Traffic Commission Meeting

URBANA TRAFFIC COMMISSION Approved December 4, 2018 1 2 3 DATE: Tuesday, October 2, 2018 4 TIME: 4:00 P.M. 5 PLACE: Urbana Public Works Department, 706 South Glover Avenue 6 7 APPROVED MINUTES 8 9 MEMBERS PRESENT: 10 11 Eric Jakobsson, City Council Member, Ward 2, Chair 12 Craig Shonkwiler, Assistant City Engineer 13 Bob Fitzgerald, Interim Deputy Chief, proxy for Bryant Seraphin, Interim Chief of 14 Police 15 16 MEMBERS ABSENT: 17 18 None 19 20 OTHERS PRESENT: 21 22 John Collins, Operations Manager, City of Urbana 23 Beth Beaty, Administrative Services Manager, City of Urbana 24 Dominique Youakim, 801 East Florida Avenue 25 Monique Brownfield 26 Naomi Jakobsson 27 Dan Newman, 612 West Green Street 28 29 30 The meeting began at 4:00 p.m. 31 32 Approval of Minutes: 33 34 Craig Shonkwiler moved to approve the minutes of the June 12, 2018 meeting. Bob Fitzgerald 35 seconded the motion. The Commission voted 3-0 to approve the minutes of the June meeting. 36 37 Additions to the agenda: 38 39 Erik Jakobsson moved to switch the order of items 4 and 6 in order to accommodate those 40 in attendance. 41 42 Bob Fitzgerald seconded the motion. 43 44 The motion was approved 3-0. 45 46 Public Input 47 48 Those wishing to provide input did so as items were discussed.  Traffic Commission Minutes APPROVED October 2018 Page 2 1 Unfinished Business 2 3 There was no unfinished business. 4 5 New Business 6 7 Item #1- Discussion of an amendment to the Urbana Traffic Commission bylaws 8 changing the date for the monthly meeting of the Traffic Commission. 9 10 Chair Jakobsson requested the change in meeting dates since he also serves on the Public Arts 11 Commission, which meets at the same time as the Traffic Commission is scheduled to meet. 12 13 Chair Jakobsson moved to change the meeting date of the Urbana Traffic Commission from the 14 second Tuesday of the month to the first Tuesday of the month. 15 16 Mr. Shonkwiler seconded the motion. 17 18 The motion was approved 3-0. 19 20 The revised bylaws will be posted to the City of Urbana’s website on the Urbana Traffic Commission 21 page. 22 23 Item #2- Discussion of November meeting date. 24 25 Since the next meeting would occur on the same day as Election Day, the Commission discussed if 26 there would be a schedule conflict for anyone. 27 28 No one had a conflict so the Commissioners agreed to hold the November meeting on the scheduled 29 day of Tuesday, November 6, 2018. 30 31 Item #3- Discussion of parking restrictions in the area bounded by Lincoln Avenue, 32 University Avenue, Race Street and Springfield Avenue. 33 34 Naomi Jakobsson discussed concerns about on-street parking in her neighborhood, which she defined 35 as the area bounded by Lincoln Avenue, University Avenue, Race Street and Springfield Avenue. She 36 explained that it was difficult to park on the street between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. because 37 University of Illinois students and Carle employees used the on-street parking as free parking. She 38 added that the residents had difficulty with deliveries, services and visitors coming to their homes. She 39 requested a program that would allow residents to reserve parking on the street. 40 41 Chair Jakobsson relinquished the chair to Mr. Shonkwiler to address the Commission. 42 43 Eric Jakobsson said that he was concerned as an alderperson that there was a potential for revenue that 44 might help with the budget. He said that on-street parking was free and that the City could monetize 45 parking. Mr. Jakobsson said that some residents would like on-street parking eliminated or parking 46 restrictions added (such as two-hour parking). He noted there was resistance by some residents to 47 installing parking meters, especially along historic Main Street. He suggested implementing some type  Traffic Commission Minutes APPROVED October 2018 Page 3 1 of permit system that would be open for both residents and non-residents, with a certain number of the 2 permits available only to residents. He asked Public Works to survey the area to provide a sense of cost 3 and feasibility of implementing a permit system. 