HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-07-18 TranscriptionPage I
Council Present: Botchway, Cole, Dickens, Mims, Taylor, Thomas, Throgmorton
Staff Present: Fruin, Monroe, Andrew, Dilkes, Voparil, Bockenstedt, Hightshoe, Sovers,
Havel, Ford, Yapp, Seydell Johnson, Boothroy, Ralston, Walz, Nagle-
Gamm, Rummels, Porter
Others Present: Stewart (UISG)
Presentation of final Bicycle Master Plan and preliminary Gilbert Street discussion 1IP #3
of 7/13 Info Packet]:
Throgmorton/ Okay, well let's begin the Iowa City City Council work session for July 18, 2017.
And the first topic on the agenda, as many of you already know, is the presentation of the
final bicycle master plan and a preliminary discussion about the Gilbert Street situation.
So, Kent, are you starting for us?
Ralston/ I will start. Yeah, thank you! Uh, good afternoon, Kent Ralston, Transportation
Planner. Um .... as you know, on your agenda tonight is as the Mayor just mentioned the
draft final plan presentation for the bike master plan and then a quick update on the
Gilbert Street corridor study. Uh, with us here tonight, uh, we've got several members of
the consultant team, uh, Kevin Neill and Paul Wojciechowski from Alta Planning and
Design, and then Marty Shukert and Corey Scott, both from RDG. Uh, but before we get
started I wanted to just quickly take a minute to remind us all how we got to this point.
Um, as you all know, you had adopted the strategic planning goal of obtaining the gold
bike from the communities designation, uh, at your strategic planning sessions, uh, last
year. Uh, subsequent to that you gave staff direction to complete the citywide bike
master plan and then also the corridor study of Gilbert Street, uh, basically between
Market and McCollister, and that was for the potential for a four to three -lane conversion,
uh, with possible addition of bike lanes. Uh, Kevin Neill with Alta gave a presentation at
your March work session on sort of the initial, uh, plans and processes for the bike master
plan and then he also gave an update on the public participation, uh, that far. Um, now
we're pleased to have the final draft completed for review. And I'd just like to say it's
been a really good process thus far. Uh, there's been a lot of public input, a lot of really
good public input and a lot of passion behind this. So it's been a lot of fun in terms of the
planning documents we put together because they're not always like this. So, it's been
really exciting and I have no doubt that if we can complete, uh, even a portion of what's
in the final plan, uh, that we'll be able to achieve that gold bike master, or excuse me,
the ... the gold bike from the communities designation. Uh, with that I'll turn it over to the
consultant, and of course I'll be here, uh, as well as some other staff members. Darien's
here and Sarah, who both did some heavy lifting on the plan as well, uh, and we'd be
happy to answer any questions. Thank you!
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Throgmorton/ Great, thanks, Kent! Please remind us of your names, please, when you come up
because, you know, we don't see ya often enough to ... for some of us to have your names
embedded in our brains!
Neill/ Of course! Well thank you, Mayor, Members of the Council. My name's Kevin Neill
with Alta Planning and Design, and uh, we're pleased to be here this evening to present,
uh, the draft bicycle master plan. What we'd like to cover tonight, uh, will be a quick run
down of some of the, uh.....the key elements of the plan. We'll start with, uh, the vision
and the goals, uh, that are, uh, at the foundation of the ... the whole process and document.
Uh, we'll look at the project schedule, talk about some additional public engagement
activities that have happened since our March 215` meeting. Uh, we'll look at the bicycle
network itself, our recommendations to create a full, complete bicycle network, uh, and
other programming policy recommendations that really support that network and create a
holistic approach to creating a bicycle -friendly community. Then we'll move on and
wrap up with a discussion about how we're going to implement the plan. Uh, and .... look
at elements like immediate actions that can be taken within, uh, the 2017-2018 calendar
years, uh, how we prioritize our routes, uh, phasing those recommendations, uh, over a
10 -year timeframe, and then, uh.... uh, of course cost and funding, uh, without which we
can't move ahead, and uh, maintaining the network as it's in place and making sure that
those considerations are, um, kept in mind as the network grows and develops. So our...
our vision for, urn .... Iowa City with regards to bicycling is that Iowa City will be a
bicycle -friendly community in which bicycling is a safe, comfortable, convenient, and
preferred mode of travel and recreation for people of all ages and abilities. Iowa City
residents and leaders value bicycling as a means to support a strong and diverse
economy, foster healthy and active lifestyles, promote transportation equity, advance
environmental sustainability, and enhance quality of life. Uh, we're packin' a lot into
that vision statement, but it's unfolded in each of our goals, uh, and objectives, and what
we've done is create a .... a framework for those plan goals that follow the League of
American Bicyclists `Building Blocks of a Bicycle -Friendly Community.' Uh, those six
elements, uh, that we're looking at are engineering, education, encouragement,
enforcement, evaluation, and equity. So for each of those individual goals we have
objectives and specific recommendations to help, uh, further advance those goals. So we
got here to this point today, uh, through a planning process that began, uh, with a kick-off
meeting in.... late November, early December and we really started our community
engagement after completing an existing conditions analysis and learning from members
of the public what was important to them with regards to bicycling and what their vision
of a bicycle -friendly community looks like for Iowa City. Uh, we .... from there
developed vision and goals, uh, continued to meet with our technical and bicycle
advisory committees, representing, uh, City staff, uh, and community agencies and
advocacy organizations that have been instrumental to date and will continue to be
instrumental in supporting bicycling, uh, in the city and in the region at large.
We....from there began developing our draft bicycle network, uh, and then added on to
that, uh, programs, policies, and other recommendations, uh, to create a full, well-
rounded plan. Um, we took that back to the public in May, on the 25a, and got some
additional feedback with regard to our initial draft network, our initial programs and
policies, and worked to refine those over the last month and a half and are excited to have
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that in your hands and get your feedback tonight. Since we met in March, uh, additional
public engagement elements that we, uh, had yet to undertake included a junior high
survey, uh, with Southeast Junior High students. We had over 300 students, uh, tell us
about, um.....their views on bicycling, what's important to them. We'll get to that in a
second. First I also want to talk about our second open house, and I mentioned this is
where we gathered input on, um, our recommended network and programs and policies.
We had about 40 people in attendance, and uh, the feedback we had covered some of the
initial route recommendations. People gave detailed feedback with regard to, uh, which
projects they felt would be most beneficial, uh, either for themselves or for the
community at large, and additional recommendations that may not have been addressed
through the initial, uh, recommendations on these maps. So we were able to take that
input and, uh, make some changes to the network to address additional comments and
feedback, um, and did that so in the month of June. We also had great input on our visior
and goals, and what we see in this slide is that most residents were really interested in
seeing that bicycle network, the physical network for bicycling, grow. Um, which is
really I think representative of all the hard work that's been by a lot of....community
partners in Iowa City to really advance bicycling and create that culture of bicycling, and
now it's time for the network to catch up with, uh, with the residents and .... and what the
advocacy organizations have done to advance bicycling. (clears throat) With regard to
prioritizing the network, we ask community residents which values were important to
them as we start to look at how these individual projects meet community needs, and
what we saw from our community engagement at that second open house, uh, mirrored
what we learned from our Technical and Bicycle Advisory Committees, uh, just the week
before where .... some of the key elements for building that network were really focused
on ... uh, closing gaps, uh, between existing bicycle facilities, improving safety along
corridors where there is already a lot of bicycling activity, uh, connecting people to parks
and schools, um, and developing and expanding that network, uh, in a manner that,
uh.... reaches under -served populations and, uh, expands that network to people who
currently don't have access to bicycle facilities. We also received some additional
feedback on supporting programs and what was most of concern to attendees at that
second workshop were creating public education campaigns to help bicyclists and
motorists, uh, better share the road and build that culture of mutual respect and
responsibility. Uh, bicycle skills training courses for children and adults, um, and
interesting programs like create a commuter program designed to help people, uh, learn
the basics of bike commuting, uh, bicycle repair, and start to feel more comfortable, uh,
choosing bicycling as a mode of transportation. Now moving on to our, um, junior high
survey. Again I said we had about 300 responses, uh, and what .... what we learned from,
uh.... I think it was valuable to get this input, not only because the students that answered
these, uh, this questionnaire, they represent our next generation of not just bicyclists but
motor vehicle drivers, transit users. Uh, they're gonna be independent travelers soon if
they're not already. Um, and they have a great deal of understanding at a local scale of
how to get around, um, and a lot of them use bikes now. The other reason I think it's,
uh, a great tool to communicate, um, the values that we're trying to advance through this
plan and also learn what those values are of younger, uh, students in the .... in the
community. Southeast Junior High has a really diverse population and we can see kind
of a broad cross-section of community residents and what's important to them. And as
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you can imagine, when kids talk about riding bikes, they don't think in the same terms,
uh, a bicycle planner might about things like, uh, shared use path design and, uh, bicycle
facility types. For them it's about speed. It's about freedom, a sense of independence
that, uh, you know, for many of us we've forgotten makes, uh, bicycling really, really
exciting. Um .... we also learned a little bit about where kids are riding. A lot of kids are
riding on sidewalks, uh, our wide sidewalks give a great place for .... for kids to bike.
Others are starting to, um, venture onto trails, bicycling on -street. So, these kids are
using the system as it is, whether it's designated bicycle routes or the, uh, street network,
and to be able to create safer places and encourage them to feel more safe and
comfortable to ride is something that's, uh, front and center of this plan. Most kids do
own a bike, but we see that a lot of them aren't bicycling to school. Uh, about 70% of
respondents do not bike to school at all. Um, some do most days, less than 10%, uh, and
others do occasionally. But we are seein' that people are, uh, that our junior high
students are bicycling just about everywhere else, whether it's around the neighborhood,
um, to friends' houses in adjacent neighborhoods, um, and even riding on some of the
local trails. The last, uh, element from our online survey that, uh, I briefly mentioned in
our previous meeting, I want to hit on this before we move into our network discussions
because I think it's .... really representative of the community at large's understanding of
what it takes to create a bicycle -friendly community. When we asked our survey
respondents, um, which strategies would have an impact, uh, on the community as far as
increasing bicycling, what we saw the .... they understood it wasn't just about building
bike lanes. Uh, it's about.... more than infrastructure. We have to create programs, uh,
policies to help educate people about the benefits of bicycling and make people feel that,
uh, it's something that they can actually do. Uh, so ..... our recommendations reflect what
we learned, um, and where we'll start off our discussion, uh, also mirroring where the
public had their most, uh.... urn .... their area of most concern will be with the network
itself, so for that I'm going to turn it over to Marty Shukert with, uh, RDG.
