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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee 2023-08-02 Agenda Packet1 BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE (BPAC) WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2023 AT 6:00 P.M. REGULAR MEETING IN-PERSON MEETING LOCATION: City Hall Community Development Conference Room Third Floor 1400 Fifth Avenue, San Rafael, CA 94901 VIRTUAL MEETING VIA ZOOM: https://cityofsanrafael-org.zoom.us/j/83092763989 WEBINAR MEETING ID: 830 9276 3989 REVISED AGENDA 1. Call to Order 2. Approval of minutes from June 7, 2023 Meeting Recommended Action: Approve as submitted. 3. Public comments for items not on Agenda: 2-minutes each 4. Ad-hoc committee updates a. North-South Greenway 5. Project Updates, Presentation by City Staff on updates with ongoing construction projects, safe routes to school, focus on transportation education to public, and events. Recommended Action: Accept informational update and receive public comments. 6. Housekeeping 7. Possible Future Agenda Items • AB 43 Legislation • Trails and Open Space Master Plan • Bike Parking Requirements 8. Adjournment • Next scheduled meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 4, 2023 at 6:00 P.M. Any records relating to an agenda item, received by a majority or more of the board or commission less than 72 hours before the meeting, shall be available for inspection in the [your department], [your address]. Sign Language interpreters and assistive listening devices 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. Public transportation is available through Golden Gate Transit, Line 22 or 23. Paratransit is available by calling Whistlestop. Wheels at (415) 454-0964. To allow individuals with environmental illness or multiple chemical sensitivity to attend the meeting/hearing, individuals are requested to refrain from wearing scented products. 1 BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE (BPAC) Wednesday, June 7, 2023 AT 6:00 P.M. REGULAR MEETING MINUTES CALL TO ORDER • Chair Bergman called the meeting to order at 6:00 P.M. ROLL CALL Commissioners Present: Chair Bergman, Vice Chair Mooney, Member (Alternate) Anne Coyne, Member Mark Kyle, and Member Marc Solomon Commissioners Absent: Member Sylvain Frayer Staff Present: Staff Liaison (Deputy Director of Public Works) Rafat Raie Staff (Traffic Engineer) Nhat Phan APPROVAL MINUTES Minutes for Special May 3, 2023 BPAC Meeting was approved. PUBLIC COMMENTS FOR ITEMS NOT ON AGENDA Member Anne Coyne commends Warren Well’s article in the Marin Independent Journal about Alexander Ave bicycle and pedestrian dangers. Dave Rhoads would like to hear City’s progress updates on Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan and 2nd/4th Street Intersection Improvements Project. Sunny Lee requests that the meeting minutes has written out public comments. AD-HOC COMMITTEE UPDATES a. North-South Greenway Sausalito - Bridgeway bike lane project between Golden Gate Market and the ferry landing is still in flux. They were set to initiate planning until City Council had concerns about potentially removing the center two way left turn lane and wanted the planning study to propose a no-build alternative. The project is fully funded, aside from local match, and if nothing happens the grants will have to be returned. Mill Valley - Marin County Parks has released 30% designs of the Bothin Marsh pathway realignment, which are available to the public. The project is still seeking funding for construction but will continue to refine designs in the meantime. This is the main pathway between Mill Valley and Sausalito. Currently it’s too narrow for the large amount of use it gets and it floods about 30 times a year, so they’ve proposed some options that raise the path or reroute the path to the outside while also taking 2 steps to protect the health of the marsh. San Rafael - Puerto Suelo Hill, aka the San Rafael Connection, was included in the draft budget, which is currently being circulated for public comment. Novato - The slide that damaged Redwood Blvd in March is still being repaired. Caltrans had been considering running a shuttle or reimbursing bicyclists for trips on SMART, but these options have been decided against. Caltrans remains willing to consider a crushed gravel route through the construction area once PGE has finished with its work in mid-June, but staff are not entirely sure that will be possible, which case the route will be closed to bicyclists until it reopens to all traffic in mid- to late-summer. Transportation Authority of Marin (TAM) - TAM has issued a draft of their North South Greenway/Cross Marin Bikeway Status update (Link: https://www.tam.ca.gov/wp- content/uploads/2023/05/6-NSG-CMB-Draft-Status-Report.pdf). The Cross Marin Bikeway is an east-west bikeway that aims to provide a safe and continuous bicycle connection between eastern and western Marin County. One of the most important gaps is in San Rafael, and it is from the end of the Mahon Creek Trail at Albert Park, getting across Gerstle Park basically along 1st Street and connecting to the new path under construction on 3rd Street. Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) - Included in its budget, SMART plans to implement system- wide bike/ped wayfinding. They have launched a survey for the wayfinding plan. This is on our radar because our master plan calls for wayfinding, and we’ll want to make sure it’s complementary to what SMART is doing. b. Vision Zero Rafat explains how Miovision (camera system) helps with crash prevention analysis. The software developers of Miovision are currently working on new software to provide additional safety analysis of our traffic patterns. In the future, some of these software updates will be applied to selected locations as a pilot study. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Dave Rhoads comments that the Cross Marin Bikeway East to West orientation is poor. Encourages BPAC and the City to look at making improvements along this corridor. SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL (SR2S) PROGRAM Consultant David Parisi (Parametrix) made presentation on Safe Routes to School on Fifth Avenue near Sun Valley Elementary School. A walk audit was completed with City staff and Sun Valley Elementary representatives. During the Site walk, a large number of students were seen walking and biking despite there being no bike lanes. South side is not continuous like the North side of roadway. Four conceptual options were discussed, which contained elements of bicycle boulevards, striping, narrowing lanes, bulb-outs, raised intersections, and Class I pathways. Listed below are comments from BPAC Members and the public. • Mark Kyle comments that the design captures where the most dangerous area is. Concerned that the measures are being done with limited budget. There are already cross guards in front of the school when the kids cross. Vice Chair Mooney mentions that the crossing guard greatest concern was that the curb turning on to Happy Lane from Fifth Avenue needs to be 3 protected. • Rafat brings up the idea that the mobility needs of school and needs of the residents needs to be balanced. Suggests that BPAC starts by giving opinions on the scope. • Vice Chair Mooney brings up the accident statistics in the corridor, which shows how dangerous the streets are. Thinks that the priority should be to make some type of change to ensure safety of kids. • Member Marc Solomon asks for a kid walking, cars, bicycling count over some period to determine what is a priority. We would need to do community outreach. Vice Chair Mooney provides the statistic from Safe Rides to School that 30% kids bike and walk to school. • Vice Chair Mooney asks if the southside of the Fifth Street can have a continuous sidewalk. Rafat says that it would be necessary to get feedback from those with houses that would be affected. • Member Marc Solomon states that they like Option 1 where there are protected bike and pedestrian lanes would be the best option that City should consider for Safe Routes to School. • Public comment - Jeff mentions that there needs to be a balance between cars and pedestrians. Suggests the need for parking, managing the speed of cars, and bettering the bike boulevard being an interim solution. Beyond California Ave, there is no sidewalk, preventing more people from walking. • Rafat discourages the implementation of speed bumps since they cause vibrations to neighboring houses. Raised intersection is a good solution. Car speed gets limited by congestion during school times. • Max Cooper, a Sun Valley Elementary School parent and cargo bike rider has a concern about the lack of dedicated space for pedestrians and bikers. • Erin Ferguson suggests that the next step would be to look at the separated pathways and if both could work harmoniously. • Rafat mentions that the scope needs to be narrowed and specific so that resources and solutions that the city implements are understandable and fundable. IMPROVEMENTS TO HIGHWAY 101 INTERCHANGES AND APPROACHING ROADWAYS IN MARIN COUNTY Bill Whitney presents that the California Transportation Foundation awarded part of the Greenway the #1 active transportation project in the state of California with the new bridge over Corte Madera Creek and Sir Francis Drake. David Parisi presents. Estimation of $24.8 million from Measure AA 1/2- Cent Transportation Sales Tax Expenditure Plan over 30 years will be used to fund improvements to Highway 101 interchanges. Improvements include safe multimodal uses and infrastructure. Three interchanges out of twelve became the top to proceed with project development. For San Rafael, the Freitas Park interchange near the Civic Center is being