Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutOUTBoard minutes 0415151 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 OUTLINE MINUTES ORANGE UNIFIED TRANSPORTATION BOARD APRIL 15, 2015 MEMBERS PRESENT: Paul Guthrie, Chair and Chapel Hill Township Representative; Alex Castro, Vice -Chair and Bingham Township Representative; Brantley Wells, Hillsborough Township Representative; Heidi Perry, At- Large Representative; Ted Triebel, Little River Township Representative; Art Menius, At -Large Representative; Tom Magnuson, At -Large Representative; Ed Vaughn, Cedar Grove Township Representative; Gary Saunders, At -Large Representative; David Laudicina, At -Large Representative; John Rubin, At -Large Representative MEMBERS ABSENT: Amy Cole, At -Large Representative; Eno Township Representative -Vacant; STAFF PRESENT: Abigaile Pittman, Transportation /Land Use Planner OTHERS PRESENT: Jeff Charles, John Rees AGENDA ITEM 1: CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL; INTRODUCTIONS AGENDA ITEM 11: APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR MARCH 18, 2015 — THE MINUTES FOR THE MARCH 18 MEETING WILL BE REVIEWED AND VOTED ON AT THE MAY 20 MEETING WHEN THE TRANSPORTATION SERVICES ADVISORY GROUP MEETS AGAIN. AGENDA ITEM 111: CONSIDERATION OF ADDITIONS OF THE AGENDA No additions to the Agenda were made. AGENDA ITEM IV: REGULAR AGENDA A. BICYCLE SAFETY - At the OUTBoard's March 18 meeting there was a discussion regarding the plan to address the Board of County Commissioners' petition related to bicycle safety (Attachment 1). The Chair gave direction for representatives of the two groups that will be participating in discussions on recommendations for bicycle safety policies and procedures at the April 15 and May 20 meetings. A letter was written to each representative from the Chair providing guidance (Attachment 2). Paul Guthrie: I would like to remind the OUTBoard members and the public that in this meeting you must seek recognition and have me recognize you before you address this advisory board or another member of the Board or staff. Our purpose tonight is to seek and consider good advice, information and practices for bike and auto safety on the streets and roads of Orange County. This dialogue tonight and next month will need to recognize a couple of essential realities which are: (a) County government in North Carolina by and large does not govern the public roads of the state, design, building maintenance or passage of the laws of governance, and for that matter (by and large) their policing. (b) Counties to not issue driver's licenses or test bike riders. This Board's sole function is to respond to the BOCC, with advice on issues based upon the best information it can gather based its members understanding of issues and facts, and predictable outcomes. Abigaile Pittman: Reviewed plan. OUTLINE 53 Alex Castro: We have a group of expert bicyclists which include Heidi, Jeff, John, Cliff, Tom, myself and another 54 lady. We have worked on putting together a plan of action with regard to making recommendations on what can 55 be done to improve bicycle safety. We have chosen not to get into the law because there is an active House Bill 56 that would task the Department of Transportation to look at the existing bicycle laws and report to the Joint 57 Transportation Committee by the end of the year. 58 59 Abigaile Pittman: Are you able to fill in some of the details? 60 61 Alex Castro: I don't feel I am the voice for this group. Heidi? 62 63 Heidi Perry: We are not quite ready to discuss it. We only have had one meeting. The task objectives came 64 from the BOCC. We have talked about several things and made a lot of progress. Education needs to be first 65 and foremost - how do we get it out it a more efficient way. 66 67 Paul Guthrie: Do you have a timeline? Are there any problems we can help with as far as framing? 68 69 Heidi Perry: Making sure it is comprehensive and specific. We need to have the Sheriffs Department 70 71 Tom Magnuson: I don't have much experience with this board. What are the mechanisms to get the county to 72 cooperate in generating material? Targeting PSAs may be the best vehicle we have. 73 74 Jeff Charles: I am impressed with this new working group. Education is a key. Because of the new legislation 75 whatever we do could be out of date in six months. We need the Orange County Highway Patrol rather than 76 Sheriff's Department to get involved; and maybe the Orange County attorneys that would be prosecuting the 77 cases. 