Charlottesville Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (Virtual Meeting) May 6, 2021 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM Meeting Participants Carl Schwarz Erin Ryan David Funk Joe Hughes Rachel Vigour Peter Ohlms Frank Deviney Peter Krebs Boo Barnett Kyle Rodland Woodson (didn’t catch his last name) Michael Geisert Molly Conger Amanda Poncy Introductions A number of members of the public attended the meeting. David Funk - landowner on Preston - parking concern Rachel Vigour - Carlton Ave - cyclist commuter who uses Preston/Barracks - very important to her to respect the members of the church. Boo Barnett - Preston home owner - parking concern Woodson - Zion Union member (didn’t catch his last name) Joe Hughes - Zion Union Baptist Church Preston/Barracks Bike Lane Trade-Offs Discussion Amanda Poncy reviewed the project purpose, process to date and alternatives that have been considered (see attached presentation). There are two areas on the corridor that are problematic given the widths and desires of adjacent property owners. In the segment of Preston Avenue adjacent to Zion Union Baptist and Washington Park, there is desire to retain all current on -street parking to support the church uses. The church will not support any option that removes parking. Two options are being considered: 1. Option 1: Wide lane version maintains a 7’ parking lane on both sides with 11’ downhill and 15’ uphill travel lanes. The wider lane is provided on the uphill side to provide additional space for bikes traveling at a slower speed. People biking would share the lane on the downhill side. Functionally, the parking lanes would be available to people biking when cars are not parked. 2. Option 2: Buffered parking lane adds a 2’ buffer between 11’ driving lanes and 7’ parking lanes, both sides.This option forces people biking to share the travel lane in both directions. The benefit of the buffer is to visually delineate the parking and travel lanes. Functionally, the parking lanes would be available to people biking when cars are not parked. Frank Deviney: The new Bike Safety Law requires that drivers change lanes to pass a person biking. Will that cause a traffic backup? The wide lane option is the only option wide enough to allow cars to pass without crossing the center line. Kyle Rodland: Can you move buffer between parking and sidewalk to narrow the lane? David Funk: Why would alternate routes not be acceptable? Not out of the question but Grady has similar problems to Preston. Peter Krebs: Wide travel lanes encourage faster travel speeds. Prefer 11’ travel lanes. Joe Hughes: Looking at alternates from church perspective - narrow preference for the buffered concept. Buffer would give cyclists a refuge when parking is unused (substantial amount of time). Buffer would also be a safety feature for church attendees. Rachel: will walk her bike or take Rugby to avoid this area. Loves the idea of providing safety for people getting in and out of their cars. Joe - will the narrow travel lanes slow cars down? Kyle: Could we provide a 4’ buffer on the uphill side? Peter Ohlms: Is the ADA parking on the street important to preserve? If so, could more spaces be converted to ADA spaces all of the time? This would mean those spaces would likely only be used during church services and events. Amanda described the pavement marking plans for the remainder of the corridor. This includes a 5’ climbing lane past Washington Park headed west towards Barracks Road up to two houses past Hemlock Lane. West of the Cabell Ave intersection, one parking space will be removed to improve sight distance. A climbing bike lane will continue up 2 houses past Hemlock and transition to shared lane markings headed west. At Buckingham Rd headed toward Downtown, a climbing lane would be added up to Mason Lane. Boo: Development at Cabell coming along. Will a traffic light help? Rachel: Madison intersection is difficult to cross as a pedestrian. Sensitive to fumes. Air quality concerns at intersections. Signal to give a bike a head start could be helpful. Will the lane changes affect what happens in the winter? Question about option to do nothing. Church not opposed to that or the two options presented. Joe will share the idea about ADA parking. Also the 4’ buffer on church side. Next Steps: Preference for narrower travel lanes - potentially wider buffer of 4’ on church side. Share any additional