Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Meeting

APPROVED February 21, 2017 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission (BPAC) Meeting Minutes Date: Tuesday, January 17, 2017 Time: 7:00 p.m. Place: Executive Conference Room, 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: Kevin Garcia Members Absent: None Others Present: None 1. CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL, AND DECLARATION OF QUORUM Cynthia Hoyle called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. Roll call was taken. It was noted that a quorum of members was present. 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Jeff Marino moved to approve the meeting agenda. Audrey Ishii seconded the motion approve the agenda. The motion was approved. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETING Susan Jones moved to approve the meeting minutes as amended. Craig Shonkwiler 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) Revised 2017 Meeting Dates Page | 1  APPROVED February 21, 2017 The Commission approved the revised meeting date of Wednesday August 16, 2017 to Tuesday, August 15, 2017. b) 2016 Urbana Bicycle Master Plan – Implementation and Timeline Discussion Craig Shonkwiler highlighted portions of the 2016 Urbana Bicycle Master Plan (UBMP) specifically discussing Chapter 12 as a guide to implementation. He also pointed out the priority infrastructure recommendation which was located on page 299 of the BMP. In addition, Craig Shonkwiler stated that the Champaign-Urbana Regional Planning Commission (RPC) developed goal sheets for City staff as an outline of where the projects are headed in the next five years. Craig Shonkwiler suggested he would talk about the bigger picture during this meeting and in a future meeting go into more detail about specific projects. Referring to Chapter 12 of the BMP, he stated that this was the section that staff followed as a guide prior to the BMP being approved. Shonkwiler stated that Chapter 12 contained a lot information but its main focus talked about not having a static network and that there would be reevaluation of projects within a five year period due to the different growth patterns in the city. Craig Shonkwiler showed items on the high priority infrastructure recommendation list that were already completed prior to the BMP approval and those to be completed within the next year or two. Craig Shonkwiler updated the Commission on the Kickapoo trail access to Weaver Park and made note that the City had been in preliminary talks with RPC to complete a feasibility study for the best route. He added that more information would become available later this year. Another item on the high priority list would be to begin and establish the green loop trail in conjunction with the Urbana Park District (UPD) which the UPD would plan in conjunction with their wayfinding signage implementation. Craig Shonkwiler presented the 0-5 year city projects, which he stated mirrored the five year capital improvement plan. He pointed out that most of the city funding for the 0-5 year projects would go to the MCORE project. Craig Shonkwiler described other projects such as the improvement of side paths which he stated would be a challenge because of the high cost of implementation. He noted that at Broadway Avenue near Crystal Lake Drive, the project had already been started in conjunction with UPD funding. Craig Shonkwiler added that there were gap pieces from Broadway Avenue to Country Club that would also add to the challenge. In addition, UPD would be using their ITEP funds (Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program) at Park Street to at least Saline Branch Drainage Ditch and then towards Carle Hospital in their study. Craig Shonkwiler talked about the 6-11 year projects which would be done once the 0-5 year projects were completed. After these projects, the 11 year and beyond projects would be the next phase and he noted it would be awhile before these projects were constructed. However, he stressed that these projects are important because they gave an outlook into future projects. Craig Shonkwiler was asked to expand on the capital improvement plan process and how projects were prioritized. He explained that there were four types of funding for roadways. Page | 2  APPROVED February 21, 2017 The first would be a state motor fuel tax of approximately $1 million yearly, which had been largely unchanged for the last 10-15 years. The second source of funding would be $800,000 for the local gas tax and then a capital removal and replacement fund of $600,000 would be the third. The total for the three main funding sources would be about $3.4 million. The last funding source would be from the TIF (Tax Increment Financing) money, if a project falls into certain qualifications. The projects were prioritized based on a street rating method and specifically three categories, surface, foundation and drainage condition. Additional factors that contribute to the rating include the volume of vehicles and if it is a bus route and/or bicycle facility which he added would be the tipping factor. Craig Shonkwiler explained the tipping factor would be if there were two roads with the same rating factor, but one road had a bus route, that road with the bus route would be of a higher priority. He also explained that they try to bundle the streets. This would mean, if they were already working in a high priority area and there were streets nearby on the list, they would work on those streets as well. Craig Shonkwiler added that he managed the system