Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission

City of Sunnyvale Meeting Minutes - Final Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Thursday, August 21, 2014 6:30 PM West Conference Room, City Hall, 456 W. Olive Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94086 CALL TO ORDER Acting Chair Jackson called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. in the West Conference Room. ROLL CALL Acting Chair Jackson introduced Commissioner Cordes and asked the BPAC members and staff to introduce themselves and state the area within Sunnyvale that they are most familiar with. Present 6 - Vice Chair Kevin Jackson Commissioner John Cordes Commissioner David Jones Commissioner Richard Kolber Commissioner Angela Rausch Commissioner Kyle Welch Council Liaison attendance: Council Liaison Dave Whittum (present) PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS Acting Chair Jackson announced that the Bay Area Bike Mobile would be present at the Sunnyvale Library on Saturday. He gave updates regarding the VTA BPAC and highlighted items from the agenda. Commissioner Jones commented on the VTA BPAC agenda and referenced the Land Use information section and stated that they are trying to figure out a way of doing counts for bicycles as well as counts for pedestrians but have not figured out a way of establishing the counts. He also gave an update on AB2707 regarding the three bicycle racks on buses; he updated the Commission on the cycling anti-harassment ordinance and announced that VTA BPAC webinars are available in the afternoon. Acting Chair Jackson announced that the Bike Share Study Issue will be presented City of Sunnyvale Page 1 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final August 21, 2014 Commission to BPAC next month and the Lawrence Expressway Separation will go to Council also next month. He then spoke about the Safe Routes to School DPS summer camp for kids promoting helmet use. CONSENT CALENDAR 1. A 14-0714 Revised Draft Minutes of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Meeting of June 19, 2014 2. B 14-0811 Draft Minutes of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Meeting of July 17, 2014 3. C 14-0806 2014 Work Plan Acting Chair Jackson referred to the 2014 Work Plan and asked staff if Study Issues will be finalized in the month of September or can Study Issues still be proposed. Mr. Pineda responded that he would get an answer and follow up via email to the BPAC. Acting Chair Jackson asked for a vote to approve the Consent Calendar. Commissioner Kolber moved and Vice Chair Jackson seconded the motion to approve the Consent Calendar. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes 4 - Vice Chair Jackson Commissioner Kolber Commissioner Rausch Commissioner Welch No 0 Abstain 2 - Commissioner Cordes Commissioner Jones PUBLIC COMMENTS None PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS 2 14-0096 Lawrence Expressway Grade Separations Study - Consideration of Conceptual Alternative Acting Chair Jackson asked for a staff report. City of Sunnyvale Page 2 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final August 21, 2014 Commission Manuel Pineda, Assistant Director of Public Works, presented the staff report. He announced that the County completed the expressway study and are ready to move forward. He noted that staff is recommending approval of the concept plan for the Lawrence Expressway Grade Separation to be included into the County Expressway plan. Mr. Pineda reminded the Commission that the final concept is not for project approval but approval only for the project to move forward for additional design, environmental clearance and everything else related to it. Commissioner Jones stated that he would be supporting the concept as presented. He added that the concept was put together with good thought combining positive comments from the previous workshops, including input from the public and public agencies. Acting Chair Jackson outlined what he liked about the design. He then expressed concerns regarding the width of the bicycle and pedestrian ramps. He noted that if the ramps are not wide enough they may cause pedestrians to cross where cyclists are riding. He added that even though the bike path has not been defined he hopes it will meet highway design manual standards. Acting Chair Jackson then noted that the bicycle shoulders that will be on Lawrence should be designed and maintained to a high standard. Acting Chair Jackson stated that these were all important considerations and with those caveats he would also support the concept plan as presented. Commissioner Cordes stated that he did not see any connection points or paths on how pedestrians/bicyclists will have access to Caltrain. Commissioner Kolber noted that the information would be covered in the Lawrence Station Area Plan. Acting Chair Jackson suggested that it would be appropriate to state under the Conditions of Approval for the project. Commissioner Cordes suggested that with the new building of roads, some of the new connectors should be bus stops for people to transfer. Acting Chair Jackson stated that the concern could be noted and directed towards the County. Acting Chair Jackson stated that the color coding on the map was confusing. He noted that it seemed to show both a bike lane and bike shoulders along Lawrence but did not think that was intended. Commissioner Kolber asked if they were going to provide a ride shoulder on both sides of Lawrence Expressway. Acting Chair Jackson asked Mr. Pindeda to check with the County about color coding and the legend referencing a bike lane on Lawrence. Councilmember Whittum noted that there is an express bus with four buses a day City of Sunnyvale Page 3 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final August 21, 2014 Commission on Lawrence Expressway and stated that bus details will be discussed in the design. Acting Chair Jackson asked for a motion. Commissioner Kolber moved and Commissioner Cordes seconded the motion to approve Alternative 1: Endorse the Recommended Final Concept for Lawrence Expressway Grade Separations for inclusion in the County Expressway Plan. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes 6 - Vice Chair Jackson Commissioner Cordes Commissioner Jones Commissioner Kolber Commissioner Rausch Commissioner Welch No 0 3 14-0710 Election of Chair and Vice Chair Acting Chair Jackson asked if there were nominations for Chair. Kevin Jackson and Dave Jones were nominated for Chair. The motion to elect Dave Jones as Chair carried by the following vote: Yes 3 No 2 Obstain 1 Acting Chair Jackson asked if there were nominations for Vice Chair. Kevin Jackson was nominated for Vice Chair. The motion to elect Kevin Jackson as Vice Chair carried by the following vote: Yes 6 No 0 NON-AGENDA ITEMS & COMMENTS -Commissioner Comments Commissioner Jones commented that he rode his bicycle to the first Levi Stadium event and his experience was poor. He noted that he attended a VTA BPAC meeting and a Santa Clara Bicycle Advisory meeting to communicate information about his experience. He shared with the BPAC what he learned from the meetings City of Sunnyvale Page 4 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final August 21, 2014 Commission and stated that he suggested making the San Tomas Aquino Trail a cul-de-sac with bicycle parking at the end in order to reduce impacts to neighborhoods. He suggested that if you choose to bike to an event to take the north path bay trail instead. Commissioner Jones announced future meetings and stated that he had additional information for Commissioners that were interested. Acting Chair Jackson suggested writing a letter to Council advising them to take a position on this matter. He then suggested placing an item on next month’s agenda to discuss what the impacts are for not having good bicycle access which increases problems with car traffic because of having more people driving to the event. Commissioner Jones commented on coordination of traffic light signals between cities and stated that the level of transportation planning might be really low. Mr. Pineda reported that the City has entered into an agreement with the City of Santa Clara to allow them to control our signals along Tasman Drive and noted that as events occur site plans are being submitted and reviewed. Commissioner Welch discussed an item from last month’s meeting regarding a street in his neighborhood. He stated that on Ticonderoga and Bernardo it is very difficult to see northbound traffic on Bernardo Avenue due to cars parking on Bernardo Avenue very close to the corner. He made reference to the painted red curb and suggested perhaps extending the red curb painting back further south of Bernardo for better visibility of cars. Acting Chair Jackson suggested having the Neighborhood Association contact the Department of Public Works and stated that 20 feet is the minimum requirement now for red curb painting but could be extended if necessary for safety reasons. Mr. Pineda stated that staff could take a look at the intersection to determine what the appropriate site distance would be. Commissioner Cordes stated that his Neighborhood Association went to the City requesting painting of red curbs and were told the City no longer does that. Mr. Pineda stated that due to funding constraints there was no red curb program in place for a while. He then noted that funds are now available to start that program again and there is an active list that is prioritized by a case by case basis. Mr. Pineda suggested that the Neighborhood Association resubmit the locations to make sure they are still on the list. Commissioner Cordes asked if people are allowed to park in front of curbs that are not ADA compliant. Acting Chair Jackson suggested getting the request in to paint that curb red. He then noted that the Ordinance for the 20-feet controlled City of Sunnyvale Page 5 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final August 21, 2014 Commission intersections was entered incorrect into the Municipal Code and stated that the language should have stated “20 foot no parking zones shall be provided” however, the language in the Municipal Code states “the traffic engineer is authorize” to provide it. Commissioner Cordes asked if the BPAC is involved or receives any reports regarding the quality of the City’s sidewalks. Acting Chair Jackson responded yes as far as sidewalk standards and referred to the Information Only items on the agenda. Mr. Pineda stated that there is a back log of sidewalks that need to be replaced and noted that Council did approve additional funding recently to repair a number of them. He added that the Sidewalk Standards were updated in September 2013 and outlined all the changes. Acting Chair Jackson requested an update on the Transportation Impact Analysis Guidelines and stated that he hopes Sunnyvale will move forward with the new guidelines. Acting Chair Jackson proposed the following three Study Issues: • Determine steps to move forward to becoming a Silver Level in the League of American Bicyclists - Bicycle Friendly Community • Convert Part-Time Bicycle Lanes on Homestead Road to Full-Time Bicycle Lanes • Safe Routes to Walk and Bike to Nearby Schools Map Acting Chair Jackson gave a brief explanation for each of the three proposed Study Issues and moved to approve all three Study Issues. A second motion was received for all three Study Issues proposed. -Staff Comments Councilmember Whittum referred to the bicycle path connected with Levi Stadium and suggested that if there was a sketch of what they would like and could possibly work he could share it with representatives from the VTA Board. Acting Chair Jackson asked Commissioner Jones to forward additional information to staff for review and then have staff forward to the Commission. Commissioner Kolber asked for an update regarding the neighborhood bike routes. Acting Chair Jackson gave a description of what the neighborhood bike routes were and stated that the item was considered on the December 2010 BPAC agenda which included the map of the proposed routes. Mr. Pineda stated that there are a couple of Safe Routes to School Grants that will be implemented soon and will go back and check the file to see if that is included in a current Capital City of Sunnyvale Page 6 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final August 21, 2014 Commission Improvement Project and will update the BPAC next month on the item. Acting Chair Jackson was glad to see the Active Items list was back on the agenda under Information Only and stated that Patrick Grant was not able to attend the meeting to comment on sidewalk concerns but appreciated all of the staff work that has gone into developing the new standards and looks forward to seeing them by the end of the year. INFORMATION ONLY REPORTS/ITEMS 14-0796 Municipal Code Modification for Sidewalk Standards (Information Only) 14-0808 Draft 2015 Study Issue, Parking Survey for Bicycle Space 14-0805 Active Items List ADJOURNMENT Acting Chair Jackson adjourned the meeting at 7:54 p.m. City of Sunnyvale Page 7