Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin - TSP - 2020.03.121 TRAFFIC, SAFETY AND PARKING COMMISSION Approved Minutes Regular Meeting of Thursday, March 12, 2020 1. CALL TO ORDER 7:03 p.m. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG 3. ROLL CALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Bush, Israelit, Londer (arrived during item 6.b), Martos (via phone), Wettan MEMBERS ABSENT: 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a) February 13, 2020 Meeting Minutes The February 13, 2020 meeting minutes were scheduled to be approved at the April 9, 2020 Traffic Safety and Parking Commission meeting. Since the April meeting was cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the February meeting minutes will be on the May 14, 2020 agenda for approval. 5. PUBLIC COMMENTS – NON-AGENDA No public comment. 6. DISCUSSION/ACTION ITEMS a) Community B/PAC Update (Informational Only) No update. b) Removal of P.M. Peak Period On-Street Parking Restrictions Along the 1700 Block of California Drive (Trousdale Drive to Dufferin Avenue) Mr. Wong provided a brief presentation and stated the purpose of the discussion is to 2 determine TSPC’s support regarding the request to remove the parking restriction along the 1700 block of California Drive between the hours of 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. He explained that the restriction was first implemented in 2016 to increase bicycle safety because at the time there was only a Class III facility (sharrows). In 2018, Mr. Wong said the California Drive Complete Streets Project was completed which resulted in the installation of a Class II facility along the 1700 block of California Drive. He said the residents in the area have now requested the removal of the parking restriction. Chair Israelit opened public comment. Silas Chong stated the parking restriction is no longer necessary with the new dedicated bike lane. He does not think the parking restriction increases bicycle safety anymore and he felt it was not fair to the residents given the new bike facility. Dawn Young advocated for the restricted parking hours to be removed and pointed out the lack of parking for workmen and visitors. Dale Young stated the parking restriction was implemented prior to the dedicated bike lane. She said there is now room for the bicyclists and for vehicle parking and therefore the need for the parking restriction no longer exists. Ms. Young said the parking restriction is a great inconvenience to the homeowners. Additionally, she said there is a red curbed space that is unnecessary and requested that it be removed. Mr. Wong pointed out that three emails were received with comments from the public concerning this item and were provided to the Commissioner’s for review. Chair Israelit closed public comment. Commissioner Londer said he planned to go with staff’s recommendation to remove the parking restriction but after participating in the B/PAC meeting, he said B/PAC did not have an opportunity to weigh in on this item given because they weren’t sure this evening’s meeting would occur given the current circumstances surrounding the Coronavirus. Commissioner Londer said the B/PAC was very certain that it is a dangerous situation to allow cars to cut into the bike lane during the evening commute. Commissioner Londer requested to hold off on any vote until the B/PAC has a chance to provide comments. Commissioner Martos clarified that the number of parking spaces impacted by the restriction is 6. He stated the parking restriction was implemented as a temporary fix when there was no bike lane on California Drive. Commissioner Martos said he is leaning in favor of staff’s recommendations to remove the parking restriction but would reserve his judgement until he hears the concerns of the B/PAC. Additionally, Commissioner Martos indicated he is looking for more data as well. For example, he would like to know how much is the bike lane utilized during the 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. period. Mr. Wong clarified that staff was not recommending to remove the bike lane as there are merits to both sides. He said staff just wanted to hear the Commissioner’s feedback now 3 that there is room for both the bike lane and parking facilities. He also said collecting data at this time was not ideal due to the current circumstances. Commissioner Bush thought part of the B/PAC’s root concern was due to the road curvature and their recommendation when the bike lane was constructed was to have the bike lane up against the curb. He said B/PAC is also concerned about the door zone. Commissioner Bush stated the temporary parking restriction provides a suboptimal makeshift refuge for the bicyclists. He also stated that he concurred with his with his colleagues to hear B/PAC’s concerns. Lastly, Commissioner Bush recognized the need to accommodate parking for the residents and a number of compromises may need to be made. Vice-Chair Wettan clarified with a resident that the red curbed space is located on the north end, adjacent to the Peninsula Art Museum driveway and was done without any communication to the resident’s in the area. Dale Young emphasized other areas with the same configuration have no parking restrictions. Mr. Wong stated the red curbed area was installed as part of the bike facility upgrade. Vice-Chair Wettan recalled when the restriction was implemented, staff carefully measured the levels of traffic and there is a good deal of traffic during the evening commute. He said the decision was made based on different circumstances. Now that there is a bike lane, he said his sense is people are going to ride in it regardless of the presence of vehicles. Vice-Chair Wettan acknowledged the danger of swerving will exist no matter what occurs with the parking. He closed by saying his inclination is to remove the parking restriction but also would like to hear the concerns of the B/PAC. Chair Israelit stated she was not on the Commission when the parking restriction was implemented. She said she agreed with Vice-Chair Wettan in that she didn’t believe riders would move into an empty parking area to avoid the vehicle traffic. Chair Israelit acknowledged that the lack of street parking in the evening greatly impacts the twenty households on that block. She suggested reflective flexible or permanent posts where the road curves to delineate the bike lane is curving and make it more visible to southbound traffic. She said she thought B/PAC was concerned with the portion of the bike path that leaves the curb and goes on the other side of the parking lane. Chair Israelit said she is generally leaning towards getting rid of the parking restriction. Commissioner Londer stated he likes the idea of delineators and then clarified that bikers have told him that they do ride where cars would have been parked to be closer to the curb. He said he is glad that the Commission wants to hear the B/PAC’s feedback before moving forward with a recommendation. 