City of Denton MINUTES  City Hall 215E. McKinney Street Denton, Texas www.ciyoldenton.com  TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMISSION  DENTON  Thursday, December 13, 2018  5:30pm  City Council Work Session Room  After determining that a quorum ofthe Traffic Safety Commission oft the City of] Denton, Texas is present, the Chair of the Traffic Safety Commission will thereafter convene into an open meeting on Thursday, December 13, 2018 at 5:33 p.m. in the Council Work Session Room at City Hall, 215E E. McKinney Street, Commissioners: Chair, Patrice Lyke; Vice Chair, Daniel Krutka; Jim Owen, Jeff King, Clay Thurmond, Staff Members: Pritam Deshmukh, City Traffic Engineer; Stephanie Berry, Deputy City Attorney; Tracy  Denton, Texas  and Melissa Carr  Beck, Engineer; Becky Owens, Review Technician  REGULAR MEETING  Public member Lee Capps introduced himselfa as aj participant in several citizenship activities as a resident at 915 W. Oak Street. After providing a handout referencing previous agenda item TSC18-0022 from the May agenda he asked for a definition of quiet zone. What is it and how quiet is it expected to be? Pritam Deshmukh responded that quiet zone does not mean quiet or no sound quiet. According to the Federal Rail Road Administration law requires any at-grade crossing requires the Engineer to sound the horni ifthey see anything within 20 feet oft the track. Lee Capps askedi lifthere is no visible necessity for the horn to be sounded, will it be quiet, meaning speakers or other audible signals as described in the previous recommendations. The supplemental measures for the four locations identified do not require way side horns. It was understood that other than requirements determined by the Engineer, it would be quiet but Gary Dickens introduced himself and requested to speak on Agenda Item TSC18-0051. Patrice Lyke suggested he wait until after the item was presented for the commission to review and hold a discussion for A. TSC18-047 Consider the approval of the Traffic Safety Commission meeting minutes of  not silent.  his presentation.  November 5, 2018.  Melissa Carr made a motion. Clay Thurmond seconded the motion  The' Traffic Safety Commission Recommends approval of the minutes (6-0).  B. TSC18-048 Receive a report and hold a discussion regarding collaboration with Texas Woman's University (TWU) Campus Master Plan and the City's infrastructure needs with respect to the expected closure of Bell Avenue to traffic operations between Chapel Drive and Texas Street. Pritam Deshmukh noted this meeting is normally held the first Monday of the month but was moved this month because the City was having aj joint meeting with City, the Mayor and Chancellor ofTWU for collaborative efforts with the University on a quarterly basis. The University would like to see if    Bell Avenue can be shut down due to the pedestrian traffic and the new. housing addition to the campus as part of their overall masterplan. Pritam shared an overview presentation on the City's perspective from that meeting on the impacts, methodology, analysis and cost for mitigation options as well as Jim Owen asked ifthe A-Train extension to the campus could be made part ofthe traffic study. Pritam responded that we can and wel havel had conversations with DCTA but there is no substantial movement int that particular aspect. There is a conceptual alternative in TWU'smasterplan. IfTWUincludes: it in Melissa Carr shared a citizen concern. If the road is closed, will it be open to pedestrians and bikes? Pritam responded yes. Melissa Carr asked, ifit cannot be closed, what are the plans to improve bicycle accommodations between College Street and University all the way to Windsor? Currently the bike Pritam Deshmukh reviewed the current design and the shared use area. The goal is to convert this area to a more bike and pedestrian friendly area and keep the traffic out eventually when the study is complete. Int the interim once the roundabouts are put in, this area will be a combined flow area. Daniel Krutka commented from his past experience in this central area of campus, the street moves very slowly because the lanes are narrow and there are lots of things to look at and be aware of. Itis particularly the downhill moving out ofthis main area that the roundabout would be a great way to slow things down. He is not opposed ifTWU decides to move forward with the street closure plans but agrees there is already a strong sense ofa awareness by drivers to reduce speeds in the central areas. Patrice. Lyker noted there had been a fatality accident at the bottom oft the hill where the road widens and ar roundabout is proposed. Daniel Krutka also noted a previous concerns had been brought forward and Patrice Lyke asked if his would be a roundabout or a traffic circle. Pritam Deshmukh responded the ultimate goal is for a roundabout. We have talked to TWU and Texas Street is a perfect location and the University has