HomeMy WebLinkAboutTSMinutes_2015_01_15BROOKINGS TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMITTEE
City & County Government Center
Thursday, January 15, 2015
12:10 p.m.
The Brookings Traffic Safety Committee held its monthly meeting on Thursday, January 15,
2015, at 12:10pm in the City & County Government Center Suite 230, Room 241.
Members Present: Skip Webster, Jackie Lanning, Carol Rettkowski, Jeff Miller, Becky
Schmieding, Shayn Damm, Tony Sonnenburg and Brian Lueders.
Members Absent: Gary Gramm, Tim Heaton, Pete Kirchhevel, Gregg Jorgenson, John
Howard, and James Weiss.
Others Present: Stacy and Gene Thompson
Call to Order:
Additions to Agenda: None
Old Business: None
New Business:
Discussion on intersection of 8th Street South and Parkway Boulevard
Lanning received complaints from the property owners in this area that traffic backs up west
of Parkway Boulevard intersection. Vehicles enter the center turn lane west of Parkway
Boulevard and drive east in the center turn lane, making it difficult for vehicles on Parkway
Boulevard to make a left hand turn. Stacy Thompson stated she had witnessed accidents and
near misses and shared her concerns. She stated that traffic backs up to Christine Avenue
on 8th Street South and vehicles are using the center turn lane like a driving lane. Webster
stated this has a lot to do with courtesy. Miller had communicated with the street department
about putting cones up in this area and mentioned there wasn’t a good place to put an officer
at this location to write tickets. Lanning said there would be liability issues with installing a
post if someone were to hit it or cause an accident. Stacy suggested on another entrance out
of this development. Lanning stated property owners own the lots along the street and she
was not sure they would be in favor of giving up their property for a street. Cost would also
be a factor. Stacy also suggested a stoplight at Elm Avenue or Heritage Drive. Lanning
stated Christine Avenue would be the spacing for a stoplight. She also suggested striping the
center turn lane with diagonal stripping from Elm Avenue to Parkway Boulevard. One other
option would be a concrete curb in the center turn lane. Miller said he would be in favor of the
concrete curb. Schmieding/ Damm made the motion to put a center barrier on 8th Street
South on the west edge of Parkway Boulevard length and size to be determined by the
City based on state and city codes. All present voted aye. Motion passed.
Schmieding/ Damm made a second motion for a long term goal to have the city plan
connecting Parkway Boulevard to Christine Avenue to give it a second way out of the
residential section 5 present voted aye, I said no. Motion passed.
Discussion on request for 4-way stop signs at Main Avenue South and 32nd Street South
Webster introduced the item and said visibility is the main concern at this intersection. Damm
mentioned on the southeast corner, the property owner has a privacy fence and evergreen
trees making visibility difficult. Lanning indicated the property owner allowed the County staff
to trim the trees in line with the fence which they did. Lanning described that the south half of
the intersection was in County jurisdiction and the north half was in the City jurisdiction.
Damm asked if the County had codes for sight triangles and Lanning did not believe the
fence or trees protruded into the sight triangles. The committee discussed the current speed
limit, which is 45 mph at the intersection. Lanning said City staff would recommend changing
the speed limit to 35 mph from 32nd Street South to the north if the 4-way stop signs were
approved. Lanning also mentioned that the Brookings County Commission approved the 4-
way stop signs contingent upon the City approving them. Lanning also described the emails
from River Ridge Addition where all but one response supported the 4-way stop sign. Miller
asked Webster how people in the Lake Campbell area thought about the issue. Webster said
for true safety, they felt the fence was the culprit. He suggested on the southeast corner of
the intersection that one large tree be removed and the fence be removed and angled in the
corner to improve safety. He said that would be an issue for the County to work on. The
committee further discussed the southeast corner. Webster liked the idea of flashing stop
signs and stated the 4-way stop signs were important. Sonnenburg stated lowering the
speed limit would also be good with the 4-way stop signs. Lueders made a motion to
recommend making the 4-way stop signs permanent, seconded by Schmieding. All present
voted aye. Motion passed.
Schmieding recommended that someone visit with the property owner on the southeast
corner regarding the fence and the tree. Schmieding/Damm made a motion recommending
that someone from the County visit with the property owner and to possibly remove one tree
and angle the fence. All present voted aye.
Discussion on possible 4-way stop signs at 22nd Avenue South and 32nd Street South
Lanning described that the City Council discussed the intersection at 22nd Avenue South and
32nd Street South and asked for a traffic study. Currently, 32nd Street South is the through
traffic route and there are stop signs on the north and south sides of the intersection.
Lanning indicated that a Bowes Construction truck had a near-miss incident at the
intersection and drove into the ditch to avoid a north-south vehicle running the stop signs.
The committee discussed that the visibility was good at the intersection and vehicles should
be able to see oncoming traffic. Schmieding said vehicles should be able to see the stop
signs especially during the daytime. Damm asked where 32nd Street South went to the east,
which is to 34th Avenue South. Webster and Schmieding both indicated that no
recommendation for a change was needed. No motion was made on this item.
Review and approval of the 2014 Annual Report
The Annual report was sent out for review. There was a change for Rebecca Schmieding
from semi-employed to employ at SDSU. Gary Gramm should be should be removed from
Citizen at large category. Under Chamber of Commerce, Carol Rettkowski is co-owner and
John Howard’s position is instructional designer at SDSU. Lanning will update the changes.
Lueders / Schmieding made a motion to approve the amended 2013 Annual report. All present
voted aye. Motion passed.
Member Reports:
The next meeting will be February 12, 2015. Meeting adjourned.
Submitted by: Chris Larson