Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Meeting

APPROVED January 17, 2017 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission (BPAC) Meeting Minutes Date: Tuesday, December 20, 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 Members Absent: None Others Present: None 1. CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL, AND DECLARATION OF QUORUM Cynthia Hoyle called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Roll call was taken. It was noted that a quorum of members was present. 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Craig Shonkwiler moved to add to the agenda the 2017 Meeting Dates. Annie Adams seconded the motion approve the agenda as amended for the December 20, 2016 meeting. The motion was approved. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETING Susan Jones moved to approve the meeting minutes as amended. Annie Adams 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 January 17, 2017 Brad Bennett outlined the updates to the proposed Pedestrian Master Plan based on the recommendation by the Commission during the October 2016 meeting and presented to the Champaign-Urbana Regional Planning Commission (RPC), who would be doing the Pedestrian Master Plan (PMP). Brad Bennett presented a summary of the resolutions to the recommendations made by the Commission which consisted of the inclusion of the executive summary, a walking preferences survey which would include the ability to allow photo submissions and additional community meetings and additional survey collection efforts at an additional cost per event. Additionally, the Commission asked that an existing policy review be done to make the development policy more pedestrian friendly. The resolution would be to provide general recommendations to the development by the RPC, but ultimately would be up to City staff to draft language and implement the specific revisions to the policy. Finally, the Commission requested that the existing plans which included the Greenway and Trail Plan, Urbana Park District Trail Plan, Climate Action Plan, the City’s Sustainability Plan and Urbana Bike Master Plan be reviewed and incorporated into the PMP. Brad Bennett continued with another resolution to the Commission’s recommendation to document benefits of the master plan to help gain public support and he confirmed that it would be done. The commission asked that they identify areas with poor or missing pedestrian connections, which he added the plan would do. Also, the Plan will provide general recommendations to improve access and safety to pedestrians on arterial and collector streets, however City staff would be responsible for specific improvements. Another recommendation by the Commission would be to share the plan with the Park District and to provide general recommendations to make pedestrian travel safe and interesting, which again would be the responsibility of City staff to make those specific improvements. The Commission asked for ample time to review plan documents and the RPC would provide at least two weeks to do so. Finally, it had been verified that 40 hours would be budgeted for data collection and analysis and 162 hours budgeted for existing conditions items. Finally, Brad Bennett explained the next steps in the process, which would be to finalize the scope of services for the PMP, execute an agreement with RPC to do the PMP study and to hold a kick-off meeting which he expected to start after the New Year. b) Armory Avenue Bike Path Extension – Lily Wilcock Lily Wilcock presented on the Armory Avenue Bike Path Project which she described as a path that starts in the University District and continues to Lincoln Avenue and Iowa Street. (See presentation) Ms. Wilcock stated that the path would need to be demolished and replaced. Ms. Wilcock also stated that the replacement would also allow for a combined pedestrian and bicycle path. Lily Wilcock presented the criteria the University used to determine which paths needed work. Those criteria included paths segregated from the roadway, a path that was poorly marked and difficult to distinguish from the sidewalk, no two-way movement along the Page | 2  APPROVED January 17, 2017 path, a path blocked with hazardous obstructions and insufficient design that made turning difficult. Lily Wilcock described the proposed bike path improvements to include a smooth transition to remove criss-crossing of traffic in those areas. She stated that they recommended a ten foot wide multi-path section. Jeff Marino asked if there were traffic counts for this particular section. Ms. Wilcock stated that there were no traffic counts for bicycle, pedestrian and vehicle at that intersection. However, Ms. Wilcock confirmed that the City had already conducted those studies and those numbers would be offered to the University per Craig Shonkwiler. After discussion by the Commission, Craig Shonkwiler offered a recommendation regarding the crossing treatments. He stated that because the City had already conducted volume counts for traffic and speed at this location, they would have the ability to determine if a lower speed limit through that corridor would be advisable for bicyclist and pedestrians based on the metrics of use in those locations. Craig Shonkwiler also stated that the objective would not to re-do sections or paths, but to improve on what would already be available. c) Best Practices for Wayfinding – Cynthia Hoyle Cynthia Hoyle presented on the best practices for wayfinding