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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin - TSP - 2018.09.131 TRAFFIC, SAFETY AND PARKING COMMISSION Approved Minutes Regular Meeting of Thursday, September 13, 2018 1. CALL TO ORDER 7:02 p.m. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG 3. ROLL CALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Bush, Londer, Martos, Wettan MEMBERS ABSENT: Israelit 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion: To accept the June 14, 2018 meeting minutes as written. M/S/C: Wettan/ Bush; 4/0/1 Motion: To accept the July 12, 2018 meeting minutes as written. M/S/C: Bush/Londer; 4/0/1 5. PUBLIC COMMENTS – NON-AGENDA Former Councilmember John Root acknowledged the two new stop signs, one in front of the Library and one in front of City Hall. He expressed his satisfaction as he felt the stop signs are working well. Mr. Root also had positive comments regarding the California Drive Roundabout construction even though traffic on Douglas Avenue has increased due to the Project detour. Lastly, he requested the City look at measures to address the speeding that has been occurring on Douglas Avenue. Christy Holman acknowledged the all-around improvements surrounding Hoover School, but inquired about future plans to address the aforementioned issues, most notably on Easton for the children that walk to school. 2 6. DISCUSSION/ACTION ITEMS a) Community B/PAC Update (Informational Only) No update. b) Hoover School Pedestrian Improvements Project Mr. Wong provided a presentation regarding the Hoover School Pedestrian Improvements Project, including the short-term improvements completed, the selected alternative and anticipated schedule for sidewalk (long-term) improvements. Chair Martos opened public comment. A parent of a student at Hoover School was pleased to hear of the upcoming sidewalk improvements. She confirmed the proposal for Summit Drive is for a one-way road at all times as she felt it would simplify things. She stated people become confused with current configuration. She also suggested better signage, stating the current signs have fine print that are too difficult and dangerous to read while driving. Lastly, she confirmed parking will be allowed on the south side of Summit Drive. Trisha Tayame asked for an explanation as to what will happen to the Easton wall (rocks). She also seconded the comments above regarding signage and explained that the yellow flashing lights are not visible when it is bright in the morning and has been broken since the start of school. Ms. Tayame implored City staff to consider other signage with simpler verbiage. Commissioner Wettan confirmed with parents in the audience that the Burlingame School District (BSD) communicated the new configuration to parents through their weekly bulletin and as a handout at the start of the school year. Commissioner Wettan took a poll regarding the Easton wall (rocks). Two residents spoke up in favor of the wall/rocks to be removed. Dr. Maggie MacIsaac, Superintendent of the BSD confirmed the School District efforts to educate the parents about the drop-off and pick-up configuration. She also thanked the City and TSP Commission for all they have done. JoAnn O’Connor, a resident on Summit Drive, expressed her dislike for parking on Summit Drive and voiced concerns about the children’s safety due to those parked cars. She requested no parking during drop-off and pick-up. In addition to safety concerns, she felt the parked cars are also contributing to the traffic backups. Michael Robertson, a resident on Summit Drive, echoed the Superintendent’s comments and thanked everyone for the work that has been done thus far. He stated that as a 3 resident in the cross hairs, it is busy for a very short period of time, and was in favor of the timed one-way street during drop-off and pick up. Mr. Robertson requested better signage, including a red flashing light to indicate no entry during the specified times. He also inquired about a one-way street with parked cars as it may imply there is room for two- way traffic if parking is removed. Mr. Robertson expressed concerns about the look and feel of the neighborhood. He was in favor of keeping the wall/rocks. He also pointed out the current plan calls for some repaving but Mr. Robertson requested to repave the entire street and not just a portion of it. Lastly, he stated that regardless of what decision is made, parking should not be allowed on the side of Summit Drive with even addresses. Commissioner Londer stated he was pleased with the progress on Summit Drive but is still concerned about the configuration on Easton Drive. He also inquired about the red light as it was unclear to him why it is not an option for the one-way street warning. Commissioner Wettan inquired about communications with PG&E concerning the pole and any difficulties that may be involved with its relocation. He suggested staff give careful consideration to a parking lane on Summit Drive as he felt it would encourage queuing and possibly double parking. Commissioner Wettan also felt a flashing red light warning for the one-way traffic would be helpful. He then acknowledged that the best design efforts will not address all the concerns with the current configuration. Commissioner Wettan felt ongoing enforcement between BSD and Burlingame Police Department (BPD) is important. Lastly, he wondered if there was