Loading...
5/15/2023 - Meeting Minutes SALT LAKE CITY BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE Minutes of the May 15, 2023 Meeting BAC Member Present for this meeting was Ashley Lodmell. BAC Members Electronically Present for this meeting were Alla Chernenko, Ben Trueman, Greta Sommerfeld, Joshua Poppel, Laura Lewis, Martin Cuma, Max McLeod, Pat Casey, Rachel Manko, Raymond Reynolds, and Sarah Johnson. BAC Member Absent for this meeting was Matthew Morriss. Also present were Megan Leether, Samuel Graham, and Jon Larsen. Also present electronically were Amy Lyons, Peter, Steve Wooldridge, and Joe Taylor. The meeting was held both electronically via WebEx and in person and was called to order at 5:03 p.m. by Patrick Casey. Patrick welcomed everyone and the members introduced themselves. Approval of Minutes Motion: Joshua Poppel moved to approve the minutes of the April 17, 2023 meeting. Raymond Reynolds seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Public Comment— Samuel said in the new construction on the corner of goo South State Street, there is a raised level. The street goes into a ramp and right next to the ramp is a concrete divider so it can be clear which direction the road is going; however, that concrete raise is the same color as the sidewalk. If you're coming straight into it on your bicycle and not paying attention, it completely blends in even though there's a six- inch raised part and you're going to catch it at full speed like he did 3 days ago. It also doesn't seem clear to him that when a bike lane ends from one street and then you cross and there isn't a following bike lane if you now take the road or if you're supposed to go into the sidewalk and when is each appropriate. Patrick said that's a good point especially given the current situation where 300 West is a little bit in shambles right now and there are a lot of challenges. Part of that may be discussing streets being absorbed into construction sites which has made it really challenging to navigate. He thinks there's an issue because with of all the apartments going up, cyclists basically must merge into traffic to bypass those areas. He doesn't know what the best way to start that conversation is, and if it's barking up the wrong tree to ask the city to contact the construction companies. He thinks the transition on goo South and State Street is relevant and needs to be addressed but also, wants to know how to approach those construction companies. Alla asked if there was something legally required to indicate where the non-motorized traffic around the construction sites should go. Jon said if anyone is going to do construction, they must get a permit. They don't always follow that permit but Transportation generally requires they provide bike/ped accommodations unless there is a good reason not to. Jon suggested they submit Pagel of 5 BAC 05-15-2023 Minutes violations on the CitySourced. Pat said BAC should make a list of ongoing projects that are somewhat in violation of having some space, some are obvious but with the apartments, there's a spilling effect where bike lanes just disappear. If there's a compilation of areas where this is a problem, they can talk about it at the next meeting. He's happy to coordinate and create a list for a future meeting discussion. He would like to ride the goo South State Street area to see the raised area as Martin had also mentioned this to him. Committee Announcements &Updates — Patrick said there is a 600 East Byway tour coming up next Thursday evening at 5:45 p.m. Jon said the BAC members should have all received a flyer which was also posted on Transportation's social media accounts, and he thinks it will be fun. Patrick said they will meet at his studio on the S- Line between 5oo East and 600 East, he'll try to arrange to have some refreshments. Driveway Edges Policy/Standards Megan Leether, SLC Engineering Megan spoke with the Deputy City Engineer as well as the Engineering right-of-way group about this topic, why it's an issue and what solutions they thought they could try out. The big issue with drive approaches is the lip that is built on most of them which is usually about a 1-inch lip and is an abrupt edge. The reason that happens is how the concrete is formed, much of concrete work is hand work. Basically, the concrete crew will lay down a 2x4 in front of the drive approach and pour concrete behind it, but another important intention is that most of SLC is incredibly flat. They're trying to make water drain with less than a 1% slope which is really challenging and because of all the hand work involved in concrete forming. Realistically, without that straight edge of the 2x4, the way that it's going to get formed to hand flatten that out, puddles will be created which is another big issue for cyclists because that is ponding and creates