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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee 2020-02-03 Agenda PacketAGENDA Any records relating to an agenda item, received by a majority or more of the Committee less than 72 hours before the meeting, shall be available for inspection online. Sign Language interpreters may be requested by calling (415) 485-3066 (voice), emailing Lindsay.lara@cityofsanrafael.org or using the California Telecommunications Relay Service by dialing “711”, at least 72 hours in advance of the meeting. Copies of documents are available in accessible formats upon request. SAN RAFAEL BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE (BPAC) WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2021 AT 6:00 P.M. VIRTUAL MEETING Watch Online: https://tinyurl.com/BPAC-2021-02-03 Telephone: (669) 900-9128 ID: 846 8422 9428# 1. Call to Order 2. Housekeeping Report from Lauren Davini, Staff Liaison 3. Approval of meeting minutes Approval of BPAC Meeting Minutes of December 2, 2020 Recommended Action: Approve as submitted 4. Public Comments for Items not on Agenda: 2-minutes each 5. Third Street/Lindaro Street Intersection Improvements, Staff report attached and presentation by staff Informational Report on the proposed improvements at Third Street/Lindaro Street Recommended Action: provide feedback on the closed driveway versus the one-way southbound “exit only” driveway. 6. Capital Improvement Program (CIP), Presentation by staff 7. Request for Future Agenda Items 8. Adjournment City of San Rafael Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) Wednesday December 2, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. Virtual Meeting via Zoom Minutes Present: Chair Allison Member Solomon Member Mooney Member Powers Member Bergman Member Hagerty Member Geraghty, Alternate Youth Member Nielsen Absent: Member Coyne, Alternate Youth Member Harlem 1. Call to Order Chair Allison called the meeting to order at 6:05 p.m. Member Geraghty would serve as full voting members in the absence of Youth Member Harlem. 2. Public Comments for Items not on Agenda Craig Murray: Bike Friendly Community, Safe Routes to School (SR2S) planning meetings, Puerto Suello Path connection Patrick Seidler: North South Greenway. Top of Puerto Suello Hill to North San Pedro Road. Encourages BPAC to ask City Council to ask SMART to get his connection environmentally cleared. Cathy Manovi: SR2S access from Meadows, Redwood to Santa Venetia. Rough path under US 101 on south side of tracks. Bjorn Griepenburg: North-South Greenway Gap. SMART Listening Forum Wednesday December 16 at 6pm. 3. Remembering Jerry Belletto Staff highlighted Jerry’s long-time commitment to BPAC and other San Rafael Committees 4. Committee Housekeeping Member Powers and Member Hagerty requested Bylaws be written outlining the project process 5. Approval of meeting minutes Minutes for regular October 7, 2020 meeting approved, with Youth Member Nielsen Abstaining. 6. Third Street Rehabilitation Staff provided a report prior to the meeting and presented at the meeting the proposed alternative for Second Street between Marquard Avenue and Miramar Avenue. The proposed alternative fits in a two-way cycle track/multi-use path and preserves as much on-street parking as possible. Staff also presented the future plan for Grand Avenue between Second Street and Fourth Street that includes a two-way cycle track on the east side. Comments from committee members: Member Powers: requesting information about width of sidewalk Youth Member Nielsen: Inquires about a narrower median Member Geraghty: Inquires about bicycle connection to Fourth Street Member Mooney: Inquires about designing for drainage. Staff explains there will be new catch basins with the project Member Bergman: Expressed concerns with curb height and vehicle speeds and the potential of driving over the curb into the bike facility Chair Allison: At Second/G, will pedestrians cross the cycle track and then push the button to cross? Concerned about pedestrians standing in the cycle track while waiting to cross Youth Member Nielsen: Inquires about bicycle travel to and from G Street Speakers: Don Magdenz, Jean Severinghaus, Dave Rhoads, Sunny Lee, Bjorn Griepenburg, Patrick Seidler There being no further comment, Chair Allison closed the public comment 7. City Project Updates Staff presented updates on the following projects: Pedestrian and bicycle detection in Downtown San Rafael, San Rafael High School Third Street Crosswalk, Francisco Boulevard East Sidewalk Widening, Francisco Boulevard West Multi Use Path. Member Powers: inquired more information about the video detection at traffic signals downtown. Also inquired about storm water design in City projects Speakers: Sunny Lee, Jean Severinghaus, Dave Rhoads, Don Magdenz There being no further comment, Chair Allison closed the public comment 8. Request for Future Agenda Items There were no requests for future items 9. Adjournment Chair Allison adjourned the meeting at 8:14 pm, in honor of Jerry Belletto. Approved this __ day of ___, 2020 Agenda Item No: 5 Meeting Date: February 3, 2021 SAN RAFAEL BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE (BPAC) AGENDA REPORT Department: Public Works Prepared by: Lauren Davini, Traffic Engineer April Miller, Senior Civil Engineer TOPIC: THIRD STREET PROJECT– LINDARO STREET INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENTS SUBJECT: REPORT ON THE CONSIDERATIONS OF IMPROVEMENTS AT THE INTERSECTION OF THIRD STREET AND LINDARO STREET RECOMMENDATION: Staff requests feedback on two design alternatives at Third Street and Lindaro Street. BACKGROUND: Third Street, from Miracle Mile to Union Street is slated for pavement rehabilitation, traffic signal improvements, curb ramp and sidewalk upgrades, street lighting, and landscaping. These improvements are funded by the Transportation Authority of Marin (TAM) Measure A Expenditure Plan, a voter-approved sales tax providing funds for major roadway projects in Marin County and the State Local Partnership Program (SLPP). The main goals for the funding are maintaining vehicle through-put on a major arterial, while improving the experience for alternative modes. Third Street from Lindaro Street to Union Street was awarded additional funding through the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) administered by