Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission

City of Sunnyvale Meeting Minutes - Final Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Thursday, October 17, 2024 6:30 PM Online and Bay Conference Room, City Hall, 456 W. Olive Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94086 CALL TO ORDER Chair Beagle called the meeting to order at 6:32 p.m. SALUTE TO THE FLAG Chair Beagle led the salute to the flag. ROLL CALL Present 5 - Chair Bryce Beagle Commissioner Alex Bonne Commissioner Geeta Gollakota Commissioner Dan Hafeman Commissioner Jonathan Wilson Absent 2 - Vice Chair Arwen Davé Commissioner Leia Mehlman Vice Chair Davé's absence is excused. Commissioner Mehlman's absence is unexcused. Council Liaison Klein (present) PRESENTATION A 24-1071 Sunnyvale Safe Routes to School Coordinator Updates 2024 Maria Arellano, Coordinator for Sunnyvale Safe Routes to Schools Program, gave a presentation. Highlighting the following: - Safe Routes to School Program - Travel Tallies (Spring 2024) - Resources for Schools - Middle School Bicycle Skills (Summer 2024) City of Sunnyvale Page 1 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final October 17, 2024 Commission - Helmet Fitting Events - October Events Commissioner Hafeman asked about the following: - Why isn't Cherry Chase Elementary School listed? - Do you have comparative data over the 3 years? - Why is Cumberland Elementary School the only school where more people walk to school than ride in cars? Ms. Arellano responded to the questions. Commissioner Gollakota asked about the following: - How much time do you spend on Safe Routes to School Program per month? - Are all of the 18 schools you work with on Safe Routes to School elementary and middle schools? - How many students in attendance do you take that information into account? - How many crossing guards are around schools during school hours? - What kind of training do crossing guards receive? Ms. Arellano responded to the questions. Commissioner Bonne asked about the following: - Could you switch from voluntary response to active counting of the number of students? - Can you increase the frequency in which you visit schools? - Can you collect information on why students are not biking and walking? Ms. Arellano responded to the questions. Commissioner Wilson asked about the following: - What was the response rate of the student population to this survey? Ms. Arellano responded to the question. Chair Beagle asked about the following: - How often is the survey taken? - What does "Other" indicate on the bar graph? - Have we considered running any bike bus programs? - For the Wheel Kids Program, did we max out the class sizes for each program or City of Sunnyvale Page 2 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final October 17, 2024 Commission were there extra seats available? Angela Obeso, Interim Transportation and Traffic Manager and Ms. Arellano responded to the questions. Commissioner Hafeman asked about the following: - Have you considered a volunteer crossing guard program? Ms. Arellano responded to the question. Public comment opened at 7:17 p.m. Eileen Le, Sunnyvale School Board Trustee, commented on the following: - School district would like to assist with the data collection process - Curious about maintenance along John W. Christian Greenbelt bike path and what can be done to improve this area Public comment closed at 7:21 p.m. Commissioner Gollakota commented on the following: - Distance from homes of children to their schools - Need for higher number of crossing guards Chair Beagle asked about the following: - How are district boundaries set? - Are the students' ability to walk or bike to school considered when setting district boundaries? Ms. Obeso responded to the questions. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Public Comment opened at 7:28 p.m. No speakers. Public Comment closed at 7:28 p.m. CONSENT CALENDAR Public Comment opened at 7:28 p.m. No speakers. Public Comment closed at 7:29 p.m. City of Sunnyvale Page 3 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final October 17, 2024 Commission 1.A 24-1072 Approve the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes of September 19, 2024. Approve the Bicycle and Pedestrian Commission Meeting Minutes of September 19, 2024 as amended. Commissioner Hafeman moved and Commissioner Bonne seconded the motion to approve amended item 1.A. The amendment was made by Commissioner Hafeman who stated on page 7 that his question regarding notifications to residents along Homestead Road should state "Have residents along Homestead Road been given a 1 year notification that their parking will be removed?" The amendment carried with the following vote: Yes 5 - Chair Beagle Commissioner Bonne Commissioner Gollakota Commissioner Hafeman Commissioner Wilson No 0 Absent 2 - Vice Chair Davé Commissioner Mehlman PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS 2 24-1075 Report and Discussion of Recent Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) Meeting Public Comment opened at 7:34 p.m. No speakers. Public Comment