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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDecember 1, 2014OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS COLUMBIA HEIGHTS TRAFFIC COMMISSION MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2014 CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Carlson at 5:30 p.m. ROLL CALL Members present: Carlson, Doty, Tyler Staff present: Kathy Young, Assistant City Engineer Lenny Austin, Police Captain Sue Schmidtbauer, Public Works Secretary Council Liaison: Donna Schmitt APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Tyler, seconded by Doty, to approve the minutes of July 7, 2014, as presented. Motion carried unanimously. OLD BUSINESS None OTHER OLD BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS A. REQUEST TO INSTALL "YIELD" OR "STOP" SIGNS AT THE INTERSECTION OF WASHINGTON STREET AND 42ND AVENUE In 2011 residents on Washington Street submitted a petition for yield or stop signs at the intersection of Washington Street and 42nd Avenue. The concern was the speed of traffic and safety of children on the block. At that time, there had been three reported accidents in three years. Two of the accidents were caused by operators with no driver's license. The Traffic Commission denied the request for traffic control. Recently, Ms. Becky Chudek requested the Public Works Department review the pine tree on the southeast corner of the intersection for compliance with the City's visibility ordinance. In a subsequent conversation, Ms. Chudek requested stop signs be installed at the intersection because of the number of accidents and concern for safety of children in the neighborhood. The visibility at the intersection is fair. On Washington Street traffic yields at 41st Avenue and stops at 43rd Avenue; on 42nd Avenue traffic stops at 5th Street and Jefferson Street. Staff review found approximately 2' to 3' of the pine tree branches extend into the visibility triangle. Young reviewed the MUTCD guidelines and stated this intersection came up once before in 2011. She requested the Police Department take another look at the accident records. Police Department staff found five accidents within the last five years. There was one accident in 2011, nothing in 2012 or 2013, and four accidents to date in 2014, two during the winter months, one with ice conditions being a contributing factor. The other accident was a hit and Traffic Commission Minutes — December 1, 2014 Page 2 run in August involving a driver with no license. The crashes at that intersection are usually fairly low speed; however, last year was an interesting year due to the amount of snow affecting visibility. Carlson looked at the intersection and stated the pine tree does make somewhat of a difference and it is in violation of City ordinance. If the tree were trimmed up from the bottom it would clear up the northbound and westbound portion of the corner, but he doesn't feel it would make a difference from the other two directions. Ms. Chubek stated not all the accidents have been reported. She has counted eight accidents, one recently with a school bus and another where a car lodged into her neighbor's front yard and stopped at the tree. Her children play in the front yard of the neighbor that is right on the corner and she is concerned about their safety. Ms. Chubek stated she does not really care if the tree is trimmed or not, she would rather not bother the homeowner. She would like to see a yield or stop sign installed as she is concerned about her children's safety because there are a lot of accidents and they end up in the yards. Austin stated the accident with the bus was a small bus with four students on board traveling westbound on 42nd Avenue. Tyler commented that they would have been obscured by the tree. Young clarified what we can and cannot do regarding the pine tree. Because the tree is on private property, we can only request that the resident trim it from the bottom up, but we cannot require it. We can only require them to trim the 2 -3 branches on the intersection side that extend 2 -3 feet into the visibility triangle. We've requested that they consider trimming the tree from the bottom up or even removing it but have not received a response to date. Doty stated last time these accidents were brought up (2011) a landscape company was parking their vehicles on Washington Street overnight. The woman was concerned about small children running in the street. Then Captain Austin brought up parking restrictions because cars and trucks were parked on Washington Street blocking visibility and kids were running in- between the parked vehicles. It was stated that we would need to chalk the tires, and tow to enforce the parking restrictions. At that point the resident dropped the issue. It had nothing do with the intersection visibility. The tree was trimmed up a couple of feet back then but the issue was the landscaping trucks that were parked on the street in front of the tree. Now it's winter and there is no landscape work. Doty suggested that we check this in the months of June, July and August to see if the landscaping trucks are parked on the street. Ms. Chubek stated she owns the landscape company and they are her trucks. She said they now only park on the street for six hours and then pull the trucks in. They used to park underneath the tree but no longer park there. She did not know of any kids running in the street. Doty stated that the woman who was here was stating all this information when she wanted the stop signs. Back then it was parking