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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRTBC MINUTES October 2017MINUTES APPROVED MPO REGIONAL TRAILS AND BICYCLING COMMITTEE TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10th, 2017 CITY HALL, UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS MEMBERS PRESENT: Louise From (University Heights), Becky Soglin (Johnson County), Juli Seydell-Johnson (Iowa City), Bob Oppliger, Michelle Ribble, Shelly Simpson (North Liberty), Cheri Proud (Coralville), Brad Friedhof (Johnson County), Terry Dahms, Anne Duggen (Think Bicycles) MEMBERS ABSENT: Brian Loring, Alex Buhmeyer OTHERS PRESENT: Brock Grenis (ECICOG), Del Holland STAFF PRESENT: Sarah Walz, Emily Bothell, Kent Ralston 1. CALL TO ORDER; RECOGNIZE ALTERNATES; CONSIDER APPROVAL OF MINUTES Walz called the meeting to order at 1:03 PM. Motion to approve was made by Soglin; Seyell-Johnson seconded. The motion carried unanimously. 2. Public Discussion Oppliger stated that he was nominated to the Board of Directors for the League of American Bicyclists; voting starts on November 1st. 3. Discuss Community Representation Walz stated that the Johnson County Trails Foundation is one of three organizations outside of member entities that have representation on the RTBC. Dahms has been the representative and has been the JCTF member on the TAC. The JCTF is no longer an active organization. The RTBC is looking to find another organization that can serve as representation. Input is being is sought on possible alternatives. Representation can be from entities, but there are fewer issues when the representation is an advocacy group. From suggested the University of Iowa’s bike advisory committee. Ralston stated that there are no bylaws that limit groups because the RTBC is an Ad Hoc group. Dahms stated the Trails committee no longer exists due to the number of projects that the County currently has planned and the number of existing bike infrastructure in the metro area. The Board is seeking a new representation for the Technical Advisory Committee. A non- entity representative should attend all TAC meetings. It is recommended that a representative be selected, with an alternate being identified in events where the representative is unable to attend TAC meetings. Dahms was selected to be the RTBC representative for the TAC. 4. Consider Transportation Alternatives Funding (TAP) Schedule Ralston stated that the MPO conducts the STBG funding and TAP funding process every other year. The process was conducted this past spring. RTBC preferences have been to fund a few larger projects, rather than many smaller projects. Ralston stated that the Iowa DOT passed changes to the STBG and TAP allocation process. Under new changes, the MPO is required to submit proposals to IDOT for approval; under the old system, the funding process was a competitive process. The Iowa DOT is taking state STBG funds and putting them towards TAP funds. Ralston stated that if funding is allocated this fall, only $500,000 would be available; if funding is postponed until the Spring 2019, approximately $1 million would be available. Ralston recommended postponed the funding allocation process until the Spring 2019; the RTBC recommendation would be presented to the TAC and the UAPB. RTBC unanimously recommended postponing the funding allocation process until Spring 2019. 5. Consider Metro Area Bike Master Plan Walz stated that Iowa City has recently completed and adopted their bicycle master plan. The university is still in the process of updating their bicycle plan. Coralville requested that the metro area bicycle master plan for on-street facilities be updated. As part of that update, the MPO would identify similarities between the Iowa City bicycle master plan and the University’s bicycle plan, to identify opportunities for connections or policy overlaps that may compliment other communities’ plans. Ralston stated that community workshops and online surveys will be some of the tools used in the planning process. Walz stated that developing the plan will begin in 2018, with community workshops being conducted in the spring. The goal is to have a plan drafted and ready for adoption by the end of FY18. 6. Review Annual Pedestrian and Bicycle Measurements A. Baseline School Bicycle Counts Walz stated that school bicycle counts were conducted as part of an effort to assess ridership patterns across the metro area. Schools were the focus of these counts because children go to school at the same time. It compliments U.S. Census data since this data does not consider children, multi-modal commuters, or non-income earners. Walz stated that an additional school count is planned for the spring. Condition of the bike racks was also conducted as part of the baseline count. Many schools assessed during the count lacked access to recommended bicycle racks (i.e. they are considered obsolete). Ridership information was unavailable because the enrollment data for schools has not been released. Enrollment numbers for schools should be released in December. That information would be provided to the school as part of the count. Private schools and Tate School were not part of the baseline count because they are not considered neighborhood schools. Simpson stated that North Liberty is served by multiple school districts and North Bend School (part of the Clear Creek/Amana school district). Walz stated that the school could be included for the spring count. Oppliger asked if Hills was part of the MPO’s jurisdiction. Walz and Ralston stated that they were, but were not included in this baseline count because the emphasis was only on the urban area. B. Metro Multi-use Trail Counts Walz informed the committee that 15 of the 17 