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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Transportation Advisory Commission - 01/24/2011 RECEIVED Transportation Advisory Committee MAR 0 4 2011 Meeting Minutes Monday, January 24, 2011 CITY SECRETARY'S OFFICE Call Meeting to Order - Curtis A. Rock, Chairman, called the meeting to order at 2:34 p.m. II. Approval of Minutes - Motion made by Ms. Cudd, seconded by Mr. Carrizales to approve the minutes of December 20, 2010. Motion passed. Ill. Presentations and Discussions - a. Monthly Traffic Fatality Report: Monthly Traffic Fatality Report: Sgt. Pena reported twenty (20) fatalities for the year 2010. He said that fatal accident number twenty (20) occurred on December 23, 2010. This accident happened at the 4200 block of Ayers St. near Cuiper St. and was motorcycle related. Capt. Vesely reported at the end of the year, there were twenty (20) fatality accidents in 2010 and in 2009, there were twenty-five (25) fatality accidents. He said this is a total of 20% decrease in the number of fatalities. He continued to say in 2009 the percentage of DWI related accidents was 56% and in 2010 that number has dropped down to 46%, therefore; there has been a decrease for alcohol involved in these fatal accidents. Mr. Rock asked if this is the result of higher enforcement being put out by the Police Department. Capt. Vesely said it is probably too early to tell, however; there has been a marked increase in DWI apprehension rate. It has become a priority of Chief Riggs to make sure there is strong DWI enforcement. Capt. Vesely commented maybe some of the people who insist on drinking and driving are starting to get the message that they have a reasonable chance of being caught and maybe this is keeping them from drinking and driving. Sgt. Pena reported five (5) fatalities to date for the year 2011. He said three of the fatalities are pedestrian related. b. Monthly Bicycle and Pedestrian Subcommittee Report: Ms. Beard reported the Bicycle and Pedestrian Subcommittee formed a subcommittee to look over the wording of the "Safe Passing" move over. She said they have been meeting about this and at this point she is not ready to ask the TAC to remove what they have approved but next month they will. Ms. Beard said they have gotten a number of attorneys that have donated their time to look at what they are doing. She said they are getting closer and they are working towards moving totally away from what the State tried to get through to the Governor. She said Gretchen and a couple of other people have contacted some of the other cities that have passed the state ordinance. Basically, what their City Attorneys have said is that they agree with Jay Reining and the Legal Department. However, because of the fatalities they are having, they did not feel it was an issue enough to write a statement to object to it. Ms. Beard said that they still feel something is necessary but they also understand whatever they bring to this committee and whatever they move forward with, if the TAC approves, will receive a statement from the Legal Department opposing it. However, they do feel strongly the law on the books is too vague. She said that they are hoping to mirror something that it is so close already on the books and having attorneys look at it. Mr. Beard said that at least if it is going to receive an objection maybe it will not be a strong enough objection and will give us more to argue before City Council if it goes that far. Ms. SCANNED Page 1 of 6 Beard stated none of the pedestrian fatalities that have occurred recently could have been prevented by this move over. She said you do not make laws for educational purposes because that is not what they are there for, but they can serve a dual purpose. There can be a law that also serves as education and we can get something that at least brings attention to it to make pedestrians and motorists more aware then it will be a benefit to everyone. Ms. Beard stated if this ordinance passes, we would be able to make a big push for better public awareness. c. Police Department Traffic Enforcement Complaints: Lt. Sherman reported that the complaints have been at the same rate as they have been, about 15-20 complaints last month. He said there have been several complaints reported off Robert Dr. and Santa Fe St. area due to the street closure, traffic is cutting through the neighborhoods so there have been numerous complaints. Like, motorists running the stop signs through the neighborhoods. d. Support Legislation to Keep Trucks from Getting Bigger: Capt. Vesely said a lobbyist making the tour around Texas approached him and he is concerned there is legislation currently pending which will allow semi-trailers