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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTSMinutes_2015_11_12BROOKINGS TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMITTEE City & County Government Center Thursday, November 12, 2015 12:10 p.m. The Brookings Traffic Safety Committee held its monthly meeting on Thursday, November 12, 2015, at 12:10pm in the City & County Government Center Suite 230, Room 241. Members Present: Skip Webster, John Howard, Jackie Lanning, Gary Gramm, James Weiss, Matt Bartley, Becky Schmieding, Shayn Damm and Tony Sonnenburg. and Brian Lueders. Members Absent: Carol Rettkowski, Tim Heaton, Jeff Miller, Gregg Jorgenson and Brian Lueders. Others Present: Tim Steffensen, MMS Principle and Police Officer Darin Sinner Call to Order: Howard called the meeting to order. Webster/Schmieding made a motion to approve the minutes from the September 10, 2015 meeting. All present voted aye. Motion passed. Additions to Agenda: None Old Business: None New Business: Discussion on crosswalk and possible 3-way stop sign at Southland Lane and 12th Street South Lanning described the ramps that were installed this summer near the intersection at the request of the Boys and Girls Club although the signs were not installed and the crosswalk was not painted at that time. The City received a request to look at a possible painted crosswalk and stop signs at this intersection. Boys and Girls club initially had staff help students cross 12th Street South to the Teen Center during the summer. Mr. Steffensen said now that school is open, students going to the teen center take the shortest route crossing the street (12th Street South). He said if there were ramps and a crosswalk in the middle of the block that the school would encourage students to cross there. Schmieding asked if the students could walk to the intersection at Southland Lane and cross where the ramps are. The entrance to the Teen Center is on the south side of the building which may be another reason students cross near Stonybrook. The group discussed having the students cross at the intersection of 17th Avenue South but they probably wouldn’t backtrack to that intersection. Officer Sinner said they cross in the middle of the block and wondered if another set of ramps would help identify the location to cross and the group also discussed blinking lights at the crosswalk. There was discussion about a 3-way stop sign at Southland Lane and 12th Street South and Lanning said that she would have to do a study to see if 3- way stop signs would be warranted, but traffic could back up on 12th Street South. Webster stated Rettkowski mentioned the Meadowgreen entrance may be a location to cross but the group said there was congestion there also and it is east of the Boys and Girls Club. Steffensen said about 67 students belong to the Teen Center. The group discussed there are really two separate situations for the same facility with the summer students and school year students. Lanning stated the existing crossing could be signed and painted. After a lengthy discussion, Howard suggested the issue be postponed. Schmieding said the committee needed to look at all the information before a decision could be made. Steffensen said someone could watch the traffic for a week and get that information. Howard said it could be on the agenda for an update in December or January. Webster said it would be hard to do in December with activities and vacations and thought January would be better. The committee agreed to put it on a future agenda. Discussion on “No right on Red” signs at the 12th Street South and 17th Avenue South traffic signal Lanning described there are signs at the intersection with symbols which mean “no right on red when pedestrians present”. Sinner described that a student was hit at the intersection and some other students have had close calls. Their concern was that before another person got hit, they wondered if a “no right on red” sign could be used. Schmieding thought it was a major route to stop traffic all the time and asked if the no right on red could be during certain times such as 7 to 9, or 2 to 4. Sinner thought that may be an option. Weiss asked about the sign and what it means. Schmieding stated she drove that intersection many times and doesn’t recall seeing the sign. Lanning said the sign is on the horizontal mast arm and not on the vertical pole. Sinner said younger students come from Camelot and also cross there. Sonnenburg mentioned the vehicle traffic is in single lanes so it could back way up. The group discussed which sign might be best. Damm said he saw the sign, understood what it meant, but thought an extra sign on the vertical pole would help and thought installing the same sign would be best. Lanning described the current sign is the new design in the traffic manual. Schmieding made a motion to install signs on the vertical poles and make them consistent with the existing signs for all 4 directions, seconded by Webster. All present voted aye. Motion passed. Steffensen passed out a list of issues at the Middle School parking lot and wants to study the whole area. He asked to work with the Traffic Safety Committee on the issues. He was putting together a committee and wondered if a TSC member would want to attend. Lanning offered to sit in and so did Howard. Request to remove parking on the east side of Jackrabbit Avenue (previously 16th Avenue) Lanning described the request near a new driveway at 1603 7th Street. She stated that there is about 15’ on the north side of the driveway, and 40’ on the south side of the driveway available for parking. Weiss said much of that street has been yellow for some time. Webster stated that backing out the driveway would be difficult to see with two vehicles parking on the south side of the driveway. Schmieding mentioned that street is a major artery into the campus. Weiss said the traffic pattern has changed in the area due to the additional parking lots. Schmieding asked if parking should be removed all the way from 8th Street to 6th Street but Lanning said that a notice had not been sent to the entire area and was not on the agenda for that location. Webster made a motion to remove 15’ of parking to the north of the driveway and 40’ south of the driveway and Damm seconded it. All present voted aye, motion passed. Schmieding asked if the additional parking removal could be on the next meeting. Update on Traffic Signal at 6th Street and 12th Avenue Lanning gave an update that the DOT will informally study the traffic signal at the 12th Avenue and 13th Avenue intersections next summer. Lanning said they have new detection equipment to get updated traffic counts and can use that for an informal review. The DOT said if they perform a formal review of the traffic signal warrants, they would be required to make changes that result from the warrant study. Lanning said DOT would prefer to have an informal review. Lanning also updated the committee that the next Bicycle Advisory Committee is on Wednesday, November 18th at 4:00 in Room 300 if any TSC members would want to attend. That committee is studying bike routes and education as stated in the City Council’s resolution. She also stated that December 8th will be a City Council discussion about the 6th Street lane recommendation. Member Reports: Damm asked if a request to have curb yellowed needs to be because of a safety issue. Webster said that was the idea, and sometimes it is issues like visibility and hydrants that relate to safety. The next meeting is scheduled for December 10, 2015. Meeting adjourned. Submitted by: Jackie Lanning