HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES Transportation Visioning Committee 2011-03-02RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado, March 2, 2011
Minutes of a Regular meeting of the TRANSPORTATION VISIONING
COMMITTEE of the Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado.
Meeting held in the Municipal Building in said Town of Estes Park on
the 2' day of March, 2011 .
Members:
Stan Black, Kimberly Campbell, Peggy Campbell, Charley
Dickey, John Ericson, Larry Gamble, Wayne Groome,
Jacquie Halburnt, John Hannon, Cory La Bianca, Fred
Mares, Jerry Miller, Rex Poggenpohl, Greg Rosener, Frank
Theis, Annika Van der Werf
Attending: John Ericson, Stan Black, Kimberly Campbell, Charley
Dickey, Wayne Groome, Jacquie Halburnt, John Hannon,
Cory La Bianca, Fred Mares, Jerry Miller, and Greg Rosener
Also Attending: Bill Almond, Deputy Town Clerk Deats
Absent: Peggy Campbell, Larry Gamble, Rex Poggenpohl, Frank
Theis, Annika Van der Werf
Co -Chair Ericson called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m., and welcomed Bill Almond to
the meeting. Mr. Almond was attending on behalf of Gary Van Horn who will be at
future meetings representing the YMCA of the Rockies.
MINUTES.
The minutes of the regular meeting held February 2, 2011, were approved.
WORK GROUP REPORTS.
1. BYPASSES/ROAD RECONFIGURATION: Moderator Stan Black reported that
Kimberly Campbell, Charley Dickey, John Ericson, Fred Mares, Frank Theis, and
Rex Poggenpohl attended the first meeting of the Bypasses/Road
Reconfiguration Work Group on Wednesday, February 9th. He said they
discussed the scope of work for this particular group and how it will link to the
other work groups. The attendees studied maps of the area to consider traffic
impact from future development at Elkhorn Lodge and the YMCA and how it
would affect peak traffic, making the assumption that peak traffic capacity occurs
in town approximately 45 days out of the year. The following three scenarios
were summarized:
Scenario 1: Permanent downtown bypass, new construction — This scenario
would create a permanent roadway that would provide flexibility for possible use
of the downtown streets as a pedestrian mall or for shuttle/trolley transportation
only. New roadway construction would be expensive and provide a permanent
fix for a seasonal problem.
Scenario 2: Permanent downtown bypass, using existing roadways — This
scenario would also create a permanent roadway that would provide flexibility for
the usage of downtown streets, but would utilize existing roadways. A possible
route along Riverside Drive may impact a scenic area in downtown Estes Park
and affect redevelopment along the river. This scenario also creates a
permanent fix for a seasonal problem.
Scenario 3: Seasonal traffic rerouting — This scenario would utilize existing
roadways, signage and traffic control measures to route seasonal traffic.
Signage would direct traffic to RMNP entrances, the YMCA, or to downtown
parking areas. Scenario 3 would require changing signage several times a year
to accommodate peak traffic periods, would be less expensive to implement, and
would provide an opportunity to test the effectiveness of rerouting traffic and
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Transportation Visioning Committee — March 2, 2011 — Page 2
reconfiguring existing roadways.
2. PARKING/SHUTTLES: In attendance at the first meeting of the Parking/Shuttles
Work Group on February 16th were Moderator Kimberly Campbell, Stan Black,
Charley Dickey, John Ericson, Larry Gamble, Wes Kufeld, Cory La Bianca, Fred
Mares, Jerry Miller, and Annika Van der Werf. Greg Rosener provided written
input prior to the meeting. Discussion focused on the Transportation Hub at
Stanley Park, downtown parking, and shuttles. The group sees the success of
the transportation hub as being directly related to how easy the shuttle service is
for visitors to understand and use and speculated that it will take time before
visitors use the offsite lot voluntarily. The group discussed issues to consider
when looking at parking in the downtown area including employee parking needs,
the number and location of parking spaces, metered parking, on -street parking,
and parking structures. They also addressed the dates and hours of operation of
shuttle service, shuttle routes, and informational systems related to the shuttles.
Ms. Campbell noted the importance of providing shuttle service that would
accommodate the schedules of downtown employees to make parking in remote
lots a viable option for workers. The group also discussed whether the location,
sizes, and shapes of existing parking lots were inadvertently contributing to
congestion in the downtown area.
Greg Rosener expressed opposition to including time -limited parking and
metered -parking in the parking plan stating visitors and merchants will view paid
parking as a tax. He said both the pros and cons of proposed parking solutions
need to be looked at and scrutinized.
3. INFORMATION/TECHNOLOGY: The first meeting of the
Information/Technology Work Group was attended by Moderator Fred Mares,
Stan Black, Charley Dickey, John Ericson, Larry Gamble, Cory La Bianca, Jerry
Miller, Rex Poggenpohl, and Scott Zurn. They identified their focus as reducing
seasonal traffic congestion with information and signage and supporting the other
work groups. They discussed capturing traffic traveling to specific destinations
and routing it, with the use of signage or other informational systems, to these
destinations before they reach the downtown area. They discussed
electronically -updated signs, GPS/On Star -type systems, wi-fi and smart phone
applications as ways to communicate current conditions to visitors. The group
noted that the placement of traditional signage must not overwhelm motorists
with visual pollution and proposed utilizing themes on signs to identify routes to
specific destinations. The group considered the installation of traditional signs as
an inexpensive way to reroute traffic during the peak season and measure its
affect, noting that even simple changes to signage could potentially alleviate
congestion.
GROUP DISCUSSION.
Co -Chair Miller noted that the discussions in each work group meeting included short,
medium, and long-term solutions to traffic congestion problems.
John Hannon reported that as a project between RMNP, the Town, the Western
Transportation Institute and CDOT, users of the transportation hub will be surveyed
about their experience using the transportation hub for parking. Information for a
baseline will be gathered during the first part of the summer, with signage, website
information, and 511 traveler information being added beginning July 15t . Variable
message signs will be placed along the Highway 36 corridor alerting motorists to the
availability of parking at the remote lot and shuttle service into town and to RMNP. The
study will measure the impact real time information has on travelers' decisions
Co -Chair Ericson said that Jennifer Taylor's 6th grade middle school class will be
donating prize monies from the Lexus EcoChallenge to the transportation hub project
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Transportation Visioning Committee — March 2, 2011 — Page 3
and would like to purchase benches for a shuttle bus stop in the middle school parking
lot to be used to accommodate summer overflow parking.
Topics to add to work group agendas were discussed. Charley Dickey noted that traffic
lights should be a topic of discussion in the Information/Technology work group, noting
programming traffic lights to change to flashing at a certain time of day or the removal of
lights altogether may relieve congestion. In addition, the Committee spoke about
preparing to focus on public meetings, surveys, etc., to gather input from the
community. Fred Mares and Kimberly Campbell will work on a proposal for a public
participation program to present at the next regular TVC meeting.
Greg Rosener reiterated that peak traffic capacity is reached only 45 days of the year,
and that solutions should focus on increasing capacity during the peak season, and
providing a better experience for visitors.
UPCOMING MEETINGS.
• March 9 Bypasses/Road Reconfiguration
• March 16 Parking/Shuttles
• March 23 Information/Technology
There being no further business, Co -Chair Ericson adjourned the regular meeting at
4:28 p.m.
Cynthia
eats, Deputy Town Clerk