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HomeMy WebLinkAboutUrbanized 10-25-06 ~JCCOG ...,..... Meeting Notice JCCOG Urbanized Area Policy Board Wednesday, October 25, 2006 - 6:00 p.m. Harvat Hall, Iowa City City Hall Agenda 1. Call to Order a. Recognize alternates b. Consider approval of meeting minutes c. Discuss board meeting time and location d. Set date of next meeting 2. Public Discussion of any item not on the agenda 3. Administration a. Consider action on modifications to the JCCOG public comment process b. Consider action on further study of the proposed JCCOG Arterial Street Plan amendment to add the extension of Forevergreen Road between 1 ih Avenue and Dubuque Street c. Update on joint emergency response communication center subcommittee d. Update on passenger rail study i. Consider authorizing Executive Director to sign Memorandums of Understanding with the railroads e. Discuss urbanized area inclusionary zoning policy f. Information from the Executive Director 4. Human Services Planning i. Report on Johnson County Consortium on Successful Aging ii. Update on human service agency quarterly performance reports iii. Update on FY08 joint human service agency funding process 5. Transportation Planning a. Consider action on distribution of Federal Transit Administration Small Transit-Intensive Communities funding b. Consider action on amendments to the FY07-10 JCCOG TIP i. Iowa City Transit projects ii. CAMBUS projects c. Consider action on modification of the JCCOG transportation planning boundary d. Consider adoption of a Complete Streets policy e. Report from JCCOG Regional Trails and Bicycling Committee on bicycle accommodation in the Iowa City Central Business District f. Status report on update of JCCOG Long Range Multimodal Transportation Plan g. Update on recent activities 6. Other Business 7. Adjournment shared on citynt\pcd\\agendas~ccog\uapb'agd 10-25-06.doc MINUTES JCCOG URBANIZED AREA POLICY BOARD WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30,2006, - 6:00 P.M. CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS CORALVILLE CITY HALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Coralville: Iowa City: Henry Herwig, John Weihe Regenia Bailey, Connie Champion, Amy Correia, Bob Elliott, Mike O'Donnell, Dee Vanderhoef Sally Stutsman, Rod Sullivan Jim Wozniak Glenn Potter Erling Anderson Dave Ricketts Johnson County: North Liberty: Tiffin: University Heights: University of Iowa: STAFF PRESENT: Davidson, Neumann, Ralston, Severson, Williams, Yapp 1. CALL TO ORDER a,b,c. Recoqnize alternates; consider approval of meetinq minutes; set date of next meetinq. Chairperson Bailey called the meeting to order at 6:01 p.m. There were no alternates present. It was moved by Correia and seconded by Stutsman to approve the meeting minutes of June 28, 2006. The motion carried unanimously. Bailey set the date of the next JCCOG Urbanized Area Policy Board meeting for Wednesday, October 25, 2006. Bailey stated the meeting time and location would be determined later. 2. PUBLIC DISCUSSION There was no public discussion. 3. ADMINISTRATION. a. Update on ioint emerqency response communication center study Davidson updated the Board on the status of the JCCOG Joint Emergency Response Communication Center Subcommittee. Davidson stated one meeting had been held and the subcommittee would be meeting twice in September. Davidson stated the subcommittee would conclude its activities and have recommendations to the JCCOG Urbanized Area Policy Board by the end of the calendar year. b. Update on mobile household hazardous waste collection unit Neumann updated the Board on the mobile household hazardous waste collection unit operated by the Iowa City Landfill. Neumann stated the first household hazardous waste collection event using the mobile unit had been held on June 17 in the Longfellow Neighborhood in Iowa City. Neumann stated the mobile HHW unit could be scheduled through the Iowa City Landfill. Stutsman asked about use of the unit in the unincorporated area. Neumann replied that it was necessary to have an identified group in order to schedule the mobile unit. Davidson stated that hopefully when the small towns scheduled the unit, it could also include persons in the unincorporated area. . c. Update on Johnson County Consortium on Successful Aqinq Severson updated the Board on the Johnson County Consortium on Successful Aging. Severson outlined the planning session which will be held on September 19 from 3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Severson stated she would continue to provide quarterly updates on the Johnson County Consortium on Successful Aging. Severson provided a handout and stated persons should contact her if they wished to participate in the September 19 forum. JCCOG Urbanized Area Policy Board Minutes August30,2006 Page 2 d. Update on recent activities Davidson asked if there were any comments or questions about recent activities of the JCCOG Transportation Planning Division. There were no comments. 4. TRANSPORTATION PLANNING. a. Consider a resolution declarino the City of Iowa City's orant application for ICAAP funds to be in conformance with the JCCOG Lono Ranoe Multimodal Transportation Plan Yapp stated that the City of Iowa City was applying for an ICAAP (Iowa Clean Air Attainment Program) grant to separate the grade of the Iowa Interstate Railroad from First Avenue. Yapp stated the resolution was a requirement of the grant application. Champion asked if a railroad underpass had been considered, rather than an overpass. Yapp stated that both an underpass and an overpass had been considered, and that a railroad overpass was less expensive. Correia asked what amount of funding was being applied for. Yapp replied $2 million of ICAAP funds were being applied for out of a total project cost of $6.2 million. It was moved by Vanderhoef and seconded by Sullivan to approve Resolution 7-1 declaring the City of Iowa City's application for ICAAP funds for a grade separation project for the Iowa Interstate Railroad/First Avenue crossing to be in conformance with the JCCOG Long Range Multimodal Transportation Plan. The motion carried unanimously. b. Notice of administrative amendments to the JCCOG Transportation Improvement Prooram - Iowa DOT proiects Yapp reviewed projects in the JCCOG TIP which have been altered by Iowa DOT. The alterations included changing the funding source and changing the cost estimate of four projects and deleting a project entirely because it was outside the JCCOG transportation planning area. c. Review Iowa Hiohwav 1 improvement proiect Ralston reviewed the Iowa Highway 1 improvement project which is proposed by Iowa DOT for construction in 2009. Ralston stated that this was not the former "Super 2" project proposed several years ago, nor did it include the Solon bypass. Ralston stated that the reconstruction would improve the surface of the roadway, add paved shoulders, improve key intersections, and improve drainage. Davidson stated that Iowa DOT would be examining aligning Morse Road and Newport Road. Sullivan asked if left-turn lanes would be provided at key intersections, and Ralston replied yes. d. Update on Cedar Rapids-Coralville/Iowa Citv-Amana Colonies passenoer rail study Davidson stated that the passenger rail service study being conducted with Cedar Rapids was nearing completion. Davidson stated the final report was being prepared for public release, which would be done through the Cedar Rapids Chamber of Commerce 15-ln-5 Committee. Correia asked if there would be stops on the University campus. Ricketts replied these were under study. Davidson stated that a possible platform facility had been identified in the vicinity of the U.S. Highway 6 pedestrian bridge. e. Update on 1-80 six-lane reconstruction proiect Davidson reviewed the ongoing 1-80 six-lane reconstruction project. Davidson stated that project elements in 06 included ongoing shoulder strengthening and westbound pavement improvements. Davidson stated that because of funding constraints at the State level, the project had been expanded to five years. Davidson stated 07 would construct the median lanes between Coral Ridge Avenue and the river; 08 would work on the existing lanes between Coral Ridge Avenue and the river; 09 would construct the median lanes between the river and Iowa Highway 1; and 2010 would work on the existing lanes and interchanges between the river and Iowa Highway 1. JCCOG Urbanized Area Policy Board Minutes August30,2006 Page 3 f. Consider an amendment to the JCCOG Arterial Street Plan reqardinq the extension of Foreverqreen Road between 12'h Avenue Coralville. and County Road W66 (Dubuque Street) Bailey reviewed the process which would be followed for considering this matter. Bailey reviewed elements from Davidson's board packet memo. R.J. Moore, Assistant Director of the Johnson County Planning and Zoning Department, was present to review the County's land use plan for the area of the Forevergreen Road extension. Moore stated the North Corridor had been a residential growth area for the County since 1960. Moore reviewed fringe area agreements between Johnson County and area cities. Moore stated that the Iowa State Code allowed cities to approve subdivision plats in the two-mile area around their corporate limits. Moore stated that until recently the County's emphasis had been on multi-acre lots but that they were now trying to cluster smaller lots and leave more open space. Moore stated that a cluster subdivision proposed in the area of the Forevergreen Road extension would likely be reviewed favorably by the Board of Supervisors. Moore displayed several graphics showing County zoning and land use information. Jim Wozniak, North Liberty City Councilor, and Brian James, North Liberty City Administrator, were present to review North Liberty's land use plan in the vicinity of the proposed Forevergreen Road extension. Wozniak reviewed the land use plan, water service plan, and sanitary sewer service plan. Wozniak reviewed the street plan element of the North Liberty Comprehensive Plan and stated that Dubuque Street and Front Street were both designated arterial streets. Jim Kessler of the City of Coralville Building Department appeared to review the Coralville Comprehensive Land Use Plan for the area of the proposed Forevergreen Road extension. Kessler reviewed the corporate boundary and growth area boundaries. Kessler stated that the area was primarily intended for low-density residential development, which was six dwelling units per acre or less. Bob Lentz was present to review the alignment study which had been conducted for the proposed Forevergreen Road extension. Lentz reviewed the process and findings of the study. Lentz stated that the Cities of Coralville and North Liberty did the general land use planning of the area first, and then their consultant contract was to look at factors relating to the road alignment. Lentz stated they had been instructed to use as much of the old road alignment as possible between 12'h Avenue and North Liberty Road. Lentz stated it was desirable to construct the road on the most direct route from point A to point B. Lentz stated if the proposed Forevergreen Road alignment was constructed one-quarter mile further north or south, that it would result in an additional 18 million vehicle miles traveled over the 40-year lifespan of the road. Lentz reviewed spacing of arterial streets in the area. Lentz reviewed environmental constraints and stated they had attempted to minimize the impact on the natural environment with the proposed road alignment. Lentz stated that they had developed 34 initial alternatives and that these had been screened down to 5 final alternatives which received a more detailed evaluation. Lentz stated there were two rounds of property owner meetings. Lentz stated that