locations for counts were completed for 2017. A few of the completed counts are baseline counts; this is the first time they have been counted. There were concerns about comparison counts because of the lack of data. Walz informed the committee that the MPO now has 10 years’ worth of trail counts for the metro bicycle system. Walz stated that this does not mean each trail has 10 counts, but there is enough data collected for year-to-year comparisons including average weekday ridership, weekend ridership, and daily average for a week. Many trails are experiencing increases in ridership. The Iowa River Trail at Waterworks Park is one that has seen a decrease. This may be due to placement of the count box, and the numerous entrances for the trail. Due to the number of entrances for this trail, a different location may be used in the future to generate a better representation of trail usage. Walz stated that counts can vary due to the time of year, weather, etc, which can affect the numbers of users. Some counts are time specific due to large numbers of trail users that may be students or faculty. Trends are emerging that distinguish trails that are everyday use trails, and others that are predominantly used for recreation. 7. Discuss Updates to 2018 Metro Area Trails Map for 2018 Walz stated that metro area trail maps are distributed throughout the metro area. Information on the map has been scaled back compared to previous maps. The new format makes it easier to read and maintain the map. Any changes the committee wants to the maps should be submitted to the MPO by January. Walz asked the board if formatting changes should include a shift from a metro area/county map to a commuter map. Walz stated that the new cyclocross track will be included in the new map. Several members recommended that gravel bike routes should be included in the next trail map. County representatives raise safety concerns over promoting gravel roads for recreational riding as gravel roads are principally for farm transport. More thought should be given to the safety implications of directing recreational riders to areas where bicycling has not been contemplated as part of signing and maintenance. Soglin stated that pocket-sized trail maps have been very popular with residents. 8. Updates on Local Trail/Bike/Pedestrian Projects and Activities From MPO Entities Oppliger stated that the Iowa City school has agreed to incorporate a comprehensive bicycle education program. These programs will be incorporated for second-graders, fifth-graders, Jr. High, and high school students. The program will start in the spring. Startup costs for the program are estimated at $2,000. Oppliger stated that the ICCSD Foundation has $1,000. The project will begin after the remaining $1,000 is funded. Walz inquired if the school district has looked at programs in Minnesota for reference. Oppliger responded that states that have existing programs will be referenced. Washington D.C. has a program that teaches 5-6 year-old schoolchildren how to ride a bike. The program advances to safety techniques in Jr. High, and Bicycle/Car safety is addressed in high school. Seydell-Johnson stated that a new section of bike trail has been completed along the west side of Gilbert Street/Sand Road. This new section connects two previously disconnected sections of bike trail/wide sidewalk north of McCollister. The trail gets lots of use. Oppliger asked for an update on construction at the old wastewater treatment plant. Seydell- Johnson responded that the trail connections for Riverfront Park are near completion. The trail connection along Highway 6 is ready to be paved, but has been held up by weather and construction of a new water line. This is also the case for the bridge trail connector. The bridge has been constructed, but the approaches still need to be paved. Trail connectors should be completed this fall, with planting and landscaping occurring in the spring. A wetland will be created for the park by diverting Ralston Creek through the wetland area. Ralston stated that Iowa City is in the process of applying for bicycle friendly business designation for the Iowa City downtown campus: recreation center, city hall, and library. Friedhof stated that the project between North Liberty and Mehaffey Bridge project was bid in November. Phase 1 and 2 of the Hoover Trail between Solon and Ely will be bid on December 19th. After completion, only the section from the underpass, around the roundabout to the southside of Highway-382 will need to be completed. These projects are being funded by State Recreation Trail, Federal Recreation Trail, and Federal Land Access Program funds. Construction on these projects will begin over the winter. The last parcel of land will be purchased from Half Moon Avenue to F.W. Kent Park after harvest season this fall. Land agents will begin working on purchasing right-of-way from F.W. Kent Park to Oxford Avenue, and will also purchase right-of-way from either Solon to Morse, or Morris to Oasis route. The County is currently leaning towards acquiring the Morse to Oasis route because one-mile of the necessary right-of-way has been donated. Discussions have been had on the Herbert Hoover Highway interchange project. County Road officials have stated intentions to put a trail through a narrow right-of-way as part of that project. Johnson County will continue to work with Iowa County to get the Clear Creek Trail built out to Amana. 9. Other Business Proud stated that a cyclocross trail was constructed in Coralville, and the first race will be held the first week of November. Bidding for Phase 6 and 7 of the project will be held in January. These phases are expected to be completed in 2019. 10. Adjournment Meeting Adjourned 1:55 PM.