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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-09-09 TAC MINUTES• • • City of Englewood, Colorado ENGLEWOOD TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING Minutes of September 9, 2004 --....... The regular monthly meeting of the Englewood Transportation Advisory Committee was called to order by Chair Christie at 7:05 p.m. in the Community Room at the City of Englewood Civic Center. Members Present: David Anderson Joe Christie Betty Goosman Daryl Kinton Ray Tomasso, Council Liaison Rick Kahm, Acting Director of Public Works, ex officio Members Absent: Regi Maclaren A quorum was present. Also Present: Ladd Vestry, Traffic Engineer Wendy Weiman, Transportation Analyst Linda Wilks, Recording Secretary Lt. Jeff Sanchez Having been introduced to Committee Members, Acting Director of Public Works Rick Kahm advised that former Director Ken Ross recently terminated his employment with the City of Englewood due to philosophical differences with City Management. In the interim, Mr. Kahm has been appointed to serve as Acting Director of Public Works . Mr. Kahm highlighted some of his experiences during his 37 years of employment with the Englewood Public Works Department, which, among other things, includes working closely with the Traffic Engineering Division for a number of years. Approval of Minutes Chair Christie asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes of August 12, 2004. There being none, a motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes as presented. Motion passed unanimously. Public Comment There were no visitors in attendance. Old Business There was no Old Business. New Business There was no New Business. Director's Choice • With regard to roadway striping at Kenyon Ave. and Windermere St., Acting Director Kahm explained that striping was scheduled for application following the Windermere St. overlay program. The striping contractor applied the new striping in error, since the overlay program has not yet taken place. Concerns ---, were noted regarding the delay of striping at Logan St. and Hampden Ave. following the micro-surfacing program that took place in May. This striping has since been accomplished but was, in fact, delayed due to the unusually rainy weather conditions during the summer. • Acting Director Kahm detailed staff's recommended 2005 Multi-Year Capital Plan projects that were listed in the minutes of August 12, 2004. In addition to that previously discussed at the August meeting, Mr. Kahm offered the following: Road and Bridge -$650,000 -Mr. Kahm noted that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires installation of handicap ramps in conjunction with road construction or overlays performed by outside contractors, however work conducted in-house does not carry this requirement. Additionally, in-house road work is considered maintenance rather than construction, and therefore, with limited funding in recent years, the City has conducted overlay projects in-house. At the same time, the City conducts a concrete program that installs handicap ramps. To date, Englewood has installed handicap ramps on approximately 50% of the City's intersections. Bridge Repairs -Mr. Kahm stated that $62,000 carried over from 2004 to 2005 for this project; therefore, no new funding has been requested for 2005. Miscellaneous Infrastructure Repairs-$75,000 -Funding for this project is at the discretion of the City Manager to cover miscellaneous projects that could come up during the year that don't have specific funding. 10 Year Paving Plan-$0.00 -Since 1956, 96% of Englewood's streets have been built to a specific City standard through a series of paving districts. Santa Fe & Broadway Landscaping-$0.00 -Originally, the Cities of Englewood and Sheridan contracted together on landscaping for the Hampden and Santa Fe interchange and the Santa Fe corridor. While a gateway into Englewood, the interchange is situated in the City of Sheridan. Sheridan eventually ceased participation in this maintenance agreement, and Englewood followed by putting the project on hold for the time being. Pavement Management System -$10,000 -This fund covers the computer evaluation program to track maintenance for the City's streets system. Concrete Utilities-$178,500 -matching funds to repair and replace crosspans, concrete alleys, and the major portion of sidewalk, curb, and gutter repair on the City's avenues. Mr. Kahm discussed the function of the Concrete Utility Program into which property owners pay for sidewalk maintenance adjacent to their homes and businesses. Mr. Kahm noted that property owners have the option to opt out of the program, and since the program's inception in 1997, only 700 out of 12,000 