adequate space to convert the approaches into a roundabout. TWU is looking at completing the study by next summer. In the interim we will be working on the cost for the temporary bolt down curb option. Once people get familiar with it and used toi it, it can be removed and relocated Clay Thurman asked where the north bound traffic would divert to ift the street is closed. Would that probably be Oakland? Pritam Deshmukh responded there are couple of things to consider for cut through traffic. Consideration is being given to widen Ruddell to a four lane street between University andl Mingo. TWUI has ai major entrance to the campus off Ruddell ini their ultimate master plan. Oakland might also be used as an alternate route. Clay Thurman added there will be aj parking garage there and would the closure be loading that street with additional traffic. Pritam Deshmukh added the study will determine that. Oakland currently has on street parking available. Ifwe need the capacity in the future and are diverting additional traffic what are the changes we would need there. Do we get rid of on street parking or how do we compensate for the particular problem and provide more capacity on Oakland Clay Thurman asked if there was aj plan to connect the north and south segments of Ruddell. Pritam  interim calming measures.  their masterplan we will include it ini the study.  lane ends at College Street.  lighting was also a factor.  for re-use in another area.  with additional lanes?  Deshmukh stated there is aCIP project currently in design.    Clay Thurman asked if Pertain would be closed when Ruddell is connected. Pritam Deshmukh noted one ofthe options is to connecti it back into Ruddell and two crossings would be eliminated leaving only  one crossing with the new. Ruddell segment. This item is for discussion only, no vote is needed.  C. TSC18-049 Receive a report hold discussion and make recommendation to City Council for approval of ordinance to restrict on-street parking along the east side of Bernard Street from Pritam Deshmukh stated there had been several concerns received from residents and Mayor Pro-tem Ryan about this particular segment illustrated on the map. Currently the majority oftraffic entering this neighborhood uses this street. Currently parking is restricted on both sides of Acme because iti isa very narrow street. When cars are parked on both sides of Bernard there is less than 20: feet to pass through. Ifcars come from opposing directions one has to back out into a driveway or open space. Willowwood isr no parking on either side of the street. It has been looked at in accordance with the fire code if you have between 22 and 32 feet of street you are only allowed to park on one side. Fire code requires a minimum of201 feet clear with a 61 foot minimum parking lane. This small segment is aj perfect candidate for restricted parking. Ifj parking is restricted the fire lane requirements are met and will alleviate the safety concerns from the neighbors. Staffis recommending commission approval and recommendation to council to restrict parking on the east side where the majority of the frontage is commercial with Melissa Carr asked where would these cars go or what options are available. Pritam Deshmukh reiterated this is a highly used traffic path for the neighborhood as a main connector for the neighborhood. Itonly effects fivei to six residences. Additional on street parking is allowed to the south where the street increases in width. This is only applicable to this short segment of] Bernard. All ofthe  Willowwood Street and Acme Street.  private on site parking.  property owners. have been notified with letters and door hangers with no feedback.  Jim Owen made a motion. Melissa Carr seconded the motion.  The Traffic Safety Commission Recommends approval of the amendment to the agreement (6-0) D. TSC18-051 Receive a report hold discussion and make recommendation to City Council for approval of ordinance to restrict on-street parking along the west side of Hinkle Street between Pritam Deshmukh stated when the AIS was written, the neighborhood meeting which was held last night (December 12th) for the Hinkle Drive drainage improvement project along Hinkle and on Windsor to include re-paving the streets. A public meeting was held for this project and was combined with the new: residential development going in on the south west corner of Windsor and Hinkle. Feedback was received from residents opposing the restricted parking on Hinkle. This information was unknown when the AIS was prepared and would ask the commissioners to consider this. We can hold this item for an additional review or we can withdraw any recommendation request for council to restrict parking. Therel have also been several concerns about the bicycle lane and pavement markings on Hinkle and the pavement is in poor condition. There have been a lot of citizen concerns about the confusion with the pavement markings with the on street parking, bike lane and multiple driving lane markings. We have looked at the current utilization oft the on street parking and the usage is minimal. All except one ofthe residential corners have cross street frontage access parking. The whole idea was to create buffered  Windsor Drive and University Drive.    