Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-01-14 MinutesCity Council Street Committee Minutes January 14, 2008 Page 1 of 11 Member Aldermen Mayor Dan Coody Ward 1 Position l — Brenda Thiel V10 Ward 2 Position 2 — Nancy Allen CityAttorney Kit Williams � 1 Ward 3 Position 2—Robert Ferrell Ward 4 Position 2 — Lioneld Jordan City Clerk Sondra Smith ARKANSAS City of Fayetteville Arkansas City Council Street Committee Meeting Minutes January 14, 2008 A meeting of the Fayetteville City Council Street Committee was held on January 14, 2008 at 4:30 p.m. in Room 326 of the City Administration Building located at 113 West Mountain Street, Fayetteville, Arkansas. MEMBERS PRESENT: Alderman Lioneld Jordan, Chair; Alderwoman Nancy Allen; Alderman Robert Ferrell; Alderwoman Brenda Thiel OTHER ALDERMEN PRESENT: Alderman Kyle Cook STAFF PRESENT: Ron Petrie; Gary Dumas; Terry Gulley; Mayor Dan Coody; Perry Franklin; Keith Shreve 1. Call Meeting to Order Alderman Jordan called the meeting to order. 2. Approval of the minutes from the December 10, 2007 Street Committee Meeting Alderwoman Thiel moved that the minutes to the Street Committee meeting held on December 10, 2007 be approved as submitted. Alderman Ferrell seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. 3. Presentation of options to improve the vehicular and pedestrian safetv on Poplar Street near the Woodland Junior High School. (This item was tabled at the December 10, 2007 meeting for further study and discussion). Ron Petrie said a meeting was held about a week ago with this neighborhood and the options were discussed. Using a series of slides with an aerial view of this section of the city, he explained the problems with traffic in the area. He said one of the options discussed was looking at areas of the streetts) that could be closed to traffic. He didn't receive any positive feedback on 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes January 14, 2008 Page 2 of 11 this option. A second option discussed traffic calming along the route he outlined on the slide, including four speed tables. Street reconfiguration was also discussed to break up the straight stretch along Poplar, creating an obstacle between the four-way stop and the sharp turn. Mr. Petrie asked Chairman Jordan to talk about another option discussed. Alderman Jordan talked about using the speed tables as discussed in the traffic calming option but also adding a stop sign (at a point he designated on the slide). He mentioned that with the stop sign, one of the speed tables might not be needed. He said most of the neighborhood agreed with this option. He asked representatives of the neighborhood present tonight to confirm this. Clair Wiseman introduced herself as one of the coordinators of the Woodland Neighborhood Association and said at the meeting last week the motion to have three speed tables and a three- way stop at Woodland and Poplar passed unanimously. Alderman Ferrell asked if this would cause any problem with school traffic. Alderman Jordan said we don't know for sure but stop signs are easy to put in and easy to take out if we have a problem. Alderwoman Allen said since the meeting she has received several suggestions to put the stop sign at Green Valley because of the problem with buses maneuvering in and out. Alderwoman Thiel wondered if a speed table would be needed if the stop sign was put in. Alderman Jordan said you would probably need one close to the curve. Alderwoman Thiel then wondered if both the other two speed tables would be needed. She said she would like to eliminate one of them. She suggested putting one speed table closer to the corner with the problem. Alderwoman Allen said by then it would be too late. Alderman Jordan said traffic doesn't know the comer is there until all at once they're into it. Alderwoman Thiel suggested placing it somewhere between Yates and Green Valley. Alderman Jordan said he is open to whatever the Committee wishes to do. Alderman Ferrell requested that the neighborhood's motion be outlined one more time. Alderwoman Allen said the motion was to have a three-way stop at Woodland with an initial speed table, one after Green Valley and at Miller. She said she doesn't believe this is just a neighborhood or Ward 2 problem but is a safety issue that impacts half of the people in 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes January 14, 2008 Page 3 of 11 Fayetteville because half of the kids go to Woodland Jr. High School. She mentioned several letters from those concerned with this issue, all of which give support to the neighborhood in trying to find a way to solve these safety issues. Alderman Jordan opened the floor for public comment. Susan Jenkins said she is afraid this will push traffic onto Elm and the money spent on Poplar may make it impossible to get anything done there. She said a request has been made to have Elm Street considered for