Traffic Commission Meeting

Approved November 15, 2016 URBANA TRAFFIC COMMISSION Tuesday, September 13, 2016 MEMBERS PRESENT: Michael Madigan, City Council Member, Ward 6, Chair Craig Shonkwiler, Assistant City Engineer Andy Charles, Police Sergeant for Pat Connolly, Police Chief MEMBERS ABSENT: Pat Connolly, Police Chief OTHERS PRESENT: Cheri Manrique, 308 Thompson Street Chris Manrique, 308 Thompson Street David Jayme, Civil Engineer John Collins, Operations Manager Barbara Peacock, 509 East Illinois Street Patrick Russell, Urbana Middle School, 1201 South Vine Street Beth Beaty, City of Urbana, Parking Manager Bill Gray, Public Works Director The meeting began at 4:00 p.m. Approval of Minutes: Craig Shonkwiler moved to approve the minutes of the June 14, 2016 meeting. Andy Charles seconded the motion. The Commission voted 3-0 to approve the minutes of the June meeting. Additions to the agenda: There were no additions to the agenda. Public Input Chris Manrique discussed his and Mrs. Manrique’s concerns regarding parking and visibility on Thompson Street near Division Avenue. He stated that the new construction on the southeast corner of the intersection added to the number of vehicles and pedestrians using Thompson Street. He added that even though there were parking restrictions along the south side of the street, residents were parking in no-parking areas. He was also concerned about cars parked near the intersection blocking visibility for those turning onto Division Avenue. Craig Shonkwiler asked the recording secretary to send the Traffic Issues/Concerns Request (TICR) Form to Mr. Manrique.  Traffic Commission Minutes September 2016 Page 2 Mr. Manrique asked if parking restrictions could be made on Thompson Street. He said that there had been at least three nights when he was unable to drive down the street because parked vehicles made the street impassable. He asked if parking could be restricted on Division Avenue to provide more visibility when turning onto Division Avenue from Thompson Street and if parking restrictions on Division Avenue could be enforced. Mr. Shonkwiler said that staff would review the situation after receiving the completed TICR form. Unfinished Business Item #1- Discussion of semi-trailer traffic control on Illinois Street west of Vine Street. Barbara Peacock, a resident at Grove Street and Illinois Street presented a status report regarding the use of Illinois Street by semi-trailer truck drivers. She said that remarkable improvement had been made after the staff at Central Illinois Produce was contacted by the City of Urbana. Ms. Peacock indicated that within the last three weeks there had been approximately six trucks using Illinois Street. She asked if signage could be added to restrict semi-trailer trucks from using Illinois Street. She believed that placing signage on each end of Illinois Street would not need to be enforced, but that it would discourage truck traffic on the street. She mentioned that she had stopped a few of the truck drivers and asked them to use another route. Ms. Peacock added that she would periodically provide updates to the Commission and continue to contact Central Illinois Produce. Michael Madigan said that he thought Mr. John Rollins from Central Illinois Produce was very conscientious and that Mr. Rollins would do his best to keep semi-trailer truck traffic off of Illinois Street. Andy Charles mentioned that restricting truck traffic on Illinois Street might push the problem to the next street. He added that the traffic signal at Vine Street and Illinois Street probably made Illinois Street appear to be a major street, which might have explained why a navigation system included Illinois Street in the route to go to Central Illinois Produce located on Glover Avenue. Mr. Madigan thanked Ms. Peacock for keeping the Commission informed about the situation. New Business Item #2- Discussion of parking restrictions on Michigan Avenue between Vine Street and the eastern driveway into the Urbana School District property. Craig Shonkwiler recapped previous discussions with the Urbana School District, Public Works Department and Urbana Traffic Commission. He said that the Urbana School District had approached the Public Works Department to request changes be made to the parking restrictions along the north side of Michigan Avenue, east of Vine Street. He said that the principal at Urbana Middle School had requested parking by permit only from 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, when school was in session; student loading and unloading from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., and  Traffic Commission Minutes September 2016 Page 3 on street-parking during evenings, week-ends and days when school was not in session. Once the proposed changes were agreed upon, informational letters were sent to the property owners and residents along the south side of Michigan Avenue across from the area of the proposed change to seek input and