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2020-10-07 TC Minutes Richfield Transportation Commission Meeting October 7th, 2020 - Meeting Minutes 7:00 p.m. | WebEx Virtual Commission Meeting Commission members: Wes Dunser (Chair), Husniyah Bradley, Kyle Schmidt, Dan Edgerton, Jeffrey Walz, Louis Dzierzak, Paul Chillman, Mollie O’Howard Commission members not in attendance: Ken Severson Liaisons: Sean Hayford O’Leary Liaisons not in attendance: Councilmember Simon Trautmann, Kevin Wendt City Staff Liaison: Jack Broz Other City Staff: Scott Kulzer, Olivia Wycklendt I. Call meeting to order Chair Dunser called the meeting to order at 7:01 PM. II. Review & approve agenda Motion by Chair to correct the “Upcoming events/meetings” date on the agenda to November 4th rather than October 7th. Motion carried. Motion by Commissioner Walz to approve amended agenda. Seconded by Commissioner Schmidt. Motion Carried. III. Review & approve minutes for September 2nd, 2020 meeting Motion by Commissioner Edgerton to approve the September 2nd, 2020 meeting minutes. Seconded by Commissioner Bradley. Motion carried. IV. 65th St Detailed Design Studies Broz began his walkthrough of the requested areas for further study by reminding the commission that the 65th St design is currently a preliminary design also known as a 30% design. Broz then began a walkthrough of the findings related to the features that the commission requested further study of.  Trail width Staff Liaison Broz summarized previous concerns regarding the trail width by Richfield Lake, which were whether or not it would be possible to fit a 10’ trail between the road and park without taking out any trees at the park. Broz assured the commission that a 10’ trail does fit, however the roadway which includes parking on both sides of the street would be narrowed. Commissioner Dzierzak asked if this design accommodates for snow and plowing in the winter months, and allows the trail to be clear. Staff Liaison Broz said that even with a snow berm there will still be enough room for cars to park and drive through the street. As for sidewalks and the trail, there will still be at least 6’ of clearance on each respective path even with snow storage. Liaison O’Leary asked if adding any green space or trees on the south side of boulevard would be possible. Staff Liaison Broz responded that there is an option that we do it elsewhere, and that it hasn’t been decided yet since they have not taken a look at streetscaping just yet.  Wendy’s access Staff Liaison Broz mentioned the engineers working with Wendys on the access possibilities compared several different options, and preferred the configuration which preserves the existing access to the Wendy’s site. This includes the entry driveway on the East side of the site along Lyndale Avenue close to the roundabout. Since there are no safety problems existing today with the intersection similarly designed, the engineers do not see this entrance as an issue. Chair Dunser mentioned that a woman was hit on her bike when biking onto the sidewalk, and emphasized the importance of this discussion. Liaison O’Leary stated that this configuration is dangerous to bikers and pedestrians due to the sidewalk traveling through the Wendy’s driveway along 65th St. Liaison O’Leary mentioned that the grade of the driveway could be beneficial to slowing down traffic, and was curious what the grades for the driveway would be. Staff Liaison Broz said that the driveway is coming up from the street into Wendy’s, and that the grade of the sidewalk that crosses the driveway is approximately level. Liaison O’Leary asked Staff Liaison Broz if they could make it obvious on the design that the trail width is to be 10’, to which Staff Liaison Broz affirmed he would bring up with the designers. Commissioner Dzierzak asked Broz if the prioritization of pedestrians versus automobiles is equal or weighted one way or another. Staff Liaison Broz says that the City starts with a pedestrian priority, then moves to transit, bicyclists, and finally vehicles. He says that there is always a tradeoff to an extent.  Planted median near HUB Staff Liaison Broz said that a planted median near the HUB has been approved, and that the median will bring more of a landscaped feeling to the area in comparison to a concrete median. Broz thanked the commission for the suggestion and idea.  Pillsbury intersection Requests from the Commission to make this intersection function more like a normal 2-way stop were heard by the designers, and so no medians were placed in the center of the intersection between the HUB and Pillsbury Avenue. Instead, painted arrows and a sign will be used to indicate that you cannot go straight north from the Hub to Pillsbury Avenue. Liaison O’Leary mentioned that it would nice if the median at Pillsbury could be planted to emphasize that traffic will enter a residential area. Staff Liaison Broz responded saying that a planted median was not possible since maintenance staff would not be able to plow between the curb and the median and that the median on Pillsbury Avenue would be just paint. O’Leary also asked if the turning radius needs to be that big to turn Northbound onto Pillsbury. Staff Liaison Broz responded that the radius was designed that way to accommodate trucks that would need to turn onto Pillsbury Avenue. Commissioner Chillman asked if there were any plans for the property near the current cul de sac on Pillsbury Avenue just north of 65th St. Staff Liaison Broz responded saying that while there are no plans with the cul de sac, there has been internal discussion regarding what to do with it, like a pop up park or similar. Liaison O’Leary suggested adding a sidewalk for the apartment building located on the Northwest corner of 65th St and Pillsbury Avenue that would run North to South along Pillsbury Avenue for the safety and ease of access of the residents. Staff Liaison Broz said he is unsure of the feasibility due to the current grade of the site, however he will look further into the issue.  Richfield Lake trail entrance and 65th St Reconstruction Staff Liaison Broz informed the commission of the Lake at Lyndale project which includes the installation of several wayfinding signs and kiosks to make the area surrounding Lyndale Avenue and Richfield Lake more of an urban destination and park like. Commissioner Bradley asked where the benches would be at the trail entrance along 65th St, to which Staff Liaison Broz responded that they would be able to regrade the area since the trail entrance itself is changing. Commissioner Bradley asked if they would be removing the fence on the right side of that trail entrance. Staff Liaison Broz answered saying that he was unaware of the fence, and that it is either protection for the pipe the outlets near there or it is a park feature, and that he would look into it. V. Project Updates  General updates o City staff Olivia mentioned that 66th St poems are done, and the poem painting refresh along Portland Ave has also been completed. She mentioned that Pillsbury Avenue recently had completed their Mill & Overlay, which was not done earlier in the year due to Xcel’s electrical duct project between 74th and 77th. The streetscape of 66th St has been analyzed, and the City’s current plan regarding the condition of the boulevards is to send out letter’s to residents notifying them of the issue and their responsibility, and that the City will assist in certain areas by split seeding in the spring.  Lyndale Ave o City Staff Kulzer said the remaining work for the Lyndale Ave project is the landscaping and concrete walk replacement by City Bella which was delayed or damaged due to their façade project this summer.  Nicollet Mill and Overlay, and medians o Broz said they have begun doing curb cuts on 73rd. They are putting in medians on 71st, 72nd and 73rd streets.  Highway 5- “Around the Airport” o City Staff Kulzer said Highway 5 westbound bridge closure; work will continue through October and will hopefully wrap up by November.  Orange Line o Work is going well on the Knox underpass and the 35W south to 494 west closure is expected to be lifted by November 25.  Crack Sealing o City Staff Kulzer mentioned that crack sealing is taking place throughout Richfield in areas that received new pavement in 2017 and 2018. He mentioned this is sort of the last step in asset preservation and making sure these roads last as they were intended to.  Other Commissions/Bike Advocates o Liaison O’Leary said that the planning commission approved the proposed mixed-use apartment building at the corner 1st Ave and 66th. VI. Upcoming events/meeting(s) The next scheduled Commission meeting is scheduled for November 4th, 2020. VII. Adjournment Chair Dunser to adjourn the meeting adjourned the meeting at 8:11 PM.