traffic calming. Dawn Mills expressed her concern that more and more traffic is coming through. This is not something new but it gets worse and worse. Karen Miller distributed copies of the2004 traffic study and police reports to the Committee and spoke about the accidents that have occurred. She emphasized the safety issues in this situation and the long term nature of the problem. Debbie Brewer said she feels this issue has been neglected for too long and the problem should be fixed. There being no further public comment, Alderman Jordan returned the discussion to the Committee. Alderwoman Allen moved that the plan that drew unanimous approval by the neighborhood (speed tables and a stop sign) be adopter. Alderman Ferrell seconded the motion. Ron Petrie felt it was important to point out that the City has adopted MUTCD (Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices) for signage in the city. This manual says that stop signs should not be used for speed control. He outlined a couple of "other considerations" listed, such as, "stopping the direction that conflicts the most with established pedestrian crossing activity or school walking routes", and "the need to control vehicle/pedestrian conflicts near locations that generate high pedestrian volumes". Alderman Jordan said he believes the second consideration fits this situation. Ron Petrie said no official studies have been done. He said if the Committee wishes to make that determination in this instance he would like for it to be made official because a lot of people want stop signs in their neighborhood. Alderwoman Allen asked Mr. Petrie if he sees putting a stop sign in this location as a conflict with this policy. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes January 14, 2008 Page 4 of 11 Ron Petrie said he doesn't know enough to determine this but it sounds like the situation here warrants a stop sign. He said he hasn't seen it and there have been no official studies done to make that finding. Alderwoman Thiel asked if approving the sign because it is a school crossing will satisfy Mr. Petrie's request to make this an official decision. Ron Petrie said he believes the Committee could justify this as a special circumstance. He said we just want to be consistent with our policy. Alderwoman Thiel asked if that should be made a part of the motion. Ron Petrie said the record should be very specific that this is a special circumstance because of the junior high school. Alderwoman Allen amended her motion to include that this stop sign will be placed at this location because of heavy vehicular and pedestrian traffic conflicts at this school crossing. Alderman Ferrell seconded that motion and amendment. In response to a question from Alderwoman Allen, Ron Petrie said staff has two other projects but if this project is not first, it will be second — about a week's difference. Terry Gulley said it should be no later than next week, weather permitting. Alderman Cook acknowledged Ms. Jenkins' concern and said that when you start traffic calming in one street it starts to affect other streets around it. There being no further discussion, a vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously. 4. Discussion of the traffic calming that was approved to be installed on Winwood Avenue between Mission Boulevard and Old Wire Road. Ron Petrie said this installation was approved by the Street Committee in December 2006. He described the plan to add four speed tables and said the work started before Christmas. He said there were some concerns expressed by neighbors about the installation and staff felt it was best to temporarily hold the work for more discussion. Alderman Jordan opened the floor for public comment. Michael Heffernan distributed copies of the City Engineer's spread sheet for the 2006 traffic calming studies. He said he feels the numbers on this spread sheet show that Winwood does not rate speed tables and that the work on Winwood Drive should be terminated. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes January 14, 2008 Page 5 of 11 Tom Webb complimented the City engineer and Street Committee on the layout of these speed calming measures and feels they are very effective. He talked about the problems with the curves on the street and the accidents he has seen. He presented a petition signed by thirty eight (or 75%) of the households on Winwood and five on Brent supporting speed tables. He asked the Committee to support this neighborhood and install the speed tables. Jennifer Shreve urged the Street Committee to move forward with the installation of four speed tables planned for Winwood Drive. She spoke of the high volume and speed of traffic on the street and said this poses a significant danger to pedestrians and bicyclists. Jill Polland spoke of the speed of the traffic on the curve in front of her house and accidents that have occurred. She said something