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Minutes 08-11-04Richfield Transportation Committee Minutes August 11, 2004 Committee members in attendance: Steve Lindgren (Co-Chair); Barbara Kritzman (Co-Chair); Todd Nollenberger; Bob Elliott; William Kilian; Maureen Scaglia; Robert Shotwell; and Council member Susanne Sandahl. Others in attendance: Larry Wozniczka; Fred Wroge; City Staff: Kristin Asher and Tom Foley. S. Lindgren served as Chair for the meeting. At 7:00 p.m. S. Lindgren called the meeting to order. T. Foley requested that the agenda be modified to include a discussion on the Aesthetic Design of the Crosstown Commons project under agenda Item No. 8 (Other Business). Request was accepted. T. Nollenberger motioned to approve the agenda, second by W. Kilian, motion passed unanimously. W. Kilian motioned to approve July 14, 2004 minutes, second by T. Nollenberger, motion passed unanimously. Crosstown Update T. Foley discussed the Council action that was taken on August 10, 2004. The City Council approved the final layout of the I-35W/TH 62 Crosstown Commons. Freeway alignment, right of way takings, and the timing of loop streets were the items considered in the approval process. Environmental issues and aesthetics were not considered in the final layout approval. Mayor Kirsch requested that Mn/DOT consider all comments received on the final layout as part of the approval. Generally, the comments received were favorable of the project; people would also like to see improvements for bike/pedestrian crossings over TH 62. B. Shotwell, B. Kritzman, and S. Lindgren also attended the Council meeting. The Council approval of the layout was a unanimous vote. Council member Ulrich expressed concern over resolving trail issues near Madison Park and the funding from Mn/DOT if loop roads are not constructed as part of the project. Mn/DOT (Tom O’keefe) assured the Council that funds would be available for improvements that were made in the future concerning those items. Minneapolis City Council will vote on the layout September 3, 2004. R. Shotwell commented that Minneapolis residents must realize that there is currently increased traffic on parallel roads (Portland, Nicollet, Lyndale, and Bloomington) that carry traffic due to the inadequacy of the highway. Local traffic will be alleviated as part of this project. Resident Traffic Request Scott Meyer was not present at this time to make his request to the Committee. Brief discussion of the request to appear took place, and of the safety issue at the intersection of 68th Street and Oakland Avenue. The Committee mentioned the possibility of asking Mr. Meyer to trim his tree to allow for adequate sight distance at the corner. Agenda Item No. 4 was postponed until later in the meeting. Committee Planning Session K. Asher and T. Foley provided the Committee with an overview of the planning session. Staff is looking for any additional items that should be listed, Staff is prepared to discuss/explain any of the listed items, and are looking for the Committee to prioritize the tasks. S. Lindgren posed the question “what is being done to take care of the streets in Richfield?” He would like to have street maintenance be a topic of later discussion. S. Sandahl commented that in the past two years, at least, there have been budget cuts that have put maintenance off. T. Nollenberger suggested that since budget cuts put off road maintenance Steve’s question becomes even more valid. There needs to be planning for the long-term including major replacements. Franchise fees have been enacted to help alleviate the budget cuts. S. Lindgren also asked, “who is taking a look at progress (Goals 2020)?” He would like to see this a topic for later discussion to define additional areas for study. B. Kilian noted that Stop Sign Policy, Traffic Calming, and Roundabouts could all be grouped together as one item. S. Sandahl wished to place Bikeway Planning as a high priority. The Council would like to see Richfield become a more “family friendly” city. One way to support this would be to offer safe biking options and encourage the use of bikes throughout the city. B. Elliott commented that he was all for the use of bikes, however, bicyclists need to learn how to obey traffic signs. T. Foley added that education can be included as part of the Bikeway Planning effort. S. Lindgren talked a bit about speeds on Lyndale Avenue and the lack of enforcement. T. Nollenberger stated that he was more comfortable with speeds on Lyndale Avenue because it is expected and you can educate children to stay away from the road. He gets uncomfortable with speeds on more residential roads (Aldrich) where people tend to let their children play out in the street but cars are still speeding by. M. Scaglia mentioned that there are many bicyclists that are looking for a safe place to