Shukert/ Thanks, Kevin. Um, it is interesting first of all the junior high kids have a different
concept of speed than maybe adults do. That ... that's good .... that's good to see and that
bikes are considered a fast means of transportation. Uh, second, it is interesting in ... in the
chart that, uh, that Kevin just showed from the survey that, um, although the responses
are really quite diverse in terms of the effect of this in different kinds of programs and it
goes beyond infrastructure. That on -street facilities were really seen as being a bigger
need or a more effective need by many of the respondents, and bike lanes, although there
was a lot of support for .... for more .... for more, uh, trails rather than .... for more trail
development, but .... but through most of the groups that we met with, most of the people
we talked to and many of the survey respondents, as we really sense the .... the on -street
system is very important. The trail system's largely in place and we'll.... and.... and we'll
see that from .... from some of the mapping that .... that shows the network. Um, there
were a number of inputs that go into the network itself, that is an evaluation of the streets,
uh, of...of the .... of the, uh, basic infrastructure that we have to work with, the perceptions
of people who came to open houses and contributed to the process, um, the maps that you = -
probably saw when Kevin presented, uh, the in progress session in March that showed the
desire patterns and the demand density patterns as well. So we were able, through the
magic of computers, to review the .... and overlay the proposed network, uh, over those
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maps to make sure that we were hitting the right points, and .... and ultimately our goal is
to generate a network that meets a number of criteria performance standards for network
development that include getting people where they want to go directly, that provide a
degree of sa.... a high degree of safety and security as they move through the system, uh,
that provides good experience, uh, that .... that doesn't just leave people off in the middle
of nowhere, but has integrity in terms of continuity to other ... to other parts of the system,
and .... and the network that we have generated through that evaluation looks like this.
Um, it .... it's .... it's hard to describe each of the individual routes, but a couple of major
features or major features of it include the hierarchy of facilities. So on the map, you'll
see the, uh, off-street bikeways, uh.... uh, colored in the darker green. Those are, um, off
...those are, um, are .... are, uh, the .... what we call the principle multi -use trails, the ones
that make up the .... the backbone of the system. Uh, the lighter green are, um, are the
separate or the secondary multi -use trails. The .... the links, the, uh, the park trails and so
forth that are not necessarily transportation facilities, but....but link people from
neighborhoods to other trails or provide access within parks, and then finally the side
paths or widened sidewalks, which are a significant part of Iowa City's overall system.
Uh, the .... the wider paths that operate along, um, along major streets. There's also a
hierarchy of, um, of, uh, on -street bikeways. The principle routes generally will be
covered by bike lanes or .... buffered bike lanes or some sort of facility that provides a
discrete and distinct area for bicycles, uh, on .... on the street, near the principle ways by
which we move people from one point to another. The secondary bikeways complement
the .... the principle routes. Uh, these tend to be low-volume or moderate -volume at
worst, uh, secondary streets. Uh, they include a series of facilities we call bicycle
boulevards. That is streets that provide, um, not, uh, bicycle exclusive access but are, uh,
adapted to and comfortable for most riders. Bicycle boulevards provide pretty long,
continuous routes, um, that....that, uh.... that should provide a degree of protection when
they cross arterial streets, but are generally the secondary routes in the system. Some of
those are very high priority, but.... but.... but they don't involve the large capital
investment or the larger capital investment of principle routes. They're neighborhood
connectors. Those are routes that get people from the .... the major system to des...
specific destinations, like schools or parks, so they're kind of a spur tracks of the..of..of
the system and then finally some corridors like Gilbert Street, that Paul will talk about a
little bit later, that need further study. So the primary ones in that category do in fact
involve Gilbert Street. The process still needs to be a .... needs to be completed, uh, to
assess the realism of ...of, um, of. ... of, and feasibility of that kind of a conversion, and
also there's a recommendation in the plan that, uh, the actual, physical bicycle
infrastructure on .... on.....on the, uh, west bank campus of the University of Iowa, uh,
really does need to be studied. Uh, there have been some general policies, uh, included in
the campus plan, but uh, but there are some various features, um, on .... on some of the
streets, such as Newton Road, that really need to be looked at in....in more detail in terms
of...of where bikes go and where they don't within...... within the campus. Um .... the
main features of this grid, uh, as they emerge are principle north, uh, south, and east, west
axes and you can see that emerging, uh, by way of the Market -Jefferson pair that extends
out Glendale Boulevard and Wash... and.... and Washington east that provides east -west
continuity to the river. A north -south pair that's really made up of the Dodge, Governor,
Keokuk system that crosses Highway 6 and .... and connects the .... the south part of the
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city north, and then finally the Melrose and Benton Street, uh, corridors on the west bank
of the river. Uh, we have as well a peripheral, circumferential route that .... that makes
use of, uh, Mormon Trek, uh, the McCollister extension, and ultimately Scott Boulevard
to provide a loop around the city, and .... and the grid that's within.... within that system.
So it provides a really rather elegant overall network of. ... of, uh, of. ... of bikeways, uh,
at....at ultimate build -out. Um, in this map, we have now taken each segment of those,
urn .... um, of that network and applied infrastructure types to those. So, urn .... you'll see
that the solid lines are existing infrastructure, primarily existing trails, but in a couple of
cases existing bike lanes. Um, the .... the dashed white lines are the things that we need to
work on, are .... are the proposed, uh, element. There are some, uh, features that are
longer term and so a shorter term corridor can satisfy some of that need. So for example,
a street like Rochester which has a segment that occupied a good deal of attention at the
second open house, specifically from First Avenue to Seventh Avenue is really too
narrow right now to provide bike lanes, even though it's a very high desired route, but at
least for the time being, a priority route like the, um, Washington, Glendale, Jefferson,
uh, sequence kinda goes in the same place and provides some of that .... that.....that same,
that same access. Similarly the Court Hill trail combined with .... with, uh, with some of
the bicycle boulevards provides us with that kind of continuity. So ... so there's some
easier, less expensive, uh.... uh, routes that .... that.....that can operate in the short term
to ... to provide the .... the network, uh, connections that we want, even though they're not
necessarily the ultimate, uh, build -out of the system. Uh, the .... the proposed
infrastructure includes two sets of protected or buffered bike lanes. It's a very exciting
thing and ... and the, uh, type of infrastructure facility that generated the most, uh, positive
responses in ... in our survey, uh, we have enough room in the Mar .... on the Market -
Jefferson pair and on the Governor -Dodge pair to provide a one-way bike lane along with
the one-way circulation streets, with a buffer, so that we can actually, uh, use the existing
width and provide a .... a higher order facility. As we move down .... down the, um .... uh,
down the system, we .... we come to the bicycle boulevards, again, which are depicted
in ... in the magenta color, uh, that involve, uh, minor modifications to secondary streets
that offer good continuity, uh, things like making sure the stop signs are turned in the
right direction or that there's a protected crossing where a bicycle boulevard crosses a,
uh, an arterial street. So we move on down the, um, the .... the.....the range of
investments, um, in .... in terms of overall cost and in terms of order of implementation,
that Kevin will talk about, urn .... uh, just a little bit later in the presentation. Um, you can
see as well that, uh, again, much of the trail system is in place. There are a few
connections or extensions of that that would be provided in a network, but by and large
80% of. ... of the ultimate trail system exists, and that's .... and that's a .... a great thing,
either in the form of existing trails that are, uh, on exclusive right-of-way or, um, or, uh,
side paths along.....uh, along major street corridors. So .... when we come down to it, we
aren't very far from being able to use these resources to realize the overall system within
a reasonable period of time. Finally, there are some corridors, Rochester being an
example of this — Park Street another example — where the facility that's in place, the
roadway that's in place, makes sense from the network point of view, but really can't be,
um, realized until there's an ultimate reconstruction of that street. So some of these
streets will be, um, will .... will be .... will be realized as complete streets, or proposed to
be realized as complete streets, when needed reconstruction of .. of. ... of narrow, urn .... uh,
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existing roadway facilities happens, and when that's done, then the plan is a guidance
to .... guides the design of those .... of.....of those ultimate streets. So that in a nutshell is
how the trail developed, what its coverage is, how the different types of infrastructure
apply to .... to that network system. And Kevin's gonna take us home now (mumbled,
away from mic)
Neill/ So when we tally up the numbers for those different types of facilities that Marty showed
in our second map, we're looking at .... close to about, uh, 28, 29 miles of additional side
paths and shared use paths, um, and over, uh, 70 miles of on -street bikeways, uh, ranging
from dedicated bicycle lanes to, uh, bicycle boulevards and smaller connecting routes that
just use signage or, uh, simple shared lane markings. In addition to the infrastructure
itself, there's a number of supporting systems that help, um.....make that bike network
more functional. We think about things like bicycle wayfinding where there's some in
place already. Uh, that wayfinding helps direct, uh, bicyclists to key community
destinations, um, in the case of the Court Hill trail, not only does that include distance
markers, but also, um .... uh, travel time to reach certain destinations, wit .... which helps,
uh, dispel the myths that, uh, destinations might be too far or take too long to get to. Uh,
bicycling parking is references in the plan as a supporting element. Um, the City's done
well recently, uh, to .... review the City's zoning code with respect to bicycle parking, um,
and uh, we're looking at some of those recommendations, uh, furthering those in the plan.
