Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutRTBC 3.14.17 Revised MEETING AGENDA MPO Regional Trails & Bicycling Committee Tuesday, March 14, at 1:00PM --- Emma Harvat Hall - City Hall 410 East Washington St Iowa City 1. Call to order; recognize alternates; consider approval of minutes 2. Public discussion* 3. Review Trail Counts for 2016 and Count Plan for 2017 4. Review preliminary Strava Data 5. Discuss Trail maps for 2017 6. Discuss opportunity to Expand Bike Education for School-Age Children 7. Solicitation of Transportation Planning Work Program items for FY2018 8. Updates on local trail/bike/pedestrian projects and activities from MPO entities 9. Other Business 10. Adjournment *Public input is permitted on any agenda item during discussion of the item. Please indicate to Sarah Walz if you wish to comment. To request any disability-related accommodations, please contact MPOJC staff at least 48 hours in advance at 319.356.5239 or email Sarah-Walz@iowa-city.org. MINUTES PRELIMINARY MPO REGIONAL TRAILS AND BICYCLING COMMITTEE TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2016 NORTH RIDGE PAVILION, CORALVILLE MEMBERS PRESENT: Becky Soglin (for Janelle Rettig), Sherri Proud, Terry Dahms, Anne Duggan, Michelle Ribble, Dotti Maher (for Wally Heitman) MEMBERS ABSENT: Wally Heitman, Michelle Ribble, Brian Loring, Juli Seydell Johson, Shelly Simpson OTHERS PRESENT: Brock Grenis, Troy Carter, Larry Fitzpatrick STAFF PRESENT: Sarah Walz, Emily Bothell, Darian Nagle-Gamm 1. CALL TO ORDER; RECOGNIZE ALTERNATES; CONSIDER APPROVAL OF MINUTES Walz called the meeting to order at 1:00 PM. Proud made a motion to approve the May 10, 2016 minutes with one change; Soglin seconded the motion.The motion carried unanimously. 2. PUBLIC DISCUSSION None 3. UPDATE ON THE MPO LONG-RANGE TRANSPORTATION PLAN: a) DISCUSS RESULTS OF THE YOUTH TRANSPORTATION SURVEY Walz summarized the MPO’s first-ever Youth Transportation survey, which received over 1,700 responses from elementary, junior high, and high school students. She noted that while it was not a random survey, and thus not statistically significant, some findings should prompt additional attention and study—those were noted in the attached memo. She mentioned that the reach of the elementary school study was limited—mostly those schools in a more suburban context. Proud noted that a study for the Out-of-School Time Initiative of the United Way had similar findings regarding the difficulty children have in accessing after school activities. She recommended that the MPO Youth Survey results be shared with the United Way. There was general interest for a follow-up study to reach more elementary schools. Carter stated that he has an ongoing relationship with half of ICCSD elementary schools to teach bicycle skills through the PE programs. He recommended contact with PE teachers and school nurses for future surveys. There was general discussion regarding other educational and encouragement opportunities, including Coralville’s sign campaign. b) REVIEW BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN CHAPTER OF THE LONG-RANGE TRANSPORTATION PLAN Nagle-Gamm described the new approach that the MPO was taking with the Future Forward 2045 Long-Range Transportation Plan and the information that would be covered in the plan. She reminded RTBC members that one of the central purposes of the plan is to identify and prioritize those transportation projects for which communities will seek Federal Funding and the goals that strategies that MPO entities will adopt to ensure a transportation network that meets the needs of all users. She reviewed an initial draft of the Bicycle and Pedestrian chapter, noting that the new emphasis of the FHWA was to make the plan more data driven and easier for the public to access and understand. For this reason, chapters will be short and much information will be communicated through info-graphics. Another goal of the plan reformat is to emphasize strategies as well as how to measure progress over time. Nagle-Gamm referred the Choice section of the plan—a two page element that describes one of the nine principles that should guide transportation planning for the MPO. (The Choice section speaks directly to bicycle and pedestrian planning.) Each of these principles will be addressed by a series of strategies and performance measures. She noted how difficult