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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOctober 3, 2016 Minutes OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS COLUMBIA HEIGHTS TRAFFIC COMMISSION MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016 CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Ed Carlson at 5:30 p.m. ROLL CALL Members present: Commissioners Ed Carlson, Brian Clerkin, Kevin Doty, Nick Novitsky and Leonard Olson 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 Doty, seconded by Olson, to approve the minutes of August 1, 2016, as presented. Motion passed unanimously. OLD BUSINESS None OTHER OLD BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS A.REQUEST FOR NO PARKING Ms. Julie Johnson, Business Administrator for First Lutheran Church, has requested NO PARKING signs be installed on the east side of Tyler Street from the parking lot driveway to 70’ north of the driveway, across from the properties of 4044 and 4050 Tyler Street. Because of the school, parents park along the east side of Tyler Street to pick up their children before and after school making it difficult for the property owners to back out of their driveways. th Residents and Roger Johnson, First Lutheran Church, 1555 40 Avenue NE others present: Jane Pemberton, 4050 Tyler Street NE Howard Wigand, 4044 Tyler Street NE th Julie Johnson, First Lutheran Church, 1555 40 Avenue NE Carlson stated some of the driveways are quite narrow. Doty and Clerkin can see the issue; the way cars are parked does make it hard for residents to get in and out of their driveways. Novitsky stated it looks like there is still ample room to get in and out. Doty asked who cleans the snow along the curb. Mr. Johnson stated the church does the parking lot and the driveway, as well as the full width of the sidewalk. The city does the street. He stated that if a car is parked between the two driveways of 4044 and 4050 Tyler, where there is barely room for a small car, it makes it even more difficult to get in and out. Mr. Wigard provided pictures from earlier this year where Ms. Pemberton was having trouble getting out of her driveway and someone actually parked across the front of his driveway. Stated this occurs on a daily basis. Traffic Commission Minutes –October 3, 2016 Page 2 Olson inquired if this is a collaborative request from the neighbors and the church. Ms. Johnson stated the request is actually from the neighbors but the church initiated the request to the city. She received a phone call from Ms. Pemberton approximately one year ago. At that time Ms. Johnson spoke to the school and asked them to advise parents not to park there, but that didn’t work out and it was suggested that they put up a cone. The church did not feel this was sufficient, that a No Parking sign would be best because when cars are parked on both sides of the street, especially in the winter, there’s barely room to get through—its’s very tight. Ms. Pemberton stated there’s no way an emergency vehicle can get down the road in the winter when cars are parked on both sides. She’s seen the snow plows having to back up. Young asked if they are concerned that drivers will just start parking further south. Mr. Johnson stated if they park further south of the driveway then they may as well park in the parking lot. Olson asked about parking further north. Ms. Johnson stated the only area they are concerned about is the grassy area directly across from the driveways. Mr. Johnson feels we could designate No Parking st all the way to 41 Avenue. Carlson advised the whole side of the street is already No Parking on Sundays and suggested No Parking along the entire block on one side. The church parking lot is st not full; parking on the street is just a convenience because the school door is on 41 and Tyler. The teachers park in the parking lot but volunteers and parents tend to park closer so they don’t have to walk the kids so far from the parking lot. Some volunteers are there for three hours. On a normal day there are 4-5 cars parked on the east side and 6-7 on the west side. Mr. Wigand advised that sometimes there will be a car parked in the very small space between both of their driveways. Novitsky stated he could see a No Parking sign between the driveways more than the other side of the street. Doty is okay with the No Parking but states it won’t eliminate people parking on the west side of the street by the driveways. That’s the only issue he can see. Clerkin feels people will park wherever no matter what. If they can’t park on the east side of the street then they’ll park on the west side and possibly partially block the driveways. If No Parking is posted on the east side, then at least No Parking during the School Year should be posted on the other side. Hopefully this will help. But, unless it’s enforced, people will park anywhere. Motion by Olson to call a public hearing at the next Traffic Commission meeting to designate NO PARKING on the east side of Tyler Street from the First Lutheran Church parking lot driveway to 70’ north of the driveway. Seconded by Doty. Motion passed unanimously. B.REQUEST FOR SAFETY CHANGES ON STINSON BOULEVARD FROM FAIRWAY DRIVE TO INNSBRUCK PARKWAY th Ms. Marlene Steinke has requested several changes along Stinson Boulevard and 5 Street where it comes in from New Brighton as well as Fairway Drive to Innsbruck Parkway. The concern is the speed of traffic and distracted/inconsiderate drivers. Residents present: Thomas Steinke, 4832 Stinson Boulevard The visibility is good at all of the intersections discussed in the letter. Traffic stops at all of the cross-streets with Stinson Boulevard. The average daily traffic (ADT) on Fairway Drive is 2,450. th ADT on Stinson Boulevard between Fairway Drive and 5 Street NW (New Brighton) is 2,000. Traffic Commission Minutes –October 3, 2016 Page 3 th ADT on 5 Street NW east of Stinson Boulevard is 3,300. A lot of traffic comes from Argonne th Drive down Stinson Boulevard and then across on 5 Street NW, which is kind of a back way through the city. Mr. Steinke did bring videos of things he’s observed. The accident record at th Stinson Boulevard and 5 Street NW showed no vehicle accidents in the last five years. A three way stop at Stinson Boulevard and Fairway Drive: Fairway Drive and Stinson Boulevard south of Fairway Drive are Anoka County roads. The City has no jurisdiction at this intersection. A three way stop