Uh, bike share, which is just around the corner for Iowa City in 2018, um, and then
ensuring that bicycle, uh, systems and transit systems are well integrated through, uh,
bike racks on buses, uh, secure bike parking at transit stops and centers, and um....
bicycle facility design, uh, for those corridors in which buses and, uh, bicyclists are
sharing the road. Our program and policy recommendations, uh, they run the gamut
across the six goals that we've, uh, talked about, and uh, includes some key elements that
not only, uh, are .... are we looking at independently but have also been referenced in the
City's 2013, uh, bicycle -friendly community application feedback, uh, from the League
of American Bicyclists. Uh, some of those recommendations include creating a .... a
bicycle coordinator position, which either can be, urn .... uh, cultivated from an existing
staff or, uh, create a new staff position altogether. Um, creating a bicycle advisory
committee, uh, that meets on a regular basis, which could, uh, be, uh, an outgrowth of our
existing, uh, advisory committees that have helped with this project. Uh, we also look at
some of those bike training courses, uh, public education campaigns, like I mentioned,
was a key hot topic of our second public meeting, um, and other programs that really just
increase accessibility for bicycling and help people become more confident, skilled, and
uh, ready to choose bicycling as a .... as a means of transportation. So when we talk about
implementing the plan itself, we've looked at a few immediate actions that can help the
City achieve that gold level bicycle -friendly community designation that's identified in
the City Council's strategic plan. Uh, first and foremost we think adopting the plan, uh,
by resolution or other means, uh, as an expression of the .... the City's desire to continue
moving forward towards, uh, creating that bicycle -friendly community, uh, establishing
the bicycle advisory committee, creating a bicycle coordinator position, uh, tackling some
of the immediate term bikeway projects, which I'll talk about here in a second. Uh, some
of those are already programmed. Others would, um, are... are unfunded projects that
could have a ..... a strong impact, um, and create some continuity between the planning
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process and implementation, and then we look at, uh, collecting, um, some performance
measure baseline counts for whether it's a bicycling activity in the region or other metrics
like, uh, percent of bicycle commuters, uh, and... and other elements that will actually be
gathered when the City applies for that bicycle -friendly community designation, which is
due in mid-August. So we've taken the entire bicycle network that Marty covered and
have assigned value to each segment in that system, based on, uh, our community input.
Um, these six terms that we're showing in the table, uh, have been quantified and
assigned to each.... each corridor, based on, um, their ability to meet those criteria. So we
look at gap closure, safety, demographic equity, connections to existing facilities,
connections to nearby parks and schools, and then the facility type itself, uh, if it's
something that's all ages, all abilities, a more comfortable facility like a trail, uh, it can
have a greater impact, uh, on bicycling activity in the area. So when we run our, uh, GIS -
based model to determine project prioritization you'll see the high priority projects
identified in red, uh, medium priority projects in orange, and low priority projects in
yellow, uh, and the grayed out lines, uh, show our existing bikeways. So it's important to
remember though that, uh, we've differentiated for this project between project
prioritization and project phasing itself. So I'm gonna quickly flip to the phasing
strategy. Uh, our prioritization project is really focused on a data -driven, uh, model to
help us see the value in all these projects. As for phasing individual projects, um, over a
10 -year period, uh..... we can't target specifically all the high priority corridors at once.
We want to make sure that we're still making headway and, uh, keeping in mind other
important implementation factors like project costs, uh, project opportunities, uh, and
building on some of the programmed projects that are already in the capital
improvements, uh, plan. So as you see on this map here, uh, the darkest purple lines are
our immediate phase projects to be completed in the next couple years. Some of those
projects, like Clinton and Madison, uh, are already programmed and will be coming
regardless. Other projects, um, like Camp Cardinal, where we already have striped
shoulders, adding bicycle lane markings and bike lane signage, uh, creates a low-cost
project to increase visibility for bicycling along that corridor. Um, in terms of expanding,
uh, to other areas within the community, we want some.... distribution of projects in that
immediate phase so the impact of this plan can be felt, uh, by residents across the city.
Uh, we have a key principle bikeway corridor, uh, in Lakeside and Keokuk and Taylor
that would increase connectivity in, uh.....south of Highway 6, and we're also looking at
a corridor like College, which is an east -west connector, um, connecting the central
district to east Iowa City, and again would be one of those low-cost projects where traffic
calming elements have already been installed, uh, to really create a more bicycle and
pedestrian -friendly environment. So that first immediate term, 2017-2018, uh, has about
12.4 miles of projects, uh, about 786,000 of which are unfunded. The near term, looking
out five years, uh, there's an additional almost 25 miles of projects, and our long-term,
out 10 years, so 2023 to 2027, there's an additional 44 miles. Uh, and then we also have
identified some unscheduled projects that, uh, really represent that full build -out of a
network, but at this point, uh.... uh, are.....likely to be built, um, as opportunities arise,
um, and are .... are a little bit further down the line. Most of those are low -priority
projects that, uh, add value to the network only when other elements have been
constructed. So when we look at our cost estimates for building out this network, what
we focused on are the unfunded projects that either, A) aren't already in a ... the capital
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improvements plan, B) are not, uh... cannot be realized through, um ... future roadway
reconstruction. So those projects on arterial roads, uh, that will likely be reconstructed or
widened, um, think Taft for example, on the east side of town. Um, those projects, when
that road's rebuilt to the City's standard it will include bike lanes and include a side path.
So those elements will be constructed per City standards. So these projects, uh, that
we've identified, uh, cover about 66 miles at a total of about $14.5 million. Uh, and of
course along with that.... construction costs there's also maintenance costs, and if that
network grows, those maintenance costs increase. It'll be really necessary to make sure
that, um, the facilities that are built can also be maintained. So, making sure the staffing
and budget is in place to, um, to support the maintenance of those facilities for the long-
term. When we look at funding sources for those projects, uh, our standard federal and
state funding sources, uh, have been tapped for bicycle projects all across the state of
Iowa and represent, uh, significant opportunities. Uh, the service transportation program,
transportation alternatives program, these are fairly common, not just for, uh, bicycle
projects but for roadway projects in general that, uh.... um, the City often uses, uh,
particularly for those roads that are functionally classified, those arterials and collector
roadways. Uh, local funding sources might include capital improvement set -asides
(mumbled) the City already has in, uh, the budget funding for complete streets projects,
funding for traffic calming, um, that funding can either be used specifically for projects
or as local match to .... to, um. .... maximize local funding sources as leverage for external
funding, and then private, uh, funding sources like community foundations or private and
corporate donations can really help, uh, grease the wheels as this network is being
developed, and also fund some of those programming elements, which, uh, often aren't
covered through typical transportation funding sources. I think it's important to keep in
mind that, uh, most of the costs that we've identified in the plan relate to infrastructure.
Some or the programming elements, uh, are gonna require additional funds too. Some
may be, uh, undertaken by the City but community partners are already implementing
some of those programs and they bear some of that cost as well. When we talk about
maintenance on operations in the plan there's.... there's two basic types that, uh, we refer
to, both routine maintenance which covers your sweeping, your snow removal, uh, and
your remedial maintenance, which is focused more on, uh, major improvements, uh,
resurfacing, restriping, bridge replacement on a trail project, some of those are your
bigger ticket items, but what we've done is take a look at the average annual costs of
maintenance for different facility types recommended in the plan, and uh, again, just to
stress the importance of maintenance in maintaining a safe, connected network, uh, it
requires the resources from cities, uh, street staff, and park staff to .... to make sure that
that, uh.... those facilities are in good working order. The final element included in the
implementation plan is really monitoring evaluation, making sure that we're moving
forward with this plan, uh, tracking our progress, and (clears throat) we've identified key
metrics that are in the League of American Bicyclists bicycle -friendly community
application, uh, to help guide the City in, uh, tracking progress. So, uh, ridership as a
percentage of, uh, commuting. We looked at bicycle network as a percentage of the
roadway network, uh, arterial streets with bike lanes, uh, and so forth down the list. So
we believe that these recommendations included in the plan can really bring Iowa City to
a gold level bicycle -friendly community standard, uh, and.... further out, uh, we think
that, you know, the City will be well on its way to platinum, um, if these
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recommendations are, uh, carried through for the long-term. I feel like the commitment
we've seen from City staff, uh, and from the community during this process has been
really encouraging and, uh, will take .... will take the City, uh, in ... in the right direction.
So with that, urn ... I would like to open it up for any questions.
Throgmorton/ Kevin, Marty, thanks so much for, uh, such a clear presentation and thanks to the
staff for working so diligently with the consultants, and the technical.... well, not the
technical. The, uh, Community Advisory Committee, you know, we all know you.
You're out there. Uh, thanks for working so hard on this as well. Seems to me you've
put together a pretty impressive plan. I'd say very impressive plan! It's also pretty long
and pretty complicated (laughter) I .... I tried to read it yesterday and I think I probably
literally read about a third of it, but had to give up! (laughs) Uh, but I did skim through
the rest of it, so .... it's a very impressive piece of work, so con... congratulations to you all
for doing that, but I'm sure there are questions. So, uh, let's see what kind of questions
are at play, uh....
Cole/ I ... I would like to focus in on Gilbert. Were we gonna hear a separate presentation? There
was indicated that there was further study. Um, what are the variables that you believe
require further study?
Neill/ Right, and we've got a separate couple minute presentation (both talking)
Cole/ Okay.
Throgmorton/ Yeah, let's hold off on that (both talking)
Cole/ Okay.
Throgmorton/ Yeah.
Dickens/ What is a percentage of bike riders in the city? Total. Just .... I don't know how you get
that figured completely.
Neill/ That data's measured through the American Community Survey from the U.S. Census
Bureau, uh, so it only looks at bicycling commuting, uh, to work for adults 16 and over
and, uh, it's been hovering for Iowa City between 3 1/2 and 4%, uh, for about the last
eight years, and uh, think we're at about 3.7 or 8 at this point right now.
Throgmorton/ The fundamental purpose of the plan is to, um, make bicycling much more
attractive, is it not, that ... to make bicycling much more attractive to the, I don't know, 60
or more percent of people who would like to bicycle but don't right now feel it's safe
enough or that they know the network well enough to be able to travel around easily.
That's the way I understood it.
Neill/ Right, it is, and .... and we think there's some.... there's some key recommendations to get
the City moving early, uh, in that direction and we followed our .... we followed the lead
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of the community as we put this network together and prioritized and phased these
projects, and you'll see that, uh, we ... we've identified some short-term projects that do
address gaps in the network, uh, and help create some continuity so people in one part of
town might be able to travel, um, not just within their neighborhood but across some of
those major roadways, like a Highway 6 or Highway 1, that, uh, present just as much of a
barrier as the Iowa Re ... Iowa River, or the railroad tracks do, with regards to bicycle
travel.
Cole/ In terms of commuting, percentage of commuters, what would you think would be a
reasonable goal for us to shoot for? I think right now you indicated 3 to 4%. How high
do you think we can get, and I think the second related question to that is what piece of
physical infrastructure do you feel would most quickly put us on that path to increasing
the commuters that we have in our community.
