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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/7/2013 - Bicycle Master Plan Oversight Committee (2)1 CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH Bicycle Master Plan Oversight Committee DRAFT Meeting Minutes Meeting Date: October 7, 2013 Time: 5:00pm Location: Community Room, 100 Civic Center Drive 1. CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 5:00pm. 2. ROLL CALL Committee Members Present – Councilman/Chair Tony Petros, Lou Cohen, Robert Kahn, Greg Kline, Sean Matsler, Frank Peters Committee Members Absent – Michael Alti, John Heffernan City Staff –Lt. Jeff Lu, Sr. Civil Engineer Brad Sommers, Associate Planner Fern Nueno 3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE – Committee Member Peters led the Pledge of Allegiance 4. PUBLIC COMMENTS Chair Petros noted public comments submitted by Jim Mosher regarding posting of an audio recording of the meeting on the website and that Mr. Mosher felt meeting information was hard to find on the City website. Chair Petros noted the meeting is being taped with an audio recorder and that the Public Works Department will review the ability to post the audio file on the website. Chair Petros noted the meeting was properly noticed per the Brown Act, the agenda packet was posted on the City’s public website, and the meeting was noted on the City’s website event calendar. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chair Petros noted Mr. Mosher submitted a minor edit to the past meeting minutes. ACTION: Motion to approve past meeting minutes incorporating edits proposed by Mr. Mosher – Bob Kahn. Motion Second – Lou Cohen. Motion passed (AYES – 5, NAYES -0, Michael Alti, John Heffernan absent). 2 6. CURRENT BUSINESS A. Bicycle Master Plan Project Update Staff Member Sommers noted Alta Planning and Design was not in attendance per the schedule. He reviewed the following Bicycle Master Plan and city project updates: Bicycle Master Plan consultant has received approximately 280 surveys as part of the project outreach. There will be a project outreach event booth at the Back Bay on Sunday, October 27. The November workshop may be rescheduled from the Community Room to the Central Library. Bicycle Counts will be held Thursday, October 17 from 7-9am and Saturday, October 19 from 10am-1pm. An additional count time period of 7-9am on Saturday, October 19 has been added at key locations to capture club riders. Mandatory training for count volunteers will be held Thursday, October 10 at 6:30pm in the Community Room. The Existing Conditions Report will be submitted for review by the Consultant in December. Member Peters asked what the October outreach would include. Staff Member Sommers responded it would be similar to the event held in October at the Newport Pier. Public Comments None NO ACTION TAKEN B. Regional Bicycle Planning Chair Petros noted the City of Newport Beach is active in Regional Planning efforts and introduced Alan Thompson from the Southern California Area Governments (SCAG) and representatives from Caltrans. 1. SCAG Presentation - Presenter Alan Thompson of SCAG presented the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) and discussed how Active Transportation will be incorporated into the plan. He noted: The RTP is a 20+ year transportation plan that includes six counties and 191 cities within the SCAG area. The RTP is updated every four years with the current planning year of 2035. The plan considers future transportation needs based on planning forecasts, including population, jobs, and resources. The Active Transportation component includes non-vehicular modes of travel, including cycling. The plan includes a budget of $6.7 Billion for Active Transportation projects. The funds may be available to local agencies through grant programs, calls for projects and local funds. 3 Member Peters asked what advice could be given to the committee regarding the development of the Bicycle Master Plan. Mr. Thompson noted agencies should apply for the funding through grants such as the Bicycle Transportation Accounts and Safe Routes to School. Member Kahn asked if the grants would be administered through OCTA or Caltrans. Mr. Thomson noted SCAG can partner with local agencies on planning projects. Implementation funding will generally be handled by Caltrans or OCTA. Public Comments Member of the public asked if the City plans to apply for grant funds. Chair Petros noted the grants discussed by Mr. Thompson are future grants and the City’s first order is to develop the Bicycle Master Plan. Additionally he noted the City will review grant opportunities as they become available. Staff Member Sommers noted two current projects to install bike lanes are partially funded through federal grants. Mr. Thompson noted grant funding generally requires a current bicycle master plan as an eligibility requirement. Stacey Kline suggested Bikes May Use Full Lane signs and Sharrows used for gap closures should be part of the grant funding criteria. Mr. Thompson noted there are several strategies incorporated into the grant programs, including the consideration of different cycling facilities. Brenda Miller asked what agencies within the SCAG area are using a multi-modal metric to determine level of service and if there are plans to change the criteria. Mr. Thompson noted some agencies are reviewing use of multi-modal metrics and that it is being considered as part of the next regional model. He noted a recent law that designates transit oriented districts are no longer required to use traditional LOS metrics. Ms. Miller asked how soon the process could change. Mr. Thompson noted it depends on the development of the Active Transportation Model. 2. Caltrans Presentation Chair Petros welcomed Lan Zhou and Gary Slater from Caltrans and noted the City has been working with Caltrans to address issues on Coast Highway. Lan Zhou, Caltrans Deputy District Director of Planning noted Caltrans attended the meeting at the Committee’s request and in response to over 400 letters from the public. She noted Caltrans is responding to the letters but some may not be delivered as the contact information was not available. She noted: The City Bicycle Master Plan is a good opportunity for Caltrans to work with the City and public to improve cycling within Newport Beach. Caltrans Operation staff has begun investigations into the locations noted by the public letters and City. Caltrans will work with the City to determine appropriate solutions. 4 Caltrans is funding the Coast Highway Study that will review bicycles, transit and parking issues along with vehicular issues. Caltrans is able to support and partner with local agencies with grant applications. Councilman Petros noted the importance of Caltrans attending the meeting and pledging their assistance. He thanked the public for the successful letter writing campaign to Caltrans. He noted city staff is discussing bicycle improvements with Caltrans and that the process is challenging acknowledging the State has to consider the effects of their design at a state-wide level. Member Matsler asked what the City’s role with Caltrans is in the process. Mr. Sommers noted a meeting was held with Caltrans to discuss cycling needs within the City and areas on Coast Highway that have been noted as areas of concern by the public and committee. Additionally, he noted the City shared its design plans and has offered help to Caltrans staff for future bicycle improvement designs within the city. Chair Petros noted Caltrans came to the meeting with ideas. Ms. Zhou noted Caltrans staff has been to the locations to begin their investigations. Member Kahn noted the Bicycle Master Plan project will not be completed for a while and asked if the City is able to move forward with projects to improve areas previously identified by the committee. Staff Member Sommers noted city staff has active projects that can be implemented during the master plan process. Gary Slater, Caltrans Operations Branch Chief noted projects that are not capital intensive can be handled through the maintenance division. These items may include minor striping and signage projects. Member Peters noted he is encouraged by Caltrans being at the meeting but is concerned bicycle advocates have not been included in the meetings between city staff and Caltrans to ensure “out of the box” thinking. Mr. Slater noted public input is received through the letters received from the public and through discussion at the meeting. He noted meetings with city staff are necessary to determine alternatives that can then be brought to the public for additional comment. Mr. Peters suggested a member of the bicycle community be involved in the design discussions. Ms. Zhou noted public input generally comes through the Caltrans Planning Department via the Bicycle Coordinator and not directly through the Engineering Department. Public Comments Member of the public asked if Mr. Peter’s request to be included in meetings with Caltrans and the City would be accepted. Mr. Slater noted they are not denying the opportunity for public input, and reiterated the process is for public input to come through the bicycle coordinator. Stacey Kline thanked Caltrans for coming to the meeting and noted the OC Wheelmen are knowledgeable of riding in Newport Beach and suggested inviting a board member to be involved in discussions related to bicycle improvements. Kelley Gast noted she’s happy to know the letters were well received by Caltrans and hopeful that they have begun investigations into the locations discussed in letters. 5 Brenda Miller asked what constraints, other than funding, may prohibit installation of bicycle improvements. Mr. Slater noted limited right of way along with the multiple demands on the facility may limit what improvements can be made. Ms. Miller asked what cities can do to relieve the constraints from Caltrans consideration. Mr. Slater noted user input is necessary in planning of facilities. Ms. Zhao noted the Active Transportation and Complete Streets programs will facilitate improvements for all users. NO ACTION TAKEN C. Newport Beach Neighborhood Bike Rides Member Frank Peters presented the upcoming Bike Newport Beach Neighborhood Bike Rides noting: There are three rides planned, including a Halloween Ride, Pre-Thanksgiving Ride, and a Christmas Eve-Eve ride. The Halloween ride will be October 26th and tour unique homes within Corona del Mar. Prizes will be given to the best costume. Posters and post cards have been created and will be mailed out to neighborhoods in Newport. The rides are developed to encourage people to ride bikes in the City. The rides are part of the encouragement portion of the application to become a Bicycle Friendly Facility. Public Comments Dawn Sumerford asked if the ride will be advertised using media such as Facebook. Mr. Peters responded that it would. NO ACTION TAKEN D. Police Department Update Lt. Jeff Lu provided an overview of recent bicycle-related incidents and police activity, noting: The PD will perform a Bicycle Rodeo in October at the Newport Heights Elementary School. The School Resource Officer performed a bicycle, skateboarding and pedestrian informational presentation at Ensign Middle School. Back Bay Drive will be closed on October 20th for a triathlon from early morning to around noon. The three foot passing law (AB 1371) was passed and will go into effect in September 2014. There have been 90 reported bicycle-related incidents to date in 2013. There were 87 for the same time period in 2012. 6 In September 2013, there were 14 reported bicycle-related incidents. Of the 14 reported incidents, 10 did not involve a motor vehicle and 13 listed the actions of the cyclist as the primary cause for the incident. Chair Petros asked what the final number of bicycle-related incidents was for last year. Lt. Lu responded he would have to check the records and respond at a later date. Frank Peters asked when the Bicycle Rodeo will be. Lt. Lu noted it would be on October 29th around 2:45 to 4pm. Public Comments Member of the public asked if there were any disclosures or further comment on the August fatality. Lt. Lu noted the investigation regarding the Debra Deem incident is ongoing and information will not be shared at this time in order to uphold the integrity of the investigation. NO ACTION TAKEN 7. COMMITTEE ANNOUNCEMENTS OR MATTERS FOR A FUTURE AGENDA (NON-DISCUSSION ITEMS) Chair Petros noted Pat Thomas, Deputy Public Works Director, and Dave Kiff, City Manager were in attendance and thanked them for attending. Chair Petros asked Staff Member Sommers if the next meeting will be November or December. Mr. Sommers noted the November meeting depends on the ability to hold a committee bike ride. If not, next BMPOC meeting will be in December. Mr. Sommers indicated he will inform the committee and public when a determination is made. Member Peters noted the Pre-Thanksgiving ride will be Wednesday, November 27th. The ride will begin at 10am at the Civic Center for a trip around the Back Bay. The ride is intended to be family friendly. Member Kahn thanked Caltrans for attending the meeting and asked that they attend future meetings. 8. DATE AND TIME OF NEXT MEETING To be determined. 9. ADJOURNMENT - The meeting was adjourned at 6:35pm. Minutes Approved: ____________________________________________ ___ Chairman / Tony Petros Date