Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee

City of Mountain View Minutes Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee Wednesday, January 25, 2023 6:30 PM Video Conference with No Physical Meeting Location 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Fenwick called the meeting of the Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) to order at 6:30 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL Staff members present: Transportation Manager Ria Hutabarat Lo, Active Transportation Planner Brandon Whyte, Crime Analyst Kelly McKeel, Lt. Frank St. Clair, Public Works Director Dawn Cameron and Assistant Public Works Director Damian Skinner. Present 5 - Committee Member Lada Adamic, Committee Member Terry Barton, Vice Chair John Stone, Chair James Kuszmaul, and Committee Member Valerie Fenwick 3. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC Seven members of the public were present. Bruce England asked that the URL in the agenda include a direct link for the Zoom session so that it can be opened with a single click. Holger Isenberg noted that bike lanes to the left of the right-turn lane sometimes result in faster motor vehicle movements or difficult conditions if the right-turn lane is too narrow. He also had concerns about metal caution signs in the roadway. 4. MINUTES APPROVAL 4.1 Approve Meeting Minutes MOTION: Approve the BPAC meeting minutes of November 30, 2022 with the following edit: Adamic “read an article that” Fremont had great bike infrastructure. Kuszmaul/Adamic - 4/0/1 -passed - Stone abstained. Yes: 4- Committee Member Adamic, Committee Member Barton, Chair Kuszmaul, and Committee Member Fenwick Abstain: 1- Vice Chair Stone 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 6. NEW BUSINESS 6.1 Election Process for 2023 Chair and Vice Chair City of Mountain View Page 1 Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Minutes January 25, 2023 Committee Public comment: None. Committee comment: MOTION: Elect Kuszmaul as BPAC Chair. Barton/Adamic - 5/0/0 - passed MOTION: Elect Stone as BPAC Vice-Chair. Fenwick/Adamic - 5/0/0 - passed Yes: 5- Committee Member Adamic, Committee Member Barton, Vice Chair Stone, Chair Kuszmaul, and Committee Member Fenwick 6.2 Active Transportation Collision and Bicycle Theft Report McKeel presented information on collisions involving pedestrians and bicyclists as well as recent bicycle thefts for the fourth quarter of 2022. Public comment: Holger Isenberg was interested in how many of the stolen bikes were unlocked. McKeel noted that locking is an effective deterrent. Committee comment: Adamic suggested less frequent collision updates and more frequent project updates. Barton appreciated the progress on collision data. He also stated that seeing the crash data reinforces the need to advance our Vision Zero work. Fenwick felt frequent collision updates, including near-miss data, are helpful. She stated the information helps BPAC make more informed decisions. She also felt staff does a pretty good job presenting projects for review. Stone felt unsure of what to do with the data since there is no “denominator,” such as bike ridership data. He also noted an unreported collision in front of Landels Elementary last month. Kuszmaul stated his appreciation for the collision data and indicated that he would support collision and theft reports being presented semi-annually instead of quarterly. 6.3 Castro Bikeway Feasibility Study Whyte presented information on Castro Bikeway Feasibility Study. Public comment: Holger Isenberg asked if reverse-angle parking had been considered. He also stated that he did not feel the 8-phase signal at Castro and Church was needed. City of Mountain View Page 2 Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Minutes January 25, 2023 Committee Bruce England asked how soon trees could be moved, if businesses have been consulted, if the roundabout will be its own project, and if the level of service being considered was only for automobiles. He stated that he did not support the 8-phase signal at Castro and Church. He also requested to slow motor vehicle speeds and set a posted speed of 20 mph on Castro. Finally, he stated that the underlying aerials are outdated and favored more bike racks at the north end of the project area. Committee comment: Fenwick and Barton stated their support for short and long-term alternatives 2. Stone and Barton indicated support for short-term alternative 2 but did have concerns about motorists passing cyclists in a 15’ travel lane. They also stated that for the short-term alternatives where sharrows are used, they had concerns about the ability of children to take the lane where there are sharrows. Kuszmaul provided general support for short-term alternative 2 but recommended efforts to reduce vehicle speeds in conjunction with sharrows. Adamic stated her support for short-term alternative 4 without being vehemently opposed to alternative 2. She stated she did not support any of the long-term alternatives. Adamic stated that she wanted cars to feel like guests in the very long term. Barton supported this concept stating that it is a common approach in Europe and emphasized that as we move toward the long-term that street parking be prohibited. Adamic and Stone asked that the City eliminate the 8-phase signal at Castro and Church. They both noted seeing an increase in jaywalking at the signal. Adamic stated that the signal might theoretically reduce pedestrian and car conflict points, but the longer cycle time encourages more jaywalking. Stone also noted that the wait time is very long and that people jaywalk a lot at this intersection. Finally, Adamic