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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES Safe Routes to School Task Force 2021-02-22 Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado, February 22, 2021 Minutes of a scheduled meeting of the Sidewalk & Trail Needs Task Force of the Trans- portation Advisory Board of the Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado. Meeting held virtually on the 22nd day of February, 2021 Task Force: Belle Morris, Ann Finley, Larry Gamble, Linda Hanick, Scott Moulton Attending: Chair Belle Morris, Larry Gamble, Scott Moulton, Public Works Director Greg Muhonen, Absent: Ann Finley, Linda Hanick Chair Morris called the meeting to order at 12:05 p.m. PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT The Task Force Meeting was advertised and a link to the virtual meeting was provided. No members of the public participated in the meeting. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion was made and seconded (Morris/Moulton) to approve the February 15 meet- ing minutes and all were in favor. NEW BUSINESS Director Muhonen shared his vision for the products to be produced from the efforts of the Task Force. 1. The spreadsheet will be used to conduct an inventory of deficiencies present on exist- ing multi-use pathways (which includes existing sidewalks and trails) 2. A DEFICIENCY map showing existing multi-use pathways (which includes existing sidewalks and trails) 3. A GAPS map showing missing pathways (gaps in sidewalk or trail segments) Initially these three products will be completed for the 1-mile radius from the school campus. Eventually these three products will be completed for the entire Estes Valley. The maps and the spreadsheet would be a supplement to the Master Trails Plan and would be a 2021 update to the plan. As agreed to at the February 15 Task Force meeting the colors on the maps would de- fine the trail segment priority for both the DEFICIENCIES map and the GAPS map. Green = High priority or importance Yellow = Medium priority or importance Pink = Low priority or importance Moulton asked Director Muhonen how Public Works would plan for developing, operat- ing, and maintaining trails. During the discussion that followed, Director Muhonen stated that when the Town builds a sidewalk that does not necessarily mean that the Town would assume ongoing maintenance. He believes the Town should maintain regionally important pathways, which would typically be 8 - 10 feet wide. While the Town would like to build the infrastructure, it must be fiscally responsible about future maintenance. For this reason, the adjacent landowner may need to maintain secondary pathways (yellow or pink on the map). Ultimately, a partnership is needed between the Town and landowners, and who maintains a sidewalk or pathway must be clearly understood up front. Moulton pointed out that there should be a means to determine lifecycle cost of path- ways. Scott: need a mechanism to determine lifecycle cost. Chair Morris envisions that green-colored pathways would provide connections to signif- icant destinations, such as the school campus and downtown Estes Park. Pink-colored pathways would be neighborhood streets. Director Muhonen believes that the Master Trails Plan could identify who would main- tain pathway segments, and there should be a public process to decide on code amend- ments. Chair Morris suggested that there may need to be a fourth color (blue) to indicate a shared street. Such streets would not have a sidewalk, but the street surface would need to be shared between vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians. After some discussion it was agreed that there should be signage to identify shared streets, and an icon placed on the maps to identify shared street neighborhoods. Muhonen suggested that neighborhood input would be important to determine what neighborhoods want. Eventually there could be a public outreach component and an online tool for residents to provide input to the Town on what they would like to have on there street (a sidewalk, a shared street, etc.). Moulton mentioned that there tends to be a culture in a community about how people use streets and get around in their town. A large portion of the people in Estes Park are not here year-‘round and they are not familiar with or consciously aware of how streets in town are used. There is value in drawing attention to various users in neighborhoods. For streets like Birch and Aspen it should be a neighborhood decision wether to have on-street parking, curb and gutter, a sidewalk, or a shared street. It was agreed that for green multimodal “regional” routes maintained by the Town, the pathway width would be 8 - 10 feet. The Yellow routes would be a minimum of 5 feet wide. Moulton informed the attendees that a new walkway is planned on the west side of Highway 7 adjacent the the Peakview development that is currently under construction. The project is slated to be completed by July. Chair Morris was interested in identifying roundabouts on the maps. Director Muhonen indicated that would best reside in a multimodal transportation plan. He did recommend that the Task Force should identify locations for enhanced pedestrian crossings on the maps using an icon. Chair Morris indicated that she could produce the DEFICIENCIES and the GAPS maps using the Map My Run tool she used to generate the 1-mile radius map. The Task Force agreed to hold two more meetings to 1) Reach consensus on the maps, 2) Finalize the spreadsheet inventory tool, and 3) Assign pathways to be inventoried to Task Force members or other volunteers. The maps and spreadsheet will be presented at the next TAB meeting and other TAB members may wish to join the effort to conduct the inventory. Moulton wondered if a public right-of-way existed that would connect 4th Street to Stan- ley Avenue. Currently people can drive that route near the East Side Food Store. Direc- tor Muhonen suggested looking at the Larimer County Assessor’s GIS maps to see if a right-of-way exists. Moulton asked Director Muhonen if the walkway along U.S. Highway 34 in front of Anto- nio’s Pizza was going to be “reclaimed” for public use. Director Muhonen informed the group that he had been in contact with the owner, Anthony, and informed him that the pathway may be restriped (eliminating some parking) perhaps as early as May 2021. The meeting was adjourned at 1:25 p.m. Action Items 1. Morris to generate colored DEFICIENCY and GAP maps using Map My Run and will distribute to Task Force members. 2. Task Force members are to review the maps and are to present suggested edits at the March 1 meeting. Edits to include locations for shared streets and enhanced pe- destrian street crossings. 3. Task Force members are to review the spreadsheet on the shared Google Docs site and are to present suggested edits at the March 1 meeting.