ASHLAND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION
MINUTES
September 19, 2019
 

CALL TO ORDER:
Borgerson called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m.

Commissioners Present: Katharine Danner, Bruce Borgerson, Linda Peterson Adams, Joe Graf, Derrick Claypool-Barnes, Corinne Vièville, Mark Brouillard
Commissioners Absent: None
Council Liaison Absent: Julie Akins
Staff Present: Scott Fleury, Taina Glick, Steve MacLennan

ANNOUNCEMENTS
None

CONSENT AGENDA
Approval of Minutes: August 22, 2019

Commissioners Danner/Graf m/s to approve minutes as amended.
All ayes. Minutes approved.

PUBLIC FORUM
Bob Burton Ashland, OR
Spoke of traffic traveling too fast and difficulty seeing pedestrians on Strawberry Ln and requests addition of speed limit signs. He is concerned about the safety of street users as well as pets and wildlife.

Louise Shawkat Ashland, OR
Expressed pleasure with the sharrows on Main St. and requested the addition of pedestrian signage. 

ACCIDENT REPORT
Accident Report
Officer Maclennan reported that August was another slow month. MacLennan described an incident where a cyclist ran a red light at E Main St and S Mountain Ave.  

NEW BUSINESS 
Middle Clay St Improvement Grant Application Letter of Support audio begins at 21:30
Fleury described City staff working with Jackson County Public Works to establish a plan for the County to bring the road to compliance with City standards after which jurisdictional transfer would take place. Improvements would be grant funded with the City providing project management and the County providing match funds. Local residents and City Council have provided letters of support for this project and jurisdictional transfer. Fleury elaborated on the grant application process and the possibility of expediting the project. 

Vièville wondered when the City would find out if they received the grant. Fleury felt 4-6 months from October 1. Vieville inquired about ditches on the road. Brouillard was concerned about parking, especially near the intersection with Siskiyou Blvd. Vieville stated the letter is nicely written. Fleury pointed out that Peterson Adams suggested two edits: the date and replacing “commissions” with “commission.” Graf moved to support Bruce sending this letter. Danner seconded. All ayes. Motion passed.

OLD BUSINESS audio begins at 33.15
RVTD – Ashland Transit Enhancements
Fleury indicated RVTD has ordered 2 vans for the transit enhancements. Anticipated start of the express is near the start of 2020. Fleury indicated the express route began September 16 and that riders must have a touch pass app or a pay card. Vièville inquired about fare. Fleury indicated the rate is the same as route 10. Commissioners discussed demand response and other service models. Graf inquired if RVTD was able to get hybrid plug in vehicles. Borgerson responded that the vehicles are hybrid but not plug-ins. Reservations can be made by app, phone, or website and will need at least 30-minute response time. 

Transportation Growth and Management “Revitalize Downtown Ashland” update audio begins at 48:07
Kick off meetings for TAC and Citizen Advisory Committee are Thursday Sept 26 and will be noticed on the City website. First formal meeting will be October 23 at the Siskiyou Room in the Community Development building. Graf expressed concern about the focus being on trees, CEAP, and historic instead of multi-modal and that cyclists and pedestrians are not well represented on the CAC. Fleury discussed the potential for jurisdictional transfer of the downtown corridor. Vièville wondered why A St was not included in the area being discussed. Fleury indicated that A St was taken out because a CIP improvement is already planned for that section of road. Graf suggested ensuring that changes can actually happen before accepting jurisdictional transfer of any roadways. Further suggesting that ODOT should update or install signals prior to transfer if it were to occur. Peterson Adams feels that business owners are over-represented on the CAC.

Traffic Calming Program Updated Draft audio begins at 1:08:00
Borgerson felt the radar trailer does not need to be included in the public brochure, rather should be deployed at the discretion of the Police Department or this commission. He expressed concern over dragging out program and wondered about compressing the timeline for data gathering measures. Brouillard wondered about scoring of locations with shadowing issues.

Brouillard suggested increasing the value of accidents compared to speeding. Claypool-Barnes believed more criteria are needed.

Brouillard moved to double the point value for accidents. Peterson Adams seconded. Claypool Barnes reminded commissioners that there are multiple reasons why people crash and that we should be ranking crashes highly. Fleury requested clarification suggesting consideration of accidents that can be affected by traffic calming measures. Borgerson wondered how many speed related accidents there were and agreed with the importance of considering what may have caused the accidents. He supports doubling the point value of accidents. Graf pointed out that doubling the points puts higher value on accidents than a regular occurrence of speeding in excess of 10 mph and felt that 8 points would no longer be an appropriate minimum. Vièville asked for clarification on the point system and values.

Graf moved to amend the motion to also raise the threshold score to 11 for Phase 1 solutions. Danner seconded.

Vièville questioned changing the threshold. Graf clarified that the logic of 11 which is roughly half of the total possible points. Claypool Barnes disagreed with increasing the threshold opining that the more phase 1 solutions that can be implemented the better and suggested that a threshold is not needed. He felt that the metrics did not need to be defined at this meeting and that a whole meeting be scheduled just to address scoring metrics. Borgerson also disagrees with increasing threshold. Aye: Graf Nay: Borgerson, Brouillard, Claypool-Barnes, Peterson Adams, Danner, Vieville. Amendment to motion failed 1:6.

Danner inquired questioned the time span utilized for accidents opposed to that used for ADT. Vote on original motion Aye: Brouillard, Peterson Adams, Borgerson, Claypool Barnes, Vièville. Nay: Graf, Danner. Motion passed: 4:2.

Graf questioned if Borgerson’s suggestion of a 3-phase plan was being considered. Commissioners agreed with the clarification that soft measures are in phase 1 and more permanent measures, some that may involve CIP or TSP changes occur in phase 2. Commissioners agreed to move everything but targeted enforcement and radar trailer into phase 2. Claypool-Barnes believed this program should be introduced to City Council strategically and the group expressed frustration about the continued lack of attendance by the council liaison. Claypool Barnes opined that more metrics are needed to encourage City Council to create a budget for the program. Most commissioners agreed to add temporary signage and an informational campaign to phase 1 measures. Claypool-Barnes disagreed with addition of an informational campaign. Continued discussion ensued about the vegetation control procedures and which phase is appropriate for the topic.

INFORMATIONAL ITEMS
None

FUTURE AGENDA TOPICS
MUTCD 4-way stop sign training
Crosswalk Policy

ADJOURNMENT: 8:05 pm

Respectfully submitted,

Taina Glick
Public Works Administrative Assistant

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