to become bigger, and heavier. He said Texas allows more than single use trailers, sometimes two or three. His concern is when you get bigger and heavier trucks that are longer, you have more issues with traffic problems because of the weight. Capt. Vesely said on Surface Streets, not on the interstate, there would be much more significant damage. He said from a police perspective, there is an issue of the physics of a bigger vehicle because it takes longer to stop and does more damage when it strikes something. He said what this man was looking for is some type of letter to be sent to our Congressional members to be signed. Capt. Vesely said he feels very uncomfortable about doing something like this because the Police Department is not a political entity, whereas; the TAC members may choose to send a letter. Capt. Vesely said he was very excited and interested to know what Blake Farenthold thinks about this. Ms. Beard asked if this is a coalition because when they do the child safety law, everyone that supported this sent them a letter. She said they compiled everything together and gave them to the Representatives and Senators. Capt. Vesely said this person sent him two form letters that can be used and modified then people can put their signatures on the bottom. However, it is a coalition that people believe these trucks present a bigger danger to the public by having heavier weights and bigger trucks. Ms. Beard inquired if he wants us to send the letters directly to the Senators. Capt. Vesely said the current bills being proposed would allow three trailers to be pulled in a row. In addition, the trailers to be expanded past 53 feet to 60 or 65 feet and the load limit would be from 80,000 pounds to 97,000 pounds. He said the trucking industry wants this type of thing because they can make more money making fewer trips. Mr. Rock inquired whether this individual wants the TAC to produce a letter or is he asking us as individuals. He stated he prefers do something individually and not as a committee. Capt. Vesely said either way it could be done and he is just looking for the letters to be known. Capt. Vesely said if anyone is interested, he could provide the form letters the individual sent to him. Mr. Rock stated before he considers doing something like this, he would like to hear both sides of the story. Page 2of6 c ' e. Discussion of Lowering Speed Limit on Shoreline Blvd. from to Art Museum to 20 mph with Possible Action to be taken: Mr. Cardenas said this item was discussed at last month's meeting and he distributed an exhibit to the committee members about lowering the speed limit on Shoreline Blvd. from Power St. to the Science Museum. Mr. Cardenas said since the opening of the new Shoreline Park almost a year ago in February, there has been an increase in pedestrian traffic. He stated this is our pro- active approach to these pedestrian problems. The pedestrians are using the crosswalks and parking is very limited on Shoreline Blvd. Most people visiting the park are parking on Fitzgerald St., Resaca St., Palo Alto St. and Power St. and on towards Heritage Park and working their way towards the Bayfront Park. Therefore, Shoreline Blvd. is still considered an arterial street and it is 35 mph right now. There are crosswalks on Power St., Palo Alto St., Fitzgerald St. and Resaca St. but these are non-controlled crosswalks. He said a controlled crosswalk is a crosswalk that has a signal light or a four-way stop. He said a four-way stop is a controlled crosswalk because traffic will stop for the stop sign or the red light. These are non-controlled; therefore, pedestrians entering the crosswalks at their own risk. For that reason, we want to do everything we can to make is safer for pedestrians to cross the street. He said one proposal is to lower the speed limit. Mr. Cardenas commented there are some dips involved and minor humps before the crosswalk due to the pavers but you can still pick up the speed to well over 35 mph. Mr. Cardenas stated the exhibit he distributed to the members would be the same exhibit presented to the City Council. Ms. Beard inquired about the Corpus Christi Police Department's view on reducing the speed limit down to 20 mph. Lt. Sherman said this is definitely a good deal because the road ends at the American Bank Center and for that reason there is no need to be doing 35 mph. He stated there are many events in this area and there is a need to lower the speed limit. f. Status of Previously Approved "Safe Passing" Ordinance: Ms. Ocanas said, regarding the status of the previously approved ordinance, when the TAC is presented with the new language, which will be provided by the Bicycle and Pedestrian Subcommittee and presented to them as the