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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES Transportation Advisory Board 2015-08-19Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado, August 19th, 2015 Minutes of a Regular meeting of the Transportation Advisory Board of the Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado. Meeting held in the Rooms 202 & 203 of Town Hall, in said Town of Estes Park on the 19th day of August, 2015. Present: Kimberly Campbell Gregg Rounds Stan Black Bryon Holmes Ann Finley Also Present: Greg Muhonen, Director of Public Works John Ericson, Town Board Liaison Master Police Officer (MPO) Greg Filsinger, Sr., Estes Park Police Jen Imber, Public Works Administrative Assistant Absent: Belle Morris Cory LaBianca Amy Hamrick Thom Widawski Chair Campbell called the meeting to order at 12:03 p.m. GENERAL DISCUSSION Public in attendance declined to comment. Cory LaBianca has submitted her resignation to the Transportation Advisory Board. Trustee Ericson said two Trustees would interview for the open position and he would like to commence with advertisement to fill the position immediately. Chair Campbell expressed intention of holding an officer election during the September meeting to replace the co-chair position left vacant by Cory. Approval of the July meeting minutes was postponed due to lack of a quorum. No shuttle committee update was provided. Chair Campbell reported that after contacting CDOT regarding traffic signal timing in downtown Estes Park, she received a cordial reply from a CDOT official stating that no signal adjustment would be considered for Estes Park in the next several months. STAFF UPDATES ON TOWN PROJECTS On August 18th, the Planning Commission unanimously approved the parking structure design, with the condition that variable parking space sizes be provided. The design team has strategized to provide three different parking space sizes inside and outside the structure. The monumental staircase will be postponed until Phase II, but a cement footer will be included in Phase I with a normal staircase built initially. The Dry Gulch Road Improvements project will be rebid soon with modified bid documents. Major changes to the bid package include an allowance of more construction time; encouraging some winter construction be completed with primary construction starting in late March 2016. The Town will be skin patching portions of the road to make it safe for winter driving conditions. The Fall River Trail Extension project will be presented to the Trustees at the Town Board Study Session on August 25th. An option aligning the trail with Fall River Road Transportation Advisory Board – August 19th, 2015 – Page 2 and another aligning the trail with Fish Hatchery Road will be presented for consideration. Fish Creek utilities repairs will be complete by November 2015. Right of way agreements will take a considerable amount of time to complete, pushing permanent repair construction to begin in late 2016 with completion in 2017. Results from the Barnes Dance study on two major downtown intersections will be available in November or December. DOWNTOWN PARKING STRATEGY Chair Campbell provided members with an updated parking strategy draft prior to the meeting. Discussion focused on employee parking in the downtown corridor. With the implementation of paid parking not on a schedule, the board feels a more immediate solution should be in place to address downtown employee parking and create incentives for employees to use the shuttle system. The board agreed that paid parking, once implemented, will provide a uniform incentive throughout downtown and would effectively address the employee parking problem. MPO Greg Filsinger reported most parking permits issued for the downtown area are for residents. He offered the perspective that business owners need to be the source for meaningful implementation of any incentive program. A potential solution would be to raise the occupational license fee for downtown businesses and then offer a rebate/refund for tokens or punch cards turned in by employees/owners utilizing off-site parking and shuttles. MPO Filsinger recommended a paid parking option with a gated lot, allowing guests to pay only for time they parked. This option would decrease the need for and expense of enforcement. An incremental raise for each additional hour spent in the lot would encourage turnover, with continuous rotation of parking resulting in increased revenue and tax dollars and a more positive guest experience. After listening to MPO Filsinger’s contribution to the discussion, the board feels collaboration between the Town and downtown business owners could produce an effective incentive program to address downtown employee parking. Stan Black suggested three major causes of congestion in the downtown district were due to vehicles traveling to the park or downtown district, the lack of downtown parking causing vehicles to continuously circle while looking for a space, and the pedestrian impact on traffic flow. Several members commented on the lack of value placed on the pedestrian experience and subsequent solutions when discussing downtown traffic congestion. Trustee Ericson encouraged the board to set a deadline for producing and delivering a tangible product to the Town Board regarding the master parking policy. With no other business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 2:00 p.m.