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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-12-14 TAC MINUTES• City of Englewood, Colorado ENGLEWOOD TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING Minutes of December 14, 2006 The regular monthly meeting of the Englewood Transportation Advisory Committee was called to order by Chair Anderson at 6:32 p.m. in the City Council Conference Room, City of Englewood Civic Center. Members Present: David Anderson, Chair Mark Craft Danielle Gregory Daryl Kinton Ray Tomasso, Council Liaison Rick Kahm, Director of Public Works, ex officio Members Absent: None A quorum was present. Also Present: Approval of Minutes Ladd Vestry, Traffic Engineer Linda Wilks, Recording Secretary Officer Mark McKay Chair Anderson asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes of November 9, 2006 . There being none, a motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes as presented. With Members Anderson , Craft, and Gregory voting aye , the motion passed . Member Kinton, not present at the November • 9th meeting, abstained. • Chair Anderson asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes of August 10, 2006. There being none, a motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes as presented. With Members Anderson, Gregory, and Kinton voting aye, the motion passed. Member Craft, not present at the August 10 th meeting, abstained. Chair Anderson asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes of October 12, 2006. There being none, a motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes as presented. With Members Anderson and Kinton voting aye, the motion passed. Members Craft and Gregory, not present at the October lih meeting, abstained. Recording Secretary Wilks noted that, per the City Attorney's office, a phone poll can be conducted by the recording secretary to obtain minutes ' approval in order to prevent future backlogs. Public Comment There were no visitors present. Old Business Referr ing to copies contained in the packets, Members reviewed and discussed recently updated materia l included on the ETAC web page. Committee concurred with the material presented . New Business • Council Liaison Tomasso inquired about citations for uncovered truck loads coming from the Sheridan redevelopment site onto Hwy. 285. Officer McKay stated he was unaware of incidents of uncovered loads, however, he has personally issued citations for speeding and running red lights to drivers coming from that site. Director Kahm stated that scales are on site to ensure the trucks are not overweight. Committee Member Craft noted that these trucks often times travel, westbound, in the left hand lane, slowing traffic along the Hampden corridor through Englewood. Mr. Kahm stated that, currently, the trucks are working from the north side of the redevelopment site, entering Hwy. 285 at Brady Court. They will soon be moving to the south side of the site, entering Santa Fe Drive from Oxford Ave. and then to Hwy . 285. Mr. Kahm noted that staff will observe their traffic flow to ensure they don't cut through Englewood using Oxford Ave. Mr. Kahm said they expect 70,000 truck loads traveling Hwy. 285 through Englewood during construction of this project. • Council Liaison Tomasso noted that the crosswalk for Baily's patrons crossing the drive on the lower level parking structure is very dark for drivers coming into the shadow of the parking structure at sunset, and suggested that an area light be installed for pedestrians to illuminate the crosswalk. Director Kahm stated he will have staff check into some lighting options. Director's Choice • Following up on previous discussion regarding possible signage improvements for pedestrians crossing • Floyd Ave. at Lincoln St., Traffic Engineer Vestry advised that, in checking the accident history for this • location, there have been no accidents for the past 61/2 years. Mr. Vestry reiterated that the safest crossing location is at Sherman St., one block to the east. Additionally, Mr. Vestry stated that existing signage as well as trees, could distract eastbound motorists from seeing new crosswalk signage at Lincoln, and this could create a false sense of security for pedestrians. Mr. Vestry recommended that, in light of the no accident history, staff will continue to be observant of this area, and make adjustments as future history dictates. Director Kahm noted an accident that occurred recently wherein an RTD bus did not yield to a wheelchair crossing Broadway at Girard Ave.. Mr. Vestry checked the accident history for this location and found no accidents, similar to the Floyd and Lincoln location. This was purely an incident where the bus driver just did not see the wheelchair pedestrian. Brief discussion ensued. Chairperson's Choice • Chair Anderson urged staff to continue looking into signage alternatives that will make motorists aware of the no left turn status for westbound motorists on Floyd Ave. at Broadway. Mr. Vestry said that staff continues to look into the effectiveness of LED signs for this location, noting that these signs may not be as effective at this location because motorists must drive at an angle through that intersection. Mr. Anderson inquired about the effectiveness of arrow indicators rather than the green light "ball". Mr. Vestry stated he will check the feasibility of arrow indicators against coordinating vehicle travel with pedestrians who may choose to cross at the unmarked crosswalk on the north side of Floyd. 