Traffic and Transportation Commission

MINUTES

Community Planning and Development Services Conference Room
Meeting No. 09-04
September 28, 2004, 7:00 p.m.

Commissioners Present: 
Alan Levine, Acting Chair 
Ephrem Asebe   
Elizabeth Crane
Jon Oberg    
Amy Rosselle

City Staff: Katherine Kelly, Larry Marcus  

1. Review and Approve Minutes

a. Minutes from the August 2004 meeting were approved with spelling changes.

2. Review of Staff Report and Updates

a. Staff Report (Weekly)

• Commissioners suggested the intersection of Richard Montgomery Dr. and MD/355 as a location for Countdown Pedestrian signals.  This would require coordination with SHA.   

b. Permit Parking

• Staff presented a map of proposed permit parking zones and stressed that the idea for the creation of zones is to ease the administrative process. 
  
• Commissioners reached consensus on the following:
  • They conceptually support the idea of taking on this responsibility but it will need to be a phased in process in order to refine the mechanics for granting permits (i.e., will the granting of permit parking require a quorum, will there be a sub-committee of the Commission to address permit parking, etc.)
    
  • They support the idea of the Commission taking on more responsibilities that grant services for the City
    
  • The Commission’s charter will need to be changed to reflect that they have authority to designate permit parking areas.  They request the change include a clause that they can defer a final decision to Mayor & Council if complications arise (i.e., if an area is permitted and residents or business owners raise concerns about shifts in parking from one area to another).
• Commissioners requested that there be a requirement that public notices be sent to areas adjacent to the applicants’ area prior to final designation as a permit parking area.
  
• Commissioners voted to assume the responsibility of permit parking approvals as presented in the 9-21-04 memo to the City Manager. 

c. Town Square Development Schedule and Phases

• Staff directed Commissioners to the City website, which has the general development schedule as well as construction and truck phasing.

d. Town Center Traffic Calming Strategy and Schedule

• Staff updated Commissioners on the schedule for Citywide Traffic Calming meetings.

e. Town Center Capacity Report

• Staff updated Commissioners on a Town Center capacity study.

f. Letter sent to SHA Regarding Intersection Improvements

• Staff presented a copy of the final letter sent to SHA regarding the “top priority” intersections throughout the City for safety improvements and noted that an agenda item for next month’s meeting will be a review of the next “top priority” intersections.
  
• Commissioner Oberg stressed that the King Farm community will continue to pressure SHA to improve the intersection of MD355 and King Farm Blvd.  Staff reaffirmed their support.

g. CTR

• Staff mentioned that the CTR will be presented to Mayor & Council for approval on Mon., Oct. 4th.

h. Status of Pedestrian Access from the Maryland Ave. Extension to MD355

• In response to inquiries at the Aug. meeting, there was brief discussion about the final design of Town Square.  Commissioners had expressed concerns about access from Maryland Ave. extension to MD355.  Staff reiterated that the final project approval design is what is scheduled to be implemented.

i. Status of Pedestrian/Bicycle Bridge over I-270

• Commissioner Oberg had inquired about the proposals for the I-270 bridge, since they had all come in over-bid.  He asked what the next steps for the City are and what lessons could be learned.
  
• Parks and Recreation staff provided a brief write-up response.  Commissioners expressed thanks.

3. Review of Draft Memo re: Streetlight Maintenance

a. Chair Resnick had drafted a memo regarding streetlight maintenance, based on discussions at the July and August meetings.


b. Staff relayed the challenges of assuming maintenance responsibilities of streetlights (i.e., staff time, a law that states that only PEPCO employees are allowed to go closer than 10’ to a PEPCO pole). 


c. Commissioner Oberg asked if there were other avenues that might improve PEPCO service and not require the City to take on the maintenance responsibility.


d. Staff and Commissioners agreed that it would be useful to define standards for response time, priority locations (school and transit zones, e.g.), safety, and management issues.  Staff agreed to begin this process. 


e. Commissioner Levine suggested that this would be useful in laying out standards for hiring a contractor to review the status of streetlight maintenance throughout the City.


f. Commissioner Levine will report this information back to Chair Resnick.


g. Staff agreed to begin listing example locations where streetlight maintenance has been a problem.

4. Discuss Update of Neighborhood Traffic Control Guidelines

a. Staff provided copies of the Neighborhood Traffic Control Guidelines (2002) and asked that Commissioners review them prior next month’s meeting. 


b. Staff noted that, due to “lessons learned” about traffic calming since publication of the current guidelines, certain guidelines may require revision.

5. City’s Inventory of Accident Data

a. A write-up about the status of the City’s accident data was presented.  Commissioners thanked staff for the information and requested that staff keep “to-do” list the creation of GIS once updated information from SHA is obtained.

Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.