MINUTES
TRAFFIC
COMMISSION
Monday,
July 26, 2010
City
Hall, Room 310
5:30
pm
MEMBERS PRESENT: Lt. Brad Florence, Charles Karow, Alderman Andy Nicholson (Meeting
Chair), Mark Schuster, and Bryan Lipke
MEMBERS ABSENT: Chairperson Brad Hopp (excused), Vice
Chair Matt Kuepers (excused)
OTHERS PRESENT: Alderwoman Amy Kocha,
Recording Secretary and Traffic Engineer Dave Hansen
1. Approval of the minutes from the June
28, 2010 Traffic Commission meeting.
A motion was made by Lt. Florence,
seconded by M. Schuster, and carried that minutes from the June 28, 2010
Traffic Commission meeting be approved.
2. Review of the 2010 second quarter
report of serious injury and fatal traffic crashes.
Lt. Florence provided a memorandum
summarizing the report. It follows:
“FATALITY
CRASH - May 9, 2010 1:18am 1400 blk Hurlbut St
A 50 year old male
driver, 47 year old female front seat passenger, and a
8 year old female backseat passenger were in a 2000 Toyota Tundra pickup. The
vehicle had just turned onto EB Hurlbut St from NB Military Av. While
completing the turn, a food container that was resting on the center, front
seat armrest slid off. While the driver was attending to the container, the
roadway curved slightly, however, the vehicle continued forward. The vehicle
drove off the roadway and overturned in a water filled ditch.
The vehicle came to
rest, upside down, in about three feet of water. The driver was able to extract
himself and his 8 year old daughter through a broken window. The driver was
unable to remove the female passenger where she became trapped and eventually
drowned.
Alcohol is not a
factor in this crash. No citations have been issued.”
A motion was made by C. Karow, seconded by B.
Lipke, and carried that the review of the 2010 second quarter report of serious
injury and fatal traffic crashes be received and placed on file.
A motion was made by M. Schuster, seconded by
C. Karow, and carried to take the remaining agenda items in the following
order: 7, 8, 10, 3-6, 9, 11-15.
3. Request by Ald. Wiezbiskie to establish
a 2-WAY YIELD condition on McKenzie Lane at Brook Park Drive.
D.
Hansen stated that Brook Park Drive serves as a neighborhood collector while
McKenzie Lane is a local neighborhood street.
Given the hierarchy of each street, it makes sense to assign priority
right-of-way to Brook Park Dr.
A
motion was made by C. Karow, seconded by B. Lipke, and carried that, on a
90-day trial, to establish a 2-WAY YIELD condition on McKenzie Lane at Brook
Park Drive.
4. Request by Ald. Wiezbiskie to install a
STOP sign at the apartment exit onto Welland Avenue
at Tobermory Drive.
D.
Hansen showed a map of the intersection, noting that the west approach is one
of two private driveways of the Terrace Lake Apartments. He noted that State Statute 346.18(4) states
that the operator of a vehicle entering a highway from an alley or from a point
of access other than another highway shall yield the right−of−way
to all vehicles approaching on the highway which the operator is entering.
Given that the driveway is private, it would be the responsibility of the
property owner to install a STOP sign to remind tenants and their visitors of
the state statute. He researched the
site plan approval file and did not find an order to install STOP signs at the
driveway exit points to Welland Ave and Huron
Rd. He researched the crash history at Welland/Tobermory and found no
crashes within the history of the database, which dates back to 2005. The Welland Ave
driveway has the appearance of a city street given it has a median island. Eastbound Tobermory
Dr at Welland Ave has a STOP sign. He stated that at one time, the eastbound
movement had a YIELD sign and the exit driveway had a STOP sign, which must
have been installed by the property owner.
Complaints of speeding cut-through traffic from the Terrace Lake Apts to Ontario Rd have been reported from residents along Tobermory Dr. They
would rather have that traffic go south on Welland
Ave to Finger Rd. He recommended the
request be received and placed on file.
A
discussion took place about the practice of city-installed and city-invoiced
signs onto private property, about having Ald. Wiezbiskie asking the apartment
complex owners to install a STOP sign, that their private driveway looks like a
public street, that it may be unique to have a STOP on the eastbound approach, but
not have one on the westbound approach.
A
motion was made by Lt. Florence, seconded by M. Schuster, and carried that the
request to install a STOP sign at the apartment exit onto Welland
Avenue at Tobermory Drive be received and placed on
file due to no evidence of traffic issues at the intersection.
A
discussion took place that someone should talk to the apartment property owner
about the concern from the Tobermory Dr residents,
and that the City should not be paying to install STOP signs on private
property.
