CALL TO ORDER: 6:00pm

Commissioners Present: Mark Brouillard, Joe Graf, Corinne Vièville, Linda Peterson-Adams, Katharine Danner, Derrick Claypool-Barnes, Holly Christiansen
Commissioners Not Present: None
Council Liaison Present: Paula Hyatt
Staff Present: Scott Fleury, Elizabeth Beckerich, Steve MacLennan
Guests Present: Piper Von Chamier, Kim Parducci, Tara Kiewel, Michael Black & Clark Stevens

ANNOUNCEMENTS – The intergovernmental agreement for ramps and crosswalks on North Main St is moving forward and will be presented to City Council on December 7,2021.

CONSENT AGENDA
- Various grammatical errors to be corrected.
- Peterson-Adams requested a change to the last paragraph to state “criteria should improve any capital improvement programs”.
- Jeff Jackson submitted corrections to Fleury regarding the Wimer Street parking discussion prior to the meeting but commissioners were unsure what the protocol is for someone from the public making a correction. Staff will review the video to ensure Jackson’s comments are appropriate and bring back at the December meeting for approval.

PUBLIC FORUM
Letters were submitted to the Commission and included in the packet for this month.
Multiple letters requested a traffic signal at the Walker and E Main intersection, however with the cost of traffic signals and the criteria needed to implement one it may not be feasible at this time, but the issue can be revisited later, possibly during the Transportation System Plan Update.
Another letter talked about the parking situation in front of 240 N First St. The resident requested that the yellow curb in front of their house be changed to a permit parking only spot.
Brouillard brought up general traffic etiquette as he has observed multiple people driving poorly, and he suggested a mailer to people reminding them of how to drive properly.

CRASH REPORT
Officer MacLennan stated that in September and October there were not very many crashes however the police department has seen a rise in DUIs. There was an accident involving a bicyclist who crashed into a car and was arrested for DUI. In October a pedestrian crossing Siskiyou Blvd from the north side to the south side was hit but minorly injured by a vehicle and the driver was cited.

Per Peterson-Adams, Christiansen requested a separate crash map for bikes and pedestrians. They also discussed a reporting system for citizens to report traffic incidents that don’t get reported to police. This topic will be discussed at a later date.

NEW BUSINESS
A. Bellview School Traffic
Traffic at Tolman Creek Road and Siskiyou Blvd has been problematic at school drop off/pick up times.

Peterson-Adams stated that due to COVID regulations and staff shortages that bus travel for kids is not being utilized as before and it contributes to more parents all trying to drop off/pick up their kids at the same time and congesting traffic.
Danner suggested a sign be put in place reminding people of the drop off/pick up times so that they can avoid the area, or possibly a mailer in the utility bill to inform people. Fleury advised that the school was supposed to manage and implement a traffic safety plan, however he likes the idea of a reader board to inform drivers. Fleury also advised that staffing in administration is low right now but that once there is new staff in place, putting information in the utility billing mailer may be a possibility for both this issue and the traffic etiquette issue that Brouillard brought up earlier in the meeting.

Brouillard had multiple ideas for how to help traffic congestion including a system where kids are encouraged to walk or bike to school, building a separate drop off/pick up location, having kids bussed to a different location for drop off/pick up, or having parents and staff direct traffic.
Peterson-Adams suggested drafting a letter to the school with all the suggested solutions. Danner added that the PTA at Bellview is a strong entity and should be included as well.

All ayes from the Commissioners regarding sending a letter to the school of suggested solutions for the traffic congestion.


B. East Main Street Park
The director of the Parks and Recreation department, Michael Black, spoke about a proposed plan to build a park on East Main Street. The plot of land for the park is 6.5 acres and would be a neighborhood park with amenities like open space, trails, and playgrounds. Previously a different city park was sold to the YMCA and the funds from that sale were used to purchase this new plot. The new plot has not been annexed yet and approval from the Transportation Commission is part of the annexation process.

Piper Con Chamier, landscape architect, gave a presentation on the plans for the park, stating that it would include a dog park, a pump track and skills park for bikes, a natural picnic and trail area, a community garden, a central play area with multi-use courts, and parking.

