Pedestrian Advisory
Committee Meeting Minutes
August 18, 2005, 4:00
p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
City Manager’s
Conference Room
PAC Coalition Members present: Danny Drungilas, Carol Bowen, Deb Baker, Jim Carpenter, Lisa Harris, Ray Hummert, Joel Porter, Patrick Slick
PAC Coalition Members absent: Alan Black, Tonya Dors, Rick Gammill, Susan Henderson
City Staff present:
Needs of the PAC itself
® Members who can attend meetings and advise the coalition
® Members who can spend a couple of hours beyond the monthly meeting for research and contact work supporting PAC goals
® PAC passes decisions on the TSC, then to the City Commission
® Refine the message PAC is trying to deliver (what do pedestrians and drivers need to know?)
® Meetings will be held every third Thursday of the month
Issues that the PAC could or should address:
® Goals of the PAC: Make Lawrence more walkable; ongoing pedestrian safety campaign
® Driver and pedestrian awareness of pedestrian laws
® Pedestrian crossings at both intersections an mid-block, including unmarked crosswalks
® Connectivity
® Condition of sidewalks when a property is sold; inspection of sidewalks and mandated repairs before property changes hands
® Design standards for construction projects, maintaining connectivity during construction
® Installation of “Sidewalk Ends” signs to let people know they need to cross the street at the previous intersection, facilitating travel on an alternate route
®
PAC support of
® Courteous driving behavior that goes beyond merely legal behavior
® Educating people on the operation of different types of traffic signals
® Combining/coordinating the efforts of all the people whose work is important to pedestrian issues (TSC, bicycling committee, Public Transit, Parks and Rec, Public Works, etc.)
Ideas for spending grant money PAC receives for a pedestrian safety campaign, especially if the amount is small ($1000 or less):
® Signs such as “Yield to Pedestrians”
® Cameras at intersections
® “Grass-roots” publicity
® News release announcing formation of PAC and first official actions/plans
Actions suggested during meeting:
® Refine the message PAC is trying to deliver before launching pedestrian safety campaign
® Review pedestrian section of Transportation 2025
® Find out what has been done in the past regarding pedestrian issues in the community
® Ask Dave Corliss if there is a home rule exception to State sidewalk laws
® Have City staff explain process for addressing citizen complaints about sidewalks at a future PAC meeting
® Find out if TE money can be used to fix connectivity gaps, repair sidewalks
®
Split up the following topics and have PAC
members volunteer to research them before next meeting. Also have City staff (such as Chuck Soules,
o Sidewalk condition
o Absence of sidewalks (gaps, connectivity)
o Dangerous intersections for pedestrians
o Pubic education regarding pedestrian issues
o New sidewalk design
o Sidewalk accessibility during construction projects
Actions assigned during meeting:
®
®
Lisa Harris will ask
® David Woosley will ask Chuck Soules to attend a PAC meeting
® Deb Baker will research what other cities are doing online with pedestrian safety campaigns
Next PAC meeting will
be September 15, 2005
Pedestrian Advisory
Committee Meeting Minutes
September 15, 2005,
4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
City Manager’s
Conference Room
PAC Coalition Members present: Danny Drungilas, Alan Black, Deb Baker, Rick Gammill, Lisa Harris, Patrick Slick
PAC Coalition Members absent: Carol Bowen, Jim Carpenter, Tonya Dors, Susan Henderson, Raymond Hummert, Joel Porter
City Staff present:
Others present:
Creating a Grassroots Campaign
® Set a goal and find tools that work toward that goal
o What is the goal or message that you need to get out?
o What are the audiences you want to reach?
o How do reach the specific audiences?