ordinance. Carlson asked if we meet any guidelines for a yield or stop sign. Young responded that the crash records meet the threshold, but she does think if the property owner were willing to trim the tree from the bottom up, not just out of the visibility triangle, it would help. Schmitt stated they have a tree like that and they trim it but it didn't make any difference last winter because there was so much snow - -they still couldn't see anything. Even after trimming, the branches became weighted down with snow, and so it was only a temporary fix. Tyler stated our actions should not be based on whether they trim the tree or not, if there is a hazard there Traffic Commission Minutes — December 1, 2014 Page 3 we need to address it. Carlson stated the issue at the intersection - -to see someone coming from the east when you're northbound or someone from the south when you're westbound does make a difference. Would like to see if we can talk the resident into trimming the tree to open it up underneath, feels it would solve the problem. Tyler feels there may be a problem if the tree isn't trimmed and if it is trimmed we may still have a problem. We're basing our decision on whether they trim their tree or not and there's no legal requirement to do so. Ms. Chudek stated she knows the neighbor a little bit and feels it would be more effective for her to talk to the neighbor rather than the commission. However, she still would like to see a yield or stop sign at that intersection. Her trucks may have been out of compliance in 2011 but she has fixed that now. She would really appreciate a yield or stop sign. Carlson stated a yield sign generally makes people go faster. Ms. Chudek stated it did help the St. Matthews corner. Young stated that in 2011 there were three reported accidents in three years but two of them were operators with no driver's license. Austin stated drivers with suspended licenses has become common. Just recently, the accident on 43rd and 7 t was a driver who had a suspended license. Young advised Ms. Chudek that putting in a yield or stop may provide a tendency for traffic in the opposite direction to go faster, so that is something to consider. Carlson stated that if you put a stop sign where there really shouldn't be one, people have a tendency to go through it. Young was unable to find a phone number for the tree property. Ms. Chudek does not know who owns the house. Ms. Chudek asked if it would do any good to put in a yield sign. Carlson stated a stop sign and yield sign can mean the same thing. If traffic is coming from the other way you're to stop for the yield sign. Motion by Tyler to recommend approval of staff recommendation "A" opting for a YIELD sign. Young stated that to install intersection control like that requires a public hearing process, so Option A is to call for a public hearing at the January meeting. Motion seconded by Carlson. Motion passed. Doty abstained. Next meeting will be Monday, January 5. Young will notify residents within 300 feet in each direction of the intersection and let them know about the hearing and that they are welcome to come to the meeting and voice their opinion. We will know more about the tree trimming by then as a letter has been sent. Ms. Chudek stated she will also talk to the property owner about the tree. She's unsure if it will do any good but will talk to her about it. OTHER NEW BUSINESS None REPORTS A. CITY ENGINEER Young stated there seems to have been a rash of accidents in the area of discussion; 42nd and Washington and 43rd and 7 t Street. She also receives quite a few emails from a property owner at 42 nd and 7th Street. She's keeping track of what's going on there. Police is going back and Traffic Commission Minutes — December 1, 2014 Page 4 researching all the accident records. Young asked Captain Austin if he had any insight on the number of accidents. Austin stated it could be a lot of things—weather may be part of it or new residents. When he first started with the city he noticed that there are a lot of uncontrolled intersections in this city which is hard to get used to. There were also a lot of accidents last winter due to the weather and thinks that's a big part of it. Doty stated that stop signs are just as hard to stop for in winter. The 2011 concern at 42nd and Washington was more in the summer when kids were playing and vehicles were parked on the street. We should check again regarding parked trucks and vans on the street. Austin agrees with Young, that a yield sign may increase speed at that intersection. However, the yield signs on 41't and 7th Street by the Islamic Center have helped. The Islamic Center originally wanted stop signs but tried the yield signs and they have made things much better. Doty questioned if a yield sign on 42nd and Washington will be too close to the ones on 4l 't and 7th in that drivers will start disrespecting the signs. B. POLICE None. C. COMMISSIONERS Doty questioned why there were flags by the stop sign on 44th Avenue and Arthur Street. Young stated this was to draw attention to the stop signs because no one stops. They were only put up for a short time. Young stated this is a county road. We are considering painting the word "STOP" in the street. Donna feels the flags help. The woman on the corner stated no one was stopping so we put the flags up temporarily. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Carlson, seconded by Doty to adjourn the meeting at 6:09 p.m. Motion carried unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Sue Schmidtbauer, Public Works Secretary