TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE
The Transportation Committee Meeting was held on July 22, 2003, at 5:00 p.m., with Chairman Ruane presiding. Members present were Mr. Pitts, Mr. Ritter, and Mr. Ornauer. Mr. Asay was absent. Others present were Mr. DePrima, Mr. Koenig, Mr. Lee, Ms. Wieczoreck (MPO), Mr. Laing (Municipal Liaison DelDOT), and Mrs. McDowell.
AGENDA ADDITIONS/DELETIONS
Mr. Ornauer requested the addition of item #2-A, Comments of Dr. Scott Miller - Wesley College, and Mr. DePrima requested the addition of item #8-F, Signalization Project Update.
Mr. Ornauer moved for approval of the agenda, as amended, seconded by Mr. Pitts and unanimously carried.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF JUNE 24, 2003
Mr. Ornauer moved for approval of the minutes of June 24, 2003, seconded by Mr. Pitts and unanimously carried.
COMMENTS OF DR. SCOTT MILLER (WESLEY COLLEGE)
Dr. Miller stated that he had been advised by a reporter from the Dover Post that misinformation regarding the parking situation at Wesley College had been provided at a recent Parking Authority meeting (June 5, 2003) and he wanted to provide members with the following information:
Students and Employees on the Dover Campus:
• 1,350 – 1,400 total students (remainder are DAFB program/New Castle) - 801 of these students reside on campus. The new Academic Village will provide 48 apartments with 184 beds.
• 113 full-time employees on main campus
• 48 contract service employees on main campus (42 of these park at the Operations Center on Clara Street)
Parking Needs:
• In 2002/03 472 residential students had parking permits for campus slots. A total of 584 students had vehicles registered on campus.
• A college is not an 8-5 enterprise. They are open for classes from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Security and residence hall staff work 24 hours. Housekeeping is on a 4 to 12 rotation. Maintenance is 7-3. Classes are M-W-F and T-T. Evenings are concentrated blocks. A “dead period” is from 2-4 for athletics practices. The demand for parking fluctuates during the day.
• Additionally many of the students make use of the DART service which runs through campus.
Available Parking Slots:
• Completion of the Academic Village will add 51 underground and 64 surface spaces. More than reclaiming those 55 spaces temporarily lost during the construction.
• These spaces bring the total number of slots available in campus parking lots to 529.
• There are an additional 432 on-street parking spaces available contiguous to Wesley College property.
• This brings the total of available spaces to 961.
Mr. Ritter stated that it was his recollection that the majority of the complaints received from residents were related to students living off campus in the area north of the college. Dr. Miller noted that he had received very few complaints about off-campus parking. He stated that, as a result of discussions last year, the college, in cooperation with the police department, has taken a more aggressive position on student parties at off-campus locations.
The committee took no action.
MPO/PAC/TAC REPORT (Koenig/Ornauer/Wieczoreck)
Mr. Ornauer noted that the Town of Cheswold would like to have DelDOT perform a traffic study between Denneys Road in Dover and Sunnyside Road in Smyrna because of increased growth in the town.
Mr. Ornauer noted that the PAC held an Environmental Justice Workshop and, as a result, an outreach subcommittee will be formed. He also noted that the Secretary of Transportation would be their guest at the October meeting.
Ms. Wieczoreck stated that Mr. Bob Carver of DelDOT presented changes to the Capital Transportation Program as a result of the bond bill being passed. She noted that the MPO Council tentatively approved those changes, contingent upon receiving no significant negative comments from the public or advisory committees.
Ms. Wieczoreck stated that they received a cost proposal from the consultant for the modeling of the proposed improvements for the west side/Clarence Street extension/Lincoln Park plan. She noted that the MPO’s portion of that project would commence once the City gathers the necessary data for the model. Ms. Wieczoreck stated that they reached an agreement on the cost proposal for the Core Plan Land Use Transportation Model, which will be customized for this region to feed land use scenarios into the Long-Range Plan Update.
Mr. Koenig stated that the utility preparation work for the Walker Road Upgrade had begun from Salisbury to Kenton Road.
CITY TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS - REVIEW OF MEMBER’S PRIORITIZATION
Members were provided the list of City Transportation Projects, as prioritized during their Regular Meeting of June 24, 2003. Mr. Ruane also provided members with the draft Comprehensive Plan and requested them to review it for inclusion of the City Transportation Projects. Mr. DePrima suggested providing the list to the Planning Department for comparison.
