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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Transportation Advisory Commission - 11/22/2010 RECEIVED Transportation Advisory Committee FEB 0 8 2011 Meeting Minutes Monday, November 22, 2010 CITY SECRETARY'S OFFICE Call Meeting to Order - Curtis A. Rock, Chairman, called the meeting to order at 2:37 p.m. II. Approval of Minutes - Minutes of October 25, 2010 were approved. III. Presentations and Discussions - a. Monthly Traffic Fatality Report: Sgt. Michael Pena reported nineteen (19) fatalities to date for the year 2010. He stated the latest fatality occurred at the 5800 block of Weber Rd. near Schanen Dr. and it is a pedestrian related fatality. He said the pedestrian was crossing the roadway and was struck by a motor vehicle. Mr. Curtis Rock inquired about the distance from where the pedestrian was struck and the nearest crosswalk, which appears to be at Caravelle Pkwy. and Weber Rd. Mr. Cardenas said it is about 400 feet from the nearest crosswalk. Mr. Rock asked if crosswalks could be placed closer. Mr. Cardenas said crosswalks are generally placed at controlled intersections, like a stop sign or a signal light. He said a signal light at this particular location is not practical and it is not acceptable in engineering standards. Mr. Cardenas said it is acceptable to have crosswalks spread out at these locations. He stated the only other exception where an uncontrolled crosswalk is used is in school zones. Mr. Cardenas said if there is high volume or high demand for pedestrians then a pedestrian signal can be placed at a midblock location. Mr. Rock commented there is a high volume of pedestrians at this location because of the HEB, the apartments and the Schanen Subdivision and possibly, there is a need to look into this. Mr. Cardenas said he would conduct a pedestrian count study at this location. Capt. Vesely mentioned this fatality is probably alcohol related and perhaps the pedestrian was intoxicated. b. Monthly Bicycle and Pedestrian Subcommittee Report: Ms. Karen Beard informed the board that Freddy Ramirez had given a presentation on the "Bold Future". She also reported there are 14 certified licensed bicycle instructors in Corpus Christi, which is more than any other city in the state of Texas. She also mentioned the bike-along that was being organized by Ms. Gretchen Arnold did not take place due to inclement weather and it will probably be rescheduled to January 2011. Ms. Beard stated there was a motion made on the Laguna Shores Rd. Project and Mr. Cardenas said the Bicycle and Pedestrian Subcommittee conducted a motion to recommend to staff to designate Laguna Shores as a bike route with the appropriate signage, no parking and improvements. He said it would have an improved and paved shoulder for cyclists and pedestrians. c. Police Department Traffic Enforcement Complaints: Capt. Vesely reported there have been about twelve (12) more complaints added to the list since last month's meeting. However, he said most of the complaints are repeated issues such as school zones and speeding. Capt. Vesely mentioned last week he attended a "Redflex Corporation" Red Light Camera Convention in League City Page 1 of 4 SCANNED and they were asking for issues that they could bring up to the Texas Legislature. Capt. Vesely said the Redflex Corporation has speed cameras, which are illegal in the state of Texas. One of the things he proposed is to bring this up to the Texas Legislature is for speed cameras to be allowed within school zones. He said the Redflex Corporation has a lobbying group to put this together. Capt. Vesely said speeding in school zones is about a quarter to one-third of all the complaints they receive. He said the reason he is pushing for this is to make the children safer and this would alleviate some of the routine concerns they receive repeatedly at the same places. Mr. Rock inquired about the aggressive driver campaign the Police Department is conducting. Capt. Vesely responded this campaign will start to ramp up a little bit in the coming month. He said they are looking into a new type of speed distance laser that can be used to track the speed of the vehicle. He said the cost for the speed distance laser is about $4,500 for each, so they would have to be very careful as to the number they could purchase and to whom they give them to because they would want them to last. He said the Police Department would look into their budget and see if they could afford to purchase one or two of these new speed distance lasers. d. Country Club Place Street Closure Discussion with Possible Action to be taken: Mr. Cardenas said this area is located near IH37 and Up River Rd. and it is an area that is abandoned because all the houses are vacated. Mr. Cardenas continued to say most of the area is owned by Citgo, Flint Hills, Markwest Javelina Co. and other entities. Mr. Cardenas said the main purpose of abandoning and vacating this portion of street, which is called N. Country Club Place, is the lack of traffic on those streets. He stated there is maintenance that has to be done on the street that should no longer be continued. In addition, the way it is right now, it is a site for unauthorized activities in the evening and there is a lot of trash and dumping in that area that is vacated. Mr. Cardenas said the refineries would like to use and maintain this area and the city is willing to abandon and vacate it to the refineries. He said as far as traffic is concerned, it has no impact on existing traffic conditions, as there are no residents in those five