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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin - TSP - 2023.02.091 TRAFFIC, SAFETY AND PARKING COMMISSION Approved Minutes Special Meeting of Thursday, February 9, 2023 1. CALL TO ORDER 7:30 p.m. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG 3. ROLL CALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Israelit, Leigh, Martos, Ng, Rebelos MEMBERS ABSENT: 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a) January 12, 2023 Regular Meeting Minutes Commissioner Leigh requested that the project title in the Engineer’s Report be changed from “BIS Traffic Calming Joint Effort” to “BIS School Safety Study.” Commissioner Leigh made a motion to accept the regular meeting minutes for the January 12, 2023, meeting with the caveat that the title mentioned above is updated if warranted. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Martos. The motion passed by a roll call vote of 5-0. 5. PUBLIC COMMENTS – NON-AGENDA No public comments received. 6. DISCUSSION/ACTION ITEMS a) TSPC Subcommittee Discussion Chair Israelit noted this topic was brought up at the last TSPC meeting and she explained the intent is to look at the existing subcommittees to see if they fulfill the ad hoc requirements (limited time 2 frame, and/or specific scope and actionable goals). Chair Israelit opened the public comment period prior to the Commissioners discussion; no public comments were received. Based on the Commissioners discussion, the following actions were taken for the Subcommittees below. • Burlingame Avenue Safety and Access (Leigh & Ng) Commissioner Leigh suggested renaming the Subcommittee to Burlingame Avenue Pedestrian Safety. A motion was made by Commissioner Leigh to approve the Burlingame Avenue Pedestrian Safety Subcommittee. The motion was seconded by Chair Israelit and passed by a roll call vote of 4-1. • Community Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee (Leigh & Rebelos) Chair Israelit made a motion to disband the Community Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee because it is too broad with no endpoint or specific goal or actionable project. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Martos and passed by a roll call vote of 4-0, with Commissioner Leigh abstaining. Note: there will still be an opportunity for the Community B/PAC (and any other community group) to speak at each TSPC meeting. • BIS Safety Audit (Israelit & Ng) Commissioner Leigh made a motion to continue the BIS Safety Audit Subcommittee. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Ng and passed by a roll call vote of 5-0. • Mercy School Traffic Calming (Israelit & Martos) Commissioner Martos made a motion to disband the Mercy School Traffic Calming Subcommittee. The motion was seconded by Chair Israelit and passed by a roll call vote of 5-0. • Hwy 101 Corridor Connectivity (Leigh & Rebelos) Vice-Chair Rebelos made a motion to change the Subcommittee name to “Hwy 101 Corridor Bicycle and Pedestrian Connectivity” with a lifespan of six months with a report out of what is discovered. Commissioner Ng seconded the motion, and it passed by a roll call vote of 5-0. For the record, staff will be periodically looking at the status of the Subcommittees to ensure they are within the appropriate scope and timeline defined. b) El Camino Real Task Force Member Selection Mr. Wong provided a history of the El Camino Real Task Force and stated the purpose of this selection is to fill the vacancy left from a previous Traffic Safety and Parking Commissioner. He explained the commitment is minimal as the bulk of the work has been completed. Chair Israelit 3 stated she has been to almost all the Task Force meetings and volunteered to fill the vacancy. c) TSPC Grant Letter of Support Mr. Wong stated the purpose of this item is to clarify the process to seek letters of support from the Traffic Safety and Parking Commission. He stated there were two options presented in the staff report. Option A: The TSPC delegates authority to the Chair for drafting and signing letters of support for grant applications for projects that are listed in the City’s 2020 Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan’s Project Priority List (BPMP). Option B: Prior to any grant application deadline, and after staff has reviewed potential project(s) with the funding agencies; the TSPC is presented the potential project at a regularly scheduled TSPC meeting. The TSPC would then make a recommendation to provide support and for the Chair or designee to draft and sign a letter of support for the grant application. Should this Option be selected, it should be noted that if the grant application deadline is short, and there is inadequate time for staff to bring the potential candidates project lists before the Commission, the City may lose an opportunity to obtain a support letter from the Commission. Commissioner Martos asked about the noticing requirements if a special meeting is needed in order to obtain a letter of support. Assistant City Attorney Scott Spansail indicated the meeting would have to be noticed at least 48 hours in advance, with the same posting requirements as a regular meeting. Commissioner Leigh stated it’s easy to get the Commission together within 48-72 hours and therefore votes for Option B. She said all letters with the TSPC name should be a majority of TSPC members agreeing to it. Chair Israelit opened the public comment period before the Commission got too deep into the discussion. Manito Velasco stated the staple grants typically run on a regular cycle and shared the list of City- identified projects can be found on page 218 of the Bike and Ped Plan. Mr. Velasco said the grants the City applies for are fairly predictable and it’s hard to understand why it always comes down to a rush to select projects and suggested some simple advanced planning. He suggested TSPC obtain a table of historical grants the City has obtained and applied for to get an idea of when things are coming and what was successful. In closing, Mr. Velasco said he spoke to the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, TA, and MTC, and stated they all value letters of support from actual bicycle riders and pedestrians. Vice-Chair Rebelos stated the role of the TSPC is to represent the community at large and the 4 community expects full transparency. With that in mind, he said it’s worth it to convene a special meeting if needed to obtain a letter of support. Mr. Wong stated that when the call for projects comes out, we will let the Commission, general public, and B/PAC know that the grant cycle is approaching, giving adequate time for a letter of support. Commissioner Martos moved to accept Option B for grant applications. The motion was seconded by Vice-Chair Rebelos. The motion passed by a roll call vote of 5-0. 