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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Transportation Advisory Committee - 05/21/2012Transportation Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes Monday, May 21, 2012 Call Meeting to Order - Mr. Curtis A. Rock, Chairman, called the meeting to order at 2:30 p.m. II. Approval of Minutes - Minutes of April 23, 2012 were approved. III. Presentations and Discussions - a. Introduction of New TAC Members: Mr. Cardenas welcomed the new TAC members to the committee. He introduced Ms. Gretchen Arnold and said she would be replacing Ms. Karen Beard. She is a member of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Subcommittee. Mr. Cardenas introduced Mr. Eric Villarreal with LNV Engineering and said he is a professional engineer and has a degree in civil engineering from Texas A&M University in College Station. He also introduced Mr. Carl Weckenmann, Planning Director for the Regional Transportation Authority. Mr. Cardenas said Mr. Weckenmann brings a wealth of knowledge and good benefits to the committee. b. Monthly Traffic Fatality Report: Capt. Vesely reported one (1) new fatality for the month, which brings the total to ten (10) for year 2012. He said there was a miscommunication between Police and Traffic Engineering regarding fatality number (8). Traffic Engineering had a different fatality number eight (8); this fatality was ruled a medical related fatality. He said the person had a heart attack and died. He stated the Police Dept. has a different number eight (8). This fatality occurred on March 5 at 12:17 p.m., at the 15800 block of Northwest Blvd. at County Rd. 73. Capt. Vesely mentioned they do not think this fatality was alcohol related. He reported fatality number ten (10) occurred on May 13 at the Wal -Mart parking lot on Greenwood Dr. He said the woman killed was an average user of alcohol. Capt. Vesely said they went into the Wal -Mart; they started to have a confrontation and then they decided to leave. He was the driver and she was the passenger and as he is driving he is talking to her and all of the sudden his statement was that she was gone. He was driving looking around for her and she disappeared. He stopped and did a u -turn and found out that she had actually fallen or jumped out of the vehicle. The driver found out that the back tire of the vehicle had run over her head. Capt. Vesely said the accident probably happened at 10 miles per hour. He said they do not think alcohol had anything to do with the driver. c. Monthly Bicycle and Pedestrian Subcommittee Report: Ms. Beard said the City Council passed the "Safe Passing" ordinance. She said Ms. Priscilla Leal was the only council member opposing the ordinance. Ms. Beard stated that it took three years but it finally passed. She said there is nothing else to report because the subcommittee did not have a meeting. d. Police Department Traffic Enforcement Complaints: Capt. Vesely reported the traffic enforcement complaints have been going up slightly. There have been speeding complaints not so much in the school zones but in the neighborhoods. He Page 1 of 5 said one of the biggest complaints from the Police Chief is people driving extremely fast on SPID. Capt. Vesely noted they have been dealing with these complaints. e. Top 20 Traffic Accident Locations for the Month: Capt. Vesely reported the number one location for the month of April is at the 2500 block of US- 181 -FWY NB. He said this is probably because the correlation has not happened for the southbound traffic. There were five accidents at this location two weeks ago. Therefore, this location would probably be number one again next month as well. He said this location was number one in January or February. Capt. Vesely said they are getting a little concerned with US -181. The speed limit is 55 mph and it is very easy to write motorists speeding tickets because they are driving very fast. Capt. Vesely said they would be putting more emphasis on the speeding in this area. f. Discussion of Possible Expansion of Red Light Camera Locations: Capt. Vesely reported there would be three additional red light cameras and the reassigning of a fourth camera. The cameras will be located on westbound Leopard St. at Navigation Blvd. and southbound Navigation Blvd. at Leopard St. In addition, there would be one camera at each direction of Mesquite St. and IH -37. Capt. Vesely said the contract states; if they get three new cameras, they can move a fourth camera from an unproductive location to a new location free of charge. The camera they would like to move is Yorktown Blvd. and Cimarron Blvd.; it would be placed at the Mesquite St. and IH -37 location. Capt. Vesely said the reason for moving this camera is this location has dropped from an average of about 50 or 60 monthly, this time last year, to an average of five or six. He said it would be moved to a location that will provide more impact to motorists to stop at stoplights. The Redflex Corporation has already surveyed all the locations. The committee agreed the cameras have made a positive impact in the community. Capt. Vesely reported he would be meeting with TxDOT to start the legal process between the State of Texas and the City of Corpus Christi. Therefore, red light cameras can be placed on TxDOT right -of -way. He said it would probably take months to get the MOU