ice so there are a lot of factors to be considered. There are a lot of opportunities Engineering can take to avoid building that lip where drainage is less of a concern. Another issue is that a lot of the city has narrow park strips, some as little as 3 feet wide and when you're going from the road to the gutter pan and then up across the sidewalk into someone's driveway, the narrow park strips are hard to build those because they are so steep which cause other drainage issues. Since BAC brought up that it's a big issue for cyclists, they want to try to do better when it's feasible. There will be construction iioo East from goo South to Logan Avenue and she's going to work with the contractor on realistic ways to get rid of that lip where they can although the whole project is about a 3400t park strip so it's going to be really challenging. As a cyclist, Megan thinks the most important thing for Engineering to focus resources on trying to fix would be commercial and residential driveways. They are aware of the issue and are going to work towards making it better. Another idea that they are willing to try is to sort of slope out that really big lip to make it less abrupt. It is going to be an ongoing process which won't change overnight but moving forward, they can do better. Patrick said the main concern besides the safety aspect is the damage to rims and a pinch flat. He said it sounds like the rounding idea is a good one so it's not such a harsh transition, more like a 45-degree angle. Megan said that's something she really wants to try and wants to find a solution that is quick and easy for contractors as well. Samuel asked if they've thought about adding a metal coping at the end of the driveways and Megan said those cause a big issue for maintenance and snowplows. Megan will come back after the construction season to give an update on what progress they were able to make. Sarah hit one of these lips trying to get onto the bike path on 300 West and nearly wiped out. Megan Page 2 of 5 BAC 05-15-2023 Minutes said she'll talk to the project engineer on 300 West. Ray asked how street cleaners would interact with this because he's thinking of glass on the road and wanting to make sure that area is able to get cleaned efficiently. Megan said she doesn't think anything she's thinking of trying will affect street cleaners at all. Patrick said it's really encouraging to hear that Engineering is looking at ways to improve this and make the city more livable and bikeable and he appreciates it. Martin asked if there was a way to grind the lips on 300 West while it is still under construction. Megan said she's not over that project but is happy to pass that along to the project engineer. East/West Study Grant Joe Taylor&Jon Larsen, SLC Transportation Joe introduced himself and said the SLC has been awarded a Federal Reconnecting Communities Grant for a planning. While he didn't write the grant, he's going to help shepherd it through and they're calling it Critical Connections - Healing Salt Lake City's East-West Divide. He said SLC is essentially cut in half by the freeway system, an at grade rail system that's been in place since the 187O's, as well as redlining from the 194o's and 195O's. As SLC has been working on the Transportation Master Plan, they've been meeting with the residents who very clearly stated this division is the single largest transportation problem in the city. The freeway and freight rail did an amazing job solving the problems they were created to solve but it divided the city in half and those effects are as permanent as the infrastructure itself. Healing the east-west divide isn't just about mobility, it's also about empowering those communities that SLC has historically struggled to connect with or hear from. Joe went over the aims for the project and said this study really begins with engagement from the community members and anyone who is affected by this divide. He would like feedback from those groups to help design solutions that could be taken back to the feds as design ready things they would like help funding. He explained the Merit Criteria for this grant which are Equity, Environmental Justice &Community Engagement, Mobility&Community Connectivity, Community-based Stewardship, Management&Partnerships, Equitable Development& Shared Prosperity. They're hoping to get this study off the ground within six months and then the project itself will take about two years. Jon said there is also money for some pre-environmental work and some preliminary engineering. Whatever solutions they come up with will likely be a package of solutions both big and small. Samuel said it's very different on the west side, for example,you can't go out to a bar so there isn't any real reason to recreate over there. If you're trying to push difference of gaps between the