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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-06-12 TAC MINUTES• • • City of Englewood, Colorado ENGLEWOOD TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE Minutes of June 12, 2003 The regular monthly meeting of the Englewood Transportation Advisory Committee was called to order by Chairperson Anderson at 7:01 p.m. in the City of Englewood Community Room. Members Present: David Anderson Joe Christie Gary Dounay Betty Goosman Ken Ross, Director of Public Works, ex officio Members Absent: Barbara Hodge Cinda Losee (Alternate Member) A quorum was present. Also Present: Approval of Minutes Ladd Vostry, Traffic Engineer Wendy Weiman, Transportation Analyst Linda Wilks, Recording Secretary John Collins, Police Lieutenant Chairperson Anderson asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes of May 7, 2003. Committee Member Dou nay referred to page 6, last sentence of the first paragraph, and requested that, since the comments are paraphrased, the word "crazy" should be stricken from the minutes to put the concept of his comments into proper focus. A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes as amended . Motion passed. Public Comment There were no visitors in attendance. Old Business There was no Old Business . New Business Chairperson Anderson requested that discussion regarding Committee Member Attendance Policy listed under Chairperson 's Choice be moved to New Business. Mr. Anderson noted that the discussion regarding attendance became evident with the numerous absences of Committee Member Hodge, who has now submitted her resignation from ETAC. Committee Member discussed City Resolution No. 63, series of 2001 , wh ich establishes an attendance policy for board and commission members; this policy states that a board or commission may adopt their own policy if it is more strict than that stated in Resolution No. 63. In response to Committee Member Dounay's inquiry, Director Ross reminded Members that a number of months ago, the ETAC group asked for a change in the by-laws to allow the alternate position to fill in when a regular member is absent, however the City Attorney and City Council denied the request. At Mr. Anderson's • • inquiry, Mr. Dounay commented that he believes City Council intends for this Committee to have an alternate member and would look for a replacement. Director Ross stated that City Council interviews and appoints replacement board and commission members only twice per year; appointments were just recently made, and the next process will take place probably in December or January, so therefore, ETAC will not have an alternate member until one can be appointed at that time. Mr. Ross noted that there were 20+ vacancies on various boards and commissions, and only 9 individuals applied to fill them. Brief discussion ensued. Mr. Ross stated he has contacted the City Attorney's office regarding the resignation of Ms. Hodge and, additionally, preparing a resolution appointing Alternate Member Losee as a regular member. Mr. Ross stated he will advise the City Manager's office that ETAC is in need of an alternate member. Mr. Dounay opined that it makes sense to have an alternate who is current on ETAC topics so that when a member is absent, the alternate can step in and be productive. Mr. Anderson stressed the importance of hearing the opinions and observations offered by current Alternate Member Losee. Mr. Anderson noted that, thus far, ETAC has not experienced a situation where a tie breaker vote was needed, to which Mr. Dounay maintained that, in the future, an issue may come up where we might want to have that ability. Mr. Anderson stated that, rather than dra~ing a stricter policy, he would prefer that ETAC follow the City policy as stated in Resolution No. 63, observing the threshold of three unexcused absences, and opined that three consecutive excused absences should be addressed before it turns into four absences. There was brief discussion regarding the criteria for excused vs. unexcused absences. Vice-chair Christie made a motion, seconded by Committee Member Dounay, to adopt the City's Resolution No. 63, series of 2001, as policy for establishing attendance guidelines for ETAC members, and request that staff provide new members with a copy of this resolution. Motion passed. Director's Choice • Director Ross reported that he presented the results of the Bannock St. survey to City Council, and Tom Munds published a comprehensive article in the Englewood Herald. Mr. Ross noted that he has not received any further comments from residents who received the survey results. • At Director Ross' inquiry, Lt. Collins noted that in May there was a drop in traffic contacts in some districts, attributed to the traffic force attending classes for two weeks. Otherwise, they are maintaining contacts of 44% over last year. • With regard to the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) provided by the Colorado Department of Transportation (COOT), Traffic Engineer Vostry explained the elements of the ITS, i.e., cameras, variable message signs, and communication protocols, as well as information sharing involving transportation professionals, police, incident management