10/18/2021 - Minutes SALT LAKE CITY
BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Minutes of the October 18, 2021 Meeting
BAC Members Present for this meeting were Daniel Houpt, David Parrott, Josalyn
Bates, Joshua Poppel, Martin Cuma, Patrick Casey, and Sam Janse.
BAC Members Absent for this meeting were Gabriela Knudson, Jacquelyn Thiel, and
Rachel Manko.
Also present were Amy Lyons, Danny Brewer, Lara Handwerker, Lynn Jacobs, Becka
Roolf, Julianne Sabula, Ellen Reddick, Dave Iltis, and Blair Tomten.
The meeting was held electronically via WebEx and was called to order at 5:05 p.m. by
Martin Cuma. Martin welcomed everyone.
Approval of Minutes —Motion: Josalyn Bates moved to approve the minutes of the
September 20, 2021 meeting. David Parrott seconded the motion. The motion passed
unanimously.
Public Comment
There was no public comment.
Committee Announcements &Updates
Martin said he's been trying to figure out how to increase the participation of the
Committee members on multiple agenda items so he will begin doing a roll call for
comments over the next few presentations. He said he received feedback on the I-8o
reconstruction and there will be a multi-use path on the east side of the i3oo East
bridge over the freeway which will connect to the Sugar House Park Trail which also
connects to the Parley's Trail. It will then continue along i3oo East to 2700 South once
it is constructed in a few years. He also heard back on adding sound walls along the
Parley's Trail but was told it wasn't a cost-effective thing to do to reduce the noise
around the freeway. David Parrott noticed yesterday that the 600 North bridge over I-
15 was closed for a while because they have completed striping. He said the bike lane
striping is now done on both the east and west side but that if you are on 600 North
heading east, the bike lane is terrifying because it is in the on-ramp turn lane to get onto
I-15. David said it's a bad bridge regardless of your skill level,but it is nice that there are
bike lanes now. Lynn said David may want to connect with Kyle Cook who has some
recommendations for what might happen at that interchange. He said those striping
changes were implemented by UDOT and Transportation is grateful to them for at least
doing something there.
Highland/iioo East Reconstruction
Lynn Jacobs, SLC Transportation
Lynn gave an overview of the Highland Drive Study which is focused on the area
between I-8o and 1700 South. The City is also looking at the area from 1700 South to
900 South as part of a separate effort. They are hoping to build both projects in 2023.
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He went over the information on the website (http://highlandslc.org/)which included
what they studied such as safety and parking, as well as the concept idea for the area.
Their plans include a multi-use path which will be the new Parley's Trail connection and
connects to the McClelland Trail getting people from the trails to the businesses. It
includes protecting existing trees, planting new trees, new park strips with additional
space for trees, sidewalk repairs, parking changes, additional crosswalks, a bike lane,
along with other items to enhance the character of Sugar House. Patrick said a common
complaint he gets from people who use separated paths is that bikes are more traffic
than recreation and he's reluctant to use a path if there are business driveways because
it offers more risk. He asked why there isn't more of a dedicated bike path or wider bike
lane instead of a separated multi-use path. Lynn said this is a valid point and it's not the
ideal situation for every spot, but they evaluated this and there are a couple of reasons
they think it's the right fit for this roadway. One of the goals is to connect the Parley's
Trail and they needed a side path because there isn't a signalized intersection to make
that connection. There are several driveways, and they are actively working to
consolidate as many of those as they can. They looked and realized the only way to do
this is to move parking around and there was no place to add bike lanes, so this is the
option they selected from I-8o up to Ramona which is only about one mile. Outside that
area it will transition back to in road bike lanes and there is always the option to ride in
lane since they are expecting their design speed to be 25mph. This is still a concept;
things may change between now and when it's built. Joshua said it's not something he
would use even for a short stretch and said he would discourage the stamped concrete
that is planned and asked if sharrows could be put in. Lynn said he will share those
comments with the design team and has heard the same comments from other cyclists.
