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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOUTBoard minutes 041818Approved 5/16/18 MINUTES 1 ORANGE COUNTY OUTBOARD 2 APRIL 18, 2018 3 REGULAR MEETING 4 5 6 MEMBERS PRESENT: Heidi Perry (Chair), At-Large Representative; David Laudicina, Cheeks Township 7 Representative; Alex Castro (Vice-Chair), Bingham Township Representative; Jenn Sykes, At-Large; Ed Vaughn, 8 Cedar Grove Township Representative; Art Menius, At-Large Representative; Alyson West, At-Large Representative; 9 Erle Smith, Chapel Hill Township Representative; 10 11 MEMBERS ABSENT: Jeff Charles, At-Large Representative; Justin Miller, At- Large Representative; Gary Saunders, 12 At-Large Representative; ; Brantley Wells, Hillsborough Township Representative; Donna Musson, Eno Township 13 Representative; Ted Triebel, Little River Township Representative; 14 15 STAFF PRESENT: Abigaile Pittman, Transportation/Land Use Planner; Nishith Trivedi, Transportation Planner; 16 Meredith Kern, Administrative Assistant. 17 18 OTHERS PRESENT: Cheryl Sadgrove, Minutes Preparer. 19 20 AGENDA ITEM 1: CALL TO ORDER AND DETERMINATION OF QUORUM 21 Heidi Perry called the meeting to order and confirmed the presence of a quorum. 22 23 24 AGENDA ITEM 2: APPROVAL OF MINUTES 25 MARCH 21, 2018, MEETING 26 27 Art Menius noted a correction was needed for the spelling of Renee Price on Line 139 and wondered if the comments 28 on Lines 184-186 should appear under the next heading. Staff said they could determine whether the comments 29 needed to be moved and make the correction if needed. 30 31 MOTION by Alex Castro to approve the March 21, 2018, OUTBoard Minutes with correction(s). Seconded by Art 32 Menius. 33 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 34 35 36 AGENDA ITEM 3: CONSIDERATION OF ADDITIONS TO AGENDA 37 There were no additions. 38 39 AGENDA ITEM 4: SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS 40 There were no special presentations. 41 42 AGENDA ITEM 5. REGULAR OUTBOARD AGENDA (ACTION ITEMS) 43 44 AGENDA ITEM 5A. BICYCLE SAFETY IMPLEMENTATION SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT (ART MENIUS, ABIGAILE PITTMAN) 45 Abigaile Pittman noted the report starts on Page 9 of the agenda packet. She reported that there would be one more 46 weekend of filming the bicycle safety video PSA’s. 47 48 Abigaile Pittman noted that she has been speaking with North Carolina Department of Transportation District 49 Engineer Chuck Edwards for clarification on which kind of sign post to order for the ‘Drive Safely Ride Safely’ bicycle 50 safety signs. She reported that there are eight locations where the bicycle signs can be co-located with the county’s 51 Rural Buffer signs. Also, she had worked out a deal for sign installation at $50 a signpost. 52 53 Abigaile Pittman noted that there was money left in the budget to give honorariums for some people who have helped 54 a great deal with the videos. Also, there would be a separate meeting on designing posters and brochures. The 55 subcommittee has agreed on doing a generic poster, a poster target to drivers, a poster targeted to cyclists, and a 56 Approved 5/16/18 poster targeted to children. If there is money left in the budget, there would also be separate poster about best 57 practices for cyclists in emergency response situations. 58 59 Abigaile Pittman noted that some coordination was still needed to schedule the bicycle rodeo with the Sheriff’s Office 60 and to coordinate a press release with the county’s Community Relations Department. 61 62 Heidi Perry noted a student had taken video footage of people setting up for the shoots and it would be nice to use 63 that behind-the-scenes footage. 64 65 Abigaile Pittman noted that the agenda packet included versions of the Campaign logo (Attachment 1) and what 66 would appear on the website (Attachment 2). 67 68 Art Menius noted that the outline should indicate who would produce the public service announcements. 69 70 Art Menius asked if video rough cuts were ready to be screened this evening. Abigaile Pittman and Heidi Perry 71 answered that they were not. 72 73 Alex Castro asked if students would be in attendance and recognized at the Orange County Board of County 74 Commissioners meeting on June 5. Abigaile Pittman said they are expected to be. 75 76 Heidi Perry noted that other youth and adults who participated would be recognized as well. 77 78 79 AGENDA ITEM 5B. DRAFT OUTBOARD ORIENTATION TABLE OF CONTENTS (ABIGAILE PITTMAN) 80 Abigaile Pittman reported she had completed Section 1, using the draft presented at the last meeting. She noted that 81 Planner Tom Altieri had suggested using a link for the federal regulations because those regulations are too long. 82 83 Alex Castro noted that the Orange County Department on Aging needed to be correctly identified throughout the 84 document. 85 86 Heidi Perry noted that each person on this board used to have an area of focus, a designation. For instance, she is 87 an at-large representative and she is no longer noted to be the bicycle-focused person. 88 89 MOTION by Art Menius to approve Section 1 of the OUTBoard Orientation materials. Seconded by Alex Castro. 90 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 91 92 AGENDA ITEM 5C. SPOT 5.0 NCDOT SCORING RESULTS AND MPO/RPO LOCAL INPUT POINT RESULTS FOR THE 93 DURHAM CHAPEL HILL CARRBORO METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION (DCHC MPO), 94 BURLINGTON-GRAHAM METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION (B-G MPO) AND TRIANGLE 95 AREA RURAL PLANNING ORGANIZATION (TARPO) (NISH TRIVEDI) 96 Nish Trivedi noted that the scores were released April 3 along with state-funded projects. The next step is the MPOs 97 and RPOs will apply local points, as will division engineers. Regional projects will be determined in August or 98 September. Then division points will be added by December. 99 100 Heidi Perry asked if we are talking about only funded projects or also those not carried forward. Nish Trivedi 101 answered only those projects carried forward at the regional and divisional levels. 102 103 Nish Trivedi said the process is very quantitative and data driven and takes into account whether there are local 104 funds and political support. You can deviate from it, but you have to write why you are deviating from that process. 105 We have no projects in the B-G MPO except N.C. 54 from NC-119 to Old Fayetteville Road, he said. He said that 106 public workshop meetings are taking place for the NC-54 West Corridor Study. There have been advertisements in 107 newspaper. Second round of public workshops are scheduled during the first week of May. The time of the May 2 108 public input meeting in Carrboro had not been determined at the time of this meeting. 109 110 Nish Trivedi said in Attachment 3, Orange Grove Road to Old Fayetteville Road is a carryover from previous SPOT 111 processes. 112 Approved 5/16/18 113 Alex Castro said in the past, Carrboro was opposed to the widening. Will that opposition hold up the project? Nish 114 Trivedi answered the study is recommending widening and is not sure how strong the opposition is. The second 115 round of workshops will present recommendations and the public will have their opportunity to voice this concern from 116 NC-119 to Old Fayetteville Road. 117 118 Heidi Perry asked what the public input is for. Nish Trivedi answered that it is to see what the public thinks about the 119 proposed recommendations, opposition and support. Another purpose is to get input on where the sidewalk will be 120 and how big the right of way is going to be. 121 122 Alyson West checked that the public input will be on sidewalks and trails in addition to the widening of N.C. 54. 123 124 Alex Castro asked what the words “modernize” and “modernization” mean throughout the document. Nish Trivedi said 125 it means bringing the roads to current standards, which can mean increasing lane widths and increasing paved 126 shoulders. 127 128 Alyson West asked for clarification on the modernization process. Will NCDOT prioritize safety, speed, or mobility? 129 Nish Trivedi answered yes, they will create turn lanes at multiple intersections for traffic control and pedestrian safety. 130 131 Heidi Perry asked how pedestrian safety is addressed when turning lanes are added to intersections. Nish Trivedi 132 said he does not have answers to that question but will look into it. 133 134 Alex Castro noted that on Old Greensboro Road there is a narrow bridge that is difficult for motorists and cyclists to 135 share safely. He is concerned about that. 136 137 Nish Trivedi said modernization involves increasing the amount of paving without adding more lanes. 138 139 Alyson West asked whether the design speed is changed when lanes are widened. Nish Trivedi answered that he 140 would need to check on that. 141 142 It was noted by Alex Castro and Heidi Perry that the paved shoulder on the edge of Orange Grove Road was not built 143 to the standards of the road so it crumbled away. 144 145 Erle Smith asked whether modernizing roads means there will be 13.5 inches of pavement beyond the white line 146 everywhere. Nish Trivedi said he will follow up on that. 147 148 Heidi Perry noted that Alyson West’s question about widening lanes increasing the design speed is relevant and 149 asked what the width is that NCDOT is bringing standards up to. 150 151 Alyson West said if the modernization is funded, is there another part of the study where this board can look at the 152 design standard? Nish Trivedi said NCDOT brings the roads up to current design standard. 153 154 Heidi Perry asked whether there is only one standard for every two-lane road. Nish Trivedi answered roads have to 155 be designed to specific NCDOT cross sections when they are modernized, hence bring it to current standards. 156 157 Nish Trivedi said he can take comments on reducing speed as part of modernizations. Alyson West said if Old 158 Greensboro Road is widened and that increases the speed, then it becomes more of a cut-through for commuters. If 159 NCDOT widens the road and it increases space for bike lanes, that’s great. If it widens the lanes, the tendency is for 160 people to drive faster. 161 162 Heidi Perry asked about out-of-sync lights. Nish Trivedi said NCDOT is working on them. 163 164 Alex Castro suggested NCDOT consider installing a sensor for bicycles at each end of the bridge on Old Greensboro 165 Road that would trigger strobe lights (like the pedestrian crossing lights) to slow traffic down. That is true 166 modernization, making it a safer road for bicyclists and motorists, he said. Nish Trivedi said he noted the suggestion 167 and will ask for more information about that possibility. 