Transportation Advisory Board

400 S. Eagle Street City of Naperville Naperville, IL 60540 Meeting Minutes Transportation Advisory Board Thursday, December 3, 2020 7:00 PM Held on Zoom due to COVID-19 CITY OF NAPERVILLE PUBLIC MEETINGS UPDATE: On Friday, June 12, 2020, an amendment to the Open Meetings Act was signed into law. This new law replaces the gubernatorial executive order concerning the Open Meetings Act and allows public bodies to temporarily conduct meetings remotely during a state of emergency, subject to certain requirements, including a determination by the head of the public body that an in-person meeting is not practical or prudent. On Tuesday, June 16, 2020, Mayor Chirico issued an executive order determining that in-person meetings of the City Council and the City’s boards and commissions are not currently practical or prudent due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Accordingly, the Transportation Advisory Board meeting scheduled for December 3, 2020 will be conducted remotely. TO WATCH OR LISTEN TO THE TAB MEETING LIVE: 1. Watch on WCNC GOVERNMENT ACCESS TELEVISION (Ch. 6-WOW, Ch. 10 - Comcast, Ch. 99 - AT&T); 2. Watch online at https://naperville.legistar.com/calendar.aspx; or 3. Listen by telephone (audio only) – register to receive a dial-in phone number by calling the City Clerk’s Office, (630) 305-5300, by 5 p.m. on Thursday, December 3. TO PROVIDE LIVE PUBLIC COMMENTS DURING THE MEETING: 1. Register by 5 p.m. on Thursday, December 3 at: www.naperville.il.us/tabspeaker. After the sign-up time has ended, you will receive an email with information about how to join the Zoom meeting. Questions regarding online sign-up may be directed to the City Clerk’s Office by calling (630) 305-5300; or 2. Participate by telephone. Register with the City Clerk’s office by 5 p.m. on Thursday, December 3 to receive a dial-in phone number by calling (630)-305-5300. TO SUBMIT WRITTEN COMMENTS: 1. Use the speaker sign-up form at www.naperville.il.us/tabspeaker to submit a written comment by 5 p.m. on Thursday, December 3 to be read into the public record during the Transportation Advisory Board meeting by a member of staff; or City of Naperville Page 1 Printed on 1/8/2021 Transportation Advisory Board Meeting Minutes December 3, 2020 2. Use the speaker sign-up form at www.naperville.il.us/tabspeaker to submit a one-word statement of “SUPPORT” or “OPPOSITON” regarding a specific agenda item by 5 p.m. on Thursday, December 3 to be read into the public record during the Transportation Advisory Board meeting by a member of staff. PUBLIC ACCOMMODATION: Any individual who may require an accommodation to submit comments or materials, or to view materials for the Transportation Advisory Board meeting, should contact the City Clerk at (630) 305-5300 or napervilleclerks@naperville.il.us as soon as possible, but not later than by 5 p.m. on Thursday, December 3. PARTICIPATION GUIDELINES: The citizen participation guidelines are outlined in 1-5-6-6: - CITIZEN PARTICIPATION of the Naperville Municipal Code. • ALL VIEWPOINTS AND OPINIONS WELCOME: All viewpoints are welcome, positive comments and constructive criticism are encouraged. Speakers must refrain from harassing or directing threats or personal attacks at Board members, staff, other speakers or members of the public. Comments made to intentionally disrupt the meeting may be managed as necessary to maintain appropriate decorum and allow for city business to be accomplished. • IF YOU SIGNED UP TO SPEAK, staff will call your name at the appropriate time during the Transportaton Advisory Board meeting. Once your name is called you may identify yourself for the public record and then address remarks to the Transportation Advisory Board as a whole. Speak clearly and try to limit remarks directly to the matter under discussion. Speakers are called in the order they sign up. A. CALL TO ORDER: B. ROLL CALL: Present 8- Gregory Gustin, Mary Howenstine, Michael Melaniphy, Matthew Seeberg, Janet Blubaugh, Scott Hurley, Roger Nondorf, and James Webb Absent 1- Michael Brown C. PUBLIC FORUM: There were no speakers for Public Forum. This was closed. D. REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: 1. Approve the minutes of the November 5, 2020 Transportation Advisory Board meeting A motion was made by Webb, seconded by Seeberg, approved. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 8- Gustin, Howenstine, Melaniphy, Seeberg, Blubaugh, Hurley, Nondorf, and Webb City of Naperville Page 2 Printed on 1/8/2021 Transportation Advisory Board Meeting Minutes December 3, 2020 Absent: 1- Brown 2. Recommend approval of the Westside Neighborhood Traffic Study recommendations Project Manager Michael Prousa explains the background of the Westside Neighborhood Traffic Study. Prousa plays a PowerPoint presentation about the recommendations and findings prepared by the traffic consultant KLOA. Prousa reads the public comments from the public meeting on October 29th. The first public speaker is Kathy Benson. Benson is pleased with most of the recommendations that were made by the consultant. She outlined a public survey that was administrated by the westside HOA. The survey asked residents how they felt about certain recommendations. Benson wants clarification on Jefferson Avenue and West Street, Douglas Avenue and Parkway Drive, Jefferson Avenue and Douglas Avenue recommendations. She also had questions about the typical ranges for road classifications across Naperville. She wants clarifications on the sidewalk gap on Douglas Avenue. The next public speaker is Jennifer Bruzan Taylor. Taylor is pleased with the recommendations by the consultants. She is not in favor of removing the crosswalks at Jackson and Ewing, Spring and Eagle, and Spring and Big Rail. She wants clarifications on the sidewalk gap on Douglas Avenue. She is concerned about the high speeds and the lack of recommendations on Eagle Street between Benton and Spring. Does not believe enforcement from police is an appropriate use of resources. The next public speaker is Mary Lou Wehrli. Wehrli concurs with Kathy Benson’s comments about Jefferson Avenue. She believes that residents and local drivers are a part of the solution and should set the bar. States that residents are the strongest voices for safe streets. Wehrli states that traffic calming devices and enforcement are part of the solution to public safety. The next public speaker is Colleen McManigal. McManigal has concerns about Douglas Avenue and Parkway Drive and believes that it should be an all-way stop. She also states that Douglas Avenue has high speeds, especially around the curve. Douglas Avenue has had several accidents as well. McManigal states that Jefferson and West should be an all-way stop as well because of how popular the intersection is. States that the fence at Jefferson and West creates a sight distance issue. Melaniphy opens up the comments to members of TAB. City of Naperville Page 3 Printed on 1/8/2021 Transportation Advisory Board Meeting Minutes December 3, 2020 Howenstine asks about potential traffic changes for Mill Street because of the Eagle Street one-way conversion. She also asks about the Douglas sidewalk gap. Michael Werthmann from KLOA states that Mill Street will take the majority of the volume while others will use Washington or Webster. Werthmann also states that the sidewalk gap on Douglas will be completely filled in and it was a mistake that it was not. Werthmann also states that there will be a lot of benefits to making the switch to one-way on Eagle. Prousa states that there are no vacant lots on Douglas Avenue. Gustin asks for clarifications on the vacant lots on Douglas Avenue. Prousa states that there are no vacant lots on Douglas Avenue. The sidewalk gaps throughout the neighborhood will be filled in future years through the sidewalk gap program. Hurley asks if the consulting firm has had the chance to review the feedback from the public and if the report is final or in draft form. Prousa states that the report is in draft form and that TAB and public comment will be taken into account before being presented to City Council. Prousa also states that all the recommendation will be evaluated following implementation. Hurley asks if we have on staff the expertise to understand the traffic consequences to these recommendations. Prousa states that the Transportation Team at the City has the capabilities to handle traffic requests and evaluation in the future. Seeberg asks about the implementation plan and what the long-term and short-term implementations look like. Prousa states that signage and striping could be done within the year in house. Prousa also states that the long-term recommendations would have to be placed in the CIP because of the engineering costs. Deputy Director Jennifer Louden states that the earliest that we would look to implement long-term recommendations would be 2022 and the process would be about 1 to 2 years. Seeberg asks if Eagle Street could be one-way for the whole road or if Eagle Street could be engineered to be made wider. Seeberg is concerned about the speeds on some of the segments of roads. Melaniphy asks what the TAB options are for the recommendations and how the night should shape out. Louden states that the final step of approving the recommendations