closed at 7:34 p.m. Commissioner Gollakota commented on the following: - Do we have any bicycle e-lockers in Sunnyvale? Lillian Tsang, Principal Transportation Engineer/Planner, responded to the question. STANDING ITEM: CONSIDERATION OF POTENTIAL STUDY ISSUES City of Sunnyvale Page 4 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final October 17, 2024 Commission 3 24-1076 Expansion of Downtown Sunnyvale Pedestrian-only Zone (Consideration of Potential Study Issue) Thinh Le, Transportation Engineer, stated that Commissioner Bonne has proposed a study issue titled Expansion of Downtown Sunnyvale Pedestrian-only zone. The BPAC can discuss, review and vote to decide whether to add the proposed study issue onto the study issue sponsorship list. Commissioner Bonne discussed the following: - Demand for pedestrian-only roadways - Expanding the pedestrian zones further along Murphy Avenue all the way down to Whole Foods and the AMC theater - Closing more portions of Washington Avenue Commissioner Hafeman commented the following: - Concern regarding various potential street closures in downtown including the Frances Street closure since that is Sunnyvale's only transit center Ms. Tsang responded to some of the comments. Council Liaison Klein made additional comments. Chair Beagle commented on the following: - Intent was to not block access to any of the parking garges - Traffic patterns should be most convenient for pedestrians even if that means vehicles need to go aroudn the area via different routes Commissioner Gollakota commented the following: - Time required to reach downtown businesses by drive should be taken into account Public Comment opened at 8:21 p.m. Daniel Karpolovich, Sunnyvale resident, commented on the following: - Studies in other cities of pedestrianizing and its positive effects on local businesses - Effects of pedestrianizing on mass transit - Delivery vehicles City of Sunnyvale Page 5 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final October 17, 2024 Commission Public Comment closed at 8:25 p.m. Commissioner Gollakota commented the following: - If we convert W McKinley Avenue at Mathilda Avenue to a pedestrian-only zone, how will we re-route access to businesses? Chair Beagle called for a recess at 8:43 p.m. Chair Beagle reconvened the meeting at 8:50 p.m. MOTION: Chair Beagle moved and Commissioner Bonne seconded the motion to sponsor proposed Study Issue to Expand Downtown Sunnyvale Pedestrian-only Zone per the following modifications to the scope and project limits: * Split Phase 1 into multiple phases. As it stands in the currently study issue, we are closing McKinley Avenue from Mathilda Avenue to Murphy Avenue. There was discussion of removing Mathilda Avenue to Aries Way entirely. So Phase 1A would be McKinley Avenue from Aries Way to Murphy Avenue. Then Phase 1B would be Murphy Avenue from McKinley Avenue to Washington Avenue. Then Phase 1C would be Olsen Avenue from Taaffe Street to Frances Street and other items like fire access to the parking lot and other green areas on the proposed map. Finally 1D would be McKinley Avenue from Murphy Avenue to Sunnyvale Avenue * Future vision includes the red zones: Frances Street from Evelyn Avenue to Washington Avenue and Washington Avenue from Taaffe Street to Murphy Avenue * Include delivery service access as part of the study Yes 5 - Chair Beagle Commissioner Bonne Commissioner Gollakota Commissioner Hafeman Commissioner Wilson No 0 Absent 2 - Vice Chair Davé Commissioner Mehlman 4 24-1077 BPAC 2025 Study Issue Sponsorship (Scenario 2) Ms. Tsang stated that last month the BPAC has looked at sponsorship for scenario one and this month we are looking at potentially sponsoring more study issues City of Sunnyvale Page 6 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final October 17, 2024 Commission based on study issues that we proposed tonight. MOTION: Chair Beagle moved and Commissioner Bonne seconded to put the Potential Study Issue on the Sponsored list as a Study Issue. Yes 5 - Chair Beagle Commissioner Bonne Commissioner Gollakota Commissioner Hafeman Commissioner Wilson No 0 Absent 2 - Vice Chair Davé Commissioner Mehlman 5 24-1078 BPAC 2025 Sponsored Study Issues Public Comment opened at 9:25 p.m. No speakers. Public Comment closed at 9:25 p.m. NON-AGENDA ITEMS & COMMENTS -Commissioner Comments -Staff Comments Mr. Le commented on the following: - Multi-use path between Moffett Park Drive and Innovation Way has been completed - Survey for Sunnyvale Caltrain Station Pedestrian-Bicycle Study closes on Thursday, October 24 at 6 p.m. - October 24 from 6 to 7 p.m. staff will be holding community meeting for Tasman Pedestrian-Bicycle Improvement Study INFORMATION ONLY REPORTS/ITEMS 24-1079 BPAC 2024 Annual Work Plan 24-1080 Active Items List October 2024 24-1081 2024 Deferred Study Issues 24-1082 2025 Sponsored Study Issues City of Sunnyvale Page 7 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final October 17, 2024 Commission 24-1083 2025 Proposed Budget Proposals ADJOURNMENT Chair Beagle adjourned the meeting at 9:27 p.m. City of Sunnyvale Page 8