comments by next Wednesday. Revise drawings based on feedback and share with stakeholders Bike Month May is Bike Month and a calendar of events is posted online at www.charlottesville.gov/bikemonth. Friday 5pm: book happy hour, Cycling for Sustainable Cities. Peter K. posted a link in chat. Bike to School Day: Swag stations at 4 schools. Clark - not well publicized but was a healthy cohort of cycling students and successfully recruited some students into bike groups. Success for pandemic times. Fontaine Streetscape public hearing next week on the 12th. Comp Plan meetings coming up on transportation and land use. Bike to work day is the 21st. Snow Removal: Send comments to Carl by next month Other items: Rachel volunteers to make cartoons for communication purposes. Rachel would like it to be easier for her to urge others to join her to ride, but she can’t because there are spots where she cannot recommend them to travel . For example, going to the Monticello Trail from Belmont. She was really happy to discover the trail off the bypass to get to Route 29 from the high school. Future agenda topics: Streets that Work (STW) - look at in future month for possible policy advice. There is concern that STW is being used too stringently. Vision zero - Rachel would like to do that. Rachel to be added to the group . Mobility needs assessment - Should be finalized by next meeting. Add to June agenda. Meeting Chat From Peter Krebs to Everyone: 05:03 PM It's cool to see Rachel here! She's a champ! From Frank Deviney to Everyone: 05:17 PM how will the new legislation requiring complete lane change to pass play into these alternatives? From Kyle Rodland to Everyone: 05:21 PM Can you put up the side with the parking buffer? Slide 7 From Peter Ohlms to Everyone: 05:29 PM Wide lanes do encourage faster speeds, although having the wide lane in only the uphill direction might mitigate that somewhat. I have no preference between these two options. From David Funk to Everyone: 05:29 PM The map I saw is this one: BikePedMap_Rev2017v2_Map From Peter Krebs to Everyone: 05:36 PM I think this is it: https://www.charlottesville.gov/DocumentCenter/View/1208/Biking-and-Walking- Level-of-Traffic-Stress-Map-PDF It's the level of stress map. From Amanda Poncy to Everyone: 05:37 PM I think the map that David referenced is the map we hand out at events that show different routes From David Funk to Everyone: 05:38 PM Yes, this is the other map that was available . From geisert to Everyone: 05:40 PM 11 foot lanes👍🤣 From Peter Krebs to Everyone: 05:41 PM .. I wondered about that too. From David Funk to Everyone: 05:46 PM Is doing nothing an option being considered? From Amanda Poncy to Everyone: 05:46 PM Doing nothing is an option, but I don't know if it would address some of the concerns that people have - high speeds, poor sight lines, etc. From Peter Krebs to Everyone: 05:46 PM Should those spaces be accessible-designated all the time, not just sunday? From Peter Krebs to Everyone: 05:57 PM I'm trying to lower my hand. From Boo Barnett to Everyone: 06:01 PM there is a lower hand icon in the reactions bar at bottom of screen From Peter Ohlms to Everyone: 06:02 PM Status quo headed towards Emmet, approaching the eastern Rugby Rd intersection, there's a no-parking zone about 75 ft long. Is the proposal to ADD parking there? From Boo Barnett to Everyone: 06:07 PM Thanks to everyone for the continued hard work. From Peter Krebs to Everyone: 06:09 PM Online Happy Hour Event Tomorrow at 5:00: Cycling for Sustainable Cities with authors Ralph Buehler & John Pucher: https://www.pecva.org/event/cycling-for-sustainable-cities/ Free copies of the book at Market Street Library branch. From Kyle Rodland to Everyone: 06:13 PM Thank you for the kindness and understanding from the church. Gotta run yall. Thanks for a good meeting! From Peter Ohlms to Everyone: 06:13 PM This wasn't really done for bike month, but FYI: VDOT has begun releasing educational material and videos on various bicycle and pedestrian treatments. The first two treatments, Pedestrian Hybrid Beacons and Traditional Bike Lanes are live. http://www.virginiadot.org/programs/bikeped/bicycle_and_pedestrian_treatments.asp From Rachel Vigour to Everyone: 06:15 PM rachel Vigour magicpenny@gmail.com From Rachel Vigour to Everyone: 06:15 PM rachel Vigour magicpenny@gmail.com Upcoming 2021 BPAC Meetings 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.