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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-18-13 bac minutes Minutes 1 Regular meeting of the 2 SAN LUIS OBISPO BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE 3 Council Hearing Room, City Hall 4 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo 5 6 July 18, 2013 Thursday 7 p.m. 7 8 MISSION: 9 The purpose of the Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC) is to provide oversight and policy 10 direction on matters related to bicycle transportation in San Luis Obispo and its relationship to 11 bicycling outside the City. 12 13 ROLL CALL: 14 Present: Jim Woolf (Chair), Lea Brooks, Arlene Winn, Catherine Machado, Pete Deragon 15 (arrived after Item #1), and Howard Weisenthal 16 Absent: Chris Black 17 Staff Members: Kevin Christian, Peggy Mandeville, Phil Dunsmore, and Bryan Wheeler. 18 19 Staff introduced and welcomed the City’s new Council member and BAC Subcommittee Chair, 20 Carlyn Christianson. 21 22 PUBLIC COMMENT: 23 Myron Amerine stated that he appreciated the repairs to the bike lane on Foothill Blvd. by 24 Mustang Village. 25 26 Dave Abrecht, SLO Bike Club representative, noted that the San Luis Obispo Council of 27 Governments (SLOCOG) meeting on August 7 had two bike issues on its agenda: Discussion 28 on the Highway 1 condition and the Cal Trans rumble strips out on Highway 1. He encouraged 29 people to attend. 30 31 Dan Rivoire, Bike Coalition Executive Director, was pleased that the City Council increased the 32 City’s budget allocation for bike needs. He also discussed the Los Osos Valley Road (LOVR) 33 undercrossing to the Octagon Barn connection and felt the grade separated crossing would be 34 ideal. 35 36 James Park, City resident, was concerned with wrong way cyclists in downtown and on 37 sidewalks. 38 39 Gary Havas, SLO Bike Club member, was also concerned with both Highway 1 issues 40 mentioned and with accommodating tricycles traveling in bike lanes. 41 42 Geoffrey Chiapella, SLOCOG representative, reported on the bike map donations collected 43 through various means. 44 45 MINUTES: March 21, 2013 46 47 Action: CM Machado moved to approve the minutes as submitted. CM Wynn seconded the 48 motion. The motion passed unanimously. 49 50 51 ACTION ITEMS: 1 2 Agenda Item #1: Bob Jones Pathway Octagon Barn Connection Study 3 4 Bryan Wheeler, Public Works Dept., discussed the project parameters, noting that the project 5 before the Committee is a planning effort to identify the preferred route to pursue when funds 6 are available. Discussion items included: 7 8 • Schedule 9 • Corridor overview 10 o Alignment only (preferred alignment) 11 o Alignment along agricultural and residential lands 12 o Alignment along Los Osos Valley Road (LOVR) and S. Higuera 13 14 He discussed the consultant recommended preferred alignment along the creek, including 15 topics of the cross-section, S. Higuera crossing alignment, and crossing control upgrades. He 16 noted that the next steps will be public hearings before other city and county bodies. 17 18 Staff Mandeville noted that the project did not include a grade separated crossing of LOVR but 19 that item could be recommended by the Committee for inclusion. 20 21 The BAC asked questions about the project, including details of agricultural land retention, 22 possible urban camping issues along the creek, traffic control on lower Higuera and a grade 23 separated crossing of LOVR. 24 25 Public Comment: 26 Mr. Amerine was concerned about the alignment being next to a creek as it pertained to 27 flooding. He did like the idea of using a “Hawk” beacon South Higuera. He asked for the width 28 of the proposed path. 29 30 Mr. Park agreed with Mr. Amerine’s comments. 31 32 Mr. Havas was concerned about the City’s Park Ranger force being stretched too thin already 33 and whether the budget could support more responsibilities (reference; urban camping in creek 34 area). 35 36 The public comment period was closed. 37 38 CM Weisenthal moved to support the staff recommendation of the preferred alignment along 39 the creek. 40 41 CM Machado seconded the motion. 42 43 The motion passed unanimously. 44 45 CM Brooks moved to request that the City pursue the idea of a grade separated crossing of 46 LOVR either as part of this project or as a separate project. 47 48 CM Weisenthal seconded the motion 49 50 The motion passed unanimously. 51 52 Agenda Item #2: Chevron Airport Area Specific Plan Amendment & EIR 1 2 Phil Dunsmore, Community Development Dept., discussed the project history. He summarized 3 the Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR), including highlights on: 4 5 • Remediation and site restoration 6 • Project entitlements 7 • Restoration plan and discussion of existing and proposed Class I bike paths and the 8 Bicycle Transportation Plan 9 • Land use plan proposal and the configuration of the North/South Class I pathway that 10 links Buckley Road 11 • Development phasing plan 12 13 CM Brooks asked about bicycle safety through intersections identified in the EIR as needing to 14 be widened to accommodate future vehicle traffic. 