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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJanuary 5, 2015 Agenda Packet AGENDA COLUMBIA HEIGHTS TRAFFIC COMMISSION MONDAY, JANUARY 5, 2015;5:30 P.M. I.ROLL CALL II.APPROVAL OF DECEMBER 1, 2014MINUTES III.PUBLIC HEARINGTO INSTALLTWO-WAY“YIELD” OR “STOP” SIGNS ND AT THE INTERSECTION OF WASHINGTON STREET AND 42AVENUE, YIELDING OR STOPPING TRAFFIC ON WASHINGTON STREET The Public Hearing Notice was published in the Sun Focus and sent to property owners within 300’ of the intersection. Inaddition, residents who signed the petition in 2011 were notified. TheMnMUTCDguidelines for installing stop/yield signs are included in yourpacket. In 2011, residents on Washington Street submitted a petition for yield or stop signs at the nd intersection of Washington Street and 42Avenue. The concern was the speed of traffic and safety of children on the block. At that time, there had been threereported accidents in three years. Two of the accidents (one in 2010and one in 2011) were caused by operators with no driver’s license. The Traffic Commission denied the request for traffic control. At the December meeting, Ms.Becky Chudek requested stop signs be installed at the intersection because of the number of accidents (8 since last fall) and concern for safety of children in the neighborhood.Police Department staff researched the accident records and foundfivereported accidents within the last five years. There was one accident in 2011 and four accidents in 2014. The Traffic Commission felt apine tree obscures visibility and called for the Public Hearing at the January 5, 2015meeting. All of the accidentssince 2009are listed in the table below. DateDescriptionExtenuating Circumstances 8/12/2009West bound -South bound Property damage 8/3/2010East bound –North boundCited for no driver’s license. Personal injury 7/11/11East bound –North boundCited for driving after suspension. Property damage 1/26/2014 Personal injury accident 2/27/2014Icy conditions a factor. Personal injury accident 8/9/2014Hit and run. Driver cited for leaving the scene. Property damage accident 10/23/2014 Property damage accident Traffic Commission Agenda January 5, 2015 Page 2 The lower branches on the pine tree located on the southeast corner were removed, exceeding st compliance with “visibility triangle” requirements. On Washington Street, traffic yields at 41 rdndth Avenue and stops at 43 Avenue. On 42Avenue, traffic stops at5Street and Jefferson Street. RECOMMENDED MOTION: nd Move to install “YIELD”signs at the intersection of Washington Street and 42Avenue, yielding traffic on Washington Street. IV.OLD BUSINESS None. V.OTHER OLD BUSINESS VI.NEW BUSINESS None. VII.OTHER NEW BUSINESS VIII.REPORTS A.CITY ENGINEER B.POLICE CHIEF C.COMMISSIONERS IX.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 MONDAY,DECEMBER 1, 2014 CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Carlson at 5:30p.m. ROLL CALL Members present:Carlson, Doty, Tyler Staff present:Kathy Young, Assistant City Engineer Lenny Austin, PoliceCaptain Sue Schmidtbauer, Public Works Secretary Council Liaison:Donna Schmitt APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Tyler, seconded byDoty,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 ND WASHINGTON STREET AND 42AVENUE In 2011 residents on Washington Street submitted a petition for yield or stop signs at the nd intersection of Washington Street and 42Avenue. 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 Chudekrequested 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. st The visibility at the intersection is fair. On Washington Street traffic yields at 41Avenue rdndth and stops at 43Avenue; on 42Avenue traffic stops at 5Street and Jefferson Street. Staff review found approximately 2’ to 3’ of the pine tree branches extendinto the visibility triangle. Young reviewed the MUTCD guidelines and stated this intersection came up once before in 2011.She requestedthe 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, twoduring the winter Traffic Commission Minutes –December 1, 2014 Page 2 months, onewith ice conditions being a contributing factor.The other accident was a hit and run in August involving adriver with nolicense. The crashes at thatintersection 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 northboundand 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 notbother the homeowner. She would like to see a yield or stop sign installedas she is concerned about her children’s safetybecause there are a lot of accidentsand they end up in the yards. Austin stated the accident with the bus was a small bus with four students on boardtraveling nd westbound on 42Avenue.Tyler commented thatthey would have been obscured by the tree. Young clarified what we can and cannot do regarding the pine tree. Because the treeis on private property, we can only requestthat the resident trim it from the bottom up,but we cannot requireit.We can only require them to trim the 2-3branches on the intersection side that extend 2-3 feetintothe visibility triangle. We’ve requested that theyconsidertrimming the treefrom the bottom up or even removingitbuthave not received a response to date. Doty stated last time these accidents were brought up (2011) a landscape company was parkingtheir vehicles on Washington Street overnight.The woman was concerned about small children running in the street. Then Captain Austin brought up parking restrictions becausecars and trucks were parked on WashingtonStreet blocking visibility andkids were running in-between the parked vehicles.Itwas stated that wewould need to chalk the tires, and towto enforce the parking restrictions.At that point the resident dropped the issue. It had nothing do with the intersectionvisibility. The tree was trimmed up a couple of feet back thenbut the issue was the landscaping trucks that were parked on the street in front of the tree. Now it’s winter and thereis no landscape work. Doty suggested that we check thisin the months of June, July and Augustto see ifthe landscaping trucksare parked on the street. Ms. Chudek stated she owns the landscape companyand they are her trucks. She said theynow only park on the street forsixhours 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. Carlsonasked ifwe meet any guidelines for ayield or stop sign. Youngresponded that the crash records meet thethreshold, but shedoes think iftheproperty owner were willing to trim the treefrom the bottom up, not just out of the visibility triangle,it would help. Schmitt statedthey havea tree like that andtheytrim itbut itdidn’t make any differencelast 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 onlyatemporary fix.Tyler stated