Project Meeting Minutes – 3^rd  Steering Committee Meeting

Date:               Wednesday – October 10, 2007

Time:                9:30AM to Noon

Location:         Durango Office Suites – Conference Room 100

In attendance: Keith Walzak, Jack Rogers, Christina Rinderle, Walker Christensen, Katie Nelson, Bill Carver, Nicole Killian, Diane West, Watson Lunt, Rick Feeney, Peter Schertz, Jack Llewellyn, Bill Frownie, Bob Kunkel, Peter Loris, Jeremy Klopp  

Keith Walzak opened the meeting with an overview of the goals for the Steering Committee Meeting:

·         Take another look at each of the alternatives

·         Review traffic impact data

·         Review the criteria for each alternative

·         Create values for the criteria

Keep all this in mind for the public meeting November 7^th at the Diamond Circle Theatre.  There will then be a 15 min presentation about the project alternatives, and stations displaying each alternative for public input.  Steering Committee members will then float to each station and answer questions from the public.

Nov 8^th, the Steering Committee will reconvene and discuss and align upon the preliminary preferred alternative.             

I.                  Data Gathering Update – Peter Loris, Loris & Associates                                               

a.      Existing Conditions Summary Report

                                                              i.      Subsurface building assessment: Loris and Associates evaluated 14 sub-surface basement structures along Main Avenue in response to a request to access private properties from property owners. A total of 27 basement structure we observed as either probable or possible encroachments into the public right of way. However the additional locations were not surveyed because permission was not provided for by the property owners as required. The 14 properties that were assessed represented variations from 2-3 foot crawl spaces to fully finished, full height office space.  The report with their recommendations will be posted on the website.

                                                             ii.      There is no evidence that these were “tunnels”; likely they were all coal chutes.

                                                           iii.      The sidewalk replacement should last 50 – 100 years.  It is questionable whether the lifespan of the cobblestone coal chutes will last this long.  They consist of cobblestone with railroad rails at 3-feet on center, perpendicular to Main Ave. 

                                                          iv.      Parameters for consideration regarding the chutes:

·         Surface grades

·         Structural integrity of the roof and present loads (consider City Liability)

·         Risk Management

·         Longevity

·         Use (future storage, utilities, landscaping)

·         Cost

·         Historic nature of the sidewalk basements

                                                            v.      Conclusions/ Recommendations

·         Get access to all basements OR Use sophisticated surface equipment to determine if sidewalk basements exist

·         Abandon as many as possible (the old concrete sidewalk material could be used as a sustainability feature to fill in sidewalk rubble during replacements or improvements)

·         Create an interpretation element and create a  laminated glass viewing area to show into the space below

·         Reconstruct the sidewalks with the historic perpendicular joint pattern

·         Try to maintain spaces that are currently finished out and being used by the property owner

                                                          vi.      Question and Answer:

Jack Llewellyn: Can we extend sidewalks without damaging these sidewalk basements?  Yes, but this will create dissimilar concrete surfaces if we preserve the joint pattern.

Watson: Can deteriorating sandstone slabs be resurfaced with epoxy?  Epoxy will lend a slicker surface, but can be mixed to make it grittier, but this is not a long-term solution.

Jack Rogers: If we abandon these and flow fill, can we still plant street trees?  Yes, we can detail around these areas.  

Peter Schertz: How does this work with property rights?  The sidewalks are held in a trust by the City.  It’s a right of way issue instead of an ownership issue.  As a right of way issue, it is the responsibility of the property owner to maintain the sidewalk space in front of his/ her property, even if damage is due to sidewalk uplifting as a result of mature tree roots. 

Keith: the cost analysis does not include basement substructures in order to compare each alternative “apples to apples”

II.               Traffic Analysis Update – Jeremy Klop, Fehr & Peers

(see PowerPoint “Durango_Sidewalks_Prsentation_Oct_10.pdf”)

a.      The analysis approach involves the following:

                                                              i.      Pedestrian Safety

·         Intersection Enhancements

·         Mid-block Crossings

·         Roadway Narrowing

                                                             ii.      Operational Analysis

                                                           iii.      Case Studies

·         Manitou Springs, Colorado

                                                          iv.      Basic Traffic Concepts

·         Volumes and Peak Hours

·         Level of Service (LOS), which is graded A-F, based on the average delay at each intersection.  NOTE: Our intersection at 9^th and Main is a “B” which is very good.

·         Signal Timing: actuated (which involves a detector) vs. pre-timed; and progression (where all the lights are timed consecutively)

·         Multi-modal analysis (quality of the service)

·         Crashes and Safety (crash rates and types)

                                                            v.      Question and Answer (& Comments)

Bob Kunkel: We should look at a 10% increase over reality to err on the side of delays.

Bill Carver: We also need turning movement counts; Have we factored in growth in traffic and/ or the 300 space car park? No, at this time these factors have not yet been evaluated. Jeremy is working with the City to obtain the necessary traffic data to consider up to five intersections as well as future projected traffic data as a part of the analysis. Updated traffic data will be provided at the Nov 8^th Steering Committee Meeting.   

Watson:  We need to evaluate the intersection at College and Main.  We can add trains and pedestrian timing to the model to create the “waves” of congestion. 

III.           Alternative Analysis Tables

a.      Table 3

                                                              i.      Assumptions are in yellow at the top of the table

                                                             ii.      Although some sidewalk areas along Main Ave are fine and may not need replacement, costs presented relate to one typical block and present cost averages in order to compare apples to apples from one alternative to another.

b.      Table 2 – Design Criteria

                                                              i.      Steering Committee reviewed and weighted criteria and this will be emailed to committee members by Keith Walzak. Peter Schertz and Diane West both provided input with suggestions to the weighting.  General agreement on the weighting was evident although Watson Lunt felt the ‘Motorist Convenience’ factor should be weighted higher than ‘5’ points.  No further discussion followed. 

IV.             Public Open House Schedule                          

a.      Location, Day and Time – Diamond Circle Theatre, Nov 7th, 5 – 8pm                                                     

V.                 Next Steering Committee Schedule             

Wednesday – Nov 8th at 9:30AM

Durango Office Suites - Conference Room 100 

   END