HomeMy WebLinkAboutApril 2, 2012AGENDA
COLUMBIA HEIGHTS TRAFFIC COMMISSION
CITY COUNCIL CHAMBER
MONDAY, APRIL 2,2012; 5:30 P.M.
L ROLL CALL
II. APPROVAL OF DECEMBER 5, 2011 MINUTES
III. OLD BUSINESS
None.
IV. OTHER OLD BUSINESS
V. NEW BUSINESS
A. REQUEST TO INSTALL CROSS WALK ACROSS 43 AVENUE AT JACKSON
STREET
Ms. Kelly Dunn lives on the 4200 block of Jackson Street. She routinely walks to the
shopping center at 43 and Central Avenues. Ms. Dunn is blind and has difficulty
crossing 43 Avenue near Jackson Street because of the noise in the area and inattentive
drivers. Ms. Dunn has requested a crosswalk across 43 Avenue at Jackson Street to
draw attention to pedestrians in the area. South of 43 Avenue, there is existing sidewalk
on Quincy Street, Jackson Street, Van Buren Street, and Central Avenue.
With the shopping center, 43 Avenue is a heavily traveled street with both vehicle and
truck traffic. In response to other complaints by pedestrians, staff has installed "Watch
for Pedestrians" signs near the intersections of 43 Avenue and Quincy Street and 43
Avenue and Central Avenue.
City staff cannot recommend installing crosswalks that leave pedestrians stranded in the
street. Staff would like to pursue completing the sidewalk along the north side of 43
Avenue from Quincy Street and Central Avenue. Sidewalk is already in place for a short
distance east of Quincy Street and west of Central Avenue. The distance between the two
sections of walk is about 580'. Appropriate locations for pedestrian ramps and
crosswalks would be determined during design of the sidewalk.
RECOMMENDED MOTION: Move to recommend the City Council complete the
sidewalk on the north side of 43 rd Avenue from Quincy Street to Central Avenue.
Traffic Commission Agenda
April 2, 2012
Page 2
VII. REPORTS
A. CITY ENGINEER
SIGNAL TIMING ON CENTRAL AVENUE
Attached is an e -mail from Kevin Schwartz with MnDOT concerning the traffic
signal timing on Central Avenue. The side streets are set to change to green every
90 seconds during non -rush hour times and every 2'h minutes during rush hour.
New data is being collected by MnDOT in May.
2. "NO PARKING" ON 49 AVENUE
Visibility of vehicles and pedestrians in the vicinity of the Columbia Heights High
School has been discussed several times at Traffic Commission meetings. To
improve visibility, the City Council has designated "No Parking" on 49 Avenue
near the intersections of Fillmore Street and Johnson Street. Both the School
District and Anoka County agree with these designations. Additional street
lighting is also being installed. The "No Parking" areas are shown on the attached
map.
B. POLICE CHIEF
C. COMMISSIONERS
VIII. ADJOURNMENT
The City of Columbia Heights does not discriminate on the basis of disability in the admission or access to, or treatment or employment in,
its services, programs, or activities. Upon request, accommodation will be provided to allow individuals with disabilities to participate in
all City of Columbia Heights' services, programs, and activities. Auxiliary aids for handicapped persons are available upon request when
the request is made at least 96 hours in advance. Please call the City Council Secretary at 763!706 -3611 to make arrangements.
(TDD /763- 706 -3692 for deaf only.)
UNAPPROVED
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.
A. REQUEST TO INSTALL "STOP" SIGNS AT THE INTERSECTION OF 6 TH STREET
AND 43 AVENUE
Ms. Dorothy LaHoud of 4209 6th Street requested stop signs at 43 Avenue and 6th
Street. The concern is a blind spot at the intersection.
At the November meeting, the Commission reviewed this intersection as well as the
accident records for the intersection of 7 Street and 43 Avenue. The Commission
tabled this request in order to obtain additional information concerning the 7 Street
intersection.
43 Avenue and 6 Street
The visibility at the intersection is somewhat limited on the south side of the intersection
because of the higher ground elevations. Sidewalks are available on 6 Street. On 6th
Street, traffic stops at 42 Avenue and 44 Avenue. On 43 Avenue, traffic stops at 5th
Street and Jefferson Street. There have been two reported traffic accidents in the last five
years, one in 2008 and one in 2007.
43 Avenue and 7 Street
The intersection is at the crest of a hill limiting visibility. On 7 Street, traffic yields at
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
Traffic Commission Agenda
December 5, 2011
Page 2
underage driver. This accident should not be included when reviewing the guidelines for
yield or stop sign placement.
Traffic counts were done for 48 hours on 43 Avenue and 7 Street. The average daily
traffic was approximately 315 on 43 Avenue and 210 on 7th Street. This is considered
normal traffic for a residential street.
Ms. LaHoud stated her family is afraid to drive down 6 th 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
only one stop sign is needed on 6 th Street. Carlson stated if cars would yield like they are
supposed to there would be no problem. Ms. LaHoud asked if 43 Street is supposed to
be a "through" street, at 6 th 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
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.