Neill/ Well (clears throat) the League of American Bicyclists, uh, ideal benchmark for a gold
level bicycle -friendly community is about 5 1/2% bicycle commuters. Uh, it's important
to keep in mind that .... the League is flexible with regard to their ratings and they don't
require a community to hit every single category. But I think that's .... that that's
achievable for Iowa City and ... and maybe even a few percentage points higher, but there
aren't many communities, um .... uh, larger communities than Iowa City that .... that are
getting into that 5 1/2, um, percent range. I think one of the benefits is the character of
the community, not just from a land use perspective, but, uh, demographically with a
large percentage of college students, um, and the short distances between a lot of, uh,
residences and employment centers in the city. There's opportunity. I think developing
on -street facilities in the form of those dedicated bike lanes, uh, are gonna .... gonna really
have an impact on bicycle commuting patterns. As Marty pointed out, those
recommendations for ..... Market and Jefferson and Governor and Dodge, in the form of
buffered bike lanes, which are basically your standard bicycle lanes you see now, but
with a little bit of added separation in the form of. ... uh, an extra stripe, adding about 18
to 24 inches of width, uh, provide greater separation from bicyclists, uh, and motor
vehicles, create an extra level of comfort. Uh, we're seeing a lot of demand for that in
Iowa City through our survey results, through our open houses, and we think those key
corridors can really help facilitate, uh.... that mode shift that we're looking for.
Dickens/ I just have a question on safety education, not.....not only for bicycle but for autos.
Um .... you know used to be driver's ed was taught in the schools. Now it's .... it's all
private. How do we get.....to these private organizations to teach `em about how, you
know, sharing the road and, you know, distances if you should go around a bicycle, uh, as
well as teaching bicyclists to stop at stop signs. I mean it's .... it's become a .... an iss...
issue and it's kind of a problem, uh, we just put stop signs in downtown. I happen to be
located right there and I watch 90% of the bikes do not stop and it's ... kind of a safety
issue for pedestrians and bi.... and drivers, and bicycles. So I guess where does the
education fall that we can get .... get a little better.
Neill/ Right. And I think it's important, and you've touched on this, is it...it really requires a
multi -pronged approach and we can't just target one roadway user group. Uh, one thing
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that even came up a lot during the planning process was the need for, uh.... increasing
awareness of bicyclists that are using sidewalks in the downtown area, uh, potem...
potentially increasing conflict with pedestrians, uh, especially on busier corridors. So,
there's a need to really, uh, to reach all these target audiences and through, uh, public
education campaigns, uh, there's a lot of communities that have tackled this through,
um .... uh, targeted education for motorists, bicyclists, pedestrians, uh, it might be in the
form of, um, ad strips on buses, at bus shelters, on Facebook, through Facebook, uh, a
Facebook campaign or a Facebook page. There's a lot of different ways we can reach out
and target, uh, people in the community and .... and kind of raise that ... that level of
awareness that we're all using the same roads, we're all trying to get somewhere, uh,
let's....let's show a little respect. Um, you know, you take those kinds of messages and
you chum `em through, uh, a proper marketing firm and they can really make that whiz
and pop a lot better than I can. Uh, but I think it's.... that.... that targeted messaging that's
gonna have an impact.
Dickens/ Would that go through like the bicycle coordinator that you're talking about too, that
can spearhead that.
Neill/ Right! Right, having a single point of contact, uh, at City Hall to ... to be the conduit for
bicycle questions, bicycle related efforts. Um, you know when we recommend in the...
in the plan that there be a bicycle coordinator position, we're not saying that now that
person's responsible for everything bike related. Let's dump it on their plate. What
we're .... what we're trying to focus on is having that person be kind of the point person,
whether it's for the community at large or organizing the City's efforts internally. (both
talking)
Dickens/ Thank you!
Throgmorton/ I think we've just noticed the weather's turned a little bit (several talking and
laughing)
Botchway/ So I have, um, two questions and maybe one statement. Um, can you go back to that
scoring, uh, metric that you showed before? While you're doing that I guess the .... two
questions I have is, kind of going back to Rockne's questions as far as, you know, what is
the goal? I mean obviously from a gold level standard you're talking about gettin' that
5.5%, but then, you know, looking at your funding or unfunded projects, I mean that's
like $14 million basically, urn ..... I, and this is more of a comment maybe not a statement
(mumbled) I mean I think that we, if we're.....if we're gonna be committing that type of
funding I think we need to have some serious conversations about that goal, and so if
we're talking about — kind of to Rockne's point — we want 22% or 20% ridership, I mean
obviously the .... the, um, the gold standard's a good standard but I think that we need to
think about how that incorporates with all of our other transportation discussions and
some of those things, because I think it's a good thing. I think it's, you know, something
that I .... would be proud to say that we're, you know, doing that in that particular way,
but you know I .... I think that you mentioned some of the goals moving forward, or steps
moving forward, as far as, you know, if you're gonna have, um, we're talking about ... I
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was just thinking up through the presentation, we're talking about a goal that we would
like to see as far as how we make it more accessible, so we have individuals accessing
that may not necessarily accessed it before and provide different amenities for individuals
doing it now, but I want a number to that, I mean, I want to measure it. I don't want just
to think that we're doing it and providing us without, kind of looking at ... some of that
baseline data I think is there, but I just want us to think about that as we're thinking about
committing resources what that means. I think it's a good thing, but I just want to make
sure that we're measuring some particular way. What I .... wanted to say within the safety
piece is how safety is defined. So it says degree to which the corridor increases safety
along streets with bicycle related clas ... crashes from the last five years. Because when
I've been talkin' to some folks, um, that, you know, I don't know if they're avid
bicyclists. They just have a bicycle in their, you know, um, yard and I just kind of
differentiate from those that have like, you know, little compartment on their car and I'm
like oh maybe they're really serious type of thing, um, but they were talking about still
thinking that the access currently, even those dedicated bike lanes are still not safe. And
so I mean .... from a transportation standpoint, maybe that's a speed limit concern, or I
mean when we're talking about when you go back to the miles that you are, um, the miles
of, um ...... yeah, buffered bike lanes compared to regular bike lanes, we may need to talk
about whether or not that needs to be increased more from four miles, urn .... it's just
something I was thinking about because I think that for many folks, even those folks that
seem to be the avid bicyclists, you know, bike lanes, even though they're dedicated, still
don't seem safe enough, and I mean even though I'm .... (mumbled) the one person that's
still not on the one (both talking)
Throgmorton/ We're gonna go bicycling one of these days (laughter)
Botchway/ Well on the one -lane piece I still think, you know, that's tight, I mean, that's tight for
me as a driver, and I definitely think from ... with the concerns I was hearing, it's tight as a
bicyclists, and so thinking about that I think is important, um, and the last thing is when
we were taking about unfunded projects or overall costs of the project, I felt like we were
missing some of the funding pieces, and maybe I missed this in the .... the, um, draft, but
the funding pieces around the positions and everything else, and so it said next steps.
One was the creation of a, um .... (mumbled) go back. The creation of a coordinator
position. I mean what is the actual cost for that? I mean that would just be something I'd
want to know.
Neill/ Sure. And .... and when we talk about a full-time staff to .... to take that position, uh, in
some instances, local agencies have created a .... an equivalent full-time staff by
identifying, you know, quarter time for, you know, somebody in Planning, Quarter time
for somebody in Parks. It's a .... it's a way to create that full-time coordinator position
but, uh, ultimately the most effective route would be a single person. So, yeah, you know
that .... uh, another staff person if it's hired externally, uh... you know maybe 40 to 60,000,
whatever would be commensurate with, um.....current City, um ..... salaries.
Botchway/ Going back to that safety piece though, what about, I mean when you define degree
of safety or ... do we have a definition, because, again, I feel like that's one that .... is a
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little, I don't .... I think that people I was talking to just had a different feeling about what
safety meant.
Neill/ Right. When we look at, uh.... let me see if I can find our slide. When we look at those
corridors, for us it was about focusing on high crash corridors, and the ability of
dedicated facilities to address, um.....some of the conflicts that are present on those
corridors by providing dedicated space. So, through the provision of those facilities,
you're in effect, um, helping to regulate behavior. And where that's most important is in
the details of intersection design. Uh, it's where our bicycle facilities cross major
roadways, uh, that .... that you have the greatest amount of conflict, similar to, you know,
most of your traffic crashes are happening at intersections rather than, uh, tail end fender -
benders. So .... a lot of the devil's in the details, I think, with regard to facility design, but
we've identified what those resources are to guide the facility development, uh, as these
bikeways are developed and, uh, really focusing on those high crash corridors. So it
was .... it was less about, um, specific measures and more about ensuring that where we
know there to be large clusters of crashes, like Gilbert and Court Street, for example, as a
high crash area, uh, for a number of reasons, uh, which might even include, uh, some of
those, uh....unexpected crossings, uh, without waiting for signals. Um, by creating that
space and encouraging bicyclists to be part of traffic through following the .... the rules
and regulations that are identified through markings, signage, uh, and even bicycle
signals. We can help create a safer environment and regulate activity in a way that
everyone kind of feels like they have a place on the road.
Throgmorton/ Kevin, before you leave that particular slide, I ... I'd like to draw attention to the
emphasis on equity that appears in the slide, and also somewhere else in the report you
referred to the League of Bicyclists .... I can't remember the full name, uh, and about the
six E's.
Neill/ Uh huh!
Throgmorton/ Uh, engineering, etc., enforcement, education. Um but you actually added one,
and the one that you added is equity, if I understand correctly, and I think that's, uh,
really important to see because you know inclusivity and justice are .... are key elements
of, uh, what our overall strategic plan calls for, and I .... I know Kingsley and everybody
else up here would very much like us to make sure that whatever we do to our bike
system really en .... enables people (noises on mic) low income or otherwise typically
don't use bicycles to be able to as much as any other person in this city, and people who
are disabled for one reason for another. Yeah.
Neill/ Yeah, and that's.... that's been, uh, something we really wanted to focus on. A lot of times
equity's included as a general principle, but we felt it important to include as a specific
goal, and we do have, um, not just in network prioritization through League of American
Bicyclists, bicycle equity index, which is a ... another model we've used based on census
block demographic information, um, to help us prioritize the network. We've also
included that in, uh, our program recommendations, really focusing on increasing access
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to bicycling as a means for, um, diversifying the transportation system and, um, helping
people get to the places they need to go.
