Public Works / Traffic / Transit Committee

Chris Jenkins, Director Justin Messer, Assistant Director PUBLIC WORKS DIVISION , Cemetery Department Jody Gonzales, Superintendent Engineering Services Aaron Carroll, Director Public Works Vehicle Maintenance Department Joe Krinke, Superintendent Solid Waste Collections Department Tim Garrett, Director Solid Waste Processing & Disposal Department Lee Stone, Director Streets & Drainage Department Chad Hampton, Director PUBLIC WORKS AND TRANSIT COMMITTEE AND TRAFFIC COMMISSION January 11, 2023 10:00 AM. Sam King Room - 601 Broad Street PRESENT: Commissioner Cochran Mr. Sammy Rich, City Manager Ms. Meredith Ulmer, Assistant City Manager Ms. Kelly Parker, Executive Assistant to the City Manager Mr. Chris Jenkins, Public Works Director Ms. Toni Rhinehart, Finance Director Ms. Aundi Lesley, DDA Director Ms. Kathy Shealy, Transit Director Ms. Courtnay Williams, Transit Assistant Director Mr. Artegus Newell, Planning Director Ms. Hannah Bagley, Keep Rome Floyd Beautiful Program Coordinator Capt. Chris Dehart, Rome Police Department Mr. Doug Walker, Public Information Officer Ms. Julie Smith, Transportation Planner GUESTS: Ms. Julie Rogers Rome Internal Medicine, Three Rivers Drive Ms. Donna Green, Skin Cancer & Dermatology, Three Rivers Drive Ms. Teresa Burns, Pruitt Health, Three Rivers Drive Ms. Angie Mull, Rix Pediatric Dentistry, Three Rivers Drive Ms. Nancy Ely, Snodgrass & Roberson Plastic Surgery, Three Rivers Drive CALL TO ORDER Commissioner Cochran called the meeting to order. 200 Vaughn Road • PO Box 1433 • Rome, Georgia 30162-1433 Phone: 706/236-4466 • fax: 706/236-4532 REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes of the December meeting were approved by common consent. POLICE REPORTS Capt. Dehart presented the December Accident/DUI report. He noted there were a total of 221 accidents with 68 private lot for the month of December which is up slightly from this time last year. There was one fatality during the month. Total general cases is down slightly with no significant changes throughout the year from last year. The leading cause of crashes remains ‘following too close’ and failure to obey signals and Stop signs has increased slightly. Commissioner Cochran asked if there have been any more accidents on Riverbend Drive. Major Dehart replied monitoring has shown no major issues with speeding but most of the issues seem to be road related. They have noted there is a negative bank on the curve which is a major contributor and he believes the surface treatment we are employing should be an improvement. TRANSIT OPERATIONS Micro Transit Updates Ms. Griffin reported she attended the GTA conference last month where micro transit was a major topic. They met with a company that does micro transit software and have set up a demo for the end of this month and they are going to provide a demo this month. We are also looking at options for hiring a consultant. Financial Report Ms. Rhinehart presented the November financial statement. She noted there have been no operating reimbursements since June and they have just been released on yesterday for draw down. We have purchased five Gillig buses, and four Creative buses for approximately $3 million, which we expected to pay for last year but expect to get caught up this year. Ms. Griffin added there will be a dedication and ribbon cutting for the new buses on January 31st at 2 pm. OLD BUSINESS West 3rd Street Mr. Jenkins reported that Mr. Carroll has sent additional survey information for the design from Pond and Company to GDOT. He reported that GDOT’s 2 nd Avenue widening project should begin construction this summer. West 3rd Street along and North 5th Avenue are their detour route, which is in the middle of the West 3 rd Street project. The 2nd Avenue project is scheduled to take about 2 ½ years. Public Work Committee/Transit Committee/Traffic Commission Minutes January 11, 2023 Page 2 of 5  Mr. Carroll has sent them a plan sheet of connectivity to the 5th Ave bridge so we will be able to show a concept to the County. He added there are some issues with the GA Power underground utilities project also still going on. Mr. Carroll will be getting a date range for the project. Mr. Jenkins added the let date for the GDOT project has changed numerous times. Commissioner Cochran asked for the Commissioners to be updated by email when Pond and Company respond with their time line. North Broad Extension Paving Project Commissioner Cochran asked where we are in terms of right of way procurement on North Broad Ext. Mr. Jenkins noted we don’t have a design yet, and still need to know the scope of the project. We believe the complaints were primarily concerned with Hwy 53 to Crestwood and from Crestwood down to the GDOT cut in. Commissioner Cochran suggested we start with that and extend the project if needed later. Mr. Jenkins added that we need to decide if we want to start the project before, during or after the apartment complex construction that is planned. Commissioner Cochran said we should go ahead and do this project, if possible, even if we must hire a third party to design it. Mr. Rich said we will determine the scope of the project in-house and go from there. Dodd Blvd. Storm Sewer Mr. Jenkins reported that as of the last meeting, the money for this project was budgeted at $750,000, but this year we have requested $850,000. To-date, 95% of the survey data is complete and Mr. Carroll will need to work with the Street Dept. to gather more