at 5th Street NW and Stinson Boulevard: The accident information does not meet the guidelines for multi-way stop signs. th Crosswalks at the intersection of 5 Street NW and Stinson Boulevard and Stinson Boulevard and Fairway Drive; A crosswalk and speed bump at Stinson Boulevard and North Upland Crest and at Stinson Boulevard and Innsbruck Parkway: Staff does not recommend painted crosswalks unless there are sidewalks to direct the pedestrians to, otherwise pedestrians are just being directed to the street in which they’re already walking. Speed humps would not be permitted on Stinson Boulevard because 1) it’s a boundary street between Columbia Heights and New Brighton and 2) it’s a collector street, not a local street where speeding is an issue, and it’s meant to carry a lot of traffic. Narrow medians with wild grasses planted in them would be beautiful, but we are not sure if the road is wide enough: Staff checked the street widths to see if they could support medians. th Stinson Boulevard between Fairway Drive and 5 Street NW is 44’ wide so a median could potentially be placed there. However, the road narrows to the north, so in lieu of a median staff would recommend painting the parking lanes. This will make the road look narrower to the driver and will also give pedestrians a clear indication of where they can walk along the street. Another item for consideration is bump outs at the intersections. Studies have found that the only effective technique for reducing speed on city streets is to make the street appear narrow to the driver’s perception. Installation of curb “bump outs” at the intersection would need to be discussed with our City Council and the City of New Brighton. Keep the lanes to one lane in each direction, no turn lanes as this encourages drivers to run the th stop signs and not look each way: The only striped turn lane is for eastbound traffic on 5 Street. It’s wide enough for a right turn and a left turn. Staff can suggest this to New Brighton. However, the reality is that drivers make their own turn lanes if the street is wide enough, whether they are painted or not. Adding designated parking spots for the New Brighton Farmers Market/or other events along Stinson Boulevard: Again, we can put in the parking lane stripes, but any designated parking spots would need to be on private property. Mr. Steinke stated most of the Farmers Market vendors park in the seminary parking lot. Another concern of the on street parking is that it limits the visibility of pedestrians crossing the street if they’re not crossing at the corners. If they’re cutting in between cars then drivers aren’t as apt to see them. Traffic Commission Minutes –October 3, 2016 Page 4 Providing a school bus stopping area or sign with a crosswalk close by: This area is considered a walking area for both Highland Elementary and the high school. There is only bus pick up for the middle school. In regard to the other school districts, the bus stop locations often change from year-to-year based on the number of students in the area. Staff has talked to the bus transportation people regarding other intersections in the city and their comment has been that the bus stop locations are not consistently the same every year. Updating signs to warn drivers of a bus stop ahead, pedestrians, children playing and to slow down. A sign warning drivers of cars backing out of driveways (if there ends up being a three- th way stop at Stinson Boulevard and 5 Street NW there are two houses whose driveways will back into the intersection): Studies have shown that warning signs are not effective in changing driver behavior. Good drivers are already driving slowly and paying attention and may see a warning sign, whereas poor drivers do not look for or always heed warning signs. Staff is recommending talking to our City Council and the City of New Brighton to construct th “bump outs” at the intersections at 5 Street NW and Stinson Boulevard. We would need to approach the county if we want to do something similar on Fairway Drive. Mr. Steinke also provided photos that were distributed at the meeting. Discussion focused on the parking situation at the Farmers Market and a school bus drop-off. It was determined that the bus stop drop-off may be a bus company issue, but still remains a tough situation because of the busy intersection. Mr. Steinke thanked both police departments, Columbia Heights and New Brighton, for coming out and increasing their presence. He understands the difficulty because we are dealing with two cities, two counties, and a main thoroughfare. However the speed on the road and the traffic patterns make it very unsafe. Cars drive really fast and there are a lot of pedestrians who use that road for the Farmers Market as well as for biking. Commissioners agreed that being on the border of two counties makes this a difficult thoroughfare. They feel the bus company should be consulted and advised on how to handle a “T” intersection like this because of the hazard, or choose a different stop. Mr. Steinke stated they have contacted the bus companies about their speed. Motion by Olson to deny the request for multi-way stop signs at the intersection of Stinson th Boulevard and 5 Street NW. Seconded by Novitsky. Motion passed unanimously. Motion by Olson to direct staff to discuss parking lane striping on Stinson Boulevard and curb “bump outs” at the intersection of Stinson Boulevard and 5th Street NW with the City of New Brighton. Seconded by Clerkin. Motion passed unanimously. A question was raised about drainage issues with the “bump outs”. This would need to be looked at and discussed with the City of New Brighton. Mr. Steinke was advised that he will be contacted when this item is brought back to the Traffic Traffic Commission Minutes –October 3, 2016 Page 5 Commission. Captain Austin advised that they can obtain speed survey information for Stinson Boulevard. They will put the speed trailer out this month and next month and get a report. OTHER NEW BUSINESS None REPORTS A.CITY ENGINEER None B.POLICE None C.COMMISSIONERS rd Olson brought up 53 and Central Avenue. Young advised they will be taking traffic counts this year so we will be getting updated information. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Olson, seconded by Novitsky, to adjourn the meeting at 6:13 p.m. Motion passed unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Sue Schmidtbauer Public Works Secretary