Englewood properties have chosen to opt out (or 94% remaining in the program). The City pays approximately 75% of the cost of concrete replacement on the avenue sides of properties and on cul-de-sacs. South Broadway Action Plan -$275,000 -These funds were requested by the Community Development Department. The City Manager's office is recommending that this request be lowered to $100,000. Sidewalks -$120,000 -funding for the Sidewalks Missing Links Program for sidewalks in areas where none has been previously constructed, i.e., on Hampden Ave. from Lafayette St. to Clarkson St., on Union 2 • • • • • • --~, Ave., University Blvd., and on Windermere St. south of Kenyon Ave., all of which were recently installed. Entry Port Monumentation ~ $0.00 -Community Development originally lowered their funding request from $100,000 to $50,000 for 2005, however, because of the current budget situation, no funding will be requested. Concrete Program -$30,000 -funding used for construction of handicap ramps. Bates Station -$250,000 -Mr. Kahm noted that, with the passage of the RTD Fastracks on the November ballot, Englewood will benefit in a number of ways, i.e., RTD has committed to providing a Bates light rail station, and possibly construct a tunnel under Santa Fe to access yet-to-be-acquired additional parking on the west side of Santa Fe for the Englewood light rail station. Traffic Signal Upgrade to LED-$0.00 -funds for this upgrade have been included in the Transportation System Upgrades. Transportation Action Plan -$75,000 -funds for traffic calming measures on Oxford Ave. at Windermere St. and at Broadway. Brief discussion ensued. Mr. Kahm noted items contained in the Transportation Action Plan that have already been funded, completed, or are in progress, i.e., Big Dry Creek Trail bridge over the Platte River, Big Dry Creek Trail extension from Fox St. to Broadway, Harvard Gulch bike trail in the Northwest Greenbelt, bike trail signage, bike parking air stations, University Blvd. and Belleview Ave. sidewalks, etc. Mr. Kahm elaborated that approved funding is used only for approved projects. Discussion ensued regarding crosswalks and radar speed signs scheduled to be installed on Inca St. through CityCenter. The crosswalks will be installed at Mile Hi Coffee and at Sally's where pedestrian actuated, solar powered, flashing lights will also be installed. Two radar speed limit signs will be installed, one south of Floyd Ave. for southbound traffic, and one just north of Hampden for northbound traffic. The speed limit signs will post the speed of an approaching driver, but once the 20 mph speed limit has been surpassed, the sign will boldly flash "Slow Down". This new equipment should arrive in about six weeks and will be installed shortly thereafter. Mr. Kahm noted that the Englewood "Art" Shuttle began running this week and appears to be heavily used. Additionally, Mr. Kahm noted that staff from several departments will be discussing ways to minimize the departmental overlap that seems to occur with requests for some Capital Plan Projects, i.e., cons t ruction of a bike trail bridge across the Platte River at Dartmouth Ave., and the pedestrian/golf cart bridge at the Englewood Golf Course. These two bridges were requested as Capital Projects by both the Community Development Department and the Parks and Recreation Department. The Public Works Department requested and received a commitment for funding from TEA-21 for the Dartmouth bridge, which is currently number two on the TEA-21 waiting list. If the entity first on the list drops their project from the TEA-21 list, Englewood's bridge project will come forward. So, using the TEA-21 funding, and matching funds money received by the Parks and Recreation Department from the Arapahoe County Open Space Fund, it is possible this bridge could be built in the near future. Mr. Kahm noted that there will be no new TEA-21 money committed until 2007. 3 ---- • Traffic Engineer Vestry advised that the detection equipment at the intersection of Oxford Ave. and Windermere St. has been installed, and is operational. It was noted that this same type of detection equipment was also installed during construction of the Floyd Ave. and Inca St. intersection. • With regard to the Hwy. 285 overlay project, Traffic Engineer Vestry stated that the application of asphalt has begun west of Dahlia St. in Denver. Mr. Vestry was advised by COOT that the asphalt application west of University Blvd. should begin around the 2ih of September and will take place during the nighttime hours. Construction should take approximately three days to complete. The rotomilling and paving processes could cause the highest degree of noise disturbance for neighboring residents for which