houses that are still standing that are scheduled to either be moved or demolished. Ms. Cudd asked if anyone from the community is objecting to this item. Mr. Cardenas said no one from the community is objecting but it is still under review from several City Departments, as far as utilities. Mr. Cardenas said as far as maintenance and moving of the utilities is still under discussion. Mr. Cardenas said this item is ready to go to City Council pending the Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) approval and recommendation. e. Status on the "Safe Passing" Ordinance: Ms. Beard informed the committee that Mr. Curtis Rock had sent a letter to the city attorney regarding the safe passing ordinance. She commented the letter has not had the time to be addressed by City's Legal Department yet. Ms. Beard said while this has being going on, Freddy Ramirez contacted Bike Texas regarding the safe passing ordinance. Mr. Ramirez handed out a response letter from "Bike Texas". Mr. Ramirez said he was there on behalf of Bike Texas and commented he is the founding member of an organization called "Be Kind to Cyclists" in Corpus Christi. Mr. Ramirez said there have been some private conversations between the City's Legal Department and Be Kind to Cyclists' legal staff. He said they are Page 2 of 4 working with Bike Texas, which has a legal staff and they produced this legal opinion. He believes what the city is concern about is a provision stating when a vehicle passes another vehicle; it must do so safely, which it is in the current Texas Motor Vehicle Code. However, safely is never defined in the Texas Motor Vehicle Code, and that reason for not being defined is why safe passage was created, so there would be a definition of what is a safe passing distance. Now, for two cars, perhaps a safe passing is only a couple of feet. Mr. Ramirez said the safe passing ordinance that went before this committee and was passed by this committee is word for word, period for period, comma for comma the exact ordinance that was passed by the House of Representatives in the state and the senate. The ordinance is also the same as the one passed by the City of San Antonio, City of Austin, City of Helotes and City of New Braunfels. Mr. Ramirez said he doesn't have an exact count of how many attorneys have looked at the ordinance, it would not be an exaggeration to say well over a thousand lawyers in the state have looked at it. Mr. Ramirez said the issue of conflicting with state law, which is called preemption, might be causing issues with the city staff because there is already a statute in the Texas Motor Vehicle codes. Again, we are not exactly sure what Legal's issue is but we have been talking with them privately to try to understand what the issue is because it went before this committee in April 2010 and passed and now we are just waiting. Ms. Cudd asked Mr. Rock if he had received a response on his letter from the Legal Department. Mr. Rock said no he had not. Mr. Cardenas said he had received a confidential email from Veronica Ocanas and did not know if he was breaking the law by discussing the email with the committee. Mr. Cardenas discussed the email with the committee. Mr. Rock asked Mr. Cardenas how he would feel about putting this item on the City Council agenda. Mr. Cardenas said that this item could be placed in the City Council agenda but it would not have the recommendation from the Legal Department. He said he is in full support of placing this item on the City Council agenda because this ordinance benefits not just the cyclists but also everyone. Ms. Beard suggested having a special or regular TAC meeting within the next 30 days with Bike Texas and City Legal to understand what the issues are. She said if it cannot be solved at the meeting then propose a motion to take it to City Council. Ms. Beard said this is not an action item because it is not on the agenda. Ms. Beard commented if this cannot be done within 30 days then bring it back to the TAC. f. Stop Sign Study for Everhart Rd. and Aberdeen Dr.: Mr. Cardenas reported he has not found any documentation pertaining to the stop signs that were placed at this location. He stated stop signs should never be used for speed control. Ms. Cudd inquired if the stop signs cannot be removed until it is known why they were placed there. Mr. Cardenas said he does not want to remove the stop signs because there might have been a special agreement that he cannot find between someone and the city. He said he needs the documentation to remove a regulatory sign of that matter. Ms. Beard asked whether the stop signs would have to remain if the history cannot be found. Mr. Cardenas said no but he would like to find out the history on the stop signs. Mr. Cardenas said he would keep this item on the agenda until something could be found regarding the stop signs. Page 3 of 4 i IV. Staff Recommendations requiring Committee Review for Recommendations/ Actions - a. Appointments to the Bicycle and Pedestrian Sub-committee: None b. Motion to abandon and vacate that portion of the N. Country Club Place public street right-of-way, out of the Country Club Place Subdivision, said public right of way, being located just north of the Interstate Highway 37 right-of-way, subject to compliance with the specified conditions. Mr. Jacobi motions to approve. Ms. Beard seconds. Motion passes. V. Identify items to be placed on a future agenda - Discussion of "Safe Passing" Ordinance with Possible Action to be taken VI. Public Comment - No public comment. VII. Adjournment - Meeting adjourned at 3:36 p.m. Page 4 of 4