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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-17-13 bac minutes Minutes Regular meeting of the SAN LUIS OBISPO BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE Council Hearing Room, City Hall 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo January 17, 2013 Thursday 7 p.m. MISSION: The purpose of the Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC) is to provide oversight and policy direction on matters related to bicycle transportation in San Luis Obispo and its relationship to bicycling outside the City. ROLL CALL: Present: Bill Bradlee (Chair), Peter Deragon (Vice Chair), Howard Weisenthal, Arlene Winn, and Jim Woolf Absent: Chris Black, Catherine Machado Staff: Kevin Christian and Peggy Mandeville PUBLIC COMMENT: No public comment was made at the beginning of the meeting. The following public comment was offered at the end of the meeting: Jessica Berry, San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOCOG), noted that Bike Month planning is underway. The next Bike Month Volunteer meeting will be Jan 31st. Current Bike Month calendar, application forms for “mini-grants” and a handout for “Bike Month 2013 Sponsorship Opportunities” were passed out. Ms. Berry also noted that at its next meeting the SLOCOG board will be honoring the SLO Bike Club for their contributions. C. Bradlee asked Ms. Berry about personal liability concerning the “Host a community ride” suggestion on “Bike Month 2013 Sponsorship Opportunities” handout. MINUTES: November 15, 2012 Action: CM Weisenthal moved to approve the minutes as submitted. CM Deragon seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. ACTION ITEMS: Agenda Item #1: Election of Officers Staff reviewed the election process, along with the terms and duties of the positions. Chair Bradlee summarized the time commitment necessary for the Chair position. CM Woolf expressed an interest in the Chair position. CM Deragon proposed CM Weisenthal as a possible candidate. CM Weisenthal declined interest in the Chair position but indicated he would be willing to be the Vice Chair. Action: CM Deragon moved to nominate CM Woolf for the Chair position. CM Bradlee seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Action: CM Deragon moved to nominate CM Weisenthal for the Vice Chair position. CM Winn seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Agenda Item #2: Bicycle Transportation Plan (BTP) Update: Misc. Clean Up Items • Railroad Crossings: Staff reviewed the current draft plan policy and noted that although a need arising for the added clause is unexpected, it would be prudent to cover the circumstance in the policy. CM Weisenthal questioned if all existing at-grade crossing are at 90 degrees and wondered what could be done if they are not since roadway alignments are already built out. Staff indicated that roadway striping might be employed to address the need. • Retaining Existing Bikeway Connections: Staff reviewed the proposed new definition and policy, noting that adoption of them would mean deleting projects whose sole purpose was to retain existing access areas. CM Winn asked for clarification on the wording, “Shall be retained”. Staff noted the “Industrial to Bougainvilla” project in the draft BTP. This project is the result of a previously open-to-the-public access point between bicycling facilities being closed off with a welded shut gate. The purpose of the new policy is to keep these bikeway connections open. CM Weisenthal asked if these bikeway connections would include signage. Further discussion lead to the general consensus that signage for these connections are provided for in the policy section of the BTP. CM Deragon expressed the desire that the term “connectors” be used on maps to designate these bikeways. CM Winn noted that the word “existing” needed to be added to the definition. (An existing unpaved trail or paved walkway providing connection to bikeways.) There was specific discussion concerning the existing dirt trail connecting Southwood Drive with the RRST, along the southern border of Sinsheimer Park next to the creek. CM Woolf expressed that he ideally would prefer a Class I be installed there. CM Winn concurred, noting that she felt that with the high number of users that it might be unsafe for some. She also wondered if ownership was an issue for eventual Class I creation. Staff noted that the current draft BTP project covering the dirt pathway supports the Sinsheimer Park Master Plan which calls for retention of this trail as a dirt pathway, but does call for a paved connection between the ball fields and the RRST. • Financial Section: Staff described the Future Financial Needs section of the draft BTP and noted that the City has someone preparing a cost benefit analysis for the Railroad Safety Trail (RRST) and Bob Jones City-to-Sea Trail (BJT) as examples. Staff noted that while inclusion of a cost benefit analysis is not required per the CA Streets and Highway Code, staff believes the information is useful and can be expanded upon during the next update effort. CM Woolf noted that there is no mention of bicycle boulevards and would like to amend the section to include them. Further discussion generated the suggestion to change the table name to “Future Financial Commitments” (from “Future Financial Needs”) and to include a clarification that the costs being discussed are for construction only. • Unocal Collector Project Ranking: There was no further discussion on this project. Committee members present who still owed staff ranking indicated that they would provide it. There was consensus to accept the project as written and ranked. Action: CM Woolf moved to approve the BTP items as recommendations by staff with the following changes: - The bikeway connections definition will include the term “existing”. - The bikeway map will use the term bikeway “connector”. - The Financial section should clearly identify the costs as construction only and the table name should accurately reflect the data type contained. CM Bradlee seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. DISCUSSION ITEMS: Agenda Item 3. Committee Items: CM Woolf noted that there is no Class II channelization on north bound Santa Rosa at Highland and questioned if a project should be added to the draft Plan. Staff noted that this is the third highest bike count intersection for the City, but that it is a Cal Trans controlled area. CM Winn concurred that with the high number of Cal Poly students biking the intersection.. CM Deragon noted that there is a lot of driving and texting going on in this intersection too. Discussion of the nearby Santa Rosa/Foothill intersection was included as it too is lacking Class II channelization (although it has it in the south and east bound directions). The topic was opened up larger, asking if there might be other intersections citywide that are high speed, high volume that don’t have Class II channelization. There was general consensus requesting staff to propose how to handle this in the draft BTP. CM Winn praised the Monterey and California conspicuous colored Class II lanes, noting that she felt motorists were paying more attention to bicyclists in the area. CM Bradlee requested that statistics on the impact of the new colored lanes be shared with the BAC when available. Agenda Item 4. Staff Items: • Bicycle and Pedestrian Improvement Requests (SLOCOG): Staff summarized the annual request. Jessica Berry of SLOCOG explained that input for bicycling and pedestrian needs is included as part of their annual input for unmet transit needs request. • Land Use and Circulation Element update (LUCE): Staff directed the BAC to the SLO2035.com website, and described MindMixer, an online forum to discuss LUCE projects. Staff also noted that a multimodal level of service (LOS) analysis is underway as part of the overall project. Multimodal level of service was then explained. • Bob Jones Trail workshop update: Staff reviewed the recent meetings held on the trail alignment options, from the Octagon Barn to Los Osos Valley Road. Responses from a City survey, public comment from the meetings, and environmental and cost information are being compiled in order to determine the best alignment. • Community forum for City Council goal setting update: Staff reviewed the event and noted that there was a great community turnout. Of specific note was the number of supporters backing the Bike Coalition speaker (more than half of the room stood up). Council will meet Jan 26th regarding priorities. • Best Practices in Pedestrian Wayfinding webinar Jan 16, 2013: Staff reviewed a pedestrian wayfinding webinar and briefly reported on findings. Webinar materials can be forwarded upon request. • Advisory Body Recruitment: Staff noted that CM Woolf and CM Bradlees terms are up in March and expressed a hope they reapply. CM Deragon motioned to adjourn the meeting at 8:05. CM Weisenthal seconded the motion. The next meeting will be held March 21, 2013 Respectfully submitted, Mikki McDaniel Recording Secretary 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.