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2020-06-10 TC Minutes Richfield Transportation Commission Attachment #1 June 10, 2020 - Meeting Minutes 7:00 p.m. | WebEx Virtual Commission Meeting Commission members: Wes Dunser (Chair), Ken Severson (Vice Chair), Paul Chillman, Husniyah Bradley, Kyle Schmidt, Louis Dzierzak, Mollie O’Howard, Dan Edgerton, Jeffrey Walz Commission members not in attendance: n/a Liaisons: Sean Hayford Oleary Liaisons not in attendance: Simon Trautmann, Kevin Wendt City Staff Liaison: Jack Broz Other City Staff: Scott Kulzer I. Call meeting to Order Chair Dunser called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. II. Approval of Agenda Motion by Commissioner Walz to approve the agenda, s/Severson. Motion carried. III. Review & Approve Minutes for May 6th, 2020 Meeting Motion by Commissioner Edgerton to approve the May 6th, 2020 meeting minutes, s/Dzierzak. Motion carried. IV. 65th St. Reconstruction/Lyndale Ave. Pedestrian Improvements Staff Liaison Broz gave an update on the 65th Street/Lyndale Ped Improvements preliminary design process. Broz began by revisiting the idea of equity in transportation projects and noted the difference between equity and equality. Broz highlighted the performance measures Richfield staff and project consultants use to guide project development and evaluate proposed design solutions. Broz briefly walked through the 65th St. Virtual Open House #5 summary with the commission, highlighting the fact that there weren’t many “new” comments at this open house, just more reinforcement of what was heard at previous open houses. Upon viewing different parts of the proposed layout, discussion moved to the 64th and Lyndale intersection and the traffic impacts that could result from a 4-to-3 lane conversion that is proposed along with the redevelopment in the area. Concerns were raised about car volumes, pedestrians crossing Lyndale, and left turns out of the recently completed and proposed redevelopment projects. Broz revisited the access changes along the north end of 65th St. between Pleasant and Nicollet Avenues, recapping what was proposed initially and how the project staff landed on converting Pillsbury to a regular two-way street from the present one-way exit onto 65th Street. Broz noted that it is important for the commission to recognize that equity decisions consist of trade-offs, and in this case the trade-off can be seen as more cars on Pillsbury but improved conditions for those living on Pleasant. Commissioner Chillman noted it appeared staff heard much more opposition to the change than heard support for the change, and wondered how many residents along Pleasant Ave advocated for this change. Liaison Hayford Oleary noted that he believed that staff receiving comments wasn’t necessary to know there is an obvious problem with that many cars using Pleasant to get into the neighborhood. Broz briefly detailed the access from the HUB to 65th St. across from Pillsbury and highlighted how it is left or right turn only which would serve to prevent HUB traffic from using Pillsbury as a cut through. Concerns were raise that the sweeping right turn might increase vehicle speeds leaving the HUB and Commissioner Severson asked about offsetting the HUB access more from Pillsbury. Broz mentioned that the owners of the HUB property made it clear their priority was to keep the main north-south corridor through their property aligned with Pillsbury due to the recently reconstructed intersection at 66th. Commissioner Oleary raised concerns with the minimal median between Nicollet and Pillsbury and lack of plantings and trees in the medians as designed and recommended that further consideration of plantings be considered as the design moves forward. Commissioner O’Howard asked for staff to recap what led up to the need for a reconstruction of 65th Street to begin with for context. Broz explained that the utility infrastructure presently runs under the north side of the HUB property and is deteriorating, and must be moved to track with the existing 65th St. so it does not impede the redevelopment of the HUB. There are also stormwater and flooding issues in the area that need to be addressed. The utility work will require substantial excavation and will require the road to be completely rebuilt on top of it, so the City is using this as an opportunity to improve the road and pavement conditions and make it more multi-modal. The goal of this design and visioning process is to come up with a 65th St. that will suit the needs of the City residents and surrounding businesses for the coming decades. The commission then continued to discuss the project including concerns with the Wendy’s access just south of the 65th St. roundabout, the trail width and potential park impacts at Richfield Lake, the possibilities for more medians and plantings between Pillsbury and Nicollet, and the right only access to 65th from the HUB. The commission discussed at length the access changes at Pillsbury through the context of equity. Through the lens of equity ideas were shared that spanned from closing all access to opening all access with 65th St., and project staff worked to explain how they arrived at the present layout with converting Pillsbury back to a two-way street while acknowledging it is a matter of trade- offs. Following the discussion, Commissioner Edgerton made a motion to recommend the approval of the preliminary design to City Council with certain areas requiring further study. S/Chillman. Following more discussion, Commissioner Edgerton sought to withdraw his original motion to clarify the areas for further study. The motion was withdrawn. Commissioner Edgerton made another motion to recommend the approval of the preliminary design to City Council with further study of:  The 65th/Pillsbury intersection, including the access to 65th from the HUB and the reopening of Pillsbury to two-way traffic, the medians in the area and eastward, and other traffic calming measures;  Potentially closing the SB Lyndale access to Wendy’s closest to the proposed roundabout or other assurances or mitigations in the area to ensure safe vehicle and pedestrian interactions; and  Widening the trail along the north side of 65th Street while avoiding park and other property impacts. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Chillman. The commission continued to talk through the design and the areas being proposed for further study. Following conclusion of the discussion a vote on the motion before the commission was called and a roll call vote was taken: Voting in favor of the motion were commissioners Chillman, Bradley, Dzierzak, Edgerton, & Walz and voting against the motion were commissioners Dunser, Severson, O’Howard, & Schmidt. With a 5/4 vote the motion carried. V. I-494: Airport to 169  With no action items, the discussion of MnDOT’s response to City questions about the 494 project was moved to the next meeting. VI. Project Updates  Broz gave a brief update on the Lyndale project, which will be wrapping up in June with following completion of a few small items.  Broz noted the 77th Underpass project was still on track for 2021 construction and staff and our legislators were still working on getting bonding dollars to finalize the funding package during the forthcoming special session.  Broz mentioned the Nicollet 4-to-3 conversion and Mill and Overlay was complete and encouraged the commissioners to take a look if they are in the area. VII. Work Plan Review/Next Steps  The next Penn Corridor Study Open House will be scheduled at a later date, most likely in late June or early July. VIII. Upcoming events/meeting(s) To accommodate the July 4th holiday, Broz suggested moving the next Transportation Commission meeting to July 8th from July 1st. Motion made by Commissioner Severson, s/Bradley. Motion carried. IX. Adjournment Motion made by Commissioner Dunser to adjourn meeting, s/Schmidt. Motion carried. Adjourned at 9:29 pm.