Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission

City of Sunnyvale Meeting Minutes - Final Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Thursday, August 20, 2015 6:30 PM West Conference Room, City Hall, 456 W. Olive Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94086 CALL TO ORDER Chair Jones called the meeting to order at 6:37 p.m. in the West Conference Room. ROLL CALL Present 7 - Chair David Jones Vice Chair John Cordes Commissioner Kevin Jackson Commissioner Richard Kolber Commissioner Margaret Okuzumi Commissioner Angela Rausch Commissioner Kyle Welch Council Liaison Glenn Hendricks (absent) PRESENTATION 15-0803 PRESENTATION - Wolfe Road Corridor Study Adam Dankberg, Project Manager at Kimley-Horn, presented the Wolfe Road Corridor Study. The study will focus on the north-south corridor of Wolfe Road between El Camino Real and Homestead Road. The objectives of the study are to improve: the safety of all modes of transport, traffic flow, and bicycle circulation. One issue is the congestion at the closely spaced intersections of the Wolfe Road, Fremont Avenue, and El Camino Real triangle. Issues with the bicycle lanes are gaps, narrow widths, and portions located next to on-street parking. Improvement options include: installing a two-way left turn lane or a reversible center turn lane, removing on-street parking, and improving signal timing. Commissioners and speakers from the public discussed the following topics related to this study: • Lack of connectivity on Wolfe Road between Reed Avenue and El Camino Real City of Sunnyvale Page 1 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final August 20, 2015 Commission • Bike lanes * Buffered bike lanes * Make more visible at conflict points (bike boxes, clear delineations, colored bike lanes) * Extending the dashed portion on eastbound Fremont at Wolfe • Posting “BIKES MAY USE FULL LANE” signs * Where there are gaps in the bike lanes * On southbound Wolfe between El Camino and Fremont • On-street parking * The difference between usage and need * Having it on one side only to straighten the corridor * Complete removal of parking * Cars parking in the transition areas between on-street parking and bike lanes * Demarcating the transition areas so that vehicles do not encroach on the bike lanes • Low bike volumes * Poor indicator of why improvements should not be made; improvements should be made to encourage those who drive to consider bicycling as a safe alternative * Large number of bicyclists will use the corridor once the Apple campus is opened * Poor bike connectivity and not feeling safe for cyclists • Widening the far right lane on southbound Wolfe between El Camino and Fremont • Drivers not obeying the speed limit or following the lines of the curvy corridor • Reducing the speed limit and/or narrowing the lanes • Poor signal timing for westbound traffic on El Camino making a left turn onto southbound Wolfe • The need to consider other modes of transportation that would require the removal of some on-street parking for more bus stops and other designated pickup/drop off locations • Pedestrians have a difficult time using the crosswalk on the northwest corner of El Camino Real and Wolfe Road due to vehicles making the right turn at high speeds PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS Commissioner Jackson shared upcoming events and reported on recent events. Jackson recommended all to look at the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition website, on which free bike workshops are advertised. Commissioner Welch mentioned Bay Area BikeMobile as a great, free mobile bike City of Sunnyvale Page 2 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final August 20, 2015 Commission service that currently has a lot of availability on their schedule. CONSENT CALENDAR Commissioner Okuzumi requested the minutes be updated to reflect the current Council Liaison, Glenn Hendricks. Commissioner Jackson noted that in the Public Announcements section regarding the Caltrain board voting on a bike capacity on electric trains, the capacity is 12.5%. Vice Chair Cordes moved and Commissioner Welch seconded the motion to approve the consent calendar as amended. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes 7 - Chair Jones Vice Chair Cordes Commissioner Jackson Commissioner Kolber Commissioner Okuzumi Commissioner Rausch Commissioner Welch No 0 1.A 15-0802 Draft Minutes of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Meeting of July 16, 2015 1.B 15-0804 Proposed 2015 Work Plan PUBLIC COMMENTS Colin Heyne, Deputy Director of the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition (SVBC), presented SVBC’s Vision Zero plan. The idea is that all fatalities and life-altering injuries on the roadway are preventable. Heyne discussed the Vision Zero Toolkit that has been developed to help communities implement this plan. He elaborated on the Enforcement aspect of the plan which includes getting law enforcement involved and focusing on the hot spots. Commissioner Jackson asked how the Vision Zero plan can be implemented as quickly as possible. Deputy Director Heyne advised that it needs: support from City Council, Public Safety, and Transportation staff; more funding; and more collaboration between different entities within a jurisdiction. Ryan Yin, Public Safety Lieutenant, stated that the zero fatality goal is also Public Safety’s goal. PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS City of Sunnyvale Page 3 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final August 20, 2015 Commission 2 15-0806 Discussion - Current Interdepartmental Communications and Interactions between Public Safety and the Bicycling Community Commissioners discussed with Lieutenant Yin the following topics: • Bicycle and pedestrian collisions * Statistics from current and previous three years * Difficulty in understanding the primary collision factors on the Crossroads reports * Unreported collision data; state law to report collisions * How to gather more details • Public Safety making it safer for cyclists and pedestrians * Targeting the youth (bike rodeos, school presentations) * California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) grants * Promoting Safe Routes to School programs • Crossing guard program • Vehicle Code quick reference guides for patrol officers; codes for cyclists versus best practices • Tickets written to cyclists • Comprehensive School Traffic Study • Speed limit enforcement; speed surveys STANDING ITEM: CONSIDERATION OF POTENTIAL STUDY ISSUES 3 15-0805 Consideration of Potential Study Issues Transportation and Traffic Manager Abbas stated that the four study issues previously discussed had been written up and are ready for review by the Commissioners. DPW 16-01: Vision Zero Plan Commissioner Jackson requested that the answer to “What precipitated this study?” be edited to “…if this sort of plan is implemented in Sunnyvale, the number of fatalities would be reduced.” Commissioner Okuzumi suggested revising the key elements of the study to read “…total elimination of traffic fatalities for all transportation modes, to include looking at education, enforcement, engineering, evaluation and encouragement.” DPW 16-02: Determine what is required to bring City owned off-street paths in compliance with current ADA accessible & bicycle transportation design standards. No edits requested. City of Sunnyvale Page 4 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final August 20, 2015 Commission DPW 16-03: Develop a centralized database for bicycle and pedestrian projects Commission Okuzumi requested to change the title to “Provide a mobile-accessible database for bicycle and pedestrian projects.” She stated that the purpose is not for BPAC to provide effective oversight of projects, but “As an information resource, to help BPAC and the public have a better visibility of projects.” DPW 16-04: Development of Parking Survey Procedures for Provision of Bicycle Space Commissioner Jackson restated the key elements of the study as “…to develop procedures so that parking surveys account for off-street parking capacity and that parking needs are fairly evaluated.” Jackson also stated that the study was precipitated by the fact that “the parking studies BPAC has seen do not adequately address these concerns; as a consequence, it is difficult to evaluate whether the space can be used for other purposes.” NON-AGENDA ITEMS & COMMENTS -Commissioner Comments Chair Jones commented on the low turnout of people at the community meeting to discuss converting part-time bicycle lanes on Homestead Road to full-time bicycle lanes. -Staff Comments Transportation and Traffic Manager Abbas checked with Commissioners if potential study issue DPW 16-02 is to include the ADA accessible element. Commissioner Jackson confirmed that it is to be included. INFORMATION ONLY REPORTS/ITEMS 15-0807 Active Items List ADJOURNMENT Chair Jones adjourned the meeting at 9:56 p.m. City of Sunnyvale Page 5