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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/10/2003 . . Traffic Safety Advisory Committee City of Apple Valley September 10, 2003 7:00 p.m. Municipal Center Minutes l. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 7:03 p.m. by Chair polan. Members Present: Craig Anglin, Dick Asleson, Linda Dolan, Neal Heuer, Harald Eriksen, Arthur Zimmerman Members Absent: Charles Grawe Consultants Present: Stephanie Jackson, Glen Van Wormer Others Present: Steve Olson, Miriam Forrest, Rebecca Wagner, Roger Wagner, Matt Clifford, Laura Olson, David Clifford, Sanford Berg, Carol Berg, Cindy McLey, Tim Rayford, Deena Cole, Kurt VonBokern, Marcia Kyro, Kelly Bringgold, Jean Pauly, Karen Felling, Dawn Labrosa 2. Approval of Agenda No changes were suggested. MOTION: Mr. Eriksen moved, second by Mr. Zimmerman to approve the agenda as printed. Motion passed unanimously. 3. Approval of July 9, 2003 Minutes MOTION: Mr. Asleson moved, second by Mr. Anglin, to approve the minutes of July 9, 2003. Motion passed unanimously. 4. Audience Items There were no audience items. 5. Request for Installation of"No Parkin�" Si�ns on Upper 145th Street Mr. Heuer presented background information on the request previously considered by TSAC in July. At the July meeting, the committee suggested Public Works send letters to TSAC Meeting Minutes � • September 10, 2003 Page 2 all of the potential affected citizens on the streets with the no parking proposals. The committee then recommended the installation of"No Parking" signs to the City Council barring significant opposition after informing the neighborhood. This was done without much data collection because of the desire to have action taken by the Council prior to the beginning of school. As a result of responses from the citizens and a concern over the lack of data, Public Works requested that the City Council return the request to the committee for further review. It was determined that the parking problems are always worse in the spring than in the fall, and that the few vehicles which may be parked in the fall did not create an immediate problem. Mr. Heuer passed out maps showing the residences of those who signed petitions in support of or in opposition to the parking. Mr. Heuer also provided a map showing the fences which are in place along the backyards facing 145th Street. All but a few homes have the fences. He also indicated that the school had redone the surface of the parking lot and by decreasing the parking stall width from 10 feet to 9 feet, they added 58 spaces in the parking lot. Traffic volume information has been collected and shows relatively small volumes. Observations have been made of parked vehicles the weeks before school started and during the weeks since. Observation showed 7 to 9 students parking the first week with a reduction to only 1 or 2 currently. Part of this is a result of the school's action to increase parking and a request by the school principal for students not to park on Upper 145tn Street. Mr. Heuer also talked of the observations he has made relative to students being quite courteous when driving, the fact that some of the smokers which are of concern are actually walkers and not parkers, and that some of the issues of litter and drugs can probably be handled other than through parking restrictions. Mr. Heuer also pointed out that he has found potential parking on Hayes Road. One potential location is in front of the Community Center. Other locations may include the area north of the high school on Hayes Road. He indicated that the additional parking on the school site and the potential parking closer to the school on Hayes Road may remove the desire for students to park along Upper 145th Street. Mr. Heuer further indicated that the parking issue began in 1988 when parking was removed on the north side of 140th Street, primarily along 137th Street. Later parking was prohibited on the west side of the school and then on the Guthrie Avenue neighborhood. Ms. Pauly asked whether the Community Center was a viable option and was being used for parking. Mr. Dagonower, Apple Valley High School Principal, indicated that the Community Center lot is generally looked down on by some of the students. He indicated that he made a public announcement via the school public address system requesting that TSAC Meeting Minutes • • September 10, 2003 Page 3 students not park on Upper 145th Street. He did not feel it was correct to post the entire street but to only put parking in front of the homes where students are presently parking. Students will move but will eventually find another location such as the Community Center lot. He also indicated that more students will be driving in the spring. Questions were asked regarding incentives for students who carpool or park in the Hayes lot and the number of parking passes available to students. Mr. Dagonower indicated that they could not provide monitoring to provide incentives to carpools. The school also cannot write down