HomeMy WebLinkAbout5.30.18 UAPB Minutes1
MINUTES
MPOJC Urbanized Area Policy Board APPROVED
Wednesday, May 30th, 2018 - 4:30 p.m.
Iowa City City Hall - Council Chambers
410 E. Washington St, Iowa City, IA 52240
MEMBERS PRESENT: Coralville: Meghann Foster
Iowa City: Rockne Cole, John Thomas, Kingsley Botchway,
Pauline Taylor, Eleanor Dilkes
Johnson County: Lisa Green-Douglass, Mike Carberry
North Liberty: Terry Donahue, Jennifer Goings
Tiffin: Steve Berner
University Heights: Louise From
University of Iowa: Jim Sayre
ICCSD: Lori Roetlin
STAFF PRESENT: Kent Ralston, Brad Neumann, Emily Bothell, Sarah Walz, Alex Behnke,
Emily Legel
OTHERS PRESENT: Jason Havel (Iowa City Engineer), Cathy Cutler (Iowa DOT District 6)
1. CALL TO ORDER
Berner called the meeting to order at 4:31 p.m.
a. Recognize alternates
Eleanor Dilkes served as an alternate for Susan Mims (Iowa City) and Jennifer Goings
served as an alternate for Chris Hoffman (North Liberty).
b. Consider approval of meeting minutes
Motion to approve was made by Donahue; Carberry seconded. The motion was
unanimously approved.
c. Set date of next meeting
The next meeting was set for Wednesday, July 18th, hosted by Johnson County.
2. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA
Ralston recognized Emily Bothell and her new position with the MPO. As the Senior
Transportation Engineering Planner she will be doing a lot of the work she was doing
previously, as well as working with all staffs primarily on traffic modeling.
3. TRANPORTATION PLANNING
a. Consider a resolution approving the FY2019 MPOJC Transportation Planning Work
Program
Ralston presented a draft copy of the MPOJC FY19 Transportation Planning Work
Program for review. The Work Program identifies all locally requested projects that have
been received from individual member entities, as well as general projects and procedures
required by the DOT, Federal Highway Administration, and Federal Transit Administration.
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Besides being a federal requirement, the Work Program is relied on to gauge the MPO’s
workload. On May 22nd, the Transportation Technical Advisory Committee (TTAC)
unanimously recommended approval of the work program.
Carberry motioned to approve; seconded by Sayre. The motion was approved
unanimously.
b. Consider approval of cooperative agreements between MPOJC and transit agencies for
continuing transportation planning in the urbanized area
Neumann stated that last May the Board approved a resolution clarifying the MPO standing
as designated recipient of the 5307 transit funding, as well as designating an MPO staff
member to carry out certain functions for the transit agencies. At that time, Iowa City
Transit had had their triannual review and in that review the FTA requested updates to the
agreements. This past March Coralville Transit and Cambus had their triannual reviews
and additional rules and new requirements were identified and required the agreements
to be updated again. The agreements incorporate everything that was approved last year
as well as the performance measures for transit which the Board also approved last fall.
Neumann stated that apportionment of the 5307 grants would not be affected by the new
agreements.
Neumann gave an overview of the many things the MPO does for the transit agencies,
including the Long-Range Transportation Plan (every five years), the Passenger
Transportation Plan (every five years), the Transportation Improvement Program, the
MPO Work Program, transit State of Good Repair targets, and required documentation for
triannual reviews. The MPO also handles the ADA appeals process for transit.
This agreement specifically outlines roles and duties for the MPO and the transit agencies.
FTA and DOT both approved the agreement language and the TTAC unanimously
recommended to approve the three agreements. Following the approval and signing of
the agreements they will be made available to the FTA and DOT.
Cole motioned to approved; seconded by From. The motion was approved
unanimously.
c. Consider approval of the Draft FY2019-2022 MPOJC Transportation Improvement
Program (TIP) projects list
Neumann explained that the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) projects list is an
annual local programming document for federal and state surface transportation and
transit projects. There should be 18 projects on the list, including Iowa City’s Highway
1/Burlington Street median project which is not currently on the list provided. This project
has been in the TIP in previous years and will be included in the final TIP. All local STBG
and TAP projects, as well as all DOT projects in the urban area, are included. Projects
carried over from FY18 to FY19 had a 4% inflation rate added to the overall cost of the
program to stay fiscally constrained.
