Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board

Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board October 11, 2021 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. In-Person & Online Meeting Meeting Notes Members present Barry Carroll, Maxine Bostic, Marcia Schroeder, George Theoharis, Monte Shaw Tyler Stutzman, Jack Brown & Elizabeth Ablah Members Absent: Russell Fox, Erik Maybee, Jane Byrnes City Staff: Gary Farris, Arborist, Park & Recreation Department, Michael Tann, Wichita Transit, Adam Nebenzahl, City Manager’s Office, Paul Gunzelman, Lee Carmichael, Public Works Engineering & Scott Wadle, MAPD Guests: Dave & Sharon Hewitt, Alan Kailer Item Description 1. Call to Barry Carroll, Chairperson, welcomed board members, City staff, and guests and called the Order meeting to order at 5:30 pm. 2. Approve Motion to approve September 13, 2021 meeting notes by board member Elizabeth Ablah with Previous second by board member Monte Shaw. Motion carried 8-0. Meeting Notes 3. Public There were no public comments. Comments 4. Discussion Brief Review of Tree Planting Strategies: Gary Farris, Arborist, Park & Recreation Department, Items provided an overview of the City of Wichita’s tree planting efforts since his last presentation to the board. Mr. Farris indicated that the COVID pandemic and recent retirees have impacted his operations in both staffing and annual budget. However, staff are using techniques (volunteers for plantings and innovative new tree growing methods) to help mitigate the situation. Mr. Farris indicated his operation for 2021 to date has inspected 16,741 trees, pruned 6,594, removed 2,734 trees, watered 12,560 trees, performed 90 MABCD inspections, hauled 93 loads of logs and hosted a volunteer Tree Plating Project at McAdams Park with Bombardier Aircraft. Some of this effort resulted in plantings along pathways in the park along the canal route. Mr. Farris indicated one of his goals moving forward is to plant two trees for every one removed which would be approximately 15,000 new trees annually. One innovation Mr. Farris mentioned for acquiring trees is based on a pilot project at the city nursery where new trees are started at their facility in Linwood Park. The pilot program shows promise and hopefully will provide a more cost-effective method to acquire trees for planting with the benefit of lower maintenance requirements than trees that are shipped from commercial nurseries. At the conclusion of Mr. Farris’s presentation, he was asked about planting of trees along public right of way by private citizens. Mr. Farris indicated this can be done through a no-fee permit system the City of Wichita has available. Chair Carroll inquired about the variety of species typically planted, Mr. Farris indicated that tree selection uses several different species as opposed to monoculture techniques used in the past. This technique helps minimize 2  disease. Board member Ablah asked if native species were used and if the city was open to working with private partnerships, to which Mr. Farris indicated that yes as much as possible. Mr. Farris concluded his presentation with information on the difficulties of planting trees in the downtown area due to soil conditions and underlying utilities. The board thanked Mr. Farris for his informative presentation. 5. Review of CIP Bike/Ped Projects: Paul Gunzelman, Assistant City Engineer, City of Wichita Public Works, provided handouts to the board which provided examples, projects and funding levels for each line item in the current Capital Improvement Plan that relate to bike and ped projects. Mr. Gunzelman also updated the board on several bike/ped projects that are underway or will be started next year and into 2023. Two major updates were the continuation of the Delano Pathway going west toward Seneca. This project will ultimately connect to the Prairie Sunset Trail. Critical to that connection, Mr. Gunzelman felt that the bridge crossing the “Big Ditch” at I-235 was moving forward and meetings have been held with KDOT and FHWA to address design issues when the next phase of the I-235 project is built. Mr. Gunzelman also added that he would like to have another walking tour of the Delano Project with board members, city staff and TransSystems to look at various design options as the Delano project moves from Seneca over to Friends University and ultimately to the Prairie Sunset Tail. Board member Bostic requested an update on crosswalk painting activities; Mr. Gunzelman stated he would get that information from staff. Mr. Gunzelman is moving forward with traffic calming project on McLean Boulevard. Board Chair Carroll thanked Mr. Gunzelman and indicated that the board would be preparing CIP recommendation for 2022 soon and that the information presented was helpful to inform those recommendations. 