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04/01/2024 - Meeting Minutes SALT LAKE CITY TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY BOARD Minutes of the April 1, 2024 Meeting Present from the Transportation Advisory Board Daniel Mendoza, Greg Sanchez, Jim Espeland, Johnnae Nardone, Jon Larsen, Steve Wooldridge, and Suzanne Stensaas. Electronically present from the Transportation Advisory Board were Craig Buschmann, Isaac Astill, John Close, Julie Bjornstad, Justice Morath, and Matthew Gray. Absent from the Transportation Advisory Board were Josh Stewart and Pat Casey. Present was Scott Vaterlaus and Julianne Sabula. Electronically present were Steve,Amy Lyons, Becka Roolf, Jena Carver, Scott Weiler, Wynn Pead, Martin Cuma, and Heather McLaughlin-Kolb. The meeting was held both electronically and in person and was called to order at 4:01 p.m. by Greg Sanchez. Welcome and Introduction of Guests — Greg welcomed everyone, introduced the guests, and the City staff introduced themselves. Motion: Jim Espeland moved to approve the minutes of the February 5, 2024 meeting. Suzanne Stensaas seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Public Comment — There were no comments from the public. Sidewalks —Widths and More — Panel format/ Q&A Transportation Division —Scott Vaterlaus&Jena Carver, Engineering Division —Scott Weiler,Facilities Division — Wynn Pead Scott Vaterlaus said his group issues traffic control permits when a sidewalk needs to be closed temporarily. Their priority is to keep pedestrian access going and he explained some of the reasons why sidewalks can be closed. They look at whether there is an alternate path on that same side of the block or if they need to divert to the other side of the block, and make sure it's being done correctly, and a safe pathway is provided as best as possible. He said along with others in his Division he reviews plans for City projects whether it's a street rebuild or something else and make sure they are building and providing sidewalk per code and in the best way to meet the needs of the city. Jena Carver is in the project delivery group in Transportation and works on street reconstruction projects as well as sidewalk and bicycle lane projects. She also does the development review for Transportation and works with developers when they put in sidewalk along with Engineering who also always looks at the sidewalk when they're doing something in the right of way. Scott Weiler said he issues a permit that's in addition to the traffic control permit. They have different functions; the traffic control permit is intended to give the applicant the right directive on how to properly close the sidewalk and get permission,but it doesn't trigger an inspector,bond, or an insurance Pagel of 5 TAB 04-01-2024 Minutes policy. This is why he issues a second permit called a public right of way permit; it accomplishes those three things. Wynn Pead said one of his groups is tasked with maintaining the assets in the Central Business District and the Sugar House Business District. As far as sidewalks, they have one maintenance worker who conducts minor repairs on sidewalks such as paver misplacement. They don't have the ability to replace sidewalks,but they can grind down some lips and things like that. Johnnae asked about the process for new sidewalks. Suzanne said they seem to be busy giving permission to close and reroute sidewalks to keep traffic and pedestrians safe during repair or reconstruction. Her concern is about new development in Sugar House as the buildings are going up and the sidewalks are narrow and aren't set back enough to have shade or benches. What she's heard so far is it's not within their purview to make the design a safe passage to school,work, or shopping, to have wide enough sidewalks. Suzanne is concerned about what the rules are, particularly in business areas given that bicycles can also use the sidewalks except in the CBD. 4-foot-wide sidewalks with strollers,bicycles, and development in Sugar House doesn't make any sense in terms of safe and livable streets. She wonders if this belongs to some other department and if the Board is asking Transportation to do something that is not part of their mission. She said when there is a new or replaced sidewalk, it should be wider like on 300 West. Johnnae asked who is responsible and if there is anything on the books that advises that. Suzanne said it's a difficult battle for safety and we've got to get more than 4 feet in most places. Jena said there are several standards, and the minimum is 4 feet with a park strip and 5 feet with no park strip. If a development comes in and there is an existing sidewalk, there aren't requirements for them to widen it, especially if it's an existing street and their property line is already against the back of the sidewalk. They don't require them to build sidewalks on their property and even if there is no sidewalk, there isn't an ordinance that requires installation of sidewalk where there isn't unless it's a subdivision. It is difficult when an individual comes in and they need to look at the sidewalk on the entire street but we're only looking at one section at a time. Jena said there is a Typologies guide, but it's really only implemented on larger streets. There are some apartments that are taking up entire blocks and they are installing wider sidewalks. Scott Weiler said on Highland Drive there is quite a bit of width on the sidewalk, and it is a project nearing completion. He said the city should take pride in how much has now been devoted to the safety of pedestrians and cyclists. Johnnae asked about the mechanism that allowed that to happen. Jena said it was a City project and when they have a City project to reconstruct a street, they have a lot more leeway because they're looking at the entire street. Johnnae asked clarifying questions and Jena said there is no ordinance on