Kim Parducci from Southern Oregon Traffic Engineering, provided traffic analysis to look at the impacts the park would have, studying the street capacity at all entry streets and driveways, as well as connections to the facility and crash history. It was also brought up that there are no sidewalks on East Main Street from Crocker St to Clay St and that would be updated as well in this plan. It was discussed that Clay St would become a bike boulevard. It was concluded that street capacity is sufficient to support development, adequate connections exist for all travel modes or will be provided, and that safety has been evaluated and no concerns were identified.

Michael Black went on to state that the neighborhood has been consulted multiple times and is largely in favor of the development. Money for the park could come out of the Parks and Recreation Department’s CIP budget, as well as grants that community volunteers have offered to help secure. Additionally, Black assured that the seniors in the area have been taken into consideration and that they intend to make the park facilities useful and attractive to all ages. He will continue to work with the Senior Services Superintendent to ensure this.

The Transportation Commission voiced their support of the project in general, particularly the bicycle boulevard conversion of Clay Street.


Old Business
A. Traffic Calming
Fleury presented the changes he made to the breakdown of scoring for Traffic Calming projects. Previously the scoring criteria has included ADT, speed, and crashes. The proposed scoring includes ADT, 20 MPH design speed, speed, posted, difference, speed (85%), design (85%), difference (85%-50%), crashes, sidewalk, bike facilities, pedestrian generators, and bus stops.

Graf stated that having the difference between the speed of 85%-50% of drivers seemed unnecessary and that seeing the 50% versus the speed limit made more sense. The issue was discussed at length and Commissioners agreed. Graf also requested that bike facility scoring match the sidewalk criteria.

Commissioners also discussed the point system. They agreed that if the average speed of 50% of drivers is over 1-5 MPH, they will get 2 points, if 5-10 MPH over they will get 4 points, and more than that will be 6+ points.

Peterson-Adams inquired about the minimum number of points total a proposal should receive to move forward into phase 2. After discussion it was decided that 12 points was reasonable since the Transportation Commission uses discretionary scoring along with the criteria point system in determining which projects move forward.

Peterson-Adams brought up having previous applicants apply again based on the new criteria and Commissioners decided that would be fair. Particularly the Faith Ave application. Per Fleury the next step for that project would be to post the speed as 20 mph because there are sharrows and “Share the Road” signs up already. Fleury spoke also about a possible pilot program of a temporary traffic circle at Faith Ave/Wine St and Faith Ave/Mae St to see if that changes the traffic issues.

Brouillard stated that he believes fixing traffic in the Faith Ave area will push traffic issues to Park St which has had more accidents than Faith Ave.

Fleury stated that education is also part of the Traffic Calming Program and that he would like to use the reader boards more, as it may raise awareness of things that can be done to help traffic calming.

B. Transportation System Plan (TSP) Council Presentation
Special thanks to Fleury and Peterson-Adams for presenting to City Council, and to Hyatt for her defense of the TSP. When the TSP was presented to Council it was an explanation of the TSP update as well as Vision Zero. There was much discussion between Councilors about it.

Fleury stated that the plan is still moving forward, the Commission is just waiting on ODOT’s funding. The approximate date for funds is early spring or summer of 2022, which Fleury hopes will also coincide with the ability to do more in person public meetings so that citizens can be more involved. Fleury stated also that in person meetings would not eliminate online meetings/input, but that there needs to be an accurate platform such as the city website for people to get information as opposed to social media.

Hyatt stated that she receives a lot of positive emails from residents regarding the TSP and told Commissioners to encourage their networks to speak up to City Council in support. Hyatt said that she would continue trying to educate others as much as she can.

C. I5 Emergency On-Ramp
Per Fleury, ODOT is still waiting on federal approval for the emergency onramp discussed previously. The current Federal Highway Administration representatives are new to Southern Oregon and therefore have more questions about the execution of the onramp than previous representatives. ODOT believes that the project will be done before the next fire season. ODOT is also working on planning with other emergency services entities to make sure that everyone is on the same page about operating protocol and how the access will be used. They’re also setting up an interdisciplinary team to evaluate evacuation study needs and work on putting information/education out to the public.

FUTURE AGENDA TOPICS
-Consent Agenda for October minutes.
-Further discussion on letters received from the public.

ADJOURNMENT: @ 8:01pm

Respectfully submitted,
Elizabeth Beckerich, Office Assistant II
**Full Video Available by Request**