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Minutes 01-07-09RICHFIELD TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 7, 2009 7:00 p.m. | Richfield City Hall | Council Chambers Commission members in attendance: Martin Kirsch (Chair); Peter Easterlund (Vice-Chair); Bob Elliott; Bob Shotwell; Barb Kritzman; Gary Ness; Pat Sorensen; Gerald Charnitz; Sara Nutter; Jay Hermann; Council Member Sue Sandahl; and, Maureen Scaglia. Others in attendance: Kirk Johnson of Bike Edina Task Force; Kathleen Billings; Mayor Debbie Goettel; David Gepner; Andrew Hartle; Charlie Hile and, Jack Broz of Howard R. Green Company. City Staff: Tom Foley. Excused absence: Steve Lindgren. CALL TO ORDER M. Kirsch called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Agenda was approved in a motion moved by B. Kritzman; and seconded by J. Hermann. Motion carried. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES Motion to approve December 3, 2008 meeting minutes was made by B. Elliott, seconded by J. Hermann. Motion carried. BIKE EDINA TASK FORCE Kirk Johnson of the Bike Edina Task Force was invited to speak to the Transportation Commission to ascertain if Richfield wanted to form its own bicycle advocacy group. Mr. Johnson gave a brief history of his group. The Edina City Council organized the group in 2006 and selected people representing different constituencies within the city. Since then the group guided the Edina Bikeway Plan and has selected its own new members as the initial members have completed their terms serving on the Task Force. Following a question and answer period, the Commission asked City staff to gather information from Edina and the League of American Bicyclists on forming an advocacy group. RICHFIELD ARTERIALSTUDY J. Broz reviewed the results of a four-lane to three-lane conversion of 50th Street in Minneapolis. He believed that 50th Street was similar to arterial streets in Richfield. The report was included in the Commission agenda packet. Mr. Broz discussed before and after conditions of the three-lane conversion. The report covered speed data, speed distributions, the number of crashes, traffic volumes, on-street parking and transit operational considerations. J. Broz gave a brief explanation of the concept of Complete Streets. Mr. Broz then reviewed aerial maps of the four arterials being studied in Richfield. Deficiencies or concerns were identified with post-it notes on each map. The post-it notes were color coded to the particular transportation mode being discussed. The displays brought to this Commission meeting would be shown at the public information meeting on January 21st. The different travel modes (motor vehicles, pedestrians, bicycles and transit) were then evaluated on how well a particular street performs in carrying all the different types of transportation. The maps that were displayed tonight will be presented at the Public Open House on January 21st to gain public input on the needs evaluation. There would be a presentation at 6:30 p.m. at the Open House. Commission members asked that the maps be clearly titled by street name and a legend explaining that deficiencies are identified on the maps. Also, the color coding of the different transportation modes needs to be explained. Residents would be comfortable commenting if they are asked to rate each transportation mode in a report card format. Public notice of the Open House would be by the City’s Web site, the Sun Current Newspaper, Just a Minute, and the Superintendent of Schools (for parents concerned about Safe Routes To School.) Visuals were suggested to assist the public in evaluating different alternatives. J. Hermann promised to submit photos of Marshall Avenue in Saint Paul where the road has been converted to three lanes. SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL UPDATE T. Foley explained that SRF Consultants staff has already met with school principals on the findings of the safety survey of each school. Maps showing potential safety problems and a second set of maps showing proposed improvements to address the identified problems were discussed with the school principals. A public information meeting will be held on January 29, 2009 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. This is one hour earlier than the time shown on the agenda for tonight’s meeting. T. Foley will notify the Transportation Commission of the times for the meeting being changed. LYNDALE AVENUE BRIDGE T. Foley reported that Lunda Construction removed the old bridge last weekend. Lunda reopened I-494 to traffic on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. Next week (January 12th) the contractor will begin pile driving the north bridge abutment on the Richfield side. The pile driving is noisy and will occur intermittently from January 12 through the middle of May 2009. The pile driving will occur from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. so there will not be any nighttime pile driving. OLIVER AVENUE AND 74TH STREET T. Foley reported that no parking signs were placed on the east side of Oliver Avenue at the intersection with 74th Street. The School District was asked to move the No Parking in Driveway sign to the athletic field and to add a sign that directed people to park in the parking lot on the south side of the Richfield Middle School. Bob Hall was notified of the changes. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Topics for upcoming meetings include the Safe Routes to School Study and the Richfield Arterials Study, Bus Rapid Transit on 35W, and progress on the Urban Partnership Project on 35W. OTHER BUSINESS B. Shotwell asked what the City was doing about the President’s Economic Stimulus Package. Mayor Debbie Goettel explained that both the 77th Street Underpass and the Richfield Parkway have been submitted to Washington for consideration. ADJOURNMENT B. Kritzman motioned to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by B. Elliott. Motion carried. Meeting was adjourned at 8:26 PM. THE NEXT TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION MEETING WILL BE HELD ON FEBRUARY 4TH AT 7:00 P.M. AT THE RICHFIELD CITY HALL.