Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission

City of Sunnyvale Meeting Minutes - Revised Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Thursday, November 19, 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 6:34 p.m. at the West Conference Room. ROLL CALL Present 6 - Chair David Jones Vice Chair John Cordes Commissioner Kevin Jackson Commissioner Richard Kolber Commissioner Angela Rausch Commissioner Kyle Welch Absent 1 - Commissioner Margaret Okuzumi Status of an absence: Commissioner Okuzumi (excused) Council Liaison Attendance: Council Liaison Glen Hendricks (absent) PRESENTATION 15-1052 Wolfe Road Corridor Study - Presentation Shahid Abbas, Transportation and Traffic Manager, encouraged the public to attend the Wolfe Road Corridor Public Meeting on December 10. He added that a simulation model will be on display for the public on the Wolfe Road Corridor Study. Adam Dankberg, Kimley-Horn, presented the Wolfe Road Corridor Study with improvement modifications. Objectives are to reduce traffic occurring in the area, improve bicycle and pedestrian safety in the corridor, discuss parking in the area and come up with solutions that benefit the City. He highlighted improvement recommendations and discussed the alternatives for the triangle corridor which includes El Camino Real/Wolfe, Fremont /Wolfe, Eleanor/Fremont/El Camino Real and . He also mentioned priorities which included improving vehicle congestion. City of Sunnyvale Page 1 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Revised November 19, 2015 Commission Commissioners’ discussed the following with the consultant: options, turn lanes, access to busses, challenges during peak hour times, would prefer a much simpler intersection with fewer traffic movements, features available for pedestrians and parking issues. Mr. Dankberg encouraged the Commissioners’ to attend the meeting of December 10 to suggest any additional changes. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Commissioner Jackson gave an update on the most recent Safe Routes to School workshop and announced that MTC renewed Safe Routes to School funding, Joint meeting with Cupertino Parks and Recreation and Bike and Pedestrian Commission to discuss the Stevens Creek trail on December 15. CONSENT CALENDAR 1. A 15-1047 Draft Minutes of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Meeting of October 15, 2015 The minutes were approved with the following modification: Public Hearing item no. 2, regarding bicycle lanes on Homestead Road, final motion to include a provision to recommend investigating lanes to replace lost street parking. Yes 6 - Chair Jones Vice Chair Cordes Commissioner Jackson Commissioner Kolber Commissioner Rausch Commissioner Welch No 0 Absent 1 - Commissioner Okuzumi PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS 2. 15-1038 Support the Preferred Alignment of the Stevens Creek Trail as Recommended by the Joint Cities Working Team Kent Steffens, Assistant City Manager, presented the report and discussed the Staff recommendation. City of Sunnyvale Page 2 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Revised November 19, 2015 Commission Commissioners’ discussed the project with Mr. Steffens and asked questions regarding impact on creek habitat sensibility, challenges posed by segment 1, Cupertino Middle School traffic safety for students, what should be top priority and concerns with unnecessary delays with Segment 2. Commissioner Jackson expressed support in including Segment 4 as part of Alternative No. 4. Commissioner Kolber asked if Segment 1 and 2 could be combined. Mr. Steffens responded yes. He gave examples of why Staff is recommending Segment 1 first and then pursue funding for Segment 2. Commissioner Jackson asked if Staff would be involved heavily with Segment 1. Mr. Steffens responded that the details were still being worked out and gave examples of how the City could potentially be involved in the future. Commissioner Cordes asked if the Remington extension could be built first. Mr. Steffens discussed the suggestion and stated that it was a possibility. Commissioners discussed the suggestion. Chair Jones referred to the 2006 Bicycle Plan and asked if there would be diversion of other capital programs for cross city bike ways and projects for infrastructure for bicycles or would the focus be completely on the Stevens Creek trail. Mr. Steffens responded that at the moment it was unknown. Chair Jones opened the Public Hearing. Randy Rhody, Los Altos resident, shared information with the Commission about the Joint Study Session between their City Council and their BPAC in Los Altos. He noted that their BPAC considered the Staff recommendations in the staff report. He announced the upcoming November 24 City Council meeting and encouraged the Commission to look at