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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAPRIL 2, 2012 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS COLUMBIA HEIGHTS TRAFFIC COMMISSION MONDAY, APRIL 2, 2012 CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Carlson at 5:30 p.m. ROLL CALL Members present: Carlson, Doty, Goodman, Olson, Tyler Staff present: Kathy Young, Assistant City Engineer Lenny Austin, Police Captain Sue Schmidtbauer, Public Works Secretary Council Liaison: Donna Schmitt APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motioned by Goodman, seconded by Olson, to approve the minutes of December 5, 2011, as presented. Motion carried unanimously. OLD BUSINESS None. OTHER OLD BUSINESS None. NEW BUSINESS RD REQUEST TO INSTALL CROSS WALK ACROSS 43 AVENUE AT JACKSON STREET rd Ms. Kelly Dunn lives on the 4200 block of Jackson Street. She routinely walks to the shopping center at 43 rd and Central Avenues. Ms. Dunn is blind and has difficulty crossing 43 Avenue near Jackson Street because rd of the noise in the area and inattentive drivers. Ms. Dunn has requested a crosswalk across 43 Avenue at rd 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. rd 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 rdrd 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 rd like to pursue completing the sidewalk along the north side of 43 Avenue from Quincy Street to 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. Goodman stated the sidewalk may be too close to the trees calling for their removal. Young stated the trees may belong to Rainbow or they possibly could be in the right-of-way. There is a fence on the property that may also belong to Rainbow. Doty questioned if there would be a grass boulevard in the middle, so there is a place for plowed snow in the winter. Young stated we will need to work with the property owner. Olson Traffic Commission Minutes – April 2, 2012 Page 2 questioned why the sidewalk was stopped. It should be on the shopping center side to keep pedestrians on that side. Need to install a sidewalk, crosswalk, and pedestrian ramps. Carlson sees no problem with the sidewalk but does have a problem with the crosswalk. He feels this will set a precedent for crosswalks all over the city. Doty suggested we discuss this request and deal with any others later. Olson and Tyler both agreed that this request is bordering on a busy shopping center, which makes it a little different. Ms. Dunn stated that the noise from the compressors at Rainbow make it difficult for her to hear traffic in the summer. She normally crosses at Jackson and walks along the street to the driveway, which is dangerous. Traffic from Central Avenue does not slow down unless it is going into Rainbow. Olson feels we should follow staff’s recommendations for this case and Tyler agrees. Doty and Goodman both agreed that there currently is no sidewalk and that is why there is no crosswalk. Commission members also agreed that other neighbors most likely walk to the shopping center too. People should not have to be pushed into the street due to lack of a sidewalk. There are sidewalks and crosswalks on the north side of the shopping center, there should be sidewalks and crosswalks on the south side as well. rd Captain Austin stated that 43 Avenue is a busy street. Councilmember Schmitt stated that the “Watch for Pedestrian’s” signs are shaped like parking signs and white rather than yellow. Schmitt agrees with Ms. Dunn. She also stated that painted crosswalks have been proven to slow traffic down. She agrees with staff’s recommendations. Motioned by Olson to approve the crosswalk at Jackson Street on the premise that the City Council approves rd completion of the sidewalk on the north side of 43 Avenue due to a unique situation. Motion seconded by Goodman. Motion carried. OTHER NEW BUSINESS None. REPORTS 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 2½ minutes during rush hour. New data is being collected by MnDOT in May, although Schwartz does not anticipate any changes. Olson stated that trying to get onto Central Avenue at rush hour is very difficult and rd that there are backups, especially at 53 Avenue. Young reported that some of the signals along Central Avenue are being replaced by MnDOT, but did not know if the new yellow arrow would be used for left turns. A flyer explaining the yellow arrow will be included in the next packet. TH “NO PARKING” ON 49 AVENUE th The City Council has designated “No Parking” on 49 Avenue near the intersections of Fillmore Street and Johnson Street to improve visibility. Both the School District and Anoka County agree with these designations. Additional street lighting is also being installed. Doty stated that these are good improvements Traffic Commission Minutes – April 2, 2012 Page 3 th as visibility along 49 Avenue can be difficult during events at the high school. He also requested the parking be restricted at crosswalks. COMMISSIONERS th Olson asked about ALDI’s. He thought we were going to stop traffic from the frontage road onto 50 Avenue coming out of Jimmy John’s. Young stated the council considered this suggestion, but decided the frontage road will remain two-way. ADJOURNMENT Motioned by Doty, seconded by Tyler to adjourn the meeting at 6:05 p.m. Motion carried unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Sue Schmidtbauer Public Works Secretary