangst commented that the PDDs seemed to work well on the Intuit campus. Lada Adamic expressed concern about harm to the sense of sociability resulting from PDDs standing in the middle of the sidewalk. Valerie Fenwick also expressed disapproval that staff had changed program requirements without B/PAC or Council approval, and that the PDDs were not being adequately monitored. She also disapproved of the PDDs, which she had seen stuck in curb cuts and which were reducing employment in other forms of delivery work that do not consume sidewalk space. She was very upset about how the program has being handled. 6.5 B/PAC Fiscal Year 2020-21 Work Plan Attachments: 2020-21 BPAC Work Plan Proposed Attachment 1 Work Plan TAL B/PAC reviewed the FY 2020-21 Work Plan and provided the following updates : * Greg Unangst attended the Silicon Valley Bicycle Summit. * Dates on the TAL need to be corrected to 2020-21. 6.6 Santa Clara Valley Transportation Agency (VTA) Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) Update Greg Unangst provided an update on the August 12 meeting which covered evaluation criteria for grants, development of a conceptual map of bike superhighways, and Measure B Bike/Ped Program allocations based on readiness and scores. Under the latter program El Camino Real Ped/Bike improvements in Mountain View are scheduled for allocation in December 2021, Bernardo Undercrossing for November 2021, and Stevens Creek Trail Extension for July 2022. 7. COMMITTEE/STAFF ANNOUNCEMENTS, UPDATES, REQUESTS, AND COMMITTEE REPORTS 7.1. Staff Comments City of Mountain View Page 5 Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Minutes August 26, 2020 Committee Ria Hutabarat Lo introduced Damian Skinner, the new Assistant Public Works Director. She also provided information on the MyMV B/PAC subscription, and provided a summary of AskMV tickets. 7.2. Committee Comments Valerie Fenwick expressed concern about the wording of the August 25 Council item related to prohibiting the operation of bicycles along Castro Summer StrEATS, and that the opinion of one member should not be represented as that of the entire B/PAC. Shankari expressed appreciation for the new green bike lane stripes that were installed along Shoreline Boulevard as part of the recent repaving, but she is still holding out for the protected bikeways included in California Escuela Shoreline Complete Streets Feasibility Study. 8. SET DATE AND TIME FOR NEXT MEETING Next meeting September 30, 2020 9. CALENDAR 10. ADJOURNMENT Greg Unangst adjourned the meeting at 10:20 p.m. City of Mountain View Page 6