Motioned by Olson, seconded by Doty to deny the request to install stop signs at 43
Avenue and 6 th Street. Motion carried.
Young stated the Commission should discuss 43 Avenue and 7 Street. It is difficult to
see oncoming traffic at the crest of the hill. There is more of a visibility problem on 43
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
stated the difference between 6 th 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.
Traffic Commission Agenda
December 5, 2011
Page 3
Motioned by Olson, seconded by Goodman to move to deny a yield sign at the
intersection of 43 Avenue and 7th Street. Motion carried.
OTHER OLD BUSINESS
None
NEW BUSINESS
None.
OTHER NEW BUSINESS
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
speeding to get up the hill from 40 and Central to Reservoir. Goodman stated Captain Roddy once had
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
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.
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
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From: "Schwartz, Kevin (DOT)" <kevin.schwartz @state.mn.us>
To: Kevin Hansen <Kevin. Hansen@ci. columbia-heights.mn.us>
CC: Kathy Young < Kathy. Young @ci.columbia- heights.mn.us>
Date: 3/15/2012 2:03 PM
Subject: RE: COMPLAINT CENTRAL AVE NE
Kevin,
The signals on Central Ave are coordinated and the wait for the next green light is related to the
coordinated cycle lengths. If you just miss the green, you may wait around 90 seconds during
the non -rush hours for the next green and up to 2 and a half minutes during the afternoon rush
hour. The transit signal priority does not affect the length of this wait as it only affects the
amount of green time given to the left turning movements or cross streets. For example, if the
signal receives a transit signal priority call, it may reduce the amount of green time for a left turn
during that cycle which may cause the queue to not be cleared on one cycle. We can adjust the
amount of time the left turn or cross street can be shortened and we could set it to 0 if we think
the left turn or cross street is having trouble clearing the queue on a regular basis.
We are currently taking new counts at the intersections in Columbia Heights and we will be
installing new coordination timing plans in May. However, I'm not expecting the cycle lengths
to be that much different as the volumes probably haven't changed a lot since 2009 in Columbia
Heights. I will take a look at the transit signal priority settings so if you know of any
intersections that are having trouble clearing the queue, please let me know and I can look at
adjusting the amount of green time that can be taken away from that movement.
Thanks, Kevin
Kevin Schwartz, P.E., PTOE
Signal Optimization Engineer
MnDOT Metro Traffic Engineering
1500 W. County Rd. B -2
Roseville, MN 55113
Phone: 651- 234 -7840
Fax: 651-234-7850
kevin.schwartz@state.mn.us
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! Kathy oung - Request for a crosswalk Page 1
From: "Kelly Dunn" <kelly @handytech.us>
To: <kathy. young @ci.columbia - heights.mn.us>
Date: 4/1/2012 6:49 PM
Subject: Request for a crosswalk
April 1, 2012
To the Traffic Commission.
I am writing this letter to request your help in creating a more safe
traffic situation around my house. In June of 2011 we moved into a home at
4257 Jackson Street Northeast. We were excited about the convenience of the
location of the home in relation to the Rainbow Foods on 43rd Avenue right
across the street. As visually impaired people who do not drive, the idea
of being able to get to the grocery store without taking cabs, or riding
busses seemed like a dream to us.
When we looked at the home in March, the compressors from the store were
making a little noise, but after we moved in we discovered that with warmer
weather, the compressors have to work harder, making for more background
noise. When we leave our home to go to the grocery store, we usually walk
out of our front door and take the sidewalk down to 43rd and cross at the
corner of 43rd and Jackson. With the noise of the compressors we discovered
rather quickly that it is very hard to read traffic to cross the street
safely. The noise from the compressor creates just enough of a din that it
is nearly impossible to decide when it is safe to cross the street. There
is a stop sign on Jackson, but the traffic has to slow down anyways to make
the turn since the intersection is a T and Jackson doesn't go through on the
north side. The traffic from 43rd doesn't have to slow down at all, and
this is where the problem comes in.
If there was a crosswalk painted on the street with a yield sign, this might
alert traffic to the presence of pedestrians. I have noticed that there is
a lot of pedestrian traffic at this intersection because of the grocery
store and if a crosswalk were present, it would make things safer for
everyone.
I spoke with Kathy Young and she mentioned the concern of having a crosswalk
would direct traffic into the street on the north side because there is no
sidewalk. Right now, when we cross the street, we need to walk in the
street because there is no other clear option. People are walking in the
street anyways, so obviously this situation isn't particularly safe for
anyone. Coming up with some kind of solution would be beneficial to the
community since there is quite a bit of pedestrian traffic here.
If there is anything else that I can do to assist this process feel free to
contact me. I am happy to be of assistance in any way that I can.
Best Regards,
Kelly Dunn
Training Manager
Handy Tech North America
kelly @handytech.us
651- 636 -5184
4110 Central Avenue Northeast, Suite 104