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2018/07/23 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee Minutes vp11NE RT 1'AR* 19 C`r 62 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) •CA<<FoxN,A Meeting Minutes 5:30 PM, Monday, July 23, 2018 Rohnert Park City Hall, Conference Room 2A 130 Avram Avenue, Rohnert Park, California 94928 Members Present: Creighton Bell X Gary Gutierrez X Tim Hensel X Shirley Johnson X Katie Musick_ Non-Voting Participants: Eydie Tacata, Management Analyst; Mary Grace Pawson, Development Services Director/City Engineer; Leo Tacata, Senior Analyst; Vin Hoagland 1. Administration of Oath of Office Staff member Eydie Tacata administered the Oath of Office to Creighton Bell,newly appointed member of the Rohnert Park Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC). 2. Call to Order Acting Chair Tim Hensel called the meeting to order at 5:30 PM. 3. Introductions Acting Chair Hensel commenced self-introductions. 4. Public Comment Vin Hoagland, Sonoma County Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee, shared that Stephen Gold, former Rohnert Park BPAC member, has been attending the Santa Rosa BPAC. He also shared that at a recent meeting, the Santa Rosa City Council said they still considered the Southeast Greenway a high priority project and wanted to see movement on it. He announced an open house for the Santa Rosa Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan Update on July 25, 2018, 6:00-8:00 PM at Rincon Valley Library in Santa Rosa. Leo Tacata, City of Rohnert Park Senior Analyst, highlighted two Rohnert Park Foundation Small Grants Program awards: $5,000 to the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition (SCBC)to expand their Safe Routes to Schools program, and $3,250 to the Council on Aging for a Rohnert Park accessibility survey. Mr. Tacata further detailed that the Rohnert Park Foundation requested SCBC to consider focusing their grant-funded efforts on expanding Safe Routes to Schools programming to John Reed Elementary School, in addition to Evergreen and Monte Vista Elementary Schools. SCBC said they would do their best to cultivate relationships at John Reed School toward this. There was additional discussion about bike rodeo activities, such as helmet giveaways, bicycle games and safety instruction. Committee Member Creighton Bell asked if funding could go to permanent striping of bike rodeo lanes at the school. Mr. Tacata responded that school grounds striping is school district's purview, but it could be brought up. Acting Chair Hensel mentioned that a group of Sonoma State students also received one of the Rohnert Park Foundation grants to produce a virtual reality tour of Rohnert Park. He suggested to the students to include the SMART station and Rohnert Park bike paths in the virtual reality tour. 5. Consideration of Approval of Minutes of May 21, 2018 Committee Member Shirley Johnson moved to approve minutes of the meeting of May 21, 2018; the motion was seconded by Committee Member Gutierrez and approved by a vote count of 3 ayes (Gutierrez, Hensel, Johnson) —0 nays— 1 absence (Musick)— 1 abstention (Bell). Rohnert Park Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee July 23,2018 Meeting Minutes 6. Golf Course Drive and Redwood Drive Acting Chair Hensel introduced the item. Mary Grace Pawson, City of Rohnert Park City Engineer, showed the Committee the proposed reconfiguration of lanes along Golf Course Drive and other changes that will be part of a project to alleviate traffic congestion in this area. Ms. Pawson explained that the intersection of Golf Course Drive and Redwood Drive currently operates at Level of Service (LOS) "E", and traffic modeling indicates that it will soon be at LOS "F" (the worst level of service) without changes. Understanding that the area is important particularly for commuting cyclists coming off the SMART Multi Use Path and onto Golf Course Drive, City staff and consultants are designing two facilities for bicyclists. For experienced bicyclists confident in car traffic, an on-street facility consisting of sharrows will be provided. For less assertive riders, a multi-use off-street facility will be created from the existing sidewalks on Golf Course Drive between Commerce and Redwood. The existing sidewalk is between 7' and 9' wide, so the sidewalk will be widened along some sections to meet the multi-use path standard. Green-painted lanes on the street will guide bicyclists from the street onto the multi-use facility. An alternate route with less traffic will also be created on Commerce Boulevard between Golf Course Drive and Redwood Drive, similarly utilizing the existing sidewalk. Committee Member Gary Gutierrez asked whether there is substantial pedestrian traffic in this area. Ms. Pawson answered that dominant pedestrian activity is from Amy's Drive Thru employees who park at Home Depot. The remainder of the corridor has very light pedestrian traffic. There was discussion about westbound traffic and how Committee members go past the Golf Course/Redwood intersection to U-turn at Labath Avenue as a result of being unable to get to the left turn lane on Golf Course to Redwood Drive. Committee Member Bell asked if roundabouts were