Charlottesville Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee January 7, 2021 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM Meeting Participants Carl Schwarz Peter Krebs Peter Ohlms Frank Deviney Navarre Bartz Kyle Rodland Amanda Poncy Action items: Amanda will follow-up with other staff to get the following information:  Whether Lochlyn trail is open  Avon and Hinton and Belmont bulb-outs  Revenue Sharing projects in application  Construction Schedule for Belmont Bridge Amanda will add “Bike Parking” to accomplishments and updates list Carl to work on developing a walking tour of West Main using Existing Conditions portion of West Main Plan Navarre will forward Carl info about W. Main from PLACE Meeting Agenda Accomplishments/Year in Review (Amanda Poncy) Amanda reviewed the annual Accomplishments/Year in Review document with those in attendance. Committee members had the following questions/comments: Is the bridge over Meadowcreek at Lochlyn Hill open to the public? One committee member commented that they are not sure if it’s open, but people are using it. Amanda to follow-up with appropriate staff. What are the implications of not receiving CIP funding for the coming year? Amanda explained that the note was for current fiscal year ending July 2021. Peter Ohlms commented on the design of the proposed Avon Street curb extensions/bike lanes. Based on the design he saw many months ago, he suggested it would be better if bulb-outs extend to the parking lane on Avon Street to prevent people driving from using the parking lane to pass stopped cars. Amanda remembered that an earlier version of the design showed that configuration, but thought those bulbouts were removed intentionally. She will follow-up with staff to get additional information about the design decision-making. What projects are included in the Revenue Sharing for multimodal improvements grant? Amanda will get back to the group with the specific projects that were proposed as part of the grant application. She explained that the funding will be available later than expected, which may necessitate a change to the proposed project. What is the status of the Belmont Bridge Safe Streets pilot? The expectation is that it will be reinstated once snow season is over provided it doesn’t conflict with Belmont Bridge construction activities. Amanda will follow-up with staff to get clarity on construction activities. There was additional discussion about temporary traffic control during Belmont Bridge construction. Some ideas included signage indicating shared lanes during construction, using sharrows to show cyclists where to ride in the lane, developing a detour route along 4 th Street and establishing a contraflow route on the Downtown Mall crossings. There was discussion about the future of the West Main Street project. City Council will be discussing the results of the value engineering study at the first February meeting. The recommendations include approximately $2 million in savings. Items recommended for removal will not change the overall scope of the project and are more detailed in nature. There was additional coordination on whether or not to conduct a proposed walking tour of the corridor as discussed at the January PLACE meeting as a way to make the project relevant to current city councilors and the general public. There was some discussion about whether or not the project as currently designed is needed or if smaller projects could better address the needs. Carl volunteered to put together a walking tour using the adopted Existing Conditions document in the West Main Street plan. This will also be used as a basis for this work with the BAR. There was discussion about the timing of the walk and whether to conduct it before or after the presentation to City Council. What is the status of the remaining segments of the 250 Bypass Trail? Amanda explained that there are two segments that are still incomplete – one is closest to the intersection near Meadowbrook Heights where there right of way is needed, the other section is behind the YMCA which is currently in design. Amanda noted that while the Meadowcreek culvert trail was under design, engineers expressed concern with the adequacy of stormwater conveyance and safety implications. Amanda also noted that while the City been gathering bicycle and pedestrian data with Eco- Counters for the last few years, there seems to be more that can be done with the data to better “tell the story” of bicycle and pedestrian activity. She asked the group how the City can make the counter data more useful and whether an annual report would be helpful (if so, are there good examples). Peter Ohlms mentioned that VDOT is working on something to help with making data more accurate/useful. There was discussion about acquiring an Eco-Counter Classic Display as a way to show people in real time how many people are using facilities. A specific example was shown: https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8786154,- 77.022832,3a,75y,288.13h,83.54t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sRM- qWEIKkBlivBjMh3xzAQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192 Peter Ohlms suggested that bike parking should be included in the accomplishments and updates. TJPDC Bicycle and Pedestrian Counts (Jessica Hersch-Ballering) This item was deferred because Jessica was not in attendance. Community Mobility Needs Assessment (Peter Krebs) Peter first mentioned the upcoming book club to discuss “Right of Way: Race, Class and the Silent Epidemic of Pedestrian Deaths in America” that will take place on Thursday Feb 18 at 5pm. Those interested in the event can register at the link below. A limited number of books are available for free (pick up at Central Library). https://www.pecva.org/event/right-of-way-book-club-discussion/ Peter noted that a grant was awarded to conduct a community mobility needs assessment. The grant will involve working with various partners to conduct a community survey to find out what mobility needs exist. The idea is to focus on specific locations as opposed to a more broad survey about what mobility barriers. The idea is to go beyond “we need more sidewalks” to “we need more sidewalks in XX location.” Peter mentions this survey in the hopes of soliciting BPAC help. This could include assistance in designing the survey and distributing survey (potentially door to door). In his view, this is part one of a two-step process that would continue post-Covid to include focus groups. More information about the grant proposal can be found here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YnCshWuzdICFwDYBejIKnZ_vlg3tKzqq/view (proposal for the survey). Other items of discussion: Someone asked about the status of the “Bodo’s trail” grant that was submitted to the Virginia Outdoors Foundation. The applicants expect to have additional information in the next couple of weeks. Peter Krebs mentioned another grant application that was submitted by CAMBC and RTF for community engagement to get more people walking/biking/running on the trails. This is also a Virginia Outdoors Foundation grant opportunity. Deadline is April. Frank mentioned that the Three Notched Trail supporters were awarded a grant from Eco- Village to market the concept and build a support base. Peter Krebs also noted that he and others are working on a letter of support for $5 million for long distance trails at the state level. The hope is that some of that funding will result in a feasibility study for the Three Notched Trail. There was discussion about BPAC signing on to that letter of support, but the timing of the next meeting may make that difficult. Regarding activities at the state level, the Virginia Bike Federation is seeking feedback on priorities for legislative items in the upcoming Virginia General Assembly. Election: Peter Ohlms agreed to his previous nomination as co-chair at the January meeting. Those present voted in favor of him serving as co-chair. Future Agenda Items: The group agreed to trying to limit meetings to 1 hour and sharing all project updates in advance. If this is not successful, the group agreed to revisiting the previous 2 hour meeting time frame. Do all updates by email ahead of time.  Quick builds and cheap things - for example tubes instead of concrete bulb outs?  Possible West Main VE Study/City Council follow-up  Possible Budget update - Feb 9th is public hearing on CIP  TJPDC bike/ped counts Redux - Can Jessica share the presentation from the 12/17 Bike and Pedestrian Coordination Committee Meeting? 2021 BPAC Meetings February 4 March 4 April 1 May 6 June 3 July 1 August 5 September 2 October 7 November 4 December 2 Individuals with disabilities who require assistance or special arrangements to participate in the public meeting may call the ADA Coordinator at (434) 970-3182 or submit a request via email to ada@charlottesville.gov. The City of Charlottesville requests that you provide a 48 hour notice so that proper arrangements may be made.