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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-07-11 MinutesCity Council Street Committee Minutes July 11, 2007 Page 1 of 16 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 July 11, 2007 A meeting of the Fayetteville City Council Street Committee was held on July 11, 2007 at 4:30 p.m. in Room 219 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 Staff Present: Ron Petrie, Chris Brown, Gary Dumas, Paul Becker 1. Call to Order Chairman Lioneld Jordan called the meeting to order. 2. Approval of the minutes of the July 2, 2007 Street Committee meeting This item was tabled until the next meeting. 3. Transportation Bond Program Items A. Presentation of the preliminary plans for the North College Improvement Project between Rock Street and Maple Street Ron Petrie said this project is in the Transportation Bond program. To set the table for discussion he thought it fitting to refer back to a 2005 Arkansas Democrat Gazette article which provided very good information about accidents. One section of the article read, "U.S. 7 1 B between Rock and Dickson Streets is the most accident heavy stretch of highway in Benton or Washington Counties. One of every twenty-five highway accidents in Fayetteville occurs in that stretch of College Avenue." He also displayed some accident data obtained from the City from 2004. He indicated that each red dot represented an accident occurring that year on this stretch of highway. He pointed out the area at the intersection of Rock, College and Archibald Yell and 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes July 11, 2007 Page 2 of 16 the many accidents in that area. He showed several photographs of specific problems along this stretch of road. Problems include long stretches with no curb, cars pulling in directly from the highway, etc. He presented the plan that was in the original packet to the Committee of what the City would like to see in this area, which showed improvements to the sidewalks, the trees, eliminating as much access as possible while still making it work with adjacent property owners, and a few small islands in some of the dead areas of the road (parts that are not currently being utilized). Mr. Petrie said that representatives from McClelland Engineers, the company hired to design this project are here to give a preliminary presentation. He said this is very similar to the Mt. Comfort and Zion Road projects where we have preliminary plans ready to present to the public. This can be done one-on-one or in a large public meeting. That will be the next step if the preliminary plans are approved through the Committee. Robyn Lane with McClelland Engineers said the primary concern with the College Avenue improvements has been safety. There have been several incidences, particularly along the southern portion of the street between Rock and Spring Street where there are parking lots from which you have to back directly out onto College Avenue. She said there are a lot of access points that could be combined using shared parking agreements. Again she said that safety was the primary concern for the area but also another large portion of the project has to do with making this a comfortable place for pedestrians. She said you don't see many people walking along College Avenue now because they don't feel very safe. There is no sense of separation between the pedestrian and the traffic. She referred back to the pictures shown by Mr. Petrie and said that there are many stretches along College where there is no curb at all. For approximately 3,300 feet of street we have about 3,600 linear feet of curb — approximately half of the existing street frontage has no curb. What McClelland proposes is about 6,100 linear feet of new curb and gutter (not taking into account the medians further north). Taking into account the medians being proposed further north, we're looking at about 7,100 feet of curb. She said what they are proposing is less about eliminating curb cuts and more about defining curb cuts. The proposal restricts access to well-defined areas rather than simply eliminating access. Only about three curb cuts would be eliminated between Rock Street and Dickson. She said there is no room between Rock and Dickson to put in a median. Alderwoman Thiel said she noticed that South College is shut off. She said that could be very controversial. She said she remembered there was talk at one time about either shutting off South College or shutting off Rock Street and she knows there are a lot of accidents there. She said she would have to give this a lot of thought. She personally travels that route a lot and knows it is dangerous. Alderwoman Allen said she thinks it is one of the most dangerous intersections in town, if not the most dangerous. She suggested spending a moment talking about some other options. Alderman Jordan said this is the first time he had seen this and he might need some time to study it a little. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes July 11, 2007 Page 3 of 16 Mike Morgan said this is a five -way intersection on an incline. Everything is made out of asphalt and right now there are ripples in the asphalt because people are slowing down to make a turn going to the east. They looked at other alternatives but the main source of traffic is going from College onto Archibald Yell at a pretty high rate of speed. He said it is always unclear who has the right-of-way and there are a lot of accidents here. Alderwoman Thiel asked if there is any advantage to closing South College rather than closing Rock Street. She said she remembered seeing various configurations of how to work this intersection during the downtown master plan study. When discussing the possibility of doing this, they also discussed the necessity for opening up an alley so you would have a way from that little cul-de-sac to go down and back up to Rock Street. She said the people who live and work on the upper part of the North College section will have to go all the way down to 6th St. Mike Morgan said currently several of the properties in this area are for sale. He said they would propose having drive access onto College for the computer store. The grades really prevent coming onto Rock Street. He said that each property would have private access to their individual lots. There is an alley in the vicinity that has never been finished out. Alderman Ferrell asked if it is being assumed that people who are trying to get back out southbound are going to migrate down to 6th Street. Mike Morgan said that is correct. He said there is also an access onto College on a secondary street. Alderwoman Thiel said that particular street accesses onto Archibald Yell and that intersection is also bad. Alderman Ferrell asked if this plan would have a compounding affect on the traffic on 6th St. Mike Morgan said he would expect more people to go south of Penguin Ed's or to Rock Street. In response to a question from Alderman Ferrell, Mike Morgan said there are no plans to signalize the street south of Penguin Ed's at this time. Alderman Ferrell commented that particular intersection is also dangerous. Alderwoman Allen asked what other options were considered when this plan was being drawn up. Mike Morgan said they had looked at the possibility of signalizing this but the biggest problem is having the five streets coming together at one point. He said they have never been able to come to a good solution for this sort of situation other than taking one of the streets out. After that is done it is a more manageable situation. He said this is the only real viable solution he has 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes July 11, 2007 Page 4 of 16 seen for this situation. He said they talked about expanding the street so there could be a dedicated turn lane as you are traveling south. But because of that fifth street even putting in a dedicated turn lane won't eliminate the problem. Alderwoman Allen asked if dead ending Rock coming off the square would help. Mike Morgan said there is minimal traffic coming off Rock. They see more people going onto Rock heading towards the square. He said most people coming through there respect the "Right turn only" sign. Alderman Ferrell asked if College would be four lanes all the way north. Robyn Lane said it is four lanes all the way. Alderwoman Thiel said she felt it makes more sense to close Rock Street because of where the streets lead. South College is the old highway and it takes you all the way down to 6th St. and 15th St. She said the Rock Street portion is really just a through street up to Mt. Sequoyah. She said it makes more sense to close Rock Street even though it is more perpendicular. She wondered if there is some way to close off Rock and take it out further. Robyn Lane said that is certainly an option that could be considered. Ron Petrie said he believes it has been considered. He said we all know how steep this street is. He said you will multiply that a couple of times if you change the route. He said you would have to redo College about a quarter of a mile down the hill to slowly come back. There was further discussion of possible configurations for this area, the grades and inclines, etc. Robyn Lane continued with her presentation. She said the plan starts to go to a five -lane just as you get to Dickson Street. Just north of Dickson the medians begin. One of the major issues has been eliminating curb cuts. In making the decision about whether a curb cut was eliminated they tried to take into consideration whether that property would have reasonable access. She said you don't want people to have to wonder how to get to the business. She continued that the only places they have suggested eliminating curb cuts are in areas where there are other access points. Mike Morgan said they really haven't eliminated very many curb cuts but have designed and designated the curb cuts so you have focused traffic movements up and down College Avenue. He said in certain areas we don't have the advantage of space to put in a median or turning lane but this frees up additional right-of-way and creates the opportunity to put plantings on either side of the road. Alderman Ferrell asked if the businesses that will be affected by the elimination of curb cuts will be surveyed. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes July 11, 2007 Page 5 of 16 Robyn Lane said there will be a public meeting and coordination with the property owners. Mike Morgan said that will be the potential next step after a preliminary plan is agreed upon. Alderwoman Allen said she thinks this will be beautiful with all the trees. Mike Morgan said the driving lanes are much more uniform up and down College. When you look at how it is now, there is a gouge and everyone has to switch an entire lane in order to get down College. With this plan they are attempting to align the lanes. In response to a question from Alderwoman Thiel, Robyn Lane said that there is not a turn lane all the way (down College). She said in the segment under discussion they are straightening out what is currently there and widening it at the areas where it is the narrowest. Alderwoman Allen said she was a little concerned about vision with the trees. She asked if they would be set back so far that people will have trouble seeing around them when they're small. Robyn Lane said there shouldn't be a problem. The standard says that if you have 3 to 8 feet of clear vertical space then your vision is not going to be obscured. The trees they have been looking at tend to have a very high canopy. She said when choosing a tree for a street it is very important to go with something that has a vase shape so that branches go upward instead of out. Mike Morgan said the typical sections show more or less a mature illustration of what the trees will look like. In response to a question from Alderwoman Allen, Robyn Lane said they have looked at primarily four different trees. She said they have considered the Chinese Elm, Green Ash, the Japanese Zelkova and Littleleaf Linden. She said all of these are deciduous. Robyn Lane continued with her presentation. She showed a slide of the area between Dickson and Maple Streets. She said this is where we run into problems with tight parking and owners who are not going to want to lose that parking. She said coming to some sort of suitable arrangement is going to be difficult in this area. She said they have looked at alternative parking arrangements for these merchants to try to mitigate any concerns they may have. In response to a question from Alderwoman Thiel, Robyn Lane said there are no trees shown along the north side of the IGA because there is a storm sewer pipe under the sidewalk that we will not be able to relocate. She said they had talked about coordinating with the owner of the Niblock Law office building to put some trees there on the outside edge of the sidewalk to maintain the uniform look. Alderman Ferrell asked how wide the medians are proposed to be. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes July 11, 2007 Page 6 of 16 Robyn Lane said they are 9 1/2 feet from face -of -the -curb to face -of -the -curb. She said that width was chosen to help keep the uniformity of the lanes and maintain the alignment. Mike Morgan said this concept does not ask for any additional right-of-way or utility easements; everything is contained to the City's property. He said the plan is to control the traffic through use of the medians. He said the medians have been broken up in order to get plenty of access into the IGA and the law firm. People should have at least as much access as they have today. However it is focused access. He said they will have an actual net increase in parking spaces overall and it is much more organized. Alderman Ferrell asked how many curb cuts would be reduced from Dickson Street north. Robyn Lane said the only curb cut being eliminated from Dickson Street north is the alley for the First Baptist Church. They are currently in the process of adding on to their building and this will be gone anyway. That is the only one absolutely being eliminated. Most of this plan involves making defined entrances. In response to a question from Alderman Ferrell, Robyn Lane gave as an example the east side of College between Lafayette and Maple. She said there is less than 300 feet of curb there. The rest is open. So in this 500 ft. section, with this plan we're going to have 54 ft. (three points) of access as opposed to 200 ft. Alderwoman Thiel said she thinks the plan looks good. Alderwoman Allen said she agrees and thinks McClelland has done a nice job. She said the only problematic item is the Rock and S. College issue. Alderwoman Thiel said she thinks the public meetings are going to be important in this so that a lot of people who use these streets have some input. She said she still thinks there should be some real serious consideration to closing Rock even though she knows that is not as good an intersection. Ron Petrie said our next step is to contact the property owners directly and set up the public participation meetings or meet with them one on one. From that point staff will collect the public comments and bring those comments back to the Committee for further consideration. Alderwoman Thiel offered her assistance in setting up a Ward 1 meeting in that area if that is needed. Alderwoman Thiel moved to accept the preliminary plans for College Avenue Improvement Project and move this project forward to the public comment phase. Alderwoman Allen seconded the motion. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes July 11, 2007 Page 7 of 16 Alderman Ferrell said he thinks it will be a lot easier for people, and especially businesses, to buy in to this if we visit with them as opposed to just having a public hearing. Alderman Jordan opened the floor for public comment Daniel Hintz, Executive Director of Fayetteville Downtown Partners said there is an enormous amount of interest in this project from businesses up and down College as well as on Dickson Street. This provides a very unique opportunity to create a sense of place for downtown, particularly since the Downtown Master Plan starts at Maple and College. He said there was a mention of public arts and we would like to have that seriously considered with some of the beautification funds. He spoke of the opportunity to create something at that entrance of Maple and College to say you are entering some place special. It also creates a unique opportunity to mark Dickson and College as the main entrance to our entertainment area. He said he hopes we can look at the funds for beautification very creatively and use this opportunity to do so. He said some of the concerns he has heard so far about this project involve the curb cuts and access to some of the businesses and he believes that some of the solutions that have been brought forward are going to be of great interest to the public. He said FDP is very much committed to ensuring that every one of the property owners along College, as well as along Dickson Street, is informed and they will be working with McClelland to do this. He also mentioned concerns from folks about traffic on Archibald Yell, how infill will affect traffic and access to the four -to -six -story maximum height buildings that could be built in downtown. He said that the Committee and McClelland will obviously hear many more comments and he said that any he receives he will forward on to the City. There being no further public comment, Alderman Jordan brought the discussion back to the Committee. A vote was taken on the motion and second on the floor and it passed unanimously. Alderman Ferrell asked if any thought had been given to the signage for the areas mentioned by Mr. Hintz. He thought there were some good ideas. Mike Morgan said Mr. Hintz had brought up a number of ideas. He said they have talked about wayfinding and public arts. He said he would like to get into that once we get past the preliminary concept stage. Alderwoman Allen agreed that Mr. Hintz had a good idea. She also said we are going to have to find a way to route people off I540 back to downtown. We will have something beautiful to offer and will want to find a way to get people to see it. B. Presentation of the preliminary plans for the Cato Springs Road Improvement Project between School Avenue and Razorback Road. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes July 11, 2007 Page 8 of 16 Ron Petrie gave a little history on this project. It is one of our Transportation Bond Projects. He said it was initiated through a partnership between the City of Fayetteville and the U of A. We partnered in requesting some federal funds to improve this corridor and the reason we were able to succeed in acquiring those funds was because of the Technology Park. We received $3.2 million for the project through the SAFETEA-LU Transportation Bill. He said our preliminary estimated cost on this project was $5.07 million, which leaves the City's estimated cost at $2.35 million. He said we were certainly very lucky to receive the funds with the help of the University of Arkansas. He introduced Phil Stafford to speak a few words. Mike Johnson said half of the Cato Springs Road will eventually front the Arkansas Technology Park to the south. Phil Stafford said he believes everyone is familiar with their master plan. He showed a display of the west campus which includes the Engineering Research Center, Innovation Center, High Density Electronics Center and now the new National Center for Reliable Electric Power Transmission. He said they are presently doing the infrastructure internal to the project that will make connections to Cato Springs Rd. He said through phased development of the Research Park over the years (possibly 20 to 30 years) total build out of about 725,000 sq. ft. of R&D capacity is planned, creating jobs for as many as 2500 employees. He said the support that goes with this (the delivery of specialty gases and that sort of thing) will require some truck turning movements and they have accommodated for that on the new west entrance off of Cato Springs Road. He said the number of access points into the Research Park through the build -out was creating the need for a continuous turn lane. The three lanes would transition from just west of the bridge to South School. He said there were some concerns raised about losing trees on the south side of Cato Springs Road. He said they have offered to accommodate that with a wide sidewalk on the north side. That will alleviate the need for sidewalk improvement on the south side and we can retain all of the existing trees there. He said this plan will put into place the full improvement they would expect will be necessary for the ultimate build out of the R&T Park. Mike Johnson said what has been discussed and worked out with the City Engineer is that the south curb line right-of-way now would pretty much stay the same from Razorback Rd. to School Street. We would have a ten -foot green space and then a ten -foot sidewalk on the north side from School to Razorback. He said they have talked about using one of the trail bridges to go across the creek. He said the street would be two lanes all the way from the creek to Razorback with a set of left -turn lanes at Garland. He said they are essentially taking all of the right-of-way out of their piece of property. That leaves trees on the south side but no sidewalk. Instead of having two six-foot sidewalks, they would have one ten -foot sidewalk. He showed a slide of infrastructure on which they are currently working. He said the infrastructure plan for the park was jointly funded by the City and the University. He pointed out the different phases, with portions to be done as development occurs. He pointed out the railroad right-of-way that goes to the University. He said a trail was first discussed but now they are proposing to put a road in which they hope to put in fairly soon to establish a little more visible presence. He said a lot of 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes July 11, 2007 Page 9 of 16 the land they purchased has been cleaned up. He said the trail would be along the creek and they have been working with the City trails folks on this. The trail would pick up at Razorback and go down to the park for now. Eventually he thinks it will connect to the trail coming out of Razorback from the apartment development that was just opened. He said he feels this is a good package and they have spent a lot of time working with the City and others on it. He said he believes the next step is sending it to the AHTD for their approval because of the federal funds involved as well as going to the property owners and involving them in a public discussion. Alderman Jordan said he thinks this is a really good looking project. Alderwoman Thiel agreed. She asked if there is going to be a sidewalk on the south side of the road east of the bridge. Ron Petrie said a representative from Garver Engineers is here with a further presentation for this area. Alderwoman Thiel said she assumed they were going to match it up with the south side except it won't three lanes. Ron Petrie said that is right. The one difference, which will be part of Garver's presentation, is that the area to the west of the bridge would have 6 ft. of green space instead of 10-11. There will be a 10 -ft. sidewalk on the north but none on the south. Mike Johnson mentioned that they do not currently own the property on the corner of School and Cato Springs (a business) and there is at least one home that is fairly close to the right-of- way. What he thinks can be done to accommodate those two folks is to put the sidewalk at the curb in those areas. That reduces any right-of-way requirements. Upon later purchase of the property we can put a 10-11. sidewalk in and demolish the first sidewalk and go back to having the green space fully aligned. Alderman Ferrell said he thinks the University of Arkansas is a great partner. They are the largest employer in the city. He thinks this is not only the prudent thing to do but the right thing to do. He thinks the entrance in the front is attractive. We've lit the fuse economically here and this will do nothing but assist us. He is wholeheartedly for this project. Alderwoman Thiel said she has been for this all along. She worked to get it put on the current bond issue and she is very supportive of the project. She just wants to make sure the people who live out there are happy with the changes. She thinks they will be because most of the concerns were on the west side of the bridge on the south side. If we eliminate the sidewalk (on the south side) we'll be improving the situation for them. Frank McIllwain, Garver Engineers introduced Lance Hollinger as Garver's project manager for this project. He said most of his presentation has already been covered but he showed a 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes July 11, 2007 Page 10 of 16 drawing of what the project looks like. He pointed out the sidewalks, curbs and gutters, green space, etc. He pointed out where the two lanes will transition into three lanes In response to a request from Ron Petrie, Frank McIllwain said the travel lanes are 11 ft. wide and the turn lanes are 11 ft. He said on the south side we have an 8 ft. green space and on the north side there is a 10 ft. green space and a 10 ft. sidewalk. He pointed out an area where the 10 ft. of green space will be reduced to 6 ft. He said that is actually the inverse of what you would normally have. Alderwoman Thiel said it looks good to her. She asked where the public hearings would be held. Ron Petrie said there have been some preliminary discussions of having the meetings at ARTP. Alderwoman Thiel moved to accept the preliminary plans for the Cato Springs Road Improvement Project and move forward to the public comment phase. Alderwoman Allen seconded the motion. Alderman Jordan opened the floor for public comment There being none, the discussion was brought back to the Committee. A vote was taken on the motion and second on the floor and itpassed unanimously. C. Presentation of the comments from the June 14, 2007 public meeting for the Mount Comfort Road Improvement Project and discussion of authorization to proceed with final design and right-of-way acquisition. This item was