cross TH 62 near Penn Avenue. R. Shotwell felt that if a fraction of the road users are on bicycles and 95%+ are in motorized vehicles, our priority with transportation should be with the majority. He added that we should be focusing on how we will handle traffic in Richfield when the Crosstown project starts (18 months). S. Lindgren mentioned that there is currently no Access Management Policy in place. B. Elliott motioned to single out three topics as a priority of the Committee: Bikeway Planning, Crosstown Aesthetics, and Stop Sign Policy (including Traffic Calming and Roundabouts). Second by B. Kilian. It was concluded that once these topics are tackled they would chose new priorities from the list of items. Discussion followed about how to handle traffic with the Crosstown. Motion passed unanimously. 66th Street & Portland Avenue Update T. Foley informed the Committee that Mayor Kirsch made a point during the Crosstown approval to include funds for 66th Street and Portland Avenue improvements if it was to be considered a possible detour route during the construction of the project. Tom O’Keefe responded by letting the Council know that Mn/DOT does not post detour routes on local roads and that funding is not likely for that intersection. Hennepin County has informed Staff that if the intersection improvement project can be delayed they can likely assure additional funds for the project. They have also offered support in applying for an extension on the sunset date (September 30, 2006) for the $2 million in federal funds. B. Kilian mentioned that if 66th Street and Portland Avenue are both County roads, don’t they have a responsibility to the safety and operation of those roads? R. Shotwell commented that since the 66th Street & TH 77 interchange should be completed before Crosstown construction begins that 66th Street will be more likely to be used as an alternate route. B. Elliott asked what are we going to do, how will increased traffic effect the neighborhood? With additional traffic from the Crosstown construction, we have another reason to get 66th & Portland done. We should be working on the neighborhoods now. Resident Traffic Request The Committee expressed apologies to Mr. Meyer. Other Business – Crosstown Aesthetic Design T. Foley shared news that John Griffith (Mn/DOT) is gathering an Aesthetic Design Review Committee for the Crosstown project. He would like to include the same people as before to maintain continuity. T. Foley mentioned that they are looking for 2 citizens from both Minneapolis and Richfield. Dave Gepner has already agreed to return to the Committee, is there any interest in that second spot? B. Kritzman would consider it. A motion by B. Kilian to respectfully request that T. Foley, Dave Gepner be recommended for the Aesthetic Design Review Committee and B. Kritzman be considered as an alternate. Second by Elliot, passed unanimously. L. Wozniczka asked why the Lyndale Bridge was not on the agenda. K. Asher replied, informing the Committee that there has been no movement on the project and that there is ongoing discussion between Staff and Mn/DOT working to resolve layout and traffic operation elements. T. Foley noted that reauthorization may be put off until 2005 session. Funding still needs to be dedicated for the Lyndale Bridge project. L. Wozniczka asked if the Environmental Assessment document for the Crosstown was available for review and comment. K. Asher replied that it would be available at the front desk at City Hall for the public to view. F. Wroge commented on the Committee’s Portland Avenue discussion. He mentioned that he heard talk of family friendliness and thought the Committee should consider dropping a lane on Portland Avenue. He noted that trying to increase capacity at 66th & Portland and slowing traffic along Portland are contradicting goals. S. Sandahl mentioned that if Portland Avenue dropped a lane it could be used as part of a bikeway. R. Shotwell stated we are looking at increasing capacity and calm traffic, what way are we going here? S. Lindgren clarified that safety is the issue at 66th St. and Portland Avenue. S. Sandahl asked what the options were and when does it make sense to make changes? An additional item for the Committee’s work plan: Portland Avenue (residential roadway with highway access at either end, what to do with roadway). B. Elliott wanted to make sure we get dollars for Crosstown. He feels Portland Avenue should be left alone, if there is a choice down the road to make it a three-lane roadway, then intersection upgrade would be a waste of money. B. Kritzman stated that it might be necessary to go to 3 lanes on Portland to accommodate and calm traffic during the Crosstown construction. Motion to adjourn was made by B. Kritzman. Second by B. Elliott. Meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m.