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DRAFT Minutes 04-07-10RICHFIELD TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION DRAFT MEETING MINUTES APRIL 7, 2010 7:00 p.m. | Richfield City Hall | Council Chambers Commission members in attendance: Martin Kirsch (Chair); Gail Lund; Gary Ness; Barb Kritzman; Bob Shotwell; Peter Easterlund; Tim Carter; Andrew Wittenborg; Maureen Scaglia; Sara Nutter; and Council Member Sue Sandahl. Others in attendance: Jack Broz City Staff: Jeff Pearson, Kristin Asher Osberg. Excused absence: Pat Sorensen CALL TO ORDER M. Kirsch called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Motion to approve the agenda by Lund, s/ Easterlund. Motion carried. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES Motion by Carter to approve March 3, 2010 meeting minutes, s/ Wittenborg. Motion carried. NON-MOTORIZED TRANSPORTATION GRANT PROJECTS Jack Broz of H.R. Green gave an overview of what will be recommended at the April 22 open house meeting. He provided maps showing the preferred routes. The West Connection is recommended to follow Humboldt Ave. – Girard Ave. – T.H. 62 Noisewall. The East Connection would use Diagonal Blvd. to connect 12th Ave. to the south and Bloomington Ave. to the north. Mr. Broz went over potential parking impacts along the routes and what the on-street facilities would look like in each area. He explained that very little construction work would be required and that most of the route would be completed with paint and sign work. Nutter asked H.R. Green and staff to consider extending the bike lanes on Diagonal Blvd./73rd Ave. west to Portland Ave. Several commission members expressed concern over the signal at 66th Street and the I-35W ramps and whether they allowed safe crossings under their current configuration. 70TH STREET AND 12TH AVENUE TRAFFIC SIGNAL Asher summarized the situation with the out of date signal equipment and asked the Commission for direction on how to proceed. There was discussion on whether to proactively make the switch or wait until the signal failed. Asher explained that the school has no objections to the switch and will have crossing guards at the intersection when the school becomes K-5 next year. Pearson noted that the Safe Routes to School Plan recommends the intersection be switched to an all-way stop. After discussion, motion was made by Easterlund to recommend the replacement of the signal with all-way stop signs and that timing of the replacement be left to the discretion of staff to allow for efficient coordination with mill and overlay work, s/ Nutter. Motion passed unanimously. ARTERIAL PARKING POLICY Pearson reviewed the proposed policy and explained that it was originally drafted by Tom Foley before his retirement and has since been revised to incorporate comments from Hennepin County staff. There was discussion about existing parking areas and how they would be incorporated. Motion was made by Lund to support the policy as written without taking parking from current full-time parking areas in the future, s/ Ness. Motion passed unanimously. UPDATES 2010 PROJECTS MAP Asher pointed out the projects around the city to be completed in 2010 and specifically noted that the Portland Avenue bridge over T.H. 62 will be resurfaced starting in mid-July but that the Nicollet Avenue bridge over I-494, originally scheduled to be resurfaced this year, has been pushed back to 2011. 66TH ST & PORTLAND AVE ROUNDABOUT GAS MAIN INSPECTION Asher summarized the issue CenterPoint Energy is having with problem welds by a specific contractor and their intent to inspect the main at the roundabout in the next several weeks. While on the topic of the roundabout, Asher noted that the county has put up some additional signs and adjusted others in an attempt to reduce crash issues at the intersection. Kritzman asked staff to provide before and after crash data for the intersection. METRO SEWER PROJECT Asher noted that after some indecision on the project moving forward, Met Council is now progressing with the project and the bidding process is currently taking place. Work is expected to start mid-summer. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT/ARTERIAL PRIORITIZATION Pearson noted that staff is continuing to put together information on segments and will present segment sheets at future meetings as they become available. FINAL NTPP PROJECT ROUTES RECOMMENDATIONS TO CITY COUNCIL Pearson noted again the project open house on April 22nd and reviewed the next step will be to take input gathered at the open house and form a final plan for the Commission to review at a future meeting. ADJOURNMENT M/Ness to adjourn the meeting, s/Easterlund. Motion carried. Meeting was adjourned at 8:14 P.M. THE MAY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION MEETING HAS BEEN CANCELED. THE NEXT TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION MEETING WILL BE HELD ON JUNE 2, 2010 AT 7:00 P.M. AT THE WOOD LAKE NATURE CENTER.