1. Announcements and Public Comment Period a. RBAC shared a copy of a Federal Highway Administration manual for bicycle facility standards, titled “BIKESAFE”. The manual will be kept in the Traffic and Transportation division library at City Hall. b. Mr. Telesco stated that he will try to get copies of a report he completed which details accident data for bicycles and cars in Rockville. He noted that the two places with the most incidents were at the intersections of Templeton Pl./MD355 and Atlantic Ave./MD586. Most accidents occurred in the afternoon.
2. Development Review Mr. Saleh provided updates on major development review projects currently under review:
a. Upper Rock: 844 residential units i. Commissioner Crane inquired about a market place within the development. Mr. Saleh stated that there will be approximately 10,000 SF of retail space to be used as a market place, plus an existing office in the middle of the development.
ii. Chair Oberg inquired about traffic mitigations. Mr. Saleh stated that the 12 transportation mitigation measures will be implemented in the vicinity of the development. One mitigation measure is traffic calming along Redland Blvd., which includes a speed camera and a change to the existing pedestrian signal at Safeway.
iii. Commissioner Crane inquired about signal timing at the intersection of Shady Grove Rd./Choke Cherry. Mr. Saleh stated that this can be monitored, and if queuing becomes a problem we can review changes to the signal timing in coordination with Montgomery County.
b. Chestnut Lodge i. Chair Oberg shared a map of pedestrian access points and reiterated that there is a pedestrian “barrier” on the west side of the development, leading to the Thirty Oaks development.
ii. Staff noted that there is pedestrian access on the north and south ends of the development, as well as sidewalks along internal roads throughout the development.
iii. Mr. Radan noted that there is a bike path on the southern end near Bullards Park.
c. Duball (formerly known at Rockville Center, Inc. and Akridge) i. Commissioner Thomas inquired if the developer would be required to reinforce E. Montgomery Ave. between Maryland Ave. and Monroe St. Staff stated that this is not part of the development requirement, and that there will be improved access for emergency vehicles due to a new access point on E. Middle Lane between Monroe St. and Maryland Ave., at the new Renaissance Street.
ii. A correction should be made to the “weekly” report, “Duball” section: replace “N. Washington St.” with “Maryland Ave.”
d. Fallsgrove Corporate Center i. Commissioner Thomas inquired about bus shelters along Research Blvd. Staff relayed that there are two locations on Research Blvd. where shelters will be installed using developer funds, and the remaining stops will be reviewed for priority based on ridership volumes in comparison.
e. 801 Hungerford Gas Station i. Commissioner Thomas inquired about provisions for sidewalks for this development as well as the status of moving the utility pole. Mr. Saleh relayed that there will be 6’ sidewalks on both sides of Frederick Ave. and that the utility pole will be moved and replaced.
ii. Mr. Telesco expressed concern about the right turn only with regard to bicyclist safety. Mr. Radan noted that bicyclists will encounter one less impediment/safety obstacle with the closure of one of the access points.
3. CIP a. The Commission reviewed a summary of the proposed Transportation CIP for FY08. Staff noted that asphalt and concrete CIPs were the most under-funded in future years. Chair Oberg will ask Commissioners Resnick and Levine if they will draft a memo to Mayor and Council expressing concern about this issue. b. Commissioner Thomas inquired if there was funding to fix the metal bar across the John Brown Bridge (Bridge Rehabilitation CIP). Staff will inquire with the Contracts Management division.
4. Mt. Vernon St. Permit Parking: Update a. Staff briefed the Commission on notification procedure issues regarding Mt. Vernon Permit Parking, namely that: 1) the public hearing was not announced in a notification of “Citywide” circulation. The City’s Legal Department has since relayed that permit parking hearings must be announced via the Gazette newspaper. Therefore, posting of the hearing on the City’s website was not adequate; and 2) a mailing was sent to residents of Mt. Vernon Place and adjacent properties notifying them of the petition and the public hearing date. The mailing did not include property owners. Four properties are inhabited by non-owners, and while the residents were notified, the owners were not. b. The Commission discussed this issue and agreed that the next steps for this project should be for staff to notify the original petition leader on Mt. Vernon Place as well as the principal of RMHS of the inadequate notification, and then submit a memo to Mayor and Council outlining the history of the project, including the notification issue, and proposed next steps. c. Chair Oberg requested a copy of the memo before it is submitted to Mayor and Council.
5. Pedestrian Safety Campaign Memo a. Commissioner Crane had drafted a memo to Mayor and Council from the Commission to request funds for a pedestrian safety campaign and to express concerns about pedestrian safety Citywide. b. Staff noted that the items in the memo that focus on enforcement and policy should be removed to shorten the memo and focus on specific requests for funds and actions. c. Mr. Radan shared that it would be useful to contact SHA to request their brochures on pedestrian and bicycle safety that are printed in several different languages. He also noted that Montgomery County has a “top 10 efforts” program to implement pedestrian and bicycle safety. He shared that RBAC does a lot of outreach regarding safety and might be interested to help with the campaign. d. Commissioner Thomas noted that a safety campaign should be geared toward drivers as well as pedestrians. He requested that language regarding driver education and warnings be added to the memo. e. Commissioner Crane stated that she advocates warnings over tickets, as an initial part of the campaign; tickets lead to bad impressions and leave negative feelings. f. There was review of the memo and Commissioner Crane agreed to draft another version to be reviewed by the Commission.
6. Staff Report and Updates (Weekly) a. Staff reported on a traffic calming meeting for Grandin Ave. which took place 2/22/07. b. Staff relayed that there would likely be updated information to provide at the next Commission meeting regarding the Town Center Shuttle project. Commissioner Rosselle requested that this be included as a topic for discussion at the next Commission meeting.
7. Review and Approve December 2006 Meeting Minutes a. The December 2006 meeting minutes were approved with minor amendments b. There were no comments on the meetings notes from the January 2007 meeting.
8. Additional Items for Discussion a. Staff shared a copy of a memo from the Recreation and Parks Department regarding bicycle route signs throughout the City. Commissioner Rosselle noted that the memo states that the Millennium Trail signs are “not directional…” but that new signs have been installed along the Trail that have arrows and therefore appear to be directional. She noted that this might lead to confusion for the reader(s). b. Commissioner Thomas advocated for a pedestrian paddle on Edmonston Dr., between MD355 and Wootton Pkwy. c. Commissioner Thomas noted that the street lights on Wootton Pkwy., between Tower Oaks Blvd. and Preserve Pkwy. were not working. He requested that staff contact PEPCO. He also requested that staff ask PEPCO to enhance lighting near the bus stop on Veirs Mill Rd. southbound at Twinbrook Pkwy.
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 9:45 P.M
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