{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2019-05-22", "page": 1, "text": "DRAFT MINUTES\nREGULAR MEETING OF THE\nCITY OF ALAMEDA TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION\nWEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2019\nChair Miley convened the meeting at 7:00pm.\n1. ROLL CALL\nPresent: Chair Miley, Commissioners Soules, Nachtigall, Johnson, Kohlstrand, Yuen.\nAbsent: Commissioner Hans.\n2. AGENDA CHANGES\n*None*\n3. ANNOUNCEMENTS/PUBLIC COMMENT\nJim Strehlow said he recently found a Bird electric scooter obstructing the pathway in the\nPosey Tube. He suggested a minimum speed limit in the tube as a potential solution to\ndeal with problems like scooters being left or slow moving pedestrians pushing shopping\ncarts.\n3-A. Transportation Commissioner Appreciation of Service Resolution for Chair\nChristopher A. Miley\nGail Payne, Senior Transportation Coordinator, thanked Chair Miley for his service on\nthe commission.\nCommissioner Soules read the resolution and expressed her gratitude towards Chair\nMiley.\n3-B. Climate Action and Resiliency Plan Public Comment - May 14-31. Link to the\nonline platform: www.opentownhall.com/7405\n3-C. Clement Ave. Safety Improvement Project Workshop - Mon., June 3 at 6:30 p.m. -\nCity Council Chambers: www.alamedaca.gov/clement\n3-D. Car Seat Inspections/Installations (free): Sat., June 15 in the City Hall Parking Lot\nfrom 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM.\n3-E. Clipper Card Registration at Mastick Senior Center - Tues, June 18 - 1 p.m. to 3\np.m.\n3-F. Bicycle Safety Education Classes: Sat, June 22 and July 27 at 9 a.m. to 12 noon:\nhttps://bikeeastbay.org/alamedabikeed\nTransportation Commission draft minutes\nPage 1 of 10\nMay 22, 2019", "path": "TransportationCommission/2019-05-22.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2019-05-22", "page": 2, "text": "3-G. Transportation Commission Meeting: Wed, July 24 at 7 p.m.\n3-H. Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) 2019 Trainings in September and\nOctober: register on Fire Department web page\nScott Wikstrom, City Engineer, provided an update regarding City Council requests for\nan updated policy for daylighting intersections. He said they would be bringing the item\nto the City Council on July 2nd.\n4. CONSENT CALENDAR\n4-A 2019-6924\nDraft Meeting Minutes - March 27, 2019\nCommissioner Kohlstrand moved approval of the item. Commissioner Nachtigall\nseconded the motion. The motion passed without objection (6-0.)\n5. NEW BUSINESS\n5-A 2019-6925\nApprove Otis Drive Traffic Calming and Safety Improvement Project\nDesign Concept Recommendations\nStaff Member Payne announced that Commissioner Johnson would have to recuse\nhimself from the item due to the proximity of his business to the project area.\nStaff Member Wikstrom gave a presentation. The staff report and attachments can be\nfound at:\nttps://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3948357&GUID=5FF05DC7-\n3762-4F80-AEF9-1B58E7661A5C&FullText=1\nDavid Parisi, project consultant, continued the presentation of the draft concept.\nCommissioner Kohlstrand asked for more information about the impact of a roundabout\non pedestrians, noting that pedestrians would not have a protected cycle.\nMr. Parisi explained how the roundabout would work, noting the shorter crossing\ndistances and slower vehicle speeds.\nCommissioner Nachtigall also expressed concern about safety for pedestrians on the\nroundabout.\nChair Miley asked for clarification of what decisions staff was looking for tonight.\nStaff Member Wikstrom said staff was looking for recommendations on the short term\nimprovements and feedback on the alternatives for the Rittler Park section.\nTransportation Commission draft minutes\nPage 2 of 10\nMay 22, 2019", "path": "TransportationCommission/2019-05-22.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2019-05-22", "page": 3, "text": "Chair Miley opened the public hearing.\nJim Strehlow recalled failing his first driving test due to speeding on Otis Drive. He\nexpressed skepticism that a roundabout would function for double long parade floats. He\nasked about the ramps in the long term plans and how high they would be and whether\nthey would impact vehicles passing through intersections.\nJoe Keiser said that many Wood Middle School students wanted to provide input to the\nTransportation Commission, but that tonight was the Wood open house. He said two\nstudents put together a video to share with the commission. He said he is a resident of\nOtis Drive and strongly supports the project.\nA video of Jacob and Kiley Wong, Will Middle School students, was played. They\nexpressed concern about cars speeding and asked for safety improvements for\npedestrians and bikers.\nDenyse Trepanier, Bike Walk Alameda, said they support the project. She said they urge\nadoption of the parking protected bike lane near Rittler Park. She said cars doing drop\noff would force cyclists out into the street.\nJon Spangler said he likes the roundabout because it reduces vehicle speeds. He said\nhe supports the project but disagrees with the Bike Walk Alameda suggestion of\ncurbside bike lanes. He said children going to and from cars will cross the bike lane\nwithout looking.\nKaren Boutiler said she supports the plan. She said she thinks all moving traffic should\nbe in the middle of the street, not between parked cars and the sidewalk.\nChair Miley closed the public hearing.\nCommissioner Nachtigall said the proposal meets the goals of the project. She noted\nthat some of the proposed trees would not be a good fit for the area.\nCommissioner Kohlstrand said she supports dealing with speeding and improving\nbicycle and pedestrian safety, but noted that many people opposed the project. She\nasked staff if there were ways to achieve traffic calming without dramatically changing\nthe configuration of the roadway.\nStaff Member Wikstrom said that road diets have been demonstrated to reduce average\nspeeds and have even greater impact reducing the extreme speeds. He said Otis has\nbeen identified as a priority street in the Bicycle Master Plan.\nCommissioner Kohlstrand suggested that narrowing the existing lanes to ten feet would\nprovide room for four foot bike lanes. She suggested that a center turn lane may not be\nTransportation Commission draft minutes\nPage 3 of 10\nMay 22, 2019", "path": "TransportationCommission/2019-05-22.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2019-05-22", "page": 4, "text": "needed everywhere and that a landscaped median with occasional turn pockets would\nbe preferable.\nStaff Member Wikstrom said that a five foot bike lane is the minimum design standard.\nHe said a four foot lane is not recommended and would put cyclists even closer to the\ndoor zone of parked cars. He said landscaped medians would be a large short term\ninvestment and long term maintenance cost. He said the project is fundamentally\ndifferent from Shoreline Drive.\nChair Miley said he was sensitive to concerns about kids having conflicts in the\nprotected bike lane. He asked if there were any treatments that could be used to mitigate\nthat problem.\nStaff Member Wikstrom said there is not a very good option for letting kids know that\nthey are crossing a bike lane next to the curb. He said it is a relatively narrow space but\nany bicyclist travelling at speed could create an issue.\nChair Miley asked if homeowners were noticed about the change in bus stop positions,\nand asked if there were any responses.\nStaff Member Payne said they did not receive any concerns from homeowners about the\nchange in bus stop locations.\nChair Miley said he supports the project in order to calm traffic in the corridor. He said he\nprefers the buffered bike lane but could support the protected bike lanes in front of Rittler\nPark.\nCommissioner Soules asked if AC Transit gave feedback on the moving of bus stops.\nStaff Member Payne said they have worked closely with AC Transit. She said they are\nokay with the lane widths and with the bus stop location changes.\nCommissioner Soules asked whether staff knew the difference in parking loss between\nthe Class Il and Class IV options near Rittler Park.\nMr. Parisi said installing red curb at all corners in the corridor would result in the loss of\nabout 10-15% of the parking opportunities. He said the Class IV option would result in\nthe loss of an additional two parking spaces near the park.\nCommissioner Soules said she had similar concerns as Commissioner Kohlstrand about\nthe number of people opposed to the project. She noted that auto drivers are not as well\norganized as bicyclists and pedestrians. She said this thoroughfare carries our\ncrosstown traffic. She said the public is having a hard time understanding how bike lanes\nTransportation Commission draft minutes\nPage 4 of 10\nMay 22, 2019", "path": "TransportationCommission/2019-05-22.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2019-05-22", "page": 5, "text": "solve the speeding problem. She asked for more information about enforcement efforts\nand why that is not a long term solution.\nSgt. Brian Foster, Alameda Police Department Traffic Supervisor, said he has three\nmotor officers in addition to himself to deal with this problem. He said they spend more\ntime on Otis Drive and see higher speeds here than anywhere else in the city.\nCommissioner Kohlstrand asked how the speeding on Fernside compares after the road\ndiet.\nSgt. Foster said you can never solve all the speeding problems. He said speed is a\nproblem on Fernside when there is little traffic, but he never sees speeds over 60 mph\nlike on Otis.\nCommissioner Yuen said she is supportive of all the proposed changes. She said we\nneed to focus on design to address speed. She said we cannot rely on enforcement,\nwhich can create its own negative impacts. She added that focusing on multimodal\nsolutions is the key and ties into our climate action goals.\nCommissioner Nachtigall said she supports the changes, but worries about increased\npedestrian bicycle conflicts.\nCommissioner Soules asked if the Class IV option makes the lane widths tighter.\nStaff Member Wikstrom said the Class IV option would feel tighter than the Class Il\noption because of the position of the parked cars, but would have essentially the same\nlane widths. He said that could have the effect of further calming traffic.\nCommissioner Kohlstrand said she would support the Class Il option with the parking at\nthe curb. She said she could see the potential for conflicts with people exiting their cars\ninto the Class IV bike lane and added that the Class IV option is not very elegant.\nChair Miley moved to accept the staff recommendation on the short term project\nwith direction to support the Class II option at Rittler Park, not include the two tree\ntypes indicated by Commissioner Nachtigall, and that a status report be given 12-\n18 months after implementation. Commissioner Yuen seconded the motion.\nCommissioner Yuen asked if staff knew how many reported injuries there have been on\nShoreline due to pedestrian and bike conflicts.\nSgt. Foster said he does not have that data, but that most of those collisions would not\nget reported because they are not injury collisions.\nTransportation Commission draft minutes\nPage 5 of 10\nMay 22, 2019", "path": "TransportationCommission/2019-05-22.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2019-05-22", "page": 6, "text": "Commissioner Yuen said she was trying to figure out what was the safest alternative\nbetween the Class Il and Class IV options. She said she is uncertain, but would support\na Class IV option given her understanding of best practices.\nChair Miley said he would normally support protected lanes where ever possible, but\nthinks that this location would not be right because of the presence of so many children.\nCommissioner Kohlstrand said that she thinks the street can work as a two lane street\nwith turning lanes, but that her earlier concerns were in the interest of respecting the will\nof the broader community beyond her personal views. She said that, given that most\nspeakers tonight are in favor of the project, she will support it with some reservations.\nCommissioner Soules said she is concerned about people who are not represented or\ncannot bike for different reasons. She said knowing that this project is just paint, she\nfeels okay moving forward. She said that going forward, how workshops are attended\nand surveys constructed will be important. She said there is not a capacity issue on this\nportion of Otis. She said she would make a motion to support the staff recommendation\nand Class Il bike lanes.\nChair Miley restated his motion.\nThe motion passed 4-1 (Yuen opposed.)\nCommissioner Yuen said she opposed the motion because she preferred the Class IV\noption in front of Rittler Park.\n5-B 2019-6926\nRecommend Transportation Projects in Alameda's 2019-2021 Capital\nBudget to the City Council.\nStaff Member Wikstrom gave a presentation. The staff report and attachment can be\nfound at:\nhttps://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3948400&GUID=A88F2666\nFFD-40D2-BE8D-39A1651BD151&Options=&Search=&FullText=1\nChair Miley asked if the root damaged pathways around Bay Farm Island would fit into\nthis spending plan.\nStaff Member Wikstrom said the paths would typically fit under the pavement\nmanagement program because most of the pathways are asphalt.\nChair Miley suggested that there may be other less prominent intersections in the city\nwhere roundabouts could be employed to help acquaint residents with their use.\nTransportation Commission draft minutes\nPage 6 of 10\nMay 22, 2019", "path": "TransportationCommission/2019-05-22.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2019-05-22", "page": 7, "text": "Commissioner Johnson said that Shafter Avenue approaching College in Oakland\nrecently was treated with new roundabouts. He said they were minor streets and used to\ncreate a bicycle throughway and were really well done.\nCommissioner Kohlstrand asked to what degree our traffic signal system is integrated.\nStaff Member Wikstrom said most of our signals operate independently. He said they are\nmaking efforts on Webster and Park to introduce corridor coordination.\nCommissioner Kohlstrand said that efforts to time the signals on our major corridors\nwould be a positive.\nCommissioner Soules asked how projects within the traffic calming fund would be\nprioritized and coordinated.\nStaff Member Wikstrom said the fund is set aside for smaller needs around the city as\nopposed to the larger, corridor length, and grant funded projects.\nCommissioner Kohlstrand made a motion to accept the staff recommendation.\nCommissioner Yuen seconded the motion. The motion passed without objection\n(6-0.)\n5-C 2019-6927\nProvide Comment on the Draft Climate Action and Resiliency Plan\nErin Smith, Deputy Public Works Director, gave a presentation. The staff report and\nattachments can be found at:\ntps://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3948401&GUID=9698D1CE-\n9A05-4E98-971B-BF4614B2826E&Options=&Search=&FullText=1\nCommissioner Yuen asked why the public comment period was only two weeks long.\nStaff Member Smith said that it was a long process and in order to meet the adoption\ntimeline that two weeks was the best they could do.\nChair Miley opened the public hearing.\nJim Strehlow said we need to be careful not to road diet too many streets. He supported\nefforts to time the traffic signals. He scoffed at the idea of taxing everyone to provide EZ\nPasses to all residents. He said congestion pricing would be a regressive tax and is a\nbad idea.\nChristy Cannon emphasized the importance of acting to curb greenhouse gas\nemissions. She said transportation is where we need to solve the problem. She said we\nneed to get people onto buses, which will require big efforts to prioritize their movement\nTransportation Commission draft minutes\nPage 7 of 10\nMay 22, 2019", "path": "TransportationCommission/2019-05-22.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2019-05-22", "page": 8, "text": "and reliability. She supported many efforts to get people out of their cars. She said\ncommunication with the public will be critical for getting public support and success.\nChair Miley closed the public hearing.\nCommissioner Soules said the plan has a good balance of aggressive near term goals\nwithin the long term vision.\nCommissioner Kohlstrand expressed surprise that the plan did not make more of a\nconnection between transportation and land use. She said we need to focus on density\nin order to support transit alternatives. She expressed a preference for improving\nAlameda's jobs to housing balance. She asked for more information about reducing use\nof natural gas appliances.\nStaff Member Smith said that the fuel switching in the plan could involve swapping out\nheaters and appliances. She said they are looking to make progress increasing the mix\nof electric versus gas appliances throughout the city.\nCommissioner Kohlstrand asked if there is an expectation that the City would provide\nincentives to achieve the goal of fuel switching.\nStaff Member Smith added that the plan calls for all new development to be all electric.\nShe said she can envision the Public Utilities Board providing incentives in the form of\nrebates for customers to move away from their gas powered appliances.\nCommissioner Kohlstrand said focusing on communities that are disproportionately\nimpacted and attempting to get people to switch to transit may not work if the island's\nentire transportation network was not sufficiently protected. She asked for more\ninformation about the thinking behind how the plan approaches protecting transportation\ninfrastructure.\nStaff Member Smith said the network that best serves transit and transit dependent\ncommunities was prioritized. She said all the bridges are able to handle about 48 inches\nof sea level rise. She said they focused on redundancy in the network.\nChair Miley said funding the priorities in the CARP would be challenging and suggested\nsetting aside funding for these long term projects.\nStaff Member Smith agreed with Chair Miley's sentiment and explained how the Plan\naddresses funding issues.\nCommissioner Nachtigall asked how the telecommuting item would be dealt with on a\nregional basis given the nature of employment.\nTransportation Commission draft minutes\nPage 8 of 10\nMay 22, 2019", "path": "TransportationCommission/2019-05-22.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2019-05-22", "page": 9, "text": "Staff Member Smith said their goal would be to raise awareness generally in the\nbusiness community about the benefits of telecommuting. She acknowledged the\nregional role necessary for successful implementation of that strategy.\nCommissioner Nachtigall said she had a potential regional connection to suggest for\nstaff to follow up with regarding telecommuting.\nCommissioner Yuen asked how the CARP would interact with other decisions being\nmade by the City. She asked how we would hold ourselves accountable.\nStaff Member Smith said the concepts in the plan are pervasive in everything the City\ndoes. She said that they would leave it up to Council to determine how the CARP gets\nintegrated into the workflow.\nLiam Garland, Public Works Director, said annual reports would be a time for Council to\nmake sure we are on track and hold ourselves accountable. He added that staff has\nbeen working closely with Community Action for a Sustainable Alameda (CASA) and\nexpects them to help hold staff and Council to account.\nCommissioner Yuen said she supports the coordinator position and advocates that they\nare represented on other planning processes in the city for coordination purposes.\nCommissioner Kohlstrand asked if the annual reports would come to the commissions\nas well as City Council.\nStaff Member Garland said they could make the reports available to the Transportation\nCommission, given how significant a share of greenhouse gas emissions come from\ntransportation.\nThere was no action taken.\n6. STAFF COMMUNICATIONS\n6-A 2019-6928\nQuarterly Report on Activities Related to Transportation Policies and\nPlans\nThe report can be found at:\nhttps://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3948433&GUID=B86FABE1-\n614B-44BB-B569-82ED268F2013\n6-B Potential Future Meeting Agenda Items\n1. Resident Appeal of Walnut Street/San Antonio Avenue Daylighting\n2. Transportation Management Association Annual Reports\n3. Emergency Plan with Transportation Annex\n4. Clement Avenue Safety Improvement Project\nTransportation Commission draft minutes\nPage 9 of 10\nMay 22, 2019", "path": "TransportationCommission/2019-05-22.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2019-05-22", "page": 10, "text": "5. Central Avenue Safety Improvement Project\n7. ANNOUNCEMENTS/PUBLIC COMMENT\nJon Spangler, Chair of the BART Board Bicycle Advisory Task Force, said BART will be\nmaking a decision between including only one, or keeping two multi-purpose/bicycle\nparking spaces per BART fleet of the future car.\n8. ADJOURNMENT\nChair Miley adjourned the meeting at 10:07 p.m.\nTransportation Commission draft minutes\nPage 10 of 10\nMay 22, 2019", "path": "TransportationCommission/2019-05-22.pdf"}