needs to be done. Oliver Ballson said he is in support of the speed bumps. He spoke of the speed of the cars coming through the neighborhood and the safety issues. Gary Tier also spoke of the volume and speed of the traffic and his support of traffic calming. Scott Verady said he is in support of the speed tables. He spoke of his concern for his child riding her bike on the sidewalks because of the speed and volume of traffic. Ben Grob -Fitzgibbon talked about the great neighborhood and his concern with the traffic issues. He supports installation of the speed tables. Erin Cowen repeated the concerns about high speed and volume of traffic on the street. She said though the sidewalks had been a welcome addition, they have now made the problem worse because traffic does not have to slow down to avoid pedestrians. She encouraged the committee to continue with installation of the speed tables. Ann Heffernan said she does not see the same problems as other speakers. She is concerned with the process which allows one person to call to get the engineering department started on developing the points to justify the speed tables. She feels the points (or rating) for this street do not justify speed tables. Greg Shultz says he appreciates the concern of the neighborhood but wonders if once the speed tables are installed it will be enough. He mentioned the points system and said it should eliminate arbitrary decisions being made. He feels speed tables are not warranted. Tom McKinnon said it comes down to the safety of the people rather than numbers and he urged the Committee to install the speed tables. David Whiteside said if there is something wrong with the points, why was the street cut for speed tables and why work was stopped once they were cut. He supported the speed tables. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes January 14, 2008 Page 6 of 11 Mrs. Carson said this used to be a dead end street. She is in support of the speed bumps but they will be noisy and may not slow traffic. She recommends dead ending the street again. Maeva Blew said the traffic on the street is fast and traffic cannot stop (going onto Township) if the street is wet. Jodie Dilbay feels speed tables have proven effective and she thinks that people who use this street responsibly should not have any objection to the installation of speed tables. Dennis Sisson talked about the information distributed by the first speaker. He questioned the numbers and rating for Winwood and asked for an explanation. Ron Petrie explained that several factors go into the rating of a street, including volume, posted speed, number of accidents, the presence of sidewalks, proximity to a school, etc. Dennis Sisson talked about the speed of the traffic. He said he doesn't know if speed tables are a perfect solution but supports anything that can be done to reduce the speed of the traffic. James McKinley spoke of the times his mailbox has been hit. He favored installing the speed tables. Michael Cowen said the street is only going to get busier as new development comes in nearby and traffic continues to use it as a direct route to Gulley Park. Bobbie Nell Templeton asked what kind of traffic count staff gets on Overcrest and if speed bumps are being considered for that street. She said it is an integral part of this neighborhood. Ron Petrie said they have been requested and would be on this year's review and study list. There being no further comments, Alderman Jordan brought the discussion back to the Street Committee. Alderman Ferrell thanked everyone for coming. He said he voted in favor of this when it came to the Committee before. He said he thinks we are treating the symptoms of the problem with traffic calming and thinks we will one day have to build enough streets to handle the traffic. In the end, however, we have to protect our citizens. Alderman Ferrell moved that we move forward with the installation of speed tables on Winwood. Alderwoman Thiel seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes January 14, 2008 Page 7 of 11 Discussion to determine the status of Elkins Road as a private drive or City street. item was tabled at the December 10, 2007 meeting for further discussion) Terry Gulley said a property owner living at the south end of this road has requested that it be graded. Very few people live on this recently annexed road but the County has been grading it once in awhile. City staff is trying to come up with a determination on how much maintenance to provide in this and similar situations. In response to a question from Alderwoman Thiel, Terry Gulley said the City does not own any right-of-way on Elkins Road. It is more of a drive way. In the past cases we have not maintained roads on which we do not own right-of-way (or have an easement). He said if we are going to change our policy, he needs a policy decision from the Committee. In response to a question from