Traffic Commission Meeting

URBANA TRAFFIC COMMISSION Approved May 1, 2019 1 2 DATE: Wednesday, April 3, 2019 3 TIME: 4:00 P.M. 4 PLACE: Urbana Public Works Department, 706 South Glover Avenue 5 6 APPROVED MINUTES 7 8 MEMBERS PRESENT: 9 10 Eric Jakobsson, City Council Member, Ward 2, Chair 11 Craig Shonkwiler, Interim Co-City Engineer 12 Bob Fitzgerald, Interim Deputy Chief 13 14 MEMBERS ABSENT: 15 16 None 17 18 OTHERS PRESENT: 19 20 Christa Bronson-Lowe, 2702 East Florida Avenue 21 Shannon Beranek, Civil Engineer, Public Works Department 22 Vince Gustafson, Interim Operations Manager, Public Works Department 23 Mike Hosier 24 Beth Beaty, Administrative Services Manager, Finance Department 25 Marcus Ricci, Planner II, Community Development Department 26 27 The meeting began at 4:01 p.m. 28 29 Approval of Minutes: 30 31 Bob Fitzgerald moved to approve the minutes of the January 3, 2019 meeting. Craig Shonkwiler 32 seconded the motion. The Commission voted 3-0 to approve the minutes of the January meeting. 33 34 Additions to the agenda: 35 36 The Commission agreed to move Items 3 and 4 before Items 1 and 2 so those individuals in 37 attendance could provide input on those items first. 38 39 Mr. Jakobsson added a topic: Discussion of on-street parking near the future location of the Gather 40 (southeast corner of Lincoln Avenue and University Avenue). 41 42 Public Input 43 44 Those wishing to provide input did so as items were discussed.  Traffic Commission Minutes APPROVED May 1, 2019 April 2019 Page 2 1 Unfinished Business 2 3 There was no unfinished business. 4 5 New Business 6 7 Item #1- Discussion of parking restrictions in Crane Alley. 8 9 Mr. Shonkwiler reviewed the request for parking restrictions in Crane Alley between Elm Street and 10 Fish Alley. He explained that Mr. Scott Glassman had submitted the request for parking restrictions 11 because motorists were parking in Crane Alley south of Fish Alley by dumpsters used by adjacent 12 businesses. As a result, Mr. Glassman said that the garbage hauler had been unable to empty the 13 dumpsters in a timely manner. He said that per Urbana City Code parking was not permitted in alleys. 14 15 Mr. Mike Hosier stated that businesses at 115, 119, 123 and 125 West Main Street use the dumpsters. 16 He added that the dumpster needed to be emptied daily so when the hauler was unable to empty them, 17 the trash overflowed out of the dumpster. He said that Mr. Glassman was trying to find a solution to 18 avoid trash spilling into the alley. 19 20 Mr. Shonkwiler explained that there were some areas accessible from the alley where parking was 21 allowed. He said that Mr. Paul Wirth from the Iron Post had no objections to parking restriction 22 signage being posted in the alley since he had parking off the alley. Mr. Shonkwiler stated that even 23 though an ordinance was in place that restricts parking in alleys, it would be helpful to Parking 24 Enforcement to install no parking signage so the public would know that parking was prohibited. He 25 mentioned that Council Member Dennis Roberts had asked if a ten-minute loading zone could be 26 created. 27 28 Ms. Beth Beaty said that the alley was too narrow to allow parking, even for a short time. She 29 concurred that the installation of no parking signs would be helpful. Ms. Beaty encouraged Mr. Hosier 30 to contact Parking Enforcement during normal business hours if there were vehicles parked in the alley. 31 32 Deputy Chief Fitzgerald added that businesses could contact the Police Department using the non- 33 emergency number (217.333.8911) if parking violations occurred after hours. He said that officers 34 would respond if there were no serious issues needing their attention at the time. 35 36 Ms. Beaty said that signage would be helpful, but Parking Enforcement could issue a ticket if a vehicle 37 was physically blocking access to the alley. 38 39 Mr. Hosier asked what the fine would be for illegally parking in the alley. 40 41 Ms. Beaty responded that the fine would be $30 and the vehicles could be ticketed and possibly towed. 42 43 Mr. Shonkwiler said that if signed no parking—tow-away zone the charges for an impounded vehicle 44 would be a deterrent. He asked if the vehicle blocking the alley could be towed with having a tow-away 45 zone in effect. 46 47 Deputy Chief Fitzgerald said that the Police would tow a vehicle if it was blocking the alley. 48  Traffic Commission Minutes APPROVED May 1, 2019 April 2019 Page 3 1 Mr. Shonkwiler said that if no parking signage was installed, no ordinance would be needed since the 2 parking restriction already existed. He said signage could be installed within a month. He explained 3 that if a tow-away zone were to be established, it would require an ordinance and would take longer. 4 5 Mr. Gustafson stated that the signs could be installed within a month of receiving the work order. 