Thomas/ With .... with your junior high survey, I said the... the.... the kids you surveyed, they all
have bikes but very few of them ride them to school.
Neill/ Uh huh.
Thomas/ Did they give a reason .... did you ask them why that was so?
Neill/ I don't think we got the motivations behind, uh.... why it was that the .... they're not
bicycling as much as they do. Um .... Sarah, were there .... were there questions on our
survey related to issues that prevent them from bicycling? (both talking) Yeah, if you'd
like to speak a little bit to the....
Walz/ In the case of, uh, Southeast Junior High, um, there are a number of kids that go to
Southeast that come from a great distance. They come from across the river. So in that
case, it's too far. Um, there were also situations where, um, the weather was an issue or,
um, just timing, like the amount of time they had to go to school, and then of course the
parents, and so one of the things that we talked about earlier is maybe in the future ... it
was great to have the relationship with the School District that we could do this, and as
you know we also interviewed, um, serving kids as part of the long-term transportation
plan for the MPO, but um, we'd maybe like to go back in a year or so and if possible, um,
repeat the survey and then also ask parents, um, questions to see if the parents
perceptions are matching up with the kids, because sometimes, um, parents perceptions
of safety are different than children's or parents perception of, um, distance or how to get
to place are different from what kids are and see if we can figure out sort of pathways
to .... to make it easier for kids to ride.
Thomas/ Another.... another thought I was having was, uh, was through this process, uh, were
any projects, um, looked at as signature projects. I'm .... I'm really interested in seeing
especially as we try to move forward with implementation of having work that .... really is
kind of the talk of the town, at least among those of us who are interested in this sort of
thing. Um.....I..... I want Kingsley, you know, to .... to come on board with this, this
whole concept, and uh, I think we need, personally I think we need projects that really
shoot out what we're trying to do.
Neill/ Right. I think there's a few that come to mind that, uh, will have that wow factor,
that ... that you might be referencing and, uh, the buffered bike lanes on Governor and
Dodge I think will really, uh, have an impact, as will those on Market and Jefferson. So
they'd replace the existing bike lanes that are down there. Um, during the course of the
planning process there were some, uh, issues that were raised about those existing bike
lanes, which, uh, are on the left side of the road, as you know, and uh, a little different
from most of ..from every other bike lane in the city, um, but they have value in terms of
what they bring to the network, and we think by, uh, rolling out buffered bike lanes on
those corridors, it's gonna bring something, uh, to the area that Iowa City doesn't have on
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the ground yet, but represents a significant step in the right direction. Um, the other
facilities that are .... unique but not, urn .... they may not feel that different right off the bat,
are gonna be some of those bicycle boulevards. So on a street like College where it's
already been, uh, improved through traffic calming elements like, uh, medians or
roundabouts, um, things that help slow traffic or divert traffic to other street altogether,
um, by combining that with signage, shared lane markings, um, wayfinding signage that's
really gonna help people see, hey, this is a valuable link to help me get, uh, from my
neighborhood to City Hall. Um.....we want to ... we want to highlight the destinations
through facilities like that, so I think the wayfinding element, uh, that's on those bicycle
boulevards and just through the whole network in general, uh, is really gonna inform
people. Uh, it may not have that .... that same captivating effect that, uh, a dedicated
buffered bike lane or even a cycle track, something that, um, really captures somebody
attentions.... somebody's attention, because as far as impact, uh, on the network, uh,
wayfinding's really gonna help move people, uh, very functionally.
Throgmorton/ Hey, John, I can imagine a .... a ribbon cutting and Council ride (laughter) uh, on
one of those buffered roads, maybe both of `em, led by Kingsley (laughter) ...be really
fun!
Botchway/ I'm pretty fast (several talking and laughing)
Mims/ What about on.....on, uh.....Dodge and Governor, that's State Highway 1. We have to
work with them to get approval to do buffered bike lanes on there?
Fruin/ Um, yes we would and we've already .... our staff s been having those conversations.
Governor's gonna be overlaid next year and we're workin' to incorporate that in, uh, into
those.....(mumbled) ...post resurfacing to restripe at that time.
Dickens/ Would that have an effect of slowing traffic down a little bit too, because you're gonna
narrow those lanes a little bit....
Fruin/ Sure, absolutely!
Dickens/ ...because it's sometimes, corrin' down that hill on Dodge Street it's 35.
Cole/ That's the point (several talking)
Throgmorton/ 45 (several talking)
Dickens/ That's what I mean, slow it down by narrowing it (several talking)
Taylor/ Well I myself was very impressed with all the information. As Jim said, it was kind of
overwhelming first cause I think it's over 100 pages, uh, of our packet, uh, was the
bicycle information, and I'm impressed that you want to increase the commuter, uh,
population but we have a very active biking friendly community and I was .... really
impressed last year when we got the Cyclo -Cross event and I think is part of the plan
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going to be to promote those kinds of things, like the Jingle Cross and the Cyclo -Cross,
cause that's a big deal, that ... that Iowa City was selected for that.
Neill/ It is, it is, and like you said, it's not just about increasing commuters. It's the whole
culture of bicycling, and one of the .... one of the recommendations we have in the
program section is to, urn ... undertake a economic impact evaluation of events like those
and other, um.....economic impacts of bicycling, uh, on the community as a whole, so we
can see what that return is on investment in big events, on infrastructure, uh, and that
economic impact translates not just to, uh, the way bicyclists spend dollars at local stores
compared to, uh, motor vehicle occupants, but it also translates in terms of, uh, health...
improved health impacts, reduced, uh, healthcare costs, uh, reduced transportation costs
and fuel consumption. Uh, there's a lot of different little variables that can be examined
to show that when we increase bicycle infrastructure and in tum bicycling activity, we
can generate, uh, a positive return economically and through those kinds of, um, reports,
we can really help bring others in, uh, and .... and share that enthusiasm that we have for
making bicycling a bigger part of the community.
Throgmorton/ Other questions?
Cole/ Were you able to quantify the carbon reduction per percentage extra of commuter, so like
for example if we get the .... you know, each additional percentage it ... or is that sort of
outside the scope of this, um, particular project?
Neill/ Yeah, it is. It is, but it's something that, uh.....
Cole/ But it's significant and you'd at least be able to say that. Yeah, okay.
Throgmorton/ I'm not hearing any more questions. Well done, Kevin.
Neill/ Thank you.
Throgmorton/ Thank you so much. Marty, thank you for your good work! And to everyone else
who contributed to this particular plan. So it's only a draft. Are you gonna revise it a
little bit, I don't know exactly how (mumbled) come back to us?
Fmin/ There may be small revisions, but I think what you see if pretty much what you get, and
we will return to you perhaps as early as your next meeting to ask you to adopt it by
resolution.
Thomas/ One .... one quick comment I forgot, and it came up with the MPO presentations. Um, I
as many other .... many other people suffer from, uh, color blindness or color deficiency.
And so with mapping, um. .... and I think I'm most .... most color blind people are color
blind with red and green, as opposed to blue and yellow. So if your mapping uses red
and gr ... with the red and green color range, it can be virtually illegible to someone with
color deficiency. So if you can tweak the color range .... um, that would be very helpful.
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Neill/ Yeah, that's something we can .... we can fix. Thank you!
Throgmorton/ Okay, on to Gilbert Street.
Wojciechowski/ My name is Paul Wojciechowski and I'm principle with Alta Planning and
Design. Uh, I work with Kevin. Uh, and I'll do a short report on Gilbert Street, but
before I go there, a level of travel stress is another factor that you look at with bikeway
design. So everybody's got a different level of travel stress, but depending on speeds on
streets, traffic volumes, uh, it depends.... what you apply to that bikeway type can make
people feel more comfortable. So that's a safety indicator on how safe I feel on a street,
uh, so the discussion earlier I wanted to jump up and I got excited with that (laughs) but,
uh, a lot of times, you know, higher speed streets, more separation is gonna be more
comfortable for most people, so gettin' that buffer on the higher volume, higher speed
streets, uh, but then the bike boulevards, you're usually on streets that are less than 3,000
cars a day, so you don't need much to make those safer. You need that traffic calming.
So low speed, low volume streets are usually what everybody feels comfortable with. So
what I feel comfortable with is different than .... from, I always use my wife as an
example. Uh, we've got totally.....we're on these ends of the spectrum. I can ride
anywhere and she wants that buffered, separated facility. So, uh, that's..... that's a good
indication, and everybody's a little different so .... uh, but the, you can get that mode shift
by providing those more comfortable type facilities. So, on to Gilbert Street! (laughs)
So we ... we kind of started, we did a lot of, uh.... um, data collection. The City did a lot of
data collection for us. We started looking at, uh, and I always call it a three-step process
when you look at, uh.... uh, travel way reallocation. I don't like using the term `road diet'
or anything, but space reallocation if there's, uh, issues in the corridor that you want to
address, uh, you start lookin' at, uh, at, uh, traffic volumes, and that's really what we
concentrate on so far, uh, on Gilb.... on Gilbert Street. So, when I mention three-step
process, this .... this process, uh, if you just look at traffic volumes, there's three steps.
We've got three steps in this process too. Uh, one is just the existing, uh, and future
condition analysis as it exists today. So the configuration that's out there now, how's
traffic moving through there. Are there shared lane markings on the street? Usually on
shared lane markings on a street that's got, uh.....higher traffic volumes, only somebody
like me would ride down the middle of it, which I have, uh, recent ... uh, recently. I rode
down Gilbert Street, and I'm okay with it. Most people are not. (laughs) Uh, so we
looked at it, how .... how it is now so that's the .... the first step is to assess is it a candidate
for thinking about doing something. Uh, second step was gonna be, okay, what options
do we have, what.... what are we tryin' to .... what problems are we tryin' to solve, uh, and
then developing that .... how are we gonna evaluate it. So de .... defining all that stuff is
like step two. We're not there yet. We're still in step one. Uh, and then, uh, step three
would be, okay, what's an action plan, what's a final recommendation on what we want
to do with it. So, uh, the existing Gilbert Street four -lane, uh, minor arterial roads, some
places have.... have turn lanes to it, uh, it's got a range of 5,800 cars a day to 7 .... 17,000
cars a day. So that's a pretty wide variety, kinda bulges up, uh, around Highway 6 there.