is through City Council. If the board has significant changes or wants more information, City of Naperville Page 4 Printed on 1/8/2021 Transportation Advisory Board Meeting Minutes December 3, 2020 staff can bring back that information to the January meeting. States that it depends on how the conversation goes tonight and what TAB decides with the recommendations as a whole. Melaniphy states that TAB is not here to solve every issue at hand but to discuss them through the neighborhood as a whole. Webb agrees with most of the recommendations. His biggest concern is with the one-way conversion on Eagle. Asks if there was any discussion to make Eagle one-way only during school times. Asks if the traffic will now be heavier at the Eagle Street bridge. Prousa explains that the route that the City wants traffic to go is Eagle to Jackson to Mill as those are the streets that are Collector Streets. Werthmann talks to the process of making the decision to convert Eagle Street one-way southbound. Werthmann states that the school’s biggest challenges were pick up and drop off congestion. The one-way conversion will enhance the safety of specifically Eagle and Benton. Werthmann states that the reason to go one-way full time was to eliminate confusion. He also states that parking could be an issue with switching back and forth to one-way throughout the day. Prousa states that City staff including Public Works, Police and Fire came to the conclusion to do the one-way conversion full time because it would lead to less confusion. Nondorf states that the safety of the children for the pick-up and drop-off outweighs the additional traffic that could be displaced. Also states that trying to change behavior by eliminating the crosswalks will not work. Nondorf would like to see action to move on the agenda item and to get to the point where evaluation can begin on the changes that are made. Prousa clarifies that the data collection was during May and April of 2019. Student Member Scriven-Young asks about why the consultants want to narrow certain roads. Werthmann states that one method of traffic calming is narrowing roads through striping. Parking boxes were added to Spring Avenue in order to narrow the street and potentially calm the traffic. Gustin states that the public comment showed him how much of a speedway Douglas Avenue was. He also states that he is well aware of the issues regarding Jefferson Avenue. Gustin asks if the consultants consider bulb outs at the entrance to the one-way to deter drivers from travelling northbound that would avoid unnecessary signage. Louden states that there is a signage plan if the recommendation is approved. She also states that the school district and the City would do an extensive social media plan to make the change known to the public. City of Naperville Page 5 Printed on 1/8/2021 Transportation Advisory Board Meeting Minutes December 3, 2020 Gustin states that signs in the streets are ugly especially within the downtown and wants a more aesthetic way to show the one-way. Gustin states that there should be stop signs at every intersection around the school. Gustin wants more consideration about the crosswalks that are being removed and more consideration about the traffic that is being displaced because of the one-way conversion. Gustin also states that Spring and Mill is a very dangerous intersection and believes that a stop sign should be placed at Douglas and Mill. Prousa states that stop signs are not used to slow vehicles down. They are used for right of way control. Prousa states that there is no recommendation to take down stop signs around the school but instead they are recommendation an additional stop sign at Spring and Webster. He also states that the stop-sign at Douglas and Mill did not meet the MUTCD criteria for an all-way stop. Prousa states that a stop sign at this location could potentially lead to cut through traffic. Werthmann states the dangers of adding unwarranted stop signs. He states that the recommendations all follow the guidelines that are given by the MUTCD and the Illinois Vehicle Code. Werthmann states that they are recommending several traffic calming measures including the bulb outs and parking boxes at Mill and Douglas. States that there is also a crossing guard at the intersection. Gustin wants staff to think outside of the box for solutions at Douglas Avenue and Mill Street. Gustin asks about truck and bus traffic cut through on Spring Avenue. Gustin also asks about the crosswalk at Spring and Eagle that is being taken out. Prousa states that they are removing the crosswalk because they want to promote pedestrians crossing at Spring and