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HomeMy WebLinkAbout_2007 04 16 City Commission Workshop Minutes CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP APRIL 16, 2007 CALL TO ORDER The Workshop of Monday, April 16, 2007 of the City Commission was called to Order by Mayor John F. Bush at 5:15 p.m. in the Commission Chambers of the Municipal Building (City Hall, 1126 East State Road 434, Winter Springs, Florida 32708). Roll Call: Mayor John F. Bush, present Deputy Mayor Sally McGinnis, present Commissioner Robert S. Miller, absent Commissioner Rick Brown, absent Commissioner Donald A. Gilmore, present Commissioner Joanne M. Krebs, present City Manager Ronald W. McLemore, present City Attorney Anthony A. Garganese, arrived at 5 :21 p.m. The Pledge of Allegiance was followed by a moment of silence. AWARDS AND PRESENTATIONS AWARDS AND PRESENT A nONs 300. Public Works Department Requests That The City Commission Listen To A Traffic Calming Presentation From Ian Lockwood, P.E., A Transportation Engineer From Glatting Jackson. Mr. Brian Fields, P.E., City Engineer, Public Works Department introduced this Agenda Item and Mr. Ian Lockwood. Mr. Ian Lockwood, P.E., Traffic Engineer, Glatting Jackson Kercher Anglin, 33 East Pine Street, Orlando, Florida: showed a photo presentation related to Traffic Calming. City Attorney Anthony A. Garganese arrived at 5:21 p.m. Discussion ensued on street networks and Traffic Calming. Tape l/Side B CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP - APRIL 16,2007 PAGE20F4 Mr. Lockwood suggested that "When you're building new subdivisions and new developments, you can build in the Traffic Calming, that nobody actually sees it as Traffic Calming, it's just good design." With further comments on Traffic Calming measures, Mr. Lockwood pointed out that "One of the things that we always do is ensure that the larger vehicles that need to get around, can get around. And, even on the non-framework streets, even though the emergency services don't have to go very far, every Traffic Calming measure needs to be designed to handle what we call the design vehicle which is a tractor-trailer with a wheel base of forty feet (40')." Different kinds of Traffic Calming measures were discussed next, to which Mr. Lockwood noted, "One of the things that you are obliged to do is make all your Traffic Calming conspicuous, and you can do that through lots of yellow paint, signs, or you can do it more subtlety using nice designs and landscaping." Discussion. Mr. Lockwood showed an example and stated, "This is another little median. It does not have the humps on each side. This was designed just to constrict drivers as they go through. The gap between the curbs is about ten feet (10') which violates your current Code because of the Fire Truck folks want twelve feet (12') and this is something that your Code probably didn't anticipate when it was written. For short distances, these sorts of constrictions are fine, but it is something that you will need to work with your Fire Department on." Furthermore, Mr. Lockwood explained, "One of the things that we like to do too is to reduce sign pollution, we do something like this where it says traffic-calmed area and then we don't feel compelled to sign every single measure after that; because the way Traffic Calming works is that it needs a series of measures in a row with different spacings, depending on what speed you want and to sign all of them, you get sign pollution and so what we do, is just sign the area, just on the perimeter and then just make the other measures conspicuous, and that seems to be a good balance between marking things and liability issues." Regarding entry features, Mr. Lockwood pointed out that "The idea is to let people know when they are going from a more car-oriented environment into a neighborhood where they can expect pedestrians." Further discussion. Commissioner Donald A. Gilmore asked about a "Twenty-two foot (22') wide street, no sidewalks, potential for thirty (30) mile an hour through the neighborhood streets?" CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP - APRIL 16, 2007 PAGE30F4 Mr. Lockwood suggested, "I would probably start by building sidewalks, and then I think, I would, it really depends on the case, but I would probably start looking at the intersections to see if something could happen at those to help reduce any speeding, if there is speeding. And then perhaps I would start looking at street trees to see if the street could be enclosed in some kind of canopy - if you can start working on the cross- sections. I would probably not pave it to be super smooth, to give it some texture - to help drivers realize their speed through vibrations, but I would use every cue I could to get drivers to go slower and to make pedestrian more conspicuous." Discussion followed on Dyson Drive and traffic issues. Mr. Lockwood noted that there is "The original design of new roads and retrofitting existing roads. There's the enforcement part that you are talking about and there is education and the enforcement part is like you said is very expensive and also it's effectiveness is very short-lived, once - the Police aren't there, the behavior goes back to what it was." Furthermore, Mr. Lockwood explained, "What Traffic Calming does is it creates what we call a self-enforcing situation where the street design itself invokes the behaviors that we are looking for and over the long run, it's a lot cheaper, not just from a Police enforcement perspective, but also over time, from an insurance perspective and a health- care perspective and all the other sorts of things that we pay, one way or another as tax payers. " Discussion. Tape 2/Side A Further discussion. Mr. Lockwood pointed out that "Managing expectations through design is absolutely crucial." With further comments, Mr. Lockwood noted, "That if you do slow your streets in a very context sensitive way and it's beautiful, people don't mind because their expectations are that they will go those speeds that you design for. If you design a street that's fast, and you can't meet those expectations like a traffic jam in your Town Center or something, people get angry and you get complaints. If your Traffic Calming or whatever you do, looks like obstacles to progress down the street, people will object to them, but if they're incorporated into the design of the road nicely with nice materials, people won't mind, they might mind for a little while like you say, but they'll get used to it, and they will eventually appreciate it and they'll see more walking and so on, so it will contribute to the City." CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP - APRIL 16, 2007 PAGE40F4 Regarding emergency vehicles and framework streets, Mr. Lockwood remarked, "The distance between framework streets needs to be thought through; such that the rule of thumb is that you never employ more than eight (8) to twelve (12) retrofit measures in a row between framework streets." Related to Traffic Calming, problems, quantitative data, and qualitative data was then discussed. Mr. Lockwood remarked, "Sometimes statistics can be misleading and so I think you need a balance, but to not lose that human factor with the people in the neighborhoods. " Further discussion. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Bush adjourned the Workshop at 7:19 p.m. RES{ F;CTFULLY SUBMITTED: \ \ /.----:> ,,/' --- -' . LORENZO-LUACES, CMC CLERK APPROVED: I~ NOTE: These Minutes were approved at the April 23, 2007 Regular City Commission Meeting.