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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES Transportation Advisory Board 2015-6-17Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado, June 17th, 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 17th day of June, 2015. Present: Kimberly Campbell Thom Widawski Amy Hamrick Belle Morris Stan Black Gregg Rounds 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 Chair Campbell called the meeting to order at 12:03 p.m. GENERAL DISCUSSION Public in attendance declined to comment. Minutes from the March 18th regular meeting, March 31st special meeting, April 15th regular meeting and May 20th regular meeting were reviewed by members. It was moved and seconded (Black/Hamrick) to approve all aforementioned minutes, with the motion passing unanimously. Brian Wells presented a brief shuttle update. Trolley numbers are in for the limited service that was offered in the spring and the 2015 numbers are ahead of 2014. A special Thursday morning service starting at 7:45 will be offered in July, running from the Fairgrounds to Bond Park for the Farmers Market event. TAB members suggested this could be marketed as a test run for downtown business employees. A shuttle rider appreciation event will be held August 5th, with the 500,000th rider receiving a goody bag from the Mayor. Charley Dickey gave a brief presentation of the results of the recently conducted downtown parking survey. Estes Valley Partners for Commerce and the Downtown Business Partners Committee of Government of Affairs created the survey and distributed it to the community. Trustee Ericson commented on the grant received by the Community Development Department for neighborhood development of the downtown district. A request for proposal is currently underway to hire a consultant for the project. Trustee Ericson expressed an interest in seeing TAB integrate efforts with this grant. TAB discussions would be more philosophical in nature, while letting the experts get into the nitty gritty details of concept and design. It would be helpful if TAB began defining areas as downtown, peripheral and remote when discussing parking concepts. STAFF UPDATES ON TOWN PROJECTS A public meeting on was held on Thursday, June 11th, on the Dry Gulch Project. The biggest concern voiced by citizens was the full road closure for two months, especially Transportation Advisory Board – June 17th, 2015 – Page 2 in regard to emergency services. The Town is addressing this by attempting to create a path around the construction for emergency services vehicles. The project currently is out to bid and will close on July 2nd. Negotiations with private property owners are still underway regarding easements. A reconstruction project on Highway 7 is beginning, with culvert replacement and then overlay. Belle Morris requested an opportunity for input for bike lanes. Amy Hamrick inquired about the school zoning on Hwy 7. Trustee Ericson recommended speaking with Rick Life of the Police Department for details and information. Fall River Trail Extension project is underway with consultant Loris and Assoc iates. The consultant is exploring trail placement along Fish Hatchery Road and into Aspen Glen campground in RMNP. Public outreach for this project will begin mid to late July. CDOT is going to reconfigure north-bound double left turn of Hwy 34/36 intersection on June 22nd and 23rd. CDOT shared the bid for the requested Barnes Dance study in the downtown corridor. CDOT will pay the $30,000 for a two-weekend study, but the additional $30,000 for two extra weekends would have to be paid for by the Town. Director Muhonen will present the Town Board with an action item for this project at the June 23rd meeting. On July 1st, two variable message boards will be added along Hwys 36 and 34 to best direct guests to the two RMNP east side entrances. A public meeting on the Estes Park Transit Facility Parking Structure was held on June 10th. Twenty comment cards were received from community members, with positive feedback. The consultants are currently working on submitting an application to the Estes Valley Planning Commission. The new pothole repair spray patcher has arrived and is ready for operation. The Public Works crew is trained and working to repair potholes. The new equipment will be debuted with a public event featuring live demonstrations on June 25th. DOWNTOWN PARKING STRATEGY Chair Campbell passed out an outline of the parking strategy plan, as well as the portion of the plan Stan Black drafted since the last meeting. TAB members agreed more parking is imperative. Studies indicate an additional 500 spaces are needed, with the additional parking spaces from the construction of the parking structure still leaving the Town 200 spaces short. TAB members considered if additional parking should be provided in the downtown district or on the perimeter of the downtown corridor. Downtown parking maps were provided to each member and viable options were explored for a future parking structure. Extensive discussion centered on the Post Office parking lot site. Downtown business owners want more downtown parking, not an exchange of parking for additional business space. Mixed development would find more support from the downtown district. Also heavily discussed as an ideal location for a parking garage was the Piccadilly Square site, which is currently privately owned. With no other business to discuss, Chair Campbell adjourned the meeting at 2:03 p.m.