during the public input portion of their study, over half of the existing residents of Johnston Way stated they would prefer that the proposed road use the existing Johnston Way alignment. Lentz reviewed the factors leading to the selection of the preferred alternative. Lentz stated a project of this scale would require impacts to adjacent property. g. Board discussion Elliott asked Lentz to clarify who the consultant met with. Lentz replied that the consultant had not met with individual property owners, that the City of Coralville staff met with individual property owners. Coralville City Engineer Dan Holderness stated they had met with 8 - 10 households whose properties would be impacted directly and that he did not have the list of specific people with him. Holderness stated this was consistent with the public input process that had been followed on other projects. Champion asked if there had been a public hearing for the general public. Holderness replied there had not been; the intention was that JCCOG would conduct the general hearing. JCCOG Urbanized Area Policy Board Minutes August 30, 2006 Page 4 Correia asked if individual portions of the property development process require a public hearing. Holderness replied yes, the annexation would require a hearing. Kessler stated that property annexed to the City of Coralville is automatically annexed at the R-1 zoning category and then has to be rezoned if another zoning category is desired. Kessler clarified that R-1 was the low-density residential category. Wozniak asked Lentz how the land use plans were examined. Lentz stated that the land use planning was done by the municipalities prior to their hiring, and that there were not platted subdivisions along the proposed alignment of the Forevergreen Road extension. Champion asked about the functional class of roadways in the urbanized area versus in the county. Davidson stated that the planning process was coordinated so that arterials in the urbanized area matched up with arterials in the county. Davidson stated that a significant issue in any developing area was determining when a country road needs to be upgraded to a city street. Vanderhoef asked if Coralville had looked at sprawl in their Comprehensive Plan. Kessler stated that sprawl was not specifically examined. Davidson clarified the north-south and east-west arterials in the area of the proposed extension of Forevergreen Road. Elliott stated he still had questions about the process which had been followed for the planning study. Davidson stated that the process can be largely what the Board wishes it to be. Champion asked if Coralville had examined the safety issues along Dubuque Street which have been identified. Davidson stated that much of the land along Dubuque Street was not in the growth area of North Liberty, Coralville, or Iowa City, so that there was some question as to who was responsible for upgrading Dubuque Street. Elliott stated that a broader look should be taken by JCCOG. Vanderhoef stated that the extension of Oakdale Boulevard was still an issue for her. Stutsman stated that she felt the discussion which was occurring had been a long time in coming. She felt that land use planning should be coordinated, but that was a scary concept for governmental entities to consider in terms of their authority being reduced. Stutsman stated that Dubuque Street had been upgraded a few years ago by the County and that the Board of Supervisors felt it was fine for the existing county development. Elliott stated that the Scanlon Farms development was obviously an issue for a great number of people. Bailey clarified that the Scanlon Farms was in Coralville's growth area and that it could be annexed, rezoned, platted, and developed without involving JCCOG. Bailey stated that she felt the proposed interchange of Forevergreen road with 1-380 needed to be considered when discussing whether or not Forevergreen Road should be an arterial street. Bailey opened the public hearing at 7:28 p.m. Darrell Granner stated that he represented the Citizens for Sensible Development and stated the planning process needed to be participatory and transparent. Granner stated property should not be annexed against the will of the property owner. Granner stated people in the area of the proposed Forevergreen Road extension did not have elected officials representing them in the cities. Granner stated the JCCOG Board needed to take time to get complete information about the proposed arterial street extension. Granner stated that the issues of land use and transportation were linked. Granner stated that he felt the development of the Scanlon Farms would be facilitated by the proposed Forevergreen Road extension. Granner stated the Board should study the traffic issues, find out what the problems were, and then figure out how to solve them. Granner stated that the Board should start the process over and include the Citizens for Sensible Development. Mike Muff stated he was the co-owner of Gold's Gym and that he had not been contacted regarding the proposed Forevergreen Road extension. Paul Mort stated he was employed by Simmons-Perrine and that he was the legal counsel for the Citizens for Sensible Development. Mort stated he had reviewed the JCCOG Long Range Multimodal Transportation Plan on the JCCOG website and approved of many of the concepts. Mort reviewed information he had obtained through the Freedom of Information Act and reviewed issues about the consultant's development of a preferred alignment for the extension of Forevergreen Road. Mort stated the public input process had been faulty. Mort stated people needed to be involved, and provided a handout. JCCOG Urbanized Area Policy Board Minutes August30,2006 Page 5 Dan Gerot of Johnston Way stated he had always wanted a place in the country, but that the proposed Forevergreen Road extension had been raised soon after he moved to his residence on Johnston Way. Gerot stated other alternatives needed to be evaluated. Gerot stated he would be in favor of an arterial street located somewhere in the vicinity, but not where it was proposed. Gerot stated he supported the comments of the other speakers. Judy Schroeder of the Spring Valley Homeowners Association stated she had been informed when she bought her house that the Scanlon Farm was in a 99-year trust and would not be developed. Schroeder stated more traffic study needed to be conducted of Dubuque Street and that it was difficult to get on and off Dubuque Street from Spring Valley Subdivision. Schroeder stated she expected some development to occur in the area, but she did not like what was proposed for the Scanlon Farms. Schroeder stated a rural atmosphere should be preserved. Carol Woodward of Westwood Acres stated that the Board of Supervisors were their only elected representatives. Woodward stated traffic had increased over the last 23 years that she had lived in the area, and outlined traffic issues. Woodward stated that the Board needed to consider impacts of the proposed Forevergreen Road extension on Dubuque Street, and that JCCOG should hire its own consultant to evaluate. Paul Hidger of Lakeview Drive in River Heights stated he supported the previous speakers. Hidger stated they live in an area of great beauty. Hidger stated there was heavy traffic on Dubuque Street and that it had been measured at 6,800 vehicles per day and that this was the highest traffic volume in the unincorporated county except for Iowa Highway 1. Hidger stated deer were also a traffic safety concern. Hidger stated there was an issue with pedestrians getting mail on the other side of Dubuque Street. Hidger stated he spoke for other River Heights residents. Suzanne Bork of Pembrokeshire Drive in Coralville stated that Oakdale Boulevard needed to be extended to Dubuque Street so that traffic would not cut through her neighborhood. Sarah Anderson of Meadowlark Place stated she concurred with the other speakers and that the traffic issues were significant. Anderson stated that the Board should not assume that development of the Scanlon Farms area is a foregone conclusion. Anderson quoted several core concepts from the Johnson County Land Use Plan which she felt were inconsistent with the proposed development on the Scanlon Farms property. Anderson stated that the impact of growth on existing County residents needed to be considered. Kent Godlinski of Johnston Way stated he concurred with the Citizens for Sensible Development. Godlinski stated that he disputed a consultant's statement that residents of Johnston Way wanted the proposed Forevergreen Road extension to use the existing right-of-way of Johnston Way. Brad Houser of Johnston Way stated that public input in the process had been inadequate. Houser stated that he was not represented by elected officials in Coralville, but the County did not have much input in development in Coralville's fringe area. Houser stated that existing arterials cannot accommodate the development projects that are proposed. Houser stated that it was needed to extend Oakdale Boulevard to Dubuque Street. Bailey declared a break at 8:12 p.m. Bailey reconvened the hearing at 8:27 p.m. Linda Westphal of Pembrokeshire Drive in Coralville stated that she agreed with the comments made by Bork and Houser. Westphal stated that Oakdale Boulevard needed to be completed to Dubuque Street so that traffic did not cut through her neighborhood. Diane Atkins of Forest Gate stated that the Board should not forget about impacts to North Liberty Road and First Avenue in Coralville. Atkins stated that First Avenue in Coralville could not handle additional traffic. John Pratt of North Liberty Road stated that he is a developer and that the proposed Forevergreen Road extension impacts the property where he resides. Pratt reviewed issues with the Earth Tech study. Pratt said he had hired his own engineer to show alternative alignments for Forevergreen Road. JCCOG Urbanized Area Policy Board Minutes August 30, 2006 Page 6 Pratt pointed out that impacts from the proposed development of the Scanlon Farm were included in the Earth Tech study. Pratt stated that he agreed that Scanlon Farms could develop without the Forevergreen Road extension. Pratt stated the Forevergreen Road alignment study needed to be redone. Pamela Wooster of County Down Lane stated that she was concerned about more truck traffic on Dubuque Street. Herb Loops of North Liberty Road stated he does not understand the rationale behind the preferred alignment and that he did not understand how residents of the area were notified of the study. Coralville City Administrator Kelly Hayworth clarified that the residents of the area were notified by a mailing and that there had been individual property owner meetings with 8-10 affected property owners. Linda Wilson of Naples Avenue stated she was concerned about farm access and that the interchange with 1-380 should be at Oakdale Boulevard, not Forevergreen Road. Dave Franker, Mayor of North Liberty, stated JCCOG needed to consider how a transit authority for Johnson County could benefit the traffic situation in the North Corridor. Franker stated it should be a goal to preserve the quality of life in the area. Bev Davidson of Johnston Way stated that the preferred alignment for the extension of Forevergreen Road was flawed. Davidson stated she felt a solution could be found that would benefit everyone. Bruce Haupert of Forest Gate stated that he felt traffic safety was a principal concern. Haupert reviewed existing approved subdivisions in North Liberty that would impact North Liberty Road and Dubuque Street. Haupert stated the Board needed to defer the vote on the proposed Forevergreen Road extension. Mark Hamer stated he owns property on Dubuque Street, and thanked the Board for their consideration of this matter. Hamer stated he was an officer in