Traffic Commission Meeting

Approved February 14, 2017 URBANA TRAFFIC COMMISSION Tuesday, December 13, 2016 MEMBERS PRESENT: Michael Madigan, City Council Member, Ward 6, Chair Craig Shonkwiler, Assistant City Engineer Sylvia Morgan, Deputy Chief of Police for Pat Connolly, Chief of Police MEMBERS ABSENT: None OTHERS PRESENT: John Collins, Operations Manager Judy Checker, 205 North Gregory Street Robert Lewis, 802 North Goodwin Avenue Stephanie Record, 1309 West Hill Street Linda Wild, 702 East Oregon Street The meeting began at 4:01 p.m. Approval of Minutes: Craig Shonkwiler moved to approve the minutes of the November 15, 2016 meeting. Sylvia Morgan seconded the motion. The Commission voted 3-0 to approve the minutes of the November meeting. Additions to the agenda: There were no additions to the agenda. Public Input Those attending asked to speak during the time the items were discussed. Unfinished Business There was no unfinished business. New Business Item #1- Approval of the 2017 meeting calendar. Craig Shonkwiler moved to approve the 2017 meeting calendar for the Urbana Traffic Commission.  Traffic Commission Minutes December 2016 Page 2 Sylvia Morgan seconded the motion. The motion was approve 3-0. Item #2- Discussion of parking restrictions on Hill Street from Romine Street to Goodwin Avenue. Craig Shonkwiler summarized a request received from Crisis Nursery to move parking restrictions from the south side of Hill Street to the north side of Hill Street. Mr. Shonkwiler stated that the original request asked for the restriction to include parking from Wright Street to Goodwin Avenue, but the request was modified to include parking from Romine Street to Goodwin Avenue to minimize the loss of parking spaces along Hill Street. He said that the two-way stop signs on Hill Street at Romine Street provided a better transition for traffic moving from a section with parking restrictions on one side to a section with parking restrictions on the other side. For that reason, he explained the change in restrictions had to include both blocks to transition traffic safely. Mr. Shonkwiler explained the process required to complete a request for non-public safety request for parking changes. He stated that Ms. Record from Crisis Nursery was given a petition to circulate to all property owners along the area impacted by the changes to the parking restrictions. He explained that policy required the requesting entity receive signatures from 60 percent of those property owners. In this case, he stated that Ms. Record received 14 signatures from 23 properties, which was the minimum amount required before coming to the Traffic Commission with the parking restriction request. Ms. Record reviewed the steps that she took to obtain signatures. She stated that most of the properties on the north side of the street were rental properties so she had to find those owners to obtain signatures. She added that she spoke with some residents and those residents did not oppose the change in parking restrictions. For those property owners she was unable to meet on the day that she went door to door, she left information on their doors and sent a follow-up mailing asking them to contact her by phone to set up a time to sign the petition. Ms. Record said that the primary concern with parking on the north side was that children would have to cross Hill Street to go to Crisis Nursery. She added that moving parking to the south side of Hill Street would move parking for Crisis Nursery away from the residences. Mr. Shonkwiler mentioned that five of the 14 properties with signatures on the petition were owned by Crisis Nursery. He also noted that the attempt to go door to door to contact owners took place on one day. Michael Madigan asked if any of those contacted said that they would not sign. Ms. Record stated that no one said no to signing the petition. Sylvia Morgan asked when the door-to-door campaign took place. Ms. Record said that she went door to door in October.  Traffic Commission Minutes December 2016 Page 3 Michael Madigan noted that there was a map that indicated those properties where signatures were not obtained. He summarized that those property owners were not opposed, but unresponsive. Robert Lewis said that he owned one of the properties shown where a signature was not obtained. He said that he would favor the change in restrictions so children going to Crisis Nursery would not have to cross traffic to go to the facility. John Collins mentioned that visitors from Crisis Nursery would not likely park that far away. Mr. Shonkwiler explained that the traffic shift should occur at a controlled intersection to provide motorists with enough warning to move to the area where cars are not parked. He added that there were no stop signs at Mathews Avenue on Hill Street so motorists would not have enough warning to shift to the other side of the street. He stated that there would be a net gain of four spaces in front of Crisis Nursery, but that there was no change in the number of spaces on the other block. Mr. Lewis said that he was concerned about children’s safety when crossing from north to south on Hill Street to go to the Crisis Nursery. He was concerned about overflow parking for those using Crisis Nursery. Mr. Madigan asked if there had been problems with parking overflow. Ms. Record stated that there was overflow parking available within the Crisis Nursery parking lot, but the spaces were not located near the front door of the building. Craig Shonkwiler asked if there was any discussion about expanding the area of the drop-off in front of Crisis Nursery. Stephanie Record said that the architect was not in favor of expanding the drop-off. Mr. Shonkwiler asked for the hours of the Crisis Nursery operation. Ms. Record stated that the Crisis Nursery was open seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Mr. Madigan said that Crisis Nursery made two attempts (door-to-door and mailing) to contact the property owners and provided them with an opportunity to express their opinions about the parking restrictions. Craig Shonkwiler asked Mr. Lewis if he approved that change in parking restrictions. Mr. Lewis said that he did. He reiterated that he was concerned about children crossing Hill Street since motorists sped down the street. Mr. Shonkwiler said that he was initially concerned about the lack of signatures from property owners on the south side of Hill Street between Mathews Avenue and Goodwin Avenue. He said he was satisfied that attempts were made to notify property owners about the proposed changes in parking restrictions.  