considered at the intersections of Golf Course Drive at Redwood Drive and Roberts Lake Road. Ms. Pawson said that these were studied,but the traffic modeling showed that backups would still occur on the ramps and onto the freeway. There was further discussion about the proposed Commerce Boulevard to Redwood Drive bicycle facility, north of Golf Course Drive. Acting Chair Hensel and Committee Member Gutierrez were concerned that the sidewalk proposed for the multi-use facility seems narrow and tight, particularly at the underpass, and due to this and with the additional distance, cyclists would generally not use this facility. Committee Member Bell asked if on segment of Commerce Boulevard, one of the two lanes closed to general car traffic and open only for bikes and emergency vehicles, and the remaining lane open to one- way traffic only. Committee Member Johnson thought that this would be good for emergency response, as emergency vehicles coming from the stations on the east side of town could easily go around congested intersections to reach the west side. Ms. Pawson said that this would need to be looked at through the General Plan update and run through a traffic model. Acting Chair Hensel suggested that arrows be added on the proposed multi-use paths, to help delineate"lanes" and direction of travel. Mr. Hoagland mentioned that these arrows, as well as yellow lines, are used effectively to separate opposite directions of traffic on multi-use paths at Spring Lake Park. Ms. Pawson said that the project is at the 60% design stage, and City staff are planning to get the project out to bid late in the construction season. She would keep the Committee informed. Acting Chair Hensel mentioned that at the Golf Course Drive crosswalk east of the SMART Multi- Use Path, when the pedestrian crossing light indicates "Walk" for the crossing, the green light allowing the vehicles the left turn onto Roberts Lake Road is also activated. Ms. Pawson said she would have staff look at the signal timing and pedestrian activation at this crossing of Golf Course Drive. Rohnert Park Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee July 23,2018 Meeting Minutes 7. Committee Member Terms Staff member Eydie Tacata called attention to the item in the agenda packet regarding Council member terms and the City Clerk's effort to line up the terms of Committee members with their appointing Council members. 8. Committee Bylaws/Guidelines Ms. Tacata distributed a draft Committee Guidelines with changes discussed at the May 21, 2018 meeting. Committee Member Gutierrez asked if it was determined whether the Committee can remove a member. Ms. Tacata answered that the City Council Protocols specifically allow only the City Council to be able to remove a member of any citizen committee or commission by a vote of 3 Council Members. Ms. Tacata called attention to the addition of language from the Rohnert Park Senior Citizens Advisory Committee Guidebook, which generally orients members to expected conduct while serving on a citizen committee. She said that she wanted Committee Members to review the document over the next few weeks and return with comments or suggestions if they desired. The document would be considered by the Committee for adoption at a future meeting. 9. Staff and Committee Member Updates on Previous Matters Ms. Tacata relayed information about the General Plan Update and a very short online survey about bicycle facilities. She encouraged the Committee members to register for notification about upcoming General Plan workshops and other opportunities for citizen input. Ms. Tacata reported on the status of the SMART Corridor Based Bike Share Program. She said that Sonoma County Transportation Authority(SCTA)was in the process of getting a cooperative agreement approved between SCTA and the Transportation Authority of Marin on roles and responsibilities for developing the two county bike share program. Ms. Tacata also said she set up a July 31 meeting with representatives from the City of Cotati, SOMO Village, Sonoma State University and SMART to hear a more detailed status update from Dana Turrey, SCTA Transportation Planner. 10. New Matters for Future Consideration Acting Chair Hensel reported on his observation of the Circle Drive repaving project. His neighbors are pleased with the paving. He noted however, that at the end of Corinth Court, where two park paths meet the sidewalk and there are existing curb ramps, one of them was removed. Committee Member Johnson noted that a wheelchair user such as herself would have to hop her wheelchair over the curb to directly access the path, or use the other curb ramp. Acting Chair Hensel noted that bicyclists using the path need to make a sharp turn to continue onto the sidewalk. Committee Member Bell suggested creating a new segment of park path between the two segments that both end at the sidewalk; then it would be clear that the intent is for a continuous park path, but with only one ramp access to the court. 11. Adjournment The Committee adjourned the meeting at approximately 6:55 PM. Eydie Tacata, Recording Secretary dr Rohnert Park Bicycle and Rohnert Park Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee Pedestrian Advisory Committee 3