the Citizens for Sensible Development. Hamer stated their group wanted to work with JCCOG and that they had a consultant who had prepared other alignments for the proposed extension of Forevergreen Road. Bailey closed the hearing at 8:53 p.m. Bailey asked for a motion on the proposed amendment. Elliott stated he needed additional information before he was prepared to vote in the affirmative. Sullivan stated he believed that this matter should be voted on and concluded, and the planning process started anew. Correia moved to approve the amendment to the JCCOG Arterial Street Plan regarding the extension of Forevergreen Road between 1 ih Avenue Coralville, and County Road W66 (Dubuque Street). Correia clarified that she was making the motion to put the issue on the table and that she intended to vote in the negative. Stutsman seconded the motion. Weihe stated that Dubuque Street was a huge issue but that it was not a new issue. Weihe stated that even if the process starts over, not everyone will be happy with the conclusion. Correia stated that there needed to be a comprehensive look at traffic issues in the growth areas that had been presented by North Liberty and Coralville. Correia stated that the study needed to consider what was already platted for development. O'Donnell acknowledged that there were legitimate traffic issues which should be examined, but that development was needed and was a good thing for the community. O'Donnell stated the matter should be deferred and not voted down. Champion stated that the political system is flawed if people affected by a decision are not included in the process for evaluating the decision. Champion stated that she wanted to start the process over. Stutsman called the question. Bailey had Davidson restate the motion and Davidson clarified that a yes vote was a vote in favor of the amendment to add the extension of Forevergreen Road between 1 ih Avenue and Dubuque Street to the JCCOG Arterial Street Plan. Davidson recorded a roll call vote and the motion was defeated, all nays. JCCOG Urbanized Area Policy Board Minutes August30,2005 Page 7 Bailey stated that the Board needed to provide direction to staff. Davidson stated that the Board needed to indicate how great a priority it was for JCCOG to examine traffic issues in this area because there was already a full work program of projects slated for Fiscal Year 07. Bailey stated she felt it needed to be made a priority, and that if necessary the Board would re-prioritize the Transportation Planning Work Program. Elliott stated that the Citizens for Sensible Development should be included in the planning process. Sullivan stated that he felt JCCOG Board meetings should continue to be held during the evening and be taped for broadcast. Champion asked if a consultant should be used for the study. Davidson stated that the money issue would need to be discussed, but that using a consultant was a way to get the study done sooner than doing it internally. Davidson asked the Board to indicate the scope of the study area they wished to see examined. Vanderhoef stated she was interested in looking at combinations of arterial street scenarios. Davidson stated this could be accomplished by the JCCOG arterial street model. Weihe stated he felt JCCOG should take the lead in this matter. Stutsman stated she felt the Oakdale Boulevard extension should be included. Davidson stated he would bring a proposal for the consultant study back to the Board in October. It was moved by Vanderhoef and seconded by Elliott to accept correspondence regarding the proposed Forevergreen Road extension issue. The motion carried unanimously. 5. OTHER BUSINESS There was no other business. 5. ADJOURNMENT It was moved by O'Donnell and seconded by Weihe to adjourn. The motion carried unanimously. Bailey declared the meeting adjourned at 9:30 p.m. Davidson stated that persons should check the JCCOG website in a week or so for the official notice of when and where the October 25 meeting would be held. data on cilyntlpcd/minules/jccog-uapb/2006/08-30-06.doc ~JCCOG .-....,.... memo Date: October 17, 2006 From: JCCOG Urbanized Area Policy Board Jeff Davidson ~ Agenda Item #1 (c): Discuss board meeting time and location To: Re: The last four JCCOG Urbanized Area Policy Board Meetings have been held at four different locations. We have also departed from our former meeting time of 4:00 p.m., and held the last three meetings at 6:00 p.m. There appears to be a desire on the part of the board to have our meetings held in larger venues that are equipped with amplification equipment and the ability to videotape the meetings for later rebroadcast. Please be prepared to discuss where and at what time of day you wish to have future board meetings held. jccogadm/memos/jd-meetingtime.doc Date: October 12, 2006 ~JCCOG ...~ m e m 0 ,...... To: JCCOG Transportation Technical Advisory Committee From: John Yapp, Assistant Transportation Planner 7 dr.. f Ay-- Re: Agenda Item #3(a): Consider action on modifications to the JCCOG public comment process As part of the recent review of the JCCOG organization by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Iowa DOT, it was suggested that JCCOG review and readopt its public input process. The JCCOG public input process is used to solicit input when amendments are proposed to the JCCOG Arterial Street Plan, Transportation Improvement Program, and other planning documents such as the Long-Range Multimodal Transportation Plan, and when grant applications are being considered by JCCOG. JCCOG summarizes and solicits input on grant applications for locally determined Surface Transportation Program (STP) and Transportation Enhancement (TE) funds. The public input process consists of four steps: 1. Direct mailing to JCCOG public input organizations (see list below) regarding proposed plan amendments and funding applications. We find a direct mail approach to be more effective than publishing notices in the newspapers or holding general hearings at our meetings, although these techniques are used occasionally. 2. Direct mailing to directly affected property owners regarding proposed arterial street plan amendments; 3. Information and meeting agendas are posted on the JCCOG website for JCCOG board and committee meetings; 4. Public input is always scheduled at JCCOG meetings, including the Regional Trails and Bicycling Committee, Transportation Technical Advisory Committee, and JCCOG Urbanized Area Policy Board. JCCOG public comment organizations: The backbone of our efforts to notify a cross section of the general public of our work in transportation planning has been to notify existing organizations of proposed plan amendments and funding applications. These organizations are a combination of citizen groups and local government committees, but share some interest in transportation plans and policies. As part of an internal review of our process this summer, we added to the list a trucking representative, local railroad companies, the Soil and Water Conservation Service, the local realtor association and Goodwill Industries. These groups are directly notified by mail of proposed JCCOG plan amendments and funding applications, and are asked to give input. The main benefit of notifying groups like this is to share information and provide a contact name and phone number if they have questions. Allen Lund Co. (a trucking brokerage) Bicyclists of Iowa City Clear Creek Amana School District Conner Center for Independent Living Coralville Parks and Recreation Commission CRANDIC Railroad Environmental Advocates Friends of Historic Preservation Friends of the Iowa River Scenic Trail Goodwill Industries of Southeast Iowa Greater Iowa City Chamber of Commerce Iowa Bicycle Coalition Iowa City Area Association of Realtors Iowa City Area Development Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission Iowa City Neighborhood Services Office Iowa City School Board Iowa City/Johnson County Senior Center Iowa City Sierra Club JCCOG Regional Trails and Bicycling Committee Johnson County Historic Preservation Commission Johnson County Historical Society Johnson County League of Women Voters Johnson County Planning and Zoning Commission Soil and Water Conservation Service North Liberty Parks and Recreation Commission Project Green Systems Unlimited Tiffin Planning & Zoning Commission 2 At its October 10th meeting, the JCCOG Transportation Technical Advisory Committee recommended approval of the JCCOG public comment process as modified. Following the TTAC meeting, a representative of the Citizens for Sensible Development asked that they be added to the public comment list; we will add them to the list. Please consider a motion adopting the JCCOG public comment process as outlined in this memorandum. This summarizes our practice for soliciting input and providing information on JCCOG business. Other opportunities for citizen input occur at the municipal level at public meetings of city councils and numerous commissions and committees. Let's discuss if this allows for adequate opportunity for public input and for sharing information about JCCOG business. Please consider a recommendation to the JCCOG Urbanized Area Policy Board on readopting the JCCOG public input process. Jccogadm/memo/jy-publicinput.10-12-06.doc Date: October 18, 2006 ~JCCOG ...,....... m e m 0 To: JCCOG Urbanized Area Policy Board From: Jeff Davidson 7P( Re: Agenda item #3(b); Consider action on further study of the proposed JCCOG Arterial Street Plan Amendment to add the extension of Forevergreen Road between 1 ih Avenue and Dubuque Street At the August 30 board meeting you unanimously defeated the proposed JCCOG Arterial Street Plan Amendment to add the extension of Forevergreen Road between 1 ih Avenue and Dubuque Street. You expressed two principal concerns. First, you wished to have a more inclusive public input process during the development of the proposed alignment. You also asked to have the many public comments addressed regarding inadequacies in the existing arterial street system in this area. Specifically, North Liberty Road and Dubuque Street were cited as having numerous traffic problems. Because of the difficulties in pursuing this project as a high priority within our current FY07 JCCOG Transportation Planning work program, you indicated support for a consultant-assisted process for reconsideration of this issue. I was instructed to bring information to you at the October meeting for consideration on how to proceed. The JCCOG Transportation Technical Advisory Committee met on October 10th and discussed how to proceed regarding this matter. One option is to go back to square one and send out an RFP for consultant proposals to conduct the requested alignment study and investigation of traffic issues. Given the expense of the consultant study which has been conducted so far, we estimate an expense of $135,000 for such a project. A second option we discussed is to take the existing engineering study which has been completed by Earth Tech, and continue working with them to address the issues which have been raised. We believe the expense to proceed in this manner would be around $75,000. Both of these cost estimates include an extensive public input process which is estimated to cost approximately $30,000. This will also elongate the study schedule somewhat, to approximately eight months. The public input process will include four formal open meetings at strategic points during the study, and an e-mail communication system between the consultant and all interested members of the public. The public involvement program will be a significant time commitment for the consultant. JCCOG will assist the consultant with the collection of traffic data. We summarized the citizen comments made at the last JCCOG board meeting as follows: . The half-mile wide study corridor is too narrow and other alignments for the Forevergreen Road extension should be examined . Public input was lacking early in the study . Traffic and safety concerns on Dubuque Street and North Liberty Road . Opposition to annexation and development of the Scanlon Farm by Coralville . Impacts to private property owned by persons who do not want to redevelop After deliberation, the JCCOG Transportation Technical Advisory Committee recommends continuing to work with Earth Tech on the investigation of the above issues. JCCOG would oversee the consultant, assisted by Coralville, North Liberty, and Johnson County. The ultimate goal of the study is to facilitate decision making by the JCCOG Urbanized Area Policy Board on the proposed extension of Forevergreen Road. Regarding bullet number four pertaining to the Scanlon Farm, I would again reiterate that the annexation and development of the Scanlon Farm is not under the purview of JCCOG. This property can be annexed, zoned and platted without any action by the JCCOG Urbanized Area Policy Board. To the degree that the proposed extension of Forevergreen Road could potentially impact this property, it will be included in our analysis. But no one should have the false impression that JCCOG has authority over the annexation and development of the Scanlon Farm property. Please be prepared to discuss how you would like to proceed at the October 25th board meeting. We will also need to discuss specifically the cost sharing model for this study. For these types of studies the expense is typically borne by the "benefiting" JCCOG entities, which in this case would be Coralville and North Liberty. However, this matter has received extensive discussion by the entire JCCOG board and you may wish to discuss an alternative cost sharing model in this instance. Jccogadm/agenda/forevergreenamend .doc ~JCCOG ...,....... m e m 0 Date: October 16, 2006 To: JCCOG Urbanized Area Policy Board From: Jeff Davidson ~I Re: Agenda Item #3(c): Update on Joint Emergency Response Communication Center Subcommittee The JCCOG joint emergency response communication center subcommittee has met four times and is proceeding through discussion and resolution of the various issues associated with the proposed facility. The issues remaining to be discussed include: operations, additional users of the facility, and site selection. We will attempt to complete our discussion of these issues at meetings on Friday, October 2th and Thursday, November 9th. We will have a final wrap-up meeting on Friday, November 17th, after which I will draft a brief final report for presentation at the December JCCOG Urbanized Area Policy Board meeting. Following presentation of the report to JCCOG, it will be up to the Iowa City City Council and Johnson County Board of Supervisors to determine if they wish to cease operation of the two existing emergency response communication systems and begin work on phasing in a joint system. If a joint system is the direction everyone wants to proceed, the next step would be to hire a consultant to design the system and prepare construction documents. We will also need to prepare the 28-E agreement which would establish the joint communication system entity. Bring any questions or comments to the October 25th meeting. jccogadm/agd/emergencyresp. update. doc Date: October 17, 2006 =- -=JCCOG - --= ~ r~ (.... m e m 0 To: JCCOG Urbanized Area Policy Board From: Jeff Davidson ~ Re: Agenda Item #3(d): Update on passenger rail study; Consider authorizing Executive Director to sign Memorandums of Understanding with the railroads The passenger rail study that we have been working on with the City of Cedar Rapids is coming to completion. The project coordinators and I are currently reviewing the third draft of the final report and hope to have it completed sometime in October. It appears there are some service opportunities which can be implemented immediately, as well as a long range plan for things that will be possible in the future but not immediately. The report breaks down three essential service components: 1 . Special event excursion service 2. Regularly scheduled transit service 3. Transit Oriented Development (TOO) As might be expected, the special event excursion service is what can be implemented in the immediate future. There is equipment available which can be leased for a moderate expense, and the railroads have preliminarily given authorization for the existing trackage to be used for such events, although trackage rights fees would have to be negotiated. The location of the existing rail lines is ideal for such excursions and special event services, and the willingness of the railroads to cooperate with us enables such possibilities to be explored. Regularly scheduled transit service is something which may be an option in the future if it is determined that it is a priority to spend funds for this purpose. There is the possibility that regularly scheduled passenger rail service could be established between North Liberty and downtown Iowa City. The other possibility which is called out in the report is between the Eastern Iowa Airport and downtown Iowa City. This would require a significant investment in trackage and equipment. There will need to be subsequent discussion of whether or not such services are a priority before the corridor delegation goes to Washington D.C. to request Congressionally Designated Funding. Another passenger rail service alternative put forth in the report is the notion of Transit Oriented Development, or TOO. There are two ideal locations for TOO in Coralville and Iowa City; the River Landing area of Coralville and the area along the east side of the Iowa River between Benton Street and U.S. Highway 6 in Iowa City. Both are long-term strategies but are very realistic in terms of their feasibility. There is also a good TOO site south of downtown Cedar Rapids which is highlighted in the report. I would emphasize that the report is still in draft form and there is nothing publicly to be released at this time. We hope to have the report finalized by November and conduct a public meeting to present the report through the Cedar Rapids Chamber of Commerce 15-in-5 initiative. We will then organize discussions to determine what the priorities are for Congressionally Designated Funding in the corridor, in anticipation of the delegation going to Washington in late winter/early spring. 2 One of the contractual requirements of the consultant is to prepare Memorandums of Understanding with the two participating railroads and acquire signatures from the appropriate persons at each railroad. The Memorandums of Understanding are also to be executed by the Director of Parking and Transit for the City of Cedar Rapids, and by the JCCOG Executive Director. I have reviewed the MOUs with the JCCOG attorney and have received legal approvals to sign them. Please be prepared to consider authorizing my signature on the MOUs at the October 25th meeting. Copies are attached for your review. Bring any questions to the October 25th meeting. jccogadm/memos/jd10-17railstudy.doc Appendix 5-E Memorandum of Understanding Regarding The Potential Development of Passenger Rail Service(s) In the Cedar River Region Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway Co. (CRANDIC) acknowledges that it has participated in and provided input to the Cedar River Rail Study. CRANDIC understands that the three service options under consideration at present include: 1. Eastern Iowa Airport - Iowa City commuter-type service on the CRANDIC Hills Line 2. North Liberty-Iowa City all-day shuttle service on the CRANDIC Hills Line 3. Excursion service between origins and special event destinations located on the Cedar Rapids-Iowa City-Amana rail lines, including potential seasonal tourist train service on the CRANDIC Hills Line Study sponsors recognize that potential passenger services must not be detrimental to existing or potential freight service. Study sponsors recognize that there are financial and operational responsibilities that will not be assumed by the host railroad(s) and must be assumed by the entity sponsoring passenger service(s). Those include: · Liability and insurance coverage protecting against any incidents or claims related to passenger train service(s); · Cost of capital improvements on the host railroads required or desired in connection with any passenger service(s); · Compensating the host railroads(s) for all costs related to passenger service operation; · Arrangements and costs to provide suitable locomotives and cars to support passenger service(s); · Planning and promotion of passenger service(s), including ticketing, parking, transit connections, advertising, public comfort and safety; · Compliance with all Federal and state regulatory requirements and · Others, to be negotiated. Assuming the satisfactory resolution of the issues outlined above, subject to then-current freight transportation requirements, and under terms that are fair to the railroad and its owners, it supports the continued development of passenger rail services in the region. Kevin Burke, Chief Operating Officer Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway Co. PREUM\IARl Subject to AP,rov Date William Hoekstra, Director Five Seasons Transportation & Parking Jeff Davidson, Director The Johnson County Council of Governments Date Date ~JCCOG ,.~ memo Date: October 17, 2006 To: JCCOG Urbanized Area Policy Board From: Jeff Davidson ~ Re: Agenda Item #3(e): Discuss urbanized area inclusionary zoning policy At the October 16th work session of the Iowa City City Council, the City Council discussed enacting an inclusionary zoning policy for Iowa City. The City Council also discussed whether or not such a policy should include the entire urbanized area. Accordingly, I was asked to place this item on the October 25th JCCOG meeting agenda. City of Iowa City representatives will present additional information at the October 25th JCCOG meeting. jccogadm/memos/inclusionaryzoning.doc ~JCCOG ...~ m e m 0 .--.... Date: October 17, 2006 To: JCC?G ~nized Area Policy Board From: Lin8t~everson, Human Services Coordinator Re: Agenda Item 4(a): Report on Johnson County Consortium on Successful Aging The Johnson County Consortium on Successful Aging sponsored a planning event on September 19. More than 130 persons attended. The consensus was that is was a highly successful event, even though the limited time frame did not allow for sufficient discussion of all the future directions contained in the distributed reports. As Elinor Ginzler, the Director of MRP's Livable Community Initiative said, "You folks did in two hours what it would take four months to do in Washington D.C. As I travel around the country you may be sure that I will say, 'You should see what they did in Johnson County, Iowa.''' The planning event began with a General Assembly that highlighted the vision of: Johnson County, with its urban-rural mix, a livable community where persons can age successfully. The three initiatives selected for immediate implementation are: 1. Manage and create accessible resources and activities to help persons in Johnson County age successfully. Database, Resource Broker (Staff that promotes activities and program throughout the county and helps in implementation of this action plan) Multi-Source Delivery (information is available in a variety of setting and formats e.g. website, paper), Connect people to resources 2. Educate seniors about the benefits of physical activity and healthy life styles to affect behavioral change. 