City of Lawrence
Traffic Safety Commission Agenda
October 1, 2007-7:30 PM
City Commission Room, City Hall
MEMBERS: Robert Hagen, Chair; Richard Heckler, Vice-Chair; Paul Graves; David Hamby; Ken Miller; Jason Novotny; Robin Smith; Jim Woods and John Ziegelmeyer Jr.
Anyone who wishes to be notified when
their item will be heard by the City Commission must provide their name and
a telephone number or an e-mail address.
ITEM NO. 1: Review and approve the minutes of the Traffic Safety Commission meeting, September 10, 2007.
ITEM NO. 2: Consider request to establish an ADULT CROSSING GUARD at the intersection of Bob Billings Parkway & George Williams Way.
Facts:
1. The city’s School Crossing Control Policy requires minimum of ten students using a crossing before providing any traffic control.
2. In addition, at an unprotected crossing, if the average number of students is between 10 and 40, there must be less than one adequate gap per minute to provide an Adult Crossing Guard.
3. A school crossing study conducted August 30, August 31 and September 4 found an average of 4.0 students crossing in the morning and an average of 4.33 students crossing in the afternoon, with an average of 2.2 to 2.53 adequate gaps per minute in the traffic.
4. Therefore, this location does not meet the city’s minimum requirements for consideration of an ADULT CROSSING GUARD.
ACTION: Provide recommendation to the City Commission.
ITEM NO. 3: Consider request to establish NO PARKING along the south side of University Drive from Crestline Drive, east to its end.
Facts:
1. University Drive is a “local” street in a residential area paved 26 feet wide.
2. Parking is currently permitted along both sides of University Drive.
ACTION: Provide recommendation to the City Commission.
ITEM NO. 4: Consider request to establish two DISABLED PARKING spaces in front of New York Elementary School.
Facts:
1. City practice has been to install DISABLED PARKING spaces outside the Central Business District upon request by the adjacent property owner.
ACTION: Provide recommendation to the City Commission.
ITEM NO. 5: Consider request to install PAVEMENT MARKINGS and SIGNING at the DeVictor Park Trail crossings on Harvard Road.
Facts:
1. There are other trail crossings in Lawrence that are marked with signs and pavement markings.
2. A recent study of marked vs. unmarked crosswalks shows that at similar locations, there is no difference in the safety of a marked vs. unmarked crosswalk.
ACTION: Provide recommendation to the City Commission.
ITEM NO. 6: Consider establishing an ALL-WAY STOP at the intersection of 4th Street & Maine Street.
Facts:
1. A recent traffic study completed for the expansion of Lawrence Memorial Hospital recommended that the intersection of 4th Street & Maine Street be evaluated for the need of an ALL-WAY STOP.
2. Traffic data collected during September found that the intersection meets two criteria for consideration of an ALL-WAY STOP: crashes and combination crashes/volume.
ACTION: Provide recommendation to the City Commission.
ITEM NO. 7: Public Comment.
ITEM NO. 8: Commission Items.
ITEM NO. 9: Miscellaneous.
City Commission action on previous recommendations:
None.
City of Lawrence
Traffic Safety Commission
October 1, 2007 Minutes
MEMBERS PRESENT: Robert Hagen, Chair; Richard Heckler, Vice-Chair; Paul Graves; David Hamby; Ken Miller; Jason Novotny; Robin Smith; Jim Woods; and John Ziegelmeyer Jr.
MEMBERS ABSENT: None.
STAFF PRESENT: David Woosley, Public Works Department; Shoeb Uddin, Public Works Department
Chair Robert Hagen called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. in the City Commission Room, City Hall, 6 E. 6th Street.
Review and approve the minutes of the Traffic Safety Commission meeting, September 10, 2007.
MOTION BY COMMISSIONER SMITH, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER HECKLER, TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING, SEPTEMBER 10, 2007; THE MOTION CARRIED 8-0-1 (Ziegelmeyer).
Consider request to establish an ADULT CROSSING GUARD at the intersection of Bob Billings Parkway & George Williams Way.
David Woosley presented the information provided in the staff report.
Commissioner Hagen asked what an adequate gap was; Woosley explained that it is the amount of time it takes a student to cross a street from curb to curb at an average walking speed of 3.5 ft/sec plus 3 seconds for perception and reaction; in this particular case the adequate gap is 24 seconds.
Commissioner Woods asked if a crossing guard had been approved at Harvard & George Williams Way last year; Woosley advised that one had.
Public comment:
Carrie Mandigo, 1600 Bob White Drive: I’m speaking for our neighborhood; we are not going to send our kids out to cross that street without a crossing guard; I have two kids that would be walking daily if there was a crossing guard there; I can tell you of five other families with 3 to 4 children that would be walking; today I counted 10 kids walking home; the road is a four-lane road and there have been a lot of accidents due to speed in the area; I don’t feel safe letting my kids cross there; in these times when we should be promoting health and fitness and being environmentally friendly, I really want to push for a crossing guard there.
Commissioner Woods asked if there were sidewalks from the intersection to the school; Madingo stated there were.
Commissioner Hagen: One thing that concerns me about our policy is that we can determine how many kids are currently crossing, but we don’t have any idea how many would cross if there was a crossing guard; that would be valuable.
Commissioner Ziegelmeyer: We have talked about it before, to have a temporary crossing guard where we could put a guard in place for 30 or 60 or 90 days and see if the students do come and the numbers justify a permanent guard; but we don’t currently have the ability to have a floating crossing guard; if I had a young child, I would be reluctant to let them cross there.
Commissioner Heckler asked if the City Commission could authorize a temporary crossing guard; Woosley advised that they could.
MOTION BY COMMISSIONER WOODS, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER HAMBY, TO RECOMMEND DENYING THE REQUEST TO ESTABLISH AN ADULT CROSSING GUARD AT THE INTERSECTION OF BOB BILLINGS PARKWAY & GEORGE WILLIAMS WAY; THE MOTION CARRIED 5-4 (Graves: felt there should be a trial period; Heckler: felt there should be a trial period; Miller: felt the community should have the opportunity to make their case with the City Commission; Ziegelmeyer: felt there should be a trial period).
Consider request to establish NO PARKING along the south side of University Drive from Crestline Drive, east to its end.
Woosley presented the information provided in the staff report.
Commissioner Woods asked if something wasn’t done in the area recently; Woosley advised that was west of Crestline.
Public comment:
None.
Commissioner Miller: He sites his concern for emergency equipment getting in the area, that’s good enough for me.
Commissioner Hagen: It is quite a narrow street, I would be in favor of this.
MOTION BY COMMISSIONER MILLER, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER ZIEGELMEYER, TO RECOMMEND ESTABLISHING NO PARKING ALONG THE SOUTH SIDE OF UNIVERSITY DRIVE FROM CRESTLINE DRIVE, EAST TO ITS END; the motion carried 9-0.
Consider request to establish two DISABLED PARKING spaces in front of New York Elementary School.
Woosley presented the information provided in the staff report.
Public comment:
Nancy DeGarmo, Principal, New York Elementary School: Security measures implemented this year requires that all the doors be locked throughout the day except the front door of the building; our existing two handicap parking spaces are currently at the back of the building and people are not happy after parking there and finding the doors locked; a ramp has now been installed to the front door; we would like two spaces on-street near the front door.
Commissioner Woods asked how much use the two existing spaces get; DeGarmo stated she had not done a count, but they have several parents with handicap permits.
MOTION BY COMMISSIONER HECKLER, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER WOODS, TO RECOMMEND ESTABLISHING TWO DISABLED PARKING SPACES IN FRONT OF NEW YORK ELEMENTARY SCHOOOL; THE MOTION CARRIED 9-0.
Consider request to install PAVEMENT MARKINGS and SIGNING at the DeVictor Park Trail crossings on Harvard Road.
Woosley presented the information provided in the staff report.
Public comment:
None.
Commissioner Woods asked what type of signing would be installed; Woosley advised it would be standard pedestrian and/or bicycle crossing signs.
Commissioner Graves asked if STOP signs would be installed for the trail; Woosley advised staff would check to see if they were warranted.
MOTION BY COMMISSIONER ZIEGELMEYER, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER HECKLER, TO RECOMMEND INSTALLING PAVEMENT MARKINGS AND SIGNING AT THE DeVICTOR PARK TRAIL CROSSINGS ON HARVARD ROAD; THE MOTION CARRIED 9-0.
Consider establishing an ALL-WAY STOP at the intersection of 4th Street & Maine Street.
Woosley presented the information provided in the staff report.
Public comment:
None.
Commissioner Woods: Prior to the modification, it was a nightmare to try and cross or turn onto Maine at times.
MOTION BY COMMISSIONER WOODS, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER MILLER, TO RECOMMEND ESTABLISHING AN ALL-WAY STOP AT THE INTERSECTION OF 4TH STREET & MAINE STREET; THE MOTION CARRIED 9-0.
Public Comment:
Betty Alderson, 1920 Maine Street: At the intersection of Stone Meadows & Bob Billings, site lines are terrible; does something need to be done there? Woosley advised that staff would take a look at it.
Commission Items:
Commissioner Woods noted that a recent recommendation to prohibit parking along one side of Florida Street adjacent to Custom Highline was not approved, but parking continues along both sides of the street bumper-to-bumper which would make it difficult for a fire-truck or ambulance to get down the street.
Commissioner Woods noted that school buses are parking in the NO PARKING zone on 14th Street adjacent to Central Junior High which would also make it difficult for a fire-truck or ambulance to get through.
Commissioner Smith noted the e-mail he had received from Commissioner Chestnut concerning 1700 Harper Street; the Commission decided that it appeared to be an enforcement problem.
Commissioner Heckler suggested that the Traffic Safety Commission meetings start at 7:00 instead of 7:30 and wondered if anyone objected; the Commission decided, without objection, to start future meetings at 7:00 P.M.
Miscellaneous.
Shoeb Uddin presented information about the Burroughs Creek Trail Project and requested a letter of support, if appropriate, from the Traffic Safety Commission. It was the consensus of the commission that the Chair write a letter in support of the project.
The meeting adjourned at 8:25 P.M.
The next meeting of the Traffic Safety Commission will be Monday, November 5, 2007.
Respectfully submitted,
David E. Woosley
Transportation/Traffic Engineer