staff and the general public. This ITS effort is intended to help citizens "cope" with the ever increasing traffic congestion. Referring to handouts distributed to Members, Mr. Vostry explained the placement of cameras by COOT throughout the metro area that can be accessed • through the internet to provide information to the public regarding current traffic congestion on major roadways in metro Denver. Mr. Vostry stated that a total of five cameras will be placed in the Englewood 2 • • • area, at Belleview and Broadway, Broadway and 285, Logan and 285, and Santa Fe and Dartmouth. The fifth location is yet to be determined. Brief discussion ensued. Mr. Vestry noted that several pages in the handout illustrates the visual concept of camera placement for several of these new locations, but explained that the pictures shown were taken from ground level, but that, when installed, the cameras will be 30-35 feet high . Also included in the handouts were drawings illustrating the cooperation between Englewood and COOT regarding sharing conduits and fiber. COOT is installing new fiber and cameras using the City's facilities. Mr. Vestry stated that COOT is funding the project; the City is providing staff time. Mr. Vestry emphasized that this ITS project is not only helpful for traffic management but also for incident management, since live data at these five busy intersections will be available to Englewood's dispatch facility, quickly providing police and fire personnel with more detailed information. The COOT website address is www.cotrip.org, or, for the I-25 corridor, the T-Re x website is ww w .trex project.com. These websites provide extensive information for the traveling public, including travel times. • Resulting from an inquiry from Alternate Member Losee at the May ETAC meeting, Traffic Engineer Vestry advised that City staff has installed double yellow striping on Dartmouth Ave. between Downing St. and Univers ity Blvd. Mr . Vestry noted double yellow striping was also installed on Downing St. from Yale Ave. to S.H.285. At Vice-chair Christie 's inquiry, Mr. Vestry stated that yellow skip-lines are installed in some locations to allow passing in areas with less traffic, however, traffic is becoming heavier causing the skip lines to be replaced in some areas with double yellow striping to help control traffic behavior . • Director Ross advised that, as a result of an inquiry made by Steve Woods at the May ETAC meeting, Traffic Engineer Vestry has hired a traffic consultant to provide traffic counts and to conduct a study regarding the truck traffic volumes on Oxford Ave. Mr. Ross stated they hope to have the study results in time for the July ETAC meeting. The consultant hired for this study also conducted the study three years ago for this same location. Chairperson's Choice Chairperson Anderson asked Traffic Engineer Vestry to forward to Alternate Member Losee the results of the speed trailer study that was recently conducted near her residence. Mr. Vestry stated he will forward the information when he receives it. Mr. Anderson inquired about the status of installation of the variable speed board signs. Mr. Vestry advised he was recently requested by Xcel Energy to proceed with installation of the signs , after which Xcel will connect the power. Mr. Vestry stated he expects installation to be complete within 3-4 weeks. Mr. Anderson asked about installation of a crosswalk on Windermere St. to correspond with the Pedestrian Crossing Ahead sign that was recently installed near the Light Rail Station. Traffic Engineer Vestry advised that the crosswalk sign symbolizes the existence of a crosswalk wherever anyone crosses a street, and that a physical crosswalk will not be installed . 3 • • • Committee Members' Choice Committee Member Goosman inquired about the concern expressed by Mandy Frye at the May ETAC meeting regarding increased traffic and higher speeds along Bates Ave. from Broadway to Logan St. Traffic Engineer Vostry stated that, in speaking with Officer Peterson, Ms. Frye was satisfied with the resolution of her concerns. Committee Member Dounay commented he has observed that now that warm weather is here, people seem to be driving faster again and running stop signs near Jason and Rotolo Parks. Mr. Dounay noted these incidents don't seem to take place when police officers are in view. Mr. Dounay also noted that many younger drivers are sporting glass pack mufflers on their cars, similar to those popular back in the 1960's, causing considerable noise on the streets. Mr. Dounay stated, when attempting to get license place numbers, he has observed plastic covering placed over some license plates. Chairperson Anderson invited Members to contact Recording Secretary Wilks regarding any agenda items they would like addressed at future meetings. Mr. Dounay said he would like Lt. Collins to discuss any behavior modification that has been observed as a result of police impact studies, or changes in driver behavior, if any, observed from Lt. Collins' perspective. Mr. Anderson suggested requesting a report from Lt. Collins rather than adding this topic to the agenda. Adjournment There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:46 p.m. Linda Wilks, Recording Secretary 4