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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/10/2015 MEETING AGENDA MPO Regional Trails & Bicycling Committee Tuesday, March 10, 2015 – 1:00 PM Council Chambers Coralville City Hall 1512 7th St. Coralville, IA 52241 1. Call to order; recognize alternates; consider approval of minutes 2. Public discussion* 3. Consider a recommendation to the MPO Transportation Technical Advisory Committee on the apportionment of Transportation Alternatives Program funds 4. Update on the MPO FY16 Transportation Planning Work Program schedule 5. Update on Master Bicycle Plan and Strava data collection 6. Update on approval of MPJOC Complete Streets Policy 7. Update on inventory of ADA accessibility issues in MPO communities 8. Encouragement and Education - Update on Bike to Work Week and Bike Month 9. Other business – Choose next meeting location. 10. Adjournment To request any disability-related accommodations, please contact MPOJC staff at 319.356.5230 or email Sarah Walz@Iowa-City.org. *Public input is permitted on any agenda item during discussion of the item. Please indicate to the Chair if you wish to comment. MINUTES PRELIMINARY MPO REGIONAL TRAILS AND BICYCLING COMMITTEE TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2014 – 1:00PM JOHNSON COUNTY HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES BUILDING – ROOM 203C MEMBERS PRESENT: Terry Dahms, Louise From, Michon Jackson, Mike Moran, Brian Loring, Pat Harney (alt. for Terrence Neuzil), Anne Duggan, Scott Prochaska (alt. for Sherri Proud) MEMBERS ABSENT: Michelle Ribble, Shelly Simpson OTHERS PRESENT: Brock Grenis, Mark Pooley, Del Holland, Dave Koch, Allison O’Brien, Brad Friedhof, Jennifer Selby STAFF PRESENT: Kristopher Ackerson, Rachel Serslev 1. CALL TO ORDER; RECOGNIZE ALTERNATES; CONSIDER APPROVAL OF MINUTES Ackerson called the meeting to order at 1:00pm. Scott Prochaska was recognized as the alternate for Sherri Proud. Pat Harney was recognized as the alternate for Terrence Neuzil. Ackerson asked the Committee to approve the Minutes from the March 25, 2014 meeting. Duggan made a motion to approve the minutes; Jackson seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. 2. PUBLIC DISCUSSION None 3. ENFORECEMENT – UPDATE ON LIGHT THE NIGHT PROGRAM BY OFFICER DAN ROTH, IOWA CITY POLICE Officer Dan Roth was unable to attend but emailed staff with an update on the status of this program. In the last year, Iowa City Police have essentially discontinued this program, due in part to new electronic citations that cannot be torn up like paper citations. Ackerson noted that this program had successfully resulted in over seventy new bike lights being installed in the first year of operation. Brad Friedhof asked whether any communities have had experience with allowing/prohibiting motorized bikes on trails. Friedhof was approached by Cedar County officials regarding this topic and the Hoover Nature Trail from West Branch to Oasis. Ackerson recommended contacting Susie Nehring at the County Attorney’s office because she has researched this topic for County Conservation previously. 4. ENGINEERING – CONSIDER RECOMMENDATION FOR ADOPTION OF DRAFT MPO COMPLETE STREETS POLICY Ackerson reviewed the new draft MPOJC complete streets policy included in the meeting packet and clarified that policies are not laws or ordinances. In reviewing the policy, Holland suggested adding safety to the vision section; Ackerson agreed that was a good addition but was already covered by the statement regarding public health. Jackson asked whether bike parking should be included in the policy but Ackerson clarified that bike parking is typically specified through each community’s zoning ordinance. Ribble submitted an email to Ackerson suggesting that the University of Iowa be added to the “All Agencies” section. Dahms asked whether wide sidewalks or trails should be added to the “Implementation” section. Ackerson suggested that trails are typically not within the road right-of- way but agreed that different definitions are used by communities and trails will be added. Dahms also commented that improvements to Highway 965 should have the same bicycle and pedestrian accommodations whether in Coralville or North Liberty. Dahms made a motion to recommend approval of the draft complete streets policy by the MPO Policy Board; Moran seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. 5. ENCOURAGEMENT – COUNTING BIKE USAGE BY MARK POOLEY Mark Pooley shared information about multiple resources available for quantifying cycling in Johnson County including CycleTracks and Strava, which are both smart phone apps. This data is useful to communities for planning purposes because it shows the most popular running and cycling corridors in the community. Additionally, some apps even allow users to submit questions or concerns such as potholes, sand, double parked cars, etc. Loring asked Pooley whether he recommends Strava, Cycle Tracks, or another app. Pooley noted that both have benefits over the other but Strava may be the best option because there are already users, whereas CycleTracks would require getting a statistically significant number of residents to download and use the app, which can be difficult. Ackerson and Pooley agreed that having data would be helpful for planning purposes, especially to update the adopted bicycle master plan. Ackerson agreed to do more research and revisit the topic at the next RTBC meeting. 