a way to reach out to local contractors and delivery companies such as UPS and FedEx to educate them about the flow of traffic during the restricted periods. Vice-Chair Bush asked if staff could explore repaving the other side of the street with resurfacing funds if the scope of the grant would not allow for it. He then confirmed the two homeowners in attendance were in favor of Summit Drive as a two-way street with no parking. Vice-Chair Bush was also in favor of red light warning as opposed to yellow. The parent of a student at Hoover returned to the podium to communicate that she felt strongly Summit Drive should be a one-way street and believed she spoke for most of the Hoover School parents. She noted there is no parking at Hoover School and felt that is the cause for the queuing. She stated she almost was struck by a vehicle when crossing at Hillside. She did not feel there is enough room on the street for two-way traffic and widening the sidewalks only makes the road narrower. Chair Martos thanked the public for attending and for their feedback. In closing, Chair Martos agreed with his fellow Commissioners and requested staff to take another look at the rules regarding the use of a flashing red light as opposed to yellow. He also noted he is still in favor of the parking along Summit Drive because they serve as a buffer to the children walking on the sidewalk. Mr. Wong indicated staff would review the suggestions by the public and Commission and continue with the design efforts. 4 c) Broadway Parking Duration and Rate Changes Chair Martos welcomed Vice-Mayor Colson and Councilmember Keighran. Mr. Wong provided a presentation regarding the proposal to increase the duration of the Broadway parking meters from one to two hours and the consideration of a rate increase for those meters. Mr. Wong indicated the proposal to increase the duration of the meters on Broadway between El Camino Real and California Drive came from the Broadway Burlingame Improvement District (BBID). Chair Martos opened public comment. John Kevranian indicated he was representing the merchants in support of the meter time increase from one hour to two hours. He also indicated six members of the BBID Board of Directors are in favor of the increase, two are against it, and one abstained. Mr. Kevranian explained retailers are struggling and customers have indicated one hour is not enough time to patronize the various businesses, especially restaurants. Mr. Kevranian shared a petition of those business owners and patrons that are in favor of the parking meter duration change. He closed by saying Burlingame Avenue provides two hour meters and to be fair to the businesses, so should Broadway. Commissioner Londer said he personally is in favor of keeping the one-hour meters but would support the parking meter increase if the vast majority of merchants and patrons were in favor of the change. Commissioner Londer did point out that over half of the parking in the Broadway area is two hours and was perplexed as to why patrons could not utilize the spaces just off the main thoroughfare. He did not believe a rate increase is warranted for the first hour and suggested raising the rates during the second hour similar to the structure on Burlingame Avenue. Commissioner Wettan echoed Commissioner Londer’s sentiments and deferred to the strong majority. Commissioner Wettan noted the email communications received were even for those in favor and those against the parking meter increase. He suggested applying incremental empiricism and proposed an increase in the meter duration for a trial period on the end blocks where the parking is not as dense. In closing, Commissioner Wettan shared that his observation is the parking shortage is most severe after 6 pm when the meters are off. Vice-Chair Bush said the ultimate purpose of parking meters is to encourage turnover with an ideal occupancy of 85%. He felt a market clearing rate would help achieve the ideal occupancy as opposed to an arbitrary cut off time. He felt an increase to the parking meter rates, including escalating rates with no time limits could generate revenue to purchase smart meters for Broadway. Chair Martos pointed out that 70% of meters are two hours or more based on the current parking inventory. He sympathized with the business owners but felt the current inventory 5 of long and short-term parking is sufficient. He indicated he would like better wayfinding signage for the various lots. Chair Martos felt additional data, such as how the parking inventory is utilized and implementing better wayfinding signage, should occur prior to making changes to the parking hours on Broadway. The Commissioners continued to engage in a productive and interactive discussion, including inviting John Kevranian back to the podium to gather additional information prior to crafting the following motion. Motion: Move to recommend to City Council to convert the 1100 and 1400 blocks of Broadway to a two hour time limit starting November 15 and running until July 1 as a trial period, with studies before and during to be conducted. M/S/C: Londer/Wettan 3/1/1 7. INFORMATION ITEMS a) Engineering Division Reports Mr. Wong provided updates on the following Public Works – Engineering projects and activities. • California Drive Roundabout – Stage one of construction (one of four stages) is winding down, with phase two work anticipated to begin mid-September. Phase