redevelopment and the City has no ability to ask builders for additional right of way if they think they need a wider sidewalk. Scott said there are different minimums within the city and while they would like them to do more, they are complying based on the available right of way and where their property line is. Johnnae said the City does influence certain minimums like parking so she asked if there could potentially be some guidance or mechanism around sidewalks as well since they're dictating how many parking spaces they can have, that is telling them how to use their property. Scott said the sidewalks could be on private property. Suzanne said maybe the emphasis needs to be having the Planning Commission or the local commissions using a few of their own feet to have a bigger sidewalk. Jena said not every property goes through design review, but it is pretty common that the Planning Commission requires wider sidewalks and more landscaping,but it is only the projects that are required to go through design review which leaves out a lot of them. She also said they don't like having sidewalks on private property, they really need to be on the right of way because it causes all kinds of Page 2 of 5 TAB 04-01-2024 Minutes liability issues. They have been known to get easements for a public walkway but it's better to have it in the public right of way. Johnnae asked for more information about how Typologies work in guiding and influencing some of these outcomes. Jena said the Typologies is hard to apply to individual properties that are on established streets, but they are using it as guidance with big developments that are combining multiple properties. It's also used by the project development team when doing a new street reconstruction, it's used as guidance when they can. Becka said the Typologies haven't officially been adopted by the City,but Transportation is using them when they are doing projects. She said there was some talk about it becoming an adopted plan but she's not sure if that's going to happen or if it's just being used as guidance. Jon said for other design guides they aren't typically adopted, but they are referenced in adopted documents. The Citywide Transportation Plan which is set for adoption does reference the Typologies. Johnnae asked about temporary construction closures and how that process works as it seems like they'll close the bike lanes and leave the car lanes open. Scott Vaterlaus said parking is the least priority so if they can have pedestrians use that area, they will. He said it depends on what travel lanes are available,where it is, and what the ability to detour people around is. There are a lot of factors taken into consideration including how much room is needed for development and how much is needed to move people and try to find a good compromise. Suzanne asked what penalties can be had if they are taking too long or not following their permits. Julie gave an example of a pedestrian detour where they weren't even working on the sidewalk. She asked if there were limits to sidewalk closures. Scott Vaterlaus said they want it open as much as possible and there are ongoing costs for them to use it, the daily fees were recently increased. Scott Weiler said that the priority for everyone is safety so if there's a building under construction that would endanger a pedestrian on a sidewalk, they want that sidewalk closed. If there is a contractor that takes longer than expected, which is very common, they then must pay another fee to continue their work. It is $98 a week for a sidewalk closure and $35o a week for a lane closure. Scott Vaterlaus said they require much more related to safety if the contractor is working 6 months vs a couple of days. Greg asked about the 50/50 sidewalk repair program and was told this is largely done through Public Services, but they were unable to have someone available for this meeting. Scott Vaterlaus said anyone can go ahead and fix their own sidewalk and Greg said he's concerned about neighbors who might not be able to participate in the 50/50 program due to cost. Johnnae asked who is liable for tripping hazards on a sidewalk. Lt. Wooldridge said you can submit sidewalk issues on the mobile app and Greg said he has and the response has been,your neighbors can apply for the 50/50 program. Becka said liability is different in different states and cities. She said if the Board wants to pursue sidewalk repairs, she can have someone from Streets at the next meeting. She said she's hearing some policy questions and BAC can make some recommendations which is their role as an advisory Committee. Wynn explained what they do in the Central Business District as far as maintaining a io-foot corridor and said a business owner who does outdoor dining may pay a fee and may have to maintain the sidewalk in their area. Other parts of the CBD require 8-foot clearance and as far as sidewalk repair, they only have one person and they've been trying to hire someone else. Once their current person retires, they'll probably have to train someone because what they can pay is less than someone who is experienced will work for. They make small sidewalk repairs where they can and are about four months out on repairs. Suzanne asked if the io-foot requirements apply to other areas like 9th and 9th or 15th and 15th and if the City thought it would be appropriate in other places. Johnnae asked about the io- foot CBD area requirement and Scott Vaterlaus said that comes from the City code. Page 3 of 5 TAB 04-01-2024 Minutes Wynn said that ordinance does not apply to smaller business districts. Johnnae said she thinks so many problems can sometimes be addressed by restructuring. She asked about sidewalk snow removal. They talked about specific areas and who or how the snow is cleared. Johnnae would like to add this topic to a future agenda item. Suzanne agreed and said the Board should draft a