Webster which is a safer intersection because of the addition of an all-way stop. Prousa states that himself and Ricky Krakow discussed the truck route concern with Jennifer Taylor. They colluded that the best option for the concern was to add signage at the intersection of 5th and Mill. Werthmann states that he will look at the vehicle classification data on Spring Avenue. Gustin asks if we can do something about the underpass at Mill Street and Spring Avenue in the future. Gustin states that there is a visibility issue at Jefferson and West and to revisit the Douglas and Crosswalk concerns. Prousa states that the curb extensions were placed at the intersection of Jefferson and West in order to create a safer intersection for pedestrians. Hurley asks if any consideration was made for special events that occur during the summer months that the data may not have picked up. Prousa explained that the City does not put up permanent traffic calming measures for conditions that do not happen year-round. City of Naperville Page 6 Printed on 1/8/2021 Transportation Advisory Board Meeting Minutes December 3, 2020 Werthmann states that you typically design for the data that is year-round and that is why they picked April and May because it is a good volume of pedestrians and volume traffic. Hurley asked if an in-depth analysis was done for the accidents that occur in the neighborhood. Werthmann explains that they found that the accidents that occurred were very low in the neighborhood. Louden explains that special events do occur within the surrounding area and when they occur there are special event parking and traffic plans that get put into place to help with the added congestion. Howenstine states that we need fix the school and pedestrian problems in the neighborhood not problems that occur because of special events. Seeberg said he is prepared to approve this today. He has questions on the crosswalk that is being taken away at Jackson and Ewing and the thought process behind that. Werthmann states that they took the crosswalk away because they want to promote crossing at Jackson and West which is an all-way stop. He also states that people are allowed to cross at those intersections without crosswalks. Nondorf states that we should make the crosswalks a controlled situation because of established behaviors. Gustin is not satisfied that we have addressed the traffic flow on Mill Street between Douglas Avenue and the underpass. He would like this location revisited. Gustin is asking that traffic flow is looked at on Douglas Avenue and Jefferson Avenue. Gustin wants more information on where the potential traffic will flow. Webb would like to get started on implementation in order to get started on the evaluation process of the recommendations. Melaniphy thanks all the residents that have participated in the process. Melaniphy prefers landscaping over excessive signage in the neighborhood when it comes to the one-way conversion. Melaniphy would like the crosswalk on Eagle Street at city hall to be looked at. Melaniphy states that most of the recommendations seem to have resident favor but there are a few items that need to be reviewed. Louden states that what TAB should do is table the agenda item to the January meeting with the direction to staff to bring back additional information on the items that need to be looked at. Louden states that at the January meeting we can go through each item in the recommendation matrix. Gustin asks if a summarized version of the issues that were raised can be within the matrix. City of Naperville Page 7 Printed on 1/8/2021 Transportation Advisory Board Meeting Minutes December 3, 2020 Louden states that the matrix will potentially be new and improved and have additional information for each recommendation. Melaniphy states that TAB will table the agenda item for the January TAB meeting. This Report was tabled. E. OLD BUSINESS: Gustin asked if there is any further consideration in financial mitigation for the permit parking spots. Louden states that in the third and fourth quarter of 2020 they reduced the fees in half. The price will go back to full in the first quarter in 2021. Gustin asks if staff should consider financial mitigation for Route 59 parking because of the no wait list at that location. This was closed. F. NEW BUSINESS: There was no new business discussed. This was closed. G. ADJOURNMENT: A motion was made by Gustin, seconded by Howenstine, to adjourn the meeting at 9:33 p.m. The motion carried by unanimous vote. Aye: 8- Gustin, Howenstine, Melaniphy, Seeberg, Blubaugh, Hurley, Nondorf, and Webb Absent: 1- Brown City of Naperville Page 8 Printed on 1/8/2021