two will revise the current traffic routing as a portion of the roundabout will be opened. The anticipated completion date is still on track and scheduled for January 2019. • Lime Bike – July data attached. • California Drive Complete Streets – The project is underway with the completion of storm inlets and concrete work, with striping to soon follow. The completion date is still anticipated for the end of September. • Burlingame Point Project – This project has been approved by both the City Council and the Planning Commission. Details for each stage of the approval process can be found on the City website. The project has conditions of approval, which states that the developer must implement and maintain appropriate Transportation Demand Management (TDM) measures in accordance with the San Mateo County Congestion Plan to reduce the number of trips generated by this project. • Active Transportation Program (ATP) Cycle 4 – The grant application was submitted by the July 31 deadline. California Transportation Commission (CTC) staff recommendations to be released on December 31, 2018 for the ATP Statewide Competitive Program. Regional program recommendations are scheduled for February 15, 2019. 6 • Easton Addition Halloween Event – Letters sent out to Burlingame residents with a copy of the City’s block party permit requirements and application. • TSPC Priority List (Updated September 2018): TSPC Led Effort 1 Downtown Parking Strategies 3/8/18: Item 6b 2 Downtown Modal Access 3 Grant Opportunities 7/12/18: Item 6b 4 Bike\Ped Plan Update: fwd. to BPAC 5 SR2S Review 7/12/18: Item 6b 6 School Traffic Issues 7 California Complete Streets 9/13/18: Item 7a 8 Neighborhood Traffic Calming 9 Broadway Parking 9/13/18: Item 6c 10 Public Shuttles/Transit 5/10/18: Item 6c 11 ECR Corridor (ECR Task Force) 12 Bay Trail 13 Intro to Paving 5/10/18: Item 6b 14 Halloween Traffic Impacts (July) 9/13/18: Item 7a 15 Parking and traffic considerations w/ Planning Staff Update via Report 1 Caltrans’ ECR/Floribunda 2 Hoover School Update 9/13/18: Item 6b 3 Downtown Parking Strategies 9/13/18: Item 7a 4 City Hall Traffic Calming/Floribunda 5 California Roundabout 9/13/18: Item 7a 6 General Plan – Circulation Element 7 Bike\Ped Plan Update: fwd. to BPAC 8 Rec Center Parking 9 Carolan Complete Streets Update 3/8/18: Item 7a 10 Grant Opportunities 7/12/18: Item 6b 11 Grade Separation 9/13/18: Item 7a 12 San Mateo's Peninsula Ave OC 13 School Speed Limit Updates 7/12/18: Item 6c 14 Burlingame Point - Bay Trail 15 School Safety Improvements 7/12/18: Item 6b 16 California Complete Streets 9/13/18: Item 7a 7 2018 Agenda Item Action Status 1 Chap. 13.52 of BMC Adopted 2 Council Direction Regarding Improving Short-Term Parking in the Burlingame Avenue Downtown Area Staff working with PEO staff to notice and implement changes 3 Citywide Parking Restrictions (BMC 13.36.020) Adopted 4 TSPC’s Lot N Parking Structure Recommendation Working towards October or November Planning Commission Meeting 5 School Speed Reductions Staff working with BPD and school staff to notice and implement changes b) Police Department Reports Sergeant Ford provided a handout summarizing the total accidents for the month of July which included 27 accidents. He stated of those 27 accidents, seven were classified as minor, and one as a major-injury accident. Sergeant Ford reported one fatality—the first since 2016. He said the fatal accident occurred at the intersection of Bellevue and El Camino Real. Sergeant Ford also provided July’s collision statistics by summary of collision type, primary collision factor and by location. c) Farmers Market Commissioner Londer indicated the TSPC would not participate in the September Farmer’s Market and possibly would not be able to participate in October either. d) TSPC Chair/Commissioner’s Communications Chair Martos shared that he and Commissioner Londer met with Councilmember Beach regarding the impacts to traffic and parking with Facebook opening their virtual reality offices at Burlingame Point. He requested that the efforts with Facebook to mitigate the traffic related concerns be added to the Engineer’s Report to help track the City’s progress. In addition, Chair Martos and Commissioner Londer also indicated that 225 California (Stanford Health Care), changes to the Burlingame Municipal Code to allow public parking in private lots, the upcoming Broadway Grade Separation Project and parking concerns related to accessory dwelling units (ADU’s) were among the other topics of discussion. 7. COMMISSION & COMMITTEE REPORTS a) Downtown Parking (Martos & Wettan) 8 No update. b) Broadway Parking (Bush & Israelit) No update. c) School Traffic (Israelit & Wettan) No update. d) Citywide Transportation Alternatives (Londer & Wettan) No update. 8. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS • Parking application/demo • One-way traffic southbound Paloma during drop-off period at McKinley School • Considerations for Bellevue between Almer and El Camino Real • Joint B/PAC and TSPC meeting (suggested to time it around or after the first meeting with consultant regarding the Bike and Pedestrian Master Plan) • OLA Update • Existing turn-restriction pilot program on Vancouver In closing, Chair Martos thanked Vice-Chair Bush for managing last month’s Commission meeting and wished Mr. Bush and Mr. Wettan good luck with their reappointments to the TSPC. 9. ADJOURNMENT 9:56 p.m.