Traffic Commission Meeting

URBANA TRAFFIC COMMISSION Approved October 9, 2019 1 2 3 DATE: Wednesday, August 7, 2019 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 Craig Shonkwiler, Interim City Engineer 12 Bob Fitzgerald, Interim Deputy Chief 13 14 MEMBERS ABSENT: 15 16 Eric Jakobsson, City Council Member, Ward 2, Chair 17 18 OTHERS PRESENT: 19 20 Aaron Ammons, 1108 North Busey Avenue 21 22 The meeting began at 4:04 p.m. Bob Fitzgerald assumed the chair in the absence of Mr. Jakobsson. 23 24 Approval of Minutes: 25 26 Bob Fitzgerald moved to approve the minutes of the June 5, 2019 meeting. Craig Shonkwiler seconded 27 the motion. The Commission voted 2-0 to approve the minutes of the June meeting. 28 29 Additions to the agenda: 30 31 There were no additions to the agenda. 32 33 Public Input 34 35 Those wishing to provide input did so as items were discussed. 36 37 Unfinished Business 38 39 No business was unfinished. 40 41 New Business 42 43 Item #1- Discussion of traffic control on Fairview Avenue and Busey Avenue. 44 45 Both Items #1 and #2 were discussed concurrently. 46 47 Craig Shonkwiler reported that Eric Jakobsson forwarded a concern from Alderperson Shirese Hursey 48 and Aaron Ammons. Mr. Shonkwiler said that both Ms. Hursey and Mr. Ammons expressed concern 49 about motorists failing to stop at intersections within Ms. Hursey’s ward (Fairview Avenue and Coler 50 Avenue and Fairview Avenue and Busey Avenue). Mr. Shonkwiler stated that staff had collected data  Traffic Commission Minutes August 2019 Page 2 1 from those intersections. There were no crashes at either intersection that could be attributed to 2 motorists failing to stop. 3 4 Mr. Ammons said that he had seen westbound motorists pass the stop sign on Fairview Avenue at 5 Busey Avenue without stopping on numerous occasion. He felt that the motorists were not 6 deliberately failing to stop, but that they were not stopping because they could not see the stop sign. 7 He said that eastbound motorists had failed to stop, but he believed those motorists were intentionally 8 disregarding the stop sign. He stated that the failure to stop occurred mostly during the day (mid- 9 morning to early evening). He added that most rolling stops seemed to result from people not thinking 10 about a sign being at that location. He had not noticed the problem at Fairview Avenue and Coler 11 Avenue. 12 13 Mr. Shonkwiler stated that there was limited information, but staff reviewed intersection by looking at 14 five years of crash data and performed a site visit to make sure signage was appropriate. He reported 15 there were zero accidents at either intersection that resulted from failure to stop at the signs. He noted 16 that at the intersection of Fairview Avenue and Busey Avenue, the stop sign for southbound traffic had 17 been slightly obscured by tree branches. He said that the Arbor Division had already removed that 18 obstruction. He suggested placing redundant signage on the back of the signs for westbound motorists 19 to increase visibility. He recommended this as a graduated approach to reducing the problem. 20 21 Mr. Ammons said that some people seemed oblivious to the fact that a stop sign was there. 22 23 Deputy Chief Fitzgerald recommended the use of STEP enforcement to monitor during the month of 24 September. 25 26 Mr. Ammons asked if the flashing stop signs could be used to make the sign more obvious. 27 28 Mr. Shonkwiler said that the City has no area where the flashing signs were used. He said those would 29 be used at an intersection with problems. He recommended the use of flags to see if that would draw 30 more attention to the signs. 31 32 Mr. Ammons expressed concern about children waiting for the school and MTD buses in the area near 33 the bus stops. 34 35 Mr. Shonkwiler recommended a stepped approach to the intersection along with the addition of flags 36 and redundant stop signs and watch and monitor the intersection. He suggested the use of larger signs 37 if a problem still occurred. He said that advanced warning signs could be used, but there was not much 38 space to place advanced warning signs before the stop sign. 39 40 Mr. Ammons was agreeable with a gradual approach. 41 42 Mr. Shonkwiler said that the size of the signage met the standards. He asked if signage might be 43 needed for eastbound traffic. 44 45 Mr. Ammons said that he had seen motorists run stop signs on both the east and west legs of the 46 intersection. 47  Traffic Commission Minutes August 2019 Page 3 1 Mr. Shonkwiler suggested placing stop signs on the backs of both signs for eastbound and westbound 2 traffic on Fairview Avenue at Busey Avenue. He then recommended that staff watch and monitor the 3 intersection and make adjustments as needed. 4 5 Deputy Chief Fitzgerald suggested assigning STEP enforcement to both intersections. He said that 6 Coler Avenue was a busier intersection. 7 8 Mr. Shonkwiler asked Deputy Chief Fitzgerald to inform Engineering staff of any problems noted 9 during STEP enforcement. 10 11 Deputy Chief Fitzgerald said that he would ask the STEP Sergeant to put together a report about traffic 12 stops for the Traffic Commission after STEP enforcement was completed. 13 14 Mr. Ammons mentioned that it was difficult to see southbound traffic on Coler Avenue at Sunset 15 Drive when turning onto Coler Avenue. He said that when it was dark or raining it was difficult to see 16 vehicles when waiting at the stop sign on Sunset Drive. 17 18 Mr. Shonkwiler asked Mr. Ammons to complete a Traffic Incident/Concern Request Form. He said 19 that the Engineering Division would review the concern and let him know the results. 20 21 Deputy Chief Fitzgerald moved to add two additional stop signs on the back of the existing stop signs 22 and flags on top of the existing stop signs for eastbound and westbound traffic on Fairview Avenue at 23 Busey Avenue and STEP enforcement. 24 25 Mr. Shonkwiler seconded the motion. 26 27 The motion was approved 2-0. 28 29 A work order will be prepared to direct Operations Division to install the signs. 30 31 Item #2- Discussion of traffic control on Fairview Avenue and Coler Avenue. 32 33 Deputy Chief Fitzgerald moved to assign STEP patrol at the intersection and watch and monitor to see 34 if any additional study of the intersection was needed. 35 36 Mr. Shonkwiler seconded the motion. 37 38 The motion was approved 2-0. 39 40 No further action was required. 41 42 With no other business at hand, the meeting adjourned at 4:23 p.m. 43 44 The next scheduled Traffic Commission meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 4, 2019, at 45 4:00 p.m. at the Urbana Public Works Department, 706 Glover Avenue, second floor conference room. 46 47 Respectfully submitted, 48 Barbara Stiehl, Recording Secretary