Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Meeting

APPROVED November 15, 2016 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission (BPAC) Meeting Minutes Date: Tuesday, October 18, 2016 Time: 7:00 p.m. Place: City Council Chambers, City of Urbana, 400 South Vine Street, Urbana, IL Members Present: Annie Adams, Kara Dudek, Cynthia Hoyle, Audrey Ishii, Jeff Marino, Susan Jones, Craig Shonkwiler and Lily Wilcock Staff Present: Brad Bennett, Kevin Garcia Members Absent: Others Present: 1. CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL, AND DECLARATION OF QUORUM Cynthia Hoyle called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. Roll call was taken. It was noted that a quorum of members was present. 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Audrey Ishii moved to approve the agenda for the October 18, 2016 meeting. Lily Wilcock seconded the motion. The motion was approved. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETING Susan Jones moved to approve the meeting minutes. Jeff Marino seconded the motion. The motion was approved. 4. PUBLIC INPUT There was no public input. 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS There was no unfinished business. 6. NEW BUSINESS a) Pedestrian Master Plan – Brad Bennett Page | 1  APPROVED November 15, 2016 Brad Bennett presented on the Pedestrian Master Plan which he stressed was in the first stages and initial scope of planning. The City had not entered into an agreement or contract with anyone, but they had looked into using the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission (RPC). Brad Bennett stated that the RPC had done the Master Bicycle Plan which included a sidewalk inventory after a grant had been received from the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and they would be a strong and good partner for this Plan. Brad Bennett presented on the benefits of establishing a Pedestrian Master Plan. He explained that it would create a walkable, livable and healthy community. The Plan would promote healthy living benefits, contribute to a cleaner environment and establish policies, programs and projects that would further enhance pedestrian safety, comfort and accessibility to all of Urbana’s neighborhoods. In addition, Brad Bennett stated that the Plan would help prioritize the build out of additional sidewalk systems throughout Urbana. Brad Bennett explained the five components of the master plan. The first component would be the Preplanning Stage that would include a kick-off meeting, a public engagement process review session and a website creation. The second component would be the Existing Conditions phase which would include a data collection and analysis phase and then a plan and policies review phase. After, the goal would be to hold two community meetings, distribute a walking preferences survey, draft a report and have a City staff meeting to review the draft report. The third component would be the Future Plans phase. In this phase the goals, objectives and performance measures would be established, a Pedestrian Strategies topic would be discussed, recommendations would be gathered from BPAC (Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission) and then public workshops would be held. The fourth component of the Pedestrian Mater Plan would be the Implementation Stage. Brad Bennett stated that the Implementation Plan would include the preparation of the actual plan by City staff and would then be reviewed and finalized. Once the implementation stage was complete, it would be followed by the fifth and final component which would be the Plan Approval State. In this stage, a draft report would be done by City staff and reviewed by BPAC. It would then move on to City Council for review. A 30-day public comment period would follow and then to the Final Plan review done again by the City staff. After City staff had reviewed the final plan, it would go to BPAC, the Plan Commission and finally City Council for approval. Brad Bennett suggested a partnership with community groups to get more public input. He also suggested a partnership with the PACE Center for Independent Living for input on sidewalk ideas for the disabled. He noted there are no advocacy groups for Pedestrians like that had with the Bicycle Master Plan, so the public input stage would be very important. Brad Bennett stated that the Master Plan Schedule would be about an 18 month process with the evaluation of existing conditions stage the longest phase followed by the future plans and plan approval phases. Brad Bennett presented a proposed breakdown of costs given by RPC for each phase of the Plan. The total cost would be $36,100 and be budgeted as followed: • Preplanning: $1500 Page | 2  APPROVED November 15, 2016 • Existing Conditions: $11,000 • Future Plans: $9500 • Implementation Plan: $4000 • Plan Approval: $9400 • Miscellaneous: $700 Brad Bennett stated that the next step would be to gather input from BPAC, then finalize the scope of services for the Pedestrian Master Plan Study, to negotiate and execute an agreement with RPC