4 5 John Collins asked if the residents would want to allow Carle employees and University of Illinois 6 students with the ability to buy on-street parking permits in the neighborhood. 7 8 Mr. Jakobsson said that it would be wasteful to have spaces go unused so he thought opening parking 9 to others would be profitable for the City. 10 11 Beth Beaty discussed possible options (MobileMeter or residential parking permits) for regulating on- 12 street parking. She added that metered parking was expensive. 13 14 Mr. Shonkwiler asked if on-street parking permits currently were sold to residents only. 15 16 Ms. Beaty said on-street parking permit programs in Urbana were for residents only, but she added that 17 in the permit parking areas of town, residents could obtain temporary permits for service vehicles. Ms. 18 Beaty asked if the parking spaces provided by Carle for its employees were underutilized. 19 20 Mr. Shonkwiler stated that the location of the parking lots were not always as convenient as on-street 21 parking for Carle employees. He said according to the parking restriction policy, restrictions that were 22 not considered safety concerns required the approval of 60% of the property owners within the area 23 before it would be discussed before the Traffic Commission. He discussed a similar situation where a 24 resident who lived north of the Carle facilities was trying to garner support for parking restrictions in 25 that area. He said Carle employees might purchase permits to park in that area. Next, Mr. Shonkwiler 26 reviewed a parking study conducted in the abovementioned area. He explained the study was 27 conducted on a Thursday in September during the morning, midmorning, midafternoon and evening 28 and on the following Saturday during midmorning to determine on-street parking patterns. He noted 29 that there were areas where Carle employees used the on-street parking, areas where University students 30 and staff used parking (which was near the bus stops in the area), areas used by residents and areas used 31 by Canaan Academy staff. He said that he was looking for definite boundaries that could be defined as 32 areas for permit parking. He said some areas had mixed on-street parking use and others (particularly 33 on the eastern edge of the area) where difficult to define. He stated that the parking meters on Clark 34 Street were rarely used. 35 36 Mr. Jakobsson asked where the northern boundary was for the West Urbana Neighborhood 37 Association (WUNA) parking restrictions. 38 39 Ms. Beaty said the boundary was Green Street. She explained that parking could be allowed on the 40 perimeter with permit parking in the middle. She suggested the creation of multiple parking 41 restrictions, such as areas with permit parking for residents only, MobileMeter for visitors, permits for 42 visitors, etc. 43 44 Mr. Shonkwiler asked Mr. and Ms. Jakobsson to discuss options with their neighbors to narrow the 45 options for parking restrictions. 46  Traffic Commission Minutes APPROVED October 2018 Page 4 1 John Collins said that when parking was restricted, the problem could move into another area, but he 2 added the restrictions might generate revenue. 3 4 Ms. Beaty said the City had used a two-hour parking restrictions enforced on a complaint basis in other 5 areas. 6 7 Mr. Collins said that a combination of MobileMeter and permit parking could be used in the area. 8 9 Ms. Beaty said that parking restrictions in the neighborhood north of Carle could affect parking in this 10 area. 11 12 Mr. Shonkwiler asked if the opening of the parking lot at St. Patrick’s Church had reduced parking 13 congestion on the streets. 14 15 Ms. Jakobsson said that it seemed to make a difference on Sundays. 16 17 Mr. Jakobsson asked if parking meters could be installed on Springfield Avenue. 18 19 Mr. Shonkwiler said that the parking meters located on Clark Street were used infrequently. He said 20 installing meters on Springfield Avenue might move parking to another nearby location. He 21 recommended that those concerned about the on-street parking meet with other neighbors to decide 22 what options they preferred and then meet with staff to review those options. He wanted to have a 23 separate dialogue with Canaan Academy staff about parking on Central Avenue as part of the 24 discussion about parking restrictions. 