policy and send it upward to City Council and the Mayor. She thinks that a position on the issues, challenges, problems and potential places for changes and solutions would be an appropriate thing for them to discuss at a future meeting. Johnnae would also like to revisit orphan assets. School Transportation/TAB Letter — Follow up from last meeting At the last meeting, the Board wrote a letter discussing how they felt about the way the schools were closed and the coordination between departments. The letter was sent to all Board members for review and once feedback was received from members who weren't in attendance, they realized they may not have a full picture of what happened. Issac said the SLC School District created a committee and a new position in January 2023, and they were the initial evaluators of the school closures. He explained what went into making these closure determinations,which included meetings with SLC Staff, multiple public meetings at each school, as well as meetings with concerned community groups. The School District followed the state and local guidelines for closing schools. Scott Vaterlaus said the principal in each school is responsible for creating a Safe Routes to School plan and UDOT is the repository of those plans. The Transportation Advisory Board is concerned that almost a year of planning has been lost due to a lack of communication and this is a concern that needs to be acted upon immediately. Isaac said the school closure plans weren't finalized until November. Johnnae said the Board seems to have more clarity about who does what now, but they still want this to get more attention from all parties involved and asked Isaac how he suggested they proceed. Isaac shared what is being done to get students safely to school and that there have been multiple meetings within which they are working tirelessly to cover these issues. He said he's fine with them sending a letter to the Superintendent, but the first draft was not accurate. Suzanne asked about SLC Transportation's involvement and Jon said they have several staff members looking at this and have provided feedback such as consolidating boundaries in a way that children would not have to cross State routes. Suzanne said they may need to characterize more accurately what happened while still making the point that this is important. Lt. Wooldridge talked about what the SLCPD is doing to try and make school zones safer. Issac apologized if he hasn't communicated well with the Board but said he has shared the letter with the Superintendent, and they want to do whatever they can to communicate with everyone. They are working as quickly as they can to figure out where the students will be attending and how they get there safely. Johnnae would like to see additional funds given for short to mid-term solutions to some of these changing traffic patterns. She believes the TAB role is to bring attention to this and to reinforce addressing the changing traffic patterns and increasing safety issues. Suzanne said it is a push for Transportation to figure out where they need signs, crosswalks, HAWKS, how to educate parents, etc. and it seemed urgent for safety concerns. Jon said each principal oversees creating their route which they'll hopefully be done with soon and once those are put into place; it triggers the City to look at the crossing routes and see which needs to be upgraded to official school crosswalks as well as the quantity and location of crossing guards. Scott Vaterlaus said the existing schools already have all the correct markings; they will need to tie into the schools that are closing. Johnnae would like to see some creative thinking and Suzanne said this is an opportunity to "make lemonade out of Page 4 of 5 TAB 04-01-2024 Minutes lemons". Isaac said the parents of the schools that are closing get to choose what school they want their children to go to and the school board has guaranteed that if children are crossing large fast-moving roads, they will bus students across those. Motion: Suzanne moved to create a Sub-Committee which will meet on April 15th at 4:00 p.m. They will review and revise their original letter for the full Committee's consideration at their May TAB meeting. The Sub-Committee will consist of Greg, Isaac, Josh, Johnnae, Matt, and Justice. Johnnae seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. TAB Mission — Initial Discussion Due to time constraints, this topic will be on a future agenda. Report Out — By Members Due to time constraints, this topic will be on a future agenda. Motion: Johnnae Nardone motioned to adjourn the meeting; Suzanne Stensaas seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 5:44 p.m. and the next meeting of the Board was scheduled for May 6, 2024. TAB WebEx Meeting Chat Roolf, Becka 4/1/2024 4:16 PM • Committee members are requested to please keep your cameras on if you are participating remotely. Thank you. Justice Morath 4/1/2024 4:36 PM • It seems that temporary pedestrian tunnels for construction are used less in SLC than other cities. Roolf, Becka 4/1/2024 4:37 PM • I wonder what the cost difference is for sidewalks vs. travel lanes in those other cities. If sidewalks were $1000 per week, and travel lanes were $300, that might change the dynamic of the cost of adding the tunnel. Roolf, Becka 4/1/2024 4:51 PM • The Sugar House Greenway(S-Line Trail) is ably maintained by Wynn Pead's crews. Roolf, Becka 4/1/2024 4:53 PM • Thank you, Scott V. Scott W, Jena, Wynn for coming for this discussion. Roolf, Becka 4/1/2024 4:53 PM • Thank you, Scott V. Scott W, Jena, Wynn for coming for this discussion. Matt Gray(UTA) 4/1/2024 5:38 PM • What was the time for the 15th? Roolf, Becka 4/1/2024 5:43 PM • 4 - 4:45 Pm 4/1/2024 5:43 PM • We can set up an online format, however Amy would not take minutes. Approved by the Transportation Advisory Committee 05-o6-24. Page 5 of 5 TAB 04-01-2024 Minutes