3. Address barriers to obtaining accessible/universal designed housing. Smaller homes, Funds for modifications, Tax incentives Three action teams are being formed. Each team will develop and implement an action plan. An early spring meeting is projected to report progress and determine next steps. Although the focus is on the three initiatives, the Consortium hopes that the many other items suggested as future directions will be considered. I will keep you apprised of developments. jccodadm/agd/successfulaging .doc ~JCCOG ...,..... m e m 0 Date: October 16, 2006 To: JCCOG Urbanized Policy Board .A.~~c... Lind~Severson, Human Services Coordinator Fr: Re: Item 4(b) Update on human services quarterly performance reports Item 4(c) Update on FY08 joint human services agency funding process Item 4 (b) For FY07 local government funding (Coralville, Iowa City, and Johnson County) Amy Correia, Social Services Coordinator for Johnson County and I have developed a quarterly reporting form. The initial report (covering 1 st quarter) includes a brief description of services, mission statement and 2-3 goals and objectives that relate to how local funding is utilized. Also required are copies of board meeting minutes, financial reports, and a program report that focuses on progress on the goals that were submitted. We held a meeting in June to go over the new format, and in September Amy sent out a reminder and an electronic version of the report. The first quarterly report for FY07 is due on October 30th. These reports will be reviewed and a summary performance report will be prepared for local government funders. Item 4 (c) The human services funding review process looks a bit different this year compared to previous years. The United Way of Johnson County is reviewing how they allocate funds to health and human services agencies and have put their review process on hold for FY08. Johnson County will be reviewing the written applications and having informational presentations by funded agencies throughout the year. Coralville will be reviewing the written applications. Iowa City has appointed a committee of city councilors to determine what information (e.g. agency presentations or site visits) they want in addition to the written applications. Let me know if you have any questions or need additional information. jccogadm/mem/HSquarterlyreports.doc ~JCCOG ...r..... Date: October 16, 2006 m e m o To: JCCOG Urbani:~.d }rea Policy Board From: Brad Neuma~sistant Transportation Planner Re: Agenda Item #5(a): Consider action on the distribution of FTA Small Transit Intensive Communities Funding between Coralville Transit, Iowa City Transit, and Cambus. This fall JCCOG will again divide up federal transit operating assistance for FY07 between Coralville Transit, Iowa City Transit, and Cambus. For approximately the last 20 years we have used a locally derived formula that includes the following transit system performance factors: total operating cost, locally determined income (LDI), revenue miles, and fare revenue. This year there is also the issue of an additional source of federal transit operating assistance that we have become eligible for: Small Transit Intensive Communities (STIC) funding. This is a new source of funding through SAFETEA-LU for small transit intensive communities that otherwise receive a relatively small amount of federal transit operating assistance under the population/population density formula. The STIC funding is made available by comparing the performance factors from small transit intensive cities with the performance factors of larger transit intensive cities. There are six performance factors evaluated, and if you meet or exceed at least one of the factors you become eligible for STIC funding. The more performance factors you meet or exceed, the more funding you are eligible for. In Iowa, only Ames and the Iowa City Urbanized Area are eligible for these funds. Ames is one of three small urbanized areas in the United States that meet or exceed at least five of the thresholds, and we are one of six urbanized areas that meet or exceed four of the thresholds. There has been a question on the distribution of these funds locally between our three transit systems because Coralville Transit has not been reporting into the National Transit Database System that is used for determining the performance factors. Coralville Transit filed their first NTD report last year and will continue to report into this system each year, as do Iowa City Transit and Cambus. However, the performance factors used to determine this year's STIC funding are from FY04, one year before Coralville began reporting into the system. We have been able to determine that the four STIC performance factors we meet or exceed are the four that are per capita based. This means that Coralville's population is already included, and adding Coralville Transit's performance data in future years will only improve them. Attached to assist in the discussion of this matter is a memorandum which was prepared for the transit subcommittee of the JCCOG Transportation Technical Advisory Committee evaluating different formula options. We have calculated multipliers for each transit system with and without fare revenue as a specific factor. Several scenarios are presented for distributing the funds. There are, of course, other distribution formulas which could be considered. At their October 10th meeting, the JCCOG Transportation Technical Advisory Committee (TTAC) recommended distributing the STIC funds according to the existing JCCOG formula that is used for regular federal transit operating assistance. In discussion of this matter with the TTAC, Cambus representatives suggested that fare revenue be taken out of the distribution formula as a specific factor. The University has always felt it is unfair to have fare revenue included as a specific factor since it is also included in the locally determined income performance factor. This has meant that Cambus is "penalized" twice in the formula for being a free-fare system. This formula has been in use by JCCOG for approximately the last 20 years and the Board has not voted to make any changes to it during that time. Cambus voted against the TTAC recommendation to continue to use the existing formula. Bring any questions to the October 25th board meeting. J ccogadm/agenda/ba-item4sticfunds wJCCOG rr..... Date: August 10, 2006 To: Vicky Robrock, Ellen Habel; Coralville Transit Joe Fowler, Ron Logsden; Iowa City Transit Dave Ricketts, Brian McClatchey; University of Iowa CAMBUS From: Jeff Davidson, Transportation Planner ~t _ . ~ Brad Neumann, Assistant Transportation Plann~ Re: Distribution of FT A Small Transit Intensive Communities (STIC) funding At our meeting to discuss this issue you expressed a desire to see what the impact would be of taking fare revenue out of our locally-derived formula for splitting up FT A transit operating assistance. Using FY06 performance factors results in the following multipliers with and without fare revenue included as a specific multiplier factor. Locally Current Multiplier Total Determined Revenue Fare FY06 Without Operating Cost Income (LDI) Miles Revenue Multiplier Fare Rev Coralville Transit $1,182,699 $900,838 211,516 $304,513 .1682 .1424 (.1533) (.1494) (.1244) (.2456) Iowa City Transit $4,057,878 $3,322,701 746,291 $935,225 .5676 .5053 (.5258) (.5512) (.4390) (.7544) Cambus $2,4 76,096 $1,804,972 742,164 0 .2642 .3523 (.3209) (.2994 ) (.4366) (0.0) Total $7,716,673 $6,028,511 1,699,971 $1,239,739 1.000 1.000 (1.000) (1.000) (1.000) (1.000) Our current estimate for regular FTA operating assistance in FY07 is $860,674. This is the regular FTA operating assistance that is based on population and population density. The FY07 estimate for STIC funds which are based on transit system performance is $463,440. The total is $1,324,114. Here's how these funds would be split if we use the current multiplier which includes fare revenue as a separate category. FY07 Reg FY07 FY07 Operating STIC Total Coralville Transit $144,765 $77,951 $222,716 Iowa City Transit $488,519 $263,048 $751,567 Cambus $227.390 $122.441 $349.831 Total $860,674 $463,440 $1,324,114 , , . , August 10,2006 Page 2 Here's how the same funds would be split out using the multiplier without fare revenue included as a separate category. Under this formula each remaining performance factor makes up one- third of the multiplier. FY07 Reg FY07 FY07 Difference from Operating STIC Total current multiplier Coralville Transit $122,560 $65,994 $188,554 (-$34,162) Iowa City Transit $434,899 $234,176 $669,075 (- $82,492) Cambus $303.215 $163.270 $466.485 (+ $116.654) Total $860,674 $463,440 $1,324,114 For the purposes of comparison, we have also calculated using the current multiplier for regular FT A operating assistance, and the multiplier with fare revenue not included as a factor for the STIC funds. FY07 FY07 Reg STIC Operating (fare revenue not FY07 Difference from (current multiplier) included in multiplier) Total current multiplier Coralville Transit $144,765 $65,994 $210,759 (- $11,957) Iowa City Transit $488,519 $234,176 $722,695 (- $28,872) Cambus $227.390 $163.270 $390.660 (+ $40.829) Total $860,674 $463,440 $1,324,114 Let us know how you would like to proceed regarding this matter. We can meet again as a subcommittee if you would like, or we can present this information as you see it here to the full JCCOG Transportation Technical Advisory Committee at the meeting which is to be scheduled in September. The recommendation from the JCCOG TT AC will be forwarded to the JCCOG Board for a decision on splitting up these funds at the October JCCOG Urbanized Area Policy Board meeting. Please use "reply to all" when forwarding your responses to us. Let us know if you have any questions. jccogadm/memos/sticfunding. doc ~JCCOG r~ r.... m e m o Date: October 16, 2006 To: JCCOG urbanizedfrea Policy Board From: Brad Neuman~Zsistant Transportation Planner Re: Agenda item #5(b): Consider approval of amendments to the JCCOG FY07-FY10 TIP; Iowa City Transit and CAMBUS projects Iowa City Transit and CAMBUS have requested that the following projects be amended in the FY07-10 JCCOG TIP. Iowa City: Add the following items to FY07: .:. New Freedom program operating funds for Chatham Oaks Express fixed route- $70,180 FT A 5317/$70,180 Local .:. New Freedom program capital funds - One (1) 40' heavy-duty bus for fleet expansion - $40,000 FTA 5317/$10,000 Local Change the following existing item in the FY07-10 TIP: .:. Three (3) 40' heavy-duty buses for expansion - $930,000 total - $744,000 FTA 5309/$186,000 Local change to: .:. Two (2) 40' heavy-duty buses for expansion - $620,000 total - $496,000 FTA 5309/$124,000 Local This is the first year that FT A New Freedom program funds have been available to urban transit agencies. The funding is for projects for persons with disabilities that go above and beyond current ADA requirements. Iowa City Transit began running an express route to Chatham Oaks in August of 2006. This route is designed specifically to serve persons with disabilities. The changes to the TIP listed above reflect Iowa City Transit's programming of this project. Iowa City Transit conducted two public hearings regarding this new route, and copies of the hearing transcripts will be filed with the TIP. Cambus: Move the following project from FY07 to FY08: .:. Maintenance facility replacement - $4,000,000 total - $3,200,000 FTA 5309/$800,000 Local 2 Change the funding amount for the following project: From: .:. ITS systems development hardware/software for 32 vehicles - Expansion - $320,000 total - $256,000 FTA 5309/$64,000 Local To: .:. ITS systems development hardware/software for 20 vehicles - Expansion - $200,000 total- $160,000 FTA 5309/$40,000 Local. These changes are programming adjustments to Cambus projects. TTAC recommends approval of these amendments. Please bring any questions you may have to the October 25th meeting. jccogad mfagdftra nsa men dm ents. doc ~ JCCOG ~ ~ ~ ,.,....... memo Date: October 16,2006 To: JCCOG Urbanized Area Board From: Anissa Williams, Traffic Engineering Planner ())Jf Re: Agenda Item #5c: Consider action on modification of the JCCOG transportation planning boundary In conjunction with the update of the JCCOG Long-Range Multi-Modal Transportation Plan, the Federal Highway Administration is requiring us to reevaluate our long-range transportation planning boundary. At the present time, the JCCOG transportation planning boundary is determined by the area which JCCOG urbanized area municipalities have designated as their long-range growth boundaries. For the most part this is the area where those municipalities are committed to providing municipal utilities as part of their long range growth. Typically, this is determined by the limit at which gravity sanitary sewer can be provided. In reevaluating the boundary for the May 2007 long-range plan update, there are some changes that we propose. Some of these changes are because of planned street extensions and annexations that go beyond the gravity sewer service line. The proposed changes are shown in red on the attached map. In some of the areas proposed for addition, such as Dubuque Street north of Iowa City, we have already been asked to provide transportation planning services, although the area is not currently within our transportation planning boundary. This designation does not impact any Federal or State funding programs, nor does it take away any local municipal government decision-making authority. The Transportation Technical Advisory Committee at their October 10, 2006 meeting recommended approval of the JCCOG long range transportation planning boundary as proposed. Bring any comments or questions to the Board meeting on October 25th. 1.9 mo ~Eu m<(u -g c>F:i\\ 5 .~ I~\~ me. m c>- cD.. .- Q) e c> c: e m m Q:DF~ U) c>~ (t) e ~ o 0 ~ N ..J <ll ~ ~ ... / '-- "- . rol z+"'~ ~ :; ~ e .., ~ <( ~ .. ~ .~ -g ftI .. ~ ." ." 0 C ~ m:J. N " 0> ",0 o C ~ "c ~ ~ ~ 0 :Q 0:: ~ e :2 1iJ '\""" DD~ : Date: October 17, 2006 ~JCCOG r........ m e m 0 From: JCCOG Urbanized Area Policy Board Kent Ralston, Assistant Transportation Planner~ John Yapp, Assistant Transportation Planner 1;A...Y~ Agenda item #5d; Complete Streets policy To: Re: At the October 10, 2006 meeting of the JCCOG Transportation Technical Advisory Committee, it was recommended that a Complete Streets policy be adopted by JCCOG. Complete Streets is a concept being advocated by national bicycle and pedestrian organizations. The policy requires that any newly constructed or reconstructed roadway include facilities for bicyclists and pedestrians. A street is not 'complete' unless it provides safe travel for all users. With the current Iowa DOT bicycle accommodations policy, although bicycle and pedestrian accommodations are always considered, bicycle and pedestrian facilities are required to be included in a street design only if there is proof that a certain level of bicycle activity exists. With the Complete Streets policy, bicycle and pedestrian accommodations are always included unless a specific exception is made (listed below). Both JCCOG staff and the Regional Trails and Bicycling Committee (RTBC) recognize that street construction projects in our community have included pedestrian and bicycle facilities. Adding a Complete Streets policy would formalize this practice. Much of the RTBC discussion revolved around the fact that our communities have a good track record of constructing pedestrian and bicycle facilities and questioned whether adopting such a policy is necessary (draft RTBC minutes are attached). The Complete Streets policy would not require a specific design standard as there are many ways to design bicycle and pedestrian facilities into a road project. If this policy is adopted, it will be included in the JCCOG Long Range Multimodal Transportation Plan and be a requirement of JCCOG funding applications. The City of Cascade Iowa is the only city in Iowa to date that has adopted a Complete Streets Policy (attached). The policy statement as proposed for JCCOG is streamlined compared to the language adopted by Cascade, and would apply only to JCCOG funded projects. We are proposing the following policy be adopted: All new roadway projects, or major reconstruction projects (not including maintenance), funded in whole or part by JCCOG under this policy shall accommodate travel by pedestrians and bicyclists, except where: 1. Bicyclists and pedestrians are prohibited by law (such as interstate highways). 2. The cost would be excessively disproportionate to the need or probable use (at least 20% of overall project cost) 3. Alternative, nearby bicycle and pedestrian accommodations already exist All exceptions to the 'Complete Streets policy' would be <?onsidered by the JCCOG Urbanized Area Policy Board at the time said projects were considered for funding, or during project development. The JCCOG Regional Trails and Bicycling Committee and JCCOG Transportation Technical Advisory Committee recommend the Board adopt the Complete Streets policy for JCCOG. The Complete Streets policy would require that bicycle and pedestrian accommodations are included in all construction projects wholly or partly funded by JCCOG unless an exception is made by the Urbanized Area Policy Board. Bring any questions to the October 25 meeting. jccogadm/agd/UAPBcomplete-streets.doc CITY OF CASCADE POLICY STATEMENT COMPLETE STREETS: INTEGRATING BICYCLING AND WALKING INTO TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE POLICY STATEMENT: I. Bicycle and pedestrian ways shall be established in new construction and reconstruction projects with in the city limits of Cascade unless one or more of the following conditions are met: *bicyclist and pedestrians are prohibited by law from using the roadway. In this instance a greater effort may be necessary to accommodate bicyclist and pedestrians elsewhere within the right of way or within a near by parallel corridor. *the cost of establishing bikeways or walkways would be excessively disproportionate to the need or probable use. Excessively disproportionate is defined as exceeding twenty percent of the cost of the overall transportation project. *where sparsity of population or other factors indicate an absence of need. This is defined as streets developed as a cul-de-sac with four or fewer dwellings or if the street has severe topographic or natural resource restraints. Also an indication of absence of need will be on streets where the speed limit is no more than twenty-five miles per hour and/or the average daily v.ehicle counts are less than 250 vehicles per day. 2. Sidewalks, shared use paths, street crossings (including over and under crossings), pedestrian signals, signs, street furniture and facilities, as well as all connecting pathways shall be designed, constructed, operated, and maintained so that all pedestrians, including people with disabilities, can travel safely and independently. 3. The design and development of the transportation infrastructure shall improve conditions for bicycling and walki.ng through the following steps. *planning projects for the long-term. Transportation facilities are long-term investments that remain in place for many years. The design and construction of new facilities that meet the criteria in item I. above should anticipate likely future demand for bicycling and walking facilities and not preclude the provision of future developments. For example a bridge that is likely to remain in place for 50 years, might be built with sufficient width for safe bicycle and pedestrian use in anticipation that facilities will be available at either end of the bridge even if that is not currently the case. * addressing the need for bicyclist and pedestrians to cross corridors as well as travel along them. Even where bicyclist and pedestrians may not commonly use a particular corridor that is being improved or constructed, they will likely need to be able to cross that corridor safely and conveniently. Therefore the design of intersections shall accommodate bicyclist and pedestrians in a manner that is safe, accessible and convenient. *getting exceptions approved by the city administrator. Exceptions for non-inclusion of bikeways and walkways shall be approved by the city administrator and be documented with supporting data that indicates the basis for the decision. *facilities shall be designed to currently available standards and guidelines. The design of facilities for bicyclist and pedestrians that are commonly used, AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities, MSHTO's A policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets, and the ITE Recommended Practice "Design and Safety of Pedestrian Facilities. " wJCCOG r(..... m e m 0 Date: October 12, 2006 From: JCCOG Transportation Technical Advisory Committee John Yapp, Assistant Transportation Planner? r---- Kent Ralston, Assistant Transportation Planner~ To: Re: Agenda Item #5(e): Report from JCCOG Regional Trails and Bicycling Committee on bicycle accommodation in the Iowa City Central Business District At its last meeting in June, the JCCOG Regional Trails and Bicycling Committee (RTBC) discussed the perceived lack of specific bicycle facilities in downtown Iowa City, particularly in the Burlington Street corridor. This discussion was requested by Mark Wyatt, a resident of North Liberty and Director of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition. The draft minutes from the meeting are attached; they have not yet been approved by the RTBC. This information is being forwarded to you at the request of the RTBC, who did have a specific recommendation, but wanted you to be informed. The proposed Burlington Street median project prompted this discussion. The Burlington Street median would add a curbed, landscaped median to Burlington Street through downtown Iowa City. Left turn lane bays would continue to exist at the intersections, but left turns at alleys would no longer be permitted. The landscaped median will improve the appearance of the corridor, and is expected to significantly reduce jay-walking in the Burlington Street corridor. No changes are proposed to the width of Burlington Street itself; only the median would be constructed. To date, the Burlington Street median project is not funded. There have been occasional complaints from bicyclists about the inconvenience of traveling westbound by bicycle through downtown, because of the bicycle prohibition in the Pedestrian Mall, Washington Street being one-way eastbound, and bicycles being prohibited on downtown sidewalks, including the sidewalk on the north side of Burlington Street. Westbound bicycle travel through downtown is concentrated on Iowa Avenue, the alleys, or on Burlington Street, which is not specifically designed to be "bicycle-friendly" due to the high traffic volume and standard 12-foot travel lanes. New arterial streets follow our modern arterial street design of a wide outside lane (15 feet to provide extra room for on-street bicyclists), and a wide sidewalk on at least one side of the street. Older streets like Burlington Street and Gilbert Street in downtown Iowa City do not have this design, and have right-of-way constraints, making it difficult to contemplate widening a travel lane or a sidewalk. Through discussion, the RTBC acknowledged that bicycle travel through downtown Iowa City is not without friction; the central business district is designed to keep all traffic moving slowly for safety and to maintain a pedestrian atmosphere. Though no specific recommendations were made, the RTBC wanted a summary of their discussion forwarded to the JCCOG Urbanized Area Policy Board. Improving a street corridor to make it more inviting to bicyclists will always be an issue when older street corridors are proposed for reconstruction. Attachment jccogad m/agd/bu rl I ngton-med Ian. doc MINUTES JCCOG REGIONAL TRAILS AND BICYCLING COMMITTEE TUESDAY, JUNE 20, 2006 IOWA CITY CITY HALL LOBBY CONFERENCE ROOM DRAFT MEMBERS PRESENT: Terry Trueblood, Greg Kovaciny, Mike Lehman, Terry Dahms MEMBERS ABSENT: Erling Anderson, Karin Oils, Sherri Proud, Michelle Ribble, Shelly Simpson OTHERS PRESENT: Mark Wyatt, Del Holland STAFF PRESENT: John Yapp, Kent Ralston, Nikhil Sikka CALL TO ORDER Yapp called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. Yapp introduced Kent Ralston as the new Assistant Transportation Planner with JCCOG. Ralston filled the position that had been vacant since September 2005. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM THE FEBRUARY 7.2006 MEETING The minutes from the February 7,2006 meeting were approved without any amendments. PUBLIC DISCUSSION Yapp asked for public input on items not on the agenda. Dahms asked if JCCOG is taking any counts on Iowa River Corridor Trail. Yapp stated that the Iowa DOT is taking counts at four different spots on trail system- one in City Park, one on the Iowa River Corridor Trail near Dairy Queen, one on the North Ridge Trail, and one on the North Liberty Trail near Zeller Street. Yapp stated that one of the disappointing features of these counters is that they only detect bikes and do not detect pedestrians. He further stated that the counters would be there throughout the summer. Holland noted that there is a problem with the location of a counter in City Park. He stated the counter may not be counting all the use because it is on one leg of a loop and should be moved. Yapp said he would forward this idea to DOT. Lehman asked how these counts are breaking things down per day or at different times during a day. Yapp said the data from the DOT counters would be available in the Fall. Kovacinyasked when the City would redo the paving on Summit St between College and Burlington St. He stated that the City did not do a good job last fall and the road is rough for bicycle traffic. Yapp replied that he would talk to City Engineer regarding this matter. Kovaciny also noted one of the pedestrian issues related to Iowa Arts Festival when streets were closed off for pedestrians is that potholes were present on the streets that were closed off including Washington St and Iowa Ave. Kovaciny proposed that entire roadway should be scanned for any repairs at least a week before the festival and it should be made a regular task prior to closing of the streets. Yapp said he would follow up. Holland noted that the gate on Sycamore Trail near the soccer park remains closed most of the time and one can not get through the road to the south. Yapp stated that the park maintenance department locks the gate in the evening due to some vandalism issues but should remain open in the morning. Holland noted that it was locked the entire previous week except during soccer games. Trueblood mentioned that when soccer park was built, they had to enter in an agreement with the county that the road would be neither an access nor an egress for any kind 2 of vehicles which may include bikes. Trueblood stated he would follow up on the matter, as the Soccer Park is an Iowa City park. AGENDA ITEM #3: DISCUSS AND CONSIDER A RECOMMENDATION ON A COMPLETE STREET POLICY: Yapp noted that at the last meeting the committee had demonstrated support for a 'Complete Streets Policy' and had asked for draft language. Yapp stated that Iowa DOT has a bike accommodation policy where bike and pedestrian facilities are included 'if it can be shown that there are bikes and pedestrians that would use the roadway'. Yapp further explained that the Complete Streets Policy is a little stronger by stating bike and pedestrian facilities must always be included unless it can be proven that there are no bikes and pedestrians or they are prohibited by law. Yapp stated that the draft policy is based on other policies that have been implemented around the country although there are not any present in Iowa currently. The draft policy states that "all new roadway projects, or major reconstruction projects funded in whole or part by JCCOG shall accommodate travel by pedestrians and bikes except where: 1. Bicyclists and pedestrians are prohibited by law 2. The cost would be excessively disproportionate to the need or probable use (20% of overall project cost) 3. Alternative, nearby bicycle and pedestrian accommodations already exist Yapp asked for any discussion on specific language of the draft policy. He also reminded the committee that any recommendations would be forwarded to the JCCOG Transportation Technical Advisory Committee and finally to the JCCOG Urbanized Area Policy Board. Kovaciny asked whether the policy would give anymore force to the grant applications and funding other than through JCCOG. Yapp replied that if JCCOG had a Complete Streets Policy and can demonstrate to Iowa DOT that the project complies with it, there may be more recognition at the state level but he could not speak for Iowa DOT. Wyatt asked whether exception number three of the policy was taken from Sherry Proud's recommendation or if it was Iowa DOT's language. Ralston replied that it is based on other similar policies. Dahms stated that he is bothered by the proposed Complete Streets Policy. He noted that from the perspective of Iowa DOT, it sounds like it could have some advantages. But JCCOG had been doing complete streets with their arterial street design for ten years. Yapp agreed that "Complete Streets" is the current buzz term, and JCCOG has always encouraged bicycle and pedestrian facilities. Dahms stated that it needs to be emphasized in the language of the policy that this recommendation is not new and JCCOG had already been doing complete streets. Wyatt added that the policy would also give JCCOG a leadership advantage to be able to introduce the idea to other entities. Yapp asked for recommendation to approve the language of the draft policy. Trueblood moved; Dahms seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Yapp stated that he would summarize the discussion for the Technical Advisory Committee and the board. AGENDA ITEM #4: DISCUSS THE UPDATE OF THE JCCOG LONG-RANGE MULTI-MODAL TRANSPORTATION PLAN. Yapp stated that JCCOG is in early stages of updating the Multi-Modal Transportation Plan. He noted that JCCOG used to have separate plans for each mode of transportation - including a transit plan, arterial street plan, and trail plans. Four years ago all those plans were complied into one document which became the Multi-Modal Long Range Transportation Plan. He said that JCCOG would be rewriting the plan and would like input from the committee to make the plan more useful to the communities that use it. He further explained that the plan is primarily 3 used by municipalities as they discuss which infrastructure project to move ahead with and how to incorporate other pedestrian and bike related issues. Yapp noted that over the next nine months he would like to get some more input. He also stated that the committee could set up a separate workshop or meeting just to focus on this element. Yapp explained that we use the trail plan element of the plan while going through grant funding application or to decide what projects to support in order to be consistent with the Long Range Plan. Kovaciny asked if the plan is used by the municipalities much. He also asked whether or not they always do the things as recommended in Long Range Plan. Yapp replied he thinks municipalities are doing most of the things as recommended and mentioned that when this plan first got adopted it was probably used more. One reason to periodically update the plan is to make sure it has current information and is fresh in the minds of staff and elected officials. Yapp stated that each of the committee members might like to contact their own group to gain input. He also reminded the committee that this plan is a 20-25 year long range plan. Trueblood noted that each committee member can review the plan individually and see if there are lots of suggested technical changes and that would determine whether or not the committee needs a separate meeting for this item. Dahms added that the plan should be consistent with what the school districts are planning. Yapp agreed. Dahms noted he did not see a justification for a separate meeting and the item can be included on next agenda. Yapp noted that JCCOG will be identifying the major growth areas in Iowa City, North Liberty, Tiffin, and Coralville urbanized areas and focus attention on the transportation infrastructure needs of these rapidly growing areas. Wyatt asked whether the plan would focus on the fringe areas only or include infill areas. Yapp replied it would be both, but he thought most investment in transportation infrastructure would take place in developing and redeveloping areas. Dahms stated that there are some conflicts and discrepancies between what JCCOG does with their arterial street plan versus what the county does. He said that he is not satisfied with the Johnson County Trails Plan, especially since it includes paved shoulder as trails. AGENDA ITEM #5: UPDATE ON LINN COUNTY-JOHNSON COUNTY CONNECTING TRAIL MEETING. Yapp stated that there is a Johnson County Trails Plan that has been developing for over a year and than there is a separate but related effort started by Linn County and the Linn County Trails Association to promote a trail connecting Linn County to Johnson County, more specifically the Cedar Rapids area to Iowa City and North Liberty areas. Yapp stated that there was a meeting between the elected officials of both the counties and that Senator Bolkcom had promoted a trail along HWY 965 between North Liberty and Cedar Rapids. Lehman stated that the County is looking at re-surfacing part of HWY 965. Lehman noted that there is enough right of way to put a separate trail on this route. He stated that Senator Bolkcom noted we might get designated funds from the state but neither the Linn County nor the Johnson County have an idea what the costs are. Dahms stated that there is quite a bit of momentum by Linn County to come down along the Hoover Nature Trail and $50,000 was transferred from Johnson County to Linn County so they could push that trail down to Ely. He noted that he had been working with Linn County Trail Association and with Johnson County since March and as far as he knew they had a complete alignment that would start from the McBride Trail and would go through Ely. Lehman stated that maintenance of the trail was an issue and another issue they had was snowmobilers. He said the snowmobile groups have a route along HWY 965 that they maintain themselves and they would not want to lose it. Yapp noted that if anyone in the committee has interest on this issue, this item would be on the leadership group meeting between Johnson County and Linn County on August 24. He also 4 noted that the group would be establishing a sub-committee of elected officials in July and the issue would be further discussed over next several months. AGENDA ITEM #6: UPDATE ON IOWA DRIVERS EDUCATION CURRICULUM AND BICYCLE SAFTY LEGISLATION. Yapp noted that some groups including Ron Bandy had been advocating to include bicycle safety education as part of the driver's education curriculum. Yapp stated legislation did adopt the language which would add bicycle safety education to the driver's education curriculum. Yapp stated the Iowa Bicycle coalition is working with Iowa DOT and others to draft the new curriculum. AGENDA ITEM #7: DISCUSS BICYCLE FRIENDLY STREET DESIGN RECOMMENDATIONS FOR DOWNTOWN. Yapp noted that Mark Wyatt wanted to discuss the fact that Burlington Street, an existing downtown arterial street, is not very bike friendly. Yapp stated that sidewa.lks are not wide enough for bicycling and technically on the north side of Burlington bicycles are not allowed to be on the sidewalk. He