Mr. Ornauer moved to recommend to City Council adoption of the Prioritization of City Transportation Projects. The motion was seconded by Mr. Pitts.
Mr. DePrima noted that Mr. Asay previously expressed concern with the non-vehicular projects being ranked lower than the vehicular projects and indicated the need for the City to be more aggressive in making Dover more accessible for pedestrians and bicyclists. He pointed out that those projects were fairly mixed in the top, middle, and bottom of the prioritization.
Responding to Ms. Wieczoreck, Mr. DePrima stated that both the Loockerman Street Corridor Improvements and the Clarence Street Extension projects were a result of the West Side Study. He noted that only the redevelopment of the underutilized areas around the Clarence Street project was submitted for Federal funds. The Loockerman Street Corridor Improvements, including the traffic circle, are at the core of the project.
Ms. Wieczoreck noted that several of the projects on the prioritization list have been included in the funding and asked how those projects would affect the list. Mr. Ornauer stated that the reason for the prioritization was to place emphasis on the projects that were important to the City.
Mr. Ritter noted that the extension of Crawford Carroll Avenue from Lowe’s to Office Max was not included in the list. Mr. Koenig stated that the project was probably contingent upon Delaware State University relocating their stadium in order to allow the road to line up with the traffic light at the mall entrance. He stated that the project was originally planned to line up with the entrance to Office Max; however, it would be preferable to have it line up with the mall entrance. Mr. DePrima advised members that the entrance to Office Max was designed specifically to accommodate the roadway and having the road line up there would still be a good idea and may occur in the future. Mr. Ornauer suggested including the extension of Crawford Carroll Avenue on the next list of projects for prioritization.
Mr. Ritter moved to amend the motion to include a reference to the Extension of Crawford Carroll Avenue from West Rustic Lane to Office Max on the second page of the list of City Transportation Projects, seconded by Mr. Ornauer and unanimously carried.
On a call for the question, the motion to recommend to City Council adoption of the Prioritization of City Transportation Projects, as amended, (Attachment #1) was unanimously carried.
RED LIGHT PHOTO ENFORCEMENT - WEBBS LANE AND ROUTE 13
Mr. DePrima informed members that DelDOT is prepared to start the initial testing of the red light photo enforcement. Based on an analysis of accident data, DelDOT has recommended Webbs Lane and US Route 13 as the test site. Mr. DePrima noted that two (2) other locations had a higher incidence of accidents; State and North Streets and Loockerman and Queen Streets. He stated that the height of the pedestal traffic signals and the subdued color of the brick pavers would prohibitively impair the effectiveness of the digital filming equipment.
Mr. DePrima stated that, prior to implementation, an information campaign is planned, complimented by handouts and press releases in addition to the public awareness effort of posting warning signs approaching the intersection, as well as a sixty (60) day trial period where warning notices are issued for offenses. Mr. Laing stated that the fine would be $75 once the trial period ends. It was also noted that there would be a testing period to work with the Dover Police Department and the contractor to calibrate and synchronize the signal.
Mr. DePrima stated that DelDOT would like concurrence from the City on the site they have selected prior to moving forward with the project. He stated, if the committee had no reservations, he would relay their concurrence. He also noted that a presentation on the project would be made at the next meeting.
Mr. Ornauer moved to endorse the test site for photo enforcement at Webbs Lane and US Route 13, seconded by Mr. Pitts and unanimously carried.
DelDOT - SOUTH GOVERNORS AVENUE
Mr. Ruane stated that correspondence had been received indicating that the South Governors Avenue project was progressing. Mr. DePrima informed members that there is a two (2) year time schedule, including acquisition and design. They are trying to work out a more aggressive schedule to complete the project sooner, with a completion goal of Summer 2005.
FY 04 STATE BOND BILL - DOVER PROJECTS
Members briefly discussed the listing of projects included in the FY 2004 Capital Transportation Program.
UPDATES
Eden Hill Farm
Members were provided an excerpt of Senate Bill 170 - Bond Bill (Department of Transportation Section), Section 78, relating to Eden Hill Farm. Mr. Ruane stated that a meeting between Secretary Hayward and the Crossgates/Mayfair/Wedgewood/Mayfair II Civic Association would be held on Tuesday, July 29, 2003 at 7:00 p.m. at the W. Reilly Brown Elementary School. He noted that interest had expanded to include the Rodney Village Neighborhood Association, Caesar Rodney School Board Administration, and neighbors representing Sherwood. Mr. Ruane urged members to attend if possible.
Clarence Street Project
Mr. DePrima stated that a budget had been resubmitted to the Federal Highway Administration for this project. Staff proposes to use the first $400,000 for planning and design and some acquisition of property. Mr. DePrima noted that there would be opportunities for neighborhood involvement in the project.
Ms. Wieczoreck noted that the subcommittee on transportation has proposed eliminating the Transportation Community Systems Preservation program, as well as the Enhancement program. She suggested that the Transportation Committee contact Representative Castle on the issue. Mr. DePrima stated that he would write a letter to Representative Castle.
Division Street Improvements
During the Regular Meeting of June 24, 2003, Ms. Wieczoreck reminded members that DelDOT would not begin the striping of left-turn lanes and the elimination of parking spaces until the affected property owners were notified. Mr. Lee stated that he had been trying to contact someone at DelDOT to discuss notifying property owners.
After a lengthy discussion regarding the striping of turn lanes, the resulting loss of parking, and the scheduling of the project, Mr. DePrima suggested that it would be more feasible to do the re-striping and installation of the turn-lanes as part of the new signalization on Division Street. He noted that the signalization project should be completed in three (3) years.
Mr. Ruane moved to defer the Division Street striping and to authorize Mr. Koenig to relay that information to Mr. Vasuki Hiraesave at DelDOT, seconded by Mr. Pitts and unanimously carried.
Update - Traffic Study SR1/SR8
Mr. Laing informed members that the SR1/SR8 working group would be meeting at 7:00 p.m. tonight at the DelDOT Administration Building. Mr. Ruane stated that he had not received a notice of the meeting.
North Street and State Street Intersection Study
During their Regular Meeting of June 24, 2003, members discussed the issue of congestion in the area near the intersection of North and State Streets and possible solutions, such as installing signs restricting left-hand turns from both directions onto North Street during certain times of the day. Noting that such action may have an adverse effect on downtown businesses and that the traffic appears to be worse when the State and County workers leave, members agreed that DelDOT should be requested to perform a traffic count.
Staff contacted Mr. James Clacher of DelDOT regarding the request for a traffic study at the intersection of North and State Streets. Mr. Clacher responded that the location actually had two (2) turning point conflicts; one at the intersection and the other at the Mellon Bank entrance. He suggested the possibility of adding signalized left-turns and explained that, due to the narrowness of both roads and the intersection, concurrent left-turns would not be possible; however, a lead-lag operation or a single direction left-turn could work. Mr. Clacher recommended that a turning movement count should be conducted and coordination adjustments would have to be made. He also noted that the pedestal mounted signals would not support changing to a five section signal display. Mr. Clacher suggested that another option would be restricting left-turns during specific time periods.
Responding to Mr. Ornauer, Mr. Koenig stated that DelDOT did not have hour-by-hour figures for the intersection since the hoses would have to be bolted down and they didn’t want to bolt into the brickwork. He noted that the stacking at the intersection of Loockerman and State Streets would also have to be considered.
Mr. DePrima suggested installing the signs restricting turns to see how many complaints were received. He noted that the same approach was used on Bradford Street and Governors Avenue and, once a sufficient number of complaints were received, the restrictions were removed. Mr. Laing cautioned that motorists could become confused by signs going up and then coming back down.
Mr. DePrima recommended that he and Mr. Koenig work together to determine the appropriate time periods then send a notice to property owners within the four (4) block area indicating their intention to restrict left-turns and requesting their comments, either in favor of or opposed to the idea.
The committee took no further action.
Signalization
Mr. DePrima informed members that, according to Teresa Lewandowski of DelDOT, the design phase, which will include the acquisition of easements, will take one (1) year and will begin this fall. The preliminary work, including the bidding process, will take six (6) months and then it will take another 18 months to complete construction.
NEXT MEETING DATE
The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 16, 2003 at 5:00 p.m.
Mr. Ruane requested members to review the Transportation Section of the draft Comprehensive Plan and provide him with any suggested revisions prior to the review scheduled for August 12, 2003 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Mr. Ornauer expressed concern that their previous comments had not been included in the draft. Mr. Lee stated that they would insert the prioritization list in the appropriate section.
Mr. Pitts moved for adjournment, seconded by Mr. Ritter and unanimously carried.
Meeting Adjourned at 6:35 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Eugene B. Ruane
Chairman
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Attachments to Original Minutes and File Copy
Attachment #1 - Prioritization of City Transportation Projects (as amended)