tabled at the July 2, 2007 Street Committee Meeting. Ron Petrie said there were two items that the Street Committee asked the staff to look into with regard to this project. One was to have a meeting with Mr. Clemons. Mr. Petrie showed a blow- up of the duplex belonging to Mr. Clemons which is one the houses sitting very close to the proposed street. Building the originally proposed 10 ft. of green space and 6 ft. of sidewalk is an issue in this area. There is also an issue with grading with a couple of feet elevation differential. Staff has met with Mr. Clemons and we are continuing with the recommendation to reduce the green space from 10 ft. to at least 6 ft with a 5 ft. concrete sidewalk as opposed to a 6 ft. concrete sidewalk. That brings in the construction area closer to the existing road. Because of how close the house is in this particular area we have discussed a 2 ft. retaining wall to eliminate some of the grading that would be almost adjacent to the house. The other item that was requested by the Street Committee was for Mr. Petrie to meet with Mr. Knies regarding the Farm Credit Services building to see if something could be worked out there. He is concerned about access on to the Porter/Mt. Comfort area and the possibility of potential customers having to circle around to access this business. He said they have looked at several different scenarios, including driveways in different locations, moving the cul-de-sac, etc. He said it was becoming more and more 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes July 11, 2007 Page 11 of 16 cumbersome to bring forward some options. He recommends that we continue to do the work that has been proposed on Shiloh and the signal but at this point leave this portion of Shiloh Drive open. It won't cost us anything to do this. We can monitor it and determine if it is working. If we have issues we can always go back in the future and do something to the road. Alderman Jordan suggested the discussion start with the Mt. Comfort Road issue. He said he and Alderwoman Lucas have been involved in the discussions and they can go along with the recommendation of leaving the road open as long as it is right -turn -in and right -turn -out only. He said his concern is in the curve, if the traffic starts breaking back it is really hard to see. He believes that it is a potential safety issue. But as far as leaving the road open, he can go along with that. Alderwoman Thiel said she thinks Alderman Jordan and Alderwoman Lucas are much more familiar with the activity in that area than she is. She said since Engineering has considered all the options and this seems to make the most sense she tends to agree with the recommendation. Taking the items one at a time, Alderman Jordan asked if Mr. Knies had any comments. Ken Knies said he appreciates the cooperation of Mr. Petrie, Chris Brown and the Street Committee in working on this. He said he talked to Mr. Petrie a few minutes before the meeting and found out about this option. He said he very much appreciates it. He said he hadn't heard about the right -hand -tum only issue. Though he feels the situation could be handled with signage he knows the aldermen feel strongly about it. He said this is the best option he has seen so far. Alderman Jordan said he has a real concern about somebody trying to break back left on this curve and people coming around the curve and getting into that intersection. He thinks it could create a safety issue. Ken Knies said he will get Farm Credit's opinion on the plan. He said he feels very good about what is being recommended right now. It's the best alternative he has seen and is clearly the most cost effective for the City. He certainly would anticipate that they would retain the option, in the event the City determines there are problems down the road, of looking at other options. He understands the plan will have to be approved by the State. He just asks that the City be as persuasive as they can be because this appears to be the best solution. He said he'll have an answer (from Farm Credit) by the end of the week. Alderman Jordan said he would like to finalize whatever plans we can on this tonight and then there will be more public comment. This is not the end of it. Ken Knies said he is not at liberty to make the call. But he thinks that by tomorrow morning he can get with Mr. Petrie with Farm Credit's position. His view at this point in time is that the Committee and staff are being very reasonable and considerate and have thought this through . That is certainly appreciated. It is the best solution he has seen so far. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes July 11, 2007 Page 12 of 16 Alderman Ferrell asked if the Committee will vote on this tonight. Alderman Jordan said he thought Mr. Petrie wanted some sort of answer on the finalization of these plans which have been tabled two weeks. Ron Petrie said that the next stage of the engineering contract is on the Council's agenda. He said we really can't move forward with the project. He said we are still at the preliminary stage. We have to acquire easements and do a lot of work to move this project forward. Alderman Ferrell said it sounds like Mr. Knies is favorable but if we vote tonight to send this forward and he gets another word tomorrow from his headquarters... Alderman Jordan said there will be another public meeting on this. It will come back to the Street Committee and by that time he will have an answer one way or another. Mike Clemons said he wanted to thank Ron Petrie for the productive meeting earlier in the week. He said they hit on a point on which he needed clarification which is the grade change in the road. He said that will help the situation. He is only here to say if the Committee sees fit to follow Mr. Petrie's recommendation it will solve all of his problems. He said Mr. Petrie's suggestion for the reduction will not only help the grading and drainage problem in front but will change (pull back) the angle of the driveway. Mr. Petrie's recommendations erase all Mr. Clemons' objections. He asked if a decision made by the Committee tonight can be reversed on down the line. Alderman Jordan said it probably could when it goes to the full Council. But he said he doesn't think that will probably happen. Mike Clemons said we'll just wait and watch what happens then. Alderman Jordan opened the floor for more public comment. Ben Henbest said he is really happy with the Mr. Petrie's recommendation. He said that it is a big burden off their shoulders on how much sidewalk and green space is there with the 3 ft. bike lanes. He said this is a tremendous help. There being no further public comment, Alderman Jordan brought the discussion back to the Committee. Alderman Jordan said this is something they've been working on for the last couple of weeks. He said he and Alderwoman Lucas have received some e-mails and phone calls over the past few weeks regarding this. He said several property owners have encouraged them to go with the 6 ft. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes July 11, 2007 Page 13 of 16 green space and the 5 ft. sidewalk. He thinks it is a good compromise. He said it won't solve every problem but we also have to understand the road does need to be widened Alderwoman Thiel said this sounds good to her. Alderwoman Thiel moved to approve the modification of width of green space and sidewalk. Alderman Ferrell seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. 4. Discussion of possible future street improvements to be included in the 2008-2012 Capital Improvement Program. Ron Petrie said every two years we have the pleasure of redoing our CIP for the next five years out. He said we need to put a list together of possibly the top three street projects that are currently completely unfunded. City staff has a deadline to present something to our budget division on what street projects we would like to see done. From that information, we look at the amount of dollars available and all the other proposed CIP projects. It all gets prioritized and we then bring something forward as a recommendation to the full Council. He said he needs this Committee's help to come up with the recommendation for street projects. He said we know there is not going to be enough money to do what we want to do so there is no use in making a long list. He said he is looking for probably the top three projects. He presented a list of the projects that were unfunded in the Bond program. He said one thing that has been discussed in detail is the intersection of Mt. Comfort and Rupple Rd. The Mt. Comfort project does not take care of the "Y" intersection. As part of the conceptual plans for Mt. Comfort, staff had Garver Engineers look at the cost of finishing up that portion. It would include the new intersection and realignment of Rupple and also the new bridge on Hamestring Creek. The cost of that project is $2.8 million. He said he has also heard a lot of discussion about the problems of Wedington in front of the Catfish Hole. That is not a part of the new AHTD project and we had done some preliminary estimates on that some time ago. The estimate for this project was half a million dollars. He said he just wanted to throw those projects out there. He said he doesn't believe we necessarily need an answer tonight. This may be something the Committee will want to take time to consider. Alderman Ferrell asked what was involved in the project at the Catfish Hole on Hwy 16. Gary Dumas said it involves a five lane between Rupple and the end of the State project. Essentially up to Meadowlands. Alderwoman Thiel asked if we are still waiting for the State to get involved in the funding for Huntsville. She said that area is very congested. Ron Petrie said we have a project to out beyond Stonebridge and all of 15th St. Stonebridge to Falcon is the next phase that is currently unfunded. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes July 11, 2007 Page 14 of 16 Alderwoman Thiel said she would like to get it funded. She wondered what kind of cooperation or discussion we've had with the State about this. Gary Dumas said there hasn't been any discussion recently. Alderwoman Thiel said she thinks the last conversation she had with Mr. Dumas about extending Huntsville was that he was checking with the State to see how soon they were going to do it. Gary Dumas said we have been working on this first section which is out to Stonebridge. Alderwoman Thiel asked if that portion has to be finished before they will start considering the next section. Ron Petrie said the State has a current State Transportation Improvement Plan (STIP) which is similar to the CIP and it goes out the next four or five years. They have identified these projects and have included 15th St. and out to Stonebridge as a 50150 cost share with the City. He said probably in order to move beyond their four-year plan will be going beyond our five-year plan. Alderwoman Thiel wondered if there was any point in her putting this on the list because it won't come about until after a point in time when the State will cost share on it. Gary Dumas said the reason we got the first section funded by the State even though it won't be funded until 2009 was because we had 50% of the cash to build the project. We will be looking again for the second phase of the Bond issue somewhere between 2012 and 2015. He said we will not have the participation until the next Bond issue. He said we can try to get into the next State STIP for that year, assuming we will have some kind of statement that we will cost share. However, he said given the State's lack of aggressiveness in tackling some of these transportation issues, he doesn't think we'll have much luck getting it funded much before then. Alderman Ferrell wondered if this was a good time to try to pop something in on Mission. Gary Dumas said if the Committee is interested in Hwy 16 and Mission, it can be put into the CIP as unfunded and try to get it into the regional STIP and then the State STIP. If we show some cost share, that can move it to whatever year we have the cash. He said there is a funded portion of the local STIP and an unfunded portion. Alderwoman Thiel said she certainly hopes this Committee and the Council would support doing whatever we can to continue the extension of Huntsville improvements because there really is a great deal of traffic out there. Gary Dumas said if sometime in the next couple of meetings the Committee can give staff direction for both of these projects, staff can begin working with Regional Planning. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes July 11, 2007 Page 15 of 16 Alderwoman Allen said a high priority to her is the extension of College Avenue. We'll have this lovely road that will all of a sudden go to a lot of ugliness and asphalt. She thinks we need to gradually move this on out north and beautify it. Alderwoman Thiel said she agrees. That street affects every one who lives in Fayetteville. Alderman Ferrell said he thinks we all like College Avenue but he thinks we need to look at where we need to move traffic. If we have traffic snarls and backups that are causing accidents, he thinks we need to move that traffic and straighten it out and that is a higher priority. Alderwoman Allen said that is a point well taken. Hopefully we can do a balancing act of some beautification and tree planting and making it a little more attractive. Alderman Ferrell asked how many communities in Northwest Arkansas are actively cost- sharing with the State on projects. Ron Petrie said he thinks Rogers has had some significant cost shares. He also believes Springdale is looking to do some. Alderman Ferrell said he hadn't read about other cities doing many cost shares and if we are in a position to be able to do it, he believes that will move us up a little bit on the list. Alderman Jordan said he would like to keep in mind that one of the best bangs for the buck is the intersections. He said a good intersection moves things along pretty well and if you don't have much money, working on intersections is an option. He said a lot of the decisions depend on how much money we've got to work with. If we don't have much money, we may look at intersection work if the Committee is agreeable. Gary Dumas said he doesn't believe there will be much money available this year. Since we have the Bond program to keep major street improvements working, the priority will be to keep funding the maintenance program of the transportation division. In order to maintain the level of effort they've been able to maintain in the past two or three years, that will be the priority. Alderman Jordan said we have to have a good maintenance program. Gary Dumas said on Hwy 16 East or Mission we can begin discussions to get these projects in the State's future planning when we anticipate having the funding available. Alderman Jordan said we do have word back from the State on Wedington Road. Mr. Petrie gave him the information just before this meeting. He read the first couple of paragraphs of the letter which said they will proceed with implementing the changes as approved by the Street Committee. The letter said that because the City will be responsible for any additional cost 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes July 11, 2007 Page 16 of 16 involved in the revisions the State will request approval from the City before executing a change order. Alderman Jordan opened the floor to public comment. There being none he brought the discussion back to the Committee. 5. Scheduling of the next Street Committee Meeting The next Street Committee meeting was scheduled for Monday, August 6, 2007 at 4:30 p.m. 6. Adiourn Alderman Ferrell moved that the meeting be adjourned. Alderwoman Allen seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org