® Set a timeline
o Intense presentation over a short time makes the most impact
§ Example: Wear a helmet campaign
o Different audiences may have different timelines, most effective times to reach them
® Look for crossover opportunities to promote message
o Example: composting promotion at the county fair
o KU football tailgating may be an opportunity to reach college student audience
o LMH Walkathon
Discussions regarding the message(s) PAC wants to promote
® Walkability and Safety are two separate messages
® A message seeking to inform people of the law and encourage compliance may not be effective. People know many traffic laws perfectly (stoplights, speed limits, etc.) but still break them regularly
® The development of a “message tree” might be helpful to link audiences, messages, and timelines
® Many of the goals in the PAC packet are well defined, with the exception of “increasing awareness of pedestrian safety issues.” Messages can be tailored to address these goals
® Walkability
o Definition in PAC packet
o Pat Slick defines walkability as the ability for a wheelchair to travel from one place to another on sidewalks
o Alan Black defines walkability as the ability to walk instead of drive to errands
® School-related issues/audiences
o Audiences: parents of school children, teenage drivers
o Since the pay-to-ride program went into effect, many parents have expressed a desire for more sidewalks
® Injuries resulting from accidents involving pedestrians
o There is almost always an injury caused by these accidents
o Driver inattention is a major contributor to these accidents
® Developers could be an audience in order to get them to buy into the value of pedestrian access
Role of PAC as an advocate on behalf of pedestrian interests
® In many policy discussions at public meetings, no one is present to represent the interests of pedestrians
® If an issue affects pedestrians (such as the Kasold reconstruction), the PAC could formulate a position, write a memo to the City Commission articulating the position, and go to meetings to make comments on the issue
PAC website
® What are other cities doing?
o Pedestrian issues usually embedded in Public Works or Tourism sections of website (touting walkability as an attraction)
® Server space on the City website would not be a problem, but City does not have resources to provide content development and maintenance
® It may be possible to utilize KU students to develop PAC webpages for a reasonable price, or even free (as a class project)
What organizations/people/departments are responsible for pedestrian issues?
®
Public
Works. Many individuals in Public
Works consider pedestrian issues in different contexts. Tammy Bennett is the City’s
®
Planning. Every planner looks at pedestrian regulations
(such as sidewalk requirements) when reviewing plans. Overall pedestrian issues are handled by
® Public Transit Committee. The Public Transit Committee would like to advocate for sidewalks on every street along bus routes.
Actions suggested/assigned during meeting
® PAC members should become familiar with subdivision regulations/guidelines and attend meetings regarding the proposed code.
® Formulate a new budget for KDOT grant
Next meeting is
scheduled for October 20, 2005, from 4:00-6:00 p.m.
Pedestrian Advisory
Committee Meeting Minutes
October 20, 2005,
4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
City Manager’s
Conference Room
PAC Coalition Members Present: Danny Drungilas, Lisa Harris, Alan Black
City Staff Present:
Housekeeping Issues:
® Lisa Harris has replaced Carol Bowen as co-chair of PAC
Public Works (PW) Report
® PW does not create pedestrian regulations, those are development codes and planning requirements
® Sidewalk maintenance/construction issues
o Property owners cannot remove brick sidewalks and replace them with concrete (HRC regulation). They must be replaced with brick.
o PW maintains the sidewalks (ramps to street) at corners, but adjacent property owners maintain other sidewalks.
o If sidewalks already exist but need to be rebuilt
§ Property owner is required by State law to maintain.
§ If there is a narrower sidewalk than is currently required by code, in many cases exemption is granted for a new narrow sidewalk to preserve continuity.
o If sidewalks do not exist in a previously developed neighborhood
§ City usually does not require the construction of sidewalks (City used to utilize gap filling funds to do this)
§ It is difficult for the City to go in and construct sidewalks in an older neighborhood because new development is required to construct their own. Fairness concerns.
o How can PAC help with issue of repairing sidewalks
§ PW is already aware of most of the problems of gaps and condition, does not need more reports. PW is most concerned about areas with frequent walkers.
§ Snow removal is a big issue – PW gets more complaints about this than about condition of sidewalks. The problem is that some people cannot clear their sidewalks, and others neglect to do it.
§ Funding is a problem for sidewalk maintenance – PAC could advocate during budget process.
o Funding for transportation projects
§ Usually State, Federal, and TE funding are not available for conventional sidewalk projects (like repair and gap filling). This is considered a local responsibility.
§ State, Federal, and TE funds more likely available for major visibility projects like rail-trail.
o Vegetation encroachment on sidewalks and streets
§
Complaints should go to
® PW has not been budgeted any money for gap filling for a couple years.
® Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) issues
o Tammy
Bennett is City’s
o Making
® Code requires a 10’ rec path on one side and a 6’ sidewalk on other side of arterials. However, City Commission can exempt projects from this requirement (such as Kasold reconstruction project). This illustrates the need for pedestrian advocates at public meetings.
KDOT Grant Process
® Dennis Moore’s office has offered assistance in lobbying for more funds than KDOT has indicated they are willing to offer PAC for pedestrian safety campaign.
