Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission

City of Sunnyvale Meeting Minutes - Final Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Thursday, November 21, 2019 6:30 PM Council Chambers, City Hall, 456 W. Olive Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94086 CALL TO ORDER Chair Mehlinger called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. SALUTE TO THE FLAG Chair Mehlinger led the salute to the flag. ROLL CALL Present 5 - Chair Richard Mehlinger Vice Chair John Cordes Commissioner Dan Hafeman Commissioner Leia Mehlman Commissioner Scott Swail Absent 2 - Commissioner Arwen Davé Commissioner Timothy Oey Commissioner Timothy Oey absence is excused Commissioner Arwen Davé absence is excused Council member Gustav Larsson(absent) Chair Mehlinger read a statement about an email chain involving a quorum of the BPAC commission. Mr. Mehlinger reminded the commission to be mindful of their email messages regarding an issue that may be in the purview of the BPAC when expressing an opinion in corresponding with members of BPAC or the public. PRESENTATION 19-1222 PRESENTATION - 8-80 Bikeway Design Bill Schultheiss, Toole Design Group Vice President/Director of Sustainable Safety, provided an overview of current trends in inclusive bikeway design, specifically City of Sunnyvale Page 1 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final November 21, 2019 Commission highlighting the importance of protected bikeways in the City of Sunnyvale. The firm is involved with developing national design guidance. Mr. Schultheiss explained the 8-80 Bikeway Design Concepts. Kevin Jackson, member of the public, stated some issues with barriers along the bike path including less room for bicyclist to pass each other and potential conflicts. Dave Simons, VTA BPAC Representative, commented on the presentation and design philosophies. Commissioner Hafeman made the following comments: - Protected bikeway with pedestrians on it are dangerous due to potential conflicts Mr. Schultheiss addressed the comments and concerns and stated that all of these items are being looked at in the design of the 8-80 Bikeway and future design guidance. 19-1223 PRESENTATION - BPAC Effectiveness Survey Results and Infrastructure Ride Summary Vice Chair Cordes, Vice Chair of Sunnyvale Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission, gave a commissioner-led presentation on the BPAC Effectiveness Survey Results and Infrastructure Ride Summary conducted by the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition. Vice Chair Cordes stated there will be BPAC training meetings on the following dates: Basic 101 Policy, Policy of BPAC's and Being Effective on Dec.10, 2019 and Jan.15, 2020 Advocacy Case Studies on April 15,2020 Policy Round Table and How to Work on Bike Plans in July, 2020 Commissioner Swail asked for the time and length of the BPAC training meetings. Vice Chair Cordes stated all the meetings are 6:00 p.m - 8:00 p.m. Vice Chair Cordes stated there will be more Infrastructure rides next year. Susan Bremond, member of the public, commented on Mr. Cordes presentation on Infrastructure Rides. Ms. Bremond stated she would like to know what was learned City of Sunnyvale Page 2 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final November 21, 2019 Commission on the Infrastructure Rides from staff and where she and the public could get the information. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Kristen Manies, member of the public, representing the El Camino Steering Committee expressed her concerns and made comments about the intersections of Poplar/El Camino and Henderson/El Camino which are busy intersections that students use to get to Peterson Middle School. Ms. Manies stated that she is working with other parents and school groups to make changes to the busy intersections to make them safer. Kevin Jackson, member of the public, made comments on the Fair Oaks Avenue Bikeway and Streetscape Project. Mr. Jackson suggested adding to the signage "change lanes to pass bikes" as well as "the bikes may use full lane" and add a sign stating minimum 3 foot clearance required. Mr. Jackson stated that the sharrow design on Fair Oaks Avenue appears to violate the Complete Street Guidelines. CONSENT CALENDAR 1.A 19-1173 Approve the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes of October 17, 2019. Approve the Consent Calendar of October 17, 2019 as submitted. Commissioner Hafeman moved and Commissioner Cordes seconded the motion to approve the Consent Calendar of October 17,2019. The motion carried the following vote: Yes 5 - Chair Mehlinger Vice Chair Cordes Commissioner Hafeman Commissioner Mehlman Commissioner Swail No 0 Absent 2 - Commissioner Davé Commissioner Oey PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS 2. 19-1224 Report and Discussion of Recent VTA BPAC Meeting Dave Simons, VTA BPAC Representative, gave the meeting summary report City of Sunnyvale Page 3 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final November 21, 2019 Commission regarding the following topics: - In the process of choosing Chairs and Vice Chairs for the VTA BPAC leadership. - Caltran's district 4 pedestrian update has been postponed. - Update on the Measure B program activity. The City of Palo Alto was the only city that has submitted an application for funding from the education and encouragement fund so far. - Publication and finalization of the community design and transportation manuals. They are online on the VTA website. 