bike lines on both sides of the street remove parking and have two travel lanes. Given the feedback from the neighborhood meeting we are open tol having additional discussions to determine if parking is Patrice Lyke asked for an estimate on how many people attended the neighborhood meeting. Pritam Deshmukh responded about 50-60 space was packed, well attended. Feedback was received from 4-5 Greg Dickens introduced himself as a resident living at 1201 Amherst Drive. He was opposed to the restricted on street parking ofHinkle. Both he and his cross street neighbor frequently park on Hinkle and believe ift the pavement markings were clear this would not be aj problem. Amherst is a very busy cross street because people use it to get off of University and currently parking is allowed and does occur on both sides of the street. His residence has a unique corner situation where there is no legal parking frontage on Amherst because ofthe proximity oft the driveway, mail box and stop sign locations Daniel Krutka asked how far away visitors would have to park ifs street parking was restricted on Hinkle. Greg Dickens responded two or three house down the street or across the street in the theater lot, however that is no legal because they are not customers or patrons oft the retail businesses or church. Daniel Krutka also questioned whether the city has ever been able to negotiate with a private or commercial parking lot to allow parking as an option. Pritam Deshmukh replied that he was not aware ofany agreements with private parking lots. Itbecomes a liability issue and safety issue. Afterre reviewing the street view images, Daniel Krutka asked ifthe swoopy corner curve was eliminated, ity would allow the stop sign to be moved 5-6 feet closer to the Hinkle street edge creating potential parking space. Pritam Deshmukh responded the swoopy curve is consistent with our standards to Patrice Lyke share comments entered by Gail Garber a resident at 1200 Meadow Ridge who did not want to speak but to opposing concern shared. Ms. Garber noted "Parking is used more during summer and day time than now. Ifreviewing now and in the evening is not a good comp to use as data that is relevant. I personally have used parking on Hinkle multiple times an all my work crews at my house use parking. Also both Good Sam and Brookdale have used the street parking in the last 2 months. Patrice Lyke commented that she has personally spent time on her bike on Hinkle. It appears that it is two different eco systems. Wel have the area where the houses are and the stretch where cars speed up. There has been a cycling fatality years ago on Hinkle. She is wondering we could think in terms of bifurcating the treatment of Hinkle. On the northern part get the treatment that we are talking about with removing parking, protected bike lanes. The section next to the residential areas there would be some natural traffic calming with cars parking in the street. Ifyou are going to follow the rules and not park in front of the stop sign then those houses would lose significant parking on the streets that they Pritam Deshmukh noted yesterday'smeeting included the large residential development going in on the north end. There will be residential on both sides of the north section and will change character soon and may require parking on Hinkle. The developer is putting in sidewalks on Hinkle. Setbacks would Tracy Becki introduce herself as a resident in the area at 611 Magnolia. She attended the neighborhood meeting that they anticipated was going to be about the long awaited capital improvements project. There were a couple of people that were veryi interested ini the new development. Many ofthe residents  required or should be allowed for staffto work in that direction.  meeting participants indicating the parking is needed.  relative to the corner.  provide the minimum turning radius for larger vehicles.  front.  be part of the planning function. This will bel NR-3 with an overlay.    