7. INFORMATION ITEMS a) Public Hearing Related to Informational Items No public comments received. b) Community B/PAC Update No update. c) Engineering Division Reports Transportation Engineer Michael Tsai provided the following updates on Public Works- Engineering related efforts. • Burlingame Station Pedestrian Improvements Project – Construction started in January and is currently on schedule to be complete by April. Excavation and utility work has been completed on the southeast corner and we are moving on to activities on the northeast corner. Commissioner Leigh stated that people are having trouble crossing in the area as all the crosswalks are under construction and asked if a City engineer has had a chance to observe that. Mr. Tsai stated they have gone out several times. He said the crossing is located near the donut shop, but they have a new solution for the next phase of the project. Mr. Tsai said there will be a barricaded pedestrian pathway with a crosswalk. • Lyon Hoag Traffic Calming Project – Phase one of the traffic calming project which consisted of mostly striping and semi-permanent features was completed in April 2021. A post construction survey was collected in June 2021. As traffic patterns have adjusted to the project changes and reached post-pandemic levels, staff have been preparing an update for City Council in the spring. Thus far, origin-destination analysis has shown an impact on cut- through traffic. Additional volume counts and neighborhood surveys are planned. 5 Commissioner Martos inquired when the survey will go out to the neighborhood. Mr. Tsai indicated it is planned for March and they are currently reviewing the survey questions. Commissioner Leigh asked additional clarifying questions regarding the survey. • Carolan/Oak Grove Traffic Signal Project – Consultant design team finalizing 95% PS&E and the project is anticipated to be advertised in April, with construction expected for this summer. • Highland Garage Utilization – Staff have been monitoring the increased usage of the garage and recently coordinated with Commissioner Martos and surveyed not only the garage, but other short-term facilities during a peak usage period. • California Drive Bike Facilities (Broadway to Oak Grove) – Project is currently being advertised for construction. Project bid opening is scheduled on February 7 and award by the end of February. Start of construction is anticipated for April. d) Police Department Reports Chair Israelit noted that Sergeant Roberts reformatted the traffic reports, so it is a little easier to read. Sergeant Roberts reported 21 collisions over this reporting period (January 2023). He stated there were 12 vehicle/vehicle collisions, 4 vehicle/parked vehicle collisions, 2 collisions with fixed objects, and 3 vehicle/pedestrian collisions. Sergeant Roberts said of those collisions, there were 2 DUIs, one of which resulted in a hit and run causing injury. He indicated the primary collision factors included unsafe turning movements, right-of-way violations, and speed. Commissioner Leigh inquired about the heat map. Chair Israelit stated she would work with Sergeant Roberts to see if he could build from the map Sergeant Perna created. e) TSPC Chair/Commissioner’s Communications Chair Israelit stated that she spoke with Michael W. at the ECR tree meeting, and he shared that vehicles are not stopping at the new stop sign at Oak Grove and Ansel. She requested that BPD keep an eye on that intersection and conduct some enforcement. Sergeant Roberts stated he would have their traffic officer look into enforcement and education. Commissioner Martos mentioned an email that was sent to Vice-Mayor Colson regarding speeding on Occidental. He suggested some traffic mitigation at that location and inquired with Sergeant Roberts. Sergeant Roberts indicated that location is at the top of their enforcement list. Commissioner Leigh suggested another report that captures traffic citations. 6 Commissioner Martos indicated he and Mr. Wong are trying to arrange a meeting with Hoover School, the PTA president, and Principal regarding some concerns they have. They are still trying to identify a date. Commissioner Martos also pointed out that he and Mr. Wong walked the downtown area at lunchtime on a Friday to review the parking/parking lots and he said downtown Burlingame is popular again. He shared they looked at 8 parking lots and he counted one empty space with the exception of Parking Lot O. He said 258 spaces were occupied in the Highland Parking Garage. Commissioner Martos said the computers that monitor the ins and outs of the parking garage provide a lot of good data regarding trends and he was happy to see a lot of people utilizing the parking garage. Commissioner Leigh said she received an email from Samantha Stall requesting an additional 10 feet of red curbing in front of the Recreation Center. She said Ms. Stall communicated that the stop sign is very high at Anita and Burlingame Avenue and requested stop lines four feet in front of the high visibility crosswalks. Commissioner Leigh stated four or five neighbors in the area are requesting the same improvements. 8. COMMITTEE REPORTS a) Public Hearing Related to Committee Reports No public comments received. b) Burlingame Avenue Safety and Access (Leigh & Ng) No update. c) Community Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee (Leigh & Rebelos) Commissioner Leigh stated she attended the latest B/PAC meeting and indicated they are working on having an event at the Recreation Center to get more community involvement. She also said they are interested in having a grand opening for the new bike lanes on California Drive. d) BIS Safety Audit (Israelit & Ng) No update. e) Mercy School Traffic Calming (Israelit & Martos) No update. 7 f) Hwy 101 Corridor Connectivity (Leigh & Rebelos) Vice-Chair Rebelos inquired about the frequency of updates on this effort. Chair Israelit stated an update is not required each month. 9. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS • Murchison, Trousdale, and Davis Bicycle Route Improvements • 2023 Annual Resurfacing Project (potential streets shared with B/PAC) 10. ADJOURNMENT 9:39 p.m.