25 26 Mr. Jakobsson said that most of the Canaan staff parked in areas that were near residences. 27 28 Ms. Beaty said a mixture of MobileMeter and permit parking might be an option. 29 30 Mr. Collins said installing MobileMeter would involve an expense. He explained that with the 31 MobileMeter payment, each space would have to be painted to create individual spaces. 32 33 Mr. Jakobsson said that he would talk to others in the neighborhood to determine the next step. 34 35 Mr. Jakobsson resumed the chair. 36 37 Item #4- Discussion of parking restrictions near 801 East Florida Avenue. 38 39 Monique Brownfield explained the difficulty her grandparents encountered as owners of a daycare 40 facility at 801 East Florida Avenue. She said teachers working at Wiley Elementary School frequently 41 parked on the street in front of their daycare instead of in the school district parking lot making it 42 difficult for parents to drop off their children at the day care. She said that they had contacted the 43 school principal and asked that teachers allow room in front of the daycare so parents could drop off 44 their children. She mentioned that there were parking spaces at the school for faculty and staff parking. 45 46 Mr. Shonkwiler asked how many children were at the facility. 47  Traffic Commission Minutes APPROVED October 2018 Page 5 1 Ms. Brownfield said there were six children enrolled in the daycare. She added that the daycare 2 operated year-round from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. 3 4 Mr. Shonkwiler said there was a distance of 59 feet between the light post and the driveway that could 5 be used as a loading zone for two vehicles. He added that the installation of a zone would not 6 guarantee those spaces for their facility, but it would limit the time any vehicle could park in those 7 spaces. 8 9 Ms. Brownfield said she understood that the loading zone would not be exclusively for the daycare. 10 She said that a 15-minute loading zone would be adequate for parents. 11 12 Mr. Shonkwiler said that the adjacent residents had been notified of the meeting. 13 14 Mr. Collins noted that there would not be enough room for the loading zone between driveways. 15 16 Mr. Shonkwiler moved to install a 15-minute loading zone for two spaces in front of 801 East Florida 17 Avenue from Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. 18 19 Assistant Chief Fitzgerald seconded the motion. 20 21 The motion was approved 3-0. 22 23 The item will go to the Committee of the Whole for consideration. 24 25 Mr. Shonkwiler explained the process for approving an ordinance to create a loading zone. He said 26 that staff would notify them and the adjacent property owners of the date of the Committee of the 27 Whole Meeting. 28 29 Item #5- Discussion of parking restrictions at 203 South Coler Avenue. 30 31 Mr. Shonkwiler discussed a concern from the resident at 203 South Coler Avenue. Mr. Gonzales 32 submitted a Traffic Concerns/Issues Request Form indicating that the driveway at 203 South Coler 33 Avenue was frequently blocked by parked cars. 34 35 Dan Newman, a neighboring resident, confirmed that the problem was prevalent. 36 37 Mr. Shonkwiler explained that City code restricted parking within five feet of the driveway. He 38 suggested installing no parking signage between 203 and 205 South Coler Avenue because parking was 39 prohibited per code. He added that the City did not typically install signage near each driveway, but 40 signage would be installed at this location because of the positioning of the driveways. 41 42 Ms. Beaty said the signage would be helpful for Parking Enforcement when issuing tickets. 43 44 Mr. Newman mentioned the owners of the vehicles try to park in spaces not adequate for parked 45 vehicles. 46  Traffic Commission Minutes APPROVED October 2018 Page 6 1 Assistant Chief Fitzgerald moved to install No Parking Between Signs signage on the side of Coler 2 Avenue from the southernmost driveway to the northernmost driveway of the 200 block of Coler 3 Avenue. 4 5 Mr. Shonkwiler said that he would discuss the decision with Mr. Gonzales. 