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2023-10-04 TC Minutes_Final Richfield Transportation Commission Attachment #1 October 4th, 2023 - Meeting Minutes 7:00 p.m. | Bartholomew Room, City Hall Commission members: Husniyah Bradley (Chair), Jim Mahoney, Jeff Walz, Carl Woetzel, Louis Dzierzak, David Gepner, Rory Cook, Alex Valle-Osornio Commission members not in attendance: Michael Kohout Liaisons: Councilmember Sean Hayford O’Leary, Jan Matheus City Staff Liaison/Staff: Joe Powers, Steven Voelker, Tyler McLeete, Matt Huggins, Matt Hardegger, Olivia Wycklendt I. Call meeting to order Chair Bradley called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. II. Approval of Agenda Motion by Commissioner Woetzel to approve the agenda. Seconded by Commissioner Walz. Motion carried. III. Review & Approve Minutes for September 6th, 2023 Meeting Motion by Commissioner Gepner to approve the September 6th, 2023 meeting minutes. Seconded by Commissioner Dzierzak. Motion carried. IV. Nicollet Ave Transportation Engineer Hardegger handed off the presentation to County Representative Matt Huggins. Huggins and the County presented the compiled data from the recent Nicollet Ave Reconstruction Open House which took place earlier this summer. Consultant project manager Tyler McLeete provided a brief overview of the scope of the project, which goes from 66th St to 77th St on Nicollet Ave, and will include a full road reconstruction as well as subsurface utility work. McLeete noted some key themes from the different engagement events, which included residents feeling unsafe walking and biking along Nicollet Ave, concerns over excessive vehicle speeds, and several intersections especially 73rd St being particularly problematic to navigate in both vehicles and as a non-motorized user. McLeete revisited the problem statement scale, which weights the priorities of the redesign between 5 transportation focuses: pedestrian, transit, bicycle, auto, and truck traffic. The Commission wanted to decrease the prioritization of automobile traffic on Nicollet Ave, largely to allow for the accommodation of other modes of transportation. Slightly reducing the prioritization of truck traffic on Nicollet Ave had the Commission slightly divided. Commission Members Dzierzak and Woetzel both wanted to greatly reduce truck traffic, citing concerns of risk to pedestrians and bicyclists, while commissioner Mahoney mentioned that reducing truck volume on Nicollet Ave could have negative ramifications elsewhere. Commissioner Cook agreed with Mahoney on trying to maintain if not slightly decrease truck traffic on Nicollet Ave. Commissioner Woetzel and other commission members agreed that Nicollet Ave would be a great candidate for an exemplary biking facility given its low conflict points and connectivity to Minneapolis and Bloomington. Overall, the Commission wanted to see much greater improvements to current pedestrian facilities and bicycle facilities. A slight increase in prioritization of transit and a slight decrease of prioritization of trucks was also agreed upon. McLeete presented a draft problem statement for the project. Commissioner Mahoney mentioned that he wishes the draft problem statement addressed the current negative attributes in lieu of stating the goals and areas of improvement for the project. Commissioner Dzierzak and Councilmember Hayford O’Leary both requested to simplify a part of the draft statement to address the environmental sustainability portion of the project goals. Chair Bradley wondered if the feedback the project team had received thus far had come from a diverse population. McLeete responded stating that while the current public engagement tends to lean more on the elderly side, it is very much the project team’s priority to reach out to other groups within the community and other organizations. Huggins mentioned that the project team is still looking to fill the gaps in engagement and to hopefully hear more from communities that have not yet been represented thus far in the engagement process. Chair Bradley added that explicitly stating that the corridor will be ADA compliant would be beneficial to the project goals. Hennepin County Liaison Steve Voelcher continued the presentation with a slideshow showing the multiple options that could be used to achieve the project goals. For example, to help reduce vehicle speeds and possibly improve pedestrian safety at crossings, introducing concrete medians along the Nicollet corridor. The Commission reviewed these designs and was open to many of the options but emphasized that they would need to see exactly where and how these design tools would be implemented once the first round of draft plans was completed. Commissioner Gepner inquired about why Hennepin County was prioritizing a reconstruction of Nicollet Ave over a reconstruction of Penn Ave. Hennepin County staff explained that the age of underlying infrastructure and lack of eligibility for outside funding were the biggest factors. Overall, the commission was excited to see the project progress and to receive additional feedback from public engagement efforts in the future. V. Upcoming Grant Solicitations Transportation Engineer Hardegger announced the 2022 results for the City’s previous grant solicitations. While not all grants were funded, the City did secure funding for the 73rd St Safe Routes to School Pedestrian Improvement project. All applications are required to use existing documents as guidelines, such as the Met Council’s Regional plans, local CIP, and City’s Bike Master Plans to name a few. Hardegger added that the grant reviewers like to see grants which focus on extending bike networks. A challenge with these types of grant applications is that many of the projects the City is looking for additional funding have a heavier utility reconstruction component, and that few of them make great candidates for specifically bike network extension. The City intends to find other funding sources for future projects that did not meet Met Council’s criteria. Commissioner Woetzel supported reapplying for funding with certain projects as most of the work to apply for those grants is complete, and that City staff continues to investigate what they can improve upon to secure funding. VI. Project Updates • 65th St Reconstruction. Civil Engineer Olivia Wycklendt announced that work on the soil retention system was completed earlier today. This should allow construction crews to perform necessary utility work along 65th St, with the hopes of concrete being poured at the roundabout near the end of October. • I-494: Airport to 169 Update. Transportation Engineer Hardegger stated that most of the work is happening West of the 35W interchange. He mentioned that the next big impact will be the westbound ramp from Lyndale to I-494 being closed for 45 days in tandem with the westbound ramp from I-494 to 35W, which last until Mid-November. He noted a small increase in traffic on 76th St in Richfield. At the south entrance of Girard Avenue near Meridian Crossing there would also be some construction activities related to the project. • 77th/Lyndale Signal Project. Hardegger updated the Commission that the project would be completed largely by the end of October. Some concrete work and tree removals have Lyndale Avenue closed between 76th and 77th St for the next few weeks. • 71st St SRTS Sidewalk. Hardegger noted no new updates with the project since the last meeting, and that the project was still on schedule for spring of 2024. • 66th St & Richfield Parkway Pedestrian Improvements Hardegger announced that the City received grant funding for pedestrian crossing improvements at 66th and Richfield Parkway. This will include flashing beacon push buttons for pedestrians. Construction will likely begin in Summer of 2024. • 2023 Concrete Project City Engineer Joe Powers stated that the concrete project for this year is currently out for bids, and that the project is relatively small this year, at about $50,000 worth of work to be completed this Fall. • Liaison Updates. Liaison Jan Matheus announced that the Taft Park Bike Park grand opening is happening next week and invited the Commissioners to come if interested. VII. Upcoming events/meeting(s) The next Nicollet Avenue Reconstruction Project Open House is Tuesday, October 17th at the Richfield Community Center, from 4: P.M. – 6:30 P.M. The next regularly scheduled Transportation Commission meeting is Wednesday, November 1st, 2023. VIII. Adjournment Chair Bradley adjourned the meeting at 9:33 pm.