Alderwoman Allen, Gary Dumas said staff sees no reason to change the policy. Alderman Jordan asked if Mr. Poole would like to address the Committee. Mr. Poole said he receives no City services and he only asks that the city grade the road a little further than they are currently grading it. He said the County considered this a public road and maintained it and if the City decides against maintaining it, this will not be the end of it. Alderwoman Allen asked how it was determined how far to grade on this road. Terry Gulley said the end of the grading is pretty much at a point where the road begins to narrow. In response to a question from Alderwoman Thiel, Terry Gulley said initially City staff did not know there was no right-of-way on this road and maintenance was done on the assumption that we had right-of-way in the wider portion. They later looked at right-of-way issues and determined we have none here. He said more and more requests were received for grading on other roads in the area where we have no right-of-way. He said our policy says we work where we have right-of-way and to change that, he needs instruction from the Committee. Alderwoman Thiel said she doesn't feel the City should maintain property on which we do not have a right-of-way but she expressed concern that we do have some responsibility to these annexed roads, particularly if the County was maintaining them. She doesn't think the City should buy right-of-way but thinks one property owner could work to get others to agree to provide right-of-way to the City. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes January 14, 2008 Page 8 of 11 In response to a question from Alderman Ferrell, Mr. Poole said he would be happy to talk to staff about right-of-way issues but sees no reason to work with his neighbors to enlist their cooperation. In response to a question from Alderman Ferrell, Terry Gulley said there are several similar situations in this area. In one instance a property owner has enlisted cooperation from other property owners and right-of-way documents have been drawn up. Alderwoman Allen said she feels Mr. Poole's reluctance to work to get cooperation from his neighbor might hurt his cause. Mr. Poole said he travels a lot and does not have the time nor does he think it is his responsibility to do this. The City annexed this property and it should have been worked through this process before. Alderman Jordan asked what the distance on this road is. Perry Franklin said he thinks it is 2600 feet. Alderman Jordan asked how long it takes to grade it. Keith Shreve said it takes three to four hours to run the blade down two or three times. If we add gravel to it, it would take more time. Alderman Ferrell said it is more a policy question than just this one situation. Alderman Jordan said he would like for staff to put together something that includes all the roads that fit this description so the Committee can make one decision instead of doing this one road at a time. Gary Dumas said this could be done within a couple of months. He said the County has many different definitions of the roads it maintains and it has become quite an issue to separate out where right-of-way exists and where it doesn't. Mr. Poole asked to be notified when this comes before the Committee again. Alderman Jordan assured him that he would be notified. Additional Agenda Item Ron Petrie said a member of the audience has been waiting to talk to the Committee about an issue that is not on this agenda. He said at the last meeting the issue of alley vacations was 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes January 14, 2008 Page 9 of 11 discussed and a decision was made to talk about it further at a ward meeting. He said he isn't sure whether or not that ward meeting occurred Alderwoman Allen said it is a ward 2 issue and she would be glad to hear from this citizen. Alderman Ferrell agreed the Committee should hear this citizen. Christina Buxton said she shares the beginning of a public alley with her neighbor. She said it is a very steep driveway with a big ditch filled in on one side and it is flooding her house. She would like to have the portion of the driveway which is surrounded by her property so she can fix the drainage problems. Gary Dumas said he thinks we can process the vacation for that pretty quickly. He said it will have to go through the City's planning process but can be done. 6. Presentation from the Transportation Division of the 2007 accomplishments and the proposed street overlay and sidewalk improvement plan for 2008 Terry Gulley gave some background on the Transportation Division's commitment to try to overlay City streets on a 15 year cycle. He reviewed what has been accomplished in 2007 in each ward and talked about the reason for the differences between the wards. He presented a few slides of some of the streets that were overlaid in 2007. He then reviewed