168 Approved 5/16/18 169 Heidi Perry said it would be good to know how the approved projects fit into the Vision Zero Plan. 170 171 Abigaile Pittman asked whether the order in the agenda packet is the OUTBoard’s preferred order. Nish Trivedi 172 answered that it was the order chosen by the Orange County Board of Commissioners. 173 174 The OUTBoard discussed its preferred order of the projects. 175 176 Heidi Perry said it is hard to stomach spending $200 million to try to bring more cars on the roads. Any more lanes 177 should be transit only. 178 179 Alex Castro said at what point do you reach saturation. The big cities have been dealing with this by putting in toll 180 lanes and express lanes and charging more for them at peak times. 181 182 Jenn Sykes said a lot of people who work in low-paying jobs live in Alamance County and northern Orange County. 183 As much as we want bicycle lanes, these road improvements are for people who have to get to work. These 184 improvements have to be funded. To reduce commuter distances, this county has to invest in affordable housing. 185 186 Heidi Perry said if a lot of people drive into Chapel Hill from Alamance County, there should be a regional transit 187 system. 188 189 Alex Castro wondered why an employer like UNC doesn’t give free parking to four people carpooling together. Jenn 190 Sykes said Orange County would need to incentivize that. Heidi Perry said she thinks the county needs to do that. 191 192 Alex Castro said those commuting from the north have to ride through Hillsborough. 193 194 Heidi Perry said TARPO needs to look at this from a TDM, regional transit perspective before spending $200 million. 195 Data needs to be collected to determine where people are coming from and where people are going. 196 197 Nish Trivedi said there is the N.C. 54 existing conditions report. Heidi Perry said traffic counters just counts cars and 198 do not determine where the cars are coming from. 199 200 Jenn Sykes said it would be economic numbers, where are the businesses and what are the shift times. Heidi Perry 201 agreed that the businesses/employers have to be involved. Nish Trivedi said the Triangle model tries to do that. Heidi 202 Perry said it’s inexact. 203 204 Alyson West suggested moving the transit project to the top. 205 206 Jenn Sykes advocated for keeping Number 2 as Number 2. 207 208 Heidi Perry called for a motion on the order. 209 210 MOTION by Art Menius to approve recommendation in the current order presented. Seconded by Erle Smith. 211 212 Alyson West proposed adding the OCPT item to first on the list because it is $100,000 and the others are a lot of 213 money. 214 215 Art Menius withdrew his motion. 216 217 MOTION by Alyson West to recommend adding OCPT item to number one on the list. Seconded by Art Menius. 218 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 219 220 Nish Trivedi asked if there are any comments on DCHC and noted the ones in red are funded. 221 222 Alyson West asked whether the ones in white are still a possibility. Nish Trivedi answered they go through region and 223 division inputs. 224 Approved 5/16/18 225 Alyson West asked what the next steps are. Nish Trivedi asked whether the OUTBoard thinks some DCHC projects 226 are more important than others. 227 228 Alyson West and Heidi Perry advocated for Old N.C. 86 bike lanes as a priority. 229 230 Art Menius said Mt. Carmel Road has been problematic. 231 232 Jenn Sykes said the three at the top of the list are messes. People were sitting in traffic for 90 minutes on Friday in 233 Hillsborough. She likes the order of the first three. 234 235 Heidi Perry said she is not backing down from prioritizing Old N.C. 86. There have been several injuries and close 236 calls. Nobody has been killed. 237 238 Erle Smith asked with scores of 19.02 and 23.51 out of 50, if we make these must-haves, are we going to get them? 239 Art Menius said these are just comments. Nish Trivedi said we’ll see the results in June. 240 241 Alyson West checked with Nish Trivedi that a deviation clause could be made for a safety argument but traffic 242 concerns have no deviation clause option. 243 244 Nish Trivedi said he will look at that deviation clause and include it. If there is a clause we can use to pursue points 245 for Orange County projects that the Board favors like those mentioned today, than we will. The public comment 246 period starts in June and staff will present the results than. Heidi Perry asked for the link for public comments. Staff 247 will provide a link to the MPO/RPO planning processes. 248 249 Nish Trivedi said Matt Day will be conducting a walk-in session for a couple hours when the TARPO process goes to 250 public comment. He will check on how DCHC will be doing public comment in June. 251 252 253 AGENDA ITEM 6: INFORMATIONAL ITEMS 254 There were none. 255 256 257 AGENDA ITEM 7: Staff Updates 258 259 260 AGENDA ITEM 7A: MPO/RPO AND NCDOT UPDATES (NISH TRIVEDI) 261 These were covered by the discussion in Agenda Item 5c. 262 263 264 AGENDA ITEM 8: ADJOURNMENT 265 The OUTBoard meeting was adjourned by consensus at 8:12 p.m. 266 267 268 ____________________________________ Heidi Perry, Chair