Charlottesville Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee Meeting Summary March 1, 2018 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM NDS Conference Room, 2nd Floor City Hall Meeting Participants Dave Stackhouse Cort Hammond Lena Seville Niko Test Carl Schwarz Amanda Poncy Stephen Bach Ned Michie Peter Ohlms Peter Krebs Meeting Agenda New Business: 5:00 Hydraulic/29 Land Use and Transportation Plan (Chip Boyles, Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission (TJPDC)) Chip Boyles with the TJPDC presented the status of the Hydraulic/29 Transportation Improvements project. He explained that there has been 12 months of planning with regular advisory panel meetings occurring 2-3 times a month. The project team has developed three scenarios to consider for implementation at Hydraulic/29, with additional transportation improvements at each of the study area intersection. The upcoming public meeting seeks feedback from the public to best determine the desired choice. Currently, the project advisory panel has already determined the least desired option as the traffic circle. VDOT is holding neighborhood/public meetings to gain public feedback. Funding and design are in coordination with SMART Scale with application letters submitted by June 1st and final application letters by August 1st. If awarded, funding becomes available July 1 2019 and constructed within 6 year timeframe. If all projects are requested at once it is a $100 million project. The three design concepts for the Hydraulic/29 intersection are: 1. Grade separated intersection like Rio (except reversed – Hydraulic would go underneath. Left hand turning movements off of 29 would be below grade with a signal) 2. Continuous flow intersection. There are none currently in VA. There is one being constructed in Hampton Roads (Military Highway). This configuration is similar to Zion’s Crossroads, but on steroids. Stays at grade, maintains turning movements, not as much utility costs. However, least improvement for congestion. Least safe. 3. Grade separated roundabout elevated about Route 29. *Resources can be found on the city page and on You tube -search Route 29 solutions. www.Route29solutions.org. Comments from the committee: • Michie and Brandywine and Bike/Ped - None of the three solutions are ideal, but they are better than what’s there. Dave Stackhouse expressed concern about what sounds like a lack of accommodation. Sounds like it will be hard to make left turns from 29. • Each scenario has 2 lane road with elevated bike/ped crossings at Angus and Zan. Angus would allow right hand turns. No turns onto Zan. Check out I-85 at Georgia Tech • The panel has already determined that the least preferred is the circle because ROW, utility, construction costs are more. And it doesn’t give the congestion relief of the other scenarios. Best guess based on public comment, people are familiar with Rio construction and that has been more favorable at the public meetings. • Traffic circle at Hillsdale and Hydraulic and District Ave proposed for all 3, but might not be required for all three. With traffic at Angus, there is a need to tie into something. So the idea is to continue Hillsdale to tie into the 250 bypass (right in, right out only). That would require the ramp at 29/250 to be closed. • Do any of the solutions address Michie or Brandywine – no. One potential solution at peak travel times is that people could make a right turn and use the traffic circle to get back to the 250 bypass. • Are roundabouts multilane? Yes. • Hydraulic and 250 would stay the same? Yes, but with an increased stacking lane. • Large continuous flow intersection in Baton Rouge. It was not attractive. Not really great for a gateway in an urbanizing setting. Can’t really envision how it could look nice. • Peter: Would like a simple link to see the various alternatives. There is a need for a better platform and organization of resources and information to be relayed and accessed by the public. Look at Feb. 8 presentation. • Will bike/ped bridges be part of the funding no matter what? That is a great thing for comment. Right now the panel has said they are crucial, but there has been discussion that Angus Mandatory and Zan is not. State is looking for return on investment. The higher the cost for our project, the riskier it is. We are competing against Nova and Hampton Roads. Many of the recent projects had more than 50% of local funding to increase return on investment for the state. That is the competition. Old Business: 5:30 Review email Vote on Charter Changes + Letter of Support for 3 Notched Trail (Carl) • 8 support for both. All approved. Meadowcreek Valley Trail Letter Ned Michie, a resident of the Greenbrier neighborhood, provided the group with a short history of the project. The Meadowcreek Valley Trail has been in city planning documents since the 1970’s. The connection will provide access between downtown and the commercial areas on Emmet/Hillsdale. Portions of the trail were built with the stream restoration. The hope is to build a tunnel under the railroad to connect to the Meadowcreek Valley Trail to the John Warner Parkway. The John Warner Parkway was built to