communities, there has to be a more even level of which direction travel is happening. Joe said that's a great comment that he hadn't really thought of, encouraging destinations on the west side that have parity may help with the mobility. Patrick likes the idea of creating more routes rather than just having the classic ride through the airport where you have to open and close gates at every junction. He thinks it would be cool to have an uninterrupted integrated path and being able to find out about those little businesses and destinations on the west side. He said there are so many wide roads that are underutilized for bike lanes, and this could be a great opportunity for a showcase concept of what could be done. Jon said right now is the time to dream big. The study hasn't been kicked off yet and there is a lot of money to do it because they have the budget to really flesh things out and look at environmental, community support, engineering, and get some good cost estimates to do some projects to heal some of the damage that was done. Alla said the I-15 expansion seems determined to go through and it does not support this,but it doesn't seem like they care and she's wondering what the City thinks about it. Joe said that's a great point and he Page 3 of 5 BAC 05-15-2023 Minutes thinks most people who aren't in the transportation world, don't think about the difference between SLC and UDOT roads. Depending on how that expansion goes, it could be interesting to go out and try to build trust and community support with a newer reason to have distrust. He thinks UDOT is bringing to the table a set of ideas, and a way of thinking about human scale transportation infrastructure that he hasn't seen but there could be some neat stuff that comes out of that. Jon said they've been working closely with UDOT as early as they knew the project existed to try and do right for the city and do right by the neighborhoods that are most impacted. He said the UDOT team has listened to the city in ways he's never seen before and are providing some good things with the project such as a trail crossing, and a protected trail in places. The southern end of their project is 400 South, and the SLC study is going to look all the way to the southern and northern city limits. They're looking particularly at crossings and the Federal Highway Administration is really excited about them getting this grant and they're already having conversations about what it would take to maybe have a tunnel under the rail. Laura asked if there was a way to make the tracks less bumpy and Joe said he hopes so and it's something they can look at. Sarah asked for clarification on what the grant money covers,whether it's just the planning and designing and not the work. Joe said planning and designing is all it covers. Sarah wanted to emphasize that what the east side residents want should be secondary to what the west side community needs. Samuel asked if train noise pollution was part of the consideration. Joe said as part of the first bit of engagement, they will be fleshing out the full broad scope of the problem and while they don't have noise pollution on the list, it's a great comment. Joe said right now there is a little study on the feasibility of the Rio Grande Plan as put out and it's a big dreaming plan about burying the freight rail, the frontrunner, eventually the Amtrak, and then having a below ground station at the old train station depot. There are a lot of challenges,but they are doing a formal feasibility study and it will be part of the conversation of this east-west study. Sarah missed the beginning of the meeting but said she's a board member for Bike Utah and wanted to share that the Utah Bike Summit for 2023 is coming up on Tuesday, May 31st from 2-5 p.m. It is a free event which will be held at the Library's Viridian Event Center in West Jordan. Motion: Sarah Johnson motioned to adjourn the meeting; Alla Chernenko seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 6:20 P.M. Meeting Chat from Laura Lewis to everyone: 5:51 PM Is there a way to make crossing tracks less bumpy? from greta to everyone: 5:56 PM I also love the center bike lane concept!! from Taylor, Joe to everyone: 5:57 PM i oe.taplor(&slcgov.com from Wooldridge, Steve to everyone: 6:02 PM Email: ii5eis@utah.gov Website: htWs:llii5eis.udot.utah.gov/ Page 4 of 5 BAC 05-15-2023 Minutes from Patrick Casey to everyone: 6:03 PM Didn't they do a study on the i85 in Atlanta that proved how ineffective widening interstates is? from Max McLeod to everyone: 6:06 PM Joe briefly mentioned the Rio Grande Plan, I was wondering if he could expand on how or if that's been taken into consideration with this from Sarah Johnson D5 to everyone: 6:18 PM https://www.bikeutah.org/summit Approved by Bicycle Advisory Committee 07-17-23. Page 5 of 5 BAC 05-15-2023 Minutes