Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission

City of Sunnyvale Meeting Minutes - Final Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Thursday, April 19, 2018 6:30 PM Council Chambers, City Hall, 456 W. Olive Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94086 SALUTE TO THE FLAG Chair Cordes led the salute to the flag and started the meeting at 6:30 p.m. ROLL CALL Status of an absence: Vice Chair Oey (excused) Council Liaison attendance: Council Liaison Russ Melton (present) Present 6 - Chair John Cordes Commissioner Catherine Barry Commissioner Susan Bremond Commissioner Angela Rausch Commissioner Scott Swail Commissioner Kyle Welch Absent 1 - Vice Chair Timothy Oey PRESENTATION 18-0403 ADA Transition Plan Shahid Abbas, Transportation and Traffic Manager, reported that the City contracted with Sally Swanson Architects to prepare the ADA Transition Plan. The completed report and a GIS data base will be available on-line in the upcoming months. Jada Golland, with Sally Swanson Architects gave an overview of the most common disability access issues which included: - Pedestrian signals: Visual, hearing, limited reach and mobility - Sidewalks: Routes, tripping hazards, height and width restrictions, running slope, cross slope, driveways, and curb ramps - Curb Ramp: Wheelchair uses, visual, walking disability, strollers - Bicycle and pedestrian access routes City of Sunnyvale Page 1 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final April 19, 2018 Commission Ms. Golland also showed a brief video of how they collected data for the ADA Transition Plan. The plan included the assessment of: - 427 miles of sidewalks - 5000 curb ramps - 315 pedestrian signals - 44 public facilities - 8 public parks The ADA Transition Plan identifies public facilities that are not ADA compliant, as well as the improvement costs to bring the facilities to ADA compliant. Ms. Golland also explained how projects are being prioritized, which include the severity level of barriers, location, frequency of use, and implementation schedule. Ms. Golland added that some of the improvements can be addressed via pipeline projects. Otherwise, the City could use the project prioritization method to determine projects that could be easily addressed and address those internally. The City could also create a focused project and look for funding opportunities. Chair Cordes asked what the next step would be. Mr. Abbas said it will now go to the City Council for final approval. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Kevin Jackson, member of the public, asked to see a copy of the report so he could make sure the six bicycle and pedestrian bridges that were supposed to be included in the ADA Transition Plan were included. Ms. Golland did not have a copy available. Dave Simons, VTA BPAC representative, stated that Caltrans has money available for mitigation for pedestrian inadequacies and encouraged the BPAC to apply for it. Mr. Simons also stated that the recent VTA BPAC meeting was conducted as a workshop and it focused on Measure B funding and how it will be allocated. Kira Od, member of public, expressed her concerns about the Moffett Park Specific Plan. Parking to the Bay Trail is not safe and residents will have limited access given that Google has taken over much of the space. CONSENT CALENDAR City of Sunnyvale Page 2 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final April 19, 2018 Commission 18-0382 Approve the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes of March 15, 2018 Approve the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes of March 15, 2018 as submitted. Commissioner Rausch moved and Commissioner Barry seconded the motion to approve the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes of March 15, 2018 as submitted. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes 4 - Chair Cordes Commissioner Barry Commissioner Bremond Commissioner Rausch No 0 Absent 1 - Vice Chair Oey Abstain 2 - Commissioner Swail Commissioner Welch PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS 18-0306 Recommend Alternatives for the Caribbean Drive Parking and Trail Access Enhancements Design Staff recommends the Preferred Alternative: Converting the existing bike lane and outer through lane on westbound Caribbean Drive to street parking and an eight-foot-wide buffer and constructing a ten-foot-wide multi-use path for use by pedestrians and cyclists in both directions. Jennifer Ng, Interim Assistant Director of Public Works, introduced herself as well as Allison Boyer, City of Sunnyvale Project Manager, Shahid Abbas and Lillian Tsang, City of Sunnyvale Division of Transportation and Traffic, Elaine Marshall, City of Sunnyvale Environmental Services, Shawn O'Keefe, Project Designer, Mark Thomas, and Erin McGuire, Program Management Consultant, CDM Smith. Ms. Ng also noted that information can be found on the website: www.cleanwater.com. Ms. Ng went over the objectives for the project, gave a status update and requested a recommendation from BPAC to present to the City Council on May 8. Ms. Ng City