it is to find good data to measure progress and that this is something staff is researching as this will allow the MPO to measure how successful these projects are in achieving its goals over time. Soglin asked about using term “choice” whether there might be a better term as for many users a mode of transportation may be their only option and not a choice. Grenis asked whether there would be a performance measure for recreational riding vs. commuting. Nagle-Gamm said there is not good data for that, however the MPO does use its own annual trail counts to get some measure of how trail sections are being used over time. 4. DISCUSSION OF SCORING CRITERIA FOR SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BLOCK GRANT AND TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES PROGRAM FUNDS ALLOCATED BY MPOJC Nagle-Gamm explained the changing names (and acronyms) for the federal road and alternative transportation funding coordinated by the MPO. The Surface Transportation Program (STP), funds for which have traditionally gone to road projects, is now called the Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) program. The Transportation Alternative Program (TAP), which has traditionally provided funds for trail and trail-related projects, is now called the STBG Set-Aside. MPOJC does not anticipate decreases in funding for trail projects under the new funding system. She described the two sets of scoring criteria that the MPO uses: one for choosing which projects to put in the long-range plan (any project that will get federal funding needs to be in the plan); and, the second which chooses which projects will receive funding and how much. Projects that are scored to be included in the plan are often only at the conceptual stage—they have not been designed or fleshed out in detail. Projects being scored for actual funding are designed and many details are clearly presented. So it makes sense to have two separate scoring systems. However, the Policy Board would like the two scoring systems to align more closely, taking into account those “guiding principles” that were used to screen projects for the long-range plan, such as system preservation, ADA non-compliance, and congestion reduction. The direction from the Technical Advisory Committee and the Policy Board are to use the long-range plan scoring criteria as the basis for the scoring criteria for funding projects. Carter asked for clarification as to whether this would mean trail projects would be scored against road projects. Nagle-Gamm answered that, while both types of projects would be scored using the LRTP principles, they would NOT be scored against each other. Ribble indicated that she would be in favor of using the LRTP scoring criteria as a basis for the funding criteria and indicated preference for including a criterion that gives points for an increasing amounts of matching funds. 5. UPDATES ON LOCAL TRAIL/BIKE/PEDESTRAIN PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES FROM MPO ENTITIES Duggan announced that there would be a morning event to unveil Iowa City’s new bicycle parklet on Friday, October 14. The parklet is being installed on Dubuque Street just east of the Washington Street intersection. Duggan also spoke briefly about the Bike!Bike! 2016 event she recently attended in Detroit. She was able to participate in number of fun community rides, including an Open Streets event that attracts thousands of riders. Ribble announced that the University would be adding new bike fix-it stations and new locations in addition to covered parking near the UI hospital. Proud spoke about the planning taking place for the extension of the Clear Creek Trail. There is interest in finding a way to keep the future trail section open during the construction of the new I80|380 interchange but there are safety considerations. Dahms noted how the MPO surveys had shown how comfortable people are riding on wide sidewalks and therefore he believes communities need to ensure a network of these facilities. Soglin said that the County would be applying for Bicycle Friendly Business status. Walz said that the RFP had closed for the new Bike Share and that the University and Iowa City would be working together to identify top firms and interview them soon. She also mentioned that Iowa City had completed its interviews of firms for its bicycle master plan and that