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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-05-12 TAC MINUTESCity of Englewood, Colorado ENGLEWOOD TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING Minutes of May 12, 2005 The regular monthly meeting of the Englewood Transportation Advisory Committee was called to order by Chair Christie at 7:05 p.m. in the Public Works Conference Room at the City of Englewood Civic Center. Members Present: David Anderson Joe Christie Betty Goosman Ray Tomasso, Council Liaison Members Absent: Daryl Kinton Regi Maclaren Rick Kahm, Director of Public Works, ex officio A quorum was present. Also Present: Ladd Vostry, Traffic Engineer Linda Wilks, Recording Secretary Lt. Jeff Sanchez See attached sign-in sheet Approval of Minutes Chair Christie asked if there were any <idditions or corrections to the minutes of April 14, 2005. A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes as presented. Vice-chair Anderson observed that, on page 2, last paragraph, the date May 25 th should be April 25 th. The motion was amended to approve the minutes as corrected. With all Members present voting aye, the motion passed. Public Comment Chair Christie welcomed Council Member Woodward to the meeting. Mr. Woodward stated he is addressing ETAC this evening as a citizen of Englewood rather than as a member of City Council. Mr. Woodward described an accident involving a high school student that occurred approximately two weeks ago in the vicinity of Englewood High School (EHS) on Mansfield Ave. at Pearl St. in which several parked vehicles were hit. Mr. Woodward, along with two neighbors, met with Mr. Bob Barrows, principal of EHS, to discuss their concerns and possible solutions to help curb the speed of high school drivers through the neighborhoods; Mr. Barrows suggested that speed bumps be installed on Mansfield and advised that he would write a letter to the City offering to, perhaps, participate in the cost of installing traffic calming on Mansfield Ave. Mr. Woodward, recognizing that speed bumps are not a preferred traffic calming device in Englewood, asked if flashing lights could be installed on the student crossing signs, or possibly adding a stop sign on Mansfield Ave. at Pearl St. Traffic Engineer Vostry stated that, over the years, he has worked with the School Safety Committee to improve traffic safety around the schools in Englewood. Mr. Vostry agreed there are some traffic safety issues around EHS that need to be addressed, and will discuss them at the scheduled School Safety Committee meeting next week. Mr. Woodward interjected his appreciation that the radar speed trailer was placed on Mansfield shortly after this accident, but voiced his surprise in learning that the speed limit is 30 mph in front of the high school along Mansfield. Mr. Vostry noted that, approximately one year ago, the School Safety Committee discussed possible changes in this area, but no requests were made by either the Committee or schools. Regarding installing a four-way stop on Mansfield at Pearl, Chair Christie elaborated that, over time when stop signs are used as a measure to slow traffic speeds, drivers tend to "roll" through the stop, creating a greater hazard than had no stop sign been installed; the MUTCD has just recently changed their standard to include four-way stops in school zones. Mr. Vostry stated he will discuss a possible three-way stop at Mansfield and Pearl at the School Safety Committee meeting, as well as lowering the speed from 30 to 20 mph on Mansfield. Mr. Vostry added that, to create visibility of the stop for westbound motorists at this T-intersection, a crosswalk would have to be installed as well as an estimated 100 foot no parking zone, which would eliminate a number of parking spaces on the north side of Mansfield. Brief discussion ensued regarding the number of accidents that have occurred on Mansfield involving students, and possibly extending the school zone to include Pearl, Pennsylvania and Washington, as well as Mansfield, and posting each with 20 mph signage. Mr. Woodward stated that his neighbor offered to circulate a petition or to help out in some way to promote safer driving through the school neighborhoods. Mr. Christie suggested that citizens witnessing unsafe driving behavior write down the license plate number for police to send a letter to that vehicle owner. It was agreed that changing the speed signs and providing enforcement would greatly help to curb speeding traffic. Mr. Vostry expressed a preference in posting new signage during the summer school break and