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Home My WebLink About07/12/2006 r . � � Traffic Safety Advisory Committee City of Apple Valley July 12,2006 7:00 p.m.Municipal Center Minutes 1. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 7:04 p.m. by Vice Chair Harald Eriksen. Members Present: Dick Asleson, Linda Dolan, Harald Eriksen, Charles Grawe,Neal Heuer, Michael Marben,Arthur Zimmerman(arrived at 7:06) Members Absent: Consultants/Alternates Present: Tom Sohrweide Others Present: Jim Nichols 2. Approval of A eg nda MOTION: Mr. Asleson moved, second by Mr. Grawe,to approve the agenda. Motion passed 6— 0. 3. Approval of May 10, 2006 Minutes MOTION: Mr. Zimmerman moved, second by Mr. Asleson,to approve the minutes as presented. Motion passed 7—0. 4. Audience Items There were no audience items. 5. Resident Request for Street Closure on Emmer Place Mr. Nichols expressed concern over vehicle speeds on Emmer Place. He also expressed concern that vehicles might be using Emmer Place as a cut-through route to reach Diamond Path. He also noted there are many children in the neighborhood. He asked if it would be possible to create a cul-de-sac out of Emmer Place. He said he would also like other ideas for traffic calming that do not have large costs associated with them. Mr. Heuer noted that by closing a section of one street, vehicles from neighboring areas that use that street would then be diverted onto other streets, increasing traffic volumes on those neighboring streets. As there would be a significant impact on people living along those streets, • � � TSAC Meeting Minutes � July 12, 2006 Page 2 the City would want to see strong support for the project from neighbors in the entire impacted area,not just those along the street proposed for closure. Mr. Heuer also noted that the costs associated with closing the street would be assessed to the adjoining property owners. He indicated that a rough estimate of costs involved in this type of proposed closure would be at least $50,000. He suggested that other solutions to the identified problems be examined first. Mr. Nichols asked if signage would be an appropriate solution. Mr. Heuer noted that the described problem appears to involve traffic generated by the general neighborhood. Drivers are typically comfortable driving in their neighborhoods and often do not notice signs that may be posted along their streets. Mr. Heuer suggested that the Neighborhood Watch Program might be a mechanism to help raise awareness of the problem with the neighbors. Mr. Marben agreed and said that he has generally found that neighborhood traffic issues occur in short periods of time, often when drivers are going to or returning from work or school and are not a problem during most of the day. Mr. Sohrweide noted that centerline striping encourages vehicles to stay within their lanes and can discourage drivers from increasing the radius of a curve and increasing their speed. However, the striping would potentially create problems when passing a parked car because the driver would typically need to cross the double yellow line to pass a parked car on a narrow residentiaT street. Mr. Nichols asked if speed bumps could be used. Mr. Heuer responded that the City does not install speed humps due to the negative impacts on ambulances and fire trucks. He also noted that the City deployed temporary fiberglass speed humps near Emmer Place on Diamond Path and found that vehicles would drive up the curb and on the boulevards to avoid the humps. Mr. Asleson noted that the requested closure would result in a cul-de-sac much longer than what the City would typically approve. Mr. Grawe suggested planting boulevard trees as a way to create a visual narrowing effect, encouraging drivers to reduce their speeds. Mr. Nichols asked if other narrowing techniques would work. Mr. Heuer said the City has attempted narrowing projects,but have found that to be successful in slowing traffic, there needs to be adequate opposing traf�c volumes, creating a sense of friction between vehicles in the bottleneck areas. Without the opposing traffic, drivers continue to drive through the narrowed areas at higher speeds. Mr. Zimmerman said he would like to see some efforts to address the problem at the neighborhood level before looking at roadway modifications. 6. Other Traffic Concerns Communicated to the City a) Police Concerns—Mr. Marben reported the Police Department is in the process of hiring four police officers to bring the department up to its authorized staf�ng level. He noted that in a review of recent reports, he found that significantly more traffic citations have been issued during this year than at the same time last year. He also said the Department � , TSAC Meeting Minutes � � July 12, 2006 Page 3 is increasing its noise ordinance enforcement and has received more traffic noise complaints than in the recent past. b) Public Works Concerns—Mr. Heuer said the City's Traffic Engineer proposed pavement marking modifications at the intersection of Garden View Drive and County Road 42. The City received a response from the Assistant Dakota County Traffic Engineer indicating that the County does not agree with the proposal because large trucks would not be able to make right-hand turns within the proposed lanes. The County would prefer to see a solution that reconfigures the entire area, including four service roads located near the intersection. MOTION: Mr. Asleson moved, second by Mr. Zimmerman, to draft a communication for the Council to send to Dakota County expressing the City's concern for the current configuration of the intersection of Garden View Drive and County Road 42. Motion passed 7—0. Mr.Heuer said he received a request for a crosswalk and "children at play" signs near Delaney Park. He said the proposed location of the crosswalk would not be appropriate to provide safe crossing,but the"children at play" signs were installed. Mr. Heuer said he received a request for a traffic island on Redwood Circle. This cul-de- sac is smaller than the current design standard and thus already have issues for snow storage. If an island was added, emergency vehicles may not be able to negotiate the curve and parking restrictions would be necessary. He also noted that water and sewer lines run through the middle of the court and would require removal of the amenities in the island to provide maintenance and repairs. He also noted that the City does not have any traffic islands in public street cul-de-sacs. Mr. Heuer said he received complaints about traffic speeds and sight lines on Dundee Avenue. There were no accidents reported along that road, but one vehicle drove on the boulevard. Mr. Heuer examined the sight line issue and found that a cluster of Blue I, Spruce trees on one properiy could be trimmed to increase the line of sight. �, Mr. Heuer said he received a request to remove parking restrictions on Guthrie Avenue. ' Mr. Heuer asked the resident to obtain signatures of support from others in the ' neighborhood in a petition form. To date,no petition has been received. c) Other Concerns—There were no other concerns presented. 7. Education Issues Mr. Sohrweide distributed a presentation from a study that demonstrated that speed awareness signs might have long-term impacts. Mr. Zimmerman reported that he and Mr. Eriksen attended the car seat clinic. r � � TSAC Meeting Minutes � July 12, 2006 Page 4 Mr. Marben said he contacted the Dakota County Technical College to request they refrain from using the busy downtown streets for their truck driver training program, but noted there is a second school using the area as well. 8. Adt ourn MOTION: Mr. Grawe moved, second by Mr. Eriksen,to adjourn. Motion passed 7—0. Meeting was adjourned at 9:02 p.m. � �I �II I'I �