the planning process should provide examples and other MPO communities can benefit from. 6. OTHER None ADJOURNMENT Soglin moved for adjournment.The motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 2:10 PM. 1 Date: March 10, 2017 To: MPO Regional Trails and Bicycle Committee From: Karl Mueller, MPOJC Transportation Planning Intern Re: March 14 Agenda Items Item #3 Review Trail Counts for 2016 and Count Plan for 2017 [REVISED] Between May and October, MPOJC interns collected data on bicycle and pedestrian usage along the regional trail system. Data was collected using an infrared device that counts both bicycles and pedestrians but cannot differentiate between the two. In all, we collected data at 17 locations in 2016: 9 in Iowa City, 4 in Coralville, 3 in North Liberty, and 1 in Johnson County. The count locations are based on requests from MPO entities and include a broad sample of count information (see attached tables and map). There were a few locations that we were unable to fit into the 2016 count that interns will include in the 2017 count. We have attached a table showing year over year counts. Bear in mind that a number of factors influence annual counts—weather, adjacent trail or road construction or closures, additional trail access points, etc. The year over year count table also shows the proposed count locations for 2017 (column highlighted in orange) and 2018 (column highlighted in green). RTBC reviewed a 3-year proposed schedule last year, but the schedule is not set in stone. We will make changes to the schedule to meet your needs. IOWA CITY Location Daily average Weekday average Weekend average % Change from last count Dates Highway 6 (near K Mart)74 72 78 -20%9/18 to 9/25 Iowa River Corridor Trail (at Taft Spdwy.)705 798 519 288%5/3 to 5/10 Iowa River Corridor Trail (near I-80 tunnel)159 149 261 56%5/17 to 5/24 Iowa River Corridor Trail (near Napoleon Park)262 199 417 63%6/7 to 6/14 North Dodge ped bridge 70 72 66 -38%8/2 to 8/9 Ped bridge from Peninsula to Iowa River Power House 161 156 171 -35%5/24 to 5/31 Iowa River Corridor Trail (trail to I-80 Ped Bridge) 80 56 127 New Location 5/10 to 5/17 Highway 1 (at Sunset)47 46 50 New Location 8/9 to 8/16 Court Hill Trail (east of Scott Blvd)81 76 107 New Location 9/12 to 9/18 2 CORALVILLE NORTH LIBERTY JOHNSON COUNTY Location Daily average Weekday average Weekend average % Change from last count Dates Clear Creek Trail (at Camp Cardinal)206 225 166 23%7/12 to 7/19 North Ridge Trail (near Oakdale Campus)47 46 50 -79%8/9 to 8/16 Clear Creek Trail (at RR underpass to 1st Ave)94 101 76 New Location 5/31 to 6/7 Muddy Creek Trail (near Wickham Elementary)46 43 61 New Location 9/25 to 10/2 Location Daily average Weekday average Weekend average % Change from last count Dates North Liberty Trail (near Rec Center)235 227 253 15%7/27 to 8/2 Iowa River Corridor Trail (Mehaffey Bridge near South Slope)99 91 113 New Location 6/28 to 7/5 Cherry St/Dubuque St/Front St (near gazebo in Penn Meadows)151 161 127 New Location 7/19 to 7/26 Location Daily average Weekday average Weekend average % Change from last count Dates Iowa River Corridor Trail (at N Dubuque/W Overlook Rd.)176 193 138 147%6/14 to 6/28 3 TRAIL COUNT LOCATIONS year over yearidLocationJurisdiction20072008200920102011201320142015201620172018IOWA RIVER TRAIL16Iowa River Corridor Trail (at Trueblood Park) Iowa City 286 326 X19Iowa River Corridor Trail (near Napoleon Park) Iowa City 84 116 112 142 161 262 XIowa River Corridor Trail (between dam and Myrtle) Iowa City17Iowa River Corridor Trail (near City Park entrance) Iowa City 218 270 214 130 207 336 X15Iowa River Corridor Trail (at Taft Spdwy.) Iowa City 186 224 105 765 182 705 XIowa River Corridor Trail (trail to I80 Ped Bridge) Iowa CityX18Iowa River Corridor Trail (near I-80 tunnel) Iowa City 41 97 52 102 X X20Iowa River Corridor Trail (near Waterworks Park) Iowa City 120 174 198 69 59 X28Iowa River Corridor Trail (at N Dubuque/W Overlook Rd.) County 118 118 97 71 176 X30Iowa River Corridor Trail (near Juniper Street) North Liberty 9031Iowa River Corridor Trail (Penn Elem) North Liberty 266 844Iowa River Corridor Trail (just nw of new high school) North Liberty X count in the fall after school starts32Iowa River Corridor Trail (Mehaffey Bridge rd near Southslope)North Liberty 99Iowa River Corridor Trail at CRANDIC Park Iowa CIty 23122Ped bridge from