the agenda on the City’s web site. He discussed the five recommendations that Staff is proposing with the Commission and noted that BPAC suggested rewording Alternative 2. Tim Oey, Sunnyvale resident, agreed with the Staff recommendation. He noted that Staff and the Joint Cities Working Team did shy away from a complete connection recommendation. He noted that the Citizens Working Group made a recommendation all the way through and referred to Segment 3. He urged the BPAC to recommend using surface streets and building a new bridge. He added that he wishes Segment 2 will be done parallel with Segment 1. He hoped the City of Sunnyvale Page 3 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Revised November 19, 2015 Commission BPAC will recommend a complete trail that is safe for all. Garth Williams, Sunnyvale resident, agreed with the Staff recommendation however expressed concern with the wording of Segment 1. He noted that he would like to see the parking study of Segment 2 completed and not delayed. Tom Schaefar, resident of Cupertino, was impressed to see the project moving forward and its accomplishments. He gave credit to Council and the City of Los Altos. He then noted that the Remington to Fremont approach did not appeal to him and expressed his concerns. David Simons, VTA BPAC, agreed with earlier comments on Segment 1 and stated that he did not agree that the planning stages should be held up in Segment 2. He expressed his concerns. Chair Jones closed the Public Hearing. Commissioner Kolber moved to offer a friendly amendment to strike the words "and securing funding" from Alternative 2 (a) and proceed to Segment 2. Commissioner Cordes seconded. Commissioner Jackson expressed his concerns and recommended a more flexible recommendation to Segment 2 to state: "loosen the restrictions and expedite the progress on the other segments where possible". The Commission discussed the new language. Mr. Steffens stood by Staff recommendation and explained why. Commissioner Kolber withdrew his friendly amendment. Commissioner Jackson moved to approve the staff recommendation and strike the timing restrictions in 2 (a)before starting Segment 2 and to continue collaboration with regional partners for extension of the Stevens Creek Trail and support the alignment of a Stevens Creek Boulevard spur trail connection to Rancho San Antonio County Park. Commissioner Rausch made a substitute motion to include Commissioner Jackson’s motion with the additional recommendation from the Citizens Working Group to be included in Segment 3. Commissioner Cordes did not support the motion. Chair Jones suggested going with Staff recommendation and not try to change the City of Sunnyvale Page 4 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Revised November 19, 2015 Commission recommendation. He did not support Commissioner Jackson’s motion and Commissioner Rausch’s substitute motion. Commissioner Jackson supported Commissioner Rausch’s substitute motion. Substitute motion failed. Original motion was brought back. Commissioner Jackson moved and Commissioner Kolber seconded to recommend Staff's recommendation with the following modification to be included in Staff's final recommendation: Include striking the timing restrictions in 2 (a) before starting Segment 2 and to continue collaboration with regional partners for extension of the Stevens Creek Trail and support the alignment of a Stevens Creek Boulevard spur trail connection to Rancho San Antonio County Park. Alternatives 1, 2(a), 3, 4, and 5: 1. Support the recommended alignment of the JCWT in Study Segment 1 (Dale Avenue/Heatherstone Way to Fremont Avenue). This includes an off-street trail along the 22 acres of open space along State Route (SR) 85 from Dale Avenue/Heatherstone Way to Fremont Avenue, and connections at Fremont Avenue, on both sides of SR 85. Collaborate with Mountain View to seek out grant funding for the master planning, environment review, and potential construction. 2. (a) Upon completing environmental review and securing funding for potential construction of Study Segment 1, initiate a comprehensive traffic and parking study for an off-street bicycle/pedestrian trail on Bernardo Avenue for Study Segment 2 (Fremont Avenue to Homestead Road). If the traffic study indicates that an off-street facility is desirable as determined by the Sunnyvale City Council, then proceed to seek grant funding for trail master planning, environment review and potential construction of Study Segment 2. 3. Collaborate with Cupertino and Los Altos to seek out grant funding for the master planning, environmental review, and construction of Study Segment 3 (Homestead Road to Stevens Creek Boulevard) improvements at Homestead Road (i.e., the Homestead Road bridge widening or Homestead Road pedestrian/bike bridge). 