Charlottesville Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee Minutes from May 3, 2018 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM NDS Conference Room, 2nd Floor City Hall Meeting participants: Frank Deviney Peter Krebs Sarah Littlefield Niko Test Dave Stackhouse Scott Paisley Stephen Bach Cort Hammond Carl Schwarz Amanda Poncy Ruth Stornetta New Business: Emmet Streetscape (Tim Motsch) Tim Motsch, Transportation Project Manager, provided an overview of the Emmet Streetscape Smart Scale project. The project includes multi-use path, bike lanes, landscaping, underpass, signal upgrades from Ivy Road to Arlington Boulevard. It is federally funded through VDOT at $12.1 million. Project schedule: There will be a public open house on May 12 at Cavalier Inn. The project is currently still in the study phase and project design will take about 18 months. The timeline suggests that 90% of the plans will be completed at the end of 2019 and then into the ROW stage. The City anticipates advertising for construction in 2021 with 1.5 year construction timeline. VDOT website smartscale dashboard shows the project and relevant information. The group discussed a number of concerns/opportunities along the corridor:  Frank noted that it is difficult to make left at Arlington when traveling NB on Emmet, so he uses SB Emmet, but not NB. Making a left hand turn NB onto Massie is also difficult on a bike.  Frank asked if the project will be establishing performance measures with pre and post data. Tim responded that they will be, but that it might be more qualitative than quantitative. Frank suggested utilizing Strava and Ubike data. Amanda mentioned that there are counters on Emmet St. to count pedestrians and bike counters on the Goodwin bridge to determine current usage.  There needs to be consideration for path directness. The group prefers the option that keeps path users visible and requires less ROW. here were concerns about safety of a tunnel (UVA/Charlottesville Police).  The traffic attractor is Barracks Road, which is an indicator that the project should keep the path on west side.  If the path is on one side, the project would need to consider the ways for people to cross and to access it.  The project should consider pedestrian crossings on south side of the RR bridge.  There was a suggestion to consider an auto tunnel instead of multi-use path. A question was raised asking what the span is currently under the bridge? Tim responded that it is 40’ column to column and just under 39’ curb to curb. BPAC also asked how wide is the tunnel and Tim responded that it is 16’ which would allow 10’ pathway.  Lastly, there was a question of how the meeting will be advertised. Tim responded that advertising consists of flyers to SC members, University advertising (student community, employees). BPAC encouraged that the project needs to be advertised regionally. 5:30 Belmont Ave/Rialto Intersection Improvement (Amanda) At the intersection of Belmont Ave/Rialto Street leading to Clark Elementary the sidewalk on Belmont Avenue ends suddenly with overgrown asphalt steps and no curb ramps and no curb ramps on the adjacent corner. The city is investigating ways to improve ADA access at this location. The group reviewed design plans which entail extending/regrading the existing sidewalk and adding curb ramps at the intersection. Questions and concerns in connection to the project consisted of the type of materials being used and if the ramp can be oriented in line with the sidewalk. The project is funded with local CIP funds and will be advertised along with the 10th and Page curb ramps at the beginning of the summer. Old Business: 5:45 Assistant City Manager Position (Carl) Carl reminded the group of last month’s discussion with Kathy Galvin about the proposed Assistant City Manager Position and asked for the group’s feedback on a draft support letter to be shared at the May 21 city council meeting. The group agreed that keeping the letter simple is better. There was concern that plan implementation is an issue and that all departments need to buy in, not just NDS. Some members felt that council is talking around the issue of a job description and there seems to be a disconnect between the job title and the actual need. The group felt that hiring another Assistant City Manager in the hierarchy seems realistic as far as being in charge of departments that affect the built environment, but there was concern about supporting the position without a job description. Carl will ask Kathy for job description and letter will focus on how it will be applicable to bike/ped topics. Ruth agreed to try to sign up for public comment to read the statement. 6:00 Standards and Design Manual prep for May. 14 meeting (Amanda) The Standards and Design Manual is intended to implement Streets that Work with standards and specifications for the design of various elements in the public right of way. There will be a public meeting on May 14 and this is an opportunity to review proposed changes and ask questions. There was a request to review past meeting minutes to highlight various topics that have previously been discussed in committee. Amanda agreed to search the minutes and emil the group a list of topics, for example: Stair channel, bike parking, sidewalk closure, traffic signal operations, bike/pedestrian tunnels, regulation of E-bikes, curb radius, and the placement of signs on sidewalks. 6:15 Belmont Bridge (Peter) Peter reminded the group that the proposed design still does not include an at grade street crossing. The group discussed how to move forward. There was concern that the city did not respond to the content of the letter that was sent in referencing the crosswalk situation on the Belmont Bridge. A number of people stated that the city’s legal counsel, in addition to the project engineer, advised against an at grade crossing. The group questioned whether it was worth pursuing further and all present agreed that no further action would be taken. The group also asked if the designs would be posted in advance of the public hearing. Amanda agreed to check with the project manager and get back to the group. 6:30 Bike Month planning (Amanda) Amanda shared the bike month calendar of events with the group and asked if someone would be available at the May 7 council meeting to accept the Bike Month Proclamation. Carl agreed to attend and accept the award on behalf of BPAC. There was continued discussion about awards and possible nominees. The group agreed that more time was needed to vet nominees. Niko asked for volunteers for the Mayor’s Hip Hop Vibe ride. Scott also suggested that volunteers were needed for Family Bike Day. Niko will create facebook events for bike month activities, but she asked BPAC members to “like the page” and share the page to boost promotion. Other business: Some members asked about the maintenance of traffic when 600 West Main and the Blue Moon Diner go under construction. Will both sides of the street be closed at the same time? Amanda provided an update on the installation of the bicycle and pedestrian counters. One of the permanent counters was installed on Preston Avenue under the RR bridge and temporary bike counters are currently placed on Hillsdale, McIntire Extended, West Main, and Goodwin Bridge. Pedestrian counters are located on Emmet Street and 5th Street Trail hub. Amanda asked the group about the placement of the remaining permanent counter, which was intended to be placed on West Main. There is concern about the impact of the many construction projects and being able to locate the counter in a location that won’t be affected. The group agreed that Emmet would be a good alternative, but there was concern that Emmet could be affected by paving. There was some discussion about the design details of the West Main plan presented to the BAR - specifically related to pavers as part of the pedestrian walkway. It might make more sense to have the walkway be concrete and the furnishing zone be pavers. Carl encouraged the group to share concerns with the design team and asked about the best way to provide input? Amanda will follow up with the project manager. There is a revised sketch plan for bicycle and pedestrian connectivity as part of the Hyrdaulic/29 project. Peter will send a link – slide 13 of latest Hydraulic/29. The group remains concerned about how someone riding a bike travels along Hydraulic.