to complete the Pedestrian Master Plan Study and to hold a kick-off meeting. Brad Bennett reiterated that a benefit of contracting with RPC would be the fact that they have done the Comprehensive Plan and Bicycle Master Plan for the City. He added that RPC would be familiar with the City’s policies and requirements and would be knowledgeable to align and adhere with the Comprehensive Plan and Bicycle Master Plan. He added that it would be an easy transition to add the Pedestrian Master Plan to the City’s Comprehensive Plan as an addendum as was the Bicycle Master Plan. Brad Bennett also informed BPAC that RPC would also be knowledgeable in the City’s land and subdivision ordinances. He added this would be helpful to make sure requirements for new developments or redevelopment projects support the Pedestrian Plan’s infrastructure. He pointed out that it is difficult and costly to retrofit sidewalks in existing neighborhoods, but would be ideal for the new developments and redevelopments. Brad Bennett added that the City would more than likely act as a project manager with RPC, and RPC would take the lead on this project. Brad Bennett agreed with Annie Adams that the goals of the project need to be more clearly defined. However, he explained that the goals would become clearer during the goals and policy and procedure phase of the project. Jeff Marino offered an idea to include an executive summary to the scope of services. Cynthia Hoyle suggested that recommendations be added for where sidewalks would be useful. She also added that a study to improve crosswalks could also be done. Ms. Hoyle suggested public meeting events to be held during the farmer’s market season and to conduct a walking service survey with photos of where people like and do not like to walk and why. b) Bicycle Wayfinding Plan – Craig Shonkwiler Craig Shonkwiler informed the Commission that they are in the incubation stage of formulating the scope for the Bicycle Wayfinding Plan. The initial plan was to have the City staff develop the Bicycle Wayfinding Plan, however due current workload and lack of available staff for both Public Works and Community Development; they would like to contract with RPC. Craig Shonkwiler explained that RPC would be a good partner because of their experience with the City and other Plans such as the Master Bicycle Plan. Page | 3  APPROVED November 15, 2016 Craig Shonkwiler asked for BPAC’s input of what they envision a wayfinding plan system would consist of prior to presenting a proposal to the RPC. He stated that when completed, the Bicycle Wayfinding Plan would be a model for other communities. He explained he had not found many examples within Illinois of other wayfinding plans and had gone outside of the state for help. Craig Shonkwiler added that this would be a yearlong process. Craig Shonkwiler believes there would be two approaches in how BPAC would be involved. He asked as an advisory commission, would BPAC help to develop the ideas and present that to RPC or will BPAC review ideas from a steering committee. Cynthia Hoyle stated that she managed a wayfinding plan for the City of Peoria and stated that there were a couple approaches that would benefit the City. Ms. Hoyle recommended to start with a detailed plan to specify the locations and types of signs to be used. Secondly, she recommended guidelines for the types of signs to be used and where they would be placed. Ms. Hoyle then stated the next step would be to build a system based on those guidelines. Cynthia Hoyle commented that in terms of a steering committee, she felt it to be an important aspect, but would not need to be at the same level of involvement as the Bicycle Master Plan. Ms. Hoyle suggested that one or two meetings would be adequate and that BPAC could help provide input by overseeing visual preference surveys of different sign types from the community. Annie Adams added that it would be important that the wayfinding system be trustworthy, understandable and simple. Jeff Marino suggested to have signs to encourage bicycling by giving time estimates on how long it would take to get to a destination by riding your bicycle rather than driving. He suggested creating a brand for different bicycle trails i.e. the green trails line or Kickapoo trails line. Ms. Hoyle also suggested thinking about how much money the City wanted to spend on signs. Kara Dudek stated that the park district would offer examples of wayfinding signs from other communities that they have encountered. She also noted the importance of consistent signs within the City. 7. ANNOUNCEMENTS • October 19 – 9:00 a.m. Bike Counting Event. Meet at the Illini Union South Patio • November 4 – Bid Opening for MCORE Project 8. FUTURE TOPICS • Lincoln Avenue Pedestrian Study • December Pilot Volunteer Snow Removal Program – recruiting volunteers and webpage availability at the CUSRTS website. • Crash Data Statistics in Urbana Page | 4  APPROVED November 15, 2016 9. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:03 p.m. *** Respectfully submitted, Leslie Cross Recording Secretary Page | 5