HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/20/2004, CLR #2 - APRIL 7 MEETING OF SLOCOG/SLORTA MEL_ .�4G AGENDA
DATE-t ITEM #QnAyd___
Liaison Report 's
April 20, 2004
To: Council Colleagues
Copies: Ken HampianFSLOCOG
rge, Mike McCluskey,Lee Price
From: Ken Schwart
Re: April 7 meeti /SLORTA
Organizationally,Mike Ryan stepped down as vice chair and the Board elected Shirley
Bianchi to fill out the remainder of the term. It has been Board practice to elevate the
vice chair to chair at the beginning of the next term with the chairmanship alternating
between a Supervisor and a city representative;Paso Robles Mayor Frank Mecham is
current chair.
The uncertainty of the State's economic condition is having a major impact on the
budgeting and prioritizing of most SLOCOG sponsored improvement projects. It is
becoming more evident that many highway projects will be deferred. Some small hope
remains that Federal Transportation legislation may help although the Administration is
pressuring the House to cut$100b from it's appropriations bill. The COG's Directors
Association is recommending that Caltrans work to streamline project delivery and to
decentralize decision making to the District level.
Staff reported that 434 individual requests for 30 specific unmet transit needs were
analyzed however only three were found to meet the criteria for determining that an
"unmet need"could be"reasonably met."Of the three, regional evening service was the
most frequently cited unmet need. SLO Transit recently re-introduced some evening
service so we are slightly ahead of others.
With respect to Project Study Reports(PSR's)which are early-step reviews of project
proposals,three are recommended by staff for the next planning period. Two affect SLO.
One is the 101/SRI interchange which has been reduced from a W blown interchange to
"a near-term buildable and fimdable operational improvements project." The second is
the initiation of an evaluation of SR227 from Tank Farm Road to Price Canyon as a four-
lane corridor complete with bike lanes,landscaping, etc.
A number of bills in Sacramento were discussed. COG's legislative program is pretty
much in synch with our legislative program.
A portion of this meeting was devoted to a rare Joint Meeting of COG/SLORTA(which
is a bit strange because the Boards ofboth groups are identical). Nevertheless,the
agenda topic created the liveliest debate of the morning. The question raised by staff and
supported by RTAC was a recommendation to split RTAC into two and perhaps three
distinct committees each with specific responsibilities currently encompassed by RTAC's
charge. The end result of the debate was a unanimous Board decision not to decentralize
CLL- a-�
LiaisonReport,page 2
responsib�ties—keep it whole, expand membership if necessary to meet Federal
requirements,but reduce the potential of farther administrative support work
Another result of the joint meeting was a contract renewal to continue the TV
broadcasting of SLOCOG/SLORTA meetings.
The SLORTA portion of the meeting was brief but included an overall work plan and
draft budget for Rideshare for 20042005. This program includes some bicycle safety
and bicycle commute programs in cooperation with SLO; a Bice WeekBdce Fest is
scheduled for mid-May.