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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-10-08 MinutesMembers present: Public/Staff: City of Fayetteville Sidewalk and Trails Task Force Minutes Wednesday, October 8, 2003 City Administration Building, Room 326 Bob Davis, Laura Kelly, Jennifer Tracy, Richard Covey, Nancy Allen, Scott Mashburn, Craig Mauritson Steve Hatfield, Ginty Apperson, Terry Gulley, Jeanny Romine, Deana Lambert, Chuck Rutherford Meeting called to order by Bob Davis. Laura Kelly made a motion to approve the August minutes, Scott Mashburn gave a second and the motion passed. Steve Hatfield introduced two new Sidewalk and Trails Task Force members, Craig Mauritson and Scott Mashburn. Scott Mashburn introduced Deana Lambert and Jeanny Romine who were invited to present Sidewalks and Trails from the Perspective of the Blind and Visually Impaired Deana Lambert is a graduating senior from the University of Arkansas and has lived in Fayetteville for over four years. She has been legally blind all of her life as a result of cataracts. She has traveled with the assistance of a guide dog as well as a cane. She reported that she has found Fayetteville, particularly the U of A campus area, to be very pedestrian friendly. She has found the sidewalks to be adequately wide and also well maintained. Deana reported that the quality and maintenance of sidewalks is very important to blind pedestrians, especially when traveling with a cane. Uneven surfaces and cracks in the sidewalk can create problems with the cane getting caught. Deana expressed satisfaction with Fayetteville's curb cuts, however she has experienced some difficulty as the sidewalks approach the street because the cuts tend to be small and flush, making it difficult to differentiate when sidewalk ends and the street begins. She has found the truncated domes on West Avenue and Maple Street to be very helpful in alerting blind pedestrians of approaching curb. Deana would like to see Fayetteville install more sidewalks, especially in residential areas and in the financial district towards Springdale. She has noticed a serious need for accessible sidewalks on College Avenue. • October Sidewalk & Trails Meeting Minutes Page 2 Deana briefly mentioned audible pedestrian signals and discussed the various features available with these devices. Her experience with these signals has been very positive and she is happy that Fayetteville is looking into this possible option for the future. Jeanny Romine has been a resident of Fayetteville for twenty-three years. She began her presentation by speaking about the changes she has noticed taking place in our city over the past two decades. Two of the major changes have been the volume and aggression of automobile traffic. Jenny also spoke about the lack of uniformity and consistency in the design of Fayetteville's wheelchair ramps and the difficulty this can create for visually impaired pedestrians when approaching a street. She suggested an increase in visual cues being used to make automobile traffic aware of approaching pedestrians. Deana raised the question of where Fayetteville is planning to install new sidewalks in the near future. Terry Gulley answered by giving a brief update on the city's plans. They are currently constructing sidewalk along the north side of Rolling Hills Drive. This will be followed by sidewalk construction near Root Elementary on Hammond Street. Jeanny asked whether these sidewalks would include truncated domes and Teny answered that there are plans to include truncated domes with most of the new sidewalks. The pedestrian crossing at Rolling Hills Drive and College Avenue will include pedestrian lamps at all four corners of the intersection. The crosswalks will also include thermoplastic striping, which will provide a raised surface that will be easily recognized by the cane of a visually impaired pedestrian. Steve Hatfield gave an update on Center Prairie Trail. The progress of this trail has been slowed due to issues involving other projects, which have required more immediate attention. The construction plans for Center Prairie Trail are approximately 95% complete. They are working to address a serious drainage problem on the Mountain Street right-of-way, which falls off the side of the trail corridor about 30 feet Final research is being done on the Center Street crossing and what options remain within budget and allow for a safe crossing at this area. This project should be ready for bidding within the next 30 days. Steve Hatfield gave an update on the West Mud Creek Trail. Sweetser Construction has the contract on this project and they seem to be progressing well. They are currently working on the installation of drainage structures. They have started the approaches next to Mali Avenue. The estimated completion of this project will be January of 2004. Terry Gulley gave a progress report on completed and in progress sidewalk projects. As of October 2003, sidewalk construction has been done on nineteen different streets throughout Fayetteville. Some recent sidewalk projects include Rolling Hills Drive, Lunsford Avenue, Hammond Street, and Austin Drive. The city has currently completed 11,952 linear feet of sidewalk. In addition, 22 access ramps have been installed as well as 5,063 feet of curb and 10,767 feet of driveway approaches. Steve Hatfield gave an update on the Lake Fayetteville Trail Spillway Bridge. Plans and specifications have been completed for 3,000 linear feet of trail and a 247 foot bridge that October Sidewalk & Trails Meeting Minutes Page 3 will cross just below the spillway at Lake Fayetteville. This will connect the softball complex on the north side of the lake to Veteran's Memorial Park on the south side. The city has applied for a $250,000 grant which, if awarded, will be used for this project. Laura Kelly gave an update on Federal Funding. The Surface Transportation Extension Act was recently passed in Congress which will provide funds, but only for a five-month period. This is a crucial time for citizens to become involved by contacting their State Representatives and making it known that there is a need for the allocation of funds to include transportation enhancements. Steve Hatfield gave an update on Walker Park and Senior Center Trails. APAC- Arkansas, Inc. will soon begin working on these projects. The trail near the Senior Center will be approximately 2,500 feet long. The trail parallel to the creek, through the park, will be about 3,500 feet long. Both trails will include curb cuts and ramps at every street crossing. The estimated completion for these projects will be sometime early this winter. Other Business — Laura Kelly suggested adding a presentation regarding requests for additions and clarifications to the Arkansas State Driver's Manual to next month's agenda. Steve Hatfield mehtioned a suggestion made by Scott Mashbum for a New Member Information Packet. He will begin working on this in the near future. The Sidewalk and Trails Task Force has four Community Citizen at Large openings for terms ending 12/31/05. The application deadline for these positions will be November 21, 2003. Meeting adjourned.