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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/27/2014 Work SessionCity of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY OCTOBER 27, 2014 The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, October 27, 2014 at 5:30 p.m., with Mayor Lundberg presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Lundberg and Councilors VanGordon, Moore, Ralston, and Woodrow. Also present were City Manager Gino Grimaldi, Assistant City Manager Jeff Towery, City Attorney Mary Bridget Smith, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff. Councilor Wylie was absent (excused). 1. Main -McVay Transit Study Progress Update. Senior Transportation Planner David Reesor presented the staff report on this item. Lane Transit District (LTD) was awarded federal funds to prepare a transit services study for the Main Street and McVay Highway corridors. Over the past several months, the City of Springfield and LTD have worked closely together with the Project's Stakeholder Advisory Committee (SAC) and Governance Team (GT) to develop potential transit solutions for the corridor. Final recommendations are expected from the SAC and GT in February 2015. The purpose of the Main -McVay Transit Study is to analyze if Main Street and McVay Highway transit improvements are needed, technically viable, and have general public support. Existing transit service on Main Street is hindered by overcrowded buses. Both Main Street and McVay transit service also have safety and security issues for passengers accessing buses at transit stops that are poorly lit and not located at signalized street crossings. If not addressed, these issues will worsen in the future as the corridor's population, employment, and transit ridership increase. In July 2014, the Main -McVay Transit Study Purpose, Goals and Objectives were reviewed by the Springfield City Council and LTD Board. Since that time, the Project Team has worked closely with elected and appointed officials from City of Springfield and LTD on the Project's Governance Team and with the SAC to develop potential transit solutions, and has completed the Tier I screening process. Attachment 1 of the agenda packet includes a brief summary of the process to -date, graphics illustrating potential transit options, and the Tier I screening results for these options. In the Tier II screening -level evaluation, the study's evaluation criteria, along with the results of high- level data analyses of the remaining solutions, will be used to determine how well each of the proposed transit solutions would meet the project's goals and objectives. Each of the transit solutions will be scored based on the evaluation criteria — the higher the point total, the better the option is in meeting the study's goals and objectives. The resulting data and scoring will be used to assist in comparing and contrasting transit solutions. Over the course of the next several months, the SAC will further screen down the number of transit options through the Tier II screening based on a determination of the consistency of the various options with the project's evaluation criteria. The SAC's recommendations will be reviewed and accepted or revised by the GT and forwarded to the Springfield City Council and the LTD Board of Directors for final review and approval in spring 2015. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes October 27, 2014 Page 2 The SAC and GT recommendations regarding which transit solutions hold the most promise for resolving transportation problems in the Corridor are anticipated in February 2015. Mr. Reesor said the purpose of the study was to research and evaluate the need, technical viability and public support for potential Main Street transit improvements. He referred to a map of the project study area from Thurston to downtown to the McVay Highway. Main Street is divided into three sub- segments (Main -Downtown, Main -Central; and Main -East), and McVay Highway into two segments (McVay -North, and McVay South). There are currently five Main Street projects occurring on Main Street: Main/McVay Transit Study; Main Street Visioning; Pedestrian Crossings on Main Street; Downtown Lighting; and SmartTrips. All projects are being coordinated and are tied together when doing public outreach to avoid confusion. He reviewed the decision making structure with the Springfield City Council and Lane Transit District as the main decision makers. Community input included written comments, website input, email correspondences, Main Street interested parties list updates and community outreach. This project and the Main Street Visioning project have been coordinated in their outreach efforts. He provided an update of what had occurred to date on this project including meetings and design workshops. The Study Problem Statement, Needs Statement and Evaluation Criteria had been refined over the summer and fall. The project team evaluated 25 transit solution options against 19 criteria. Tier II screening would be next. He introduced John Evans, Project Manager from LTD. Mr. Evans said he and Mr. Reesor were co -managing the project. The first tier of screening looked at high level alternatives, and the goals and objectives for transit needs for the corridor. As they went through the Tier I screening, they looked at each option to see if it had reasonable potential to solve identified transportation problems. To determine whether an option should be eliminated, they considered the following: not cost effective — increases costs; doesn't provide connectivity; doesn't' improve ridership; and potential significant adverse impacts. After going through the process, each option received a "pass" or "fail". Once the committee identified the possible solutions, the project team did a high level study and recommended options for the SAC to consider. The SAC then made recommendations and took a smaller list of options to the GT. The GT concurred with the SAC's recommendations and advanced 18 options forward for the Tier II study. The SAC will meet tomorrow to evaluate the options in Tier IL The intent is to develop the most promising alternatives for GT to forward to the City Council and LTD Board. Mr. Reesor discussed the next steps. On October 29, Mr. Evans will give a progress update to the EmX Steering Committee. On November 18, the GT will review the SAC recommendations and send them back to the SAC to determine a preliminary draft range of options. On December 4, the GT and SAC will receive a package of the preliminary draft range of most promising solutions. In January, they will be finalizing the process to bring the draft solutions to the City Council and LTD Board. They are scheduled to bring them to the Council on March 2, and to the LTD Board on March 9 for review and discussion with final action occurring in later March and April. The website for this project is www.ourmainstreetsorinafield.ora . Councilor VanGordon said he likes what he is seeing so far, but would like to see a description of what LTD will be doing to improve their services without addition funding or investment. That may include improvements internally or other measures that will improve their services. Councilor Moore asked about the celebration of the decisions by the GT. lJ City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes October 27, 2014 Page 3 Mr. Reesor said the celebration was to celebrate the end of the SAC. Members include a large number of volunteers from the community and this will be their celebration for the work done. Councilor Moore asked Council would just see the end product. Mr. Reesor said they are seeing progress as they move through the process. Tonight's packet provides information for Council to review and provide feedback. The Council could take this opportunity to provide comment now or follow-up with staff later after further review. Mayor Lundberg said this is the highest level with many options. During the second phase (Tier II), the options will be analyzed. She appreciated having the maps of the routes on the same page as the chart showing the SAC recommendations. It is important that every option is there: the BRT route, the enhanced bus route (not BRT); and no build. The details of each option would be analyzed through the Tier 11 process. Councilor Moore confirmed that all of this information was available online. She wants to be able to direct people to a place they can provide comment if they choose. Mr. Reesor said it is all online on their website at www.ourmainstreetspringfield.org Mayor Lundberg complimented staff for their hard work on this project. They deserve a celebration to recognize the work done. Councilor Ralston said he is concerned because he does not see how any of the options affect vehicle traffic. He would like to see those impacts. Mr. Reesor said one of the criteria was how it affects traffic. Mayor Lundberg asked staff to send the Council a separate memo with the 19 criteria. She said the SAC is made up of a good cross section of representatives and she thanked them for their hard work. Mr. Reesor said he is always available to Council if they have any questions or comments. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 5:55 p.m. Minutes Recorder — Amy Sowa Christine L. Lundberg Mayor Attest: Amy Sowa City Recor er 0