Traffic Commission Minutes –December 1, 2014 Page 3 our actions should not be based on whetherthey trim the tree or not, if there is a hazard there we need to address it. Carlsonstated theissue at the intersection--to see someone coming from theeastwhen you’re northboundorsomeone from the southwhen you’rewestbound does make a difference.Would like to see if we can talk the residentinto trimming the tree to open itup underneath, feels itwould solve the problem. Tylerfeels there may be a problem if the treeisn’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 theneighbor a little bit andfeels it would be more effective for her to talk to the neighborrather than the commission.However, she still would like to see a yield or stop signat that intersection.Her trucksmay have been out of compliance in 2011 but she has fixed that now. She would really appreciate a yield orstop sign. Carlson stated a yield sign generally makes people go faster. Ms. Chudek stated it did help the St. Matthews corner. Youngstated that in 2011 there were threereported accidents in threeyears but two of them were operators with nodriver’slicense. Austin stated drivers with suspended licenses has rdth become common. Just recently, the accident on 43and7was a driverwhohad a suspended license.Young advised Ms. Chudek that putting inayield or stop may providea tendency for traffic in theopposite direction to go faster, so that is something to consider. Carlsonstated that if you put a stop sign where therereally shouldn’t beone, people have a tendency to go through it. Youngwas unable to find a phone numberfor the tree property. Ms. Chudekdoes 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 ofstaff recommendation“A”opting for a YIELD sign. Youngstated that to install intersection control like that requiresapublic hearing process, so Option A is to call for a public hearingat the Januarymeeting.Motion seconded by Carlson.Motion passed. Doty abstained. Next meeting will beMonday, January 5. Youngwill notify residents within300 feetineachdirectionof the intersectionand let them know about the hearingand 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 doany good but will talk to her about it. OTHER NEW BUSINESS None REPORTS A.CITY ENGINEER nd Youngstated there seems to have been a rash of accidents in the area of discussion; 42and rdth Washingtonand 43and 7Street.She also receivesquite a few emails from a property owner Traffic Commission Minutes –December 1, 2014 Page 4 ndth at42and7Street. She’s keeping track of what’s going on there. Police is going back and researching all the accident records. Young asked Captain Austin if he had any insight on the number of accidents.Austinstated it could be a lot of things—weather may be part of it or new residents. When he first started with the city he noticedthat there area lot of uncontrolled intersections in this citywhich is hard to get used to. There were also a lot of accidents last winterdue to the weather and thinks that’s a big part of it.Dotystated that stop signs are just as nd hard to stop for in winter. The 2011concern at 42and Washington was more in the summer when kids were playing and vehicles were parked on the street. Weshouldcheck again regarding parked trucks and vans on the street. Austinagrees with Young, thatayield sign may stth increase speed at that intersection.However,the yield signs on41and 7Street by the Islamic Center have helped. TheIslamic Centeroriginally wanted stop signs but tried the yield signs nd and they have made things much better.Doty questioned if a yield sign on 42and Washington stth will be too close to the ones on 41and 7in that drivers will start disrespecting the signs. B.POLICE None. C.COMMISSIONERS th Doty questioned why there wereflags by the stop sign on 44Avenue andArthur 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 consideringpainting the word “STOP”in the street. Donna feelsthe flags help. The woman on the corner stated no one was stopping so we put the flags up temporarily. ADJOURNMENT Motion byCarlson, seconded byDotyto adjourn the meeting at 6:09p.m. Motion carried unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Sue Schmidtbauer,Public WorksSecretary MINNESOTA MANUAL ON UNIFORM TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICES JANUARY 2014 The MUTCD guidelines for installing STOP or YIELDsigns at intersectionsare listed below: Engineering judgment should be used to establish intersection control. The following factors should be considered: A.Vehicular, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic volumes on all approaches; B.Number and angle of approaches; C.Approach speeds; D.Sight distance available on each approach; and E.Reported crash experience. YIELD or STOP signs should be used at anintersection if one or more of the following conditions exist: A.An intersection of a less important road with a main road where application of the normal right-of-way rule would not be expected to provide reasonable compliance with the law; B.A street entering a designated through highway or street; and/or C.An unsignalized intersection in a signalized area. In addition, the use of YIELD or STOP signs should be considered at the intersection of two minor streets or local roads where the intersection has more than three approaches and where one or more of the following conditions exist: A.The combined vehicular, bicycle, and pedestrian volume entering the intersection from all approaches averages more than 2,000 unitsper day. B.The ability to see conflicting traffic on an approach is not sufficient to allow a road user to stop or yield in compliance with the normal right-of-way rule if such stopping or yielding is necessary; and/or C.Crash records indicate that five or more crashes that involve the failure to yield the right-of-way at the intersection under the normal right-of-way rule have been reported withina 3-year period, or that three or more such crashes have been reported withina 2-year period. CITY OF COLUMBIA HEIGHTS NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING The Traffic Commission has determined a Public Hearing will be held to: INSTALL TWO-WAY “YIELD” OR “STOP” SIGNS AT THE INTERSECTION OF ND WASHINGTON STREET AND 42AVENUE, YIELDING OR STOPPING TRAFFIC ONWASHINGTON STREET The meeting is scheduled for Monday, January 5, 2015, at 5:30P.M. at the City Council th Chamberslocated at 590 40Avenue N.E. Notice is hereby given that all persons having an interest therein will be given an opportunity to be heard. 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 763-706-3611to make arrangements. (TDD/763-706-3692for deaf only) CITY OF COLUMBIA HEIGHTS WALTER FEHST, CITY MANAGER Published in Focus on12/26/14