between the City and State worked out. Capt. Vesely said they are trying to spread out the red light cameras and are not trying to pick on a specific location even though most of the traffic tends to be on the south side of town. g. Discussion of Pedestrian ft Bicycle Research Project: Capt. Vesely said the Police Department is appalled at the number of pedestrians killed last year. He stated there were more pedestrian fatalities last year than there were homicides in the City of Corpus Christi. Capt. Vesely said they have looked to see if any other Police Departments in other cities have seen the same phenomenon. Surprisingly, they have seen the same thing. They have done some research and have found out that the City of San Diego, California had a similar type of increase in their pedestrian fatalities. They worked on a project and figured out what was causing these pedestrian fatalities and bicycles were also included. Capt. Vesely noted it was requested to form a committee to see what can be done to bring the number of pedestrian fatalities down. So far, he has gathered all of the pedestrian fatality traffic accidents since 2009 to date, the federal study and all the fatality reports. Capt. Vesely stated that Mr. Cardenas and Lt. Trevino have agreed to work with him but there still is a need for two or three people. This new committee would be examining data and looking at the recommendations that Page 2 of 5 worked in San Diego, California. He said that maybe we could implement some or part of their recommendations. In addition, it does not need to be law enforcement only; this is only a small contingent. There is also roadway design and other safety measures. Capt. Vesely stated he is trying to get this off the ground and wanted to put it out there, because the TAC has interest in these types of traffic issues within the city. He said this new committee would be meeting maybe every three weeks and mentioned this is like the bicycle and pedestrian subcommittee. Mr. Weckenmann said he would like someone from the RTA to participate in this committee. Capt. Vesely said to let him know if someone is interested in being part of this committee. Mr. Jacobi asked what did San Diego discuss. Capt. Vesely responded it was a combination of law enforcement and traffic design, the way they design the roadways and discourage people from trying to run across a major roadway. h. Discussion to Post Speed Limit at 45 MPH on County Rd. 52 with Possible Action Taken: Mr. Cardenas distributed an exhibit map and speed study of the proposed area. He said the limits for the proposed speed limit are from US -77 to County Rd. 69. Mr. Cardenas said this road was a narrow one -lane road in each direction and it was a county road. He stated it is still labeled as County Rd. 52 but the city owns it now. Mr. Cardenas mentioned that it was widened towards the north. The property line was the centerline of this roadway, half of it was the city and the other half was the county. Mr. Cardenas stated years ago, as part of the Bond 2008 Project, the city and the county had put in some funds to widen the road. He said it is now a three -lane section, one lane in each direction with a continuous left turn lane down the middle. The city owns and maintains it now. He said county roads have a speed limit of 60 mph, if not posted. City streets have a speed limit of 30 mph, if not posted. Mr. Cardenas said residents in this area are used to driving 60 mph. They performed a traffic study in the proposed area and discussed the results of the study. He said the 85 "percentile shows nothing under 60 mph. Mr. Cardenas said that at one point County Rd. 52 would be a major arterial in our city. He said Traffic Engineering is recommending a 45 mph speed limit on this roadway. There are no pedestrians and only two houses on this roadway. Mr. Weckenmann inquired about the lane width of the roadway. Mr. Cardenas responded the lane width is 14 feet continuous left turn lane and 12 feet lane on each side. Mr. Rock asked the reason the city is interested in posting the speed limit at 45 mph. Mr. Cardenas responded that at some point County Rd. 52 would be a major arterial. The committee stated 45 mph is too slow. Mr. Rock said this is something we can change later on. The committee recommended posting the speed limit at 55 mph. L Unified Development Code (UDC) - None j. Urban Transportation Plan Amendments Discussion of Road Diets - Leopard Street: Mr. Cardenas introduced Ms. Lisa Wargo with the Planning Department and Mr. Jeff Pollack with HDR Engineering. Mr. Cardenas said Mr. Pollack talks about road diets in the Sustainability Plan. There are several roads around the city they are looking into. He said Ms. Wargo is working on the Master Plan and Mr. Pollack has helped with kicking this off. Mr. Cardenas distributed some road maps that show potential road diets on Leopard St. He said right now Leopard St. is two lanes in each direction but the traffic is not there to support that. Therefore, Page 3 of 5 what the road diet is going to do is make one lane in each direction with bike lanes and a continuous left turn lane down the middle. Mr. Cardenas said the thing that might be compromised along this corridor is the on- street parking. They are trying to salvage the entire on- street parking that they can. Mr. Cardenas said the purpose of the road diets is