6. Staff Reports and Updates: Mike Tann, Wichita Transit Director, reported that interviews were conducted for the transportation planner position and he thanked board member Elizabeth Ablah for serving on the interview panel. Mr. Tann stated that the interview panel selected Tia Raamot, a Transportation Planner in El Dorado, California, for the position and will introduce her to the board at the November meeting. Ms. Raamot has experience in transportation planning and engineering and will provide staff support to the board. Mr. Tann also provided a scooter RFP update, there were five companies responding to the RFP which were reviewed by the new transit purchasing manager; four companies were selected for interviews of which two will be selected to provide scooter rentals in Wichita. Mr. Tann also reported that at our November meeting he and Mr. Gunzelman will update the board with new information on the status of the Multi-Modal building that is to be constructed in Delano adjacent to Riverfront Stadium. Scott Wadle, Planning Director, MAPD noted that there has been a noticeable increase for building permits related to accessory apartments that is associated with changes in the administrative process recommended in Places for People as well as more zoning and planning activity regarding requirements for parking facilities. An example was the recent discussion in the Delano area for Central Business District (CBD) zoning. CBD zoning does not have a parking requirement. Mr. Wadle indicated these trends both have a positive impact on multi-modal and active transportation. Project Tracking Form Update: Since Paul Gunzelman was s�ll present at the mee�ng, he provided the update with the assistance of Lee Carmichael. Mr. Gunzelman then gave PowerPoint presenta�on of the Delano project from McLean Boulevard regarding the completed phases of the project and work underway that will take the current phase of the project west to Seneca where a HAWK signal will be placed for crossing Seneca. A HAWK signal stops traffic for pedestrians and gives the pedestrian �me to cross. When the current project is complete, it will terminate at Exposi�on Street where it will then connect to the next por�on of the trail that will head southwest toward Friends University, Kansas Newman and ul�mately to the Prairie Sunset Trail. Mr. Gunzelman noted that the update he provided has been seen by the District 6 Advisory Board and various community groups including the Delano Neighborhood Associa�on thus receiving a lot of community input. Regarding the connec�on to the Prairie Sunset Trail, the board was updated on the status of the bridge over the “Big Ditch” that is a cri�cal connec�on for the westward expansion. Mr. Gunzelman 2  stated that city engineering staff met with KDOT and Federal Highway Administra�on officials to discuss design op�ons for improving or replacing the ‘Big Ditch’ bridge connec�ng the Prairie Sunset so that the Prairie Sunset Trail will ul�mately connect Garden Plain to Andover and beyond. Mr. Gunzelman felt that the mee�ng went well, and that city staff would meet with the KDOT execu�ve commitee on October 21, 2021 to finalize a design op�on that will include rework of the exis�ng bridge and connect under a future proposed I-235 ramp construc�on project. Overall Mr. Gunzelman felt posi�ve about the progress in the discussions with state and federal agencies. Other project items updated were: • Downtown pedestrian friendly signal work is in progress and could be finished by the end of the year. • West Kellogg and Harry work almost complete. • 17th Street from I-135 to Broadway almost completed except for railroad crossing. Chair Carroll thanked Mr. Gunzelman for the updates and provided an update on a public workshop held with the Augusta City Council on the Redbud Trail that currently connects Wichita to Andover. He indicated that the workshop focused on expansion of the trail past Andover to Augusta. There was a large turnout of individuals that supported the expansion of the trail. Although there was a lot of support from those attending, the expansion still faces discussion and formal action by the Butler County Commission. Scot Wadle, MAPD Director, men�oned that the board may want to start discussion of making recommenda�ons for the City of Wichita’s Legisla�ve Agenda. 6. Old Business: There was no old business. 7. New Business: There was no new business. 8. Board Comments: Discussion of the City’s Sustainability Integration Advisory Board Chair Carroll opened the discussion outlining the City’s recently approved Sustainability Advisory Board and that the new advisory board will include a representative from the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory board. The Chair opened up the appointment for board discussion and asked if any members were interested. The Chair did indicate that board member Byrnes was interested and read an email from board member Fox, who was not present, who deferred his support to board member Jane Byrnes. Board member Ablah nominated Jack Brown (second) Schroeder for the board’s representative. A vote was held resulting in the selection of Mr. Brown to be the Wichita Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board’s representative to the Wichita Sustainability Integration Advisory Board. 9. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 7:20 pm Next WBPAB Meeting is November 8, 2021 Submitted by Jack Brown, Secretary 09/27/2021 2