speaking with students of the sign changes when school begins in the fall to alert new drivers at the beginning of the school year that the speed limit has been lowered to 20 mph. Discussion ensued. Mr. Woodward thanked ETAC for their time. Mr. Vostry stated he will report back to ETAC in June following his discussion with the School Safety Committee regarding this matter. Old Business • Chair Christie briefed Members on the discussion that took place when ETAC met with City Council at the Study Session on April 25th regarding the planned Oxford Ave. Traffic Calming project between Broadway and Lipan St. Mr. Christie stated that Council questioned the proposed improvement for the section of Oxford west of Broadway, a designated truck route, when enforcement of truck traffic is not maintained on Oxford Ave. east of Broadway, which is not a designated truck route. Mr. Christie responded that, since the Oxford Traffic Calming project is a new program, word of mouth should encourage honoring the restricted truck traffic zone. Mr. Christie stated that Council seemed happy with the proposed design, and approved of the truck traffic restrictions. Council inquired what the expected length of time would be to determine the effectiveness of the pilot program, to which Mr. Christie advised that before, during and after speed studies should reflect what impact has taken place within a time frame of 1 to 2 years. Mr. Christie noted that at the end of one year's time, ETAC should provide an update to Council regarding the measured effectiveness of the pilot program. Mr. Christie suggested surveying, after a period of time, the open house participants 2 for their feedback regarding the pilot program. Committee Members reviewed, and revised, two draft postcards which will be mailed to 1) attendees of the Oxford Ave. traffic calming open house to advise of revisions to the project, and to invite anyone interested in serving on ETAC or other boards or commissions to apply by the June 3rd deadline, and 2) ETAC meeting attendees since January of 2004 to also invite them to apply to serve on ETAC or other boards or commissions. Members discussed possible wording for the postcards that would brighten the image of ETAC and draw citizens' interest to serve on the Committee. Traffic Engineer Vostry reported that staff expects to begin construction for the Oxford Ave. pilot program by mid-June, with completion by the end of June or first part of July. Muller Engineering is working on the final design plan for the contractor. Mr. Vostry noted that he has contacted Xcel Energy regarding power drops for the speed signs, and the contractor should begin installing the speed sign bases as early as next week. • (Secretary's note: Upon closer review, it was discovered that motions were made, seconded and unanimously approved at the January 13, 2005 ETAC meeting to increase Member terms from 2 years to 4 years, and to increase Officer terms from 1 year to 2 years; the current limit of two consecutive Officer terms remained unchanged.) Under the assumption that no previous official action had been taken, discussion resumed at this time regarding length of Committee Member and Officer terms, and a motion was made, seconded and approved to increase Member and Officer terms. (Secretary's note: this motion duplicated the intention of motions made at the January 13th meeting.) Council Member Tomasso entered the meeting at 8:10 p.m. and was provided a brief review of items discussed thus far. Brief review of the current ordinance verified that Members elect Officers to ·serve one year terms, serving no more than two consecutive terms in the same capacity. Secretary Wilks indicated that a Council Communication will be prepared to obtain Council approval of a change in the ordinance to increase Member and Officer terms. New Business Vice-chair Anderson discussed his views pertaining to the City's new web site. Mr. Anderson commented that staff did a great job developing the new site. Mr. Anderson observed a page under Public Works that appears to be designated to ETAC, and questioned if the page is available for ETAC to provide information they feel would be beneficial to the citizens of Englewood, i.e., traffic calming projects, etc. Mr. Anderson also suggested providing a link on the ETAC page to other transportation related information that is provided under other sections. Committee Members agreed to check out the new web site, and discuss their ideas further at the meeting in June. Mr. Anderson elaborated that if, in fact, ETAC is given a web page, he would like the Committee