HomeMy WebLinkAboutTSMinutes_2012_01_12BROOKINGS TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMITTEE
City Hall Meeting Room
Thursday, January 12, 2012
12:10 p.m.
The Brookings Traffic Safety Committee held its monthly meeting on Thursday, January 12,
2012, at 12:10pm in the City Hall Community Room.
Members Present: Brian Lueders, Daryl Englund, Skip Webster, Carol Rettkowski, Louis
Skubic, Jackie Lanning, Jeff Miller, Pete Kirchhevel, and Tony Sonnenburg.
Members Absent: Tim Heaton and Mike Fossum.
Others Present: John Mills
Call to Order: Englund called the meeting to order. Lueders / Sonnenburg moved to
approve the amended minutes from the November meeting. All present voted aye.
Addition to Agenda: None
Old Business: None
New Business:
Request to remove parking from the south side of Sun Valley Street. Lanning passed out an
aerial map of this location. It was brought to her attention from the Street Department there
are homes on the south side of Sun Valley and the city had not enacted which side of the
street to remove parking from. All the streets in Valley View addition are 27’ wide, which is
narrower than the standard width of 31’. The streets are not wide enough to have parking on
both sides of the road. The mail boxes are on the south side of Sun Valley and the
developers felt the parking should be removed from the south side of Sun Valley Street.
Webster stated there is no parking on the equivalent streets to the north. Lanning stated each
street in this area has parking only on one side of the street and is based on which side the
mailboxes are on. Lueders/Webster made the motion to remove parking from the south
side of Sun Valley Street. All present voted aye. Motion passed.
Discussion on Prairie Hills development plans including bike trails and Main Avenue South
pedestrian underpass. John Mills gave an update on the Prairie Hills development. He would
like to see an underpass under Main Avenue for pedestrian safety. He mentioned with the
proposed new elementary school and the residential development planned for west side of
Main Avenue South, there will be a lot of pedestrian traffic that will cross Main Avenue South.
He would like to see the city incorporate an underpass in the design of the 2013 rebuild of
Main Ave South. Kirchhevel asked who will maintain the underpass. Lanning stated the city
would likely maintain the underpass because it would be in the City right-of-way. Lanning
also mentioned the underpass may also function as an overflow for storm drainage. There is
a future traffic signal scheduled for 2013 at the intersection of 20th Street South and Main
Avenue South, but that could be moved to a later date depending on the design schedule.
Lanning stated that she would be concerned for the children’s safety if they are crossing at
other locations along Main Ave. So. with no signal. John Mills stated the underpass would be
close to the future school site. Lanning stated a bike path is also proposed along Main
Avenue South at a future date. Webster/Skubic made the motion to send to the City
Manager from the Traffic Safety Committee that the City take John Mills plan into
account when the Main Avenue South expansion is being designed. The committee
supports the plans proposed encouraging the under pass on Main Avenue South for
pedestrian safety. All present voted aye. Motion passed.
Request to examine parking on 4th Street between 12th Avenue and 15th Avenue. Lanning
received an email request from a citizen in this area to look at the parking situation on 4th
Street. She stated cars are parked on both sides of the street leading to one lane traffic
especially in the winter months. Lanning stated 5th Street has parking only on the north side
of the street. Kirchhevel stated he hasn’t noticed a problem on 4th Street. Sonnenburg said he
counted 13 cars on both sides last night in this area. Lanning asked if the committee would
like a public hearing on their next agenda to discuss removing parking on 4th Street from 12th
– 15th Avenue or would the committee want to concentrate on the block between 13th – 14th
Avenue. Sonnenburg stated if the committee is going to remove parking from one side, it
should remove it from the whole stretch to be consistent. Kirchhevel stated he sees this
problem growing and doesn’t see any reason why we should take parking away because of
the narrowing of the streets in the winter months. The committee may be seeing more and
more requests to remove parking from one side of the streets. Rettkowski agreed with
Kirchhevel. Lanning suggested monitoring this area. Webster/ Kirchhevel made the motion
to monitor this area. All present voted aye. Motion passed.
Review and approval of the 2011 Traffic Safety Annual Report: The committee reviewed the
Annual Report. There were a few corrections on name spelling and Lanning will make the
corrections. Lueders/Skubic made the motion to approve the amended annual report.
All present voted aye. Motion passed.
Member Reports:
Lanning commented on the study that was done on the 11th Street and Medary stop sign. The
study consisted of summer pedestrian and vehicle counts during peak times, and school year
pedestrian and vehicle counts during peak times. The results were sent to the DOT and they
requested an all day vehicle and pedestrian analysis. The City will perform this in the spring.
Miller received a request for a crosswalk on17th Ave. S. but was not sure of the cross street
and he will get some more information. Lanning stated a traffic signal is being installed at 17th
Ave. S. and 12th St. S. Lueders also received a request for a crosswalk north of 12th Street
So. on 17th Ave. S. near the northern driveway into the Middle School. Lanning said she
would be concerned about the safety of children crossing the street in the middle of the block
with no traffic control and this item could be on next month’s agenda.
The next meeting will be February 9th, 2012. Meeting adjourned.
Submitted by: Chris Larson