of work with input from the Public Works director, Public Works Operations and CD (City of Urbana Community Development) to figure out what were the hot button projects. Finally, Craig Shonkwiler would go to City Council with his recommendations. In addition, Craig Shonkwiler stated other item that they prioritize include local streets, which are grouped into neighborhood zones. He stated that the challenges they find on this end deal with the street requirements of the American Disabilities Act (ADA). Craig Shonkwiler stated in some circumstances, they would be required to build accessible ramps on sidewalks when they do certain road treatments, which were good things, but do cost more. The Commission asked what funding would be allocated for sidewalks. Craig Shonkwiler explained that from the $600,000 allocated for the capital removal and replacement. They have pooled money to keep up with the striping project by re-budgeting or encumbering the money. $100,000 would then be allocated sidewalks and $50,000 for brick sidewalks and ramps. He stated that the money could be spent on a complaint by complaint or area by area basis. The Commission asked about the maintenance of the brick pavements. Craig Shonkwiler explained that brick sidewalks were basically maintenance free, however when they fail, they deteriorate rapidly by unzipping. However, Craig Shonkwiler explained that brick streets cannot be removed without City Council approval. Craig Shonkwiler was asked about when the budgeting started. He answered that the fiscal years starts July 1 to end of June the following year and they would start the process of budgeting in the spring and bring that to City Council. Additionally, Craig Shonkwiler stated that they do try to obtain grants. The Commission asked if City Council would re- budget his proposal and he stated that it could happen, but that he tries to keep them informed through the whole process. The Commission also asked if the budget had ever been highlighted to emphasize what portions of the budget would be specifically allocated to bicycle projects. Craig Shonkwiler explained that no, it had never been done because it is common to be working on a repavement project that then adds bicycle infrastructure. This was done because they do not specify projects as either bike or resurface projects, they Page | 3  APPROVED February 21, 2017 look at it as reallocating the space not necessarily just working on bike paths or just working on resurfacing projects. Craig Shonkwiler explained that Bradley Avenue bicycle lanes had been patched because of need, but became a priority when bicycle lanes were included in the UBMP. He explained that many projects that may be separate become bundled. Craig Shonkwiler talked about goal tracking provided by the RPC and what problems need to be addressed next and would be discussed in a future meeting. Kara Dudek commented on the Kickapoo Trail that they will have an update next month after a meeting that will occur in the next week with the City, CCFPD (Champaign County Forest Preserve District), RPC and UPD. c) BPAC Annual Report to Mayor and City Council The BPAC Annual Report was discussed as outlined in the Bylaws where the Commission shall render an annual report to the Mayor and City Council to include a summary of actions accomplished; budget suggestions; future goals and other items as deemed necessary. Cynthia Hoyle suggested for the future to include these items in each month’s meeting minutes. The Commission suggested splitting up the meeting notes by quarters for review by four commission members and providing a summary to Cynthia Hoyle. The following members were assigned minute meetings from January to March to Susan Jones, April to June to Lily Wilcock, July to September to Kara Dudek and October to December to Jeff Marino. Craig Shonkwiler and Kevin Garcia would summarize City staff’s year to be included in the report and budget suggestions. The Commission asked to add additional support staff to the budget. The Commission agreed to have the initial write ups to Cynthia Hoyle within two weeks and a rough draft would be reviewed at the February 2017 meeting to have it included in the packet for the Committee of the Whole or to City Council. d) Bike Month Activities CCB had been carrying the load for the Bike Month Activities for the past three years. Cynthia Hoyle would like the Commission to be more involved in this year’s Bike Month Activities. Ms. Hoyle confirmed that Bike to Work Day would be on May 3, 2017 and Bike to School Day for K-12 would be held on May 10, 2017. Unfortunately, Ms. Hoyle stated that some schools had been showing some reluctance. They would like to do Bike Rodeos for the schools. Ms. Hoyle asked for help with stations for Bike to Work. She would like more suggestions on how to spread the word about the event. Some suggestions from the Commission included sponsored events like Bike/Car Competition with rewards, Bike Rally, Bike to Market, Family Ride Day or a Bike Training Day. Another suggestion on teaching bike riders who need some direction in a buddy ride, teaching and creating easy route planners for riders, and providing a social media outlet. 7. ANNOUNCEMENT Page | 4  APPROVED February 21, 2017 • January 23 - Ride Illinois Quarterly Conference Call • National Bike Summit Representative 8. FUTURE TOPICS • Alta Planning - The Small Town and Rural Multimodal Networks Guide • Vision Zero 9. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:40 p.m. *** Respectfully submitted, Leslie Cross Recording Secretary Page | 5