requested that the City do a study to observe the level of jaywalking at this intersection relative to other places. Adamic and Stone both noted that the bicycle detection at Church and Castro does not detect their bikes, and they now avoid the intersection. Adamic also noted that there is light traffic between Mercy and California and that the cork oak trees will suffer stress if moved. She stated she does not support moving the trees, but instead, she favors slowing down traffic to support lower-stress conditions. She indicated her support for parallel parking over angled and for increased bike parking. She requested that the raised crosswalks be provided in the short term. Finally, she felt “random art” may not add value to the space, indicating she hasn’t always enjoyed the street art that has been provided. Stone stated he is opposed to pedestrian scrambles being used in the project area. Fenwick appreciated the incorporation of prior comments, including taking a short and a long-term approach. She noted that the 8-phase signal at Shoreline/Wright improved her safety as a pedestrian. She stated that she was unsure if an 8-phase signal was needed at Church and Castro but was comfortable with it remaining in place. Finally, she stated her support for city art. City of Mountain View Page 3 Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Minutes January 25, 2023 Committee Barton expressed his priorities of converting angle parking and installing the roundabouts to improve traffic flow. He indicated he is neutral on the removal of the 8-phase signal at Church and Castro. Kuszmaul stated his support for not changing the signal at Church and Castro despite having concerns over the 8-phase signal. He also indicated that he had concerns about cyclists being struck by car doors; with the bike lane being placed in the “door zone,” he felt staff is making “too many safety compromises in the name of retaining a few parking spaces.” He stated there is a lot of garage parking available. MOTION: Accept short / medium term alternative 2 with the addition of considering methods to reduce speed where there are sharrows. Fenwick/Barton - 4/1/0 - passed with Adamic against. MOTION: Accept long-term alternative 2 with consideration for additionally removing parking where it may create a door zone issue or require moving trees. Fenwick/Kuszmaul - 5/0/0 - passed. Yes: 4- Committee Member Barton, Vice Chair Stone, Chair Kuszmaul, and Committee Member Fenwick No: 1- Committee Member Adamic 6.4 BPAC Members' Manual Lo provided information on the BPAC Members Manual. Public comment: Bruce England supported using the Atrium to facilitate public hybrid meetings. He asked for more guidance on how the Brown Act interacts with social media. He also asked for more coverage of Safe Routes to School in the handbook. Committee comment: Fenwick appreciated the provision of Rosenberg’s Rules and the Member’s Manual. She noted that more guidance on how the Brown Act interacts with social media would be helpful. 6.5 BPAC Fiscal Year 2022-23 Work Plan Whyte provided and update on the work plan and tentative agenda list. Public comment: None. Committee comment: Adamic requested that collision data be presented semiannually rather than quarterly. Fenwick reinforced the desire for quarterly reporting in order to provide timely data about crashes, stating that crash and near-miss data was difficult to access before the City of Mountain View Page 4 Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Minutes January 25, 2023 Committee quarterly reporting. 6.6 Santa Clara Valley Transportation Agency (VTA) Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) Update Adamic reported that Stacy Banerjee (Los Altos) was reelected as Chair and Betsy Megas (Santa Clara) as Vice Chair of the VTA BPAC. Adamic provided an update on the Santa Clara County Transportation Fund for Clean Air (TFCA) program, stating that TFCA funded $2.2 million in projects last year based on a $4 vehicle registration fee. She looked at the list of projects that were funded in the last few years and not yet completed. She noted that the list included about 20 signal timing projects worth $4.1 million, compared to only $1 million for transit improvements and $500,000 for bicycle projects. She felt it was outrageous that signal timing projects were historically favored by calculations that did not account for induced travel demand. She noted that this year, the TFCA criteria was changed to account for induced travel demand and be more supportive of bicycle and pedestrian projects. She also inquired whether Mountain View would be applying for funding. Staff indicated that the recent bike rack project and EV chargers for the Community Shuttle were funded by TFCA. Public comment: None. Committee comment: None. 7. COMMITTEE/STAFF ANNOUNCEMENTS, UPDATES, REQUESTS, AND COMMITTEE REPORTS 7.1. Staff Comments Lo provided information on Bernardo Avenue Undercrossing community meeting, Safe Routes to School walk audits, and Smart Cycling training. Public comment: Bruce England asked about monitoring trail speeds and if there could be an option for bike citations to be resolved through bike safety training, similar to Traffic School for motor vehicle infractions. Committee comment: None. 7.2. Committee Comments No committee comments. Public comment: None. City of Mountain View Page 5 Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Minutes January 25, 2023 Committee 8. SET DATE AND TIME FOR NEXT MEETING: 9. CALENDAR 10. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:57 p.m. Submitted for approval by Brandon Whyte. Approved on February 22, 2023. City of Mountain View Page 6