4. Support our regional partners as they pursue funding for closing the gap for the Stevens Creek Trail between Mountain View and Cupertino. 5. In an effort to achieve the regional goal of extending the Stevens Creek Trail the City will support and adopt the following policies as identified in the JCWT recommendation summary: a. All trail projects should try to improve habitat values in and around Stevens Creek. City of Sunnyvale Page 5 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Revised November 19, 2015 Commission b. Existing public lands near Stevens Creek should be maintained as public land to preserve habitat and future trail opportunities. c. Continue collaboration with regional partners for extension of the Stevens Creek Trail. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes 6 - Chair Jones Vice Chair Cordes Commissioner Jackson Commissioner Kolber Commissioner Rausch Commissioner Welch No 0 Absent 1 - Commissioner Okuzumi 3. 15-1048 Ranking of Study Issues Mr. Abbas announced that currently Staff is working with a consultant to update the Bicycle plan, Safe Routes to School Plan, and the Pedestrian Safety Comprehensive Plan. This will be combined into one document and it will be called the Safety Plan for the City. Mr. Abbas went through the list of potential study issues, gave a description of each study Issue and its recommendation. The Commissioners’ voted on which Study Issues to rank, defer or drop. Commissioner Cordes moved to drop Study Issue DPW 16-03 (Develop a Centralized Database for Bicycle and Pedestrian Project). Chair Jones seconded. Motion failed. Commissioner Kolber moved to defer DPW 16-03. Commissioner Welch seconded. Motion passed 6-0. Chair Jones moved to defer DPW 16-06 (Utilizing the East Channel to Improve North/South Pedestrian and Bicycle Access). Commissioner Kolber seconded. Motion failed. The Commissioners’ discussed the potential Study Issues stating which ones they City of Sunnyvale Page 6 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Revised November 19, 2015 Commission will rank the highest. Chair Jones opened the Public Hearing and gave the public the opportunity to comment on the potential study issues. There were no public comments. Chair Jones closed the Public Hearing. Commissioners’ ranked six Study Issues. Carol Shariat, Transportation Planner, announced the order in which the six study issues were ranked: 1st DPW 16-01 Develop a Vision Zero Plan – Total Elimination of Traffic Fatalities 2nd DPW 16-04 Development of Parking Survey Procedures for Provision of Bicycle Space 3rd DPW 14-13 Scoping of Grade Separations for Caltrain Crossings at Mary Avenue and Sunnyvale Ave 4th DPW 16-02 Determine what is required to Bring City Owned Off-Street Paths in Compliance with Current ADA Accessible & Bicycle Transportation Design Standards 5th DPW 16-06 Utilizing the East Channel to Improve North/South Pedestrian and Bicycle Access 6th DPW 13-10C Pilot Bicycle Boulevard Project on East-West and North-South Routes Commissioner Cordes moved to accept the ranking of the Study Issues. Commissioner Welch seconded. The motion passed by the following vote: Yes 6 - Chair Jones Vice Chair Cordes Commissioner Jackson Commissioner Kolber Commissioner Rausch Commissioner Welch No 0 Absent 1 - Commissioner Okuzumi STANDING ITEM: CONSIDERATION OF POTENTIAL STUDY ISSUES City of Sunnyvale Page 7 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Revised November 19, 2015 Commission NON-AGENDA ITEMS & COMMENTS -Commissioner Comments Commissioner Jackson asked Staff to update the Commission on the status of the Study Issue regarding the ranking of the silver level, neighborhood bike routes and the Mary Avenue bike lanes construction. He then referred to the Mathilda Plan Line and asked if the Commission could take a look at the Plan Line for North of Washington or get a briefing on it. Commissioner Jackson also asked Staff for a briefing on the Comprehensive School Traffic Study from the consultant. Staff stated that the Silver Level Study Issue is currently being worked on with the consultant and tentatively scheduled for Council in April 2016. Staff stated that the Neighborhood Bike Routes recently went out to bid. Staff then referred to the Comprehensive School Traffic Study and stated that currently Staff is trying to establish funding by submitting a grant to update the school traffic study, include ranking of proposed improvements and costs associated. Commissioner Jackson mentioned the interest Safe Routes to School group has over that project. Staff then referred to the Mathilda Plan line and stated that Staff would report back with an update. -Staff Comments None. INFORMATION ONLY REPORTS/ITEMS 15-1049 2015 Work Plan 15-1051 Active Items List ADJOURNMENT Chair Jones adjourned the meeting at 10:20 p.m. City of Sunnyvale Page 8