saw what was originally Fireside senior has now become Fireside a new development which is traditional NR-3. Iti is 107 homes on approximately 30+/- acres which would be 3 homes per acre. There is onsite detention which also takes up some common area. The residents have seen two different Fireside projects. They are confused as to which one is coming in because they have the same name but are with two different developers, two totally different entities spanning a couple of years. One of the points of this development is they have one point of access on Hinkle aligning with Mimosa as proposed. The project has been approved. It has gone through plating and zoning and is under construction. Thet traffic study did not suggest anything significant. Because the development switched from senior to traditional development, there will be more traffic and a second access point was opened up on the north side to allow traffic to exit in the west direction back towards Rayzor and I-35 as far away from the neighbors on Hinkle as possible. The second drive is as far south as possible for anyone not going north have the least impact to all of the neighborhoods. The roadway cross sections for roadways were changed during the design phase oft this development and on street parking is restricted and could overflow onto Hinkle. It was brought upi in the meeting last night that Brookdale on occasion for family visitation events also overflows onto Hinkle for parking. It is possible that with the Good Sam construction activities there may be some on street parking for equipment or vehicles parking on the road but they do have sufficient parking. There are opportunities to review because ofinformation received in the neighborhood meeting we were not aware of at the time this recommendation was initially made that citizens have helped us to understand. We are continuing to explore traffic calming Clay Thurmond asked to clarify the main point of access is directly across from Mimosa. Tracy confirmed this is the only connection on Hinkle and there are no others to the north towards Windsor. Ifthere are no homes fronting Hinkle, why would they need to have parking on Hinkle as an option? Tracy Beck stated therei is no on street parking within the neighborhood because of the road widths and Daniel Krutka expressed an interest in whether or not residents would actually utilize Hinkle as an option for parking overflow and does not want to totally lose the bike lane opportunity on Hinkle. Pritam Deshmukh said that we can still accommodate both. There is an area to the north that is scheduled tol be updated through aj parks project that will also have aj parking lot internally. The Hinkle street parking would also allow for event overflow parking within walking distance. Currently parking iso only available on the west side of Hinkle but bike lanes are available on both sides. The striping is Daniel Krutka questioned the possibility for two way bike lane next to each other. Pritam Deshmukh said iti isa aj possible option but one oft the issues is the expectations at driveways and intersections. They Patrice Lyke commented this all, meaning the new construction project and parking appear to still be up in the air or an open item. Pritam Deshmukh commented based on the new comments and information we: may need toj pursue other options and goi in a different direction and may not come back Patrice Lyke further noted that with the new development and road way and drainage improvement plans there will be some creative ideas to really protect and maintain the bike lanes. Clay Thurmond added this would be a good option to create a demonstration project for future bicycle infrastructure. Pritam Deshmukh agreed this could be done in coordination of the storm drain and street improvement  options for Hinkle.  Hinkle would be an overflow option.  scheduled tol be cleaned up or updated with the future construction plans.  require extensive signage and education components and are much more involved.  to1 request the restriction of parking on Hinkle.  projects.  This item is for discussion only, no votei is needed.    E. TSC18-053 Staff] Reports and Matrix Review  Pritam Deshmukh requested to close some of the older items brought forward and remove them Remove #2 -This is almost wrapped up as reviewed inl P&Z. Patrice Lyke commented it has been moved from Council. It was approved was approved byl P &Z6-0. Itwas scheduled to got to council on Tuesday, December 18th but has been removed from the agenda. Perhaps it will be back on the agenda in January. Pritam Deshmukh further noted they were working on several options for Remove #3 - The city has worked with TxDOT and installed a temporary signal and a pedestrian signal. We are continuing to work with the ISD, school principal and TxDOT to monitor the Remove #6 - This is already on a list as 2018 sidewalk package currently under design scheduled Remove #8 - A presentation was made and discussion held to clarify why and why not. #9- - Enforcement has been contacted. Community Services will monitor for compliance. We are #10 - We are looking at tabs or other temporary paint. The project is under design and should go to construction in the next three to four months. Winter months present some hurdles per temperature tolerances for painting. Part ofthisi is lighting. There was ai resident meeting organized by Daniel Krutka. Part of the response was regarding four intersections that were. low in lighting. We are looking at a minimum ofimproving the intensity of the bulbs as a start and then looking at the feasibility of other locations