to have some freedom, with the purview of staff, and take advantage of the new site. Mr. Anderson stated that he would be interested in communicating ETAC's thoughts to staff, and receiving staff's thoughts, as well. 3 Director's Choice • With regard to implementation of the traffic calming program on Dartmouth Ave., Traffic Engineer Vostry advised that Xcel Energy has installed the power supply for the radar speed signs, and they are now in place and operational. Mr. Vostry noted that the radar speed signs are programmed to lower the designated speed limit on Dartmouth to 20 mph to correspond with timed flashing school zone signs posted nearby. • Mr. Vostry reported that Xcel Energy has given a time frame of 2 to 3 weeks for installation of the street light on Navajo St. south of Oxford Ave. Mr. Vostry noted that the City paid for that installation in February. • Copies of an Englewood Herald article were distributed to Members regarding CDOT's resurfacing project on Hwy. 285 between Lafayette St. and Federal Blvd. Mr. Vostry stated that CDOT expects to work through nighttime hours for the duration of the project; the City worked closely with CDOT regarding noise control since a major portion of the work will take place near residential neighborhoods. Construction began around May 5th, with completion expected by the end of August. Chairperson's Choice Chair Christie had no concerns to bring before the Committee. Committee Members' Choice • Committee Member Goosman advised Traffic Engineer Vostry that the service trucks for the Julia Temple Center, as well as SUV's, are parking on Girard Ave. on the northwest corner of the Lafayette St. and Girard Ave. intersection, blocking the view of motorists at that four-way stop. Ms. Goosman inquired if No Parking signs can be installed to prevent vehicles from parking near the corner. Mr. Vostry advised that any vehicle parking within 30 feet of a stop sign is illegally parked. Mr. Vostry stated he will speak with Lt. Sanchez and the administration for Julia Temple Center, and if necessary, install some additional signage. • To Vice-chair Anderson's inquiry, Mr. Vostry advised that, in conjunction with the Micro-surfacing program scheduled to take place on Broadway, one lane of traffic will remain open in each direction. It is expected that the majority of work on Broadway will take place on the weekend. Mr. Vostry stated that after the ruts are filled, the lanes closest to the medians will be surfaced while the outside lane remains open, followed by surfacing of the outside lane while the inside lane remains open. It is scheduled, weather permitting, to complete the section of Broadway from Yale Ave. to Floyd Ave. this weekend, with completion of the section from Floyd Ave. to the Hampden Ave. bridge the following weekend. Mr. Vostry stated that the intersections will be open for traffic traveling Yale, Bates, Dartmouth, and Girard Avenues. Traffic message signs will be posted on Broadway to alert motorists of the upcoming construction. Mr. Anderson inquired about the Deaf Child sign that has been posted at Delaware St. and Oxford Ave. for approximately 12 years, stating he believes, after this period of time, the child is probably grown and has moved away. Mr. Vostry stated he will contact the requesting resident and remove the sign, if appropriate. • Council Member Tomasso reported that Council Member Wolosyn was approached by an Englewood resident, Ms. Lorraine Hanson, 3017 S. Washington St., 303-761-6279, who is concerned with speeding 4 motorists on her street. Mr . Vestry stated he will follow up. To Mr. Tomasso's comment, Mr. Vestry advised he has contacted the manufacturer of the radar speed signs that were posted last year on Inca St. north of Hampden Ave. regarding the brief blackouts that occur when motorists reach a certain speed between 21 and 22 mph . Mr. Vestry stated the manufacturer advised that repa irs are available and can be accomplished when the sign is shipped back to the company. Mr. Vestry is attempting to obtain a loaner speed sign from the company while repairs are made to the City's equipment. Adjournment There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m. Li nda Wilks, Recording Secretary 5 ~ ,\f'\, 11\ City of Englewood VISITOR SIGN-UP SHEET ENGLEWOOD TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE Regular Meeting, 7:00 p.m. May 12, 2005 Englewood Civic Center Public Works Conference Room, 3rd Floor •I, ;:'' NAME ADDRESS . \ hi '." .C •~ ·~ ..... '\. "2> ':-;-) " 3":; : ' r-r\ ' ) '"i "'" ' 'i' I-'.~ lC" i ~ ' . -I 1 PHONE 1 '<1 c-¥Jr· , I -'> '