Caltrans. The corridor improvements are being designed by two different firms because of the way the funding is allocated, but the City plans to deliver one seamless project to the public. The specifics of the design at this location were not included in the project study report to the City Council in June of 2019. The Council questioned whether the plan should close the driveway and staff agreed to evaluate closure. During the initial design phase City staff analyzed the closure, determined it was feasible and safer, and presented this concept in a September 2020 Community meeting. No significant comments were received at that meeting so City staff then moved forward with recommending the closure at the November 2, 2020 Council meeting. After the November council meeting many residents (especially to the south of the intersection) expressed concerns they were not notified of this change that they consider critical to their access. Based on this feedback, staff developed an alternative solution that maintains an exit only south to Lindaro from the City owned parking lot This item is scheduled on the agenda to give the Committee a chance to examine the two alternatives and allow for public feedback. More information about the project, including prior meetings, timeline, and design details can be found on the City of San Rafael website. ANALYSIS: The residents, business owners, and other users of Third Street have been involved with this project since the feasibility study commenced in 2017. While the project is largely an upgrade of aging infrastructure, the major enhancements include a bicycle connection from SAN RAFAEL BPAC AGENDA REPORT / Page: 2 Marquard Avenue to Shaver Street, bulb-outs where feasible, and a proposal to close the city owned parking lot driveway that serves the Walgreens and other downtown businesses at the intersection of Third Street and Lindaro Street. This staff report focuses on the proposed improvements at Third Street and Lindaro Street. Existing conditions are shown in Figure 1. Figure 1- Aerial image looking to the north of existing city parking lot at Lindaro Street The intersection of Third Street and Lindaro Street is a four-legged, 90-degree intersection, except the north leg serves a city-owned parking lot driveway (versus being a typical street) and there is a stop-controlled side street (Lootens Place) just 60 feet to the west. Historical turning movement counts from 2016 and 2017 indicate 80 vehicles use the driveway during the a.m. peak hour and 110 vehicles use the driveway during the p.m. peak hour. In order to “standardize” the intersection of Third Street and Lindaro Street, the project proposal presented at the November 2, 2020 council meeting closed the north leg (parking lot driveway) to vehicles. Closing the City owned parking lot driveway to Walgreens would: 1. Eliminate a conflict point along Third Street between turning vehicles and pedestrians walking on the north side of Third Street. 2. Eliminate a non-standard intersection approach. There are countdown pedestrian heads for pedestrians traveling east-west, but no curb ramps that would indicate to a pedestrian that they are crossing a signalized intersection. 3. Minimize the slow-down that occurs in lane #3 (northmost lane) on Third Street due to vehicles wishing to make a westbound right when there is a vehicle at the driveway waiting to go south. 4. Eliminates cut-through traffic in a parking lot. 5. Eliminate the conflict between southbound through movements and northbound left movements. 6. Eliminates congestion for vehicles backing up in the city owned lot while drivers are waiting for the light to change. 7. Eliminates traffic conflicts in the lot between drivers pulling in and drivers backing out of parking stalls. 8. Allows the addition of three parking spaces in a high demand area. Figure 2 illustrates a few of the current issues. SAN RAFAEL BPAC AGENDA REPORT / Page: 3 Figure 2- Southbound vehicle is shown reversing to make room for truck making westbound right. December 16, 2020. 8:39 a.m. After the November 2, 2020 City Council meeting, approximately 13 letters were received and 40 residents and/or business owners signed a petition asking City Council and Staff to reconsider the closure of the Walgreens driveway. The main concern is that they would have to drive further to get to their destinations downtown, resulting in increased vehicle-pedestrian conflicts at adjacent intersections because of the additional turns. Staff met with several residents in the field and reviewed their concerns in detail. ALTERNATIVES: Staff investigated the following alternatives: 1- Close the Driveway 2- Improve the driveway and convert it to one-way southbound (Exit Only) After assessing the concerns from the residents and business owners, staff developed an alternative solution to make the north leg of the city owned parking lot serving Walgreens driveway “exit only”. This would partially or fully meet each of the goals mentioned above. The north leg would be narrowed to only accommodate outbound vehicles (shortening the crossing distance for pedestrians) and would be upgraded with accessible ramps to be consistent with a standard street crossing. The closure would move all vehicles destined for the Walgreens parking lot to Lootens Place, which is designed to accommodate trucks and vehicle volumes. Figure 3 shows the proposed alternative of an “exit only” driveway. SAN RAFAEL BPAC AGENDA REPORT / Page: 4 Figure 3 Exit Only proposal from City owned parking lot at Lindaro Street PUBLIC OUTREACH: Public Works and the consultant teams have held several meetings and outreach events over the last three years to receive feedback from community members and key stakeholders for the Third Street projects. Additionally, the Public Works Department has maintained an updated project website and met with residents and business owners virtually and onsite to discuss key issues, including the proposed closure of the driveway for the city owned parking lot serving Walgreens. The BPAC meeting is part of the public outreach to hear all comments and concerns and determine the best path forward. FISCAL IMPACT: The fiscal impact would be minimal between the alternatives. RECOMMENDATION: Staff is requesting the Committee and public provide feedback on the closed driveway versus the one-way southbound “exit only” driveway.