3. 19-1225 Review and Approve BPAC 2020 Master Work Plan Approve 2020 Master Work Plan. Ralph Garcia, Senior Transportation Engineer, presented the Commission with the 2020 Master Work Plan and stated the Commission needs to accept the calendar and vote to go City Council for approval. Chair Mehlinger commented on the following: - Add a report on the education and encouragement funding from the Measure B grant - Consider agendizing a quarterly ride with the BPAC and staff in different areas of the City. Have it be an announced public meeting. Commissioner Mehlman asked for a review of Vision Zero and the Climate Action Plan. Mr. Garcia stated that Vision Zero Plan and the Climate Action Playbook were approved. Commissioner Hafeman asked if there could be a presentation on the 2020 plan to give an update on the Bernardo Undercrossing. Mr. Garcia stated that there will be an update presentation in 2020 on the Bernardo Undercrossing. Mr. Garcia also stated that at the December BPAC meeting there will be an update on the Active Items List. Vice Chair Cordes asked why BPAC is seeing projects rather than policy's. Mr. Garcia stated that the reason they see projects is because they want the City of Sunnyvale Page 4 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final November 21, 2019 Commission Commission's opinion on the design aspects of certain projects. Vice Chair Cordes moved to have the 2020 Work Plan approved as amended. Amendment to include the education and encouragement, considering the infrastructure rides and updates on the Climate Action Plan and Vision Zero. Yes 5 - Chair Mehlinger Vice Chair Cordes Commissioner Hafeman Commissioner Mehlman Commissioner Swail No 0 Absent 2 - Commissioner Davé Commissioner Oey STANDING ITEM: CONSIDERATION OF POTENTIAL STUDY ISSUES None NON-AGENDA ITEMS & COMMENTS -Commissioner Comments Vice Chair commented on the following: - There will be an ATP workshop on December 5 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Sunnyvale Senior Center - There will be a SVBC membership party on December 5 - There will be a Data Collection Methodology workshop on December 7 from 9:00 a.m to noon - SVBC Sunnyvale Team has launched a facebook page and Google group -Staff Comments Mr. Garcia stated that a letter was sent from the City of Sunnyvale and the Unified School District regarding the El Camino/Poplar intersection. Actions that have taken place since the incident are as follows: - Peterson and City staff assisted students crossing the busy intersection while the district and City staff discuss the next steps. - November 4 trained City department of Public Safety employees and volunteers began assisting students with crossing both Poplar and Henderson intersections and will remain until a permanent solution is found. - Caltran's changed the timing at the Poplar and Henderson signals to delay the City of Sunnyvale Page 5 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final November 21, 2019 Commission light changes, giving pedestrians a head start and greater visibility. - Working on getting crossing guards stationed there in the future. - The City is working with Caltran's and the District to implement additional pedestrian and bicycle safety measures along El Camino including a crosswalk countdown at Poplar. - The City and the District are continuing to work on the Safe Routes to School Plan and the Active Transportation Plan. INFORMATION ONLY REPORTS/ITEMS 19-1226 BPAC 2019 Annual Work Plan Commissioner Hafeman commented on the status of public meetings for the Caltrain Grade Separation. Mr. Garcia stated there are Caltrain Grade Separation meeting coming up. Chair Mehlinger stated there are some items on the 2019 Work Plan that have not made it onto the additional items yet to be scheduled list for 2020 Work Plan. Mr. Garcia commented that any items that were missed this year will be on the 2020 Work Plan, unless the project was cancelled or combined with another project. 19-1227 Active Items List - November 2019 19-1228 Fair Oaks Avenue Bikeway and Streetscape Project Construction Details. Mr. Garcia stated that Fair Oaks Avenue Bikeway and Streetscape Project Construction Details was included in the agenda packet by request from one of the commissioners about the details of the Fair Oaks Avenue Bikeway and Streetscape Project Construction. Vice Chair Cordes commented on the design. 19-1229 Email Exchange Involving a Quorum of BPAC Commissioners. Vice Chair Mehlinger asked if members of BPAC could share articles of interest without editorial content or any statement of intent with the public and City staff City of Sunnyvale Page 6 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final November 21, 2019 Commission without violating the Brown Act. Mr. Garcia stated that the BPAC answer point (BPAC@sunnyvale.ca.gov) could be used to share articles. Mr. Garcia also stated that if the item relates to anything on the agenda it could be attached to the agenda packet by emailing Mr. Garcia or Ms. Lillian Tsang, Principal Transportation Engineer and letting them know that you would like to include a document if it relates to a particular agenda item. Chair Mehlinger asked if there were any updates on the information cards on Commissions. Mr. Garcia stated he will look into status of the information cards. ADJOURNMENT Chair Mehlinger adourned the meeting at 8:28 p.m. City of Sunnyvale Page 7