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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRTBC MINUTES May 10, 2016 approvedMINUTES APPROVED MPO REGIONAL TRAILS AND BICYCLING COMMITTEE TUESDAY, MAY 10 NORTH LIBERTY COMMUNITY CENTER MEMBERS PRESENT: Becky Soglin (for Janelle Rettig), Sherri Proud, Terry Dahms, Juli Seydell Johnson, Shelly Simpson, Anne Duggan, Doug Boldt MEMBERS ABSENT: Wally Heitman, Michelle Ribble, Brian Loring OTHERS PRESENT: Brock Grenis, Bob Oppliger, Troy Carter, Ed Kringle, Brad Friedhof STAFF PRESENT: Sarah Walz, Emily Bothell, Kent Ralston 1. CALL TO ORDER; RECOGNIZE ALTERNATES; CONSIDER APPROVAL OF MINUTES Walz called the meeting to order at 1:03 PM. Dahms made a motion to approve the March 8, 2016 minutes; Simpson seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. 2. PUBLIC DISCUSSION None 3. SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOLS Walz introduced Troy Carter as the Safe Routes to Schools Coordinator for the Iowa Bike Coalition. Carter explained his role in doing outreach and training at schools throughout the state of Iowa. His organization can assist schools with establishing safe routes, walking school bus, and doing bicycle training through events such as bike rodeos. They do 60-70 rodeos a year and locally work with Bicyclists of Iowa City. Carter lives in North Liberty and has been active working with the schools in the Iowa City Community School District encouraging kids to bicycle or walk to school. He described a recent event at Garner elementary for which the school was concerned about having adequate parking. They were able to get more than 300 kids to bicycle or walk to school on that day. He also works with a group of students in North Liberty who bicycle to school twice a week. Carter assists with “Walking Schoolbus” program locally. He said that a major challenge to keeping these programs active is the turn-over in parents and families, which is inevitable with any school. Any school or community in the ICCSD that needs assistance with any of these programs or encouraging youth to bicycle or walk can contact him at troy@iowabicyclecoalition.org. Walz mentioned the recent presentation in Iowa City by Bill Nesper of the League of American Bicyclists and the role of education and encouragement in achieving Bike Friendly status. She reminded the Committee that “education” was stressed in the MPO’s Bicycle Plan adopted in 2009 referred to programming offered through local recreation departments to encourage youth cycling. She mentioned the Trail Trekkers program in Coralville. At the time the plan was adopted, North Liberty and Iowa City had programs offering similar opportunities for youth riding. 4. UPDATE ON THE MPO LONG-RANGE TRANSPORTATION PLAN: a) DISCUSS PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF THE LONG-RANGE TRANSPORTATION PLAN ON- LINE SURVEY Walz summarized the findings of the MPOs on-line bike survey and noted that the while the survey could not be applied to the general population, it did capture information from people who identify themselves as being interested in bicycling. One of the most interesting “findings” in the survey: while 50% of the respondents consider themselves “experienced” bicyclists, only 28% indicate they are comfortable riding on streets that are not marked with sharrows or bike lanes. More than 50% seek out bike lanes or trails to ride even if it means a longer ride. Walz noted that, thanks to assistance form the Iowa City Community School District, the MPO had received hundreds of responses to its youth survey. Those surveys were provided on paper and so it would take some time for staff to have them entered into a spread sheet. Results of the youth survey along with the pedestrian survey would be available at the next RTBC meeting. b) CONSIDER A RECOMMENDATION TO THE TRANSPORTATION TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE REGARDING LONG-RANGE TRANSPORATION PLAN TRAIL PRIORITIES Walz reminded the committee that the MPO was in the midst of its long-range planning process. The long-range plan is a federal requirement and MPO communities can only receive federal funds for their projects if they are included in the plan. In addition to the online surveys, workshops were held in March and April to gather public input. As part of the planning process, each MPO entity submitted road, bridge, and trail projects for inclusion in the plan. Display boards with maps of the projects and summary descriptions were shown at the workshops (and at the RTBC meeting). People who attended the workshops were given stickers so that they could indicate support for projects that they thought should be prioritized. The spreadsheets included in the RTBC packet included scores based on criteria adopted by the Urbanized Area Policy Board. Walz noted that some of the criteria headings are less than intuitive because the criteria apply to both road and bridge projects as well as trail projects. For example, a trail might not score as high under the “environment” column, since that criteria is actually focused on relieving traffic congestion. However, trails would score more highly under criteria headings such as “choice” or “quality of life,” which are defined in a way that is preferential to non-motorized transportation. Proud asked who was involved in putting forward the projects from each community. She noted that one of Coralville’s trail projects (Clear Creek Trail Phase 6 and 7) was already funded while another, the replacement trail that connects CRANDIC Park in Iowa City to the Coralville trail along First Avenue, was not included. Ralston explained that engineering staff from each community provide the list of projects. He encouraged Proud to speak with Coralville engineering staff as the projects would go to the TAC soon. Dahms asked about the prioritization of trails in terms of timing. For example, why the Highway 1 Trail and the Benton to Sturgis Trail in Iowa City scheduled for the current 10-year band while the Highway 6 Trail in Iowa City was not schedule until after 2025. Ralston responded that some of this has to do with a particular project’s costs and whether a community has the matching funds avail to complete a project during that 5-year period. In this case, the Highway 6 project is more expensive than completing the Highway 1 extension. Ralston summarized how the prioritization process and selection and funding of projects plays out. He explained that prioritization within the long-range plan differs from the scoring process when actual funding decisions are made, which happens every other year. The Board has a good track record of funding trail projects in the plan. He reminded the Committee that Dahms serves as their representative to the TTAC and that he and/or staff can relay and recommendations or concerns they have about prioritization. 5. DISCUSS METRO AREA TRAILS MAPS Walz presented the metro trails maps and noted that all of the communities should have received supplies. She reminded the committee that the smaller size had allowed them to increase the print run to 15,000. They anticipated additional interest this year, in part as a response to the World Cup Cyclocross race that would come to the metro in the fall. 6. DISCUSS BIKE TO WORK WEEK ACTIVITIES Duggan summarized bike events and thank the MPO communities for their proclamations declaring May 16-20 as Bike to Work Week and May as Bike Month. 7. OTHER BUSINESS A question was asked about extension of the Mehaffey Bridge Trail. Friedhof responded that the County had not received the anticipated funding from ECICOG and so the project would be delayed. 8. ADJOURNMENT Proud moved for adjournment. The motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 2:05