Charlottesville Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee Virtual Meeting October 7, 2021 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM Meeting Participants Carl Schwarz Lena Seville Nikolai Braun Kyle Rodland Frank Deviny Lizzy Bellaire Peter Ohlms Amanda Poncy Peter Krebs Meeting Summary West Main Street Amanda provided an update on the West Main Street project based on the recent budget discussions with City Council and the School Board. Given the cost of school reconfiguration, it is unclear whether or not Council will support the West Main Street project. Staff has been given direction not to include West Main in this year’s CIP request. However, no direction has been given to staff relative to the VDOT funded portions of the project. Staff has submitted a proposal to the City Manager’s office that recommends delaying phases 1 and 2 (Ridge McIntire to 8th Street) to align with phase 3 (8th to Roosevelt Brown Blvd), but that does not address how the project will be funded. The group discussed whether or not to continue advocacy efforts and the idea of adjusting the scope of the project to better align with available VDOT funding. One citizen has been discussing the idea of a quick build option along W. Main Street, but no one on the committee has seen a detailed plan. Traffic Enforcement Discussion Carl Schwarz introduced this discussion topic in an effort to examine the various examples where driver/cyclist/pedestrian behavior needs to be modified and explore the different tools available to changes behavior. A document was created in advance of the meeting that highlighted a number of behavioral issues that affect bicyclist and pedestrian safety and some potential tools The first topic that was discussed was stopping for pedestrians at crosswalks. Comments included:  It is best to design infrastructure to reinforce positive driver behavior, but police should enforce when they see people breaking the law.  A person with a gun should not enforce traffic violations.  Consider a mechanism that provides an educational interaction with the driver, rather than a punitive measure. For example: Call the hotline and leave a voicemail with license plate. They get a letter. Positive and encouraging messaging.  Can stopping for pedestrians at crosswalks be photo-enforced?  Sending someone a ticket makes them less likely to run a red light. Moving violations are enforced with tickets.  If police are directly observing a violation, it’s ok to pull someone over and issue warning. The group was asked to consider if stopping for pedestrians is a law that BPAC would like to see a person get pulled over for? The majority agreed that someone should be pulled over, but not by someone with a gun. A ticket or an educational letter should be mailed. There was no vote. No statement to Council was proposed or rejected. The committee discovered that there is some gray area with this topic, but the majority agreed that having someone with a gun enforcing this one law was not a good idea. Before the committee issues anything official, BPAC needs to do outreach and bring in the public. Comprehensive Plan Peter Krebs shared his impression of the Transportation Chapter of the Comprehensive Plan and encouraged the committee to review the new Implementation Chapter, which lists the priority projects from Streets that Work and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan. He questioned whether or not BPAC agrees with those priorities and suggested a more broad implementation goal to make progress on the plans instead of identifying specific corridors and project locations. He also noted that the CIP projects and the Comp Plan Implementation chapter conflict with each other, as there are lots of identified projects in the plan that we’re not intending to pay for. Amanda noted that the Comprehensive Plan is required to list specific priority projects with cost estimates to guide implementation. This is why there is more specificity. The group was encouraged to review the Implementation Chapter to make sure the priority projects are the right projects. Other Lizzie introduced herself and let the committee know that she wants to create commuter map for Darden students in the hopes of reducing single occupancy vehicle trips. 2021 BPAC Meetings 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.