to answer any questions. He added that none of the residents or property owners who were notified contacted the City, but one letter was returned as undeliverable. Andy Charles asked if traffic was still directed one-way on Michigan Avenue during certain times of the day. Patrick Russell, Assistant Principal at Urbana Middle School, said that traffic was directed westbound on Michigan Avenue between 3:35 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. on school days. He indicated that the school district would like to designate the north side of Michigan Avenue for permit parking only for food service staff. He said that their hours would normally be from 6:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. He said that there was ample parking for staff so the parking would be available for auxiliary staff. After that time, Mr. Russell suggested that the area could be used for picking up students. Beth Beaty asked who currently used the spaces. Mr. Russell explained that the area was used by the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District and sometimes for First Student bus service. Mr. Shonkwiler asked if the busses unloaded on Vine Street. Mr. Russell said that occasionally inexperienced bus drivers unload and load on Michigan Avenue. He added that it was problematic when busses used Michigan Avenue to load and unload since supervision of students was provided on the Vine Street of the school. Sgt. Charles asked if students weren’t also picked up and dropped off at the circle drive within the parking lot to the north of the building. Mr. Russell said that the busses were supposed to load and unload in the parking lot, but he added that some of the drivers preferred to use Michigan Avenue. He continued to elaborate on the current conflict that occurred with parking in the lot to the west of the Urbana Middle School. He said that the Urbana Park District Aquatic Center shared the lot with the school so the added parking along Michigan Avenue would relieve the congestion in that parking lot. He pointed out that by allowing permit parking along Michigan Avenue, the busses would have to use Vine Street. He said this arrangement would work well since the area of the school yard on Vine Street was supervised. Andy Charles was concerned about using Michigan Avenue as a pick-up area at the end of the school day. He mentioned that there could be three lanes of westbound traffic resulting in students crossing between cars to get to vehicles. Mr. Madigan asked if the trucks that load and unload food would use this area.  Traffic Commission Minutes September 2016 Page 4 Mr. Russell said that those vehicles used the parking lot. Mr. Russell said that the personal vehicles of staff would park on Michigan Avenue. Mr. Russell said that approximately thirty students were picked up along Michigan Avenue. Craig Shonkwiler said that he was concerned about the increased conflict that might be created by adding the loading zone to Michigan Avenue. Michael Madigan suggested that the Traffic Commission consider the request for permit parking and discuss the loading zone later. Beth Beaty stated that the enforcement of the permit parking would be done on a complaint-basis only. John Collins suggested that the hours for permit parking be established from 6:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. to avoid a de facto loading zone. Craig Shonkwiler moved to removed bus only parking on the north side of Michigan Avenue between Vine Street and the easternmost driveway into the Urbana Middle School parking lot. He moved to restrict parking to permit parking only between the hours of 6:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday on days when school was in session and allow on-street parking on evenings, week-ends and days when school was not in session. Andy Charles seconded the motion. The motion was approved 3-0. This item will go to Council for approval. Item #3- Discussion of traffic control California Avenue and Orchard Street. Craig Shonkwiler discussed a concern that was brought to staff’s attention regarding the lack of traffic control at the intersection on Orchard Street at California Avenue. Mr. Shonkwiler said that even though Orchard Street had features that resembled an alley, the roadway was a street. He also mentioned that the intersection was located near a school which made the need to establish right of way even more important since the school would generate more pedestrian and vehicular traffic than on most other residential streets. Mr. Shonkwiler added that the northern end of the street was controlled by a stop sign (on Orchard Street at the intersection with Illinois Street). He cited a section from the Manual on Uniform Traffic Devices (MUTCD), which stated that a stop sign should be installed at “an intersection of a less important road with a main road where application of the normal right-of-way rule would not be expected to provide reasonable compliance with the law.” He stated that motorists on California Avenue, a through street, would not expect traffic on Orchard Street to continue without stopping since the street had features similar to an alley, yet those travelling on Orchard Street did not have any control indicating that they should stop for traffic on California Avenue.  