7. INFORMATION ITEMS a) Engineering Division Reports • Broadway Grade Separation – Staff has submitted the Infrastructure for 4 Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant application. Mayor Beach, City Manager Goldman, and Director Murtuza traveled to Washington, D.C. to lobby both elected and federal officials on the merits of the project. Grant selections are expected to be announced this summer. • Lots F and N Construction Update – Contractor to close Lot F on April 1. • Paloma /Sanchez Traffic Calming – The process is underway. Staff has received some signed petitions, but it has not yet reached the level of support needed to bring back to the Commission. • Hoover Elementary School – Recent improvements include the installation of the new “through access” restriction signs and refreshed high visibility crosswalks. Staff is currently working on the additional sign installations, as well as repairs to the path along Easton Drive. • Broadway Parking – The 2-hour parking along Broadway has been implemented. Signs and meters now show both the time change and rate change. Staff is working on completing a parking study for Lot S to determine parking turnover. • TSPC Priority List (revised February 2020): TSPC Led Effort 1 Downtown Parking and Access 3/12/20: Item 7a 2 Bike\Ped Plan Update: fwd to BPAC 1/9/20: Item 6c 3 School Traffic and Safety Issues 3/12/20: Item 7a 4 Neighborhood Traffic Calming 3/12/20: Item 7a 5 Broadway Parking 3/12/20: Item 7a 6 Citywide Transportation Alternatives 2/13/20: Item 6c 7 Bay Trail Improvements 8 Electric Vehicles 12/12/19: Item 6b 9 Bike Share Feedback 12/12/19: Item 6b Staff Update via Report 1 Caltrans’ ECR Corridor 2/13/20: Item 7a 2 Hoover School Update 3/12/20: Item 7a 3 Downtown Parking Strategies 12/12/19: Item 7a 4 City Hall Traffic Calming/Floribunda 4/11/19: Item 6b 5 California Roundabout 5/9/19: Item 7a 6 Oak Grove/Carolan Traffic Signal 10/10/19: Item 7a 7 Bike\Ped Plan Update: fwd to BPAC 1/9/20: Item 6c 8 Rec Center Parking 9 Old Bayshore Corridor Study 12/12/19: Item 7a 5 10 Grant Opportunities 11/14/19: Item 7a 11 Broadway Grade Separation 3/12/20: Item 7a 12 San Mateo's Peninsula Ave OC 13 School Speed Limit Updates 6/13/19, Item 7a 14 School Safety Improvements 3/12/20: Item 7a 15 Lyon-Hoag Neighborhood Traffic Calming 10/10/19: Item 7a 16 300 Burlingame Point Traffic Impacts 8/8/19: Item 7a 17 Broadway/California Update 2020 Agenda Item Action Status 1 Council Direction Regarding Improving Short-Term Parking in the Burlingame Avenue Downtown Area Lot W to be converted to SMART meters b) Police Department Reports Sergeant Perna distributed the accident reports and noted there were 19 accidents this reporting period. He highlighted two accidents, a vehicle/pedestrian accident in a private parking lot on Airport Boulevard and a vehicle/bicycle accident at Bernal Avenue and Broadway. Vice-Chair Wettan inquired about an incident at Clarendon Road and Howard Avenue. Sergeant Perna stated it was not an accident but a deliberate criminal act involving juveniles to which the Commission agreed not to discuss. c) Farmer’s Market Commissioner Londer stated there will be no participation in the Farmer’s Market next weekend due to the current circumstances with the Coronavirus. He clarified that the Farmer’s Market is still scheduled to occur at this time. d) TSPC Chair/Commissioner’s Communications Vice-Chair Wettan attended the Burlingame School Board meeting this month and there was a report out from their Traffic Liaison Committee. He said there was some discussion about school drop-off and pick-up and police enforcement around the temporary one-way traffic at various schools. Vice-Chair Wettan wanted the TSPC to be aware that the School Board is monitoring these things in parallel with the TSPC. Lastly, he said that he believes education from the school in tandem with police enforcement is a priority in terms of safety at Hoover School. 8. COMMISSION & SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS a) Downtown Parking (Martos & Wettan) 6 No update but Vice-Chair Wettan did say that he looked forward to hearing about the progress of the Lot N garage. b) Broadway Parking (Bush & Israelit) No update but Chair Israelit did note that she saw the new 2-hour time limit in effect on Broadway. c) School Traffic (Israelit & Londer) No update. d) Citywide Transportation Alternatives (Londer & Wettan) Commissioner Londer reported that he and Vice-Chair Wettan did meet a while back and discussed a couple of ideas, one of which was having a shuttle from the Millbrae Caltrain Station to the Burlingame Caltrain station on Burlingame Avenue with one stop at Broadway. He indicated that SamTrans would not provide a letter of support as it conflicts with one of their routes. Commissioner Londer mentioned there is a new shuttle request from the Oculus (Facebook) site to the Millbrae transit hub. Mr. Wong stated it is a public shuttle. Vice-Chair Wettan felt it was misguided that SamTrans would not provide the City with a letter to support the proposed shuttle request along California Drive. He also pointed out there was a second shuttle proposal to the schools and downtown areas and that there are many kids that like taking public transit to Burlingame Avenue. Vice-Chair Wettan was hopeful the TSPC would keep an eye on that, especially given the discussion on autonomous shuttles at the City Council goal setting session. He felt the kids could really benefit from it. 9. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS • P.M. parking restriction along the 1700 block of California Drive • Parking analysis for Rhinette Avenue and Juanita Avenue • Status update on the new parking structure • Electric vehicles and charging stations 10. ADJOURNMENT 8:17 p.m.