®
Danny Drungilas has drafted a letter to send to
® Support for sending letter expressed by Drungilas, Harris, and Black.
Other Issues Discussed
® During City budget process, Alan Black would like for PAC to be able to go to the City Commission and say, “These are our top five priorities for funding pedestrian improvements.”
® There is a need for more PAC coalition members
o Need 8-10 people in order to work on potential projects identified by Drungilas and Harris
o Methods for recruiting more members
§ Recontact people who used to attend PAC meetings but have dropped off
§ Try contacting neighborhood associations
§ Put out a message on community email discussion lists
Assignments
® PAC should draft a statement/memo to present to the City Commission when Kasold Reconstruction comes back before them on November 8, 2005.
® PAC requests that PW notify them when projects with pedestrian issues are being considered.
®
David Woosley and
® Danny Drungilas will solicit new members of PAC through a community email list.
Next Meeting:
November 17, 4:00-6:00 p.m., City Manager’s Conference Room
Pedestrian Advisory Committee
Meeting
November 17, 2005, 4:00 p.m. – 6:00
p.m.
Legal Services Conference Room
PAC Coalition Members Present: Danny Drungilas, Lisa Harris,
Alan Black, Gwen Klingenberg, Patrick Slick
City Staff
Present:
Areas
of Focus and Projects for PAC
Safety
(reducing the risk of bodily harm)
Walkability
(connectivity of pedestrian facilities)
Chairs for these projects will report at next meeting what
they are planning for their projects.
Other Issues
The Traffic Safety Commission would like PAC to serve as a
“first responder” when a citizen brings a pedestrian safety issue to the
attention of the City. PAC should add as
a standing agenda item the discussion of issues that should be brought to the
attention of the TSC.
It was suggested that PAC should develop an annual
report. This could be something like a
two page document reporting on the state of pedestrian safety and connectivity
in
The formation of a watchdog committee (to watch the City
Commission and Planning Commission agendas for pedestrian related items) was
discussed. Such a committee could help
identify opportunities for PAC to advocate on behalf of pedestrians at public
meetings. Gwen Klingenberg volunteered
to watch the meeting agendas for relevant items.
Assignments made during meeting
Danny Drungilas will…
Lisa Harris will…
Gwen Klingenberg will…
Patrick Slick will…
All project chairs will…
Next meeting: January
19, 2006 (no meeting in December)
Pedestrian Advisory Committee
Meeting
January
19, 2006, 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
City
Manager’s Conference Room
PAC
Coalition Members Present: Danny Drungilas, Lisa Harris, Alan Black, Dietrich
Earnhart, Gwen Klingenberg, Patrick Slick, Jodi Wente
City
Staff Present:
Assignments made during meeting
Danny
Drungilas will:
All
members of PAC will:
Report on assigned tasks from last
meeting
Identify specific school zones that are unsafe and recommend solutions,
with costs, to Public Works and the City Commission: Danny Drungilas wants to work with Rick
Gammill of USD 497 to get the walkability checklist into parents’ hands. Patrick Slick has a list of contacts for the PTOs that could also be helpful for this project. The following school zone problems have
already been identified: the Prairie Park Neighborhood Association says that
their school zone ends right in front of the school,
there is a lack of sidewalks near 18th and
Identify the top ten most dangerous street intersections for
pedestrians in
Increase awareness of pedestrian safety issues among pedestrians,
drivers, City staff and public officials through a website and other
information sharing avenues: Danny
Drungilas informed the PAC that the City had committed $500 to help the PAC
develop a website. The site will be
hosted on a City server, and Lisa Patterson has provided webpage templates to
Kathy Drungilas. PAC’s webpage could
serve as an information source, with links to articles, laws, or the
interactive program Drungilas obtained from FHWA. Drungilas would like other PAC members to
email him their ideas about what else might be put on the website, which can
address both walkability and safety issues.
Drungilas suggested creating a “good
role model” program, whereby the City Commission passes an ordinance requiring
City vehicles to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks. Bumper stickers reading “We yield to pedestrians”
could be placed on all City vehicles.
Lisa Patterson suggested that a City policy would probably be more
appropriate for implementing this program than an ordinance or resolution. She suggested taking a request for a policy
to the Traffic Safety Commission, who can pass it on to the City
Commission. The City Commission can then
direct City staff to draft a policy if appropriate. Another way to accomplish the goal of delivering
a message to City employees is to create a presentation and then approach each
City department about giving the presentation during staff meetings.
