Project Meeting Minutes - 2^nd Steering Committee Meeting

Date:               Thursday - September 13, 2007

Time:                9:30AM to 11:30AM

Location:         Durango Office Suites – Conference Room 100

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

John Viner - observer

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

·         To clarify the vision for Main Avenue,

·         To review and understand the individual Alternatives as presented,

·         To introduce the decision-making matrix, design criteria and evaluation ‘weighting’, and;

·         To obtain input from the Steering Committee on Selection Design Criteria (verifying criteria is complete) & Evaluation ‘weighting’ matrix

He then went on to clarify the project goals:

·         Build upon the recommendations of the Downtown Vision and Strategic Plan

·         Create a stronger pedestrian-friendly downtown environment

·         Replace existing concrete sidewalks to reduce trip hazards and safety concerns 

·         Consolidate existing street amenities and reduce clutter in the public right-of-way

·         Develop a consensus approach as a part of the decision-making process

The Steering Committee generally agreed/concurred that these Project Goals as stated were understood – no formal motion was required. 

Keep all this in mind for the next steering meeting in October, when the committee will:

·         Review traffic impact data

·         Review estimated costs for each alternative. General cost information will be provided corresponding with each alternative item, i.e., tree replacement.

·         Clarify any concerns or questions regarding each alternative in order to move forward comfortably with everyone’s participation (informed consensus).

·         Evaluate each alternative using the decision–matrix under development 

·         Jeremy Klopp (Fehr and Peers Transportation Consultants), who worked with the Civitas consulting team for the Downtown Vision and Strategic Plan, will be at the next Steering Committee meeting to present traffic data findings.

Keith Walzak then gave an overview of the project timeline and schedule as posted on the website, and then moved into this meeting’s agenda. 

I.                  Data Gathering Update                                               

a.      Existing Conditions Summary Report

                                                              i.      Field Survey: Moreno Surveying will have completed the field survey work by September 14^th.  They have located every fixed object and noted elevation distances from building face to curb to street.  Russell Engineering will obtain this information and develop AutoCAD base sheets for future Phase II: Design Development. 

                                                             ii.      Inventory (site analysis): A block by block detail has been conducted and is available for viewing on the website

                                                           iii.      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.               Downtown Vision and Strategic Plan &

Opportunities and Constraints                                  

a.      Overview: The Steering Committee is charged with evaluating the impacts of each alternative and to provide a recommendation for design decision.  Ultimately City Council decides on the decision based on the Steering Committee’s recommendation, public input and budgetary considerations.  There is an estimated 80’ right of way from building face to building face across Main Avenue.  Keep in mind the block from 6^th St. to 5^th St. is different along Main Avenue, with 19’ of angled parking on either side of the street.

Opportunities

·         Redesign how traffic signaling works

Four green squares are the current signalized intersections; There could be an “all pedestrian free crossing signal,” where all traffic stops and allows for diagonal pedestrian crossing, as well as limiting right turn of cars for safer street crossings.

·         The possibility of removing, changing or adding traffic signal intersections, as suggested by Peter Schertz. 

·         Four Lane to Three Lane alternative has been added to the table based on Bill Carver’s and other’s suggestions. 

Fehr & Peers will conduct a detailed traffic analysis based on the resulting reduced flow, and data needs to be analyzed.  City Public Works has concerns about this alternative and these concerns will be posted to the website.

·         Gateway entrances to Main Avenue indicated by green, dashed circles.  

The vision plan suggests a gateway at 14^th Street. However, with existing grade and view sheds a gateway feature may be best located a perhaps 13^th Street or 12^th Street as a more appropriate location.  Consider that for vehicular traffic, 14^th Street should still be considered.  

·         Gateways at 6^th Street, 9^th Street, and 13^th or 14^th Street

·          Potential redevelopment areas noted by salmon-colored squares

·         Potential transit stops and shelters

·         Potential for kiosks and artwork The Way-finding Consulting Team is looking at this

·         Street Trees – look at keeping them in the same location, moving them out further, adding more, etc

·         Reduce Clutter-add newspaper corrals and group stands together

·         Pavement material change for pedestrians to offer visual cues; these could become a plaza/ event area when Main Ave is closed for events

·         Potential to bring Main Avenue activity to the river front area; Potentials Include:

·         9^th Street. 

·         10^th Street - corridor could be extended thru and Town Plaza could be redeveloped with pedestrian movement drawn from Main Avenue to plaza space to underpass connecting to the river.  This could be an opportunity for public restrooms, addressing dumpsters in public right of way, and creating a special plaza area for pedestrians

·         11^th Street (creating a formal, public right of way thru private property and creating a traffic signal on Camino del Rio).

·         12^th Street (signal improvement for pedestrians and emergency access)

·         Tunnel under Camino del Rio to access the Discovery Museum

·         14^th Street intersection crosswalk change to 90 degrees & extend the time for the green light signal

·         Look at the big picture and simple fixes

·         Look at the vehicle to pedestrian ratio and see if it is appropriate

Diane West: pedestrian movement is easy now, but would like to see more sidewalk cafes.

Jack Llewellyn: car right turns can be hazardous.

John Viner: liked the all way pedestrian signal and asked if Main Avenue one-way couplet was part of this committee’s scope.

[one-way couplet is one-way traffic on Main Ave, coupled with opposite direction one-way traffic on 2^nd Ave]

Keith Walzak: It is not part of this scope; The Vision Plan clearly eliminated the one-way couplet concept, as well as the pedestrian mall concept.

Jack L: what is the number of parking spaces provided in future areas and in future parking structures?

Keith: 200 – 450 spaces, to be evaluated by Ferh & Peers, which may help support the 4 lane to 3 lane concept

Diane: What about public restrooms and drinking fountains?

Keith: These items should absolutely be on the table

Peter: His perception has changed since having children and he sees street crossings as currently dangerous. 

Keith: The alternatives have variable crosswalk distances and materials that the committee needs to look at closely.  With an 80’ right of way, there are obvious constraints, such as bike circulation.  If sidewalks are widened, there is no room for a standard 4 ½’ – 5’ bike lane, especially considering car doors opening.

Bill Carver: He would like to see the speed limit lowered to 15 mph

Watson: That would encourage thru traffic to find another route on Camino del Rio or 3^rd Avenue, and create a more pedestrian friendly downtown.

Beth Drum: Consider removing all traffic lights in downtown; drivers may be looking ahead at a green light 2 blocks down and overlook the pedestrian white stripes in front of them. 

Keith: Sidewalk bulb-outs would help get pedestrians further out into traffic view and they would have less distance in crossing the actual street.  There are numerous examples of bulb-outs in other cities and towns and we need to consider the proportionality between the building entrance, walkway, and curb area.

Walker: It is important to evaluate drainage when looking at this.

b.     Alternatives: 

                                                              i.      Do Nothing – it is important that this is an alternative to consider. The Steering Committee will be asked to make a determination on the ’Do Nothing’ alternative next month.  There is approx 80’ from building face to building face with 11’6” sidewalks & 8’ of parallel parking on either side, and 10’ traffic lanes (note: 10’ is acceptable in this situation, but is substandard compared to the norm of 12’)

·         Look at parking alternatives such as re-configuring side-street angled parking to reverse back-in parking to slow traffic, create a better visual for pedestrians and other traffic, and to minimize accidents as stated in the ITE journal. 

                                                            ii.      Replace Existing Sidewalk  (no curb replacement)

This can be either ‘replace’ or ‘repair’ existing sidewalks; even at existing newer sidewalks, there are some problems with grade changes.

This is the financial baseline for the project. 

                                                          iii.      Replace Sidewalk Pavement and add Bulb-outs

Bulb outs improve pedestrian safety by reducing the distance to cross travel lanes;

If we are looking at one intersection, all 4 curbs should bulb out;

Yellow squares represent delivery vehicle areas, but perhaps theses should be moved or added to the side-streets;

Consider whether or not bulb outs should be on Main Ave only (vs. also on side-streets) or on ½ of every corner;

Consider not putting bulb outs at signaled intersections and put loading zones there – consider the synergy since a controlled mechanism for pedestrian safety is already in place with the traffic light.

                                                          iv.      Curb-less Sidewalk (at existing curb or extended to include street parking area)

Consider curb and gutter (eliminating it, replacing it at its current location, or moving it perhaps 8’ out);

This does not affect travel lanes or on-street parking;

It eliminates a trip hazard/ barrier;

Bill Frownie: Bollards, planters, or other boundary to separate sidewalk from parking is necessary;

Rick Feeney: This could tie in with the 3-lane option with movable bollards and planters to allow for flexible infrastructure.

Bill Carver:  Potential for sidewalk cafes to rent parking spaces in front of restaurant space to allow for flexible, changing use of retail spaces and allow for seasonal use.

Keith Walzak: We would need to evaluate ordinances and regulations for this scenario.  Typically these areas are fenced in due to stat liquor laws.

                                                            v.      Sidewalk Pavement Extension (4-lane to 3-lane)

Lane reduction with a stacking left turn lane and possible center lane loading zone area (TBD);

Center area could be open, a landscape median, loading zone, etc, with a length TBD based on studies;

Color and/or texture could be changed from the pedestrian area to the travel lane area;

This allows for a 15’ sidewalk on each side of Main Ave, which could be used for outside seating.

Need to evaluate a center drain down Main Avenue and look at all the implications of re-designing/ re-engineering Main Ave.

c.      Evaluation Criteria

                                                              i.      Levels of importance

Costs need to be added to this criteria, as well as a traffic analysis, and timing (& duration) of construction

                                                             ii.      Weighting

Each criteria needs to be weighted a 5, 10, or 20 for evaluation purposes. 

                                                           iii.      STEERING COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENT

·         Look at criteria and offer feedback if you feel something is missing from the list;

·         Does criteria make sense? add or remove criteria;

·         Look at relative importance of each criteria and weight them appropriately (5, 10, or 20 points each)

·         Bring your evaluation to the Oct Steering meeting.

III.           Public Open House Schedule                          

a.      Location, Day and Time – Location TBD, October 18^th, 5 – 7pm

IV.             Discussion                                                                      

a.      Issues / Concerns

·         Bill Carver: Considering the recent addition of the 4-lane to 3-lane option, is this enough time to evaluate the impacts before the Oct Steering meeting?

Keith: It appears so, and we can always hold another meeting if necessary

·         Peter: Business owners should be given ample information as to timing and impacts so they don’t fault construction.  Can BID and the City help this process?  The BID may have funding and we could perhaps get a grant to create a door-to-door informational campaign, preventing the feeling of isolation from what’s happening and avoiding severe impacts on businesses. 

Bill Frownie: He worked on this process in Telluride and it resulted in a very smooth, productive project/ improvement

·         Four Lane to Three Lane concerns – Jack Roger’s concerns should be posted to the website

This will be available on the site & we should look at potential resolution and impacts as it relates to the concerns.

V.                 Next Steering Committee Schedule             

VI.               Wednesday – October 10^th  at 9:30AM (to be verified)       

Durango Office Suites - Conference Room 100