Traffic Commission Minutes September 2016 Page 5 To define right-of-way at the intersection, Craig Shonkwiler moved to install a two-way stop on Orchard Street at California Avenue for northbound and southbound traffic. Andy Charles seconded the motion. The motion was approved 3-0. This item will go to Council for consideration. Item #4- Discussion of no-parking restrictions on Bradley Avenue between Lincoln Avenue and the western City limits—Bradley Avenue Bike Lane Project. Craig Shonkwiler discussed the plan for lane striping on Bradley Avenue between Lincoln Avenue and the western City limits. He mentioned that the addition of bicycle infrastructure along Bradley Avenue was recommended in the 2008 Urbana Bicycle Master Plan and in the draft 2016 Urbana Bicycle Master Plan. As part of the plan, Mr. Shonkwiler stated that eastbound traffic would go from four lanes in Champaign to two wide vehicle lanes in Urbana and shared parking/bicycle lanes to Goodwin Avenue. He mentioned that the shared parking area and bicycle lanes along that section of Bradley Avenue would allow parking overflow for Mt. Olive Baptist Church and future developments along that corridor and bicycle travel when there were no cars parked along the street. He added that the proposed plan had been reviewed by the staff and the Urbana Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission. Mr. Shonkwiler mentioned that at an earlier Traffic Commission meeting area residents expressed concern about poorly marked travel lanes along the south side of Bradley Avenue for eastbound traffic. He said that as part of the Bradley Avenue Bike Lane Project, the travel lanes would be tapered before (west of) Romine Street to clearly mark the lanes of traffic. In addition to the taper lines, there would be arrows to direct traffic to the lanes of travel. He continued by stating that to the east of Romine Street, there would be parking near the future site of the Leek and Sons Funeral Home. Mr. Shonkwiler mentioned that as one approached Goodwin Avenue, right-turn lanes would be allowed to occur to avoid conflicts between right-turning vehicles and bicycles travelling straight ahead. For westbound traffic, Craig Shonkwiler mentioned that there would be signage to the west of Lincoln Avenue to indicate that the two lanes of vehicle traffic would merge into one lane. He said that parking restrictions were being requested on the north side of Bradley Avenue from Lincoln Avenue to west of Goodwin Avenue to accommodate buffered bicycle lanes (bicycle lanes separated from vehicle lanes). He said that parking would be allowed on the north side from 162 feet west of Goodwin Avenue to the western City limits. He added that the parking restrictions near Goodwin Avenue would prohibit parking within the sight triangle if the northern leg of the intersection was developed in the future. He added that the City of Champaign were advised of the plan and were amenable to the plan. Michael Madigan asked if parking would be available on the north side between Goodwin Avenue and Mathews Avenue.  Traffic Commission Minutes September 2016 Page 6 Mr. Shonkwiler said that currently lane usage was unclear for motorists. He stated that the lane markings would make parking areas more visible. He added that the striping would occur early next year. Michael Madigan asked if the Mt. Olive Baptist Church representatives were notified. Mr. Shonkwiler said that he had spoken with the pastor about the proposed changes. Bill Gray asked if there were any cars parking on the north end of Goodwin Avenue. Craig Shonkwiler said that the restrictions would be added in case future development were to occur. Sgt. Charles said that he thought the funeral home would benefit from the availability of on-street parking. Craig Shonkwiler moved to restrict on-street parking on the south side of Bradley Avenue from 134 feet west of the centerline of Carver Drive to 164 feet east of the centerline of Romine Street and from 167 feet west of the centerline of Goodwin Avenue to the centerline of Lincoln Avenue and on the north side of Bradley Avenue from 162 feet west of the centerline of Mathews Avenue to the centerline of Lincoln Avenue. Andy Charles seconded the motion. The motion was approved 3-0. This item will go to Council for consideration. With no other business at hand, the meeting was adjourned at 4:48 p.m. The next regularly scheduled Traffic Commission meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 11, 2016, at 4:00 p.m. at the Urbana Public Works Department, 706 South Glover Avenue, second floor conference room. Respectfully submitted, Barbara Stiehl Recording Secretary