license plate numbers to provide information relative to usage of other lots, including Hayes Community Center. Mr. Dagonower indicated that they have 1,100 cars coming to the school between 7:00 and 7:30 a.m. each day. There are 2,200 kids in school and although 1,800 qualify for busing, only approximately 500 actually take the bus. There are 450 leasable parking spaces in the parking lot and the school has sold 495 tags at $180 per tag. The busiest time in the parking lot is 9:00 a.m. Ms. Berg indicated that she had not heard any negative comments relative to parking in the Community Center lot. Her concern was that the amount of time it takes to enter the parking lot is a deterrent to students parking in it. Time is the biggest problem and with the backup of traffic half way to County Road 42, students are looking for alternate locations to save time both entering and exiting. There was considerable discussion over the amount of parking, the increases in the spring, alternate locations and alternate ideas for improving the flow. Mr. Heuer suggested that a group be designated to work on the problem and suggested members of the school, City and neighbors comprise the committee. Mr. Van Wormer suggested that the study begin by looking at the available capacity on site considering both existing parking spaces and the potential to economically increase the number. A second work program would be to review the time spent entering and exiting from the lot and to determine if some changes in circulation or operation could improve the timeliness of the travel. Costs of parking, separation of types of use of the school driveways (parking or drop-offs), and off-site parking areas could be considered. MOTION: Mr. Asleson moved, second by Mr. Anglin to lay over the subj ect to the January 14, 2004 meeting and to develop a neighborhood committee. Carol Berg and Jean Pauly volunteered for the committee. Motion passed unanimously. 6. Request for Three-Wav Stop at the Intersection of 145th Street, Garrett Avenue, and Genessee Avenue Mr. Heuer provided a brief history on the background of the request and the action taken to date. A letter was sent by neighborhood residents requesting stop signs or speed control. The City crews did improve sight distance by trimming trees at a corner. Data has been collected by Public Works staff relative not only to traffic volumes but also to stop sign violations and speed violations. TSAC Meeting Minutes • � September 10, 2003 Page 4 Mr. Van Wormer indicated that volumes on 145th Street either side of Garrett Avenue are 700 vehicles per day and that Garrett Avenue has between 450 and 600 vehicles per day. The neighborhood immediately adjacent to 145th Street generates an estimated 800 trips per day. This indicates that there is not a high volume of cut-through traffic. Mr. Van Wormer also presented information on requirements for all-way stop sign installations. The volume requirements are 500 vehicles per hour per 8 hours, far above the 1,000 total vehicles approaching intersection in 24 hours. Mr. Van Wormer commented on stop sign violations recorded by the Public Works Department. He indicated that 29 of the 40 violations where license plates were recorded were from local drivers, that is those who live between Cedar Avenue and Galaxie Avenue and between 142"d and 147th Streets. Mr. Van Wormer further indicated that the speed checks and license plate recordings indicated that there were 39 motorists traveling above 30 mph and that 28 license plate numbers were recorded. Eighteen of those, including four of the six fastest,were again local residents. Mr. Van Wormer then indicated the various options which could be considered including signs, all-way stop signs and traffic calming and indicated that they would not be effective at this particular location. He felt the best approach would be to look for some enforcement, although the low volumes of traffic makes concentrated efforts somewhat inefficient. The enforcement would however be noticed by locals and some improvement in driving habits would occur. Mr. Van Wormer showed a postcard sent out by another community where the problem was identified as a local resident cause, and suggested this neighborhood, along with the City, work together to prepare some information for mailing. This could provide some incentives or peer pressure for local residents to improve their driving habits throughout the neighborhood rather than strictly at one intersection. It was agreed that the City staff would review and determine if a similar postcard could be sent out and work cooperatively with the specific neighbors who have interest in developing a Neighborhood Awareness Program. It was also suggested that a Neighborhood Watch Group could be developed working through Pam Walter at the police department. 