of Sunnyvale Page 3 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final April 19, 2018 Commission noted the final design will be completed Summer/Fall 2018 and will be open to the public in the Winter of 2019. Commissioner Barry asked what the current speed limit is on Caribbean Drive. Ms. Ng replied, 45 miles per hour (mph). Ms. Barry also asked about the pedestrian use and bike traffic along that street. Mr. Abbas said the last count, which was done a year ago, counted 3-4 bikes during peak hours. Commissioner Bremond asked why staff is recommending the Preferred Alternative instead of the Current Design and why the Other Alternative was thrown out. Ms. Ng responded that after taking a closer look at the Current Design there were some improvements to be made. The Other Alternative did not meet the Caltrans standard of a two foot shoulder. Commissioner Bremond questioned whether or not we have to abide by Caltrans standard. Ms. Ng stated that we do not, but it is wise to be consistent with other jurisdictions. Ms. Ng added that there was no buffer on the Current Design plan and the width was not wide enough to open a car door or parallel park safely. Mr. Abbas affirmed that the City is required by the Municipal Code to follow the latest design standards for Caltrans. Chair Cordes stated that Vice Chair Oey was unable to attend the meeting so he submitted his comments, which Chair Cordes read aloud: Vice Chair Oey provided his preferred design, which is a combination of the Staff Preferred Alternative and the Other Alternative, along with lane width reduction, speed reduction, and an addition of a separated bike lane. Ben Pacho, Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, preferred the Other Evaluated Alternative and was opposed to the Preferred Alternative the City is recommending. He also suggested lowering the speed limit to 30 or 35 mph. Kira Od, member of the public, expressed that her main concern is speed and the proposed parallel parking is not safe. Diane Gleason, member of the public, pointed out that as a safety measure, pedestrians are separated from cars by having a sidewalk to walk on. People however, on bikes are not separated from cars. Ms. Gleason would like to see separate lanes for cars, bikes and pedestrians. Wes Plate, member of the public/marathon runner. Mr. Plate was concerned about safety with the proposed parallel parking. He also preferred a physical barrier and City of Sunnyvale Page 4 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final April 19, 2018 Commission off road parking as well as lowering the speed limit. Joann Starke, member of the public/runner. Ms. Starke was mainly concerned about parking on Caribbean Drive and the speed on the street. Sue Serrone, member of the public, did not like the proposed parallel parking. It would be dangerous to load and unload bikes, strollers, etc. She felt the focus should be on public access to the trail for the public and not just the new Water Pollution Control Plant. Rebecca Davidson, member of the public, felt a change in the culture of sharing the road was needed and would like to see signs indicating what the expectations were as well as lowering the speed limit. Pam Putman, member of the public, preferred Class IV bike lanes and would like to see a designated parking lot and the speed limit changed to 30 mph. Safety should be the main issue and would like to see Sunnyvale set an example in protecting the cyclists. Barbara Qadri, member of the public, was not in favor of the parallel parking and closing the parking lot, since it would be too dangerous. Mike Serrone, member of the public, was not in favor of having parallel parking on Caribbean. He also noted the traffic will increase with workers from Google. Kevin Jackson, member of the public, was not in favor of mixing high speed commuters with pedestrians and recreational bike users. Mr. Jackson is in favor of the Other Alternative. Mr. Jackson then spoke out of sequence about the 15 mph speed limit in the school zone. This was already a Study Issue so he recommended moving forward on it. Mr. Jackson then stated that the bylaws are in process of being re-written and urged the Commissioners to ask why the current rules are not being followed before changing them again. Julia Miller, former Mayor of Sunnyvale and Bay Trail board member. Ms. Miller recommended delaying the schedule of the project. She commented that the charts presented are missing important information. She also stated that with all the traffic on Caribbean Drive, removing a lane would be insanity. There is also City of Sunnyvale Page 5 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final April 19, 2018 Commission misinformation and not enough information and suggested to reject what the Staff is proposing. Mr. Simons recommended mitigation of traffic, with lane and width reduction, would help with lowering the speed. Mr. Simons was in favor of Class IV bike lanes and that this project should be integrated with what Google is doing/paying for. He was in favor of lowering speed limits, separated bike