Traffic Commission Minutes December 2016 Page 4 Sylvia Morgan moved to remove parking restrictions on the south side of Hill Street from Romine Street to Goodwin Avenue and to install parking restrictions on the north side of Hill Street from Romine Street to Goodwin Avenue. Craig Shonkwiler seconded the motion. The motion was approved 3-0. This item will go to Council for consideration. Item #3- Discussion of on-street parking concern on Anderson Street across from 702 East Oregon Street. Ms. Wild discussed problems she had backing out of her driveway when cars were parked directly across the street from her home, especially during the winter when snow kept motorists from parking next to the curb. She stated that she and her daughter had hit cars when vehicles were parked across from the driveway. She asked if additional restrictions could be placed on the west side of Anderson Street near the entrance to the alley that was located across the street and to the north of her driveway. Mr. Shonkwiler noted that the driveway had been widened, which was the action that he would have recommended. He discussed a study that staff completed to determine the turning radius required to adequately turn in and out of the driveway. He noted that the street was 20 feet in width and the driveway was 17.5 feet in width. According to the study performed, Mr. Shonkwiler said that there was adequate room for vehicles to provide ingress and egress at the driveway. He stated that typically the City Council had not approved parking restrictions across from driveways. He added that the widening of the driveway approach helped with accessing the street. He mentioned that state law prohibits parking within five feet of the driveway, but there was no justification for adding parking restrictions at the alley. No further action was recommended. Item #4- Discussion of on-street parking concern on Gregory Street across from 205 North Gregory Street. Craig Shonkwiler discussed a request to restrict parking across from a driveway located at 205 North Gregory Street. He noted that there was yellow paint on curb to the north of the alley entrance. He added that the street was 25 feet in width and that the driveway at 205 North Gregory Street was very narrow. Craig Shonkwiler said that staff conducted a turn analysis of the driveway and concluded that there was not enough room to access the driveway.  Traffic Commission Minutes December 2016 Page 5 Ms. Checker stated that she had been unable to leave her driveway for doctor appointments when vehicles were parked across from her driveway. She said that she contacted the Police Department, since the vehicles were parked by the yellow-painted curb. She added that motorists often disregarded the paint on the curb and parked in the restricted area. She mentioned that an island was installed between her driveway and the alley, which made it difficult for large vehicles to access the alley. Mr. Shonkwiler said that there were no records indicating when the restrictions were approved by ordinance for the area with yellow paint, but 15 feet of the curb was painted yellow. He said that by ordinance, yellow painted curb indicated that no parking was allowed. He said that without an ordinance, a sign could not be installed at that location. Ms. Checker said that there was additional yellow curb down the street from her residence. Mr. Madigan said that the motorists seemed to be ignoring the painted curbs. John Collins agreed that there was yellow curb painted on the curb to the north. He recommended placing a sign that would restrict parking for five feet from the entrance of the alley, since that restriction was listed in the Local Traffic Code. Mr. Shonkwiler said that signage restricting parking near the alley could be installed without an ordinance and recommended that action to see if it would help. Sylvia Morgan moved to install a no parking sign to note that parking was not allowed within five feet of the entrance of the alley located on the east side of Gregory Street across from 206 North Gregory Street. Craig Shonkwiler seconded the motion. The motion passed 3-0. A work order will be issued to install the signage. This item does not require Council action. With no other business at hand, the meeting was adjourned at 4:44 p.m. The next regularly scheduled Traffic Commission meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 10, 2017, 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  Traffic Commission Minutes December 2016 Page 6 URBANA TRAFFIC COMMISSION MEETING CALENDAR Location: Urbana Public Works Department 706 South Glover Avenue Urbana, Illinois 61802 2017 01/10/2017 - 4:00 p.m. Notice of Regular Meeting 02/14/2017 - 4:00 p.m. Notice of Regular Meeting 03/14/2017 - 4:00 p.m. Notice of Regular Meeting 04/11/2017 - 4:00 p.m. Notice of Regular Meeting 05/09/2017 - 4:00 p.m. Notice of Regular Meeting 06/13/2017 - 4:00 p.m. Notice of Regular Meeting 07/11/2017 - 4:00 p.m. Notice of Regular Meeting 08/08/2017 – 4:00 p.m. Notice of Regular Meeting 09/12/2017 – 4:00 p.m. Notice of Regular Meeting 10/10/2017 – 4:00 p.m. Notice of Regular Meeting 11/14/2017 – 4:00 p.m. Notice of Regular Meeting 12/12/2017 – 4:00 p.m. Notice of Regular Meeting