Loading...
2020-09-02 TC Minutes Richfield Transportation Commission Meeting September 2nd, 2020 - Meeting Minutes 7:00 p.m. | WebEx Virtual Commission Meeting Commission members: Wes Dunser (Chair), Ken Severson (Vice Chair), Husniyah Bradley, Kyle Schmidt, Dan Edgerton, Jeffrey Walz, Louis Dzierzak, Paul Chillman Commission members not in attendance: Mollie O’Howard Liaisons: Kevin Wendt, Sean Hayford O’Leary Liaisons not in attendance: Councilmember Simon Trautmann City Staff Liaison: Jack Broz Other City Staff: Scott Kulzer, Olivia Wycklendt, Nate Hood (Hennepin County) I. Call meeting to Order Chair Dunser called the meeting to order at 7:03 pm. II. Approval of Agenda Motion by Commissioner Severson to approve the agenda, s/Walz. Motion carried. III. Review & Approve Minutes for August 5th, 2020 Meeting Motion by Commissioner Severson to approve the August 5th, 2020 meeting minutes, s/Bradley. Motion carried. IV. Penn Avenue Study – Dan Edgerton, Zan Associates Commissioner Dan Edgerton—acting in his professional capacity as the City’s project consultant with Zan Associates—provided a brief overview of the Penn Ave Corridor Study project. Edgerton reminded the Commission that the timeline for the project is November 2019-Dec 2020, with the limits of the project going from 68th St to Highway 62. The goal of this study is to develop a plan for the corridor to improve Penn Ave for all users and to facilitate area revitalization. Edgerton presented Hennepin County’s proposed 2021 Mill and Overlay for Penn which mainly includes a 4-3 conversion and restripe with new asphalt. Edgerton reiterated that this was the “short-term” fix for Penn as part of the county’s pavement maintenance plan and unfortunately not the long-term vision for the corridor that the Penn study has been developing. Liaison O’Leary voiced his concerns about bicyclists and their ability to travel along Penn Ave with this overlay since there was nothing being added to improve the bike experience. Liaison O’Leary expressed concern about the safety of bicyclists as they would have to share a lane with traffic. Edgerton said that there would be further review to ensure that this design would be implemented in such a way that would bring the biggest benefit to bikers but conceded that as designed it was not making much progress for cyclists. Staff Liaison Broz noted that the near-term fix for Penn Avenue will be a “road diet” which will take the 4 lanes of traffic and merge them down to 3 (two travel lanes and a left turn center lane). Broz also clarified that there would be no real changes with parking, curb or sidewalk along Penn. Nate Hood from Hennepin County provided some insight on the limited scope of the upcoming mill & overlay project. The County has made a previous CIP effort which includes new curb, sidewalk, etc. for this area but unfortunately the County was unsuccessful in getting that funding. Hood said that the funding they did receive was for a short-term fix for Penn Avenue. This design will give Penn another 5-10 years of life and in the meantime the County will try to get funding for a CIP to redesign and reconstruct Penn Avenue in the future. Commissioner Dzierzak asked if there is a possibility to just improve the sidewalk and curb, and to leave the road as is. Hennepin County Staffer Hood said that it was not a possibility at this time since the funding available is part of the County’s pavement maintenance program. Commissioner Dunser inquired about impacts to the local businesses along Penn Avenue during construction. Hood said that businesses will be able to stay open, and that the county will assist businesses in putting out the proper signage in a timely fashion. Hood noted the milling only takes a few days and the paving and striping takes a few days as well. Edgerton invited everyone to share their opinions on how each part of the plan impacts the established modal priorities. He mentioned that the biggest problems identified by residents were that they felt unsafe walking to businesses due to the busy street and the lack of parking. Edgerton then shared three conceptual parking vignettes showing shared parking areas in various locations on Penn that would allow for more parking without taking any space away from the main road. V. Project Updates • City Staffer Olivia Wycklendt noted that the 66th Poetry is complete. RAC is going to be repainting the poems done in previous years on Portland as well. • Kulzer provided information on construction on highway 5 and the surrounding area. The project is going well and traffic is not a big issue. Broz mentioned that there may be some delay in the future due to rock excavation and drainage on the project site. • School district is recruiting crossing guards, and Liaison O’learly stated commissioners interested could contact him to sign up. • Kevin Wendt from the Community Service Commission provided an update on the replacement of the ice arena. A new dog park is going up in Roosevelt, however the opening of the park has been delayed to prevent congregation. The development of a playground is in the works that is inclusive to people of all backgrounds and abilities. Ideally they would break ground for this playground on October 1st however construction may be pushed back till spring. VI. Upcoming events/meeting(s) The next Transportation Commission meeting is scheduled for October 7th, 2020. VII. Adjournment Motion made by Commissioner Dunser to adjourn meeting, s/Walz. Motion carried. Adjourned at 8:51 pm.