6 7 Mr. Hosier preferred that posting of no parking signs instead of establishing a tow-away zone. He 8 asked if the amount of the fine would be included on the sign. 9 10 Ms. Beaty said that parking fines were not posted on the signs. 11 12 Mr. Shonkwiler stated that the City could install no parking signs first and revisit the concern if posting 13 the restrictions did not solve the problem of blocking the dumpsters. 14 15 Mr. Eric Jakobsson said that the case for establishing a tow-away zone would be stronger if other 16 methods were tried and proven unsuccessful in deterring motorists from blocking the dumpsters. 17 18 Ms. Beaty said that she would draft a quick reference guide for contacting Parking Enforcement so Mr. 19 Hosier could provide the information to his tenants. 20 21 Mr. Hosier said that he would let his tenants know. 22 23 Mr. Craig Shonkwiler moved to install no parking anytime signage in Crane Alley between Fish Alley 24 and Elm Street. 25 26 Deputy Chief Bob Fitzgerald seconded the motion. 27 28 The motion passed 3-0. 29 30 A work order will be prepared to request the installation of the no parking signage in Crane Alley south 31 of Fish Alley. 32 33 Item #2- Discussion of parking restrictions at 1610 Abercorn Street. 34 35 Mr. Shonkwiler explained that a request from Ms. Jefferyann Jenkins was received asking to establish a 36 loading zone in front of her daycare located at 1610 Abercorn Street from 7:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and 37 from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. to allow parents to drop-off their children in front of the daycare. 38 39 Ms. Shannon Beranek looked at the daycare license and noted the occupancy was for eight children. 40 She observed the parking and drop-off patterns at different times to see when there might be 41 congestion in the area. She observed the daycare van parked in front of the house and a parking space 42 behind that vehicle. Ms. Beranek said there were three vehicles that dropped off children and the drop- 43 off time was approximately three to five minutes for each vehicle. Each time she observed the traffic at 44 this location, there was a full-car length available for dropping off children. Ms. Beranek noted the 45 street had low traffic volumes. Based upon her observations, Ms. Beranek concluded that there was 46 not a need for a loading zone. She pointed out that with a loading zone, any person could park in a 47 loading zone as long as they obeyed the time restriction and that the daycare owner would not be able  Traffic Commission Minutes APPROVED May 1, 2019 April 2019 Page 4 1 to park in the loading zone beyond the designated time limit. She recommended moving the daycare 2 van to the occupant’s driveway if additional space was needed. 3 4 Ms. Christa Bronson-Lowe said that there had been a problem with people parking in the alley, but that 5 situation was not common. She said that if that occurred, it usually happened between 5:00 p.m. and 6 5:30 p.m. 7 8 Ms. Beranek stated that she did not see more than one car at a time when she was monitoring the 9 location. 10 11 Mr. Jakobsson asked how many spaces were requested. 12 13 Mr. Shonkwiler said that a specific number of spaces was not mentioned, but he said that usually two to 14 three spaces were considered. He added that if a loading zone area were created, the daycare van would 15 not be able to park there for longer than the loading zone time limit. Mr. Shonkwiler explained that 16 loading zones had been established at daycare facilities where parked vehicles were impeded traffic and 17 the facilities are located on high volume streets, but Abercorn Street was a low-volume street. He asked 18 if Ms. Bronson-Lowe had observed cars parked out in the street. 19 20 Ms. Bronson-Lowe said that parking in the street was not so much of a problem as was people trying to 21 crowd two cars in one space. 22 23 Mr. Jakobsson said that parking the daycare van in the driveway would allow more parking for parents 24 dropping off the children. 25 26 Ms. Beaty said that Parking Enforcement had been called to this area often, but it was difficult for staff 27 to ticket anyone because of the short duration of these parking problems. She said that the best 28 solution would be to have the owner park the daycare van in the driveway to free up a parking space. 29 30 Mr. Marcus Ricci stated that the impetus for this request for the loading zone was a concern about 31 traffic generation expressed by the homeowners’ association. He said that the Community 32 Development Department thought that the daycare was required to provide a drop-off, but had since 33 found out the loading zone was not necessarily required. He found out that drop-off areas would be 34 determined on a case-by-case basis. 35 36 Mr. Shonkwiler agreed that the better practice was to ask the Engineering Division to perform a 37 cursory review of the parking and drop-off situation instead of asking for Traffic Commission’s review 38 of the situation. 