studied. Adding roundabouts and multi-use path on the bridge. On June 28th 6-8pm at the TL Community Center, a lot of information about the Freitas Park/Civic Center will be released to the public and will be open to public input. Listed below are comments from BPAC Members and the public. • Lori questions about why some intersections are already in process to become roundabouts and why some are not. There is a learning curve to learn how to travel among roundabouts. • Kate Powers questions about the speed coming off the Northbound exit will be and why there is no stop sign. Difficult for people to slow enough to go around the curve. Suggests that the project should consider the whole area and potentially slowing down or lengthening the exit to significantly decrease speed before getting to the roundabout. • Dave Rhoads from Walk/Bike San Rafael supports roundabouts. Suggests to project team to reach out to the nearby neighborhood associations and establishing clear project goals why the proposed solutions meet those project goals. 4 • Sunny Lee supports roundabouts in general. Mentions that safe roundabouts and concerned about the drivers being able to see the roundabouts. Suggests a thorough study of what is proposed. • Chair Bergman raises questions and concerns about multi-lane roundabouts regarding pedestrians’ ability to see and the speeds of the cars and buses. David mentions that this is the type of feedback that they are looking for and that the project is still in its early stages. SAFE STREETS AND ROADS FOR ALL GRANT APPLICATION Erin Ferguson, with Fehr & Peers is helping the city with evaluation of Safe Streets for All Grant opportunity. SS4A is specifically for local and regional agencies and provides $1 million of grant funding. Two grant opportunities, one for planning and demonstration and the other is for implementation. Want to encourage comprehensive safety action plan for local and regional agencies, thinking about safety holistically and systemic problems. SR’s transportation planning meets requirements for a Safety Action Plan and is eligible for funding. Listed below are comments from BPAC Members and the public. • Chair Bergman asks if this is only a city-wide plan and if it would only cover safety improvements or also other things like accessibility needs. Rafat responds that it is a city-only plan. It will be used as a tool to meet multi-model needs. Erin also responds and says that the grant program can cover transportation projects beyond safety. • Vice Chair Mooney brings up the idea of the city already following the BPMP as a guidepost. Erin responds that addressing the things that are routinely overlooked is a systemic problem. The Safety Action Plan covers things such as the process for changes for things like speed limits and other recurring opportunities. It would look at what is done all the time and how to better integrate it. BPAC would have a similar role as they did for the BPMP. • Rafat reiterates that the city won’t lose focus of pedestrian and bicycle improvements. • Kate Powers asks how the MTC’s Plan Bay Area 2050 Transportation Strategy on Regional Vision Zero fits into and if it is part of the funding. Also wondered how the Community Development Department could get involved, along with future development projects. Chair Bergman agrees and says that not only would the plan look at the safety data, but it would also look at how to treat similar location around the city to prevent collisions before they happen. HOUSEKEEPING • BPAC Committee approved to postpone the parking study update. ADJOURNMENT • Chair Bergman called the meeting to adjourn at 9:00 P.M. NEXT MEETING • Next scheduled meeting will be held on Wednesday August 2, 2023 at 6:00 P.M. FUTURE AGENDA TOPICS • Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan • Trails and Open Space Master Plan • AB 43 Legislation • Revisit Bike Parking Requirements • Collect Comments from the Group for Councilmember Maika Llorens Gulati 5 Any records relating to an agenda item, received by a majority or more of the Council less than 72 hours before the meeting, shall be available for inspection in the City Clerk’s Office, Room 209, 1400 Fifth Avenue, and placed with other agenda-related materials on the table in front of the Council Chamber prior to the meeting. Sign Language interpreters and assistive listening devices may be requested by calling (415) 485-3198 (TDD) or (415) 485-3066 (voice) at least 72 hours in advance. Copies of documents are available in accessible formats upon request. Public transportation is available through Golden Gate Transit, Line 22 or 23. Paratransit is available by calling Whistlestop. Wheels at (415) 454-0964. To allow individuals with environmental illness or multiple chemical sensitivity to attend the meeting/hearing, individuals are requested to refrain from wearing scented products.