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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTSMinutes_2017_03_09BROOKINGS TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMITTEE City & County Government Center, Room 241 Thursday, March 9, 2017 12:10 p.m. The Brookings Traffic Safety Committee held its monthly meeting on Thursday, March 9, 2017 at 12:10pm in the City & County Government Center, Room 241. Members Present: Skip Webster, Jackie Lanning, Carol Rettkowski, John Howard, Kacie Richard, Gary Gramm, Jeff Miller, Matt Bartley and Gregg Jorgenson Members Absent: Tim Heaton, Brian Leuders, Tony Sonnenburg, Shayn Damm and James Weiss Others Present: Brian Gatzke, Ed and Lois Darrington, Roger Jenner Call to Order: Howard called the meeting to order. Miller/Webster made a motion to approve the minutes from the February 9, 2017 meeting. All present voted aye. Motion passed. Additions to Agenda: None. Old Business: Discussion on request for 2-way stop signs at the intersection of 5th Street and 13th Avenue Lanning updated the committee on this item and the Traffic Safety Committee voted last summer to recommend 2 way stop signs at this intersection, and the City needed to perform a traffic study to determine which direction the stop signs should be placed. Lanning talked with an engineering consultant at HDR about this intersection. They advised when there is a change in volume of traffic, the direction with the lower volume of traffic should have the stop signs which lets the traffic flow on the higher volume street. The City studied the intersection for 2 hours in the morning, 2 hours at noon, and 3 hours in the evening. Each time slot had roughly double the traffic in the north/south direction compared to the east/west traffic. The morning peak time had 111 vehicles N/S and 83 vehicles E/W, the noon peak time had 135 vehicles N/S and 43 vehicles E/W and the afternoon peak ti me had 232 N/S and 109 vehicles E/W. Lanning said using the Manual of Uniform of Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) with that data, she read from Section 2B.04, Right of Way at Intersections. “Guidance: Engineering judgement should be used to establish intersection control. The following factors should be considered: A. Vehicular bicycle, and pedestrian traffic volumes on all approaches B. Number and angle of approaches C. Approach Speeds D. Sight distance available on each approach E. Reported crash experience.” Lanning stated using the volume warrant “A”, you would choose putting the stop signs on the 5th Street leg of the intersection, letting the north/south traffic have the through movement. Lanning also stated from MUTCD, Section 2B.07, “Once the decision has been made to control an intersection, the decision regarding the appropriate roadway to control should be based on engineering judgement. In most cases, the roadway carrying the lowest volume of traffic should be controlled.” The property owners in the area were invited to the meeting. Two property owners called Lanning to state they were in favor of the stop signs, but didn’t have a recommendation which direction but both said there was a lot more traffic in the area. Brian Gatzke, 512 13th Avenue said there was a lot of traffic in the area and Darringtons live on the corner at 1335 5th Street and would support their suggestion on the stop sign location. He stated there is the college, Hillcrest and pool traffic in the area. Lois Darrington said there are a lot of people who walk on the sidewalk which is attached to the curb, and was afraid if parking was removed that people would drive faster. She said children biking west from the pool aren’t seen by cars going north and south, and cars don’t see vehicles backing out of their driveway. The committee discussed that vehicles can’t park 30 feet from a stop sign. Roger Jenner, 1318 5th Street, said that 13th Avenue was a narrow street and that parking should be removed from one side of the street. Darrington stated they were in favor of keeping the parking to slow cars down. Webster said that last month the City Council approved stop signs on the 13th Avenue side of 4th Street and wondering what the difference was. Lanning described that 4th Street and 13th Avenue had visibility issues with trees and there is a jog on the 13th Avenue sides of the intersection. She said HDR had recommended that each intersection is looked at individually. Darrington mentioned cars drive fast o n 5th Street. Jenner pointed out there is only parking on one side of 5th Street, and 13th Avenue may be narrower. Darrington said that most of the foot traffic is on the east side of 13th Avenue. The committee discussed the parking that was already removed on 13th Avenue north of 5th Street and also discussed the traffic signal at 6th Street and 12th Avenue. Jorgenson made a motion to install stop signs on the east and west sides of the 5th Street and 13th Avenue intersection, which was seconded by Webster. All present voted aye. Motion passed. Lanning mentioned that if the City Council also approves these stop signs, that the City will install the stop signs at this intersection and 4th Street and 13th Avenue intersection at the same time. The committee discussed the history of the traffic signal at 6th Street/12th Avenue, which previously connected the collector streets. Discussion on placement locations for new City digital speed signs Miller said at the last meeting he requested suggestions on where to install the two new digital speed signs. He also informed the committee that the pole with the speed sign at 17th Avenue South was hit the previous evening but they think the sign was not damaged. The 17th Avenue South sign will be moved to a different location which is part of the SDSU study. Miller said in the past, the City received requests for speed signs at 12th Street South and Western Avenue, and Orchard Avenue may also be a good location. Howard stated that 22nd Avenue near the golf course, going north bound, would be a good location and the speed limit is 35 mph at that location. Howard mentioned that east of the Depot on 20th Street South would also be a good location. Miller said a lot of people like to see the speed signs around schools and they can also use the portable sign. It was not known where the 17th Avenue South speed sign would be placed next which was a separate project and the City will also look at the data from that study. Rettkowski said Orchard Drive may be good, since the signs are used as a safety aspect to slow people down. She stated it would be good because there are children in the Orchard area versus putting the sign on a different street. Bartley stated the 17th Avenue South location worked well because of all the school traffic. Miller said some communities place them on their main access road, such as 6th Street. The committee discussed that Pioneer Park location may also be good but not this summer since 6th Street will be under construction. The committee could choose locations for the rest of the school year and summer and move them later. These two signs would be separate from the speed sign that SDSU is using for their study. Bartley brought up that the committee also discussed Western Avenue South where the people had requested speed control and Rettkowski mentioned the north end of Western Avenue by the bowling alley may also be good. After the discussion, committee agreed that Orchard Drive near Elm Avenue and Western Avenue near Timberline Addition would be good locations and to keep the signs up through the summer. The fall locations could be determined at a future meeting. New Business: None Member Reports: Lanning updated the committee that SDDOT will be holding a public open house meeting on Monday, March 20th, at 5:00 at the City & County Government Center and everyone was invited to attend. The next meeting is scheduled for April 13, 2017. Meeting adjourned. Submitted by: Jackie Lanning, City Engineer