Charlottesville Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee April 5, 2018 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM NDS Conference Room, 2nd Floor City Hall Meeting Participants Carl Schwarz Robert LeHeup Dave Stackhouse Sarah Littlefield Stephen Bach Pam Dennison Ruth Stornetta Kathy Galvin Peter Ohlms Frank Deviney Cort Hammond Amanda Poncy Niko Test Meeting Agenda New Business: 5:00 Long Range Planner Position, Kathy Galvin Kathy Galvin discussed the Long Range Planner Position, which was approved last year. The job description has not been written, so it is in danger of being cut. Her concern is that the planners within NDS are primarily working on development review and long range planning is getting short shift. In addition, there is no one in the organizational structure at an Assistant. City Manager level that understands how to make places (that include affordable housing) and has the power to ensure the interdepartmental coordination needed to make change. The city is in need of an internal culture of continued community engagement. Kathy described that 80% of city staff do not live in the city which is similar to the ratio of UVA staff/faculty. Many, if not most, of these employees rely on vehicles to get into the city. This fact is opposing to the desires of local, in-city, residents who want walk-able, bike-able, and beautiful cityscapes. The recent NDS Efficiency study is no longer recommending an assistant city manager position (which is different than previous recommendations) and this contradicts the significance of people that want to weigh in on the position. Questions and comments from the group: -How will the person be selected to ensure that someone is hired with the city’s values? PLACE has been helping to draft the job description. -If you could take a step back, what is the systemic change that we need to get away from the whack-a-mole approach? -What do you see is lacking in the way that we approach long range planning/short-term planning/implementation? -NT - On-going engagement (PO – there is a gap because of project timelines – it takes 5 years to get something built and even if there was engagement, people forget) -RS – position needs to have a vision for how we build it. For example, lack of pedestrian access, ADA, no bikes, etc. -PO – Interdepartmental coordination and implementation Position has progressed from planner position to assistance CM. -FD – Long range planner would not have fixed the problem. -For staff member to be an agent of change, they need to have outside constituency to support. -DS - Is there a reason why the city manager doesn’t fit the role? -Good practice is to update zoning with comp plan – every 10 years 5:15 Charlottesville Technology Center (Ice Rink Redevelopment) The Ice Rink is now officially closed and demolition will begin soon. The concern and question at hand is the need to maintain access through the Downtown Mall and how the passageway will be implemented on Water Street. The committee reviewed the most recent plan submission and raised the following questions:  What will happen if this is built at the same time as Market Plaza?  What is MOT (Maintenance of Traffic) during demo?  What is MOT during construction? Other suggestions included: covered pedestrian walkways should be employed, protected, illuminated. Possible usage of the parking lane and to minimize the closures. 5:45 2018/2019 Paving Projects + JPA Corridor Restriping Amanda provided an update on public services paving schedule and opportunities for additional bicycle facilities: - Millmont (Arlington to Barracks)–Will be paved in Spring - Emmet Street (JPA to University) –Paving likely deferred due to a Water Line Project - Monticello Ave (6th to Ridge) –Will be paved ** Grant application for full limit - Water Street (Belmont Bridge to Ridge/McIntire)– Paving will most likely be deferred - Avon Street – (Druid to City Limits) - scheduled for the summer - 2nd Street (South to Monticello)- scheduled for summer - E. Market St (9th to Meade Ave)– scheduled for FY19 Question – Will there be changes to Monticello Avenue (i.e. will lanes be widened from 5-6’ if space is available). What about Rose Hill Drive? Will the downhill lane be taken out with redevelopment? Old Business: 5:45 Project Updates  5th Street Trail Hub o Dave attended the last public meeting where the design team presented to the community. The project includes a park and ride opportunity off 5th Street and some trail connections that will be built with the TJPDC grant (a 10’ paved trail from intersection at Wegmans Way to I-64). He explained that pedestrian traffic will be directed to the signalized intersection. The hope is that crossings will be provided at the intersection, but it is not currently funded under the grant. This might be where the BPAC would want to get involved. Under the grant agreement, the trail is to be built by Oct. 2020.  Hydraulic/29 Land Use and Transportation Plan o This small area plan will be reviewed by Planning Commission next week – April 10. The TJPDC is looking for a resolution from the PC to endorse a Smart Scale application. The Steering Committee voted on grade separated interchange. o Kathy – Planning panel is dedicated to the bike/ped aspects of this. GSI had best potential at Hydraulic/29, but it is a network planning approach. Zan and Angus are key bike/ped connections. o Everything is still on the table, but the team will be looking more in detail at the specific crossing options. o The Planning Panel meets on Thursdays at 2:00 every other week- next week is the next meeting. o BPAC should continue to emphasize the importance of all of the crossings. o One of the key metrics for VDOT's funding prioritization process is that the project addresses vehicular capacity/congestion, but there is a lot of emphasis on the bike/ped pieces.  E. High Streetscape –Carl provided an update via on the project via email. There is disappointment that the rest of E. High (from Locust to 250) will not be included in this project.  Belmont Bridge – At the steering committee meeting, Stephen Bach asked about the crossing at Graves Street and commented that he was concerned that that the BPAC memo regarding the crossing was not responded to. There is a need to continue to push for the at-grade crossing. Council will ultimately decide whether or not to keep the crossing. 6:25 Social Media + Logo (Niko) Niko presented the revised logo and received the following comments from BPAC:  Like black and white.  Consider white image with color.  Play around with the text. Maybe put Charlottesville around the outside.  The white space above the bicycle and pedestrian looks empty.  Consider filling the white space with a wheelchair. The group voted to use the logo for social media purposes. 6:30 Bike Month planning (Amanda) Amanda described some of the city initiatives that will be part of bike month this year: utility bill inserts, transit ads, updating the website, event coordination, and more. Dave would like to share the event calendar with CAMBC. Sarah would like to share the calendar with UVA Niko announced that the Mayor would like to have a mayor-led ride. The group discussed what might be an appropriate route, possible dates and whether a police escort would be needed. The group expressed a desire to have diverse community participation and opportunities to have bikes available for participants. Niko will follow-up with the mayor via Paige Rice. Persons with Disabilities may request reasonable accommodations by contacting ada@charlottesville.org or (434)970-3182