City Council Community Planning & Transportation Committee Meeting - RESCHEDULED FROM 11/28/24

CITY OF NORMAN, OK CITY COUNCIL COMMUNITY PLANNING & TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE MEETING - RESCHEDULED FROM 11/28/24 Municipal Building, Executive Conference Room, 201 West Gray, Norman, OK 73069 Wednesday, November 20, 2024 at 4:00 PM MINUTES The Community Planning & Transportation Committee of the City of Norman, Cleveland County, State of Oklahoma, will meet in Regular Session in the Executive Conference Room in the Municipal Building, on Wednesday, November 20, 2024 at 4:00 PM, and notice of the agenda of the meeting was posted at the Norman Municipal Building at 201 West Gray and on the City website at least 24 hours prior to the beginning of the meeting. CALL TO ORDER Chair Stephen Holman called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT Chairman Stephen Holman - Ward 7 Councilmember Michael Nash - Ward 5 OTHERS PRESENT Mr. Taylor Johnson, Transit Parking and Program Manager Mr. Jason Huff, Transit Planner and Grants Specialist Mr. Larry Wyatt - EMBARK Area Director Mr. Scott Sturtz, Interim Director of Public Works Mr. Tim Miles, Capital Projects Engineer/Acting City Engineer Mr. Joseph Hill - Streets Program Manager Mr. David Riesland, Transportation Engineer Ms. Amy Shepard, Management Analyst Ms. Kathy Hammans, Admin Tech III, City Clerk CITY COUNCIL COMMUNITY PLANNING & TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE MEETING - RESCHEDULED FROM 11/28/24 - Wednesday, November 20, 2024 Page |1 AGENDA ITEMS 1. PRESENTATION OF THE SEPTEMBER PUBLIC TRANSIT REPORT. Mr. Taylor Johnson, Transit and Parking Program Manager, presented the October 2024 Public Transit Report. Transit is expecting the replacement paratransit units around January 6, 2025. Staff are looking at doing a SE extension for Microtransit as there has been an increased demand in the current zone with ridership high in October compared to October 2023. November will be more comparable to last year. November is the first month that the West Lindsey route has been on a 30-minute frequency. October saw a lot of added mobility usage, especially for bikes. October saw a lot more Plus Ridership as well, with 98 per day compared to 80 last year. Norman On Demand • 4,105 rides versus 2,546 in 2023 • Increased demand and more people paying to ride • Very few complaints received Councilmember Holman asked for statistics on demand rides; when, what type of riders, students, bar crowd. Does OU need to contribute more money since the students ride for free? A fence was added to the back side of the Transit Center building to keep the power from being turned off and the concrete repaving work is being funded with grant funds. Embark Norman System • 49,889, with a total daily average ridership of 1,752 compared to a little over 35,671 in October 2023, (1,296 daily average ridership). • 171,688 Fiscal year to date ridership. (22.67% increase over this time last year) Fixed-Route Service Totals October 2024 • 47,247 for October 2024 (35,671 October 2023.) • 1,752 daily ridership (1,296 October 2023) • 482 Wheelchairs or other assistive mobility devices (465 October 2023) • 1,276 Passengers with bikes or other mobility devices (884 October 2023) Norman On-Demand Ridership • 4,145 rides in October 2024 versus 4,760 for September 2024 (12.92% decrease) • 8,693 individual accounts have been created since August 16, 2023 • 26.24.5% of accountholders have completed more than five rides. Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles (WAV) • 407 trips completed October 2024 versus 384 for October 2023 (5.71% increase) CITY COUNCIL COMMUNITY PLANNING & TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE MEETING - RESCHEDULED FROM 11/28/24 - Wednesday, November 20, 2024 Page |2 1. (continued) PRESENTATION OF THE SEPTEMBER PUBLIC TRANSIT REPORT. Fixed Route Ridership • Weekday o 43,792 ridership for October 2024 (31,039 October 2023) o 1,906 average weekday ridership (1,414 October 2023) • Saturday o 3,455 ridership for October 2024 (2,553 October 2023) ***** 2. DISCUSSION REGARDING ALLEY WAY IMPROVEMENTS IN CORE NORMAN. Mr. Scott Sturtz, Director of Public Works, gave a presentation on Alleyway improvements. Council was recently approached by the Center City Core area businesses and residents throughout town regarding the condition of alleys. Mr. Sturtz said there is $200,000 set aside annually for alleys in the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), which will do approximately one full block . Councilmember Holman asked if alleys can be included in the Street Bond, to which Mr. Sturtz said he will check on it. Mr. Joseph Hill, Streets Program Manager, said Staff keep an alley inventory with a ranking for each one so that they can work them as funds are available. The current alley inventory is approximately two and half years old and updated every five to eight years. Most alleys were built with gravel and staff take care of issues when a call is received from the community. Staff regularly receive requests for grading alleys, and the Street Department is working to get rid of gravel alleys at some point in the future. Some High Traffic Alleys • 12th Street Ave SE • East of Porter Between Main & Comanche Mr. Sturtz said alleys are a designation of a roadway and does not believe that AIM has done an evaluation of the alleyways. Alleys are not prioritized over streets, and like neighborhood streets, are not plowed and cleared of snow. Councilmember Holman asked if there is any recoupment for alleyways. Mr. Sturtz said typically the platting and/or re-platting process may be able to charge for alley recoupment from Development as platting is done, with the development paying actual costs of their development alleys. Mr. Hill said if TIF money were coming in, City funds would stretch further. Councilmember Holman asked what a realistic alley maintenance budget would be. Mr. Sturtz and Mr. Hill will work on getting alley maintenance financial numbers together for Council’s review. Councilmember Holman thanked staff for the information and will continue discussions in Center City meetings and address as development proceeds. ***** CITY COUNCIL COMMUNITY PLANNING & TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE MEETING - RESCHEDULED FROM 11/28/24 - Wednesday, November 20, 2024 Page |3 3. CONTINUED DISCUSSION REGARDING SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS ON HIGHWAY 9. Mr. Scott Sturtz, Interim Director of Public Works, said he has been working with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) for our area on a safety audit for Highway 9. As ODOT plans the design for each section of road for improvements, safety audits are conducted. 48th Avenue SE is set for data collection sometime after the first of the year and it will be the first unsignalized road heading North and South. Mr. Sturtz said a lot of what is designed is adequate and there are plans to install center line rumble strips in the center median. Councilmember Holman asked if cable barriers would have prevented fatal head-on collisions, to which Mr. Sturtz said statistically, ODOT says Highway 9 is no more dangerous than any other highway in the state. ODOT staff drive all the highways in the area and do not see any road more unsafe than others. Mr. Sturtz said that the data provided from the Police Department did not show excessive crashes on Highway 9. Mr. David Reisland, Transportation Engineer, will start looking at accident data to see what roads are the worst and what might help alleviate some of the accident factors. Councilmember Holman would like information as to why cable barriers are deemed not necessary to help prevent crossover deaths and if lowering the speed limit on Highway 9 would help. Mr. Riesland said people only slow down when they perceive a need. Mr. Sturtz said he has a meeting with Ron Brown, District Three Division Engineer for ODOT and will speak with him on Council’s questions and concerns in the area. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 4:56 p.m. CITY COUNCIL COMMUNITY PLANNING & TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE MEETING - RESCHEDULED FROM 11/28/24 - Wednesday, November 20, 2024 Page |4