The MPO added two projects, approved by the Board last year. These projects were in
FY22 and were not included in last year's TIP. The projects are University Heights’
Melrose Avenue project and North Liberty's Hwy 965 project. Neumann reminded the
Board that the MPO opted out of the federal aid swap and all projects will be completed
the same as they have been in the past.
Neumann stated that in 2020, the DOT will begin taking a strong look at the MPO’s TIP
carryover amounts. Carryover amounts over the DOT’s targeted amounts for a four-year
period may result in the DOT taking money away from projects. The MPO wants to stress
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that the money should be spent when it's programmed. Currently, the MPO is in good
standing as five projects were removed from last year’s TIP. The DOT has indicated that
the MPO is not currently in any danger of losing any funding.
Donahue questioned if there is a certain percentage that the MPO cannot go over.
Neumann responded that the MPO receives target amounts for the four-year period in the
TIP and when projects start to carry over the total gets higher than what was programmed.
Ralston stated that although the MPO has always been in good standing, the DOT
continues remind MPOs of this issue.
Neumann stated that the TTAC recommended approval of the TIP project list. Following
Board approval, the MPO will begin the public input process which includes a 30-day
notice published for a public hearing in July.
Motion to approve was made by Carberry; seconded by Cole. The motion was
unanimously approved.
d. Update on the CRANDIC passenger rail study
Neumann informed the Board that the MPO is working with the DOT, the CRANDIC
Railroad, and HDR Consulting on a Phase III passenger rail study. The scope and the
cost have been reviewed by the MPO. The cost for the study came in at nearly twice what
it was the previous two studies. HDR explained to the MPO that the increase in cost is
due to the refined modeling for the ridership numbers in order to get an accurate financial
forecast. That being said, HDR is proposing model work for a grant application with FTA
and the MPO does not believe we are ready for this step. Currently the MPO is looking at
getting the cost estimate to the communities so a decision can be made on whether to
move forward on the Phase III Passenger Rail Study. The MPO believes that an FTA grant
may be a few years down the road as matching funds will need to be programmed in local
budgets. The MPO hopes to provide a new cost estimate in the near future.
Cole asked why it takes so long for these studies. Stating that there is a will on the Board
to move forward. Cole questioned how they make projections on what the ridership is
going to be if there's no existing ridership and how they develop those metrics.
Neumann answered by explaining the STOPS model and the methodology used which
was described two meetings ago. When they came up with the ridership numbers the
study was between Iowa City and Cedar Rapids and included the Iowa City to North
Liberty portion.
Ralston added that the study is primarily based on population and jobs. It's similar to the
MPO’s travel demand model where attractions and destinations from census data is
broken down into what is called traffic analysis zones. Based on geography, their model
can predict who needs to get from point A to point B and the best route and then from that
they can gain an estimate of ridership. It seems that the consultant does not completely
understand where the urbanized area is at in the process and what the consultant is
suggesting is about twice the original cost of the other two studies, which is up around
$100,000. This amount would be split three ways between the DOT, CRANDIC, and the
local governments.
Cole questioned if the first ride was still five years away. Ralston responded that it will take
some time to identify matching funds for the potentially $40 million project cost identified
in Phase II. Other issues such as who will run the passenger rail system will need to be
dealt with. Having solid ridership numbers will also provide revenue forecast and real
operating costs.
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Neumann stated that the DOT is willing to help with an FTA grant application when we
decide to move forward. Ralston added that the MPO will contact city and county
administrators when we receive the new cost proposal.
Neumann included a summary of the studies completed in the last few years including
Phase I and Phase II, the DOT’s I-380 study, and the proposed rails-to-trails study. The
rails-to-trails study will be completed at the same time as the Phase III passenger rail
study.
Carberry asked what the Phase II study said about ridership and what the annual number
was. Neumann answered that it was around 3,600 passengers per day and the operating
cost was about $1.4 million a year.
