Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board

Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board Monday, November 10, 2014 5:30 – 7:00 P.M. 777 E. Waterman, Building 200 Wichita Transit Van Maintenance Facility Conference Room Wichita, Kansas 67202 Agenda Item Time Description 1. 5:30 pm Call to Order Jack Brown, Chairperson 2. 5:31 pm Approve Previous Meeting Notes Jack Brown, Chairperson 3. 5:35 pm Public Comments Jack Brown, Chairperson 4. 5:40 pm Wichita State University –Connections to the Wichita Bicycle Network and Bicycle Related Improvements Andrew Schlapp, Executive Director of Government Relations, Wichita State University 5. 6:10 pm Wichita Multi-Modal Policy and Street Design Guidance Scott Wadle, Senior Planner 6. 6:20 pm Wichita Together 2014 Signage Project Scott Wadle, Senior Planner 7. 6:40 pm Board Member Project Reports Jack Brown, Chairperson 8. 6:50 pm Announcements Jack Brown, Chairperson 9. 7:00 pm Closing Thoughts Jack Brown, Chairperson Notice – City Council Members may attend this meeting.  Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board Monday, October 13, 2014 5:30 – 7 P.M. 777 E. Waterman, Building 200 Wichita Transit Van Maintenance Facility Conference Room Meeting Notes Members Present: Melody Barnes, Maxine Bostic, Jack Brown, Jane Byrnes, Barry Carroll, James Crowder, Amy Delamaide, Jerry Jones, George Theoharis, Members Absent: Tom Lasater & Tyler Stutzman City Staff: Scott Wadle, MAPD, Alan King, Public Works, Larry Hoetmer, Parks Department Guests: Bob Lavelle [Geezers] Item Description 1. Call to Order: Jack Brown, Chairperson, called the meeting to order and welcomed City staff and guests. The Chairperson introduced our new member Melody Barnes to the board. 2. Approve Previous Meeting Notes: Maxine Bostic moved [Tyler Stutzman] to approve the September 8, 2014 meeting notes. Motion carried 9-0. 3. Board Member Project Reports: 1) Mt. Vernon: the intersection at Oliver & Mt. Vernon is being reconstructed; bike lanes will be installed at a later date; 2) Bicycle Friendly City Designation: an application with letters of support will be submitted in the spring of 2015 subject to WCC approval; 3) Delano Bicycle Parking Plan-Phase II: was advertised for bids on October 3rd; 4) Redbud Trail: anticipate opening bids In November; 5) Delano/River Vista Apartments: the WCC considered a revised plan in September; 6) Delano Brownfield Application: the application was submitted and EPA will make an announcement in spring of 2015; 7) Douglas Design District: the City’s Design Council has recommended approval of the concept from Washington to Grove [there is no designated funding as yet]; 8) First & Second Bikeways: will be advertised for bids in October; 9) Leagues of American Bicyclists [LAB] Visit: Barry reported that the visit went very well and Steve Clark, LAB staff member, was impressed with our community; 10) Multimodal Policy & Street Design Guidance: Amy agreed to track this project; and 11) Market & Topeka Bikeways will be advertised for bids in October 4. Wichita Proposed Sales Tax Pavement Maintenance Improvements, and Bicycle and Pedestrian: Alan King, Director of Public Works and Utilities, gave the board) a presentation on street maintenance related to the proposed City of Wichita sales tax initiative. According to Mr. King, improvements are being proposed for 111 ‘lane miles’ of city streets. These streets were identified as being most in need of rehabilitation. Following the presentation, there was a question and answer session. Chair Brown asked Mr. King if the proposed street improvements could include bicycle markings and lanes where they overlapped with the Master Bicycle Plan. Mr. King mentioned that this could be considered and gave an example of adding sharrows in those instances. Jerry Jones followed up by asking what one could say to bike/walk advocates about this sales tax initiative. Mr. King stated that some of the proposed streets might overlap with streets identified within the Master Bike Plan. If so, improvements could be coordinated 1  and could benefit the bike/walk community. Jane Byrnes stated that many citizens simply walk in their neighborhoods and any improvements would be welcomed. Mr. King agreed to coordinate with Scott Wadle in an effort to identify what streets might overlap. A map, with an overlay, of proposed neighborhood street improvements will be developed and forwarded to board members. Jack Brown stated that is important to consider long-term maintenance with any new street project. The board members discussed whether a letter should be forwarded to the City Council to voice support for these proposed improvements. Since the election has not taken place, no action was taken. Following the presentation and discussion, board members thanked Mr. King for his informative presentation. 5. K-96 Path Improvements at Chisholm Creek Park: Larry Hoetmer, Landscape Architect, showed a PowerPoint presentation that highlighted the proposed improvements. According to Mr. Hoetmer, the grant is approximately $1M and will help reconstruct the path from Oliver to Woodlawn and then construct a new path south into the entrance of the Great Plains Nature Center. The crumbling asphalt on the existing trail will be recycled and used for a base layer for the new concrete plan, according to Mr. Hoetmer. Jack Brown asked when construction would commence and how long would it take to complete. Mr. Hoetmer stated that construction on the Oliver to Woodlawn section would commence in April and end in July 2015. The board was very pleased to learn about this needed construction project. Board members commended for his good work in securing this grant for our biking/walking community. 