provide space under the road to continue the trail. Parks and Recreation requested $50K for initial planning and design such that the railroad and FEMA can review and comment, as well as understand the cost implications of the project to set up for a Transportation Alternatives Grant in 2019. The letter seeks to get council to approve the $50K and the neighborhood is looking for add’l support from various committees/groups. Comments from the committee: • Stephen moves, Niko Test seconds. Peter asks for discussion. • The greenway does go to Michie Drive, which would allow connection to Greenbrier school and connect to the plans. • Peter noted that this project is mid-term recommendation in the Bike/Ped Plan, but it’s behind the Rivanna River bridge. How do we advocate for that to progress? Since this is farther along, should pursue. • Is there any current plan for crossing 250? Yes. • 8 votes in favor of adding to the letter. 5:35 Review Budget Support Letter (Dave) • Cort volunteered to speak at matters from the public. Dave will revise the letter this weekend and will get comment. • The group discussed the importance of including equity in the letter. Peter will send talking points. • Increased funding for greenways 6:00 JPA Corridor Study Comments (Peter) • Peter O. explained that UVA confirmed receipt of the letter and provided some explanation about they couldn’t do the things Peter requested. He explained that he would like to see BPAC be more involved in UVA planning at the beginning of the process. • Peter K. explained that they greenways group is working with UVA. He mentioned that Fontaine Research Park is being transferred to UVA hospital. When talking about coordinating with UVA – there are at least 3 entities to coordinate - Office of the Architect, UVA Hospital and UVA Foundation. 6:30 Social Media + Logo (Niko) • Niko and Amanda updated the group on a recent meeting with the new Communications Director, Brian Wheeler, about BPAC’s involvement on social media. Niko described the purpose of a social media presence – upcoming local events, recent infrastructure, current/future projects, reminders about bike/ped plan, insights. Cool ideas nationally. Social media can help to create a culture of bike/ped awareness and provides an opportunity to hear from the public about concerns/complaints. There is a need create a brand/channel for people. At the same time, there is concern about how BPAC will generate a following. • The group discussed logo ideas that Niko has drafted. A Logo should be simple. Best logos are encapsulated. Maybe the foot should be more of a path with someone walking. Needs to have both bike/ped equally represented. Needs to be able to look good small and big. • Sustainability issues? If board/commission does it have to be a staff person? Likes using city pages for PSA’s, safety messages. New Business: 6:45 Bike Month planning (Amanda) Dave agreed to host a mountain bike ride of RTF one Sat. in May. Meeting adjourned at 7pm. Upcoming Events March 5: Budget Presentation to City Council, City Hall March 7: Boards and Commissions Comprehensive Plan Workshop, 5-8:30, Carver Rec March 8: Hydraulic/29 Community Meeting, 6:00PM Charlottesville High School March 13: PC Meeting (many site plans), 5:30PM Council Chambers March 14: PC Meeting (Hydraulic/29 Presentation), 5:30PM Council Chambers March 15: 5th Street Trail Hub Meeting, 4:30 - 6:00 p.m, 407 East Water Street March 15: Council Worksession on CIP March 19: CIP Presentation at City Council (1st reading) March 22: Joint Work Session with City Council on Hydraulic 29 Transportation Plan, 5:30 March 23: E. High Streetscape Steering Committee April 2: CIP Presentation at City Council (2nd reading/vote) April 5: BPAC Meeting, NDS Conference Room, 5-7PM Persons with Disabilities may request reasonable accommodations by contacting ada@charlottesville.org or (434)970-3182 Project Updates – Please send any updates via email • Belmont Bridge o Design Public Hearing – tentative May 2018 • West Main Street o Gearing up for stakeholder meetings, BAR, etc. in Feb/March. Exact dates TBD. • TJPDC Regional Bike/Ped Plan • • Standards and Design Manual o Staff is reviewing draft SADM this month. Once it is reviewed, stakeholder meetings will be scheduled. • Code Audit Update o No update since Dec. - The PC approved a temporary height definition based upon an average grade plane. They also modified some language so that buildings on water street still need to provide lower street walls on their other facades and to exempt non-conforming structures under BAR review from being forced to conform to massing regulations if altered (few buildings on the Mall conform and would have to be added onto or demolished significantly if altered under the previous ordinance). These still need to be approved by Council. The list of other items that need help is still extensive. The current hot topic is the definition of mixed use. • SIA/Form Based Code o This project is on hold until a Housing Needs Assessment is completed and a facilitator is hired to engage all of the public housing developments that are contained within the SIA. • PLACE o Meeting on March 8. Agenda not yet posted. • BAR