Green-Douglass asked if the Phase III study was from Iowa City to North Liberty.
Neumann stated that previous studies stopped at Forevergreen Road while Phase III will
go all the way to Penn Street in North Liberty.
Green-Douglass expressed that buses are already providing service from Iowa City to
Forevergreen Road. She said that more ridership would come if the passenger rail were
expanded further to Penn Street in North Liberty. Neumann responded that some of the
bus routes may change if the passenger rail service was implemented. The consultant
suggested stopping the passenger rail at Forevergreen Road because of the added costs
of additional crossings if you went further north to Penn Street.
e. Update on the MPOJC federal quadrennial review
Ralston recalled that in December of last year the MPO had a meeting with the Iowa DOT,
the Federal Highway Administration, and the Federal Transit Administration. They
conducted an on-site planning review of the MPO and all the MPO’s functions. This is a
federal review and is done every four years. The review consists of a comprehensive on-
site review covering all MPO planning and administrative activities, including the MPO
structure and agreements, the MPO budgets, the MPO’s 28E agreements, and the MPO
bylaws. The review also includes a review of transit planning agreements and plans, the
MPO’s public participation process, and civil rights policies, which includes Title VI,
Environmental Justice, and Limited English Proficiency. It also reviews all the documents
that the communities approve throughout the year, such as the Transportation
Improvement Program, the Work Program, and the MPO’s Long-Range Transportation
Plan. The MPO had no corrective actions.
4. OTHER BUSINESS
a. Update on Bike to Work week/month
Walz explained that Bike to Work Week is largely put together by volunteers from various
bicycle organizations. The bike shops and volunteers all work together to come up with
events. The MPO provides the proclamations for those communities wanting to take part
in bike to work week and bike month. The MPO also coordinates the bike-bus-car race
and provides updated trail maps to all the communities. The MPO would like to thank the
Iowa City Police Department, the Iowa City Gateway project crews, and Ann Duggan and
Larry Fitzpatrick with Johnson County Think Bicycles. The MPO would also like to thank
Bob Oppliger from the MPO’s Regional Trails and Bicycling Committee.
b. Update from Iowa City Staff on significant community projects
Havel updated the Board on the Gateway project. Park Road is currently closed and the
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plan is to reopen it the week before school is back in session. Work on the bridge continues
and the goal is to have something in place to provide temporary access to City Park for
RAGBRAI riders as well as support vehicles.
The Pedestrian Mall reconstruction is ongoing. Currently the focus is on the intersection
of College Street and Dubuque Street. That area will include a stage and they are currently
working on the foundation. In 2018, work will focus on the north/south section and then
2019 will be focused on the east/west portion of that project.
A couple of overlay projects going on this year include partnering with the DOT to work on
Highway 6 and Highway 1. The Highway 6 project will be from Coralville to Sturgis Corner
which will also include work at the Myrtle Avenue intersection. That intersection will be
signalized and will include turn lanes and will also provide pedestrian crossing across
Riverside Drive to provide access to the Iowa River Trail. There will be a 60-day closure
of Myrtle Avenue but Riverside Drive will stay open with at least one lane in each direction.
The Highway 1/Burlington Street project will include Van Buren Street to Summit Street
and Governor Street from Burlington Street to Dodge Street. When completed, there will
be bike lanes installed on Governor Street. Dodge Street will also be restriped to include
a bike lane.
The Burlington Street and Clinton Street intersection improvements includes water main
work, a new signal, new curb ramps, and additional turn lanes on Clinton Street. Clinton
Street will be converted from a four-lane to a three-lane street with bike lanes.
Three phases of work on Riverfront Crossings Park continues. Phase I included creek
improvements and grading for the bridge and trails. Phase I is anticipated to be complete
in July. Phase II includes the nature play area that is nearly complete. Phase 3 includes a
restroom/storage structure and lighting for the trails with an October completion date.
5. ADJOURNMENT
Cole motioned to adjourn; seconded by Green-Douglass. The motion was unanimously
approved.
The meeting adjourned at 5:12 p.m.