Lisa Patterson also suggested trying
to specifically target the audiences the PAC is trying to reach – for example,
college age males. PAC may be able to
get more “bang for the buck” by tailoring messages and delivery instruments to
the specific group rather than just choosing City employees because they are a
big captive audience.
Identify areas where connectivity can be improved and forward
recommendations for improvements, with costs, to Public Works and City
Commission:
Examine City policies for creating, maintaining and enforcing well
connected and passable sidewalks and make recommendations, as necessary, to
appropriate City officials: Lisa
Harris checked the policies of various other cities and found that some manage
sidewalks the way we do (the sidewalks are the responsibility of the property
owners, per State law), while other cities pay for all sidewalk maintenance,
some split the costs with property owners, and some split the cost with
property owners who meet income eligibility requirements. Other cities target certain areas each year
for enforcement, and tell the property owners to fix the sidewalks or the City
will come in and do it and then bill the property owner. All of these options will require hard
choices from the City Commission – namely increase taxes or increase
enforcement. Drungilas expressed support
for property owners continuing to be responsible for sidewalk condition on
their property. Increasing enforcement
seems more feasible because there are so many hundreds of miles of sidewalks
that City maintenance would be difficult.
Gwen Klingenberg favored
Patrick Slick expressed a desire to
have a City Commission study session on the topic of sidewalks so that the PAC
can find out what level of support the Commission has for these issues. Slick requested that this be discussed at the
next PAC meeting.
Identify existing sidewalks that are constrained by vegetation or other
barriers and recommend solutions: Danny
Drungilas reported that he met with
Public education regarding
vegetation and sidewalks is mostly web based and is handled by Lisa Patterson
and
Patrick Slick raised the concern of
whether these complaints are anonymous or not, and if that affects the
reporting of problems.
Other business
Report/discuss pedestrian related issues from commission agendas: Gwen Klingenberg reported the following:
Update on KDOT grant process:
KDOT
is willing to provide about $2500 for a driver and pedestrian safety awareness
campaign. The PAC needs to come up with
a budget to submit with the grant application.
Some of the things we might consider include bumper stickers and pedometers
with messages or logos on them. We also
need a plan for distributing these items.
PAC members can email their ideas
for using the KDOT funds to Danny Drungilas, or bring them to the next meeting.
Gap filling CIP budget request
If
the PAC can recommend one sidewalk gap filling project that would cost
$10,000-$25,000, Chuck Soules will include it in the Public Works 2007 Capital
Improvement Plan budget request. The
City Commission chooses from among all the requests which ones to include in
the approved budget. For cost estimating
purposes, five foot wide sidewalks cost about $25 per linear foot, or it would
cost about $10,000 for one block (400ft) of sidewalk.
PAC members should come to the next
members prepared to make and discuss recommendations for a project.
Next Meeting: February 23,
4:00-6:00 p.m.
February
23, 2006 meeting minutes
|
MEMBERS
PRESENT: |
Danny
Drungilas, Lisa Harris, Jodi Wente, Alan Black,
Gwen Klingenberg, Patrick Slick, Rick Gammill |
|
STAFF
PRESENT: |
|
Committee
housekeeping
Approved
minutes of the January 19, 2005 PAC meeting.
Approved agenda.
Report
on assigned tasks of the PAC
Assigned tasks:
--Identify specific school zones in
Drungilas
met with Rick Gammill, and reported that Gammill agreed to take responsibility
for getting pedestrian survey to as many parents as possible, including
placement on USD website, and for gathering it in October in conjunction with
Walk Your Child to School Day. It was
suggested that PAC should bring this back up in June to discuss how to
publicize it, including City Commission proclamation.
--Identify unsafe sidewalks
(through a sidewalk survey) and recommend how to get them repaired—Gwen Klingenberg.
Gwen
Klingenberg has done more research on what other cities have done, will email
information to group. Some cities have a
matching grant program for maintenance, others have partial reimbursement
program. Some cities have a sitting committee
for sidewalk issues.
Discussed
whether PAC wants to ask the City to have a policy on sidewalks and have a
committee that sits and talks about sidewalks and makes recommendations (rather
than simply the complaint driven process).
Drungilas
committed to contacting the Mayor about getting a representative from PAC on sidewalk
study session agenda. City Commission
study session on sidewalk policies: March 9, 9:00a.m. in
the City Commission room.
Possible
items to bring up at study session: