City of Denton MINUTES  City Hall 2151 E. McKinney Street Denton, Texas www.ciyoldenton.com  TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMISSION  DENTON Monday, April1,2019  5:30pm  City Council Work Session Room  After determining that a quorum oft the Traffic Safety Commission of the City of Denton, Texas is present, the Chair of the Traffic Safety Commission will thereafter convene into an open meeting on Monday, Apil1,2019at5:38) p.m. int the Council Work Session Room at City Hall,215 E. McKinney Street, Denton, Commissioners: Chair, Patrice Lyke; Vice Chair, Daniel Krutka; Clay Thurmond, and Kevin Sample Staff Members: Pritam Deshmukh, Deputy City Engineer/City Traffic Engineer; Stephanie Berry, Lead Prosecutor; Tracy Beck, Senior Engineer; Robin Davis, Program Manager; and Becky Owens,  Texas  Administrative Assistant REGULAR MEETING  C. TSC19-019 Receive a report and hold a discussion regarding identified intersections with poor Pritam Deshmukh provided an overview of the request. There are two list of intersections. The first looks at intersections brought to the attention of staff through concerned residents and commission and council members. The primary focus is at night when things are not well lite. This list has about 15 intersections. There is a cluster around Carroll, Oak and Hickory. There was an incident at Hickory and Carroll involving a pedestrian. We discovered the lighting at this location is very low and the width ofC Carroll is very wide and we need to improve the lighting. As part of our recommendations, we are requesting higher watt LED lights to be installed to help illuminate it appropriately and we are looking at the signal timing to help pedestrians. At Mulberry and Carroll we added a pedestrian phase for connectivity. We will continue working towards enhancing safety at the other locations as funds become available. The second list or cluster we. looked at was around University Drive. It was recently widened by TxDOT. As a result, some of the intersection crossings have become very wide. It has become an issue crossing a six (6) lane divided facility versus the previous smaller street configuration. The Malone and Alice streets have been highlighted and included in the list. As part of the University Drive project, wel had asked' TxDOT to install appropriate lighting at these intersections. Some ofthem were installed or updated and others were viewed by TxDOT as not needed or had utility conflicts. We are continuing to work with them and with our own Denton Municipal Electric engaged in adding additional poles and lighting as necessary. The second set or list ofsixteen are based on accident reports from Police Department data. We selected dark not lighted as a query option for this data collection. Some of these are related to visibility and are TxDOT locations. We will need to coordinate with TxDOT for additional lighting they can add or we can add or come up with aj partnership. This is our start with these initial listi identifying locations we havei identified purely focused on the lighting aspect. Thisi is not related to overall safety and there is another item coming up later on the agenda. Patrice Lyke asked with the wattage increase plans, will we continue to keep the lights as high on the poles. Ini intersections where the lighting is closer to the ground it provides more ofa visual interrupter to cars and shines more directly on the potential walkers and cyclist. Is there a plan to make it more pedestrian oriented? Pritam Deshmukh responded with comments about another project on Hickory  illumination from citizen concerns and historical crash data.    where we are looking at installing pedestrian level lighting throughout the entire corridor to Carroll Blvd. This will help adjust the driver focus as they approach the intersection it create better visibility with consistent lighting. Other slowing mechanisms are being considered as part of the master thoroughfare plan. There are pros and cons and we have to determine whether Carroll will be a vehicle mover or part of our complete streets downtown system. We can continue with the visual sense and effects but not the physical barriers or lane reduction. We can look at the options for additional monuments, signs or landmarks at Hickory and Oak at Carroll to highlight the directions of the Downtown Square and UNT. The signal lights have recently be synchronized through this area. Clay Thurmond again highlighted the intersection of Alice and US 380 as being problematic as a cyclist and a driver. Itis an oddly configured intersection unlike others int the city. The use of flashing crossing lights is designed for mid-block crossings, not intersections. Lighting will help pedestrians to be seen and cars to see the intersection better and improve safety. A variety of options were discussed as potential safety measure improvement possibilities but there are numerous challenges with many ofthe The area of Fulton and Egan was also reviewed with a visual street view map and the present lighting. D. TSC19-020 Receive a report and hold discussion about the current traffic calming efforts and the plan to develop a traffic calming policy to ensure ai fair and clear process on the selection of City funded Pritam Deshmukh stated at this time the City does not have ai traffic calming policy. We need to set up the framework for citizens to request studies and traffic calming device implementation within their neighborhoods and residential streets. The current process begins with a two week survey for speed where we assess the 85th percentile speed limit. Ifthe result is that people are moving faster than they should, PD goes moves in to enforce it fora couple ofr months. Then they follow up with two weeks of data collection for the resulting impact. Education components are added to flash the posted limit and the current driving speed. If there is a continued problem, PD will contact the Traffic Engineering Department and the City will have to go through the process of reviewing the data to formulate The City is currently working with a couple of neighborhoods to implement traffic calming devices. One is the Lakeview from US 380 transitioning south to Trinity and then to McKinney where they are having serious issues. There is a neighborhood north of Mills road to US 380 seeing traffic at 40-45 mph passing through the neighborhood street. There is a development project on McKinney where the Developer has promised doing some improvements along Lakeview and providing some funding for the City to move forward with this project. A map oft the area was shown with location reference to the coordination by the City with the HOA for resident approval. Thej plans include four (4) traffic circles and several speed humps withl breaks for emergency vehiclesa and pavement markings. Weare currently in design and will do with temporary bolt down curbs and backfill within the island and install the bolt down speed cushions. The temporary installations will allow us to see how or ifit works well for the Thistle Hill is another neighborhood we have worked with between Hickory Creek and Ryan Road. There is no clear connection between these streets. Motorists find the neighborhood streets to useasa cut through. In response to the resident concerns we collected speed data, traffic count and other information and held neighborhood meeting to discuss options. Four (4) locations were chosen for speed cushions to slow traffic and were agreed to by the residents. The City has also added signage and striping in these areas. This is a new process for the city and we are working through it to draft ta policy. The most important step is coordinating with the residents to determine the type of calming  intersections with space on the ground and overhead.  We will work with DME to improve the lighting ini this area.  projects for traffic calming.  recommendations and funding for implementation of changes.  residents before they become permanent in the future.    device that is chosen, may work or fit better focusing on the community outreach efforts to ensure the residents are fully engaged. There is al lot ofe education and enforcement that comes first before we get tot this step. The city will set up the policy and present to the committee before taking it to council. Patrice Lyke thought traffic calming was aj part ofthe development code for new neighborhoods. Pritam Deshmukh confirmed the Transportation Criteria Manual has the traffic calming requirements to be included or built in for new developments. This particular development includes some traffic calming devices. Minor adjustments were made through the signage and striping to make them more visible and get people to start slowing down. The requirements have since changed for newer developments also. The width ofthe roads were also discussed in comparison for older sub-divisions versus the newer: areas. We have moved from the really wide roads in some of the older areas oft town to the newer ai narrower streets. The end result has been people are parking on both sides oft the street creating issues with the fire lane. The recent changes to the criteria manual was to help ensure that we are not designing them to wide or two skinny but still have enough space for parking on both sides and accessibility for emergency equipment. The size of the City's fire trucks was raised in comparison of all fire trucks. The argument that we are designing all oft the streets to fit fire trucks versus designing fire trucks to fit all ofour streets was also shared by Daniel Krutka. Pritam Deshmukh estimated they would be standard sizes but would provide a formal response in follow-up. Stephanie Barry noted there has been a real situation with ai real person within the city where the fire truck had to take an alternate route or method  ofaccess through the neighborhood. Truck size issues are being looked into.  E. TSC19-021 Receive a report and hold discussion regarding historical crash data exported from the Pritam Deshmukh shared the Police department data of 2018 was reviewed to identify the top intersections with 20 or more crashes and 10 are listed in today'sreport. These are all on large arterials. Maps were: shown to reference the locations through presentation. The next step will be to identify what types of crashes and start analyzing individual intersections versus the whole corridor. There will be different types of crashes and we will work toi identify the similarities, causes, and potential corrective  TxDOT CRIS Query.  actions we can implement quickly.  A. TSC19-017 Consider the approval of the Traffic Safety Commission meeting minutes of March 4,  2019.  Clay Thurmond made ai motion. Daniel Krutka seconded the motion. The Traffic Safety Commission Recommends approval oft the minutes (4-0).  B. TSC19-018 Receive a report, hold discussion and provide staff direction regarding a proposal to modify the traffic pattern on Avenue A and Mulberry Street from two-way to one-way. Marc Oliphant presented aj proposal for the one-way conversion of Ave A and Mulberry Streets related to the Hickory Street Area with area maps and aerials displayed for reference in the presentation. The additional parking spaces were shown as an overlay. This plan will change the bus route through this areai redirecting them to Welch with the road diet and restriping plans. The draft plan was presented to the various stakeholders to discuss the positives and the negatives. Ofall the options for accommodating al bike lanes on Hickory, this was the least hated and actually warmly received by some. An overview ofthe concerns and staff responses was shown in the slide presentation. Itis believed that for many,    this new design will be an improvement. The police have been advocating for some type of additional traffic calming and changes in this area. Staffi is hoping this one way conversion can be found pleasing to the various groups charged with reviewing this type of plan and that we can accommodate Option 2 which was the preferred option ofthis group in February. Itis also ai favorite oft the cycling community and yet we can still keep parking within a reasonable distance ofthese businesses keeping most oft the There was a brief discussion about the consideration of reverse angle parking with the newly created Pritam Deshmukh provided the schedule plan for the section between Avenue B: and Welch to start. June 1. The section from Welch to Carroll is still in design and will happen later this year. This change would be worked in conjunction with the elimination of parking spaces on Hickory and the bike lane goingi in as a combined project. As far as Mulberry connecting to the square, we are planning on putting Daniel Krutka asked about additional consideration for the dumpsters on Mulberry. Pritam Deshmukh commented we will collect additional information from Solid Waste and provide a response. Alejandro Galindo-Juarez a resident at 425 Fulton Street spoke in support of this item. Although he was unable to attend the public meeting at Voertman's, requested information as to how the direction ofthe one-way was selected and why the bike lane was not included as an item on this agenda. It was Charles Browning a resident at 2324 Georgetown Drive spoke in support of this item. He notes improved safety for cyclist with the elimination ofthe potential right hook accident and the concerns of the merchants with the additional parking that would be lost with the Option 2 bike lane plan. Not that he wants these plans to slow down but would ask for the consideration ofa adding a no right turn on red at this point. This is a very sharp angle turn and motorist tend to sneak out to make the right turn on red onto Hickory. This is a downhill for cyclist an easy for them to reach the 20 mph speed limit Susie Rumohr a resident at 1700 Crescent Street spoke in support of this item. She asked for consideration of cyclist heading south on Fry Street going straight through the intersection to Avenue A tol have some type of contraflow whether it is on the sidewalk or lane, to get cyclist to the university service road through campus regardless if there is a bike lane on Welch. In addition, she further confirmed Charles request for the no right turn on red from Avenue A going north onto Hickory. She further confirmed her experience as a driver in a cari it is sometimes difficult to see the oncoming traffic and is guilty of creeping forward to make the turn as he described and potentially blocking a crosswalk and possible the bike lane. She again stated bikers can be going 20 mph on this downhill easily and it isr really hard to avoid a crash if something suddenly happens, She is hopeful that having the no right on red could keep people in cars a little further behind the stop bar not blocking the cross walk or the Daniel Krutka asked in follow-up to the citizen comments ifit had been considered having a bike lane continue around through Avenue A instead of the added parking. He feels there is one flawed assumption. Iti is the one al lot of merchants have. He knows this is Denton, Texas and a lot of people don't live in urban areas and not used to urban design but the constant worrying about your business with only parking spaces is unfounded. People are: not going to park here to go to their businesses. We already know they didn't park on the street there to go to your businesses. We recently did a study where 90% of people did not go to the business they parked in front of. People a block away are not even going there. Ifyou pull this map out there is parking everywhere all over Denton. The thing is in  parties happy.  spaces and the safety aspect for cyclist.  in aj path on Sycamore as a full blown multi-use trail all the way past the square.  noted the bike lane had already been approved by this committee.  and people in cars are: not always aware ofh how fast cyclist can go.  bike lane.    his opinion is, ifwe build these streets the right way with urban design, these areas will become better, get more business and succeed. These are public streets and not in the suburbs. They don't get guaranteed parking spaces for every business. We have to do what is best for the common good. We always appease in this area the businesses who demand cars without any evidence that it is helping the businesses. Iti is a false assumption based on suburban design principals. As we are hearing these discussions, we are losing a big option. We are taking something away from cyclist and we don'thave a good solution for it. We are doing it for a reason that he does not feel is benefiting the merchants Ini follow-up to these discussions and the suggestions presented, Patrice Lyke asked if the no right on red could be added to the design or do we have to go through aj process. Pritam Deshmukh commented Marc Oliphant responded to some oft the questions asked through the discussions also. One reason we picked the one way direction presented was in consideration of one oft the most common and dangerous vehicle bicycle accidents is called the right hook as previously mentioned. Ifvehicles are going down Hickory they would be crossing the bike lane to turn onto Avenue A creating that danger. We avoid that by only allowing traffic in the other direction. It was also matter of convenience to mirror the diagonal parking on Avenue A. We will need to talk with UNT about the sidewalk bike lane idea for the wider 15ft sidewalk. There is a wide pipeline for non-motorized travelers to get through here that we can talk to UNT about as aj possibility for cyclist heading south from Fry Street as a potential cycle track to get into campus. On the agenda, because the Traffic Safety Commission had already given their endorsement for building the bicycle lane on Hickory Street, we did not call it out separately. We do want to call it out somewhat independently. Itdoes have merit independent ofthe bike lane question Kevin Sample asked questions about an additional signal and the timing of the current signals. Pritam Deshmukh commented there is no opposing traffic and this is technically a bend and a light is not warranted. There has been previous operation timing review by PD and the signal at Hickory and Marc Oliphant mentioned we are proposing a bump out that will be a visual reminder for south bound Fry Street traffic to not go straight because the lane will end at the extended curb. There will also be a Clay Thurmond made a motion to accept the proposed one way direction on Avenue A with the recommendation to City Council of no right on red and exploration ofthe contraflow bicycle lane on  anyway.  that we can look at this as wej proceed with the real design and no data is required.  because it had not come to the Traffic Safety Commission yet.  Fry/Avenue A has detectors and will adjust the timing based on volume needs.  shorter distance that pedestrians are crossing.  the: sidewalk entering the UNT campus. Kevin Sample seconded the motion. The Traffic Safety Commission approved the recommendation. (4-0).  F. TSC19-022 Staff Reports 1. Street Construction Report  Some of the TxDOT projects are moving along well. Traffic is now on the new bridges over the Loop and Brinker. Currently the schedule to open the Brinker under pass is May/June connecting to the southbound frontage road. This will allow traffic to shift from the Loop to Brinker. There  will be temporary signals at the frontage roads both north and south bound.    2. Matrix  We have begun to address Items 2, 10 and 11 and will continue to provide updates. #6- We willl keep it on the list until it is complete. Itis essentially in design right now. #8- Was requested by. Jim Owen. We did not request UNT to attend tonight. We are planning to coordinate to have this on the agenda for May with information about enforcement and Patrice Lyke commented on the parking. When we temporarily remove paid parking from the UNTarea, the main impetus for thel business owners to protest the park mobile with the removal oft the meters was the price. Park Mobile allows anybody to adjust the parking rate that they want. Denton uses really high rates as compared to other big Park Mobile Users. IfDenton wanted to use this, it appears that you can chose the rate you want. Ifturnover is your goal, you do not have to go with some of the original rates that we were maybe looking at. Understandably we would have to be able to pay somebody to do the ticketing and calculate the breakeven point and may involve the inter-local agreement details with the university. She confirmed her request tol have aj parking rate discussion added to the UNT agenda item and for Kevin Sample requested a review of the traffic signal timing, lane closures and the work Patrice Lyke also asked a question regarding sidewalk in older areas where the sidewalk intersects with a curb cut to a parking lot and there is no ramp or transition and they are not compliant. There is a space like this Congress and Elm and a couple of places on Hickory. Will there be a time where those in the older areas when the sidewalk design standards did not require ADA compliance are scheduled forreview: and updates? Pritam Deshmukh commented we are currently developing on an ADA transition plan and data collection is in process. The data should be available for first review in) May. Aj plan will be based on the report information and the scope of work will be used to create a schedule plan and funding resources. All new construction should be compliant with the current standards. Marc Oliphant highlighted the newly formed Committee on Persons with Disabilities which held its first meeting in February. This month the ADA transition plan will be presented. Prioritizing of projects will be vetted based on the descriptive area needs and the new committee will be reviewing them for Daniel Krutka noted UNT is finishing up the new Welcome Center and that area will probably start getting more foot traffic. On Eagle Drive there are no sidewalks leading to this location and there are disconnected or no existing sidewalks on Avenue B. Marc Oliphant added the City is working on ai request for Avenue C and Maple with UNT and an inter-local agreement Another area near the old El Guapo and Zoom-Zoom location on Prairie Street there are no Marc Oliphant noted we dol keep ai running list of sidewalk requests and we can add this. There is not a consistent funding source but when they do come available they are ready to be considered. There is talk ofaj potential bond in the future. Pritam Deshmukh also shared there is a drainage project to box in the drainage channel on the south side boxing it completely  getting some data.  them to consider.  schedule timing in the Teasley Lane construction area.  recommendation to council.  isre required.  sidewalks between Locust and Elm.    underground. As part of that project, we have an easement and it should be easy to put a Patrice Lyke brought up Carroll Blvd as a topic of discussion. She finds Carroll to be a psychological as well as physical barrier between the neighborhoods on the west side and the square, City Hall and everything on the east side. Wel have places we can cross. Hickory and Mulberry have signals. After that, youl have all oft the businesses and apartments and there are no other signal crosswalks until you get to Eagle to the south. As you travel to the north, there isa signal at Congress but after that you have Egan and Panhandle and then nothing up to Crescent for the next signal location. These arel huge barriers and gigantic expanses ofCarroll Blvd that have sidewalks but you are not supposed to cross except at a signalized crosswalk. She feels that now more people walk and bike and we prioritize vehicles all the way down Carroll Blvd to the detriment ofl keeping those neighborhoods permeable. There should be sO much more interconnectivity between the neighborhoods on the north and businesses and neighborhoods and amenities on the east side but we make it really difficult. She asked the Pritam Deshmukh responded that hot signals could be options at some of these intersections that can be started just for pedestrians. These are purely for pedestrians. They remain green for traffic ift there is no one crossing. There are similar locations on Teasley these could also Clay Thurmond asked if Highland ever got a protected bike lane. Marc Oliphant responded that we are going to be cooperating with UNT in a cost sharing agreement. This has been slowed down by the requirement to do an inter-local agreement between the City and UNTI but Hinkle is another area where a protected bike lane was also planned as a demonstration protected bike lane. Itis dependent on the drainage and street construction work completion.  sidewalk on1 top ofit.  question, what can we do about that?  be utilized.  iti is ini the works. We will take it through council quickly.  Adjournment: 7:25 PM CONCLUDINGI ITEMS  Under Section 551.042 of the Texas Open Meetings Act, respond to inquiries from the Public Utilities Board or the public with specific factual information or recitation of policy, or accept aj proposal to place the matter on the agenda for an upcoming meeting AND Under Section 551.0415 of the Texas Open Meetings Act, provide reports about items ofcommunity interest regarding which no action will be taken, toi include: expressions ofthanks, congratulations, or condolence; information regarding holiday schedules; anl honorary or salutary recognition ofa a public official, public employee, or other citizen; a reminder about an upcoming event organized or sponsored by the governing body; information regarding a social, ceremonial, or community event organized or sponsored by an entity other than the governing body that was attended ori is scheduled to be attended by a member of the governing body or an official or employee of the municipality; or an announcement involving an imminent threat to the public health and safety of  people in the municipality that has arisen after the posting of the agenda    APPROVED  < Patricetyke PDL Chair  huyplhse Becky Owens Administrative Assistant