City of Lawrence
Traffic Safety Commission
September 13, 2004 minutes
MEMBERS PRESENT: Caroljean Brune, Chair, John Ziegelmeyer, Jr. Vice-Chair, Carol Bowen, Danny Drungilas, Paul Graves, Robert Hagen, David Hamby, Matt Jordan, and Caleb Morse.
MEMBERS ABSENT: None.
STAFF PRESENT: David Woosley, Public Works Department and Officer Tracy Russell, Police Department.
Chair Caroljean Brune called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m. in the City Commission Room in City Hall.
ITEM NO. 1:
Review and approve the minutes of the Traffic Safety Commission meeting, August 2, 2004.
MOTION BY COMMISSIONER HAGEN, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER MORSE, TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE AUGUST 2, 2004, TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING; THE MOTION CARRIED 9-0.
Consider request from Albert Lopes, 3312 W. 24th Terrace, to establish NO PARKING along the north side of 24th Terrace from Kasold Drive, east 200 feet.
David Woosley reviewed the information provided in the staff report.
Kenneth Prost, 1208 Chadwick, owner of 3309 W. 24th Terrace: Parking is only permitted on the north side of the street. The homes on the south side of the street only have single car garages. I would support NO PARKING on the north side of the street if parking were permitted on the south side of the street. The homes on the south side of the street need to park on the street. The homes on the north side have two-car garages.
Commissioner Drungilas asked Mr. Post if he had had any problems turning off of Kasold onto 24th Terrace. Mr. Post stated that he had not.
Commissioner Graves asked if the Commission proposed to move the existing NO PARKING from the south side of the street to north side, would that have to be on a future agenda. Woosley advised that it would.
Commissioner Hamby asked Woosley if he thought moving the restriction would cause any problems. Woosley stated that it shouldn’t be a problem.
Commissioner Graves stated that he would be in favor of recommending moving the restriction from the south side to the north side.
MOTION BY COMMISSIONER GRAVES, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER BRUNE, TO RECOMMEND DENIAL OF THE REQUEST, AND TO PLACE AN ITEM ON THE OCTOBER AGENDA TO MOVE THE NO PARKING RESTRICTION FROM THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE STREET TO THE NORTH SIDE; THE MOTION CARRIED 9-0.
Consider request from Karen Wright, 1435 Applegate Court, representing the Applegate Homeowners Association, to establish NO PARKING along one side of Applegate Court.
David Woosley reviewed the information provided in the staff report.
Karen Wright, 1435 Applegate Court: There are a few permanent residents of the court; the upper half of the court has a lot of college students that rent in the area, and when they have parties or have friends stay overnight, they park on both sides of the street and it is difficult to get through, particularly when the hill is slick. If there is a fire or a medical emergency in the area it would be very difficult to get large emergency equipment into the area.
Commissioner Morse asked if there was a preference for which side of the street. Wright stated that there was not.
Commissioner Drungilas stated that there are more driveways on the north side so there would be more parking available on the south side of the street.
MOTION BY COMMISSIONER ZIEGELMEYER, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER JORDAN, TO RECOMMEND ESTABLISHING NO PARKING ALONG THE NORTH SIDE OF APPLEGATE COURT; THE MOTION CARRIED 9-0.
ITEM NO. 4:
Review the 2004 INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENT PRIORITIES, prepared by the Traffic Engineering Division.
http://www.lawrencepublicworks.org/pdf/intersection-priorities-04.pdf
David Woosley reviewed the information provided in the staff report.
Commissioner Hagen asked if there was only enough money to build one project. Woosley advised that some projects would not take all the funding available in one year while others may take two or three years funding to build.
Commissioner Drungilas asked why the improvements at 15th (Bob Billings Parkway) & Wakarusa were substantially less than many of the other locations. Woosley advised that 15th (Bob Billings Parkway) & Wakarusa would not require as much geometric improvements as some of the others.
Commissioner Ziegelmeyer asked if 15th (Bob Billings Parkway) & Wakarusa costs $200,000, then can the studies for Harvard & Wakarusa and Inverness/Legends & Wakarusa be done for the remaining $50,000. Woosley advised that was a possibility; until bids are obtained the actual costs won’t be known. If there isn’t enough money to complete the recommendations with this years funding, then they could be carried-over to future funding availability.
Commissioner Hagen asked if there had been any consideration for future needs when Wakarusa was planned. Woosley advised that obviously there had been at 15th Street (Bob Billings Parkway) since left-turn lanes had been constructed, but not at any of the other intersections.
