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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES Transportation Advisory Board 08-15-18 Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado, August 15, 2018 Minutes of a regular meeting of the Transportation Advisory Board of the Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado. Meeting held in the Room 203 of Town Hall on the 15th day of August, 2018. Present: Tom Street Belle Morris Janice Crow Ron Wilcocks Gordon Slack Ann Finley Also Present: Greg Muhonen, Public Works Director David Hook, Engineering Manager Dave Deluca, YMCA of the Rockies Center Director Absent: Stan Black Amy Hamrick Linda Hanick Chair Morris called the meeting to order at 12:00 p.m. PUBLIC COMMENT: No public in attendance. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: A motion was made and seconded (Wilcocks/Finley) to approve the July meeting minutes with updates and all were in favor. SHUTTLE UPDATE The Town’s Transit Program Manager, Brian Wells provided shuttle updates to the TAB:  Thank you from the Shuttle Committee for TAB member attendance at last week’s meeting  July passenger count was down 4% from 2017. The Gold Route was up 2,930 passengers and operated for all of the 31 days.  The Gold Route is already at 21,945 in 2018 and the total 2017 ridership was 23,559. The change is attributed to an increased number of day-trip visitors. Feedback indicates that guests are staying at lodging in the valley a nd traveling to Estes Park for the day. Lodging occupancy rates are down at some locations in town this summer  Through August 13, ridership is up by 462 passengers over 2017  The passenger total for the Estes Park Free Shuttles surpassed 750,000 riders on July 26th  The Town will retain the stops (in 2019) at the Estes Park Marina (Blue #6) which is on Federal land and at the Fall River Visitor Center (Red #4) because it is within Town limits.  Moving forward Brown route will be a 30-minute route. Wells is working on alternate routes for this and the Silver route for 2019. Chair Morris asked about the possibility of adding bike racks to the shuttles/buses. Wells indicated that in order to do so the vehicles must be owned by the Town (majority are leased). When the new electric trolley comes in a bike rack may be installed. Transportation Advisory Board – August 15, 2018 – Page 2 There are no updates regarding the submitted LONO grant. More information is to be received mid to late September. Determination on the second grant application should occur by the end of the year. The bus garage is not part of the grant applications due to budget constraints. A concern was expressed regarding the changing of the existing shuttle stops reasoning that many guests use the service to access downtown. If they’re not shuttled downtown then the Town is not collecting tax revenue. It was also stated that the summer staff at the outlying facilities use shuttle service. There is already a difficult time getting , and retaining, staff during peak times and this creates an unnecessary danger for those forced to try riding their bikes in the dark. Another concern mentioned is that many visitors currently understand they can use shuttles throughout their visit – from the airport and beyond. Those visitors staying at the outlying lodging locations expect shuttle stops and this will impact where they decide to stay. Wells reported that he has received several comments to this affect. The Center Director for the YMCA of the Rockies, Dave Deluca was a member of the public and stated he understands budget restrictions but would like to further discuss the situation with the Town. Deluca can provide transportation for the YMCA staff utilizing their own fleet but needs to budget accordingly. Trustee Liaison Bangs stated the Town Board Meetings offer a public comment period at each meeting and welcomed any public feedback on the matter. Bangs went on to state that if stopping service to outlying areas in an attempt to elevate in-town service won’t work, the Town Board needs to be made aware and a discussion needs to take place. Executive Director of the Good Samaritan Estes Park Village, Julie Lee, expressed concern that the change in shuttle service will exacerbate traffic congestion situation by requiring more driving downtown. Co-Chair Street asked if there’d been any negotiations with YMCA. Wells confirmed that no negotiations have occurred to date. WAYFINDING – DOWNTOWN PLAN: Town of Estes Park Planner, Brittany Hathaway presented wayfinding samples from communities similar to Estes Park to the TAB. Manager Hook expressed the desire to have uniform design throughout town. The design of the wayfinding signage will occur in 2018 with signage installation budgeted to occur in 2019. A public meeting will tentatively occur in September. Director Muhonen asked the TAB their thoughts on how exhaustive the public outreach should be for this item. Member Finley stated that she felt it would be sufficient to have one very thorough and well-communicated public outreach meeting for this effort. To complete the process, the design determination needs to be finalized in November and will subsequently be presented in a Town Board Study Session in December 2018. Director Muhonen suggested the design follow the Downtown Estes Loop design team’s concept for what will be placed within the limits of that project. Trustee Liaison Bangs recommended that the Parks Advisory Board’s recommendation be weighted similarly in this discussion. Transportation Advisory Board – August 15, 2018 – Page 3 Based on the TAB’s review of the design concepts presented, following were the suggestions/preferences communicated:  Metal is the preferred framework for the signage  Prefer powder-coated over rust finish  Incorporate stone/rock for aesthetics  Potential metal cutout/silhouette (animals, landscape, etc.)  Use Town Logo within all wayfinding  Potential to use scaled-down version of the light poles on US 36 next to the parking structure as the frame design consistently  Potential design of metal to match ‘log look’ as installed at the Moraine Avenue Bridge  Potential for fun design similar to creation by Parks Division employee, Tonya Ziegler Items to be sure are considered when determining design are:  Is it vandal-proof?  Is it easy to update/modify signage?  Is it inexpensive to maintain? An update was provided regarding the college’s potential effort in designing the Town’s wayfinding program. Their schedule will not allow the design process to be complete in 2018 as the college would not be able to begin their efforts until October, 2018. One other item noted is that any work perform ed by them is not without cost. There is generally a DOLA grant with a required local match. PROJECTS & DOWNTOWN PARKING MGMT UPDATES: Member Slack presented presentation slides to the TAB reflecting data captured from the 2005 Republic Parking Study as well as data captured for the month of July, 2018. Slack stated that the Republic Study had far more thorough data captured. He asked the TAB what type of parking data they’d like to see presented for analysis of the current parking situation. The TAB determined that the most valuable data, presented in summary form, would be the number of days a given lot is at capacity, and the peak times given lots are at capacity. COMPLETE STREETS DRAFT POLICY: The updated draft Complete Streets Policy created by Co-Chair Street was e-mailed to the TAB requesting that all comments be brought to the August meeting for discussion. Director Muhonen had wordsmithing suggestions to take out hard line details. This policy will ultimately require Town Board approval. Street and Chair Morris suggested a presentation be created highlighting the key points of the policy. Today’s suggested changes will be incorporated and the policy will be brought back to the TAB for final review at the regularly scheduled September meeting. E-BIKE POLICY REVIEW UPDATE: An e-mail sent to Director Muhonen from Police Captain Eric Rose showing that Larimer County is leaning toward allowing Class I e-bikes on dirt trails and both Class I and II on paved trails. Transportation Advisory Board – August 15, 2018 – Page 4 Member Wilcocks expressed that he still feels Class I is better for Estes Park. Member Slack remains uncomfortable with Class II’s being permitted along the Lake Estes Trail. The July vote on e-bikes stands. OTHER BUSINESS With no other business to discuss, Chair Morris adjourned the meeting at 2:01 p.m.