to install new lights. A presentation of a light study for the feasibility for lighting along US 380 between I-35 and Mayhill was recently made to Council. The direction received was to move forward with design. Morei information will be presented at a future Daniel Krutka gave props to Keely Briggs, District 2 and Gerald Hudspeth District 1 for an impromptu meeting for attention after a pedestrian was involved in a hit and run accident at the Hickory and Carroll intersection. It was very constructive with a lot of ideas for planning. Two areas were identified as problematic. One is Oak to Mulberry on Carroll to slow traffic and then Patrice Lyke commented that often times due to the infrastructure that pedestrians appear small in the scale of the elements and the height of the lighting. Perhaps simply bringing it down could increase the span of the projected lighting in highlighting pedestrians and cyclist. We are continuing to work on the rest oft the items and will provide progress updates as needed. Daniel Krutka shared that some of these items do take time for the corrective measures to be implemented. With that in mind the Sushi business referenced in #71 has since gone out oft business. A new reference point was named as the Upper Park Café. Pritam Deshmukh noted that we are looking at designing and implementing ADA compliant ramps. We are conducting an ADA transition plan that will include this. That plan will identify cost and prioritize highly active areas  from the list and then review those to bring forward.  parking.  operations for pedestrians.  for construction in late spring or early summer.  working on delineating and establishing the right of ways.  meeting on that design plan.  over by DCTA from Mulberry to McKinney.  used by pedestrians to be presented to Council for funding.    Daniel Krutka asked to add another area with a very similar or same situation directly across from Dusty's on Elm. There is a short island sidewalk with no wheel chair or ADA: ramps on either end. Daniel Krutka also presented an item at the request of Council Representative Briggs. The delay for] pedestrian crossing signal around the square can at times be very long with the signal light cycle timing. She asked ifthere might be any options to automate the crossing signal. Pritam Deshmukh acknowledged having also received this question. We are looking into ADA compliance laws. When we upgraded thei intersections we: madei them ADA compliant. Weare exploring the detection options where it can activate when and ADA or visually impaired person approaches it can activate and do the complete audio sequence and at the same time it can go into a continuous pedestrian Melissa Carr inquired when you are on a bike and approach an intersection, she often waits on an automobile to trigger the signal. Isthere something that can help int this situation? Pritam Deshmukh responded that al lot ofthe older signals do not have the latest detection systems. The new detection systems for the intersections that are being replaced ori installed will detect a bike or person. They are: noti inj pavement but more ofai radar based capturing movement or motion based. Clay Thurmond mentioned that he observed a traffic accident at Old North and University today. With this in mind he was asking for an update on the possibility of getting a report from PD to identify areas that might be reviewed by this commission for improvement considerations. Pritam Deshmukh replied the police reports are scanned in making the difficulty to search for details on locations and potential causes. He has requested a report for areas with higher incidents. The information received to date did not include any comments or data on the cause or type ofaccident. Therefore it is difficult to review and assess for a solution if we don'tknow what the cause or type of accidents that are occurring. They are having difficulty setting up a report or data extraction. Once it is available data will be provided for locations with high volumes with the focus being on  phase and ifthat is compliant.  pedestrian and bicycle incidents.  Adjournment: 6:52 pm by Patrice Lyke  CONCLUDING ITEMS  Under Section 551.042 ofthe 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 a 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 of community interest regarding which no action will be taken, to include: expressions of thanks, congratulations, or condolence; information regarding holiday schedules; anl honorary or salutary recognition ofap public official, public employee, or other citizen; areminder about an upcoming event organized or sponsored by the governing body; information regarding asocial, ceremonial, or community event organized or sponsored by an entity other than the governing body that was attended or 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 oft the agenda    APPROVED  RH25 Patrice Lyke Chair  hesplee Becky Owens Administrative Assistant