6. Announcements: Jack Brown, Chairperson, asked for comments from the board.  Walktober: Jane Byrnes provided members with handouts pertaining to Walktober and the ‘economic value of pedestrian infrastructure and amenities. Jane thanked everyone for their support and is hopeful that public health will be strengthened as a result of these initiatives.  Project Tracking: Jack Brown encouraged members to continue to track their assigned projects. In addition, Jack suggested that a subcommittee be formed and meet, periodically with City staff, and then provide a summary to the full board.  Discussion of the Format of the Agenda: Barry Carroll asked that a discussion of the public agenda’s placement within the agenda be discussed during the October meeting. Barry expressed concerns that the public agenda is at the very bottom and several members of the public have left meetings without having an opportunity to comment. Comments on the public agenda should be limited to five minutes but could be extended by majority vote, according to Barry. George Theoharis moved [Barry Carroll] to reorder the agenda to reflect the following: 1) Call to Order; 2) Approval of the minutes; 3) Public Agenda; 4) Staff presentations; 5) Project Tracking; 6) Announcements; & 7) Closing comments. Motion carried 7-0.  Multimodal Policy & Street Guidance & Master Pedestrian Plan: Barry Carroll suggested that member provide input at upcoming MAPC and City Council meetings if possible.  Table Tents: George Theoharis ask staff to develop table tents with board names and districts [or who appointed them]. 7. Closing Thoughts:  Board Retreat: Jack Brown suggested that a board retreat in November would 2  be helpful since there are several new members. George Theoharis moved [Jerry Jones] to hold a staff retreat. Motion carried 7-0. Staff will send a ‘Meeting Wizard’ request with possible retreat dates. 8. Public Comments: There were no members of the public. There be no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:30 pm. Respectfully submitted, Barry Carroll, WBPAB Secretary 10/16/14 3  Agenda Item No. ____ Wichita Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board November 10, 2014 TO: Wichita Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board Members FROM: Wichita-Sedgwick County Metropolitan Area Planning Department SUBJECT: Wichita Multi-Modal Accommodation Policy and Street Design Guidance ___________________________________________________________________________________ Recommendation: It is recommended that the Wichita Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board recommend endorsement of the revised Multi-Modal Accommodation Policy and Street Design Guidance, October 2014 by the City Council. Background: On April 16, 2013, the City Council approved a Wichita Bicycle and Pedestrian Projects Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the YMCA, acting as the fiscal agent for the Health and Wellness Coalition of Wichita, and the City. The MOU’s purpose is to support projects that make it easier, safer, and more convenient for people to walk and bike within the City. The projects identified in the MOU included the creation of street design guidance; and policy to help ensure that roadway improvements are designed to increase safety and improve accessibility of all transportation network users. On February 11, 2014 the City Council approved the selection and contract with Professional Engineering Consultants (PEC) to undertake the preparation of the policy and street design guidance. A project team of City staff, with representatives from Planning, Engineering, Street Maintenance, and Transit was formed to assist with the project. Over the last six months, the project team has worked with the consultants to draft street design guidance and a multi-modal policy that meets the needs of the Wichita community. On August 26, 2014, the working draft of the Street Design Guidelines; Wichita’s Policy Manual for Multi-Modal Transportation was presented to the City Council at a workshop session. On September 9, 2014, the Wichita Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board received a presentation about the project including an overview of the August draft of the Multi-Modal Accommodation Policy and Street Design Guidance. The Board recommended that the City Council endorse the Multi-Modal Accommodation Policy and the Street Design Guidance. On September 19, 2014, the project Technical Advisory Committee by consensus decided to make recommend changes to the Multi-Modal Accommodation Policy and the Street Design Guidance. The Changes generally consisted of the following:  removing language identifying exceptions in the Multi-Modal Accommodation Policy, and modifying it to state that multi-modal facilities will not be provided under certain circumstances (pg. 1)  updating the responsibilities of the Multi-Modal committee to include making accommodation decisions, not exceptions as previously described (pg. 1);  adding the responsibility to document all project reviews and decisions to the Multi-Modal Committee (pg. 1);  revising the text to clarify that it is not the intent for the Multi-Modal Committee to review every type of street maintenance project or time-sensitive emergency repairs (pg. 2);  Page 2  adding text to identify that the review of maintenance projects by the Multi-Modal Committee is only appropriate for “fairly substantial planned maintenance projects that involve the reconstruction of street structural components; and  attaching Appendix A the Street Design Guidance document, in order to identify how Wichita street maintenance staff intend to operationalize the implementation of the Multi-Modal Accommodation Policy. Analysis: This project consists of two major components: a multi-modal accommodation policy and street design guidance (described below). Multi-Modal Policy – this policy will direct staff to consider multiple modes of transportation and the context for improvement and maintenance projects in street right-of-way and public access easements. It will help formalize the City’s current practices to design streets for multiple modes of transportation (i.e. people walking, bicycling, driving, and taking transit), where recommended in City plans. The policy indicates that multi-modal facilities will not be provided when: modes are prohibited; costs or impacts are disproportionate; improvements are infeasible; improvements are impractical; or maintenance activities do not offer practical opportunities for providing accommodations. The policy directs staff to create a Multi-Modal Committee to coordinate, determine when multi-modal accommodation as part of other projects is appropriate, review, monitor, and report on projects. Street Design Guidelines – this information will help provide guidance for the design of public streets, within the street rights-of-way (established by the subdivision process). This guidance can help provide greater levels of predictability and layout options for multi-modal design of Wichita streets. This product combines information from multiple documents into one single reference document, and the guidance includes recommendations for different features (i.e. travel lanes, turn lanes, sidewalks, bike lanes, paths, sidewalks, etc.) – each according to different contexts (i.e. urban core, general urban, suburban). Endorsement of the policy and street design guidance by the City Council will not make any changes to the Zoning Code, Subdivision Regulations, or Sidewalk Ordinance. The policy and design guidance help to implement the transportation networks recommended in the Wichita Bicycle Master Plan (endorsed by the City Council on February 5, 2013); the draft Wichita Pedestrian Master Plan; and the draft Wichita Transit Vision Plan. The changes to the Multi-Modal Accommodation Policy and Street Design Guidance are proposed in order to help address potential concerns with providing on-street bicycle facilities and the impacts to the City maintenance resources. The revisions to the policy clarify the intent of the policy, scope of review, and how maintenance staff should implement the policy. 1. Intent The changes are intended to clarify that the policy will not require the inclusion of bicycle, pedestrian, and transit improvements as part of maintenance or new construction projects. The policy has stated and continues to state that City staff shall “consider all modal transportation networks for every project or activity within the street right-of-way or access easements”. The Changes to remove the word “exceptions” in the policy, are intended to clarify that the policy requires “consideration”. The prior draft language requiring exceptions could have been interpreted to indicate that multi-modal improvements were required unless an exception was provided. 2. Scope of Review The Multi-Modal Committee is responsible for the administration of the policy and has flexibility in determining how they will administer the policy. The policy states that they shall “apply this Policy during the street design process…” The policy has been updated to help clarify that for maintenance projects, the “Committee review is only appropriate for fairly substantial planned maintenance projects that involve the reconstruction of street structural components, such as pavement rehabilitation (milling and overlay, etc.)”.  Page 3 3. Maintenance Staff Implementation Appendix A is new to the document. This appendix provides details for how the City intends to operationalize implementation of the policy. It includes details describing:  when the contract maintenance program will be presented to the Multi-Modal Committee;  what maintenance operations should not be reviewed by the Multi-Modal Committee;  when trade-offs between accommodating multi-modal transportation as part of maintenance projects will be presented to the City Council; and  how additional long-term maintenance impacts of multi-modal facilities proposed for installation as part of the implementation of the Multi-Modal policy will be presented to the City Council. Financial Considerations: No funding is attached to either the policy or the street design guidance; and endorsement of them by the City Council does not involve any commitment by the City for future funding. The funding of multi-modal facilities will need to be considered and initiated through separate processes. Please see Appendix A of the Street Design Guidelines document for a description of how the policy should be implemented and the financial impacts assessed on an individual project basis. Recommendations/Actions: It is recommended that the Wichita Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board recommend endorsement of the revised Multi-Modal Accommodation Policy and Street Design Guidance, October 2014 by the City Council. Attachments:  A copy of the Street Design Guidelines; Wichita’s Policy Manual for Multi-Modal Transportation (containing the policy and design guidance) is available on the project webpage at the web address listed below. o http://www.wichita.gov/Government/Departments/Planning/Pages/Multi- ModalPolicyandStreetDesignGuidance.aspx