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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-BPAC-2012-07-03BPAC Minutes July 3, 2012 >Official minutes, Approved August 7 started at 5:33pm In attendance: Members: Dave Nutter, BPAC chair - person Daniel Keough, BPAC secretary Gail Steinhart Steve Williams, arrival 5:43pm Jan Schwartzberg Garin Danner Matt Freedman Tim Logue, Transportation Engineer Rob Morache, BPW liaison <member attendance times entered for voting purposes> --------------- - - - -- Public attendance: none. 1. Introductions 2. Additions or Deletions to the Agenda None 3. Approval of Minutes June draft minutes approved unanimously. 4. Public comment n/a 5. Announcements Dave N spoke about meeting with Abe Stroock and his petition to Cornell calling for complete bicycle and pedestrian networks both on and connecting to campus, plus an ad hoc committee with community membership. BPAC is relevant as a potential member of such a committee; because much of Cornell's campus, though maintained by Cornell, is within the City of Ithaca; and there are several important unfinished connections to Cornell within the City. Petition: http / /www.change.org /petitions /comell- invest -in- infrastructure- for - cyclists -and- pedestrians This petition has 341 signatures at the time of our meeting. Since it has been presented to President Skorton, other Cornell staff, e.g. Dave Lieb of Cornell Transportation, whom we should contact regarding Cornell's plans, are not able to comment on the petition as per Cornell policy. A brief discussion occurred about the Pine Tree Rd/ East Ithaca Recreation -way Project, as part of the petition, though it is not within City limits. Perhaps rather than expensive bridge replacement, extra maintenance could make the shoulders usable, such as for people on bicycles. By clearing debris between the abutments where the shoulders are 5' wide, and cutting back nearby vegetation, patching pavement, and resetting sunken drain grates. Paved shoulders are 6' wide between Judd Falls Rd and Maple Av. If the bridge did not have to be replaced, this could free up money for other bike & ped improvements such as a more complete path connection between the existing EIRW, East Hill Plaza, and the Eastern Heights neighborhood. Dave N believes that the plans have been approved to put in a new bridge that will allow for 6' paved shoulders throughout, but as a condition of federal or state funding clearance will be raised from 12' to 15' allowing for larger and a higher volume of vehicular traffic, which is certainly a neighborhood concern. Daniel agreed to meet with Abe about such issues in the petition. 6. Reports: • Board of Public Works Rob said he had a light meeting and will leave some of what he had, to Tim to discuss. • Parks Commission - BPAC currently has no Parks Commission Liaison • Transportation Engineer Tim Logue spoke of a request of the IHS Principal to lower the speed -limit on N Cayuga St. Rob: The road is very wide and there is a tendency to speed. Speed counts show that many drivers are traveling over 30mph in this area. DPW is likely to recommend to the Board to change the speed limit. Safe Routes to School will include other work in this area. • Planning Board - BPAC currently has no Planning Board Liaison Garin volunteered to review plans as they come in, Daniel is also willing to review these. For BPAC to submit official comments regarding any project, the sub- committee of Garin and Daniel will gather ideas and discuss, including any BPAC member comments. The sub - committee meeting minutes will be forwarded to BPAC. Someone from BPAC will speak to PB members about projects as they come up. Tim suggested that BPAC sends out 'major concerns' early, then gives a further detailed list to the PB. Tim mentioned there were concerns about the 102 The Knoll project, which proposed not to include a sidewalk on the west side of Barton Place because of nearby large trees, but Tim thought a sidewalk could go there without harming the trees. • Common Council- liaison not present Tim said notes of the various projects of DPW are also available online. Tim spoke of the new Johnson boatyard waterfront property proposal on Willow Ave. More housing in the flats of Ithaca is a great thing, but there are concerns that this large housing unit with the amount of traffic that will be generated and that it crosses the Cayuga Waterfront Trail. The building on Willow will create a blind spot to the North for ped/bike travel. Tim: The City is reconstructing Ithaca Rd between Mitchell and Dryden. A new sidewalk will be added along Bryant Park. The center line will be moved and a climbing bike lane will be added. Parking will be eliminated without apparent conflict