HomeMy WebLinkAboutTSMinutes_2011_09_08BROOKINGS TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMITTEE
City Hall meeting room
Thursday, September 8, 2011
12:10 p.m.
The Brookings Traffic Safety Committee held its monthly meeting on Thursday, September 8, 2011,
at 12:10pm in the City Hall meeting room.
Members Present: Carol Rettkowski, Louis Skubic, Jackie Lanning, Keith Bruinsma, Pete
Kirchheuel, Daryl Englund, Skip Webster, and Jeff Miller.
Members Absent: Tony Sonnenburg, Brian Lueders, Tim Heaton, and Mike Fossum.
Others Present:
Call to Order: Englund called the meeting called to order. Webster / Bruinsma moved to approve the
minutes from the July meeting. All present voted aye.
Addition to Agenda:
Discussion of request to remove parking from one side of Pebble Beach Drive between 17 th Ave. So.
And Moriarty Drive. Lanning passed out a map of this location and stated the Parks Department has
been receiving a lot of complaints from the residents about visitors parking on both sides of Pebble
Beach Dr. during certain times. This made it very congested on Pebble Beach Drive and hard to see
when driving in this area. Englund asked if parking was removed where the visitors would park.
Lanning stated parking is allowed on the east side of 17th Ave. for visitors to park. The parking was
removed recently at the intersection of 17th Ave. and Pebble Beach for better visibility. Webster said
he couldn’t imagine the park would have that many visitors very often to cause a parking problem.
Lanning suggested this area could be monitored. Miller/Webster made the motion to monitor the
area. All present voted aye. Motion passed.
Old Business:
Revisit:
Discussion of May meeting on removal of parking on certain streets that are designated as “Share the
Road”. Lanning described the May Traffic Safety public hearing meeting minutes and stated the
request came from SDSU to remove parking from bike routes on 8th Street, 11th Street, and 20th
Avenue. The Traffic Safety Committee voted in May that all parking should remain the same as it is
now. Lanning asked the committee if they still support our original motion. Bruinsma asked if there is
parking on both sides of 20th Avenue. Lanning said is allowed on the east side of 20th Avenue and
there is also no overnight parking on 8th Street east of 16th Avenue. Lanning stated we already have
no parking on 8th Street between 7th Avenue and 16th Avenue. Kirchheuel stated 20th Avenue is a
wider street with room for parking. Lanning asked if there has been a lot of parking tickets issued in
this area. Miller stated no. Englund stated the committee revisited and reconfirmed the discussion in
May with no recommended changes.
New Business:
Discussion of bikes on Main Avenue. Rettkowski stated she almost hit someone on a bike by the
Power Shop and feels we need to enforce the issue with no bikes on the sidewalk in the downtown
area. Bruinsma asked if there is a stencil on the sidewalk. Lanning stated there were stencils on the
Main Avenue sidewalks in the past, but the new sidewalks are colored concrete and she didn’t think
the stencil would be a good idea. Skubic asked if bicyclists can be ticketed. Miller stated absolutely
they could and the police department could increase bike patrol enforcement. Carol suggested putting
signs on the bike racks. Bruinsma recommended speed bumps in the alleys such as by the
Powershop Gym. Lanning said the city doesn’t use speed bumps because of the snow plows and will
look at the bike racks for sign placement. Englund would like Lanning and Miller to look at this area
and report back to the committee next month with some suggestions.
Request to remove parking on the north side of 17th Street South between 7th Avenue South and 9th
Avenue South. Lanning received a call from a homeowner in this area. There are four condos on the
north side of 17th Street South and each of them have two double driveways. She mentioned five
people can live in each unit and they appear to be rented to college students. There were a lot of
vehicles parked on the street during the weekend when the students were moving in. Some residents
were concerned that it was hard to drive through the street with vehicles parked on both sides. The
north side has several driveways with not much room left for parking except for the very west end. If
parking was removed on the north side it would help remove congestion but the vehicles may be
parked in front of mail boxes and may block driveways on the south side of the street. Miller said on
move-in day there were many complaints. He said since then, the number of complaints have been
less and there didn’t appear to be as many parked vehicles. Miller said the owner should have
adequate off street parking for its residents. Lanning said the parking requirement is different for
condos. The developer is meeting the condo parking requirement, but the way the condos are being
used, there is not enough room in the driveways. Miller suggested contacting the residents and
having a public hearing. Lanning will invite the property owners on both sides of the street and will put
this topic on next’s months agenda for a public hearing.
Request to remove parking from the south side of 9th Street between 6th Avenue and 7th Avenue.
Lanning received a request from Tom Wyseth, who lives at 812 6th Avenue. He noticed there is one
block where parking is allowed on both sides of 9th Street, which is between 6th Avenue and 7th
Avenue but the rest of 9th Street has parking on the north side only. 9th Avenue is very narrow in this
block where parking is allowed on both sides. Webster said he drove by this area during the morning
and he saw a big trailer parked and mentioned the area was very congested with parking on both
sides of the street. Kirchheuel stated the trailer sits there 24/7. Miller will communicate with the
parking enforcement officer in regards to the 72-hour parking in this area. Lanning suggested on
holding a public hearing and will invite the property owners to next month’s meeting.
Member Reports
Lanning mentioned her staff did a pedestrian/vehicle study during peak hours on 11 th Street and
Medary Avenue. They will turn their numbers in to the DOT and they will analyze the numbers and
will let us know if this intersection meets a stop sign warrant.
Lanning mentioned the west side of the intersection of 8th Street South and Main Avenue is on
schedule for next year for new turn lanes, traffic loops, and widening the street intersection.
Kirchheuel mentioned Bobcat (8th Street South/Main Ave.) is placing their equipment up close to the
intersection making visibility difficult. Lanning will draft a letter to the business and have it signed by
the chair of the Traffic Safety Committee.
The next meeting will be October 13, 2011. Meeting adjourned.
Submitted by: Chris Larson