So that's where the bulge occurs and the heavy traffic occurs. Uh, there's shared lane
markings out there. Uh, it's a traffic corridor. It's got several lines that kinda.... run
through it. So it's .... it's got, uh, it's probably got about four .... four different transit lines
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that kinda make its way onto Gilbert Street, in and out. There's about five or six transit
stops along Gilbert Street. Uh..... so, uh, in our evaluation, you know, so initially with
just looking at the numbers, the ADT numbers. That's that one of my traffic volumes
assessment process, uh, is it a candidate? Well, with those numbers, it's a candidate, so
that leads you to look a little further. And we did look a little .... we looked, uh, a lot
further with a.....a....... a traffic model simulator analysis. So we .... we used
SYNCHRO, uh, to look at, uh, how traffic operates at intersections. So we looked to see
what kind of delays occur at intersections, to see is there anything that stands out to us,
uh, with traffic operations as they exist. So if you start seein' on Gilbert Street, if you
saw some Es and Fs on approaches, and that's looking at traffic approaches, so straight
movements or turning movements. If there's some, uh, really poor levels of service or
excessive delays, that's a red flag that there's a problem with it. We didn't really see any
red flags on Gilbert Street. On some side streets we saw some lower .... a lot of delays on
some side streets, but uh, any kind of change to Gilbert Street really wouldn't, that
wouldn't impact that. You'd have to consider it, um, but we didn't see any alarming
notes, and this is just a diagram that shows, uh, we ... we looked at all the signalized
intersections, which there's nine of `em, and then we looked at non -signalized
intersections also. So there's different ways you look at each of those, uh, but we assess
both of those types of intersections.
Throgmorton/ Paul, before you go off that, can you go back to that, please? It kinda looks like
Cuneiform, looking inside the black circle. Can you translate a little bit for us?
Wojeiechowski/ Yeah, what those are is, uh, there's.... there's, um, you can see the traffic signals
on the, uh, on the ... the one circles, and those are just turning movements. They're arrows
that show, uh, what kind of mo ... type of movements occur at that interse.... on that
approach. So it can be a through movement, a left turn, a right turn, uh.... you may just
have a left and right, uh.... uh.....(mumbled) intersection. That's.... that's just showing
the directions of, uh, how you can operate through that intersection and each of the
movements. It really, uh, I tried to keep it clean so .... the .... the numbers are on the next
sheet. This just shows what's going on at each of those intersections, what kind of
movements occur. Uh, in the little red dots on some of these to indicate a stop -controlled
intersection, uh, side street stops for, uh, for Gilbert and then, uh, the ones with the little
traffic signal just show it's a signalized intersection. So we had nine of those and then,
uh.... uh, the rest of `em were stop -controlled intersections from the side streets. The
little boxes underneath that, uh, which you can't read, that's on the next sheet, that
actually shows what the delays occur at the, at those approaches, and we looked at each
approach. You can look at an intersection and say, oh, that's.... that's got a really
bad ... that's really bad operational. Uh, I like to look at approaches, you know, what ... you
know, the left turns, how are those operating? How are the through movements
operating? How are the right turns operating? That kinda gets down into, okay, how is
everything working in that intersection? Where am I gonna have problems, uh, or where
are the problems occurring. So, uh, it really defines, uh, traffic engineers use that, uh, to
define, you know, what issues you have operationally for motor vehicles. Um, we know
that the bikes, it's .... it's, uh, it's got the volumes there, uh, and there's a lot of
intersections, and shared lane markings. Most people may not want to ride there. Uh, but
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some may. So we didn't really do an operational analysis on that, but if we had to look at
a bicycle level of travel stress, like I mentioned before, it would probably be in the... in
the really bad range (laughs) for people, uh, you know, they're wantin' to ride their bikes
there. Most people probably wouldn't want to. So we looked at each of those
intersections and each of the approaches, uh, and we ... uh, in summary, and .... and we've
got a whole memo that looks at the existing conditions analysis. We found four
intersections, most intersections operate at level of service D or better, and D is....
usually E is acceptable in a .... in a more, uh.... urbanized, built-up area. Uh, anything
above D is .... is not bad (laughs) uh, and we only found, uh, four intersections that have
an approach that has a level of service D on them. Everything is better than D, which
means C or, you know, on a .... on a grade card, A is really good. No problems at all. B
is really good. C is really good. D is startin' to get a little ..... you may have a, have to,
uh, a couple lines of cars, there may be some queuing at intersections. So it's gettin' a
little worse. F is .... is, uh, kinda failure of an intersection. So you're not gettin' through
on a traffic signal. You're.... you're havin' to wait a couple signals. That's what, uh,
kind of an F or an E is. Uh, as far as...just think of the grade... your grade book. You
don't want Fs. You don't want Es (laughs) you don't really want .... Ds are okay and
you're gonna pass, but .... uh, it's not exceptional. So we only found that, uh.... uh, those
four intersections had level of service Ds on Gilbert itself. Um, there's a couple
intersections that had a level of service E on a westbound direction, and I believe that was
Burlington Street, uh, and I think Prentiss Street, Bowery had .... had level of service, uh,
Es in a westbound direction at one of the approaches. So.....not really anything alarming
at this point. So, uh, the next step was going to be looking at the future, uh, 2045 traffic
volumes to see what happens, uh, when we add growth rates, uh, that we got, uh, from
the City to grow that traffic and see, okay, what .... what happens, uh, to the intersections
when you apply those future numbers, in 2040 .... those 2045 numbers. Uh, so some
considerations when you even think about space reallocation on a .... on a street. Uh, you
know, are you gonna improve safety? And for who? Is it, you know, for cares, bikes,
peds, uh, and we did get some indications, uh, that, uh, there's a lot of people just
crossing the street (laughs) uh, pedestrians crossing the street, especially as you get up
towards the north. Uh, that .... uh, you know, there could be improvements, uh, for, um,
pedestrians. Um .... uh, or speed. Do speeds need to be reduced? Are there speeding
issues? That's somethin' you would target. Uh, side street delays. So right now there's
some side street delays. So a four -lane section, if you're trying to wait on a side street
and comin' out, uh, you may get a poor level of service on that side street. So there's
gonna be .... you may have to wait a while to get on the street. Maybe some space
reallocation on a roadway could help that out, help that level of service for that side street
and gettin' out on the roadway. Pedestrian, bicycle facility enhancements, and then
overall quality and livability enhancements. Those are all benefits that we would look at,
uh..... so I just got a couple things, uh, items there that I noticed, uh, when we looked at
our traffic study. Uh.... uh, reducing travel streets, uh, speeds, um, probably gonna be
desirable in the north segment of the corridor, in the downtown area, because there's a lot
of pedestrians and high volumes of pedestrians. So lower speeds means lower .... more
comfort for pedestrians, as well as bicyclists, um. ... uh, Iowa City has approximately 12,
uh, 1,200 bike commuters, uh, in a population of 70,000 people. So, uh.... uh, there's a...
there's a fair amount of commuters, uh, a lot better than where I come, you know, in St.
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Louis. We don't have that .... we don't have the .... that kind of mode share that you have,
which is exceptional, so urn .... uh, we would look for, you know, there's a lot of people
ridin' their bikes for transportation, and that could help that group of people. So the next
step is to finish up that 2045 analysis, and then, um.....uh, if the City chooses to do so,
we would move into .... phase two, but uh, we've actually set this up so we're not moving
into another step until everybody's comfortable, and we would do a lot more of the
engagement in step two. So .... uh, it's really up to the City to say, well, we want to go to
step two or, uh, and then even..... even if we get into step two, still your decision to say,
okay, we want to go to step three, or not. So it's... it's, we've kinda put this together to
step this through, um .... uh, at, uh, at, uh, your recommendation on taking the next step.
Cole/ How long will step two take?
Wojciechowski/ Well, it could .... uh, we'd probably take about a month I would say, uh, once we
get going at that, or .... or.....faster. We .... we can move pretty fast once we get the go-
ahead, uh, but we want to make sure that everybody's comfortable when we get into that
step, uh, and then we can move through that pretty fast. (both talking) ...would have had
this done by the time, uh, we were here today, but uh.... didn't work out that way.
Throgmorton/ Are there any concerns from a staff level about, uh, authorizing them to proceed
with this next step?
Fruin/ Well, I can't say that I personally have seen the analysis before tonight. So, um, I ... maybe
Kent can speak to it. I don't know if the Public Works staff has had a whole lot of
conversation. I guess what I'd say to the comment though is if...if we felt there was
concern to move forward to a .... a second phase, we would bring that to you. I mean that
would be .... look to you to make that decision. Otherwise we're gonna go forward.
Ralston/ Yeah, like Paul mentioned, I don't think we're quite there yet, because the 2045
analysis isn't done, and what that shows, as....as Paul mentioned, you know, what's on
the ground today isn't that alarming, but what we don't want to occur is if we .... if we go
ahead and do a four to three -lane conversion, in four years we don't want the traffic to be
such that we have to convert it back, you know, there's no use in doing that. So really
when we look at 2045 and we have those numbers, then we'll know what kind of project
we're looking at in terms of how long it'll last and what kind of service we'll get from it.
So really we need to get the 2045 complete, uh, I think Paul's nearly completed with that
analysis, I would say, you know, in the coming weeks we'll have that information and
we'll share it with the City Manager's office, uh, and clearly the Engineering and Public
Works' offices need to review that too. Then I think we can reconvene and figure out if
we want to move into phase two, and as Paul mentioned, as part of the actual, uh,
consultant agreement, we've actually made a clean line there because if this doesn't
work, there's no reason to move into the stakeholder meetings, the public engagement
and so forth because we would be doing so, uh, for no reason frankly.
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Wcjciechowski/ We haven't assumed anything with this. So if you (mumbled) if you look at our
books, at our .... at our, uh, at our project management software, we've only actually had
step one, that's actually in our system. Two and three is not there yet.
Ralston/ Right.