2 • • • At Mr. Anderson's inquiry, Director Kahm updated Members on the status of connecting the bike trail between the Lehow Ave. and Broadway segments. Mr. Kahm explained that Englewood stepped in as the sponsor for this section of the trail when the City of Littleton used up their allotted opportunities to apply for funding from DRCOG. South Suburban did not have the required right of way to connect the two sections of completed trail, causing a delay in completing that section in spite of Englewood's efforts to assist in obtaining easements that were needed on two pieces of property. As the project sponsor, Englewood had to come up with an on-street path that would complete the trail to avoid having to repay the federal government for grant monies already received. This on-street trail connects the completed segments at Lehow Ave. and at Broadway. Ultimately, Mr. Kahm continued, the two trail segments need to be connected through the two properties, as originally designed. Efforts will continue to obtain these easements. • Observing that the City of Littleton recently removed one of their traffic circles, Mr. Anderson inquired if others are planned for removal. Mr. Vostry stated that he is aware Littleton has had some incidents of traffic accidents that were caused by traffic circles, and citizen pressure has resulted in removal of a number of these structures. Mr. Kahm concurred that, nationwide, numerous traffic calming structures installed over the past 10 years have been removed. Brief discussion ensued. • To Mr. Anderson's inquiry, Mr. Vostry explained that the eastbound electronic speed sign on Oxford Ave. was inoperable, briefly, so that the software could be upgraded; the westbound sign on Oxford has also been upgraded. Mr. Vostry stated that upgrades will be applied to the two signs on Dartmouth Ave. in the near future, as well. • Committee Members' Choice • Committee Member Gregory inquired about the missing street sign on Dartmouth Ave. near University Blvd. Mr. Vostry stated the sign belongs to the City of Denver, and he will contact them. • To Committee Member Craft's inquiry, Mr. Vostry stated he will check a sign that become dislodged at the Malley Center and have it reconnected. Mr. Craft inquired about the motion activated walk lights that were recently installed at the Malley Center crosswalk. Mr. Kahm stated that, although the number of people using the crosswalk has increased, there is yet a number of pedestrians who bypass the crosswalk at a wide enough angle that the sensor won't activate the light. Brief discussion ensued regarding the "false sense of security". Mr. Craft wondered about consistently meeting a red light at Inca St. when traveling eastbound on Dartmouth from Santa Fe. Mr. Vostry stated that COOT recently changed the signal timing at Santa Fe and Dartmouth, and did not advise Englewood of the change. Mr. Vostry contacted COOT and requested that they forward the new timing settingsfor that intersection, however, they have not yet forwarded the information. Mr. Vostry will make adjustments to the timing at Inca when he receives the information from COOT. Mr. Craft asked about installing a right turn green arrow for eastbound Dartmouth onto southbound Inca. Mr. Vostry noted the green arrow conflict with the pedestrian crossing at that location. • Committee Member Kinton announced, for Members' information, that the new President of AmTrack • will be speaking in the Community Room on Saturday, January 27, 2007 regarding the present and future 3 state of national rail. Brief discussion ensued regarding the new Southeast Light Rail Line, customer service issues, reduced number of trains at the Mineral Station, riders shifting from the Southwest line to the Southeast line, increased available parking at the Mineral and Englewood Stations, free ridership to patrons on New Year's Eve, etc. • Officer McKay discussed the need to make adjustments to the blue "tattle tail" light for westbound Dartmouth at Santa Fe to better assist officers with traffic enforcement, specifically with turn arrow violations. Mr. Vestry stated he will look into adjusting the angle of the light for better visibility for police officers. Adjournment There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:35 p.m. Linda Wilks, Recording Secretary 4 • • •