Peninsula to Iowa River Power Iowa City 195 144 247 161 X5Iowa River Corridor Trail (behind Iowa River Power) Coralville 466Iowa River Landing (south of Marriott) Coralville 53 71 XCherry St/Dubuque St/ Front St near gazebo in Penn MeadowsNorth LIberty 95 151CLEAR CREEK TRAILClear Creek Trail at RR underpass to 1st Ave Coralville 186 94 X11 Clear Creek Trail (near University soccer fields) Iowa City 135 182 1172 Clear Creek Trail (at Camp Cardinal) Coralville 302 127 168 206 X3 Clear Creek Trail (near Comfort Suites) Coralville 133 129 104 46 XClear Creek Trail east of Hwy 218 TiffinClear Creek north spur south of Hwy 6 CoralvilleClear Creek Trail west of Tiffin Tiffin5113 Finkbine Trail between Hawkins and Mormon Trek Iowa City 301 386 XNORTH RIDGE/ NORTH LIBERTY TRAIL COUNT LOCATIONS year over yearidLocationJurisdiction2007200820092010201120132014201520162017201810 North Ridge Trail (near I-80 Tunnel) Coralville 288 171 232 X7 North Ridge Trail (at Holiday Rd, west of Parkway Dr) Coralville 1908 North Ridge Trail (at Holiday Rd., east of Park Ridge Dr.) Coralville 839 North Ridge Trail (near Oakdale Campus) Coralville 133 203 119 205 221 47 X33 North Liberty Trail (at Forevergreen Rd.) North Liberty 171 156 142 105 91 215 X37 North Liberty Trail (near Rec Center) North Liberty 363 181 185 281 205 235 X36 North Liberty Trail (near Penn St.) North Liberty 57 6235 North Liberty Trail (near Centro) North Liberty 19 99North Liberty Trail (at Penn Meadows Park) North Liberty 157COURT HILL12Court Hill Trail (near/east of 1st Ave.) Iowa City 255 299 157 397 XCourthill Trail (east of Scott Blvd.) Iowa City81 XHIGHWAY 1 and HIGHWAY 6Highway 1 at Sunset Iowa City47 X40Highway 1 (at Hawk Ridge) Iowa City 122 X39Highway 6 (East of Keokuk) Iowa City 114 X14Highway 6 near K Mart Iowa City 148 116 119 132 92 74 X4Highway 6 near Chilis in Coralville (wide sidewalk) Coralville 30 19SYCAMORE GREENWAY24Sycamore Greenway (near Grant Wood Elem.) Iowa City 142 141 186 177 237 128 X X29Sycamore Greenway (near Soccer Park Rd./Lehman) Iowa City 131 45 XSycamore Greenway at Soccer Park entrance gate Iowa City 47 82 39Sycamore Street wide sidewalk north of Alexander Iowa CityXWILLOW CREEK26Willow Creek Trail (at Willow Creek Park) Iowa City 368 296 250 237 120 X27Willow Creek Trail (near West High/Mormon Trek) Iowa City 93 128 165 219 137 X XOTHER MISC21North Dodge ped bridge Iowa City 112 X X25Weatherby Park Loop (near park entrance) Iowa City 82 110 901Auburn Hills Trail Coralville 112 147 123Muddy Creek Trail near Wickham Elementary46 TRAIL COUNT LOCATIONS year over yearidLocationJurisdiction2007200820092010201120132014201520162017201838Roberts Ferry Rd (north of Highway 6) TiffinOne University Place wide sidewalk University Heights XMormon Trek north of Melrose wide sidewalk Iowa CityNorth Dodge Street wide sidewalk Iowa CityNormandy Drive and Rocky Shore Iowa CityRocky Shore near 1st Ave Iowa City6th Street near new development CoralvilleXOakdale Blvd wide sidewalk Coralville23Scott Blvd wide sidewalk Iowa City 104 64 122 112 90 Date: March 9, 2017 To: MPOJC Regional Trails and Bicycle Committee From: Emily Bothell, Assistant Transportation Planner Re: March 14 Agenda Item Item 4: Review preliminary Strava data Introduction The MPO recently purchased Strava Metro’s suite of data services. Strava is a website and mobile app used to track cycling activities using a smartphone or GPS device. The data set can help determine where popular cycling routes exist and gain an understanding of their relative level of use by time of day, which is useful for planning purposes. The suite of data services includes ridership data collected over a 24-month period from July 2015 to June 2017. Background Strava users track their rides with the Strava app on a smartphone or with a GPS device. Whether for commuting to/from work, recreation, or other purposes; these users record their speed, route, and other useful information. The data then is structured for compatibility with geographical information systems (GIS) environments and aggregated to a linear street map. The data is then available in the form of GIS shapefiles. We’ve begun to analyze the Strava data to better understand general cycling routes to evaluate differences between commuter and recreation routes. I have included two examples of maps created with the data set to give you an understanding of the ways in which we can utilize the data: A. Total number weekday bike trips from July 2015 – June 2016. B. Total number of weekend bike trips from July 2015 – June 2016. Conclusion As there are many permutations and combinations of ways to make Strava Metro data useful for planning in the metro area, we’ll continue to analyze the data over the course of the year. I will give a demonstration to show the potential uses of the spatial data at your March 14th meeting. 