78 79 Paul Guthrie: These need to be serious conversations between the professionals. 80 81 Alex Castro: We have had Chris Knox, Highway Patrol involved in our discussions. I would recommend that he 82 be invited to the next OUTBoard meeting and he could comment on the law enforcement issues. 83 84 Jeff Charles: We need to address road rage incidents. We need to develop a process for the motorists and 85 cyclists to deal with this. 86 87 Art Menius: It is clear there is a problem due to the tragedies that have happened. Isn't there a compromise to 88 be made? There is an issue of education and enforcement. 89 90 Heidi Perry: I agree but when there is an incident it is never addressed and gives the appearance that it goes 91 away. How do we get the incidents recorded so they don't disappear? 92 93 John Rubin: I am a motorist and a cyclist. Jeff Newman, Prosecutors Office is a good guy who may be willing to 94 put in some extra hours. 95 96 Alex Castro: We want to adapt Best Practices law enforcement for cyclists. One big problem is ignorance. 97 Maybe use maps like ones from Chapel Hill and Durham, that need to be posted in the field and give safety 98 greater prominence. 99 100 Paul Guthrie: Regarding Carrboro, what types of things have you promoted in the education sector in Carrboro? 101 102 Heidi Perry: We work closely with the Carrboro Police Department, we do bike light giveaways, bike rodeos for 103 the kids, etc. When we give a light to someone we actually install them and give them bike laws; we have night 104 rides. 105 OUTLINE 106 Paul Guthrie: Are the county schools involved? 107 108 Heidi Perry: Let's Go NC is the curriculum they use. 109 110 Paul Guthrie: Has anyone had any education with motorists? 111 112 John Rees: In a perfect world, we would spend more time with driver's education. 113 114 Jeff Charles: The real target here is not the young driver but the 18 -plus aged drivers. Why don't we get auto 115 dealers involved to hand out pamphlets when they sell cars? 116 117 Abigaile Pittman: What about DMV? 118 119 Jeff Charles: Certainly DMV but this is a state problem. The bigger issue is about pelotons. We still need to 120 target the older drivers first. 121 122 Heidi Perry: We do traffic skills classes for riders. Two courses of action, one is for transportation planners and 123 the other is geared towards law enforcement officers. The dealer suggestion is great. 124 125 Art Menius: The kids in driver's education today can be reached in class because they learn to drive with bikers 126 today, which is common. 127 128 David Laudicina: Aren't most car dealers in Orange County? 129 130 Heidi Perry: Car rental places? 131 132 Jeff Charles: Many cyclists do 4,000 miles per year but there is not enough documentation of the incidents. 133 134 Paul Guthrie: We need broad based education. We may want to think about ways and vehicles we can build 135 the outreach for the people we have been talking about. Send them to Abigaile to share with all of us. 136 137 Alex Castro: We're on that path. 138 139 Paul Guthrie: How do we handle the unfocused problem for the BOCC that often our roads are inadequate? 140 141 John Rees: Actually the roads in Orange County are very adequate. Maybe it would be better to say cyclist and 142 motorist coexistence is inadequate. We need better recording of incidents. 143 144 Tom Magnuson: What about crowd sourcing? 145 146 John Rees: The new thing is a GPS type of documentation. 147 148 Jeff Charles: Wiki Maps for commenting and recording of incidents, heat map and self - reporting of areas. 149 150 Alex Castro: Technology: what are the experts doing? What technology is adaptable? We can use that to 151 educate the riders. 152 153 John Rees: Don't focus the Wiki maps on just cyclists. Use if for a broader range of people. 154 155 Tom Magnuson: They are called hazard maps. 156 157 Art Menius: Or co- existence maps. 158 OUTLINE 159 Paul Guthrie: Signage for slow moving equipment, etc. Maybe signage would be helpful. 