revised version of a "Safe Passing Ordinance", the TAC can pass a motion (a) recommending the revised version of a "Safe Passing Ordinance" for Council approval; and (b) replacing and superseding any previous action. Ms. Beard had asked about this because the TAC had taken prior action to approve an earlier version of a "Safe Passing Ordinance." It was clarified that the new language would replace the existing language as the "Safe Passing Ordinance" that TAC recommends to City Council for approval. g. Traffic Impact Plans for Wal-mart Projects at Staples St. and Saratoga/Cimarron.: Mr. Cardenas said the Staples St. Wal-mart is projected to open in the August 2011 time frame. He said they are trying to expedite the Staples St. Project so the section of the roadway on Staples St. would be complete before or when the Wal-mart opens in August. Mr. Cardenas said it is being advertised in March, therefore; we are looking at sometime in June for the Staples St. Project to start construction. He said there might be some delays. Mr. Cardenas said it is perfect timing for Wal-mart to develop when the City is doing a reconstruction project on the roadways. He said Wal-mart is participating on some of these construction projects. Wal-mart has participated in the upgrades of the signal at Staples St. and Gollihar Rd. and Staples St. and Carmel Pkwy. He said there are some other improvements along Staples St. with relocation of bus stops and of course, to accommodate their business and that will help us as well. Mr. Cardenas said the Wal-mart Project on Cimarron Blvd. paid for the expansion of Page 3 of 6 Dunbarton Oaks to tie in to the backside of Wal-mart. He said they are also paying for the signalized intersection at Dunbarton Oaks and Cimarron Blvd. He also said it is about $150,000 for a signalized intersection. He said this Wal-mart is projected to open sometime in October 2011. Mr. Cardenas said Wal-mart conducted a traffic impact analysis because of the size of the development. Ms. Beard asked if delineators could be installed on Everhart Rd. at Whataburger Way to keep traffic from cutting across. Mr. Cardenas stated something similar to what it is at Everhart Rd. and SPID, in the median. He said installing delineators would be an economical way to go and it is a good solution. h. Bond 2004 Construction Project on Everhart Rd.: Mr. Cardenas said as part of the Bond 2004 Everhart Rd. Projects and the Bond 2004 Program they had included a study and some funding for the cut-through at Best Buy. He said these discussions have been going on for about eight years. Mr. Cardenas stated they have looked at the cut- through and they have also looked to make some proposed roads. Mr. Cardenas said one of the things involved that make things very difficult is utilities and because it is very difficult to relocate these utilities with AEP. He commented it is not cost effective and it would cost more to relocate these utilities than to build a roadway. He said they are also having a very difficult negotiation process with the property owners of Best Buy. Mr. Cardenas said basically, Best Buy wants to control the access management in and out of this driveway. Mr. Rock asked what is access management. Mr. Cardenas responded for example if they want a gate here and they want to close it whenever they feel like closing it. He said we are going back and forth with these discussions and that is where we had a roadblock with the purchase of the right-of- way. Mr. Carrizales inquired if Best Buy owns this property or are they leasing the building. Mr. Cardenas responded that he believes they are leasing the building. Mr. Carrizales stated the problem is with the property owners and not Best Buy. Mr. Cardenas said yes, the problem is not with Best Buy. Mr. Price asked if the City would own this driveway and Mr. Cardenas responded yes they would own it. Mr. Price asked if the City would own it, how would the property owners have control of the access? Ms. Ocanas said legally they could take a public right-of-way and say they are going to access to and from. She stated they need to agree to open it. Ms. Beard inquired if the City could claim eminent domain. Ms. Ocanas stated there are laws in place that prevent the City from acquiring property with its powers of eminent domain for purposes of benefiting private business. She continued to say these tenants and owners would be benefiting so there are some issues there. Some of the members commented this is a traffic safety issue. Ms. Cudd asked if this is coming from the 2004 Bond money. Mr. Cardenas said yes it is. Mr. Beard said if the money is sitting and we are just waiting to figure out to do something. Mr. Cardenas responded the money was already