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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Transportation Advisory Commission - 02/24/2020 1 CITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY COMMISSION (TAC) MINUTES Monday, February 24, 2020 I. Call to Order: The City Transportation Advisory Commission (CTAC) convened in a regular meeting on February 24, 2020 at City Hall Council Chambers. TAC Chair, Judy Telge called the Commission to order at 2:30 p.m. II. Pledge of Allegiance III. Roll Call: Commissioners in Attendance: Robert Saldaña, Pramit Bhatka, Jeffrey Pollack, Jonathan Aman, Judy Telge, Leo Rios, Wilfredo Rivera and Brandon Herridge. Commissioners Resigned (Absent): Dennis Miller Staff Attendance: Renee Couture, Diego Leyva, Captain Russell Sherman IV. Public Comment: There was no one in the audience for public comment. V. Reports: 1. Corpus Christi Police Department (CCPD) – Captain Sherman Presented monthly report. Captain Sherman included citations for blocking sidewalks on the monthly report due to an interest in the January meeting. Most of these citations are issued by Parking Control. There were 84 DWI arrests, 527 crash reports, and 3 fatalities. Of the 5,060 violations, 212 were for distracted driving. There were 3 fatalities. One fatality included an 82-year- old pedestrian crossing Cimarron Boulevard who did not use the pedestrian signal push button. Another fatality occurred with a 57-year-old that was reported missing, and we are not sure of any mental health issues. He was crossing Yorktown, so he had head injuries, and we are assuming he fell into the street and a car run over him. The other fatality occurred in SH 358 WB, and it was where a DWI driver struck the police officer. In February, another fatality on IH 37, a 24-year-old that pulled over and went off the vehicle and she got ran over. Another fatality occurred with a 97-year-old who was walking, and he was ran over by a vehicle backing up from a driveway along Driftwood Place. Another fatality occurred with a 69-year-old who had been in involved on a hit and run accident by running a stop sign at the intersection of Buddy Lawrence Drive and Ligustrum Drive. Another fatality occurred with a 30-year-old driver on a vehicle who went the wrong way on the Tancahua Street exit ramp at the harbor bridge. Another fatality occurred on IH 37 where the driver was traveling at high speed and lost control where the vehicle flipped over, and the vehicle was on fire. Captain Sherman did a presentation on “Vision Zero Crash Data Review” and the following was presented: 2019 year end crash statistics show that crashes are down 5.13% city wide from 2018 and down 8.98% city wide from 2017. 2019 year end crash statistics show that Alcohol Flagged crashed are down 21.3% city wide from 2018 and down 24.9% city wide from 2017. On enforcement efforts, over the past 2 years, the Corpus Christi Police Department Traffic Section has focused its enforcement efforts on High Crash Areas to include Controlled Access Highways and Multi-lane Roadways. Still focusing on School Zones when active. Data Driven Approach To Crime and Traffic Safety (DDACTS) is an approach to reduce both crashes and crime data. 2 2. City Traffic Engineer – Renee Couture provided an update on Coleman Avenue. City staff decided to proceed with installing “NO PARKING” signage on Coleman Avenue. The Bay Vista Pointe Apartment Complex was notified of the installation. Residents of the Cliff House were pleased with this resolution. An update regarding the public comment from Melvin Kimbrell, who uses a wheelchair, was also presented. It was discussed the different ways to find the road closures such as the City of Corpus Christi website, and Public Works Facebook. Renee Couture presented sample Traffic Control Plans that show detour signs for pedestrian crosswalk closures. Renee Couture also discussed the new Public Works Director, Richard Martinez, and the various public meetings he held to talk about the new programs and plans for streets for the city. The 2020 TAC Meeting Schedule was provided as well as addressing TAC’s updated ordinance which included the removal of the Mobility Planning Committee as a standing subcommittee from TAC. It was also discussed that TAC was the only Board/Commission that allows a subcommittee to bring in members that are not part of the originating body. Vice-Chair Jeffrey Pollack wanted to be on record to note that TAC does not have the expertise or bandwidth to fully furnish the BPC to the extent that it needs to be diversified to represent community interests. VI. Item for Consideration: 1. City Traffic Engineer, Renee Couture, presented “One-Way” Traffic Flow Designation for 10th Street from Ayers Street to Staples Street. This project is part of the Six Points intersections and signal improvements project. Multiple meetings were held among city staff and engineering consultant “Freese and Nichols” to review and select intersection concept. Final concept was presented to the public for the closure of thru-traffic along Palmero Street (to create parking area), and “one-way” traffic flow along 10th Street between Ayers Street and Staples Street. TAC Chair, Judy Telge, asked Freese and Nichols Engineer, Nick Cecava, that the concept did not show the park area on the Palmero Street closure, and Nick Cecava responded that after meeting with property owners and city staff, it was decided to provide more parking and keeping the existing trees in the area. After discussion, TAC voted to accept the recommendation. 2. Assistant Traffic Engineer, Diego Leyva, presented Vision Zero “Bike To School Day” which is a program organized by the partnership for a walkable America to raise awareness and visibility for walking and biking to school. National Bike to School Day is May 6, 2020. There are 164 schools walking to school in 2019, and 64 schools biking in 2019. There are currently no schools from Nueces County. The following tasks were requested: ideas for a bikeability checklist, ideas to promote event, and incentive ideas. Minimum 2 schools for participation. 3. Jeffrey Pollack mentioned that Bicycle Pedestrian Committee talked about 3 case studies that were identified at the State/TxDOT Advisory Committee meetings, some of them were: one is Brownsville for a bike counting program, another one is Dallas MPO for bike counting program. Also, he mentioned that they have interest in the progress of implementation of bike mobility plan on the Bond 2018. They also discussed facilitating bike connections Momentum to the main campus and evaluating what the paths of travel look like onsite. 4. TAC Chair, Judy Telge, mentioned TX Innovation Alliance at UT Austin where they presented vision zero from San Antonio, Austin, and Houston. 3 VII. TAC Member Communication: 1. TAC member mentioned that which was the response for the public comment from Melvin Kimbrell regarding the pedestrian crossing at Port Avenue by the HEB. City Traffic Engineer, Renee Couture, mentioned that we are aware of that pedestrian crossing but for right now, there is a crosswalk at the signalized intersection that the pedestrians can use . VIII. Adjournment: TAC Chair, Judy Telge adjourned the meeting at 4:00 pm.