Memorandum
City of Lawrence
Public Works Department
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TO: |
Thomas M. Markus, City Manager |
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FROM: |
Amanda Sahin, Transportation Engineer |
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DATE: |
March 22, 2018 |
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RE: |
Transportation Commission Joint Work Session on April 10, 2018 |
The Transportation Commission was established in January 2017 by Resolution No. 7172. Per the by-laws the Authority and Purpose are as follows:
Section 2.1 Authority. The function, powers, and duties of the Commission are as authorized by the resolution establishing the Commission. Actions of the Commission are in the nature of recommendations only and are subject to approval by the Governing Body. The Commission, however, adopts its own rules and policies for procedure, consistent with its powers.
Section 2.2 Commission Purpose. Through this Commission, the Governing Body is encouraging strong multimodal transportation planning in order to advance the health, safety, and welfare of all residents of the City of Lawrence. Commission activities include but are not limited to:
a) Making recommendations to the Governing Body regarding implementation of its Complete Streets policy;
b) Making recommendations to the Governing Body regarding the priority, location, and design of transportation facilities;
c) Making recommendations to the Governing Body regarding the expenditure of capital funds for transportation-related projects and programs;
d) Making recommendations to the Governing Body regarding expenditures of funds for the repair and maintenance of transportation projects and programs;
e) Making recommendations to the Governing Body regarding ordinances, policies, and programs regarding transportation planning, transportation, and transportation safety; and
f) Performing other specific functions and duties and to make recommendations on other matters, as directed by the Governing Body from time to time.
The Transportation Commission had a retreat on Jan 26, 2018 to discuss meeting protocols, city budget process and to set goals for 2018. The goals that were set are: 1) Recommend a new Traffic Calming Policy; 2) Recommend a new Complete Streets Policy; 3) Recommend a 5-year spending plan for the Sidewalk/Bike/Ped Improvements/ADA Ramp line item in the CIP. Some of the other items that the Transportation Commission would like to be involved in are: consultation on large scale transit concerns; consultation on the Downtown Master Plan; engagement on the sidewalk maintenance policy discussion.
One other big area of concern that is shared by the Transportation Commissioners and City staff is that the advisory board should be focusing more time and energy on larger scale projects and policies. The board currently spends significant time on resident request driven agenda items, i.e. no parking, traffic calming, crosswalks, etc. Staff proposes that more of these decisions be made administratively in compliance with existing policies and standard engineering practices. To fully accomplish this, staff will pursue revisions to City Code to remove the requirement that the signage be implemented by ordinance. This would align the work of the Transportation Commission more closely to the purpose in the by-laws.
The goals and the other items discussed are more thoroughly laid out in the attached document titled “2018 Transportation Commission Goals and Retreat Summary”. At the joint work session, the Transportation Commission would like to discuss the goals and expectations with City Commission.
Attachments: