HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-BPW-2017-10-23BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS PROCEEDINGS
CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK
Regular Meeting 4:45 p.m. October 23, 2017
PRESENT:
Mayor Myrick
Commissioners (4) – McCormick, Morache, Warden, Greene
OTHERS PRESENT:
Information Management Specialist - Myers
Director of Engineering – Logue
Common Council Liaison – Fleming
Supt. of Public Works - Thorne
Assistant Superintendent of Streets and Facilities – Benjamin
Director of Parking – Nagy
Transportation Engineer – Hathaway
EXCUSED:
Commissioner Jenkins
Assistant Superintendent of Water and Sewer – Whitney
Call to Order/Agenda Review:
There were no changes made to the agenda.
Communications and Hearings From Persons Before the Board:
The following people addressed the Board in support for the Proposed West
State/Martin Luther King, Jr. Street Corridor Enhancement Project:
Diana Ozolins, City of Ithaca
Andrejs Ozolins, City of Ithaca
Judy Swann, City of Ithaca
Steven Williams, City of Ithaca
Scott Marsland, City of Ithaca
Jan Schwartzberg, City of Ithaca
Dave Nutter, City of Ithaca
Cynthia Brock, 1st Ward Alderperson
Armin Heurich, City of Ithaca
Victoria Armstrong, City of Ithaca
George McGonigal, 1st Ward Alderperson
Kelda McGurk, City of Ithaca
The following people addressed the Board in opposition to the Proposed West
State/Martin Luther King, Jr. Street Corridor Enhancement Project:
Tom Hohn, Town of Ithaca
Sophie Zapala, Town of Ithaca
(Note: Mr. Hohn and Ms. Zapala have circulated a petition in opposition to the proposal
that at this point has over 700 signatures from both city and town residents, school bus
drivers, town highway department workers, and town of Ithaca residents).
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Mark Bodenstein, City of Ithaca, would like to see the City implement the proposed
changes in a more temporary manner so that if it turns out that the new design does not
work, the City can go back to the original design at a minimal cost ; rather than to
proceed with the project and then find that it does not work, and becomes very
expensive to make any changes.
Response to the Public:
Commissioner Warden thanked everyone for all of their comments and perspective on
this controversial topic.
Mayor Myrick expressed his thanks to everyone who came and spoke at today’s
meeting. He noted that today’s meeting has been one of the more contentious times of
public comment than typically seen by the Board of Public Works. He shared that
people from outside of the city want their commute through the City to be quick and
easy; they deserve that, and people elsewhere want something else. Everyone has
different wants and needs and it’s hard to come up with a balance d proposal; someone
is always left unhappy. This topic is more complicated since it involves three (3) roads
and a bridge, all within very tight spaces, with vehicles moving in both directions.
Reports:
CC Liaison Fleming reported that Common Council is in the thick of meetings to discuss
the 2018 budget. She shared that Supt. Thorne made a major request over budget for
a road crew in 2018; Common Council has not yet voted on that request.
Supt. Thorne reported that last week the New York State Department of Transportation
(NYSDOT) Bridge inspectors inspected all of the city’s bridges. Three bridges were red
flagged - the two on South Albany Street over Six Mile Creek and the Thurston Avenue
bridge. Staff is trying to get more information from DOT about what the city’s
responsibilities are now that the bridges have been red flagged. He stated that when a
bridge has been red flagged, the clock begins on the time frame in which it is required to
be repaired. He has asked City Bridge Engineer Gebre for a report of their draft
findings, which staff will need to investigate. Any work on the Thurston Avenue Bridge
is going to be very tricky and costly. He should have more information on this topic at
the Board’s next meeting.
Director of Engineering Logue reported that staff tried their best to work with the
contractor to put paint down on certain streets without causing major problems for
traffic. The work was done on Route 13, Seneca and Green Streets , unfortunately,
there is no good way to do that without impacting traffic, it began at the end of last
week, and should be finished this week. Apoxy paint was used which should last longer
as well.
The work on the Cascadilla Creek wall is progressing well; however, there is no delivery
date for the bridge at this point – staff is hoping it will be within the next few weeks.
The City received complaints about the narrowness of the s idewalk on South Aurora
Street near the City Center project construction site, so staff is working with the
contractor to widen and make the sidewalk ADA compliant. The Harold's Square
project has started and will be taking over the City Hall parking lot, Green Street Garage
and out onto the Commons. The new playground on the Commons will be closed for
most of project, and there will also be impacts to Commons with utility work that has to
be done. The City is also working with NYSEG to complete their gas line work as
quickly as they can. Work has been taking place on Buffalo Street, Albany Street, State
and Quarry Streets; and will then proceed to the Northside before the end of this
construction season.
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Asst. Supt. Benjamin reported that the highway crew has been taking advantage of the
recent good weather by completing utility patches, including trying to get South Albany
Street ready for winter – the local asphalt plant broke down again so the City has been
getting asphalt from Cortland. In addition, Water Street and Stone Quarry Road were
repaved. The Parks crew is grinding stumps and preparing for planting in November.
The leaves are coming down and both of the City’s sweepers are out of commission
and need repair; the parts have been ordered. This is frustrating as the City has been
trying to keep up with the removal of leaves in order to keep gutters clean on the flats
and the equipment is not holding up because it's getting older.
Director of Parking Nagy reported that his staff are getting ready, as the highway crews
finish up their work for the season, to get holes dug for the installation of new pay
machines. There are 23 new pay stations that need to be placed in already designated
locations that should take about15-20 days to complete.
Commissioner Greene reported that staff at Belle Sherman Elementary School have
been asking him when the lighting over the cross walk on Cornell Street by the school’s
annex will be installed.
Asst. Supt. Benjamin responded that the City has ordered a special adapter for the
poles in order to install the new lights; he is not sure when the part will be in.
Commissioner McCormick asked whether the bike boulevard on South Plain Street
could be included in the current street painting project. Director of Engineering Logue
responded that he would check.
Administration and Communications:
Approval of the September 25, 2017 Board of Public Works Meeting Minutes -
Resolution
By Commissioner Morache: Seconded by Commissioner Warden
RESOLVED, That the minutes of the September 25, 2017 Board of Public Works
meeting be approved as published.
Carried Unanimously
Mayor Myrick requested that item 13G entitled West State/Martin Luther King, Jr. Street
Corridor Enhancement Project discussion be moved up on the agenda to become the
new item 13A so that the public would not have stay until the end of the meeting for it.
No Board Member Objected.
Discussion Items:
West State/Martin Luther King, Jr. Street Corridor Enhancement Project:
Director of Engineering Logue stated that he did his best to go through all the emails
and comments from the Board’s September 25th meeting to summarize the major
comments. He couldn’t address all of the comments, but he is happy to discuss them
further with anyone who might want to meet with him. He provided the following report
for the Board:
“This memo is intended to be a response to the recent concerns raised p rimarily on the
West Hill list serves. Many of those comments to him have been copied to Board
Commissioners, and Common Council members. A number of people came to speak at
the Board’s meeting on September 25th, with about 8 people speaking against the
project and 18 people speaking for the project. At th at meeting, I said I would prepare a
written response for the Board’s October 23rd meeting. Though I cannot respond to
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every specific comment, I would classify the concerns along a few major lines - project
goals, public outreach, the traffic study, and the impact of removing the lane from the
bridge. I will try to address each one at a time.
Project Goals:
The project goals have been stated in the grant application, in the design report, and in
public meetings. The goals are: 1) to improve conditions for pedestrians trying to cross
the street; 2) to enhance conditions for pedestrians walking through the corridor; 3) to
provide better bicycle accommodations; and 4) to improve overall safety in the corridor.
As the grant application stated, it is expected that the benefits of the project would
include: mitigation of safety hazards (mid-block crossing, narrow sidewalks,
unconventional intersection, and motor vehicle weaving); improve the convenience and
comfort of walking, attract more walkers; upgrades to meet current Americans with
Disabilities Act accessibility guidelines; improve the convenience and comfort of
bicycling and increase ridership; multiply the benefits of other nearby related projects
(i.e. the Floral Avenue trail, the Cayuga Waterfront Trail, and now the Brindley Street
bridge and Hector Street complete street projects); a s well as to advance the goals of
local and regional plans, which include the City's Comprehensive Plan.
Some of the comments have stated that the City's primary goals ought to be to reduce
delays and commute times through the West End, or from West Hill to the downtown.
Others have stated that due to the existing volumes of motor vehicle traffic compared to
pedestrian and bicycle volumes, that improvements ought to be made to the experience
of driving through the corridor.
I don't think the project goals have been hidden or obscure throughout the project
development process. Both the Board of Public Works and Common Council reviewed
the project scope of work and goals in the summer of 2013, both selecting and
authorizing this project among others for submission. In a number of meetings and
project presentations, I stated that the project was trying to rebalance the use of the
City's right-of-way to make it a less dominated space for motor vehicles, and make it
more pedestrian and bicycle friendly, while at the same time avoiding significant
negative impacts to congestion and motor vehicle delay. I think it was recognized that
minor additional delays may happen during short windows of peak times or during
certain traffic dynamics.
Other comments seemed to indicate that the speaker thought that the impetus b ehind
the project was to remove a lane from the bridge in order to get bike lanes on the street.
This was not a stated purpose or goal; however, the idea of removing a lane does go
back to the beginning of the project and was included in the grant application. It was not
clear early on what kind of bicycle accommodation ought to be included, though there
was a desire to improve the situation. In the course of design development, we
considered alternatives, including buffered bike lanes and a barrier protected two-way
shared use path, and ultimately chose bike lanes.
Public Outreach:
There have been accusations that there was none or not enough public outreach about
this project. The following things were done for the purposes of public outreach during
the preliminary design phase of the project:
1. A business focus group was held on December 10, 2015 at “The Dock”. Flyers
were distributed by hand by the Council representatives for this area.
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2. A public questionnaire was circulated on paper and by email. People could fill it
out as a pdf and submit, or fill it out on-line on surveymonkey.com. It was posted on the
I-West list serve:
(http://ithacawest.org/pipermail/iwest ithacawest.org/2016- February/ 004547.html
Printed copies were distributed by hand by Council members to the following places:
Pete's Convenience Store, 4 bus shelters (Greyhound, Chestnut Hill, LACS, West
Village), Tompkins County Trust branch, Alternatives Federal Credit Union, Greenstar,
Ecovillage, West Village and Chestnut Hill, I-West email list, and LACS. The
questionnaire was due to me by March 6, 2015. We maxed out the 100 response
maximum for the free account we have and we received 14 written responses.
A public meeting was held on February 18, 2016 at the Lehman Alternatives Community
School (LACS). A summary was posted by a resident on the IWest list serve
(http://ithacawest.org/state-and-brindley-meeting). An article after the meeting was
covered in the Ithaca Times.
3. A public open house style meeting was held on April12, 2017 in C ity Hall. This
meeting was announced by a press release. It was covered in the “Ithaca Voice” and
the “Ithaca Times” and posted on the I-West list serve. At the meeting, a form for
submitting written comments was available at the meeting. I also accepted public
comment by email through the end of April2017. Twenty five written comments were
received and included in the May 22, 2017 Board of Public Works agenda.
The City does not have a formal policy of public outreach for public works projects. Over
the years, we have discussed methods and what level of notification seems to
correspond with the scope of the project. For this project, we had a specific interest in
reaching businesses in the corridor who might be directly impacted, and we made a
special effort to reach people who might walk through the corridor, but who might not
usually be reached by public meetings and email notices. We heard from people who
live on West Hill and were concerned about increased delays to driving through the
corridor. Based on the feedback we received during the early stages of the project, I
think we did a pretty good job of reaching people considering our resources. We
certainly did more than many projects. The Common Council representatives were very
helpful, including distributing surveys by hand.
The Traffic Study:
There have been a few people making a number of comments that the traffic study was
insufficient to understand the dynamics of the corridor and the impacts to the public
from the preferred alternative. The traffic study that was conducted for this project was
included in the design report, portions of which were provided to the Board of Public
Works as a part of the environmental review and selection of the preferred alternative.
The traffic study included four things:
1) Review of available traffic data and other related projects, such as the Brindley
Street bridge study and a traffic signal warrant analysis that the NYSDOT did for the
intersection of W MLK Jr. Street and Seneca Street. One of the criticisms stated was
that one of the traffic counts was conducted in the first week of August; this was a count
conducted by NYSDOT and was used as background data. It was not the basis of the
traffic study.
2) Capacity analysis using Synchro software of the corridor in the existing condition
and the proposed condition at both the estimated time of construction and 10 years into
the future, after construction;
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3) Travel time runs through the corridor at different times of day. For this portion of
the study, we drove through the corridor 85 times to help measure motor vehicle delays
through the corridor. The study was conducted in April 2016 when all schools were in
session. The conclusion of this analysis was that overall, there is very little delay to
driving back and forth through the corridor (meaning the length of the study area, which
is from Floral Avenue to Taughanock Boulevard). The exception is that there is some
additional delay in the AM peak hour for eastbound traffic. Without special conditions
(e.g., a Cayuga Lumber delivery, a caravan of school buses, a crash, or construction)
this additional delay was measured as an additional minute. Special conditions can, of
course, increase this delay. For example, Nick Lambrou sent us a video of a portion of
his commute on September 19th when it took him 7 minutes to get from the intersection
of Hector/Sunrise to the intersection of Meadow/State.
4) A crash analysis looking at all reported crashes during the three year period from
August 2013 through August 2016. Fifty nine (59) crashes were analyzed to review
location, type, severity, contributing factors, etc.
Due to the comments posted on the 1-West listserv and concerns presented to the
BPW on September 25th, we have collected additional turning movement co unts, done
additional traffic modeling and simulation, and collected additional travel time runs. We
requested the specific timing sheets from NYSDOT for the signals at Fulton Street and
Taughannock Blvd. Additionally, since three people in our office travel (mostly driving
these days) to work every day through the corridor, we've shared stories and
experiences about morning traffic. Beyond that, we have also received a two hour count
of traffic from Sophie Zapala, who counted eastbound traffic on the brid ge on Monday,
October 2nd from 7:30am to 9:30am. She also counted pedestrians, bicyclists,
motorcyclists and dogs. The volume of eastbound traffic she counted is approximately
the same as the traffic we have counted and used in our traffic modeling. We, to o, have
recorded travel times from Hector/Sunrise to Meadow Street that took between four and
ten minutes.
The Impact of Removing a Motor Vehicle Lane from the Bridge:
Based on our observations, traffic studies and traffic modeling, there will generally b e
very little to no negative impact to the travel times needed to drive a motor vehicle
through the corridor. As I have stated in other places, the vast majority of capacity
through a corridor comes at the intersections, especially where there is no parking, few
driveways and other potential "friction" factors. The changes that we are making at the
intersections include installing a traffic signal at the Floral Avenue intersection. Some
friction factors will be reduced because three driveways will be removed from the
corridor and combined into street intersections. The Brindley Street bridge project will
change the dynamics of the intersection with Brindley Street, in a positive way. Thus,
we should be able to assume that the vehicular throughput in this corridor will not be
significantly reduced during most hours of the day.
Based on the analysis, the proposed traffic signal at Floral Avenue, when taken by itself,
will operate at a high level of service for motor vehicles. Overall, the projected level of
service (LOS) is "B," with the individual approaches projected at, Hector St =LOS C,
State St (WB) = LOS A, and Floral Avenue = LOS B. Though it will create some delay
for inbound traffic on Hector Street, it will make it much easier to make a northbound le ft
from Floral Avenue to Hector Street, as well as making it easier to make a westbound
left turn from State/MLK to Floral Avenue.
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There will be times or specific scenarios when the "road diet" may increase delay times
through the corridor. For example, if a fleet of school buses comes up Floral Avenue
from the ICSD bus depot on Bostwick Road, all at the same time, and enters the
corridor at about the same time, and then one by one has to stop at the railroad tracks
to follow the state law, it will lead to longer delays to other motorists than usual. If twenty
people, distributed one every two minutes, cross the crosswalk on Fulton Street,
delaying the eastbound right turn, it will lead to more delay than usual. If a train comes
through during the peak hour, all bets are off.
One of the problems with these somewhat uncontrollable events, is that the West End is
already a fairly sensitive system. As a network of closely spaced signalized
intersections trying to move as much traffic north and south as east and west, it doesn't
take too much to disrupt its intended operations. Our modeling shows that the corridor
ought to operate better than it does. Part of the issue with the model is the same as part
of the issue with this project - that the area that causes motor vehicle congestion and
delay is the Route 13 corridor. We have not built a full model of the West End; that is
beyond the scope of this project. In real life, east/ west motor vehicle traffic trying to
cross the Route 13 corridor spills back into the sides streets. Depending on the traffic
dynamics of the day, this spill back makes it take between 3 to 10 minutes (probably 5
minutes on average) to drive eastbound in the morning peak hour through and across
the Route 13 area. The W MLK Jr. Street corridor enhancement project will not change
the dynamics of the Route 13 corridor. It will only change the motor vehicle lanes from
Floral Avenue to the intersection of Seneca/ Brindley Street, and this will have very little
impact on motor vehicle travel times through corridor, perhaps adding a minute to this
average. Removing a lane from W MLK Jr. Street between Floral Avenue and Seneca/
Brindley will do almost nothing to reduce the throughput in this corridor, though it will
diminish the storage space somewhat when traffic backs up from a specific event. Even
with this diminished storage space, it should not add more than a minute or two to the 3
to 10 minute time frame of getting through the West End in the morning on Rt 79.
Recommendations:
Based on the Common Council direction to reconsider the traffic signal at the mid-block
pedestrian crossing, concerns about motor vehicle travel times, and updated project
budgets, I am recommending two changes to the project.
First, I am recommending that the signal at the mid-block pedestrian crossing be
replaced by a rectangular rapid flashing beacon (many examples on the internet).
Though this may be a lower level of service for pedestrians at some times (like during
heavier periods of traffic), it also reduces wait times during lighter periods of traffic. The
combination of the curbed island and having to only cross one motor vehicle travel lane
at a time should make this a still pretty comfortable experience for pedestrians. Though
people walking can push a button to activate the flashing beacons, it does rely on
compliance from people driving to yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk. This location
would be a relatively easy place to add a pedestrian signal in the future should we
decide at a future date to do so.
Second, I'm recommending to remove the eastbound left turn lane into Pete's driveway
and the gored out area at the intersections of MLK/Seneca/Brindley, and instead to just
open eastbound traffic into two lanes east of the mid -block pedestrian crossing. Though
I think the gored areas have the benefit of providing a storage space for a turning
vehicle without designating it for a specific movement, and better defining the
intersection, I think this is something that could be added fairly easily in the futu re if,
after construction, community concerns about extreme delays have not come true. In
the meantime, it provides a little more storage space for cars without taking too much
Board of Public Works Meeting Minutes October 23, 2017
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away from the positive changes we are proposing for people walking and biking through
the area.
Lastly, outside of the scope of this project, my office is leading an effort to engage with
NYSDOT to review operations in the Route 13 corridor and the "Octopus" area. We
have scheduled a time in the next few weeks to walk the corridor, observe traffic
conditions, and begin a discussion about possibilities. It is pretty clear to me that our
community will not have the stomach for capacity expanding construction projects such
as highway widenings or additional turn lanes (too expensive, too much impact on
adjacent buildings to expand the right of way, too little promise of long term success -
just search for induced demand), but I do think we can operate the system we have a
little better. As a community, we also need to continue to build on our multi-modal
successes to manage future travel demand; this broad direction has been set by the
City in its recent comprehensive plan. In the meantime, we will talk with NYSDOT about
what options might exist to fine tune operations in the Route 13 corridor or what
technologies exist to allow us better manage motor vehicle traffic, such as adaptive
traffic signal systems. Probably one of the first recommendations will be to collect new
data and build a baseline model of the corridor and its east/ west cross streets.”
Director of Engineering Logue added that with regard to mailing residents of an affected
area information about a project that such a mailing would not include non -city
residents. Further, all residents in a community have a responsibility to keep informed
on current projects that might affect their neighborhoods.
Commissioner Greene shared that he would like to see if there is a difference, in terms
of impact, if the city went with the original design first, and then come back to the
proposal that is before the board today. The reason is similar to a suggestion he had
last year on the elimination of on-street parking on North Aurora Street. He would like
the City to see what impacts the original design has on the area. If it turns out that it
does not seem to be working, then the current recommendation could be implemented.
Director of Engineering Logue explained that if that were the direction the Board cho se
to follow that the initial installation would be twice as expensive. There would be an
additional expense upfront plus it would be harder to convert the signal to a warning
type devise. The rapid flashing beacon is simple to install because it doesn’t need to be
hard-wired and it could be used in another location.
Commissioner Warden asked for clarification on whether the existing plan shows a tri -
color light – similar to the one at East Green and South Cayuga Street. Director of
Engineering Logue responded that it would.
Director of Engineering Logue further explained that the Brindley Street bridge
replacement project will begin in 2018, but not be completed until sometime in 2019.
What that means is that traffic will be maintained on the old bridge as the project on the
West State/Martin Luther King, Jr. occurs. Staff is still working on the details of how
both projects can be coordinated during that time.
Mayor Myrick stated that the Board of Public Works has to make a recommendation to
Common Council; however, Common Council could still make further changes to the
project. The Board of Public Works was requested by Common Council to reconsider
the project in order to provide their final recommendation to Common Council. In
addition, no matter what decision is made by the Board of Public Works, Common
Council wanted to review it again before their final vote.
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Mayor Myrick moved to amend the project by adopting Director of Engineering Logue’s
first recommendation to remove the three light signal and use instead a rapid flashing
beacon.
Director of Engineering Logue requested that the Board direct staff as to what a
resolution should include so that it can be provided to the Board for a vote at their first
meeting in November.
Commissioner Greene requested that it be highlighted to Common Council the relative
cost different, and the implications if a future change were to happen or because it was
deemed to slow traffic inordinately what that might look like.
CC Liaison Fleming voiced her confusion about the advantage of a rapid flashing
beacon for the mid-block crossing. She noted that several Common Council members
were opposed to the mid-block stop light. It seems like the rapid flashing beacon is less
expensive but has more impact on traffic or even the same effect as a traffic light. What
is the difference and advantage of one over the other?
Director of Engineering Logue explained that the difference is in the cost. New York
State Vehicle and Traffic law states that motorists have to yield to pedestrians. It also
states that once a pedestrian enters the cross-walk, motorists are supposed to stop in
both directions.
Commissioner McCormick further noted that the law requires motorists to stop only
once the pedestrian has entered the street. A lot of people are not comfortable entering
the street, therefore, the use of the button to activate the rapid flashing beacon will alert
motorists to the fact that a pedestrian needs to cross the street.
Commissioner Warden noted that he drives through this area almost every day at peak
times. He would opt for the normal tri-color traffic signal. He feels that a flashing light
may not be as visible to motorists as a traffic signal would be.
Mayor Myrick asked the Board if they wanted to keep the design as initially proposed
and presented to Common Council. Board members agreed that is what they would like
to do.
Director of Engineering Logue will prepare a resolution that recommends to Common
Council the original design of the project for the Board’s November 13th meeting.
Make Linden Avenue a 15 Minute Loading Zone:
Director of Parking Nagy explained that new construction is occurring at 210 Linden
Avenue, which is 22’ wide with one side of on-street parking. In order to proceed with
the project, the developer is required to obtain a variance from New York State Building
Code Section D105.2. The code requires the aerial road access way to be 26’ wide in
order to provide access for the aerial equipment on fire trucks to reach the new building.
The developer has requested a variance through New York State for the deficiency; the
mitigation that has been developed with Fire Chief Parsons is to change the non -paid
on-street parking in front of the building located at 210 Linden Ave to a 15 minute
loading zone. In order to make that change to the on-street parking regulations,
requires Board of Public Works approval.
Commissioner Morache disclosed that he designed the new building that is going in at
210 Linden Avenue; however, he feels he can discuss the request in an unbiased way.
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The developer for the project, Chris Petrillose, joined the Board for discussion of this
request. He explained that the project has already gone through site plan review and a
demolition permit has been issued. However, they have come up against a code
regulation that relates to fire access for aerial equipment for buildings this high. Since
the street is not wide enough, they need to obtain a variance from New York State. Part
of the mitigation plan is to install underground utility lines that will replace the overhead
lines. The request to make the street a loading zone is that vehicles will be less likely to
park in a loading zone. This code requirement came out in 2015 and will affect a lot of
new projects in Collegetown where the height of new buildings will be more than 30’ and
the streets are not wider than 26’. They also understand the life-saving importance of
allowing fire department vehicles to access the building to prevent fires and save lives.
Commissioner Morache stated that this code requirement was overlooked when the City
up zoned the Collegetown area where all the streets are too narrow and there are
overhead power lines in place. There will be a lot of projects that will need variances
and property owners will be petitioning NYSEG to get their utilities buried. College
Avenue is 30’ wide and has on-street parking on both sides of the street so any
redevelopment project on College Avenue will be in the same situation as Linden
Avenue.
Director of Engineering Logue stated that Fire Chief Parsons thought that it would be
more likely that the driver of a vehicle parked in a loading zone would be close by if the
vehicle had to be removed due to an emergency situation, than someone in a parking
spot.
Mr. Petrillose explained that when a variance is required for projects, that New York
State defers to city officials’ recommendations. If the local Fire Chief and Code
Enforcement Office support the variance request because of the mitigation proposed to
address the deficiency, New York State will be able to treat the variance application as
a routine variance and approval will be more likely. This will assist other projects in
similar situations in being granted approval in a more expedited manner.
Director of Engineering Logue read the section of the appendix for the New York State
Building Code that applies to this request. The issue is because the road width is too
narrow, minus parking and with the overhead power lines it doesn’t meet the
requirements. In the past, the City has been able to work with NYSEG to turn off the
power in the lines in order to fight fires; this has been done for years but will no longer
meet the new code requirements.
Mr. Petrillose explained that the current building is 45’ high, the way the code is written
now it would not be allowed to be there at all. The variance will not be granted as long
as the existing overhead wires are there. Their plan is to have the wires buried and turn
the space into a loading zone so that the variance will be granted.
Commissioner McCormick stated that his only concern is that this will have to happen
on every street on Collegetown with all new projects. This will have a significant impact
on parking, which will become a problem to be addressed by the City.
Commissioner Warden agreed, that on-street parking will become an issue for the City
in the future. He supports the request, and noted that the Board will be busy because
the situation will impact projects city wide.
Director of Engineering Logue clarified that this will not just be one loading zone; the
entire street will become a loading zone.
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Commissioner Morache stated that the solution city wide is to widen all city streets; not
building by building. The Planning Department has begun to rethink the zoning for
Collegetown and so it may change in the future.
Director of Engineer Logue asked the Board if it would be useful to have Fire Chief
Parsons come to their next meeting to speak on this topic and why he supports the
proposed mitigation.
Mayor Myrick suggested that staff prepare a resolution for this item that can be placed
on the November 13th agenda and invite Fire Chief Parsons to attend that meeting.
Request from Friendship Donations Network for a Loading/Unloading Parking
Permit:
Director of Engineering Logue explained that the Friendship Donations Network (FDN)
rescues food that would otherwise go to the landfills, redirecting it to community pantries
and public food programs, and thereby reducing hunger. Their volunteers, using their
personal vehicles, daily pick up food from businesses around the city and, in particular
(but not exclusively) in Collegetown where they sometimes get parking tickets. The
volunteers avoid no parking areas, and the time involved in a pickup is usually under 10
minutes. The volunteers are instructed to park in loading zones and legal spaces
(without feeding the meter). They are requesting that the City permit a small number of
FDN drivers be allowed to park without being ticketed or putting money in the meter.
They were wondering if a permit can be displayed or some method worked out using
parkmobile.com where they could supply the license plates and/or other information
needed so that drivers are not ticketed. .
The Board suggested that the Friendship Donations Network set up an account with
Park Mobile where they enter the license plates of the volunteers’ vehicles and pay for
them to park without fear of being issued a ticket.
Director of Engineering Logue explained that they are a non -profit organization and
would prefer to not have to pay for parking for their volunteers when food is being
picked up.
Mayor Myrick stated that there are many worthwhile non-profit organizations that are
providing good charitable work for the community as well. How can the City decide
which organization pays or does not pay for parking? He is inclined to deny the
request. He also suggested that the Friendship Donation Network purchase the scratch
off cards to pay for parking when their volunteers are picking up the food donations; that
would eliminate parking tickets being issued.
Director of Engineering Logue stated that he would inform the Friendship Donation
Network of the Board’s decision to deny their request.
Request to Amend Parking Regulation on the 300 Block of North Plain Street:
Director of Parking Nagy explained that the Immaculate Conception School, located on
the 300 block of North Plain Street, unfortunately closed its doors in June 2017. The
on-street parking regulations for that block were restricted for the east side of th e street
to "No Parking 7 to 4" since the school was opened. Now that the school is closed,
there does not seem to be a need for parking restrictions on that block.
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12
Staff reviewed a request from a resident to modify the regulations, and recommends
that the parking restrictions be lifted and the parking returned to odd/even parking on
the east side of the street, as it is on the west side
Board members expressed their support for that proposal and proceeded to vote on the
following resolution to approve the request.
Request to Amend Parking Regulation on the 300 Block of North Plain Street:
By Mayor Myrick: Seconded by Commissioner Warden
WHEREAS, the Board of Public Works is authorized by Section 346-4 of the City Code
to adopt and to amend a system of Schedules in order to administer the Vehicle and
Traffic Law; and
WHEREAS, the Immaculate Conception School at 317 North Plain Street closed its
doors in June 2017; and
WHEREAS, the Director of Parking proposes modifying the parking regulations for the
300 block of North Plain Street to remove that block from "Parking Prohibited Certain
Hours"; and
WHEREAS, the Board of Public Works concurs; now, therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the following amendments to the Vehicle and Traffic Schedules shall
be made:
§ 346-65. Schedule XV: Parking Prohibited Certain Hours.
In accordance with the provisions of §346-22, no person shall park a vehicle between
the times specified upon any of the following described streets or parts thereof:
North Plain Street East 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m./All,
except Sundays and
holidays
From Buffalo Street to
Court Street, except for a
distance of 125 feet in
front of the Immaculate
Conception School
North Plain Street East 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m./All,
except Sundays and
holidays
For a distance of 125 feet
in front of the Immaculate
Conception School
Carried Unanimously
A Resolution to Grant Hardship for 326 Mitchell Street for the Residential Parking
Permit System
By Mayor Myrick: Seconded by Commissioner Marshall
WHEREAS, the Board of Public Works (BPW) has promulgated regulations, adopted
June 9, 2004, for implementation of the Residential Parking Permi t System (RPPS),
which was established by Common Council on May 6, 1998 after an act of the New
York State Legislature, and
WHEREAS, in accordance with Section 260-4 of the City Code and in accordance with
the BPW regulations, the BPW may grant hardship requests, and
Board of Public Works Meeting Minutes October 23, 2017
13
WHEREAS, 326 Mitchell Street is on a street within the residential Parking Permit Zone
without on-street parking and is within the R-1 zoning designation; therefore allowing up
to two permits per single family dwelling, now, therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the Board of Public Works hereby grants the residents of 326 Mitchell
Street to purchase permits for the Residential Parking Permit Systems, in accordance
with the above-mentioned regulations.
Carried Unanimously
E. City of Ithaca - Request for Traffic Calming Investigation:
Transportation Engineer Hathaway explained that he updated a form (“Traffic Calming
Investigation Request”) that citizens can use to request traffic calming in the City of
Ithaca. The updated form allows a non-resident of a block to request a traffic calming
study be conducted on a particular block and to be the contact person for the request.
The form now also specifies that if there are no residences on a block, then no resident
signatures are required on the form. Further, the form now clarifies that traffic calming
requests should be for sections of roadway under 1,000 feet in length in order to allow
for consistent and sufficiently detailed analysis of all locations. He asked the Board
whether they support the proposed changes to the existing form.
Board members expressed their support for the updated Traffic Calming Investigation
Request form; no formal resolution is required for the update to be made to the form.
F. A Resolution to Amend Chapter 346 of the City of Ithaca Municipal Code
entitled “Vehicles and Traffic”, Section 346-12 entitled “Stop Control
Intersections” including Discussion Related to All-Way Stop Warrant Analysis for
Cayuga Street - Cascadilla Street - Cascadilla Avenue Intersections
WHEREAS, the Board of Public Works is authorized by Section 346-4 of the City Code
to adopt and to amend a system of Schedules in order to administer the Vehicle and
Traffic Law; and
WHEREAS, the City’s Transportation Engineer has determined that the intersections of
Cayuga Street and Cascadilla Avenue should be changed to all-way stop control to
improve safety and operation; now, therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the Board of Public Works hereby adopts the amendments below:
Schedule VIII: Stop Control Intersections.
In accordance with the provisions of §346-12, the following described intersection is
hereby designated for control by an all-way stop as follows:
Cayuga Street and Cascadilla Street
The following intersecting street or location is hereby designated for control by stop
sign(s) (not “all-way”):
Intersection Direction of travel
Cayuga Street and Cascadilla Avenue Northbound/Southbound
Transportation Engineer Hathaway reported that, in general, people are in favor of the
proposed all way stop for this intersection. It is a project that can be completed in
conjunction with the current Cascadilla Creek wall/bridge project, and since that is a
New York State Department of Transportation funded project the state has pro vided
their support for the all-way stop project at this intersection. They had the same
Board of Public Works Meeting Minutes October 23, 2017
14
concerns as he did, that there is no perfect solution to this intersection to improve
visibility and safety for everyone. The City will need to observe the change to the
intersection for a while. He also noted that staff had considered pushing out the curb to
make a narrower lane and improve sight distance; however that would take away any
possibility of all south bound bike lane. If the Board supports the proposal, staff can go
ahead and observe and then report back to the Board on how it is working. Given the
history and circumstances, it makes sense to at least give it a try.
Discussion followed on the floor with the Board asking staff about various options and
considerations that might have been considered in putting this proposed change to the
intersection together to implement.
Commissioner McCormick shared that there have been a few people in the
neighborhood where he lives (the Southside of the City) with whom he has talked with
about this project and found that there is a persistent belief that the City cares more
about the Northside and Fall Creek neighborhoods than the Southside neighborhood.
He believes that perspective is valid; so as public officials, Board members need to be
sensitive to that and to take it in to account for the request to install a stop sign on the
Southside of the City (West Clinton and South Plain Street); he would urge other Board
members to be sensitive of that perspective. The Southside residents were happy to
see the “Bosnia” type barriers removed, but unhappy they were not replaced with
something else. He just wanted that perception to be known to Board members so that
it would not continue to go unnoticed.
Transportation Engineer Hathaway responded that what is unique about this
intersection is that there is just an overt sight obstruction there. It makes a strong case
for the City to do something about it; other intersections around the City are a little more
difficult to justify such a change. As an engineer he likes to see things more data driven
rather than human.
Director of Engineer Logue stated that staff would provide a resolution in support of this
project for the Board to vote on at its next meeting in November.
Adjournment:
On a motion the meeting adjourned at 7:25 p.m.
______________________________ ______________________________
Sarah L. Myers, Svante L. Myrick,
Information Management Specialist Mayor