lanes, separated pedestrian pathways and a separate parking area, not parallel parking. Betsy Megas, member of the public, stated the Other Alternative was her preferred option. She also noted gravel in bike lanes has been a problem and would like to see a plan to clean up more often and keep debris off the bike lanes. Commissioner Bremond motioned to look at other alternatives. Commissioner Swail seconded the motion. Commissioner Bremond pointed out the following concerns: - Changing the speed limit is not enough, there needs to be something to make cars slow down - Separation of bikes and pedestrians from cars - Traffic Calming - Future use of the trail Commissioner Swail was not in favor of having parallel parking on Caribbean Drive and also suggested adding a signal or flashing crosswalk and a barrier at the trail access to protect pedestrians from vehicles. He also suggested looking at the Arastadero Trail in Palo Alto as a model. Commissioner Rausch did not hear reports on the flow of traffic, speed, accidents, or fatalities on Caribbean Drive and felt that needed to be addressed. Commissioner Barry heard a lot about reducing lanes and reducing speed from members of the public, but did not hear it considered in the study. A separate pedestrian and bike trail study needed to be looked at and more discussion would be necessary. Chair Cordes agreed that parking along Caribbean Drive was not a good idea and was not safe. City of Sunnyvale Page 6 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final April 19, 2018 Commission Chair Cordes was against taking away the parking on Carl Road and would like to see a dirt parking lot as an alternative as well as adding the future of Carl Road to the Master Plan for further discussion. Chair Cordes concluded by adding that Baylands Park does have plenty of parking and access to Bay Trail, but there is a fee. Commissioner Bremond moved and Commissioner Swail seconded the motion to recommend no alternative to City Council. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes 6 - Chair Cordes Commissioner Barry Commissioner Bremond Commissioner Rausch Commissioner Swail Commissioner Welch No 0 Absent 1 - Vice Chair Oey 18-0404 Bike to Work Day Planning Ms. Tsang announced that Bike to Work Day will be on Thursday, May 10. The City of Sunnyvale will host two Energizer Stations: one at Plaza Del Sol and one at Butcher's Corner. Chair Cordes said he will assist at the Caltrain station/Plaza Del Sol location. STANDING ITEM: CONSIDERATION OF POTENTIAL STUDY ISSUES 18-0398 Adopt Bicycle Parking Standards Chair Cordes requested one of the commissioners to write up a draft. 18-0399 Vehicle Types Allowed on Sidewalks, Bicycle Facilities and Roadways Commissioner Bremond volunteered to write up a draft for vehicle types allowed on sidewalks, bicycle facilities and roadways. City of Sunnyvale Page 7 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final April 19, 2018 Commission Ms. Tsang asked to have the draft submitted one week before the May 17 BPAC meeting. NON-AGENDA ITEMS & COMMENTS -Commissioner Comments -Staff Comments Ms. Tsang stated that a speed survey is required to be performed prior to reducing speed in a school zone. If the speed survey shows speeds in a school zone are greater than 25 mph during school commute hours, Staff will recommend to the City Council to take action for a resolution to reduce the speed to 15 mph. Mr. Abbas noted that the main complaint in a school zone is actually congestion, not speed. As part of the Bike Plan, Safe Routes to School, Pedestrian Safety Plan, the speed around school zones would be reviewed. Ms. Tsang indicated that the 2018 Annual Work Plan has been revised. Due to recent staff departure and change of Project Manager, the schedules were adjusted accordingly. Ms. Tsang stated that the term for the current VTA BPAC Sunnyvale representative, Dave Simons, is expiring on June 30, 2018. Sunnyvale BPAC shall appoint a representative for the upcoming term at the May 17 meeting, and it will be brought to the City Council for approval. Ms. Tsang submitted the draft of the utility bill insert and informed the Commissioners that if they have any comments, they need to be submitted via email by May 3. Chair Cordes commented that the insert was supposed to have less words, more graphics and be written in Spanish as well as English but that was not the case. Ms. Tsang noted that according to the City Clerk, if the text were to be written in other languages, it needs to be in multiple languages. Commissioner Welch asked if he could add other ideas and suggestions? Ms. Tsang replied saying he could submit them and she would check with the graphic artist to see if it is doable. INFORMATION ONLY REPORTS/ITEMS City of Sunnyvale Page 8 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final April 19, 2018 Commission 18-0402 Vehicle Code - Sunnyvale Municipal Code - Vehicle Type Restrictions 18-0397 BPAC 2018 Annual Work Plan 18-0401 Active Items List - April 2018 ADJOURNMENT Chair Cordes adjourned the meeting at 8:38 p.m. City of Sunnyvale Page 9