15 16 Public Comment: 17 18 Mr. Abrecht favored improvements to the bike lanes on Tank Farm Road and asked that the 19 proposed bike paths provide connections between destinations such as Costco and Marigold 20 Shopping Center. 21 22 Mr. Park suggested signalizing several intersections to slow down traffic. 23 24 Mr. Amerine discussed Class I and Class II lanes and the facilities configurations outlined. He 25 was concerned about pathway dis-continuations. 26 27 Bill Almas, Chevron representative, discussed infrastructures associated with the projects. He 28 did not favor the roundabout option and felt signalization was a better option. He noted that the 29 proposed roundabout was more expensive and his research indicated that multi-lane 30 roundabouts were a safety concern for bicyclists. 31 32 Tim Walters, RRM Design Group, discussed alignments of bike path components. 33 Dick Williams, Chevron representative, offered to answer Committee questions. 34 35 The public comment period was closed. 36 37 38 Staff suggested that the Committee focus on the four topics listed in the staff report where input 39 for Planning Commission and City Council consideration was sought. Rather than making 40 motions, the Committee expressed consensus on the points as follows: 41 42 1. Alignment and construction timing of all bike paths. 43 The Committee agreed that the timing of bicycling facility implementation at the time 44 of/or before the project build out was appropriate. A specific alignment was not detailed 45 but the BAC concurred that connectivity between existing and planned Class I facilities 46 running N/S is a top priority. 47 2. Whether the proposed mitigation is suitable given the scope of the project. 48 The Committee recommended that Class II lanes on Tank Farm Road should be 49 widened to City of SLO standards during the remediation phase of the project (Phase 0). 50 It was also expressed that a bicycling educational component could compel more people 51 to ride. 52 3. Whether two pathways as shown in the Bicycle Transportation Plan should be 53 implemented south of Tank Farm Road or whether a single path may suffice. 54 4. Discuss conceptual locations of a Class 1 pathway south of Tank Farm Road that 1 will link with properties to the south such as the Avila Ranch property. 2 The Committee conceptually supported the idea of an alternative location for the western 3 N/S Class I bikeway south of Tank Farm Rd. as long as continuous bicycle facilities are 4 provided. Additionally the easternmost Class I bikeway shown in the BTP and Airport 5 Area Specific Plan should remain 6 7 Agenda Item #3: Land Use & Circulation Element Update 8 9 The Committee concurred that its previous recommendations on Circulation policy changes 10 remain relevant and agreed to continue the item to the next regularly scheduled BAC meeting 11 for further discussion. 12 13 DISCUSSION ITEMS: 14 15 Staff Items 16 17 • Discussion on Laguna Lake Bikeways “B” 18 Councilman John Ashbaugh presented a potential bike path alignment across Laguna Lake to 19 Laguna Middle School for Committee consideration and noted that parents could drop their kids 20 off at Laguna Lake Park to have them walk across the lake to school. He also noted a desire to 21 extend the bikeway to Los Osos Valley Road. He suggested a bridge crossing similar to the Oso 22 Flaco bridge would make the park more accessible, e.g. Cerro San Luis to the Sea bike ride. 23 24 Public Comment: 25 26 Mr. Amerine stated he favored the bridge concept. 27 28 The public comment period was closed. 29 30 CM Deragon moved that the concept should be incorporated into the 2013 draft Bicycle 31 Transportation Plan Laguna Lake Bikeways “B” project description, along with paving the dirt 32 section pathway between the cul-de-sacs. 33 34 CM Winn seconded the motion. 35 36 The motion passed unanimously. 37 38 The Committee agreed to table the remaining items, due to the lateness of the hour. Staff 39 agreed to send an email update of the remaining “Staff Discussion” items. 40 41 42 ADJOURN 43 44 CM Deragon moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:40 p.m. to the next regular meeting of 45 September 19, 2013. 46 47 CM Weisenthal seconded the motion. 48 49 The motion passed unanimously. 50 51 Respectfully submitted, 52 53 Lisa Woske 54 Recording Secretary 55 56 57 G:\Transportation-Data\_Unsorted Stuff\Transportation\Transportation Committees\Bike Committee\BACAgendas\2013 58 The City of San Luis Obispo is committed to including the disabled in all of its services, programs, and activities. Please contact the Clerk or staff liaison prior to the meeting if you require assistance.