to residents without driveways. Work on the street will take all summer. Cornell St. sidewalk: NYSEG work is done there. There will eventually be a complete sidewalk from E State/ MLK St to the Belle Sherman Elementary School. Safe Routes to School funding is available for work connecting BJM Elementary, Fall Creek Elementary and Boynton Middle School, which is past IHS towards the City line. The City may purchase bikes for schools to do bike rodeos and teaching events. Formal application is due in October. No local money input required, it can be 100% from federal aid. Cayuga Waterfront Trail Phase 2, connecting Farmers' Market to Cass Park could be built next year. Tim met with railroad representatives regarding two railroad crossings. Projects include crosswalks on both sides of Rt. 13, and to finish a sidewalk in front of B &W Supply, 510 Third St. Rob requested an island or median to break up the crosswalk space which Tim said wouldn't work due to a need then to widen the road for turning lanes. There may be seasonally removable posts for pedestrian protection. But the usefulness of these would have to be high and they should not block or impede the path of cyclists traveling straight or turning. If these are expected to be in the way of cyclists, and /or not have much utility for pedestrians, Tim would prefer to use staff resources elsewhere and avoid the installation/maintenance /seasonal removal of these posts. Tim questions if crossing Dey or Third Streets gives cyclists enough time to cross since they are likely timed for cars to cross over Rt. 13 -- unless the Ped button is pressed, but this may not be an issue. Should we have signage for the cyclist to hit the button? No, it could potentially cause safety problems and be a hassle for cyclists moving to and from the straight lane and the crosswalk button. Green St & Seneca St bulb -outs are scheduled for next year. The intersection of E MLK St /E State St and Mitchell St will have a traffic light in conjunction with the "Collegetown" Terrace project across the street. How will pedestrian and bicycle traffic be accommodated? Traffic signal upgrades will include 3 on Court St and either end of the Commons among other places. Court St lights: Request for advance green for bikes, so as they could turn L onto Tioga St. Rob: a bike box could be used which is a bike lane that caps the automobile stop line and pushes it back away from the intersection, allowing people on bikes to have a safe stopping space, allows bikers, when traffic is stopped, to more easily move to the left for a left turn, and promotes earlier stopping of motor vehicles, reducing encroachment onto the cross -walk. >>e.g. http: / /www.slobc.oriz/news /ima esg /images- 2010/bike- box- larae.jpa Portland State University's Institute for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation study: "their results showed no negative safety effects and the fact that there was more yielding and fewer conflicts observed, "Over time," he says, "one would expect fewer crashes ". http: / /bikeportland.org/ 2010 /09 /14 /psu- bike - box - evaluation - finds - that - bike - boxes - work -39441 Image: picture of a less- expensive, border colored bike box. Another option is to fill in the green area with green paint completely. The Streets Alive! Project planners will meet on a Sunday, likely from perhaps 1 lam - 3pm. A volunteer group, Creating Healthy Places is working on this. Vicki Armstrong and Caleb are working with Fernando de Aragon. Discussion of the Holiday Inn project. The ingress /egress allows for a better flow of traffic proposed compared to having the ingress farther south. Since there is likely to often be traffic pulling out of the parking garage then directly into the one -way drive, it is better to allow the traffic to pull straight across, instead of a turn Left then a quick turn Right. The Clinton St @ Cayuga intersection: Steve raised a concern that drivers often proceed turning right while ignoring pedestrians. Rob mentioned that we could program the light so when the Ped -X button is used, automobile drivers would have a four -way red, assisting pedestrians with safer crossing. Comments from Andrejs Ozolins submitted via email regarding the E MLK St /E State St bike lane: " I think it has to be on BPAC's agenda that the East State bike lane continues to be an embarrassment at best and a dangerous trick on unwary cyclists at worst. I had occasion to drive up East State today and was really appalled at the conditions. Never mind that the line is wavering and uncertain in direction, or that there is a missing piece exactly where the bike lane realigns to the outside of parked cars so that its momentarily uncertain where the lane went. But, the