The
motion was amended by Lt. Florence, seconded by M. Schuster, and carried that the
request to install a STOP sign at the apartment exit onto Welland
Avenue at Tobermory Drive be received and placed on
file and that Ald. Wiezbiskie contacts the Terrace Lake Apartments owner asking
them to install a STOP sign at their expense at their Tobermory
Drive access exit.
5. Request by Ald. Wiezbiskie to replace a
missing speed limit sign on Spartan Road south of Luxemburg Road.
D. Hansen stated that Spartan Rd
(Humboldt Rd – Luxemburg Rd) has a posted speed limit of 35 mph. A SPEED LIMIT 35 sign is posted on northbound
Spartan Rd just north of Humboldt Rd. No
speed limit signs are posted in the southbound direction of Spartan Rd in this
segment. He recommended a SPEED LIMIT 35
sign be installed just south of Luxemburg Rd.
A motion was made by C. Karow,
seconded by M. Schuster, and carried to install a SPEED LIMIT 35 sign on
southbound Spartan Road south of Luxemburg Road.
6. Request by Ald. Nicholson to review the
reasons why WisDOT’s Main/Verlin
construction project was started before its scheduled date, and to identify the
problems that occurred due to the schedule change.
D.
Hansen stated that DPW staff learned on short notice that WisDOT
switched Stages 1 (I-43/Manitowoc Rd ramp repair) and Stage 2 (Main/Verlin roundabout construction) of the Village of Bellevue
Manitowoc Rd project while WisDOT was reconstructing
Manitowoc Rd in the City of Green Bay.
Both projects were overseen by WisDOT staff,
although the City project was led by a WisDOT local
consultant manager, and the Bellevue project is overseen by State project staff. Stage 2 of the Bellevue project involved the
closure of the Main/Verlin intersection. This closure diverted traffic into the City
of Green Bay Manitowoc Rd project, which made construction activities difficult
for the contractor and upset many abutting residents. To compensate for this issue, WisDOT offered and placed changeable message signs on both
ends of the City project, advising motorists that Manitowoc Rd was closed, and
that the road was PD enforced. Many
warnings and citations were issued to violating motorists. Now, the City project of Manitowoc Rd is complete,
and PD is enforcing the speed limit.
Ald.
Nicholson stated that he brought the request forward because of the issues D.
Hansen summarized, and that he received many phone calls from residents that
were upset about the unwarranted traffic sent down Manitowoc Rd. Ald. Nicholson wants this request postponed
for one month so that State Representative Jim Soletski
can hear these concerns.
A motion was made by Ald. Nicholson,
seconded by Lt. Florence, and carried that the request to review the reasons
why WisDOT’s Main/Verlin
construction project was started before its scheduled date, and to identify the
problems that occurred due to the schedule change be postponed until the August
23, 2010 Traffic Commission meeting.
7. Request
by Ald. Kocha on behalf of neighborhood residents to review the parking
restrictions on Franz Avenue, with possible action.
Ald. Kocha stated that she would like this request to
be held over to the next meeting so school staff could be in attendance for
discussion before the next school year begins.
A motion was made by B. Lipke, seconded by M.
Schuster, and carried that the request to review the parking restrictions on
Franz Avenue, with possible action be postponed until the August 23, 2010
Traffic Commission meeting.
8. Request
by Ald. Kocha to revise the signal timings on Deckner Avenue and Henry Street
to better accommodate Deckner Avenue left-turn movements and to consider adding
vehicle detection to the signal.
Ald. Kocha asked for the
Traffic Engineer’s opinion.
D. Hansen stated that the traffic
signal currently operates pre-timed. The traffic signal timings have not been
updated in a while at this location. He
recommended that the request be referred to staff to update timings to reflect
current traffic demand.
A
motion was made by M. Schuster, seconded by C. Karow, that the request to
revise the signal timings on Deckner Avenue and Henry Street to better
accommodate Deckner Avenue left-turn movements and to consider adding vehicle
detection to the signal be referred to DPW staff to update the signal timings.
A
discussion took place. Ald. Kocha added
that she would like to see the intersection improvements added to the DPW
5-year Capital Improvement Program. D.
Hansen responded that DPW could consider this location for CIP inclusion. He continued that the improvements would
include more than just adding detection because much of the equipment is old
and wouldn’t accommodate retrofitting such devices. These modifications could
get expensive.
Discussion
continued about upgrading curb ramps to ADA compliance,
and about the traffic patterns during the school year due to the nearby private
school.
Motion carried.
9. Request
by Ald. Deneys, on behalf of the neighbors of Nancy Avenue and Steven Street,
to change the 2-WAY STOP condition at Steven Street and Nancy Avenue to a 4-WAY
STOP condition.
D.