she obtained from ALTA Planning and Design (ALTA) and adapted for her presentation. Ms. Hoyle stated that the benefits of wayfinding included encouragement of walking and biking and to explore further areas. The economic benefits of improved wayfinding would help create a network and a more positive travel experience, which would aid in the creation of tourism, recreation and business investment. Cynthia Hoyle stated that the basic principles of wayfinding included connecting people to places, being predictable and easily recognizable and understood by the greatest amount of people by being inclusive and by keeping the information simple. Cynthia Hoyle described the three types of signs particularly for bicyclists. The first type of sign would be the decision signs located at intersections. The next would be confirmation signs that usually would be found after an intersection, particularly at complicated intersections, so you know you are going the right way. Finally, there would be turn signs that confirm the direction the bicyclist would be headed especially at complex intersections. Cynthia Hoyle described the various tools used by other communities. Ms. Hoyle showed an identity sign, a Kiosk sign and an interpretive sign. Ms. Hoyle stated that the heights and clearances of the signs were dictated by the requirements set out by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Also available to bicyclists were pavement markings, but it would be noted that there were maintenance issues and weather related obstructions that could occur such as snow or leaves. She also explained that pavement markings on trails may also be used and may be available where no signs are used. Other signs that may be used Page | 3  APPROVED January 17, 2017 along trails include mile markers to help measure distance and provide emergency information and route identifiers on street signs or below street signs to confirm that you are traveling in the right direction or still on the correct route. Ms. Hoyle showed orientation maps that would help identify your location and determine walking times and biking times to other points of interest. Cynthia Hoyle described the selection of materials for the various signs that would affect cost, maintenance and be preferred by a community. Overall, the ideal sign package would be a cohesive family of signs for the community Cynthia Hoyle showed the standard template of signs for Bicycle signs, as described in the MUTCD. She added that the goal of the template would be for consistency. Ms. Hoyle added that even with a standard sign layout, there would be some flexibility of the design. Ms. Hoyle clarified that the MUTCD standards also apply to trails if they are paved shared- use pathways with transportation function and would not apply to a recreational natural surface trail. Ms. Hoyle also stressed the importance of involving the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) for approval and funding of wayfinding signs that meet the state’s requirements. Cynthia Hoyle shared the standards on a wayfinding signs include color, icon, availability to add three destinations in a rectangular shape and the arrow shape and location of those arrows. As described earlier, the flexibility in the signs would include custom shaped signs, logo, color options and the ability to include distance in minutes, color coding and adding local identifiers. Ms. Hoyle also stated that MUTCD had clearly stated colors that have been restricted from use on wayfinding signs and include those colors used in warning signs such as red, orange and yellow. Other important considerations for the signs would include placement of information by prioritization such as cities, districts/neighborhoods, landmarks and local destinations. She stressed the importance of not placing specific businesses, i.e. McDonald’s etc. Additionally, other important factors would be the message the community would like to convey about themselves and what routes were priorities. The main priority would be how to join this with the existing wayfinding and how to build upon it. Further, Cynthia Hoyle stated that the next step would be to discuss implementation and the cost of doing so. Craig Shonkwiler stated that currently in the City right-of-way, any sign have been within the MUTCD standards. He pointed out that City staff had ideas of the type of wayfinding sign that would be implemented, but that cost consideration would be of high importance. Also, noted by Craig Shonkwiler would be NACTO guidelines. He also stated that the City has the capability to make signs in-house, however most signs would be bought. Craig Shonkwiler also advised that installation would be done by City staff, but that would still be dependent on availability of staff. He stated that he would hopefully have a scope for the wayfinding project to the Commission by January or February 2017 and then have a steering committee. d) 2017 Meeting Dates Lily Wilcock moved to approve the 2017 meeting dates. Susan Jones seconded the motion. Page | 4  APPROVED January 17, 2017 The motion was approved. 7. ANNOUNCEMENT  December 19, 2016 City Council passed 2016 Urbana Bicycle Master Plan  January 10, 2015 – Lunar Cycle Ride 5 mile ride (weather permitting)  MCORE update that agencies came up with funding  Snow Removal program sign-up had begun 8. FUTURE TOPICS 9. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:36 p.m. *** Respectfully submitted, Leslie Cross Recording Secretary Page | 5