Wojciechowski/ Uh, so everybody says, well, what's that? I say no, we're only putting step one,
because we don't know if we're going to step two. So, not your normal consultant type
of attitude (laughs) but, uh, and I'm not.....we're not your normal consultant, right,
Kevin? And, uh, your normal consul .... uh, bikeway, bike, uh, planner, designer types,
uh.... uh, I've got a route in .... in traffic management, bein' with the Missouri Department
of Transportation. So, uh, I'm aware of how this operates, and at some point I .... I got
the, uh, awareness of moving people and not cars, so that's where the bikes/peds come in,
so .... I look at it from a holistic perspective, to make sure the whole system works
together and nothing fails. So we don't want transit to fail. We don't want cars, bikes or
peds. We want `em all workin' together seamlessly in that ... in the system.
Throgmorton/ Okay, good deal! Geoff, if there are complications, come back to us, just like ya
said. Okay, uh, we should probably move on.
Cole/ Well are we gonna have an opportunity to comment on any of this or will that be a separate
work session?
Throgmorton/ I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cut anybody off. Um, yeah.
Cole/ Okay. Um, I .... I just, I had thought that about six months ago we gave clear direction that
we were gonna go to a step three, unless I'm mistaken on that. Um, and I think the other
thing too is I think we have a philosophical issue here, in terms of what are our values
and what are our goals, um, for transportation. Um, I think ultimately we have carbon
mitigation goals. Obviously the automobile is gonna be a key part of our transportation,
on into 2045, but I think non -carbon modes of transportation are going to be absolutely
essential to this. Um, so at least I'm hearing that we can do a step two analysis in 30
days. I would like to either have a separate work session on this topic, so everyone can
fully flesh this out, um, or at least authorize that step two occur today, because my
recollection was, unless maybe we could check on the minutes, that we had already
authorized, um, certainly an engineering, um, assessment and Gilbert in particular has
been probably one of the most studied four-way, um, you know, road diets that we've
talked about for years, and I go back to Jeff Speck, this whole concept of having to move
it, you know, we might have to switch back, you know, one of the things that he teaches
is the concept of induced demand. The more capacity the wider you build, the more
roadway we build, the more likely we're able to facilitate precisely the sorts of
development they're going to place pressure on this. Um, and I believe that to my core.
Um,and I think that the empirical data supports that, in terms of the DOT studies. So I
guess what I would like to see is either tonight that we authorize step two, just so we can
get this ... I understand it can be done in 30 days, and then at that particular time we can
determine whether this could be adopted in the plan (several talking)
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Throgmorton/ ...already said that .... they should proceed with the step two, unless Geoff comes
back to us saying there's some big problem that had not been foreseen, or .... put it in your
own words, Geoff.
Fruin/ The scope reflects the ability to move to two and three. We don't need to come back to
you for permission to go to .... to go to phase two on this project. What we're saying is,
there's a certain checkpoint in the process and if there's major red flags for staff and we
don't feel comfortable going forward, we'll come back to you and say, this is the problem
we see — do you still want us to go forward. Um, I .... my guess, and it's only a guess at
this point, is that we're gonna slide right in to phase two and we'll get that goin', but
um.....uh, you have already given us that authorization. Keep in mind, that authorization
just came, uh, a few months ago, and this was an amendment to the bicycle master plan,
in order to get us here. We're simply updating you tonight because we have the
consultants in town and we felt it was a good .... good time to .... to touch base with you
and let you know where we stand (mumbled)
Cole/ Do we have an approximate timeframe then? We have 30 days for step two. Do we have
a time plan in terms of when we .... it would come back before us in terms of...since you'll
be modifying into the plan?
Fruin/ My hope, and Kent, come on up, my hope and ... and our .... our hope all along with this is
that we could be further.....far enough along, excuse me, so that we .... we have all the
information we need heading into the capital budgeting process this fall. So that when
we come to you in January, we can tell you exactly, urn .... uh, what, uh, what the plan
may be and .... and, um, give you a path forward, should you want to go through (both
talking)
Ralston/ Yeah, no, I think that's fair, and just to be clear, we still need to do a little bit more
work with the 2045 numbers, and I'd like to be able to share that with the City Manager,
uh, Public Works, and Engineer, but then, yeah. I think once we're happy with that and I
think we'll probably receive that in the coming weeks, then I think Paul's right that, you
know, a 30 -day process for that second portion is, uh, doable. So I think .... I think it's
100% right — for budget discussions, uh, we'll be easily ready to go.
Throgmorton/ Anything else?
Thomas/ Just quickly, I walked Gilbert. I had some car troubles and I had to, uh (laughter) bring
the car down to, uh, a garage, at the south end of Gilbert, so I was walking Gilbert Street
just the other day to and from home. It is a horrible street, I mean you know, we're....
we're grading, we're hearing levels of service with respect to automobiles, but boy,
walking that corridor is nasty! That is a nasty street! Um, so I think we ... in my mind,
and I know we're focusing on the bike networking, but they're inter -related with
pedestrian and vehicular movements. Um, the other thing I looked at the other ... the other
morning was .... putting to, uh, the information for the last three years of collisions on the
Gilbert corridor. There have been almost 200 in the last three years. So I would say
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(laughs) it's not only safe .... not, it's ... the perception of safety is an issue, both .... well for
pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers, in my view.
Clarification of Agenda Items:
Throgmorton/ Okay. Thank you all! Let's move on, and we don't have a whole lot of time. We
can take at the most till 20 till, I would think, on .... on our work session. So the next item
is clarification of agenda items.
Item 3f(11) Barry Olmstead: New Transit Bus Paint Scheme Iowa City
Thomas/ I had a question on, um, on one of the correspondences from Harry Olmstead. He was
asking about the additional costs on painting the buses. What .... where are we on that? Is
that, is that something we...
Fruin/ Um, we .... we .... it's in one of the Info Packets. We have a memo to you, and I think
Harry had a couple of the numbers transposed from that memo, um, so the short of it is
we have 11 buses that are in production right now. Um, if we paint them, um, if we want
to pursue a new color scheme, uh, it's $4,000 approximately per bus during the
manufacturing process. Um, if we wait till after market and we want to do something,
and keep in mind, we're keepin' buses for 20 years, about .... right about now that's the
average life of our buses. You're probably looking at, and this is our ... our best estimate
without getting quotes, is probably about $12,000 a bus. Um, so the letter in the Info
Packet, um, was letting you know of staff's intention to pursue a new color scheme, uh,
but we have not given the green light to the manufacturer because we wanted to give you
an opportunity tonight to steer us in a different direction, should you choose to.
Thomas/ I guess one .... one question I had is .... is the $4,000 a standard, uh, cost for changing
any color scheme or was it specific to that particular scheme?
Fruin/ Well, if you look at our color scheme now there isn't much of a color scheme. (laughter)
It's a couple of stripes, and... and what is being proposed is certainly more elaborate and
so I'm gonna kind of glance over at Mark, but I think that's probably where .... where the
cost is coming from. It's just a more elaborate, uh, scheme. Is that correct, Mark?
Mims/ If I read that memo right, the plan then would be on the older buses we wouldn't do
anything with those, just ... we would only, as we replace, we .... every new replacement
bus would have (both talking)
Fruin/ Yeah, you know, ideally we would do our whole fleet at once, but there are some cost
constraints and .... and there's a lot of demand on transit right now, so we want to be
cognizant of that. Um, as a .... as new buses go through, we would adjust to the new paint
scheme, and uh, there may be other .... other opportunities to and, you know, we do have
accidents on occasion. So if there's major body work bein' done, maybe there's an
opportunity to paint, uh, an after -market, uh, vehicle, but that's not our intention.
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Taylor/ That's one item I was confused about as far as would you.....first it was a little unclear,
if the existing ones then would need to be repainted into the new scheme (both talking)
Fruin/ They don't have to be. Again I think it's ... ideally in a perfect world, yes we would, um,
so they would all have a consistent look and ... and there's a .... a kind of a brand awareness
and recognition, but, um, we're just tryin' to balance that with some of the fiscal
constraints within the Transit fund. Right now, Seats, uh, you know, when you order a
Seats bus, you may get a Coralville bus to show up. You may get an Iowa City bus to
show up. Um, they've got two.... probably three or four different paint schemes and
that's a little bit different cause it's point-to-point type of transit, but I think it would be
okay if we had, for a transitionary period, two different color schemes. If it proves to be
a problem, we can always adjust.
Taylor/ I wasn't so sure that we would need an elaborate color scheme on our buses, but that was
a concern of mine, for the extra cost. Okay.
Item 3d(6) Happy Hollow Park Restroom and Shelter Replacement 2017 -
Resolution rejecting bids received on July 12, 2017 for the Happy Hollow Park
Restroom and Shelter Replacement Project 2017
Dickens/ I just have a question on 3d(6). What is the process now that.....that lowest bid came
in at 39% over (mumbled) scaled back or....
Fruin/ Yeah. We kinda have to analyze those bids. That's Happy Hollow Park, uh, restroom and
shelter replacement and not an ideal situation there, but ... uh, we have to go back and
analyze, uh, why we missed it, given we had five bids, all considerably above what, uh,
HBK estimated for us. Clearly the estimate was the problem and.... and we just need to
reconsider that. So we need to do somethin', uh, specific to Happy Hollow, to get that
project back on .... on schedule. It's likely going to be a spring installation now. Um...
uh, more .... more importantly, I guess as important, um, we were using that design
concept for the standard going forward. So if you took a .... a sneak peak at the Parks'
master plan, which you'll get a presentation on at your next meeting, you'll see that this
is the design that's.....that's called for with future park improvements, and that's simply
too expensive for us to .... to adopt as the standard. So, Juli and her design team are back
at the drawing board, um, and need to find a solution for both Happy Hollow and then the
standard going forward.
Mims/ Yeah, I ... I mean I would be really curious .... I know I brought up the issue when we did
one down I think in Lower City Park, replaced one of our shelters down there, the cost of
that. And I mean I know we've got some of the stonework which is, you know, it was
really nice and I think it really adds a lot to it, but when I look at these numbers, you're
talking as much as a house costs, I mean, an inexpensive house, but I mean $250 -plus
thousand dollars, and you're talking all the plumbing, all the foundation work, I mean
just .... (laughs) it just boggles my mind that something like a shelter and a one or two -
stall bathroom, even though it's got stonework around it, is coming in at the cost of a
house! Just boggles my mind.
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Seydell Johnson/ I do think it's partially because of the bidding climate right now (both talking)
Mims/ Yeah.
Seydell Johnson/ It certainly doesn't account for ... for it being as far up above as it is, but we do
know that contractors are very busy (both talking)
Mims/ Right.