Hansen stated that this request has been before the Traffic Commission back in
2008. That study concluded that 85th
percentile speeds on Steven St were recorded at 27 mph. Compared to other neighborhood streets, these
speeds are desirable. After the speed
survey, the Traffic Commission motioned to install pedestrian warning signs in
advance of Nancy Ave on Steven St. D.
Hansen provided an update. He field-reviewed the intersection to see if roadway
characteristics and tree foliage have changed since the last study. He stated that current intersection sight
distance was acceptable; no obstructions required the need for a 4-WAY STOP
condition. Traffic volumes were low in
2008. He stated that volumes should not
have increased to the point of needing a 4-WAY STOP. Recently, a resident contacted him with this
request. He referred them to the City’s
Neighborhood Traffic Calming Policy and application, of which he emailed the
gentleman these documents. He stated
that Ald. Deneys stated that getting neighborhood
buy-in to the neighborhood traffic calming program may be difficult. D. Hansen stated he won’t recommend a 4-WAY
STOP condition based on reports of speeding.
D. Hansen stated that Ald. Deneys was not able to make the meeting and
asked that the request be postponed 1 month.
A
motion was made by C. Karow, seconded by B. Lipke, and carried that the request
to change the 2-WAY STOP condition at Steven Street and Nancy Avenue to a 4-WAY
STOP condition be postponed until the August 23, 2010 Traffic Commission
meeting.
POSTPONED FROM
PREVIOUS MEETING
10. Request by Ald. Kocha to establish a
2-HOUR 7 AM TO 4 PM parking zone in the 1100 block of Crooks Street. (Postponed from June 28, 2010 Traffic
Commission meeting)
Ald. Kocha recommended receiving and placing on file
the request, as she and Ald. Theisen (who share an aldermanic border on Crooks
St) could not get enough residence support for the request.
A motion was made by C. Karow, seconded by B. Lipke,
and carried that the request to establish a 2-HOUR 7 AM TO 4 PM parking zone in
the 1100 block of Crooks Street be received and placed on file.
TERMINATION OF
TRIAL PERIODS
11. That, on a 90-day trial, to establish a
1-WAY STOP condition on Classic Drive at Davies
Avenue.
A motion was made by C. Karow,
seconded by M. Schuster, and carried that a 1-WAY STOP condition on Classic
Drive at Davies Avenue be established and adopted by ordinance.
12. That, on a 90-day trial, to remove the
existing 2-HOUR 7 AM TO 7 PM MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY parking zone on west side of
Broadway from a point 110 feet south of Hubbard Street to a point 280 feet
north of Walnut Street.
A motion was made by C. Karow,
seconded by M. Schuster, and carried that the 2-HOUR 7 AM TO 7 PM MONDAY
THROUGH FRIDAY parking zone on west side of Broadway from a point 110 feet
south of Hubbard Street to a point 280 feet north of Walnut Street be removed
and adopted by ordinance.
13. That, on a 90-day trial, to establish a
15-MINUTE 7 AM TO 7 PM parking zone on west side of Broadway from a point 220
feet south of Hubbard Street to a point 264 feet south of Hubbard Street.
A motion was made by C. Karow,
seconded by M. Schuster, and carried that a 15-MINUTE 7 AM TO 7 PM parking zone
on west side of Broadway from a point 220 feet south of Hubbard Street to a
point 264 feet south of Hubbard Street be established and adopted by ordinance.
14. That, on a 90-day trial, to establish a
2-HOUR 7 AM TO 7 PM MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY parking zone on west side of Broadway
from a point 110 feet south of Hubbard Street to a point 220 feet south of
Hubbard Street.
A motion was made by C. Karow,
seconded by M. Schuster, and carried that a 2-HOUR 7 AM TO 7 PM MONDAY THROUGH
FRIDAY parking zone on west side of Broadway from a point 110 feet south of
Hubbard Street to a point 220 feet south of Hubbard Street be established and
adopted by ordinance.
15. That, on a 90-day trial, to establish a
2-HOUR 7 AM TO 7 PM MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY parking zone on west side of Broadway
from a point 264 feet south of Hubbard Street to a point 280 feet north of
Walnut Street.
A
motion was made by C. Karow, seconded by M. Schuster, and carried that a 2-HOUR
7 AM TO 7 PM MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY parking zone on west side of Broadway from a
point 264 feet south of Hubbard Street to a point 280 feet north of Walnut
Street be established and adopted by ordinance.
There
being no other items of discussion, a motion was made by M. Schuster, seconded
by B. Lipke, and carried to adjourn from the regular orders of business. The meeting ended at 6:05 P.M. The next Traffic Commission meeting is
scheduled for Monday, August 23, 2010, in Room 310 at 5:30 P.M.