2 A. Total number of bike trips: Weekdays 3 B. Total number of bike trips: Weekends Date: March 14, 2016 To: MPO Regional Trails and Bicycle Committee From: Sarah Walz, Assistant Transportation Planner Re: March 14 Agenda Items Item #5: Discuss Trails Map—updates Last year the RTBC updated the Metro Area Trails Map to a slightly smaller size. The size change significantly reduced the cost of printing the map, which allowed us to print more maps. Last year’s print run was 15,000, up from 10,000 the previous year. We plan to keep the format the same this year, adding any new trails sections that will be completed by May. We will also add locations of bike fix-it stations on the metro bikeway side of the map and K-12 school locations. We are proud to feature the recent designation of Coralville as a Bike Friendly Community, joining Iowa City, University Heights, and the University of Iowa. The map should be to the printer by the end of March, with new maps printed by May. We plan to print 15,000 maps again this year. We would like the RTBC to give some thought to additional changes that we may incorporate into the 2018 map—a year from now. We have received some suggestions that a commuter-type map may be more useful. This would mean eliminating the county-wide side of the map, in favor of showing detailed insets of areas such as the Iowa City’s near downtown neighborhood, routes through the University’s central campus, the Oakdale Campus area, as well as areas in the County such as north of Mehaffey Bridge to Solon or Tiffin to Kent Park as those trails are extended. For bicyclists interested in riding county roads, there is already a county road map and navigating roads may be easier with online mapping apps, which many long-distance recreational riders are already using. This agenda item is meant to prompt discussion; we would not make decisions to incorporate such a major format change until 2018. Item #6: Discuss Opportunity to Expand Bike Education for School Age Children Creating a culture of safe bicycling among children is an important step toward increasing bicycle usage among adults. With this in mind, there has been some public discussion about how to expand bicycle education for children both through the schools and parks and recreation programs. One of the principal obstacles to teaching bicycling is the lack of available bikes. Many children who need instruction for learning to ride a bike or to bike safely may not own a bike or are not able to transport their bike to school- or recreation-based classes. We would like to explore a possible collaboration between MPO communities and the School District to acquire 10-20 bicycles along with a trailer for transporting bikes to schools and to local recreation programs. While there are many details that would need to be worked out (e.g. ownership, bike repair, transporting the trailer and reserving use of the bikes), MPO staff is willing to work on a plan with interested community partners (including potential support form bicycle retailers or non-profits). This discussion is meant to measure the level of interest among our MPO communities for pursuing such a partnership. Item #7: FY2018 Transportation Planning Work Program This is an opportunity for members to identify projects to be added to the MPOJC Transportation Planning Work Program, which outlines the primary work items for staff. The following items are projects in our current fiscal year plan, which we hope to complete by July: o Inventory of trail directional signs to ensure all trails are posted with appropriate directional and distance signs. o Inventory of bike racks in key locations. This will include the Downtown Iowa City and other key public areas such as schools, recreation centers, etc. If you have any other suggestions for special projects you would like MPOJC staff to work on during 2017-2018, please email me at Sarah-Walz@iowa-city.org.