6 7 Mr. Collins said the purpose for installing the signage was safety. 8 9 Mr. Shonkwiler read an e-mail from Mr. Hunsinger that opposed the installation of the parking 10 restrictions. 11 12 Mr. Newman said that there was a nine-bedroom apartment building being constructed by Mr. 13 Hunsinger across from the area of the proposed restriction that had four parking spaces. He mentioned 14 that the number of spaces was allowed since Mr. Hunsinger had other buildings with ample parking 15 spaces nearby. 16 17 Mr. Shonkwiler seconded the motion 18 19 The motion was approved 3-0. 20 21 Mr. Shonkwiler will prepare a work order to install the signage on South Coler Avenue to reflect 22 restrictions already established in the City Code. 23 24 Item #6- Discussion of traffic speeds on Mumford Drive between Anderson Street and 25 Philo Road. 26 27 Mr. Shonkwiler summarized a request received from Ms. Kelli Mills concerning speeding traffic on 28 Mumford Drive between Anderson Street and Philo Road. He relayed the results of a speed study 29 conducted on Mumford Drive between Lynn Street and Cottage Grove Avenue and on Mumford 30 Drive between Fletcher Street and Vawter Street. He stated that the street was considered a low- 31 volume street with around 400 vehicles travelling on the street during a 24-hour period. He noted that 32 the 85 percentile (the speed at which 85 percent of the motorists were travelling at or below) was 33.1 33 miles per hour for eastbound traffic and 32.4 miles per hour for westbound traffic on the section of 34 Mumford Drive from Lynn Street to Cottage Grove Avenue; and 32.9 miles per hour for eastbound 35 traffic and 34 miles per hour for westbound traffic on Mumford Drive from Fletcher Street to Vawter 36 Street. He said that when the 85% was within five miles of the posted speed limit, speeding was not 37 considered an excessive problem. He recommended that that the City watch and monitor the area for 38 speeding. He added that there had been one crash within the last five years, which did not signal the 39 need for traffic control devices. 40 41 Assistant Chief Fitzgerald suggested installing the speed trailer for a short period of time to remind 42 motorists of the posted speed limit. 43 44 Mr. Shonkwiler said that he would let Ms. Mills know the results of the study and the discussion at this 45 meeting. 46  Traffic Commission Minutes APPROVED October 2018 Page 7 1 Chair Jakobsson asked if a follow-up study would be conducted after the speed trailer was set on the 2 street. 3 4 Mr. Shonkwiler stated that a study would be conducted again if there were changes made to the street. 5 He added that staff had a very limited timeframe for conducting speed studies so they typically did not 6 go back to areas where there were no physical changes on the road, but they would watch and monitor 7 the area. He explained that staff had about two months in the fall and about six weeks in the spring to 8 conduct traffic studies. 9 10 Chair Jakobsson asked if the speed trailer was set up year round. 11 12 Assistant Chief Fitzgerald stated that the speed trailer tracked speeds from February or March until 13 November. 14 15 Mr. Shonkwiler stated that speed feedback signage was effective in reducing speeds. 16 17 With no other business at hand, the meeting adjourned at 5:18 p.m. 18 19 The next regularly scheduled Traffic Commission meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 6, 20 2018, at 4:00 p.m. at the Urbana Public Works Department, 706 Glover Avenue, second floor 21 conference room. 22 23 Respectfully submitted, 24 Barbara Stiehl, Recording Secretary Speed Study Location: Mumford Drive: Anderson Street to Philo Road Date: Thursday, September 6, 2018 Performed By: City of Urbana Engineering Division ‐ Transportation Section Duration: 24 hours Posted Speed Limit: 30 mph Traffic 85% 10 mph % Exceeding Location Description Direction Volume Speed Pace Speed Limit 1 Between Lynn & Cottage Grove Eastbound 449 33.1 mph 23‐33 35.63 Between Lynn & Cottage Grove Westbound 411 32.4 mph 22‐32 28.47 2 Between Fletcher & Vawter Eastbound 409 32.9 mph 23‐33 35.21 Between Fletcher & Vawter Westbound 348 34.0 mph 24‐34 36.21 10/2/2018