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HomeMy WebLinkAbout6STMinutes_2016_07_066th Street Design Ad Hoc Committee July 6, 2016 Minutes A meeting of the 6th Street Design Ad Hoc Committee was held on Wednesday, July 6, 2016 at 3:00 p.m. in the Brookings City and County Government Center. Members present: Matthew Weiss, John Howard, Shayn Damm, Skip Webster, Gregg Jorgensen, Jamison Lamp and Joanie Holm. City staff present was Jackie Lanning, City Engineer, Jeff Weldon, City Manager, Mike Struck, Community Development Director, and Kevin Catlin, Assistant to the City Manager. Jackie Lanning called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m. A motion was made by Howard, seconded by Webster to approve the agenda. All present voted yes; motion carried. Election of Chair and Vice- Chair. Lanning explained that city staff will be chairing this first meeting and the committee will vote for a Chair and Vice-Chair person who will run future meetings. Webster made a motion to nominate Gregg Jorgensen for Chair, which was seconded by Howard. All present voted yes; motion carried. Howard made a motion to nominate Matthew Weiss, which was seconded by Webster. All present voted yes; motion carried. Review of Charter. Lanning discussed the Charter with the committee members which was adopted by the City Council. The City Council has concluded that five lanes is prudent for 6th Street between Main Avenue and Medary Avenue. The purpose of the committee is to advise the City Council and the SDDOT on the design of 6th Street to attain safe bike and pedestrian travel and an aesthetically pleasing transportation corridor. The Committee’s objectives are stated in the charter which are to develop and suggest the best design alternatives to the City Council to promote safe biking and pedestrian travel, suggest landscaping and lighting features to make an aesthetically pleasing and safe transportation corridor and preserve property values and the historical significance of the homes within and along the corridor. Update from SDDOT staff. Brandon Riss, from South Dakota Department of Transportation (SDDOT), will be designing this project. He stated that the bid letting is tentatively scheduled for October of 2019, with construction during fiscal year 2020 for this segment of 6th Street. Riss stated the SDDOT would like to have their design inspection completed in July or the first part of August. He would like the committee to have as one of their first items to discuss the 5 lane design and the width options which will determine the typical layout of the street. He indicated that the landscaping and aesthetics can be discussed after the design inspection. Riss discussed a tentative timeline for this project so the committee can determine how often to meet. He indicated that they would like to have public meetings this fall, followed up by “land owner” meetings in January of 2017, and property negotiations will start in the fall of 2017. Riss also explained to the committee that this phase of Medary Ave was originally slated for 2017, but SDDOT decided to move the project back to allow for additional time for design and for the City to have input. Lanning went through the other documents provided for the meeting. She reviewed the Bicycle Advisory Committee’s recommendation that was adopted by the City Council, which was that all major arterial streets in the City of Brookings should include protected bike lanes at a minimum of 4 feet wide, which will help to develop a culture which encourages bicyclists to use 6th Street and other major arterial streets. Lanning displayed maps of 6th Street between Main and Medary Avenue, which showed 5 lanes at 11 feet wide, and 5 lanes where the outside lanes were 14 feet wide. The maps also showed the trees along the street that would be impacted by each design. Riss explained design ideas that were provided by the SDDOT, which were: Option 1: Five lanes that are 11 feet wide each with a 2 foot gutter pan, and without a shoulder. Riss stated that the Right of Way tapers where it is wider on the west end of the project (about 93’ wide) and narrower at the east end of the project (80’ wide), resulting in very little boulevard at the east end. The sidewalk would be adjacent to the curb between 9th Avenue and Medary Avenue. Option 2: Five lanes that are 11 feet wide with 3 foot shoulders on the outside lanes. This option will result in less boulevard than the previous option to allow for the wider outside lane. This option would also allow the City to incorporate a striped bike lane using the outside lane and the 2 foot gutter pan since there is no joint at the gutter pan. The SDDOT would not pay for the striped bike lane, but it would be allowed as a City cost. Holm asked if the tree replacement could consist of trees that would be boulevard friendly. Riss stated that the current trees are not boulevard friendly and some are rather large. He stated that replanting and replacing trees still needs to be discussed between the City and SDDOT. Webster suggested that maybe the tree replacement project could get started earlier (now) to allow or a few years of growth before the current trees have to be removed. Riss said that the safest thing for homeowners and construction workers is to remove the trees during the project and he also noted that trees along roadways are considered a hazard by design standards. There would not be federal funding available for new trees. Lamp questioned what a “safe bike lane” would be? Holm stated that she thought the 3 feet of additional footage on the outside lanes along with the gutter pan would be sufficient for a bike lane. Riss also noted that 3 feet is considered adequate for a safe bike lane with the addition of the gutter pan. Lamp inquired about the 14 foot outside lanes. The design would match up to the project that was completed to west of Main Avenue but asked how it will match up to the design east of Medary Avenue. Riss stated that east of Medary Ave, the bike lane would end and bicyclists would need to use the sidewalk or ride with the traffic. He stated the segment east of 6th Street does not have the 14 foot outside lane. Next Scheduled Meeting. Thursday, July 21, 2016 at 11:00 am. Meeting Adjourned at 4:00 pm.