the 2008 overlay projects. He said staff is proposing to take on the College Ave. project from Maple St. to Rock Street in addition to their other scheduled projects in 2008. Ron Petrie explained that this project is part of the bond program but in this case the transportation division would be the contractor on the project. Terry Gulley explained that it will save money to do the project this way. Mayor Coolly said it will save roughly half a million dollars. He also said this is a State road which needs to be overlaid and he will be talking to them about a coordination of efforts, with the State doing the overlay and the city doing the access management, etc. He said this street should be a beautiful project when completed and much safer. Terry Gulley continued reviewing other streets that will be a part of the 2008 overlay projects, including Old Wire Road, Block and Mountain Streets on the square, Township Ave., 6th St. from College to Wood, etc. He displayed a list of projects planned for each ward. Alderwoman Thiel asked if it is possible to get a map with the streets on the 2008 overlay program marked. Perry Franklin said he is sure staff can provide that. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes January 14, 2008 Page 10 of 11 Alderman Ferrell asked when the decision was made to do the bond program streets in-house and if there are plans for the money that will be saved. Ron Petrie said anything that money is spent for would have to be approved by the Council. It will stay in the bond program. Terry Gulley reviewed accomplishments in 2007 for the sidewalk program, showing some before and after slides. He talked about some of the problems with the sidewalks on the Square. He said the division will try to completely redo the downtown Square half a block off all eight streets that go off the square using A&P matching funds. The City will work on cost sharing with the businesses there to bring in more funds for these projects. This can be tied into a lighting upgrade as well as fixing some of the problems under the sidewalk with the conduit. He talked about the drainage issues on Government Ave. and the plan to add sidewalks there. Alderwoman Thiel brought up the need for work on Morningside Drive. She said she mentions this every year but it has been put off year to year. She asked if staff could be sure to add it to next year's list. Terry Gulley said he would make sure it was added. He then reviewed the planned sidewalk projects for each ward. Alderwoman Allen mentioned the need for a sidewalk on one block of Miller Street near the Junior High School. Terry Gulley said he will put that on his list. If we have a productive summer and everything gets done with money remaining, he will make sure it gets done this year. Otherwise it will be a priority on the 2009 list. Alderwoman Thiel asked if the sidewalk on Willow from Mill to Huntsville has been replaced. Terry Gulley said he thinks there is still one section of that without a sidewalk. He said there are a telephone pole and fence that have to be moved in order to do the work. He will work on getting the right-of-way, etc. in order to get this accomplished the first of next year. Alderman Jordan opened the floor for public comment. Mike Johnson with the University of Arkansas talked about the completion of a project to on Center from Harmon to Duncan and the modernization of a light at one of the intersections on that stretch. Ron Petrie explained that the City set aside close to $100,000 to do the engineering on this project. The University hired a consultant who did some preliminary plans for this area. Since 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes January 14, 2008 Page 11 of 11 the Transportation Division was working on California, Mr. Petrie decided not to hire an engineer. However some problems were encountered with a gas line and work stopped. The money is still there and it is just a matter of having the time and opportunity to work out a plan to relocate the gas line and fix those issues. It is not currently on transportation's list of jobs to be done this year. But the money is available and could be used to get a jumpstart on relocating the utilities to allow installation of the turn lane. Mike Johnson said the UA is doing curb and gutters and storm drains on both sides of Razorback from Maple to past the new Chancellor's entryway. They are also putting storm drains, curb/gutter and a sidewalk on Maple Street from Razorback up to Oliver. He mentioned that there is no sidewalk on Razorback going up from Maple to Cleveland and a lot of people walk this route. He suggested working with the City's sidewalk crew about the potential of putting in a sidewalk there. Scheduling the next Street Committee Meeting A meeting of the Street Committee will be scheduled within the next month. 8. Adjourn There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org