that Ms. Wargo is updating the Urban Transportation Plan /Master Plan. k. Discussion of Up River Rd. Speed Limits with Possible Action Taken: Mr. Cardenas discussed an exhibit of the proposed area and stated a speed study was conducted. He said the area being proposed is on Up River Rd. between Violet Rd. and Sharpsburg Rd. The difference between this section of Up River Rd. and County Rd. 52 is that this portion of Up River Rd. is very narrow. He said the density of the residents is good, it is not numerous but it is enough where they want to walk in the evenings and there are no sidewalks. The posted speed limits in this area are very inconsistent, there are some sections that are 40 mph, 35 mph and some sections are 30 mph. This portion of Up River Rd. is not residential but it serves as a residential street, it is a collector or arterial. Mr. Cardenas stated he would like to make it a consistent 30 mph throughout this portion of Up River Rd. The traffic studies have been conducted and the 85 percentiles are consistent with the speeds. Ms. Arnold asked if there are posted speed limits signs along this section of Up River Rd. Mr. Cardenas said yes, there are several signs. I. No Cell Phone Use in Work Zones: Mr. Cardenas said last month he met with Mr. Tom Tagliabue with TxDOT and it was work zone awareness week. Mr. Tagliabue brought up some shocking statistics of work zone fatalities. Mr. Cardenas said being a construction worker on the freeway and out in the streets is one of the most dangerous jobs out there. He said workers are constantly being killed and there has been a recent trend that some of those have been cell phone related. Two weeks ago in Karnes City a woman was on her cell phone and killed a motorcyclist. The motorcyclist was within the work zone, he was waiting for flagger operations. Mr. Cardenas said the work zone is almost like a school zone where there are workers and other changes in traffic control that are not expected. He said this is one of the situations where a cell phone should not be used because there will be changes in the traffic pattern. Mr. Cardenas said this is just a discussion item and there is not any action taken. He said would bring some work zone fatality statistics to the next meeting. Ms. Cudd asked if temporary signs would be placed at the work zones. Mr. Cardenas responded yes and stated that enforceability would be easier in work zones. Capt. Vesely said a person in a work zone only has the protection of a hardhat and bright colored vest and it is not seen because a person is too busy talking on the cell phone. Mr. Jacobi said he would like to expand it and would like to stop using the term "cell phone ". He said the other cities call it "Electronic Communication Devices ", it includes cell phones; whether, you are talking or texting, using the GPS system or playing games. Mr. Jacobi said this committee is supposed to be recommending things to the City Council to make traffic safer. He said the city has recognized cell phone use or electronic communication devices are dangerous and that is why they are banned in school zones. Mr. Jacobi said 37 states (as of last week) have banned cell phone use, except El Paso still allows hand -free. He stated eventually we are going to get the message and we are going to do it. Mr. Jacobi volunteered to write an ordinance to ban cell phone use. Mr. Rock said he would vote yes on work zones and sees certain exceptions as being necessary, but for the public he does Page 4 of 5 not see the necessity for banning cell phone or electronic devices. He stated people should be able to make their own judgments. Mr. Dudek stated that maybe this item should not be discussed anymore unless we are going to do something about it or not. m. Discussion of No Cell Phone Use While Driving: This item was combined with item 1. n. One -way Traffic Issues on South Shores to Montclair Elementary - Item tabled for next meeting. IV. Staff Recommendations requiring Committee Review for Recommendations / Actions - a. Appointments to the Bicycle and Pedestrian Subcommittee: The committee motioned to appoint Ms. Gretchen Arnold as the Transportation Advisory Committee representative to the Bicycle and Pedestrian Subcommittee and appoint Ms. Karen Beard as the medical representative to the Bicycle and Pedestrian Subcommittee. The committee seconded. Motion passed. b. Recommendation to Post Speed Limit at 45 MPH on County Rd. 52 with Possible Action Taken: The committee motioned to post the speed limit at 55 mph on County Rd. 52 between US -77 and County Rd. 69. The committee seconded. Motion passed. c. Recommendation to Approve Up River Rd. Speed Limits with Possible Action Taken: The committee motioned to adopt the recommendation to post the speed limit on Up River Rd. from Violet Rd. to Sharpsburg Rd. to 30 mph. V. Identify items to be placed on a future agenda • Appointment of TAC Officers • Educational Signs for "Safe Passing" Ordinance - TAC Signs and City of Corpus Christi Signs • Discussion on the No Cell Phone Use While Driving with Possible Action Taken to Continue Discussions • Discussion of Speed Limit Change on McArdle Rd. from Everhart Rd. to Staples St. VI. Public Comment • Mr. Israel Ybarra talked about the "Vulnerable Road Users" ordinance recently approved by the City Council. VII. Adjournment - Meeting adjourned at 4:23 p.m. Page 5 of 5