Seydell Johnson/ ...and the tight timeline probably added to it. Um, and we believe the shelter
design is probably the part that was more expensive and over budget than the restroom
design. So we'll be going back and looking at all of those things. Um, it being in a
historic neighborhood added a little bit of cost to this one as well. Gotta kind of find that
sweet spot, where it all works (both talking)
Throgmorton/ Yeah, but still Susan's point is spot on — how could it possibly be as expensive as
a house.
Fruin/ But even .... you know, for .... just to give you an example, our .... our, uh, restroom that we
did at Fair Meadows, um, was that .... or .... or even Kiwanis Park (both talking)
Seydell Johnson/ ...at the 100,000.
Fruin/ Yeah, so if you've seen those, those are pretty, you know, bare bones, cinder block type of
(laughs) construction, and we're.....we're north of 100 .... on just that so.....
Mims/ Is it because they're bidding on government projects or what? I mean (laughs)
Fruin/ No, I think that's .... I think (both talking)
Mims/ ....legitimate costs?
Fruin/ Yeah, I think it's .... I think it's legitimate.
Mims/ Okay. Thanks!
Item 10. American Legion Road and Barrington Road Speed Limits - Consider an
ordinance amending Title 9, Entitled "Motor Vehicles and Traffic," Chapter 3,
Entitled "Rules of the Road," Section 6, Entitled "Speed Restrictions," Subsection
B, Entitled "Exceptions" to establish a maximum allowable speed of 35 mph on
American Legion Road between the intersection of Scott Boulevard and Taft
Avenue and amending Subsection C, Entitled "School Speed Zones" to establish a
20 mph school speed zone for Hoover Elementary School. (First Consideration)
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Throgmorton/ All right! I'd like to ask a question about Item #10, which has to do with
American Legion Road and speed limits, etc. It's....it's not really a question. It's more
as a .... more of an observation. I know we received, I don't know, at least one email
but... representing more people, about that and I .... I just want to... just state something,
that all of us know. It's extremely important that we assure the safety of kids and escorts
who want to cross the street, the major road or walk along the major road, uh, it's
fundamental, and I know staff is going to make sure that that happens, and I'm glad,
Geoff, you wrote that memo to Steve Murley about that, uh, so ... I just wanna kinda get
that point out there rather raise any kind of big question about it. I ... I guess I'll mention
3f(3), which is a ... um, a .... a correspondence complaining about fireworks.
Item 3f(3) Fireworks: Michael McCormick, Sheryl Bergen -Jackson [Staff response
included], Amy Charles [Staff response included], Trish Nelson [Staff response
included], James Pobst
�r�y Mo ore than one complaint. Now there's a surprise! But, uh, most of us who participated
m the Joint Entities in
this morning, and there was a pretty good article about it in
the DI this morning as well, and uh, Geoff gave us some data that I simply re .... repeated,
uh, about the number of calls for service..... especially in comparison to what it had been
in ... in a previous year, and it's pretty dramatic difference (laughs) like a I0 -fold
difference. Uh, and, um, we discussed somewhat about things that we could do in the
coming year or perhaps in January about, uh, about the use of fireworks here and I'm sure
staff's gonna come to us with recommendations (both talking)
Fruin/ Yeah, and just for everybody else's benefit, I gave the Mayor some advance information
that's not complete, knowing that that was a topic on the agenda yesterday at the Joint
meeting. You will all be getting a comprehensive report, uh, from staff on our experience
with fireworks this year and some of our thoughts going forward. Uh, we will, uh, be
looking at the conditions of our temporary use, um .... uh, permits that, uh, the tents utilize
to set up. We'll also be looking at sales restrictions, uh, now that some of those, uh,
issues have been fleshed out in the courts with other cities, so there's some opportunities
there. The Planning and Zoning Commission also expressed an interest for the .... for us
to, uh, go down this path. So, um.....probably in the next couple of weeks, uh, maybe not
before your August lu meeting, but certainly before your August 15th meeting, we'll have
a more detailed analysis to give you.
Information Packet Discussion [June 22. June 29, July 6. July 131:
Throgmorton/ Good deal! Uh.... according to my timetable we have another three and a half
minutes, so, um, can we turn to Info Packet discussion. June 22h'd, any questions about it?
I'm not hearing any. June 29th.
Thomas/ Just a quick question. What is the `solutions architect?' There was a (both talking)
Tbrogmorton/ Somebody who solves.... things (laughter)
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Bockenstedt/ Hi there! A solutions architect is an ITS position. It's a position that really is kind
of a problem solver. They take a .... a problem and they do look at it in IT terms and
determine what the best solution, whether it's programming, buying software, and kind of
analyze that situation and then they bring in the parties that need to be brought in to ... I
guess resolve their issues.
Fruin/ It's a miracle worker! (laughter)
Throgmorton/ Funny! What's the pay .... pa .... pay scale for miracle workers? (laughter)
Mims/ Probably fairly high in the IT world (several talking and laughing)
Throgmorton/ Okay, can we turn to July the 6v1, that Info Packet.
Fruin/ So again I just want to bring up the Transit. I£..if the Council's uncomfortable with us
going forward, that's fine. You just need to let us know because it's time for us to give
the green light to the manufacturer or to tell `em stick with the original paint scheme.
Mims/ I'd say go ahead.
Throgmorton/ I'd say go ahead.
Dickens/ Go ahead! You got five, six, seven.
Throgmorton/ All right, why don't we stop there. We'll .... so we'll pick back up with the July
13th packet .... after the ...... so we have to adjourn this till after the formal meeting.
(BREAK FOR FORMAL)
Throgmorton/ So, we need to shift to the work session. Can we do that now or do we need to
take a short break? (several responding) Let me find out where we were so....
Mims/ July 13a' Info Packet.
Botchway/ So, Item 5 through.....7, great work! Um, appreciated the, uh, (mumbled) action plan
update. Um, really excited to see what the Housing Trust Fund has been doing with
the ... the money we allocated to them. Um, and then from a .... you know, really enjoy the
quarterly reports from the Equity Director in regards to the social justice and racial equity
work that they're doing, and also enjoy kind of the, um, Chief Matherly having that
information in red as far s the updates that he has to his plan, um, and the steps going
forward (both talking)
Throgmorton/ ....very easy to track!
Botchway/ Yeah, it's good work!
Mims/ I think Kingsley just covered it, so ..... (laughter and several talking)
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Dickens/ Are we fine on KXIC?
Throgmorton/ So on 5, 6, and 7 could I add a couple comments on those? Uh, with regard to the,
uh, item 5, the Affordable Housing Action Plan update, uh, I .... I think we need to have
good ways of measuring ... uh, basically output performance measures about how we're
doing with regard to ...... the affordability of housing, and Geoff and I have talked about
that before and I'm sure something will come up, but I'll bring it up during our budget
discussion. I think we need to have .... we need to be able to track that kind of thing. And
the other thing I wanted to mention with regard to, what is it, item 7 and Jody Matherly's,
uh, fine report is just to note that I've heard really good reports about the increased foot
patrols south of Highway 6. Uh, I think they're having a very positive, uh, effect in that
area and, uh, neighbors are really appreciating the foot patrols. So, uh, praise to the PD
for that! Let's see ..... do any of you have any other items?
Thomas/ I ... I would agree with you, Jim, and this ... if ...if what you meant in part anyway was
that with the affordable housing, I .... I have a hard time keeping track of how many
affordable housing units we .... we're generating. I know we're, you know, with certain
projects we'll get X number and so on and so forth, but I ... I think it would be helpful to
sort of see where, you know, how those are adding up and where they're coming from.
Um, and I also was a little bit unclear on the, um, the one in Riverfront Crossings, which
is .... what project was that? That's.... mentioned.....
Fruin/ Trust Fund report, is that what you're referring to?
Thomas/ Yeah.
Fruin/ Simon is on the board there (several talking)
Andrew/ $800,000 one (both talking) that is a new project in Riverfront Crossings that was a
Housing Fellowship application. Uh, they'll be the ones managing the affordable units. I
don't believe that they've closed on the purchase of the land yet, so I don't know that the
exact location is, uh, public yet, um, but it is within Riverfront Crossings, walkable to
many services, on a transit route.
Thomas/ Okay.
Throgmorton/ Okay, with regard to item 10, no, IP #10, uh, the draft minutes of the Airport
Commission's June I O'h meeting. They had a .... a very interesting discussion about the
Airport Commission's strategic plan, or the Airport's strategic plan. And as I read that I
thought .... you know, I don't see any reference to the Council's strategic plan, especially
the core ideas of inclusive, just, and sustainable. Uh, I would like to see the Commission
(coughing, unable to hear speaker) to the fact that we in fact do have a strategic plan and
it would be very good to see the Commission, uh.... uh.....find ways to alter their
strategic plan in a manner that they think is consistent with ours. Now I know they have
a lot of things that folks.... explicitly on the Airport and all that and more power to `em
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and I'm not objecting to that at all, but I thought, for example, that there might be
opportunities for the, uh, the Airport and the Commission to invite people from, uh, the
minority communities in our city, out to the Airport, to see that in fact there is an Airport
and in fact there .... there are flights that take off (laughs) and land there, and how it's
operated. One of the formative experiences of my childhood actually was to go to an
air .... airport terminal that was located about five blocks away from where I lived and
I .... I can remember going up .... up to the top where, in this tiny little airport (laughs)
which was actually at the time the main airport in Louisville, Kentucky.... went up to the
top there and saw, you know, some kind of air traffic controller, guiding planes in and ... I
thought it was really exciting! You know, and I think, uh, you know (several talking in
background) the Commission could reach out in a much more effective way, uh....
Mims/ You know, one of the things they have done recently, and I think they do it every
summer, is they offer free rides to kids, I mean, and so, I mean I think that's a big effort
that they make to .... to reach out to the community, cause there's no cost. It's
vol .... pilots who volunteer, you know, parents have to sign their kids up, cause of course
they have to have permission to do it. Um, so it .... they, I mean, they do some outreach.
Throgmorton/ Yeah (mumbled) I certainly do not mean to be speaking badly of the
Commissioners or Mike Tharp or anybody else out there. I just think there are
connections with our strategic plan that they should be alerted to and respond to. Okay,
anything else? Hearing nothing I think we're done for the evening. Thanks everybody!
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work
session of July 18, 2017.