Transportation Safety Commission

Town of Vienna 127 Center Street South Vienna, Virginia 22180 p: 703.255.6341 TTY 7111 Meeting Minutes Transportation Safety Commission Tuesday, September 26, 2023 8:00 PM Charles Robinson Jr. Town Hall, 127 Center St. South 1 Call to Order The Vienna Transportation Safety Commission (TSC) met in regular session on September 26, 2023 in the Vienna Town Hall Council Chambers, 127 Center Street S. Chairman Beth Eachus opened the meeting at 8:05 pm with the following members present: Vice Chairman Angela Sorrell, Commissioners Leonard Ignatowski, Charlie Strunk, Ken Nahigian, Donna Smith, Loginn Kapitan, SallyJean Penna and Peter Hartogs. Also present were John Jay Sergent, Department of Public Works (DPW), Andrew Jinks, DPW (via video call), Sergeant Pat Kiley, Vienna Police Department (VPD) and Jennifer Sigler, TSC Clerk. 2 Approval of the July 25, 2023 Minutes Vice Chairman Sorrell made a motion to approve the July 25, 2023 meeting minutes. Commissioner Strunk seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously, 9 – 0. Town of Vienna Page 1 Printed on 11/2/2023 Transportation Safety Commission Meeting Minutes September 26, 2023 3 DPW Report Shared Mobility Devices (SMD or Scooters) In the summer of 2019, The Virginia General Assembly passed legislation (46.2-1315) allowing VA localities to develop an ordinance or a pilot program to regulate SMDs (Shared Mobility Devices) otherwise vendors would be allowed to utilize the ROW unregulated starting Jan 2020. The Town developed documentation for a pilot program which Council passed in Dec 2019. No SMD venders expressed interest in the Town’s pilot program for a year and half until the summer of 2021 when the vendor Bird began coordinating with staff on entering the pilot program. Starting Oct 2021 Bird began deploying scooters within Town utilizing the pilot program’s rules/regulations. Every month raw excel data is provided to Town staff in order to analyze the SMD usage. Town staff plans to begin fully analyzing the data after receiving this summer’s data (1st summer after of the pandemic) and will provide Council a pilot program update in the late Fall. The ultimate plan is to develop an ordinance utilizing the Bird data and experience. In general, Town staff has been satisfied with Bird’s personnel and management of their devices within Town. There have been a few times when the response time to gather poorly parked scooters did not align with the rules of the pilot program. Staff has addressed these concerns with Bird’s program manager. It has been beneficial witnessing how SMDs interact with the Town’s infrastructure. Seeing how the program works during this 1st summer beyond the pandemic will be critical in developing the ordinance. Commissioner Ignatowski asked where the scooters are kept. Mr. Jinks said there are several locations along Maple Avenue. Commissioner Penna asked if the TSC will also receive an update on the SMD Program. Mr. Jinks said he will provide an update to the TSC. Capital Bikeshare Stations DPW’s design consultant is wrapping up the design plans for the Bikeshare station locations within the Town. A VDOT grant is funding the design and installation of the stations. Once the plans are reviewed and approved by VDOT, DPW will move forward with the installation. With this project being required to follow the VDOT process, potentially long lead time for the stations to be manufactured, and the coordination required with the County, we anticipate installation within a year-and-half. DPW will share the design plans once they are submitted. In general, DPW is attempting to match the station locations with the locations that were recommended in the Feasibility Study the City of Fairfax completed in July 2019. The Study can be found online by searching for Bikeshare Feasibility Study on the Fairfax City website. Currently the Town is evaluating the following locations for stations (all in Town ROW): • Navy Federal Credit Union • Community Center • Vienna Shopping Center – Near the Mattress Firm • Ayr Hill Ave NE between Dominion Rd NE and Mill St NE – On street along curb/gutter. This is the alternative location for the Town Green • As a part of the 444 Maple Avenue redevelopment Commissioner Strunk asked about the Ayr Hill Avenue location, and why it isn’t going to be at the Town Green. Mr. Jinks explained DPW coordinated with Parks & Recreation and it was determined the Town Green was not a good location. Town of Vienna Page 2 Printed on 11/2/2023 Transportation Safety Commission Meeting Minutes September 26, 2023 Commissioner Strunk asked if any consideration had been given to having a station at the Cedar Lane shopping center. Mr. Jinks said no, it had not. Chairman Eachus asked if Mr. Jinks had an update to the Freeman Store Bridge project. Mr. Jinks answered the concrete foundations for the bridge were poured today. Commissioner Kapitan asked if the TSC’s suggestions for bicycle and scooter parking at commercial and multi-residential facilities had been considered during the Code Create discussions. Mr. Sergent, who is the DPW staff representative to the Planning Commission, said there will be an opportunity to add/change the code once Council approves it. 4 Receipt of Petitions and Communications from the Public Residents Bob Zillian (507 Heritage Lane NW), Robert Smith (602 Upham Place NW) and Cathy Hardman (524 Lewis Street NW) expressed concern about the intersection of Lawyers Road and Upham Place NW, specifically, vehicles coming from the county on Lawyers speeding and running through the stop sign. Mr. Zillian also mentioned the intersection of Ayr Hill Avenue NW and Center Street N where drivers on Ayr Hill regularly run the stop sign. Fritz Irwin (302 Center Street N) said the intersection of Ayr Hill Avenue NW and Center Street, which is a 4-way stop, also has a large number of people running the stop signs. She mentioned there are a lot of school-age children in the area who have to cross there to get to and from school. She would like to see four tables and the flashing stop signs installed. Commissioner Ignatowski asked if the issue was people not seeing the stop sign or people ignoring the stop sign. Mr. Sergent said it is not known whether they don’t see the stop sign or ignore the stop sign. Commissioner Kapitan asked if rumble strips or a speed table would help. Mr. Jinks said rumble strips are not used in Town because of the noise aspect. If the flashing stop sign is found not to work, he would explore the idea of a raised intersection. These are non-action items for initial presentation only; three-minute time limit enforced. Town of Vienna Page 3 Printed on 11/2/2023 Transportation Safety Commission Meeting Minutes September 26, 2023 5 Review of Ayr Hill Avenue NW petition and traffic calming Lead Petitioner, Susan Shields (107 Ayr Hill Avenue NW), presented the concerns of the residents of Ayr Hill Avenue NW and suggested some solutions: 1. Find a way to mitigate the traffic coming from Lawyers Road (turn restrictions) 2. Speed tables or a raised intersection 3. Add a center median on Lawyers Road & Ayr Hill Avenue NW 4. Follow up on the 10-year-old study 11 other Ayr Hill residents agreed with her - Todd Walker (112 Ayr Hill Avenue NW), Pete Isaacs (111 Ayr Hill Avenue NW), Francis Bordelon (114 Ayr Hill Avenue NW), Craig Burns (301 Center Street N), Judy Whitis (115 Ayr Hill Avenue NW), Penelope Redmon (106 Ayr Hill Avenue NW), Ty Redmon (106 Ayr Hill Avenue NW), Alan Wang Lin (110 Ayr Hill Avenue NW), Ben Jalisco (9520 Rockport Road), Thomas Aly (1820 Prelude Drive) and Cathy Hardman (524 Lewis Street NW). Mr. Jinks noted that the previous speed study was done in Fall 2020, which was during the pandemic. He would like to do another study now since there are more people on the road. Whether there is a speeding issue or not, there are many options that can be utilized. Mr. Sergent, who was the DPW Staff Representative to TSC in 2014, said a project had been initiated at that time to install curb, gutter and sidewalk on Ayr Hill Avenue NW/NE from Lawyers to Dominion Road. This project is still happening, but it requires a lot of engineering. Chairman Eachus directed DPW to perform a follow-up traffic study and to review the suggested remedies and directed Sergeant Kiley to target the area over the next two months. DPW & the PD will coordinate their efforts. DPW’s recommendations will be scheduled on the November 28, 2023 TSC meeting agenda. 6 Review of traffic conditions at Glyndon Street and Tapawingo Road SE DPW agreed to perform a traffic study of this intersection once the construction of the new mixed-use building was complete. Residents in the vicinity – Charlie Moss (904 Glyndon Street SE), Werner Knapp (813 Glyndon Street SE), Jessica Ramakis (902 Shady Drive SE), Mark Borodin (322 Owaissa Road SE), Thomas Aly (1820 Prelude Drive) - have concerns about the visibility at this intersection, street parking and speeding on Tapawingo Road. Suggestions for dealing with the traffic and speeding included a four-way stop, extending the no-parking area, bump-outs and speed humps. DPW will perform the traffic study and present their recommendations at the October 30, 2023 TSC meeting. 7 Discussion of flashing stop signs The TSC discussed the possibility of adding Flashing Stop Signs to their list of approved traffic measures, at the request of the Town Manager. Commissioner Hartogs made a motion to approve the use of flashing stop signs to mitigate traffic concerns utilizing criteria set by DPW. Commissioner Kapitan seconded. Motion carried 8 – 1. Commissioner Strunk asked that supporting studies be provided on the effectiveness of the lighted stop signs. Town of Vienna Page 4 Printed on 11/2/2023 Transportation Safety Commission Meeting Minutes September 26, 2023 8 BAC Report The BAC discussed their upcoming Community Bike Ride, Bicycle education and Oktoberfest. Vice Chairman Strunk announced that CHO will be collecting bicycles for distribution around Thanksgiving. 9 PAC Report The PAC discussed the Maud Robinson Trust sidewalk projects and the new Eye-to-Eye campaign. 10 Reports of Commissioners Sergeant Kiley reported on the Kids & Cops Fun Run and announced the Marshall Road Elementary bike training October 17. 11 Report of the Chairman NONE 12 Adjourn 10:35 pm THE TOWN OF VIENNA IS COMMITTED TO FULL COMPLIANCE WITH THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT STANDARDS. TRANSLATION SERVICES, ASSISTANCE OR ACCOMMODATION REQUESTS FROM PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES ARE TO BE REQUESTED NOT LESS THAN 3 WORKING DAYS BEFORE THE DAY OF THE EVENT. PLEASE CALL (703) 255-6304, OR 711 VIRGINIA RELAY SERVICE FOR THE HEARING IMPAIRED. Town of Vienna Page 5 Printed on 11/2/2023