160 161 Jeff Charles: Like a broader purpose for the maps but being able to differentiate between motorist, cyclist and 162 pedestrian comments. 163 164 Paul Guthrie: How much coordination can we expect between municipalities and the county when we try to build 165 a county wide system? 166 167 Alex Castro: I don't see a problem with getting the municipalities and counties to cooperate. 168 169 Jeff Charles: Carrboro and Chapel Hill are ahead of the county in bicycle planning. I am on the transportation 170 and connectivity board of Chapel Hill to get them to consider routes in Orange County. 171 172 Paul Guthrie: How much cycling commuter traffic do we have now? 173 174 Heidi Perry: No one knows. 175 176 Tom Magnuson: Does DOT have the ability to measure that? 177 178 Heidi Perry: There are bike counters for the road. We have two of those in the County. 179 180 Paul Guthrie: Do traffic lights have the ability to count the number of bikes? 181 182 John Rees: I don't think so. 183 184 Alex Castro: On Martin Luther King South of Estes, they installed new lighting for cyclists at the crosswalk. 185 Chapel Hill is investing $16.4 Million to improve intersections and roads. 186 187 Tom Magnuson: One of our messages to BOCC is to acquire technology. 188 189 Gary Saunders: They replaced a standard flashing light at the crosswalk with a yellow strobe light. 190 191 Ted Triebel: Technical things and mechanical things cost money and education is relatively cheap. The thing 192 that is missing is more the intangible like respect, patience, etc. 193 194 Paul Guthrie: Abigaile, have you or anyone reached out to the County Attorney or Institute of Government? 195 196 Heidi Perry: Bill in House now — HB 232, Session 2015 is in the Senate now to have NCDOT form a committee 197 to study the laws that pertain to bicyclists. 198 199 Alex Castro: Verla Insko, State Representative NC House District 56 Representing Orange County Chapel 200 Hill / Carrboro, is a supporter. The Bill passed with a vote of 116 -0. 201 202 Paul Guthrie: It seems if the bill recommends the establishment of a committee to do this, this should have 203 meaning for the BOCC. 204 205 Heidi Perry: We are waiting to see. 206 207 Jeff Charles: The purpose of BOCC petition was the people in the county were asking for a restriction of bicycle 208 riding in the county. We are talking more positive about bicycle riders. 209 210 Abigaile Pittman: The last BOCC meeting is June 16. You have to back up from that several weeks to get the 211 information on their calendar. Will the group be ready at the next meeting in May? OUTLINE 212 213 Paul Guthrie: I was under the impression the BOCC wanted a skeleton to them in June. I think we need to do 214 as much as we can by the May meeting and if there are loose ends, we say there are and say it may take us 215 longer. 216 217 Alex Castro: We should provide a report to Abigaile by May 13. 218 219 Abigaile Pittman: That would work for our internal deadline. 220 221 Paul Guthrie: If appropriate, notify the BOCC that we plan to have a report to them at their June meeting. 222 223 Heidi Perry: We could have a plan in place with lots of specific details. 224 225 Alex Castro: We have parts that are basically finished. 226 227 Paul Guthrie: Is there any disagreement with what I have suggested? (no replies). 228 229 Abigaile Pittman: Will your report include recommendations? 230 231 Heidi Perry: I would think so. We will have an action plan and who will carry that will be a matter of whose 232 department it belongs to. 233 234 Jeff Charles: We are only talking about modifying the education to be the most current with the latest law. 235 236 237 OUTBoard Action: Discussed issues related to bicycle safety and committee work 238 on the issue, and continued to May 20 meeting. (Note: no motion made; not 239 necessary at this time.) 240 241 B. NCDOT / Orange County Resurfacing Schedule /Program 2016 — NCDOT has 242 recently provided Planning staff with a list of roads on the 2016 Resurfacing 243 Schedule /Program, and which they are currently preparing for contract (Attachment 244 3). They are requesting comments by April 20, 2015. 