they may wish to take advantage of the hotel vouchers that are being made available through COOT. • Acting Director Kahm advised that, with regard to the Denver Seminary site redevelopment, City Council was scheduled on September ih to approve the rezoning proposal on second and final reading, however, because an amendment was made to the proposal, a first reading approval was given to the amended document with second and final reading scheduled for the September 20th Council meeting. Brief discussion ensued regarding possible traffic back-ups on University Blvd. • Traffic Engineer Vostry advised that the Broadway/Chenango traffic signal has been installed, and the subsequent concrete work and handicap ramps will be complete this week with roadway striping to follow . Mr. Vostry noted that the work was coordinated with the schedule of nearby Sinclair Middle School to minimize the inconvenience to students, parents and staff. • Acting Director Kahm advised that the crosswalk on the west side of the Inca St. and Hwy. 285 intersection has been installed, and adjustments made to the signal timing for northbound left turning traffic. It was noted that no complaints have been received from motorists regarding the shortened timing for left turning traffic. Mr. Kahm noted that countdown walk indicators have also been installed, which is a real benefit for pedestrians and bicyclists. Countdown walk indicators have also been installed on Broadway at Chenango and Broadway at Kenyon, and City Council has requested they be installed at intersections along bike paths. Plans are currently being made to install these indicators at the crosswalk at the bottom of the Oxford Ave. "hill", as well as at elementary schools where crosswalks exist. • Acting Director Kahm discussed the possibility of holding future ETAC meetings in a conference room on the third floor of Civic Center rather than in the Community Room, which is the current location. Mr. Kahm explained that, in this time of budget concerns, this change would allow evening custodians to apply their time to other pertinent needs. Following brief discussion, Members expressed their willingness to work with City staff where needed, and gave their general consensus to meet in one of the conference rooms on the third floor. Notification signs will be posted in the building to direct citizens to the new meeting location. Chairperson's Choice Chair Christie welcomed Acting Director Kahm to the Committee. Committee Members' Choice • Vice-chair Anderson stated that, should the proposed Capital Projects request list be approved by City Council, he would like to see an agenda item for the October ETAC meeting for Members to begin offering 4 • • • • • • input for installation of traffic calming measures on Oxford Ave. Discussion ensued. Acting Director Kahm opined that it is possible that Council will make a decision prior to the October ETAC meeting, but noted that it could be sometime in November before the budget is approved. To Mr. Anderson's inquiry, Lt. Sanchez advised that because of reorganizational changes within Safety Services, he will represent that agency with ETAC, replacing Officer Knoth. Lt. Sanchez stated he expects to have four officers back in the Traffic unit within the next month. • Committee Member Kinton commented that he spoke with a driver of the new Englewood Shuttle regarding usage, and learned that daily ridership has been near 100 ( +/-). Acting Director Kahm added that because of sufficient activity at both ends of the shuttle route, he believes this program will be successful, and that the opening of the medical office building at Elati St. and Englewood Parkway will add to the success. • To Committee Member Goosman's inquiry, Acting Director Kahm advised that construction use tax paid to the City is deposited into the Multi Year Capital Projects Fund. Mr. Kahm noted that the City also pays use tax for Capital Projects, and in the case of the Bi-City Wastewater Treatment Plant expansion, the City will receive use tax of which the City of Littleton will pay half. • Council Member Tomasso stated he received a complaint from a business owner on Raritan St. regarding "junk" in the streets and the need to increase the frequency of street sweeping. Acting Director Kahm noted that the frequency of street sweeping was reduced last year because of budget cuts, but stated that it cannot be reduced any further because of the requirement to meet Federal air quality standards. Mr . Kahm stated he will keep sweeping in mind when he gives consideration to the services, and efficiency of services, that Public Works provides. Adjournment There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:38 p.m. Linda Wilks, Recording Secretary 5