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HomeMy WebLinkAbout3.22.22 TTAC MinutesMINUTES Approved MPOJC TRANSPORTATION TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE TUESDAY, MARCH 29, 2022 - 10:30 AM CITY OF IOWA CITY – EMMA HARVAT HALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Coralville: Kelly Hayworth, Vicky Robrock, Scott Larson Iowa City: Jason Havel, Mark Rummel, Scott Sovers Johnson County: Tom Brase, Greg Parker North Liberty: Ryan Rusnak Tiffin: Doug Boldt University Heights: Louise From University of Iowa: Brian McClatchey Iowa DOT: Catherine Cutler STAFF PRESENT: Kent Ralston, Emily Bothell, Sarah Walz, Frank Waisath, Hannah Neel, Rose Schweitzer 1. CALL TO ORDER Ralston called the meeting to order at 10:32 AM. a. Recognize alternates There were no alternates. b. Consider approval of meeting minutes McClatchey moved for approval, Brase seconded. Motion carried unanimously. 2. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA Cutler noted that the Iowa Department of Transportation Commission will be in Coralville for public input on June 14th, 2022. She asked anyone interested in presenting local projects to send her an email to be put on the agenda. Ralston noted that there are a few staff changes within the MPOJC. Brad Neumann has retired and was replaced by Hannah Neel, and Rose Schweitzer has joined as an intern. 3. CONSIDER A RECOMMENDATION TO THE MPOJC URBANIZED AREA POLICY BOARD REGARDING LOCALLY DETERMINED PROJECTS FOR THE MPOJC FY2023 TRANSPORTATION PLANNING WORK PROGRAM Ralston explained that a list of Transportation Planning Work Program projects is compiled every spring for the upcoming fiscal year. While it is required by the Federal Highway Administration and Iowa Department of Transportation, it is also used to schedule data collection and workload for that fiscal year. The attachment to the memo lists the requested projects received to-date from committee members and staff. Ralston noted the awareness of additional projects and data collection needs throughout the year and stated that these can usually be accommodated. If these additional projects would disrupt the Work Program due to their size, however, they will then be taken to the Policy Board for approval. Ralston said that there are about 31 Work Program projects in the packet, yet this represents only about a quarter of the work done by the MPO every year. The Work Program list will be augmented with regularly occurring projects as well as state- and federally- required transportation planning work, then brought back to the next meeting for approval. Boldt moved for approval, Larson seconded. Motion carried unanimously. 4. CONSIDER A RECOMMENDATION TO THE URBANIZED AREA POLICY BOARD REGARDING PARTICIPATION IN THE ‘FEDERAL-AID-SWAP’ WHEREBY STATE FUNDING COULD REPLACE FEDERAL FUNDING FOR LOCAL ROAD/BRIDGE PROJECTS Ralston explained that in 2018, House File 203 was signed into law, permitting the Iowa Transportation Commission to allow what is referred to as the “Federal-Aid-Swap”. This is generally a process where road and bridge projects that would normally be funded by federal transportation dollars are instead funded by the state with the goal to minimize federal regulations and streamline local projects. Ralston noted that for the past four years, the Committee had unanimously recommended participating in the Federal-Aid Swap, however, for the same years, the Urbanized Area Policy Board had opted out of the Swap. Central to those discussions was Davis-Bacon wages, worker safety, and a lack of data supporting the benefits of the Swap. MPOJC and the Bi- State Regional Commission are currently the only MPOs opting out of the Swap. Similar to previous years, unless the MPO chooses to ‘opt-out’ of the Swap program, the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) will assume the MPO wishes to participate. In the past, the DOT was unable to provide cost- and time-saving details related to the Swap due to a limited number of completed projects. Since that time, the DOT has provided a fact sheet (included in the packet for review) noting that the project development timeline has been reduced by as much as six months, which now carries a dollar figure of nearly $7.4 million in annual savings for local agencies as well as the DOT. Ralston said that the goal of this portion of the meeting was to discuss the policy and to make a recommendation to the Policy Board to either ‘opt-in’ or ‘opt-out’ of the swap. Ralston noted that he Iowa Department of Transportation had put together a committee to the new federal transportation legislation with respect to the swap. Since there will be more federal funding available through the new legislation, the state will not have enough funding to swap all the projects the state would wish to. This committee has met already and will meet again in the next week or two. Ralston began the discussion by asking for questions, stating that the Board will decide on this next week and that Havel may also be able to answer questions as he is a member of the DOT’s committee for this policy. Ralston also noted that there is an estimated $50 million gap in what can be swapped right now, requiring a reduction of funding for swap projects by $50 million. McClatchey noted that the DOT’s data addresses most of the concerns the Board has had in the past. This data provides more verification, and therefore perhaps more comfort in participation. Brase asked whether the swap savings identified then goes back into the projects or where the previously stated savings come from. Ralston replied that those savings are both staff and time savings due to having fewer check plans that must be submitted, speeding up the bidding process, and ultimately completing projects quicker. Larson noted that the close out process for projects has been particularly difficult (at least for Coralville) as 12-18 months go by and they cannot close out projects that have not had any activity due to recording requirements and documentation. He stated that extracting this information from contractors has been difficult in recent years. Boldt added that audits takes a long time. From stated that University Heights has always voted for the Swap as well as the Mayor of Tiffin. Havel noted that regardless of the swap or federal aid, good projects are still being completed, but that there are savings that could be utilized that coincide with the swap. He stated that with employees having so many time constraints, saving staff time and avoiding possible ‘hoops’ is a good thing for these projects and for the department. While the MPO may not be able to be as involved in the swap as the MPO could have been in the past, he still thinks it would be a good idea to move in the direction of ‘opting-in’. Ralston then noted that the DOT is not saying that the swap is no longer available, but that they will have to bridge the $50 million gap in funding. The MPO will have to see what the committee comes up with, keeping in mind the MPO may not be eligible for swap this year. He also noted that this would not mean the entire swap opportunity is gone, the DOT would just choose certain programs. Havel then noted that given the reduction in the dollar amount that is available for swap, some programs are not eligible anymore due to their size and that swap would not be able to fully fund these programs regardless. Havel made a motion to participate in the ‘Federal-Aid-Swap’ whereby State funding could replace Federal funding for local road/bridge projects. Hayworth seconded. The motion passed unanimously. 5. CONSIDER A RECOMMENDATION TO THE URBANIZED AREA POLICY BOARD REGARDING PARTICIPATION IN THE IOWA DOT PAVEMENT DATA COLLECTION PROGRAM Bothell explained that in January, the MPO asked the Committee for feedback on the Iowa DOT pavement data collection cycle and whether to ‘opt-in’ as an MPO to continue receiving local pavement condition data every two years. At that time, the Committee asked for more time to discuss this with their communities. Bothell reminded the Committee that until 2020, pavement condition data was collected every two years and was made available at no cost. Local route data is now collected every four years, though the DOT will allow agencies at either the MPO level or the local jurisdiction level to ‘opt-in’ to continue that two-year data collection cycle. Data was last collected on all local routes in the metropolitan area in 2021. The MPO or individual communities may choose to ‘opt-in’ for the 2023 cycle. The DOT did indicate that this funding would need to be ‘swapped’ as part of the ‘Federal-Aid Swap’ because federal funding cannot be spent on this program. If the Committee chooses to not ‘opt-in’, each individual jurisdiction can make the decision to purchase this data at their own cost. Bothell asked for a recommendation to the Urbanized Area Policy Board on whether to ‘opt-in’ to receive pavement condition data in 2023. This would be brought back to the Committee every four years for discussion. Bothell noted that the estimated cost would be about $50,000 from the STBG funding program. Larson said Coralville has since discussed with staff and feels they are in a better position going forward to utilize this data. Coralville will therefore ‘opt-in’ to the program. Havel stated that Iowa City has been using this data for a while now, also wishing to ‘opt-in’ either individually or as a group. Ralston noted that even though this data cost is $50,000-$60,000 every four years, the Surface Transportation Block Grant funding is approximately $7 million every two years. Boldt moved to utilize Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) funds for pavement data collection in 2023. Larson seconded. Motion carried unanimously. 6. UPDATE REGARDING THE MPOJC FY2023 TRANSIT PROGRAM OF PROJECTS Waisath presented an update on the transit program of projects, stating that each year, each of the three local transit agencies (Coralville Transit, Iowa City Transit, and University of Iowa Cambus) are required by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to prepare this program of projects. This will be included in the Consolidated Transit Funding Application due to the DOT at the beginning of May and included in the upcoming Transportation Improvement Program. The program projects for FY2023 identify projects that will be funded federally. Not every project on the list will receive funding, but a project must be on the list to be eligible for federal funding. These lists are approved by the transit agencies themselves with the consolidated application. 7. UPDATE ON THE MPOJC LONG RANGE TRANSPORTATION PLAN REVISION PROCESS Bothell explained that the draft Future Forward 2050 Transportation Plan is now complete and available on the MPO’s website for review. Bothell gave a presentation on the Long Range Transportation Plan, stating that the Plan is the vision of the transportation network out to the year 2050. Bothell gave an overview of the planning process and timeline, public engagement efforts, highlights from the Plan, and the next steps as it relates to public participation. As with the previous plan, this update emphasizes multimodal transportation, land use patterns, and transportation planning. The Plan must be updated every five years, but the revision process takes two years to complete. The planning process began with presenting the visions and goals and incorporating public comment throughout the process. There will be two upcoming public meetings in addition to the 30-day public comment period that will start on Friday, April 1st. The final adoption of the Plan is dated for May of this year. McClatchey noted that it would be interesting to look at the growth in moped use in the area, as Iowa City’s moped use would most likely far outnumber the moped use in other areas of the state and metropolitan area. Moped use has an impact on transit, especially on the Cambus system as it has created roadway and parking safety issues. Rummel stated that they have about 800-900 moped parking permits per year for their stalls and that the University gets about double that. Some people have permits for both the City and University, however, so they can park in either stall. There was praise for the Long Range Plan and for the staff who completed it from both Ralston and the Committee members. McClatchey asked if data collection has improved over time. Ralston noted that there is more data available such as data retrieved from the free app called “Strava” that tracks outdoor activity. The MPO can access the data this app tracks to gain more information on which routes users of this app utilize. This does not give representative volume data but rather locational and activity type information. To recap, Ralston explained that the full plan will be brought back to the group in May for approval. 8. UPDATE ON LOCAL TRAIL COUNTS IN THE METRO AREA Walz explained that each year bicycle and pedestrian counts are collected along local trails. The equipment used does not differentiate between bicycles and pedestrians, so this is a consolidated count. One to two week-long counts are conducted as various factors do influence these counts (weather, development of the area, construction in the area, etc.). Year-over-year it is difficult to draw conclusions, but the MPO is starting to see long-term trends over the accumulation of years of counts. Last year, trail usage was way up. This is now settling out as people are going back to work and kids are going back to school. Winter counts began in 2020 due to the new clearing of trails during these months. From this it was found that on trails like Trueblood and Sycamore Greenway, the clearing of these have kept trail counts up during the winter. Walz explained that the MPO has acquired two additional trail counters that will aid in the tracking of bicycle tourism as connections like the Clear Creek Trail from Iowa City to Tiffin are made. These counters will track data over longer periods of time (2-3 months) to mitigate the effects of varying weather, etc. The focus of this next year will be the Clear Creek and Iowa River Corridor Trails. 9. OTHER BUSINESS Rummel stated that there will be an electric bus bash at the River Landing Park from 2-4 p.m. Friday, April 22nd. Larson stated that the last piece of Jones Boulevard, between Oakdale Boulevard and Highway 6 should be paved late spring/early summer. This is a private subdivision development project. The Clear Creek Trail connection between Highway 6 and the Harkin Trailhead was pushed to a July letting. A schedule is being created to start the North Liberty Road and Forevergreen Road roundabout, which is associated with the Forevergreen Heights subdivision near Liberty High School. The Interstate 80 and First Avenue diverging diamond interchange is still on schedule for an August letting. Private utility relocation is expected for late this spring and into the summer. With the August letting, construction will be underway this fall, starting with the demolition of the northbound First Avenue bridge, immediately taking First Avenue down to one-lane in each direction. More information about detours and staging will come with this as well. Estimated completion of this project is 2024. McClatchey noted that transit is currently working on staffing their department. In addition to this and in conversation with the University, parking has completed a master plan that will have many impacts on transportation infrastructure and transit systems. Havel noted a public works open house event on Saturday, May 21st. This will be a community event but will also show off the new site and equipment, including an electric bus. Sovers provided updates on larger projects in the area. The final phase of the American Legion Road project from Buckingham Lane to Taft Avenue is set to be completed this fall. The Scott Boulevard and First Avenue roundabout project will be started in early April. In general, access to this intersection will remain, but there will eventually be a closing of the intersection. The Benton Street rehabilitation project from Mormon Trek to Greenwood Drive was bid late winter but bids came in much higher than the engineer’s original estimate. It has a rebidding date of June 21st. With this bidding delay, the project will extend two construction seasons, starting this year and ending the next. The acquisitions are nearly finalized on the Rochester Avenue project (construction from Ralston Creek to First Avenue), looking to accept bids for this on May 24th. Finally, the Melrose Avenue / IWV Road project is in its second and final year. Utility, culvert, and water main work was done last summer. There will be some lane closures this summer. Boldt noted that construction has begun on the new public works facility in Tiffin. From stated that from their FY23 budget, funds were allocated to start the design of the Melrose Avenue streetscape project with a hopeful construction period of 2024-2025. Rusnak stated that the contractor started on the Dubuque Street and Front Street realignment, which will be ongoing throughout the construction season. Bid documents were set up for Jones Boulevard, which will be from Penn Street to 240th Street and take place in the spring. Cutler noted that as for the Interstate 80 and Herbert Hoover highway intersection, the eastbound ramp will close the second week of April (scheduled for April 4th – November 15th), with project completion scheduled for later this year. McClatchey asked about the possible evaluation of converting Market/Jefferson to a two-way street and if this would just be east of Clinton. Ralston responded that it is yet to be determined. Havel noted that they will most likely look at the entire road length, but that it is recommended to leave the stretch of road west of Clinton as is. Ralston added that the studies done in the past have noted to avoid the two large hills and the T. Anne Cleary walkway because of the large volume of students. 10. ADJOURNMENT Rusnak moved to adjourn, Brase seconded. Motion carried unanimously. Ralston adjourned the meeting at 11:33 am.