7. Traffic Concerns on Pennock Avenue and 138th Street Mr. Heuer presented background information on the scope of the problem. Public Works has collected speed and volume information which indicates a higher volume than normal. Since this is a collector street, however, the volumes are consistent with the type of traffic expected. The biggest concern is eastbound speeds on 138th Street as they pass Pennock Avenue and Granada Avenue. Eastbound speeds are close to 40 mph where westbound speeds are closer to 30 mph. His observations were that there were some kids playing in or near the street and that some motorists appeared to travel relatively fast to Cedar Avenue. The neighbors indicated that a significant amount of traffic actually turns to go south on Pennock Avenue to reach 140th Street. TSAC Meeting Minutes • � September 10, 2003 Page 5 Mr. Asleson asked about the potential closing of the 138th Street median. This has been considered by Dakota County but no decisions have been made and none are likely to come forward until the County has studied Cedar Avenue over a longer length. Citizens indicated that there is a significant amount of traffic traveling east to go north on Cedar Avenue. Several citizens expressed concern regarding Pennock Avenue south of 138th Street which was not part of the earlier considerations. Citizens indicated a concern over traffic traveling very fast around the curves even though they are posted at an advisory speed of 20 mph. Citizens expressed concerns over the number of mailboxes that are hit or knocked down and over several specific driver errors including a recent rollover, a school bus violation and a car which traveled through four separate front yards. Discussion centered around various options for 138th Street. Mr. Van Wormer indicated problems with speed bumps because of the hill, emergency vehicle use and higher volumes. The two concepts which seem to have some merit included a small traffic circle at the Pennock Avenue intersection and raised medians at 138th Street and Pennock Court. Discussions included information relative to advisory speed signing and speed zones, potential enforcement efforts from private yards, traffic using Pennock Avenue as an alternate to Cedar Avenue, and the initial development of the problem which occurred with the platting of the original curved Pennock Avenue street. After this discussion, the following program was reached by consensus. Public Works will make traffic counts on Pennock Avenue to the south of 138th Street obtaining both traffic volume by hour and speed information. Radar speed checks may be made on Pennock Avenue. The citizens will e-mail the City with information relative to violations by time of day. Mr. Van Wormer will draw concepts up for both the traffic circle and the medians to determine the feasibility as a first step. It was pointed out that funding may not be available for the improvements. The City staff and others will make observations in the area of traffic flow and look for other potential solutions. The school bus routes and stops will be reviewed. This will be done in time for the November TSAC meeting. 8. Parkin�Issues on Streets Around City Parks The TSAC previously considered parking at two locations near parks. Information on parking concerns and options can be presented at a future TSAC meeting. 9. Other Traffic Concerns Communicated to the Citv The police department indicated that the summer has been fairly safe. An incident occurred when a bike rider was hit on Johnny Cake Ridge Road near the zoo. A major traffic concern seems to be trucks traveling through the City from gravel pits near Hastings to the airport runway project. TSAC Meeting Minutes � � September 10, 2003 Page 6 The Public Works Department passed out a traffic complaint form which showed eight considerations since the July meeting. Some were referred directly to the County, some were not considered for anything further and one resulted in some studies. The study was on Oriole Drive and the City collected data relative to speeds and volumes. No citizen has come forward since the comment even though the initial comment indicated that they would be in force at a TSAC meeting. Mr. Asleson questioned the need to investigate every citizen complaint. Both Mr. Heuer and Mr. Van Wormer indicated that there is some careful consideration needed to determine which calls need studies, which can be addressed rather quickly and which should be referred. It was felt that any complaint which comes to the City should get some review prior to a response to the citizen. 10. Traffic Safetv Education Efforts The monthly newspaper articles were discussed briefly. After discussion, it was felt that the past articles could be rewritten with help from professional communications coordinators in Golden Valley who share the same articles with Apple Valley. Suggestions were to reduce paragraphs,provide more bullets, and to use graphics. The Mn/DOT Public Service Announcements and the Youth Representative discussions were both postponed. 11. Adjourn MOTION: Mr. Eriksen moved, second by Mr. Zimmerman, to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 10:01 p.m. \�Spfiles 1�sp1i�AEWpple\010200�meetings\TSACmtgmin091003.doc