Commissioner Morse asked if it wouldn’t be better to not have the 4-way stops at Harvard & Wakarusa. Woosley advised that the reason they were there was due to crash history.
Commissioner Morse asked about 15th & Engel. Woosley advised that the current intersection is in a poor location at the top of the hill and there have been discussions with the University of Kansas in the past, but no agreement has been reached as to what the best solution would be.
Commissioner Bowen asked what would be done for pedestrians at 15th (Bob Billings Parkway) & Wakarusa. Woosley advised that the city standard is to provide pedestrian crosswalks, push-buttons and signals at all new signalized intersections.
Commissioner Graves asked if that included the countdown portion of the signal. Woosley advised that it did.
Commissioner Drungilas asked if a lot of the priorities had been on the list for many years but keep getting bumped back. Woosley advised that some had been there for several years and have been moving up in priority while others stayed the same or moved down the list as higher priority locations were added.
Commissioner Brune asked if the new development being planned on Highway 10 would show-up on the list in a few years. Woosley advised that was possible.
MOTION BY COMMISSIONER MORSE, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER ZIEGELMEYER, TO RECOMMEND ISSUING BONDS IN THE AMOUNT OF $250,000 TO DESIGN AND CONSTRUCT A TRAFFIC SIGNAL AT 15TH STREET (BOB BILLINGS PARKWAY) & WAKARUSA DRIVE AND TO CONDUCT FEASIBILITY STUDIES AND DESIGN APPROPRIATE IMPROVEMENTS AT HARVARD ROAD & WAKARUSA DRIVE AND INVERNESS DRIVE/LEGENDS DRIVE & WAKARUSA DRIVE AND TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR OTHER PROJECTS ON THE INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENT PRIORITY LIST; THE MOTION CARRIED 9-0.
ITEM NO. 5:
Review the ROAD SAFETY AUDIT of Douglas County prepared by the Kansas Department of Transportation Traffic Engineering Bureau.
http://www.lawrencepublicworks.org/pdf/Road_Safety_Audit.pdf
David Woosley reviewed the information provided in the staff report and presented additional crash information for 6th Street not available when the agenda was published.
Commissioner Hagen stated that re-striping 6th Street seemed quite feasible, but asked if there was a downside. Woosley advised that although parking was currently prohibited along the north side of the street and has been for many years, parents park there and pick-up students at Pinckney School.
After considerable discussion, the following action was taken:
MOTION BY COMMISSIONER MORSE, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER HAMBY TO RECOMMEND ESTABLISHING A SPEED LIMIT OF 40 MPH ON IOWA STREET BETWEEN TERRACE ROAD AND HARVARD ROAD; THE MOTION CARRIED 5-4 (Bowen, Drungilas, Graves & Hagen felt it should coincide with providing a left-turn lane and would make a bad situation worse until then).
MOTION BY COMMISSIONER HAMBY, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER JORDAN TO RECOMMEND TAKING NO ACTION ON 23RD STREET & MASSACHUSETTS STREET UNTIL THE REPORT FROM STAFF IS READY; THE MOTION CARRIED 9-0.
MOTION BY COMMISSIONER DRUNGILAS, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER MORSE TO RECOMMEND MAKING APPROPRIATE IMPROVEMENTS NECESSARY AND TO IMPLEMENT NORTH-SOUTH LEFT-TURN PHASING ON 23RD STREET & HARPER STREET; THE MOTION CARRIED 9-0.
MOTION BY COMMISSIONER ZIEGELMEYER, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER DRUNGILAS TO RECOMMEND IMPROVING 23RD STREET BY PROVIDING A TWO-WAY LEFT-TURN LANE BETWEEN LOUISIANA STREET AND LEARNARD AVENUE, BUT PROCEEDING WITH CAUTION TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE 23RD STREET CORRIDOR STUDY AND THE RESIDENTIAL CHARACTER OF THE AREA; THE MOTION CARRIED 9-0.
MOTION BY COMMISSIONER HAGEN, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER JORDAN TO RECOMMEND RESTRIPING 6TH STREET TO PROVIDE A TWO-WAY LEFT-TURN LANE BETWEEN MAINE STREET AND TENNESSEE STREET IN CONJUNCTION WITH RESURFACING IN 2005; THE MOTION CARRIED 9-0.
ITEM NO. 6:
Public Comment.
None.
ITEM NO. 7:
Commission Items.
None.
ITEM NO. 8:
Miscellaneous.
None.
The meeting adjourned at 8:50 p.m.
The next scheduled meeting of the Traffic Safety Commission is Monday, October 4, 2004.
Respectfully submitted,
David E. Woosley, P.E.
Transportation/Traffic Engineer