spent on design work, and was allocated for right-of-way, and as far as construction dollars are concern that is already gone. However, there are other mechanisms to get this constructed, of course, once approved. He said there are some alternatives to do this but the main thing is the utility adjustments and the right-of-way. Mr. Cardenas stated that money was not budgeted to begin any certain amount of right-of-way, which was originally budgeted in the 2004 Bond. Ms. Beard asked if it would it be possible to find out who the property owners are. Mr. Rock stated this road is generally for the benefit of the property owner and yes it would be convenient of the users of the road but if they are not willing to bend too much to make this happen, he personally doesn't care that much and would take the other roads to get into Best Buy. He said there is no need to spend any more taxpayers' Page 4of6 money. Mr. Carrizales asked if Mr. Cardenas had approach MPO with this before, Mr. Cardenas responded yes. Mr. Carrizales said to set up a meeting to discuss this matter with MPO. i. Stop Sign Study for Everhart Rd. and Aberdeen Dr.: Mr. Cardenas discussed the original stop sign warrant analysis for the stop signs on Everhart Rd. near Aberdeen Dr. He said this is similar to a signal warrant analysis where this is all pending on vehicle volumes, different times of the day, accident history and proximity to schools, whether; it warrants a stop sign or not. He said under engineering practices contrary to popular belief, stop signs should not be used for speed control. He said they are used to stop cars, to stop an amount of vehicles versus the street it intersects. He said in this case, the two stop signs that were evaluated did not satisfy the warrants to be met as stop signs. Therefore, the stop signs were removed at Everhart Rd. and Clinton Dr. and Everhart Rd. and Junior Terrace. Mr. Cardenas said they decided to remove the stops signs also due to the Robert St. Construction Project to help flow the amount of traffic. Of course, Everhart Rd. is being use as one of the detour routes. He said there have been several concerns about the traffic in that area, on Santa Fe St., Aberdeen Dr., Estate Dr. and Circle Dr. He said there are some other alternatives that they will be using to mitigate these problems. Mr. Cardenas said there have been only two accidents within the last five years and they have both been near Estate Dr. and this is where the curve is, not by Clinton Dr. or Junior Terrace where the stop signs were removed. Therefore, we decided to leave the stop sign at Estate Dr. and not remove it from the study. Ms. Cudd commented that one stop sign was left. Mr. Jacobi asked if there is a speed hump on Everhart Rd. by Estate Dr. Mr. Cardenas stated there is a speed hump on Everhart Rd. by the stop sign on Estate Dr. He said in a week or two they will be performing another speed study and volume count study to see the qualifications for an additional speed hump. He said as part of the construction project they have received some concerns, like speeding and things like that because of the removal of the stop signs. Mr. Cardenas said off the construction project they would be installing some temporary speed bumps not speed humps but bumps. He said these would be paid for by the contract and will be removed once the construction project is complete. These speed bumps are going to be the plastic ones, like in the parking lots. He said these bumps are very effective but are not sure where they will be placed. Right now, the closure for construction for Robert Dr. is in two phases from Gaines Dr. to Santa Fe St. and from Santa Fe St. to Ocean Dr. After monitoring some of the traffic patterns we are starting to believe we are going to close all of Robert Dr. Mr. Cardenas said that we would rather have one inconvenience for a certain period of time than to have two inconveniences for a longer period of time. He said they have been working with Capt. Vesely and he has been monitoring this situation. IV. Staff Recommendations requiring Committee Review for Recommendations/ Actions - a. Appointments to the Bicycle and Pedestrian Sub-committee: None b. Motion to lower the speed limit on Shoreline Blvd. from Power St. to the Science Museum from 35 mph to 20 mph. Ms. Beard motions to approve. Ms. Cudd seconds. Motion passes. Page 5 of 6 • V. Identify items to be placed on a future agenda - • Traffic Signal at Ayers St. and Ocean Dr. • Possible Installation of Delineators on Everhart Rd. at Whataburger Way VI. Public Comment - Karen Beard reported that they will be hosting a "Child Safety Certification Class" next week at Driscoll Hospital. VII. Adjournment - Meeting adjourned at 4:09 p.m. Page 6 of 6