Joshua also said the bike lane will end up being 3.5 feet of bike lane with a 2-foot gutter
collecting debris and won't be usable by cyclists. Lynn said it will be a 5-foot concrete
bike lane with 1/2 foot of gutter next to it. Josalyn asked if there was any thought to a
road diet or one-way couplets and Lynn said the businesses feel like they are losing
customers with those and it didn't seem like a good fit. Josalyn asked about transit and
Lynn said UTA has been awarded money to extend the S-Line to Highland drive but the
Local Links study is currently recommending enhanced bus service on Highland Drive
due to cost but that it could happen in the future. Martin said the cobblestones aren't
great for bikes, but he's open to it as some aren't comfortable riding in the road.
Union Pacific Impacts on Active Transportation
Danny Brewer, Union Pacific Employee Union
Danny introduced himself as the SMART Transportation Union Legislative Director for
the State of Utah representing about 40o employees including employees at Amtrack.
He does not represent Union Pacific (UP), he represents employees of UP and has been
working for the railroad for i8 years and is currently running trains between 2100 South
and Ogden. He is here today to talk about the long trains and their effect on SLC. When
the railroads were built, the trains were about 4,00o feet long and fit in between road
crossings. The trains now exceed io or 12,000 feet with plans in the next five years to
extend those trains to lengths approaching 15,00o feet which is almost three miles. This
decreases the speed trains can go for stopping distance and the operators worry about
accidents and often,when they must stop the trains, they end up blocking roads for very
long periods of time. One of their biggest concerns is how often people try to climb
through the stopped trains and since the operator can't see the length of the train, they
fear people will be run over when they take off. Many union members want to know
how they can educate the public and make a plan to minimize the confrontation between
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trains and the public. He is seeking advice on how he can increase awareness for
pedestrians and cyclists as well as to talk about east/west mobility. Danny listed
multiple crossings that he views as very bad crossings which include a few where there is
a trail that purposely directs people to cross a rail line and some areas where there are a
high number of pedestrians. The operators are very nervous about people getting
injured or even making plans to take a specific route, only to have it blocked for several
hours. Martin said this is a very complicated topic and it was good to hear Danny's
feedback. Becka asked if anything could be done to keep trains shorter. Danny said his
union as well as others are lobbying at a national level to shorten the trains,but they are
losing that fight. He said the new bipartisan infrastructure bill has money for a long
train study but unfortunately, a long train is a train that makes more money. SLC needs
to be prepared and try to adapt by putting up more signs,building passes, or re-routing
trains tracks. Martin said they can help by keeping an eye on what the federal
government is announcing and sending in their comments, but he doesn't see an easy
solution. Danny is in favor of grade separations,but it would be very costly. Becka
asked if the City has any leverage to make the railroads improve crossings if they are
running longer trains than the track was designed for. Danny said they can petition the
Federal Railroad Administration or the Service Transportation Board. He said they are
welcome to contact him with questions or if any future projects will be crossing rails.
Introduction of Transportation CIP List
Becka Roolf, SLC Transportation
Becka explained what the SLC Capital Improvement Program (CIP)was and how it
works. Transportation is currently prioritizing their projects for the next round of CIP
applications and would like the Committee member's opinions on how they would
prioritize the project list. She showed them a list of those projects and gave a brief
overview of what each was as well as the scoring criteria. Several Committee members
said they liked the scoring idea but would like more information on the process. Becka
asked the members to take an online survey ranking these projects and said there will be
a presentation on the scoring process at the next meeting.
800 East Neighborhood Byway Project &Pop-Up Demonstration
Lara Handwerker, SLC Transportation
Due to time constraints, Lara will talk about the 800 East Neighborhood Byway project
at the next meeting. She said there is an 800 East Neighborhood Byway Pop Up event
this Saturday from 9 am to 1 pm by the Herman Franks Dog Park and she encouraged
them to stop by for more information.
BAC WebEx Meeting Chat Info
from Danny Brewer to everyone: 6:04 PM
My email is railroader921@gmail.com
from Roolf, Becka to everyone: 6:26 PM
https://www.menti.com/ucpim8dbrn
Motion: Martin Cuma motioned to adjourn the meeting; Patrick Casey seconded the
motion. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 6:34 p.m.
Approved by Bicycle Advisory Committee on 11-15-21
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