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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDECEMBER 5, 2011 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS COLUMBIA HEIGHTS TRAFFIC COMMISSION CITY COUNCIL CHAMBER MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011; 5:30 P.M. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Carlson at 5:31 p.m. ROLL CALL Members present: Carlson, Doty, Goodman, Olson, Tyler Staff present: Kathy Young, Assistant City Engineer Ted Fischer, Police Sergeant Sue Schmidtbauer, Public Works Secretary Council Liaison: Donna Schmitt APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motioned by Doty, seconded by Olson to approve the minutes of November 7, as presented. Motion carried unanimously. OLD BUSINESS The MUTCD guidelines for installing STOP or YIELD signs at intersections on local streets were provided to the Commissioners. TH A.REQUEST TO INSTALL “STOP” SIGNS AT THE INTERSECTION OF 6 STREET RD AND 43 AVENUE thrdth Ms. Dorothy LaHoud of 4209 6 Street requested stop signs at 43 Avenue and 6 Street. The concern is a blind spot at the intersection. At the November meeting, the Commission reviewed this intersection as well as the thrd accident records for the intersection of 7 Street and 43 Avenue. The Commission th tabled this request in order to obtain additional information concerning the 7 Street intersection. rdth 43 Avenue and 6 Street The visibility at the intersection is somewhat limited on the south side of the intersection thth because of the higher ground elevations. Sidewalks are available on 6 Street. On 6 ndthrdth Street, traffic stops at 42 Avenue and 44 Avenue. On 43 Avenue, traffic stops at 5 Street and Jefferson Street. There have been two reported traffic accidents in the last five years, one in 2008 and one in 2007. rdth 43 Avenue and 7 Street th The intersection is at the crest of a hill limiting visibility. On 7 Street, traffic yields at stthrdth 41 Avenue and stops at 44 Avenue. On 43 Avenue, traffic stops at 5 Street and Jefferson Street. There have been five reported accidents in the last five years; one in 2011, one in 2010, and three in 2007. One of the accidents in 2007 was caused by an underage driver. This accident should not be included when reviewing the guidelines for Traffic Commission Agenda December 5, 2011 Page 2 yield or stop sign placement. rdth Traffic counts were done for 48 hours on 43 Avenue and 7 Street. The average daily rdth traffic was approximately 315 on 43 Avenue and 210 on 7 Street. This is considered normal traffic for a residential street. th Ms. LaHoud stated her family is afraid to drive down 6 Street because it is dangerous, especially due to the blind spot. She sees a lot of stop signs in Columbia Heights and wonders why they are there; there are stop signs where there are no blind spots. Carlson stated there are already too many stop signs in Columbia Heights. Ms. LaHoud stated th only one stop sign is needed on 6 Street. Carlson stated if cars would yield like they are rd supposed to there would be no problem. Ms. LaHoud asked if 43 Street is supposed to thrd be a “through” street, at 6 and 43. Carlson stated vehicles are to yield to the right no matter what direction they are heading. Olson said they could be considered “neighborhood” streets; none of them are “through” streets. Olson stated that none of the criteria has been met for a stop or yield sign at this intersection, per the MN guidelines. Tyler, Doty and Goodman all agreed. Carlson advised Ms. LaHoud that the MN guidelines state we cannot recommend what she is asking. Ms. LaHoud brought up another matter. She was at Savers on Tuesday and the parking lot was packed. The handicap parking notice is on the ground, there is no sign. She has a handicap license plate but she couldn’t find a place to park so she parked at edge of the lot and shopped. She heard her car mentioned over the speaker and she was asked to th move her car. She had to park at a different spot on 49. There is no handicap parking in the new area of the lot, only in the old area. They need more handicap spots. Young will contact the City planner and find out if Savers has the correct number of handicap spots for that size lot. Sergeant Fischer advised there is a city ordinance regarding the required number of handicap spots. rd Motioned by Olson, seconded by Doty to deny the request to install stop signs at 43 th Avenue and 6 Street. Motion carried. rdth Young stated the Commission should discuss 43 Avenue and 7Street. It is difficult to rd see oncoming traffic at the crest of the hill. There is more of a visibility problem on 43 rdth Avenue. Traffic on 43 Avenue should yield to traffic on 7 Street. Olson questioned the value of a yield sign. Young stated it assigns the right of way. States is it difficult to see traffic. Carlson feels the only benefit of yield signs is that they mean slow down to most people. Goodman agreed. Olson stated this is similar to what we just turned down and that the yield law is in effect anyway. Goodman stated with a stop sign on the hill traffic could not stop on a bad winter day as you would not be able to get going. Tyler thth stated the difference between 6 Street and 7 Street is visibility but he does not think this justifies a yield sign. If it can be demonstrated that placing a sign can significantly reduce accidents then he would be all for it, otherwise there are already too many signs. Olson would be swayed more if he had more pertinent data. These are just basic accidents that happen all over the city. Schmitt agreed. The difference would be visibility but if drivers are not paying attention it doesn’t matter if there is a yield sign or not. Motioned by Olson, seconded by Goodman to move to deny a yield sign at the Traffic Commission Agenda December 5, 2011 Page 3 rdth intersection of 43 Avenue and 7 Street. Motion carried. OTHER OLD BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS None. OTHER NEW BUSINESS th Carlson received a call from Virgil Percing complaining of speed going through the area of 2205 40 Avenue. He claims to have brought this up with someone from the City. Carlson asked him to write a letter to Kathy Young. No letter was received by the City. Carlson requested the Police Department to go over and take a look once in a while. Carlson sees nothing out of the ordinary. Cars may be th speeding to get up the hill from 40 and Central to Reservoir. Goodman stated Captain Roddy once had th a radar gun down there. Young will check if we have any reports or data. Olson stated that 40 Avenue should be a through street. Carlson stated citizens are not good at estimating speeds; speeds seem faster when a person is standing on the street. Sergeant Fischer will set up the speed trailer to obtain some thth data but there are a lot of stop signs on 40 so will see. Schmitt questioned the speed trailer on 40 between Arthur and Stinson Boulevard. rd MnDOT is still looking at the entire corridor regarding traffic signals. Olson asked about 53 Avenue again. REPORTS None ADJOURNMENT Motioned by Olson, seconded by Tyler to adjourn the meeting at 6:00 p.m. Motion carried unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Sue Schmidtbauer Public Works Secretary