information on the invert elevations of the drainage pipes to finish connecting the drainage system for design. Mr. Jenkins noted that he met with Insight Engineering of Alabama, who have some alternative suggestions on that project that would save money and reduce the construction using a hydro rock process. This process involves repairing the pipe by spraying concrete inside the pipe. This process has been approved by ALDOT and in the process of being approved by GDOT although that approval is not required for us. The pipe has a 6ft diameter and would be a huge excavation for us to undertake so we are going to do a walk through with the vendor to see if it is a candidate for this process. We will move forward with this project and will update this Committee. Request for Additional Parking on E 8th Street Mr. Messer reported that since the last meeting when a request of additional parking was made for E 8th Street along the former Georgia Power Building, he has worked on different configurations for parking. He presented three scenarios. The first scenario was Public Work Committee/Transit Committee/Traffic Commission Minutes January 11, 2023 Page 3 of 5  for 45 degree angled parking, which would not allow for an adequate through lane coming from the south. If the parking spaces were shifted into the bank, requiring a retaining wall, we would need 17 additional horizontal feet of right-of-way as well as some utility relocations. The second scenario was for parallel parking. He noted that the road alignment would stay the same however the vehicles exiting the parking deck would not have enough space to make the right turn. The third scenario shows a shift of the road alignment to allow for a through lane in alignment with the existing roadway. This scenario would require a small wall to be able to open a passenger door, so sidewalk would be required to tie into it. Mr. Rich stated he didn’t feel we would get enough return for this investment. Commissioner Cochran said we should hold off on this request for now. NEW BUSINESS Traffic Lights along Broad and East 1st Street Commissioner Cochran reported the light as 1st Avenue and Broad will not change unless someone is coming from the west side of the intersection. The same happens at 5th Avenue heading for 1st Street as well as at 5th Avenue and Broad Street. Mr. Jenkins said that staff would review both intersections. Three Rivers Drive Enhancements Commissioner Cochran reported that Dr. Ricks sent an email out to Commissioners with concerns about the capacity of Three Rivers Drive to handle the traffic generated if the new school is placed on the end of Three Rivers Drive. He asked what we would need to do to address these concerns. Mr. Rich said we have not done any traffic studies on Three Rivers Drive to his knowledge. It has been discussed that we would solicit GDOT to give us an access road. He did not think there were any design drawings out yet. Julie Rogers of Rome Internal Medicine asked if the school is proposed to be placed where the buses currently are parking. Several guests noted that the parent parking and stacking for school drop-off and pick up is of greatest concern. The road is not very large and there are a lot of businesses on that road and there are many elderly patients. Another guest agreed, noting concern about patients with appointments having difficulty reaching their doctor’s offices on time. Mr. Rich said there is an 80-foot right- of-way out there. Guests expressed concern about there only being one way in and out from the school. Commissioner Cochran said that we will request GDOT to give us an alternate access road to the school. He stated that the City Schools can make their own decision about the new schools we will ask them to plan for as much traffic stacking inside their parking lot as possible. Commissioner Cochran promised to keep the guests informed and will continue to monitor this issue. Public Work Committee/Transit Committee/Traffic Commission Minutes January 11, 2023 Page 4 of 5  Paving 2023 Mr. Jenkins reported that we submit our LMIG application to GDOT by Feb 1. Typically we funding for close to five miles of paving. We select roads from around the City and we had the roads evaluated so we can prioritize them. We have an additional $200,000 Capital this year which will pave 2 miles. We have $4 million left from 2017 SPLOST, of that $2 million will go to sidewalk and $2 million for paving. We have a contract for Redmond Rd. for $900,000 and we want a contractor to pave South Broad Street. Last year we finished paving Mountain Chase , Chulio Hills and Stonebridge. We are getting a lot of requests from Maplewood East. We got a request from Maplewood East. Before we move forward on the SPLOT we will have a list of roads to review. Commissioner Cochran asked who was awarded the bid for Shorter Avenue. Mr. Jenkins said it was Northwest Georgia Paving. Commissioner Cochran asked about the Bridge over E 6th Street near Walnut Avenue repairs Mr. Jenkins said have ordered some concrete patch to repair it. OTHER Mitchell Plaza Ms. Lesley said there is a great deal to communicate regarding Mitchell Plaza closings so if we do allow it, we need to have a very formal process for requests. We should consider monetizing it ADJOURN There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. Respectfully Submitted, Margaret Hollingsworth Margaret W. Hollingsworth, Secretary. Public Work Committee/Transit Committee/Traffic Commission Minutes January 11, 2023 Page 5 of 5