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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPACKET Transportation Advisory Board 2015-9-16 A EP TOWN OF ESTES PARK Transportation Advisory Board Agenda September 16t'',2015 Current Members: Bryon Holmes(03/31/16) 12:00 PM—2:00 PM Stan Black(03/31/17) Belle Morris (03/31/17) Rooms 202 & 203 Kimberly Campbell(03/31/18) Gregg Rounds(03/31/18) Estes Park Town Hall Ann Finley(03/31/17) Thom Widawski(03/31/16) 170 MacGregor Ave Amy Hamrick(03/31/16) Vacancy(03/31/18) Public Comment Approval of July &August meeting minutes Chair Kimberly Campbell Co-Chair Officer Election Chair Kimberly Campbell Shuttle Committee Update Sandy Osterman Town Projects update Director Greg Muhonen Town Engineer Kevin Ash Parking Strategy Chair Kimberly Campbell Other Business Adjourn The mission of the Town of Estes Park Transportation Advisory Board is to advise the Board of Trustees and the Public Works staff on Local and Regional Comprehensive Transportation Planning Policies; Maintenance, Operation and Expansion Programs; and Transportation Capital Projects. RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Town 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. RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Transportation Advisory Board — August 19th, 2015 — Page 2 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 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 on 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 RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Transportation Advisory Board — August 19th, 2015 — Page 3 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. RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado, July 15th, 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 15th day of July, 2015. Present: Kimberly Campbell Amy Hamrick Gregg Rounds Belle Morris Stan Black Bryon Holmes Also Present:Greg Muhonen, Director of Public Works Kevin Ash, Public Works Civil Engineer Jen Imber, Public Works Administrative Assistant Brian Wells, Shuttle Coordinator John Ericson, Town Board Liaison Abscent: Cory LaBianca Ann Finley Thom Widawski Chair Campbell called the meeting to order at 12:14 p.m. GENERAL DISCUSSION Paul Fishman offered public comment on the downtown parking issue, specifically commenting on frustration for the discussion at the June TAB meeting. Mr. Fishman also distributed a letter from the Downtown Parking Task Force requesting there be no official recommendations from TAB on downtown parking at this time. Glen Malepeide also offered comment on the parking issue, asking TAB to work with ongoing efforts in the community to solve parking problems. Minutes from the June 17th, 2015 meeting were reviewed by members. It was moved and seconded (Black/Holmes) to approve all aforementioned minutes, with the motion passing unanimously. No shuttle committee update was provided. The board discussed the lane realignment of the intersection at Highways 34 and 36. CDOT realigned the intersection on June 22nd and 23rd to improve northbound traffic. TAB members feel the project was a success. RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Transportation Advisory Board — July 15th, 2015 — Page 2 STAFF UPDATES ON TOWN PROJECTS Kevin Ash updated the board on the Dry Gulch Road Improvements project. No bids were received at the close of the July 2nd deadline, mostly due to contractors schedules being currently full through the end of the year. Several options are being looked at to make the project more attractive to potential bidders, with main construction beginning in March of 2016 and a longer overall construction period. The Town is looking to start the trail extension and Sombrero Ranch intersection construction this fall so part of project could be completed in 2015. Director Muhonen reported on a progress meeting he recently attended on the Loop project. Difficulty designing bridges to accommodate a 100 year flood will result in many more properties affected and a much higher property acquisition cost. The Town is exploring with CDOT whether rigid guidelines will be implemented or if a variance to measurably improve the situation will be approved. A roundabout in the Donut Haus location is under evaluation as a potential option when the Loop project advances. Transit Hub Parking Structure is scheduled for Planning Commission in August. The Town is still working with the Bureau of Reclamation and EVRPD on footprint and placement of the structure. EVRPD has requested the open stairway feature be removed or enclosed due to the close proximity to the golf course. Barnes Dance timing is currently implemented at Elkhorn/Moraine and Elkhorn/Riverside intersections. Data is being collected on the weekend under different pedestrian traffic scenarios. Director Muhonen is hoping for a response in Fall 2015 on the Tiger Grant. Another application is being submitted for a grant for two permanent variable message boards. Final plans for Fish Creek flood damage repairs were presented at a recent meeting. Trail and road repair are included in the plans. DOWNTOWN PARKING STRATEGY The board was cautioned that being too specific with recommendations regarding parking could hinder grant opportunities; a better approach would be to offer guidelines instead. RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Transportation Advisory Board — July 15th, 2015 — Page 3 Stan Black shared a recent parking study that was completed in conjunction with the Performing Arts Center. This July 2nd, 2015 study showed plenty of empty parking spaces in the downtown corridor available on a Saturday evening in July. TAB believes the ideal time to implement a paid parking plan would be in conjunction with the opening of the parking structure. Paid parking would ideally be enforced every day from the beginning of June until the end of September. Trustee Ericson strongly encouraged basing this recommendation on facts instead of perceptions. Chair Campbell will get Visit Estes Park lodging data to correlate with the Highways 34/36 traffic numbers. Visitor Center and Fairgrounds parking will remain complimentary. A tiered system for hourly rates was discussed, with the possibility of free parking in remote lots, intermediate rates in perimeter lots and premium rates for the core downtown area. Premium lots in the downtown area were identified by TAB and the idea was discussed to altogether eliminate the concept of perimeter lots, consequently determining all downtown parking areas to be premium. Trustee Ericson suggested going with the defined area of the downtown corridor as voted on by the Town Board as premium locations instead of arbitrary selections made by TAB members. A large portion of the downtown area already has a three-hour parking limit. TAB discussed the possibility of all paid parking being charged at the same rate, with time limited parking being implemented in the downtown area in accordance with the current time-limited lots and areas. It was largely agreed that paid parking could solve the problem of downtown employees parking in premium downtown locations all day. With no other business to discuss, Chair Campbell adjourned the meeting at 2:01 p.m. Proposed Parking Strategy There are ten key points to our proposed downtown parking strategy: 1. Increase parking supply in downtown or downtown-adjacent locations. 2. Build parking inventory that addresses critical traffic flows 3. Simplify parking into fewer, larger lots 4. Provide exceptional directional signage, both to parking lots and to key visitor destinations 5. Shuttles should remain a priority in the overall transportation plan 6. Business owner&employee parking should be discouraged downtown 7. Buses, RVs and oversized vehicles should be re-directed around downtown when possible 8. A pay-to-park strategy should be implemented 9. Protect downtown adjacent neighborhoods 10. Develop a special event parking plan for select high volume days Each of these components will be discussed in greater detail in the report that follows.