noted that there are other similar streets around the older parts of Iowa City and Coralville including Gilbert Street, Riverside Drive, and First Avenue that do not have wide curb lanes or wide sidewalks, since they were designed at the time when the "complete streets" were not being considered. Wyatt stated that he conducted an hour long observation survey on Burlington Street and noted that there were 40 bikes total, of which 19 were using sidewalk, 17 were using the street and 6 were on the opposite sidewalk. He mentioned that there is also a lack of alternative routes going east to west in downtown Iowa City. Wyatt noted that 2% of the injury accidents in the CBD happen because of bikes on sidewalk. Yapp reminded the committee that in the 1990s before reconstruction of infrastructure of downtown took place the committee recommended the best way to integrate bicyclists in downtown Iowa City was to slow down traffic and provide a lot of bicycle parking; bicycles lanes were not seen as a solution, especially in conjunction with on- street parking. Wyatt asked if the proposed median would slow down traffic or just prevent left turns. Wyatt stated that he assumes that it would make traffic flow faster. Yapp replied that the median prevents left turn at the alleys and the hard curb and landscaping on the median should cause motorists to go more slowly. Dahms asked how wide the new median would be Yapp replied that it would be the same width as the existing one. Wyatt asked if bike lanes could be added as part of the project. Yapp said there is not enough width for bike lanes - a median would be added, but the street is not being reconstructed. Trueblood said it is a state highway, and the DOT will need to be involved in any design changes. Dahms asked how the plan would be funded. Trueblood replied that it would be an expensive project but funding sources are not yet finalized, and he did not think any JCCOG funding was dedicated to it yet. Dahms asked how many blocks the project would cover. Trueblood replied from Gilbert Street down to the river. Dahms asked if they were looking at south Riverside Drive also. Trueblood replied that streetscape work on South Riverside Drive is currently unfunded in the Iowa City Capital Improvements Program. Yapp suggested the discussion should not focus only on Burlington Street but on the overall traffic pattern in the downtown area for bicycles. Wyatt said that Burlington Street should be the first priority. Yapp asked if the committee would like to have more information on this item or request implementation of a project studying this issue. Dahms asked if there are similar issues in ) 5 Coralville, or if this is just an Iowa City issue. Yapp replied that First Avenue in Coralville has very narrow travel lanes and some missing sidewalks segments, but that Coralville is pursuing a project to reconstruct First Avenue. Lehman asked if they needed a resolution stating that every street project should have a checklist for some of these accommodations. Yapp replied that the Complete Streets Policy discussed earlier in the meeting is an effort to require bicycle and pedestrian accommodations. Dahms said he thought the Complete Streets Policy would take care of requiring bicycle and pedestrian facilities when streets are being reconstructed - there is not much we can do with existing streets. Yapp suggested that as an action step, he summarize this discussion to the JCCOG Board. The committee agreed. OTHER BUSINESS Yapp showed a new digital ink embedded trail way-finding sign to the committee. Yapp noted that JCCOG is coordinating the installation of these signs on all the trails but it would be up to the individual parks departments to install these signs and pay for it. Kovaciny asked the approximate coast of each sign. Yapp replied it is about $80 per sign whereas the metal ones cost around $40-$50. Kovaciny suggested making the text and image on the sign slightly bigger. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 5:30 p.m. Rtbc6-20-06.doc ~JCCOG r~ m e m 0 ....... Date: October 17, 2006 To: JCCOG Urbanized Area Policy Board From: John Yapp, Assistant Transportation Planner -7 ~/11y- Re: Agenda Item #5(f): Status report on the update of the JCCOG Long Range Multimodal Transportation Plan At the October 10 JCCOG Transportation Technical Advisory Committee (TTAC) meeting, we presented maps and information summarizing the 'existing conditions' of transportation and land use in the Iowa City Urbanized Area. These existing conditions include the JCCOG Arterial Street Plan and Trails Plan maps, transit routes, known sensitive environmental areas, high collision locations, and other demographic and population data. As much as possible, we are displaying this information on maps using Geographic Information System (GIS) software. The TTAC concurred with the baseline information presented to them; we will use this information for proceeding with the plan update. Our next step in updating the Long Range Multimodal Transportation Plan is to begin scheduling public input sessions, and to formulate future scenarios for investment in our transportation infrastructure. A long range multimodal transportation plan is the broad transportation vision for the community, and should provide the basis for the planning and programming of transportation construction and reconstruction projects. Our deadline for the JCCOG Board to adopt the updated JCCOG Multimodal Transportation Plan is May 2007; the plan must be adopted by this date or we run the risk Iowa DOT not allowing us to process Transportation Improvement Program amendments. This will effectively shut down federal transportation funds coming to our area for new projects. One of the new set of maps we have created is the Existing Land Use and Future Land Use maps for the JCCOG Urbanized Area (attached). These maps help give a broad view of the land use plans in our community. Because of differences in land use and zoning definitions between the communities, we based the Existing Land Use map on tax assessors records for identifying whether land is commercial, industrial, or residential (some multi-family properties are taxed as commercial properties; these were converted to multi-family residential for this map). The Future Land Use map is based on the adopted comprehensive plans of each community, and land use groups have been simplified to five categories: public, single-family residential, multi-family residential, commercial and industrial. Because the joint land use maps are something the JCCOG Board has specifically requested, we thought we would provide them to you at this time. T:\JCCOG\John\long range plan.doc 19 o u u -, II~~:!~~ \l ir~III~\~: m Q) ~ <( 0) C (1).- UJ c :::); ~- ~. c. 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E Q) Q.. ~ .9- 0 j CD i4~E CI) ~Q ~.~ E ..., C eU~ ;c:'O~. g 5".... - 0 ~ is ~ ~ Q) 0 E.e .r -' ~~~ to _-0 as ~ <( C> C -fc 'c Q) C t/)as :)~ "CD CO) CO C -'as I.. ~ .~ i ...... . . . . . . . . , "'" ~ ,) z+~ ~ . . . . . . . . . . ................. o co "" co c :;:s _ ~ i ~ Ii :2 "" ~~ co~ e.E~co.e.5 "~~:S~:Q Ula~ii;gE:g CIl'r:<:""E8o. Ul. m iii :E _ ~i' IIII N ~ ~ o Date: October 12, 2006 ~JCCOG r~ m e m 0 ..-.... To: JCCOG Urbanized Area Policy Board From: Jeff Davidson ~ Re: Agenda Item #5(g): Update on recent activities of the Transportation Planning Division Following is a list of recent activities of the JCCOG Transportation Planning Division. Street and Highway 1. Melrose Avenue traffic study for University Heights. 2. Assist Iowa City with design of McCollister Boulevard. 3. 1-80 aesthetic enhancements committee. 4. Proposed amendment to add Forevergreen Road to the JCCOG Arterial Street Plan. 5. Assist with design of Lower West Branch Road. 6. Research needed improvements to Clinton Street/Burlington Street intersection. 7. Proposed improvements to Iowa Hwy. 1 in vicinity of Ruppert Rd./Hawk Ridge Rd. 8. Gilbert Street/U.S. Highway 6 intersection improvements. 9. Updates to urbanized area arterial street model. 10. Construction project website. 11. Burlington Street median. 12. Assist with Grand Avenue roundabout. 13. Alignment study for extension of Sycamore St. to U.S. Hwy. 218 interchange 89. 14. Consider Complete Streets policy. 15. Assist North Liberty with Highway 965 task force. 16. 120th Street Study between 1-380 and Curtis Bridge Road in Shueyville. 17. I nvestigate contract penalties for paving contractors. 18. Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) planning for 1-80 six-lane project. 19. Traffic study for Court Street between Summit and Muscatine. 20. Assist with developing access control guidelines for Iowa City subdivision code. 21. Evaluate Grand North Plaza traffic study for North Liberty. 22. Dubuque Street/Park Road intersection study. Transit 1. New Freedoms program grant application for Iowa City Transit. 2. Develop alternatives for distributing Small Transit Intensive Communities funding. 3. Sensitivity analysis for Iowa City Transit on State Transit Assistance formula. 4. Close out Coralville and CAMBUS triennial reviews. 5. State and federal transit grant administration. 6. National Transit Database reporting. 7. SEATS certification appeals. 8. Coralville Transit utilization report north of 1-80. 9. Assist with leased space in Court Street Transportation Center. 10. Joint human services transportation /JARC planning process. 11. One-year status report for Court Street Transportation Center. 2 Pedestrian/Bicycle 1. Implement regional trail signs. 2. Finalize Johnson County Trails Plan. 3. Regional Trails and Bicycling Committee activities. 4. Bike racks for various locations in downtown Iowa City. 5. Trail counts. 6. Investigate possible projects for Safe Routes to School program. 7. Linn County-Johnson County trail connection subcommittee. 8. Update Iowa City sidewalk deficiency map. 9. Assist with development of Court Hill Trail project in Iowa City. 10. Assist the University with pedestrian circulation issues around the new Art Building. Traffic Engineering Planning 1. Crash analysis for intersection of Burlington StreetlMuscatine Avenue. 2. Collect traffic data for Swisher. 3. U.S. 6/6th Avenue traffic signal warrant study review for Coralville. 4. Evaluate Bradford Drive/First Avenue traffic signal. 5. Street marker sign format research. 6. High crash location report for the urbanized area. 7. Investigate appropriate pedestrian signage for Cleary Walkway. 8. Administer Iowa City traffic calming program. 9. Traffic count and data collection program. 10. Quarterly crash location summary for Iowa City Police Department. 11. Assist with Iowa City traffic signal interconnect project. 12. Assist with installation of traffic signals on Highway 1 South. 13. Iowa City permanent pavement marking program. 14. Street marker assemblies for new Iowa City subdivisions. 15. Research access control issues. 16. Research pavement marking issues. 17. Research traffic control sign issues. 18. Trouble-shoot traffic signal issues. 19. Hwy 965/Golfview Dr.lFairview Dr. signal warrant study for North Liberty. Multimodal/Other 1. Passenger rail service study with Cedar Rapids. 2. Assist Johnson County with update of Land Use Plan. 3. JCCOG Long Range Multimodal Transportation Plan update. 4. Assist Iowa City with Central Planning District study. 5. Assist with preparation of State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). 6. Subdivision and site plan review. 7. Update public comment mailing list. 8. Assist Iowa City with capital projects programming. 9. Research downtown parking requirements for Iowa City. 10. ICMP application for Iowa Interstate Railroad/First Avenue grade-separation project in Iowa City. 11. Begin preparation of FY08 JCCOG Transportation Planning Division budget. jccogad m/ agd/recent -activiti es TP D. doc