245 246 Abigaile Pittman: Abigaile Pittman provided a handout entitled `Roadway Segments Recommended in 247 Adopted Plans and explained the Planning staff has reviewed the reviewed the 248 resurfacing program and provided a summary of pertinent improvements found in 249 adopted plans, for the OUTBoard's information. She explained that should the 250 OUTBoard have any comments, planning staff will transmit them to NCDOT along 251 with the summary. 252 253 Tom Magnuson: Can we make a recommendation to DOT or legislature when they pave a road to push the 254 driveway paving at least four feet off the road? 255 256 Ed Vaughn: Those that are paved are off a little bit. 257 258 Abigaile Pittman: That is the sort of issue that would be at our discussion here with a DOT representative, or at 259 the county /DOT quarterly luncheon. 260 261 Abigaile Pittman: Reviewed the handout. 262 263 Alex Castro: They have been putting rumble strips on the shoulders, how does that fit into the bicyclist issue? 264 Has any thought been put into where these are placed? OUTLINE 265 266 Abigaile Pittman: That is another question that could be put on the list for discussion with DOT. 267 268 Heidi Perry: Is it standard or can we specify that they be placed two feet from the outside of the white line 269 instead of the inside? 270 271 Abigaile Pittman: I don't know. 272 273 Heidi Perry: Do we rank the comments /projects? 274 275 Paul Guthrie: Do you want to rank them? 276 277 David Laudicina: What about Dobbins Road? It seems like that would be a good place to avoid 15 -501. That is 278 number 14 on list. 279 280 Brantley Wells: You could ask but if you add up the numbers, you would take a full road width through there. 281 You will also need to look at the utilities down the road. 282 283 Paul Guthrie: Most of the utilities are beyond the ditch. 284 285 Heidi Perry: If I were going to rank them it would be almost the opposite from what is on the sheet. Provided 286 suggested ranking of list. 287 288 Paul Guthrie: Anyone want to make a motion? 289 290 OUTBoard Action: Reviewed and endorsed comments for forwarding to NCDOT. 291 292 MOTION made by Heidi Perry to endorse Planning staff's comments subject to the below prioritization order, 293 and requested that staff transmit its recommendation to NCDOT: 294 1. Old NC 86 from just south of Farm House Drive to North Radius of New Hope Church Road 295 2. Arthur Minnis Road from Old NC 86 to Rocky Ridge Road 296 3. New Hope Church Road from Old NC 86 to NC 86 297 4. Lake Orange Road from NC 86 to End of Maintenance 298 5. Walker Road from NC 57 to New Sharon Church Road 299 Seconded by Alex Castro. 300 VOTE: Unanimous 301 302 Heidi Perry discussed adding additional comments to the motion: 1) that the additional pavement for the 303 recommended road widenings is extended into driveways; and 2) that rumble strips be used that provide breaks 304 for bicyclists to cross. 305 306 MOTION to add the additional comments to the original motion made by Heidi Perry 307 Seconded by Tom Magnuson. 308 309 VOTE: Unanimous 310 311 AGENDA ITEM V: STAFF UPDATES 312 Board of County Commissioners revisions to Advisory Board Policy and the 313 OUTBoard Rules of Procedure — Update on the revisions by Abigaile Pittman 314 315 Abigaile Pittman: Explained recent Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) revisions to the General Advisory 316 Board Policy and the OUTBoard Rules of Procedure, and provided handouts. Abigaile also explained the OUTLINE 317 charge of the OUTBoard as an advisory board vs. the charge of the OUTBoard in its role as the Transportation 318 Services Advisory Group. 319 320 Heidi Perry: By this board, we are actually on two boards. 321 322 Alex Castro: The State Transportation Improvement Program is out. They had a public hearing about a month 323 ago. Another one that came out was the rail program. Both are really the first implementation of the new 324 priorities given by the State Government transportation issues. Discussed map. 325 326 OUTBoard Action: Received updates 327 328 AGENDA ITEM VII: BOARD COMMENTS 329 OUTBoard Action: Received comments. 330 331 AGENDA ITEM Vill: ADJOURNMENT 332 333 MOTION was made by Heidi Perry, seconded by Ed Vaughn to adjourn. 334 335 VOTE: Unanimous