complete obliteration of the bike lane by machinery, workmen, and debris makes a part of the hill more hostile by far than it was before the installation of a bike lane. Honestly, I know this is a trifle in the scheme of things. But, the existence of this fantasmagorical East Hill bike lane continues to be crowed as one of the "bicycle friendly" accomplishments in Ithaca and the contrast with reality is stark. A bike land that was evident and welcome for a half a year, followed by almost a whole year when it was literally invisible, then to be followed by a sloppy bike lane that is obliterated by work zones. There are no transition stripings at the left turn at Michell. I refuse to go on. It's a mess. And, frankly, I see no point in BPAC proceeding to new business as long as this very, very old business is in disaray. Am I too harsh ?" Andrejs Enforcement subcommittee will meet at 5:30pm Tuesday 7/10. The group will discuss various things related to traffic enforcement with a one goal of limiting the need for enforcement, which will be both better for bike /ped but also less expensive for the City in the long -term. Safe Routes to School In the West End, a mid -block signal by Pete's will better assist students traveling to ACS. Non - infrastructure type things like education will be used which can benefit more students. Streets around Fall Creek, Falls St, may have one side bike lanes on parallel streets to cover both directions and avoid cramming them in. Bike Boulevard proposal discussion: Tioga St is a good route, since it is a lower traffic through st through the flats of the city. Plain St would be the choice without using Corn St, except the IFD triggers the light on Green @ Plain St, so they can briefly head the wrong -way, West, and then turn onto Plain St. The Chief of the IFD does not like the idea of a Bike Blvd on Plain St using traffic diverters or calming devices on Plain St North of Green St, like speed - tables. Rob, Dave N, and Daniel are concerned with having a route that is complex with all the turns. A straight, simple, route would be much preferred. Tim says these are not commuting routes, these are "lazy day routes" where you would feel comfortable in traveling down this road with children, perhaps age 8 years or older, on bicycles. Corn and Plain St carry about 2500 cars /day so are almost as 'calm', but Plain St is generally wider and so has more space for bike use. Tim: the traffic diverters, even those with curbing put into place anywhere in the city can be tested and removed if it doesn't work well. A big focus of the Bike Boulevard (BB), are destinations for children: schools and parks some of these routes wouldn't necessarily be the same routes for other destinations such as people getting to Wegman's. As a Bike Blvd Court St, out to Fulton would be very helpful, connecting to the Cayuga Waterfront Trail across Fulton and the railroad by GreenStar's The Space and Corks & More. Rob thinks NYS will really take notice of this area becoming part of the Bike Blvd plan. East -west connection via Court would also be good to Linn St & University Avenue, gorge trail, and bus stop. Tim: Parts of Court St should not be considered a Bike Blvd, but we could look at these areas for other treatment. Sharrows in the heavier parts? Bike lanes? Any treatment down to Fulton & Meadow? There is the possibility of implementing a 4 -way stop at Park Place on Court St. 3rd St. Dave: why not have them go all the way to the end? BB won't extend fully, but we will continue to connect BB and destinations with other treatment/facilities. BPAC is generally in favor of the 4 -way stop at Cayuga & Cascadilla. Jan spoke of enforcement issues with drivers not stopping for pedestrians. Daniel frequently notices drivers completely ignoring pedestrians, even when they were actively crossing /within the cross -walk, not just standing roadside. This can be witnesses daily, just go sit at Gimmie! Cayuga St for a minute and you can see how bad this is. Daniel requested a second pedestrian -yield marker, prior to the potential 4 -way stop being accepted/implemented. Tim: The sign in the road at the Farm St crosswalk on N Cayuga St, is in this new location due to city staff moving it from the crosswalk at Gimmie, across N Cayuga St., to allow large vehicles an easier turn south onto N Cayuga St. Going along the creek -ways is a nice route, though along Lake Ave is often quite narrow. Dave N voiced concerns of the contra -flow for bicycles potentially being problematic on Lake Ave, with cars backing up. Tim will bring the BB Plan to the BPW as our best draft where it will likely have more of a public comment period -- noting that BPAC can still submit additional comments. 7. Adjournment at 7:50pm.