39 40 Mr. Ricci said that his observations supported Ms. Beranek’s findings. 41 42 Mr. Shonkwiler moved to take no action. 43 44 Assistant Chief Fitzgerald seconded the motion. 45 46 The motion passed 3-0. 47  Traffic Commission Minutes APPROVED May 1, 2019 April 2019 Page 5 1 The Recording Secretary will notify the daycare provider to let her know that the loading zone was not 2 necessary. 3 Ms. Beaty said that if a problem occurred, Parking Enforcement could look at the situation. 4 5 Item #3- Discussion of changing the meeting dates for the Urbana Traffic Commission. 6 7 Deputy Chief Bob Fitzgerald moved to approve the revised calendar for the Urbana Traffic 8 Commission meeting dates. 9 10 Mr. Craig Shonkwiler seconded the motion. 11 12 The motion passed 3-0. 13 14 The Recording Secretary will bring the revised bylaws, which will reflect the change in meeting dates, 15 before the Traffic Commission for approval at the next meeting. 16 17 Item #4- Discussion of parking restrictions on Springfield Avenue between Busey Avenue 18 and Coler Avenue. 19 20 Mr. Shonkwiler described plans for street improvements that were scheduled for Lincoln Avenue 21 between Green Street and University Avenue and for Springfield Avenue between one block west of 22 Gregory Street to two blocks east of Coler Avenue. As part of the development of the plans for the 23 improvements, Mr. Shonkwiler noted that there had been two crashes involving southbound traffic on 24 Busey Avenue turning onto Springfield Avenue within a five-year period that were due to poor visibility 25 created by parked vehicles on the north side of Springfield Avenue east of Busey Avenue. He 26 explained that visibility was also limited by pedestrians waiting at the bus stop and trees located to the 27 east of Busey Avenue, but not enough to require the removal of the bus stop or the trees. He said that 28 the limited visibility made stopping time insufficient for motorists on Springfield Avenue to stop safely. 29 To create sufficient sight distance that would allow a vehicle on Springfield Avenue enough time to 30 safely stop, he recommended that two parking spaces on the north side of Springfield Avenue to the 31 east of Busey Avenue be removed. He was concerned about removing more spaces since it might 32 move parking onto the residential streets. 33 34 Mr. Jakobsson agreed that the visibility for southbound traffic on Busey Avenue was limited. He said 35 that the removal of the parking spaces would definitely improve the visibility at the intersection. 36 37 Deputy Chief Bob Fitzgerald moved to increase the parking restrictions on the north side of Springfield 38 Avenue for a distance to be determined by the Engineering Division to the east of Busey Avenue to 39 provide better visibility for motorists at the intersection of Springfield Avenue and Busey Avenue. 40 41 Mr. Craig Shonkwiler seconded the motion. 42 43 The motion was approved 3-0. 44 45 This item will go the Council for consideration. 46 47  Traffic Commission Minutes APPROVED May 1, 2019 April 2019 Page 6 1 Addendum – Discussion of traffic and on-street parking near the future location of the Gather 2 (southeast corner of Lincoln Avenue and University Avenue). 3 4 Mr. Jakobsson wanted to resolve parking issues that might occur because of the construction of the 5 Gather located at the southeast corner of Lincoln Avenue and University Avenue. He was concerned 6 about traffic on Busey Avenue and Lincoln Avenue. He asked the Engineering Division to study this 7 for a monthly progress report at the Traffic Commission meetings. 8 9 Mr. Shonkwiler stated that the Mayor was aware of the situation. He said that most of the discussions 10 would be done internally. He said that the main issue would be that parking at the Gather would 11 require fees, which might move parking to on-street spaces. 12 13 Ms. Beaty said that possible solutions could be discussed. 14 15 Mr. Jakobsson would like to add possible solutions, such as permits and metered spaces, for a future 16 discussion. 17 18 Mr. Shonkwiler stated that the boundary on the east side would be difficult to determine. 19 20 Ms. Beaty and Mr. Gustafson agreed that meters would be expensive. 21 22 Mr. Jakobsson stated that the eastern boundary should go at least to McCullough Avenue. 23 24 Ms. Beaty reviewed the various types of permits available in the West Urbana neighborhood as 25 examples of what might be available. She recommended Lot 12 as a possible parking area for Canaan 26 Academy faculty. 27 28 Mr. Jakobsson questioned the possibility of monetizing parking spaces in those areas. 29 30 With no other business at hand, the meeting adjourned at 5:05 p.m. 31 32 The next regularly scheduled Traffic Commission meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 1, 2019, at 33 4:00 p.m. at the Urbana Public Works Department, 706 Glover Avenue, second floor conference room. 34 35 Respectfully submitted, 36 Barbara Stiehl, Recording Secretary