6. EVALUATION – DISCUSS SCOPE OF UPDATE TO NEW METRO BIKE MASTER PLAN Due to most recommendations in the adopted Metro Bicycle Master Plan having been implemented, the RTBC included an update of the plan in the MPO Work Program for this fiscal year. Ackerson summarized the purpose and public input components of the update process, including community workshops and an online survey. Loring suggested getting the University of Iowa involved and Ackerson shared that Liz Christensen has agreed to help distribute information on campus. Dahms suggested hosting separate community workshops in Coralville and North Liberty based on the differences between each community. Ackerson noted that the RTBC will serve as the steering committee for the update process and reminded members that the update is intended to be adopted by MPO member entities. 7. OTHER BUSINESS Ackerson noted that the 2014 trail count summary is included in the meeting materials for reference. Ackerson reminded the committee that the MPO will be soliciting applications for Surface Transportation Program and Transportation Alternatives Program funding this winter with more information to come soon. Ackerson noted that the MPO Policy Board meetings rotate from one community to the next and suggested doing the same for the RTBC. There was consensus to pursue this. 8. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 2:05 PM. Date: March 2, 2015 To: MPO Regional Trails and Bicycling Committee From: Sarah Walz, Assistant Transportation Planner Re: March 10, Agenda Items Agenda Item #3: Consider recommendation to the MPO Transportation Technical Advisory Committee (TTAC) on the apportionment of Transportation Alternatives Program funds The Metropolitan Planning Organization of Johnson County (MPO) administers a grant process to apportion federal Surface Transportation Program (STP) and Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) funds. We are currently administrating our grant application process for STP and TAP funds for FY2019-2020. The MPO will apportion include $5,400,000 in STP funds and$890,000 in TAP funds. Applications for FY19-20 MPO-allocated funds were due February 6th. The first project in the table below is found in the ‘projects list’ of the adopted MPO Long Range Transportation Plan; if either of the other two projects is awarded funding, the Long Range Plan will need to be amended to include these projects in the fiscally constrained projects list. All the projects are consistent with the MPOJC trails plan. The application form spells out the process used to solicit projects for this funding. In summary, the project sponsor must commit to the 20% minimum local match for project implementation. The RTBC may, by motion, amend any of the project scores before they are forwarded to the Transportation Technical Advisory Committee (TTAC). Your recommendation will be forwarded to the TTAC for discussion, along with staff scores according to the adopted scoring criteria. The official 30-day public comment period will begin on March 1, and input received will be forwarded to the MPO Urbanized Area Policy Board for consideration. To-date we have not received public comments on the applications. The timeline for the 2015 application process is the following:  February 6 – Application deadline  March 1 –Public comment period begins  March 3 – TAP scoring sent to RTBC  March 10 – RTBC meeting  March 24 – Transportation Technical Advisory Committee (TTAP) meeting  April 1 – Public comment period ends on applications  April 1 – MPO Urbanized Area Policy Board meeting – funding decisions made At your March 10 meeting, please be prepared to make a recommendation to the TTAC on the apportionment of TAP funds. The MPO staff scores applications, based on the criteria adopted by the MPO Board, which will be distributed at your meeting. The scores are meant to be one piece of information for consideration in your deliberations; projects need not be recommended for funding according to their scores. As you discuss the projects to recommend for funding, consider the project score, any public input received, and the merits of each project. Funds cannot be apportioned according to the population of the MPO municipalities. I will be available at your March 10 meeting to answer any questions you may have about the scoring for these applications. Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) Scoring Criteria The following information will be used to establish a point total for your proposed Transportation Alternatives Program project. This point total will be one of several factors considered by the MPO Urbanized Area Policy Board in making a decision on which projects to fund. PROJECT TYPE This question is intended to determine the extent of project being proposed. 1. Is the capital asset a new facility or an existing facility proposed for improvement as noted in your Capital Improvements Project list? No - 0 points Yes - 1 point; maintenance Yes - 3 points; reconstruction project Yes - 5 points; reconstruction with geometric improvements or a new facility Maintenance is defined as preservation of pavement condition, safety and ride quality. Reconstruction is characterized as complete replacement of a pavement structure with an equivalent. Geometric improvements are defined as any physical improvements to a corridor that improve motorist or pedestrian operations. Score ______ LOCAL COMMITMENT This question is intended to gauge local commitment to the project. 2. What non-federal match (local and/or state) percentage does your community have pledged? Local match 0.00% - 20% 0 Points Local match 20.1% - 30% 1 Point Local match 30.1% - 40% 2 Points Local match 40.1% - 50% 3 Points Local match 50.1% - 60% 4 Points Local match 60.1% - or more 5 Points Score ______ SAFETY This question is intended to determine if the project will resolve a documented safety issue. 3. Will the project address a safety concern at an intersection or midblock, or improve safety at a location with a collision history involving bicyclists or pedestrians (5 points max)? No - 0 points Yes- 3 points; sight distance or design related safety issue documented by an expert (planner/engineer/etc.) Yes - 5 points; history involving 2 or more bicycle or pedestrian collisions in the last 5 years Yes - 5 points; top 25 high accident intersections or top 10 highest accident mid- blocks Score______ ACCESS This question is intended to assess whether the project will increase access to specific land-uses 4. Will the proposed project provide direct access to a school or improve access (within ¼ mile by roadway/trail/sidewalk) to multi-family residential or commercial development? No - 0 points Yes - 5 points Score______ PLANNED GOALS This question is intended to evaluate whether the proposed project meets an identified community goal 5. Is the project an extension of an existing pedestrian/bicycle facility noted in the MPO Long Range Trails Plan or Long Range Wide Sidewalks Plan, or meet an identified goal for your community in the MPO Metro Area Bicycle Master Plan? No - 0 points Yes - 5 points Score ______ *Transportation Alternatives Program projects that do not consist of separated trails or wide sidewalks may not fit into the scoring framework provided herein and will be deliberated separately based on their merits. Total Project Score_______ COLLABORATION This question is intended to gauge efforts to collaborate between MPO jurisdictions 6. Does the project involve more than one MPO jurisdiction? Involvement includes funding, design or other in-kind efforts; including multi-jurisdictional corridor studies. One MPO jurisdiction - 0 points Two MPO jurisdictions - 1 point Three or more MPO jurisdictions - 2 points Score ______ Agenda Item #4: Update on the FY16 MPO Transportation Planning Work Program schedule The Transportation Planning Work Program is a document developed each year to identify projects that will be undertaken by MPOJC the following fiscal year. The Work Program is developed in a coordinated effort involving the Regional Trails and Bicycling Committee (RTBC), Transportation Technical Advisory Committee (TTAC), Urbanized Area Policy Board, and Iowa DOT. Annual Work Program items include all state and federally required planning processes and documentation, ongoing and routine projects, and special projects requested by MPO member entities. We are currently soliciting for FY16 Transportation Planning Work Program projects. If you have special projects you would like included in the FY16 Work Program, please plan to discuss them at our March meeting. The Work Program will be adopted by the Urbanized Area Policy Board in May 2015. Kent Ralston will be available at your March 10 meeting to answer any questions you may have. Agenda Item #5: Progress on Bicycle Master Plan An update to the Bicycle Master Plan was included in the MPO FY2015 Transportation Planning Work Program at the request of Liz Christensen (University of Iowa). Due to current staffing levels and the departure of our Bike and Pedestrian Planner, we have not had an opportunity to get started on the update process. Moreover, the University of Iowa and the City of Iowa City are exploring grant opportunities that would allow the work to be done by third party. At such time as we move forward with updating the Bicycle Master Plan, we can get one year’s worth of data from Strava, a mobile app that runners and cyclists use to record their runs/rides. By recording travel routes used voluntarily by cyclists, Strava provides baseline data to show infrastructure improvements may be needed and measures the benefits in use of existing infrastructure. The Trails Foundation has offered to pay the cost to acquire the data. Agenda Item #6: Update on approval of MPJOC Complete Streets Policy You will recall that at the October 2014 meeting the RTBC voted unanimously for revisions to the MPO Complete Streets Policy. Your recommendation was forwarded to the Transportation Technical Advisory Committee, which recommended approval at its January 13 meeting. At its January 28 meeting, the MPO Urbanized Area Policy Board voted unanimously to approve the new Complete Streets Policy. Any/all projects that receive funding through the MPO are required to comply with the newly adopted policy. Agenda Item #7: Update on Inventory of ADA accessibility barriers in the street right-of-way. State and local governments are required to perform self-evaluations of their existing facilities for accessibility requirements of the ADA and develop a “Transition Plan” to address any deficiencies. Transition plans should include the following five components: 1. Inventory (completed by MPO staff) 2. Correction Program 3. Implementation Schedule 4. Designate Municipal ADA Coordinator 5. Public Involvement Record At the direction of the MPOJC Urbanized Area Policy Board, MPOJC staff conducted an inventory to identify barriers within the street right-of-way. That is, missing or deficient pedestrian access routes to public facilities, sidewalk curb ramps and connectivity, and ADA accessible bus stops and shelters in the urbanized area. The inventory is complete and is being made available to MPO communities for download. The information will allow them to make plans to address accessibility issues in their community. This inventory provides a snapshot in time. Going forward, each community will be responsible for maintaining its own inventory. Agenda Item #8: Update on Bike to Work Week and Bike Month Date Change: Think Bicycles Coalition has scheduled Bike to Work Week on the week of May 3. This is a week earlier than the national BTWW, but falls into the UI’s academic schedule and also coincides with Bike to School Day on Wednesday, May 6. Bike Month Proclamations: Anne Duggan will contact respective city and county clerks regarding designating May as Bike Month. Efforts will be made to find local residents to accept resolutions and to offer their appreciation/support for bike facilities in their community.