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Home My WebLink About2019-12-05 - BPAC Minutes 117 NW Lafayette Avenue, Bend, Oregon 97703 | P.O. Box 6005, Bend, OR 97708-6005 (541) 388-6575 bpac@deschutes .org www.deschutes.org/bpac MEETING MINUTES DESCHUTES COUNTY BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE Thursday, December 5, 2019 12:00 to 1:30 pm ODOT, 63055 N Hwy 97, Building M, Baney Conference Room, Bend Members Present: Dave Thomson, Christopher Cassard, Ann Marland, David Roth, Katrina Langenderfer, Mark Smith, Morgan Crowell, Rick Root, Sam Handelman, Scott Morgan, and Wendy Holzman. Agency/Organization: Tanya Saltzman (Deschutes County – CDD), Chris Cheng (ODOT), Omar Ahmed (ODOT), Jovi Anderson (Bend MPO), Robin Lewis (City of Bend), Ashley Hooper (CET), Jeff Monson (Commute Options), Scott Elliot (Bend PD), Justin Hornsby (HDR), Henry Stroud (Bend Park & Rec) Call to Order Meeting was called to order at 12:00 p.m. Introductions Attendees of the meeting introduced themselves and, if applicable, identified the organization they represent. Approval of Prior Minutes The November 2019 minutes were approved with no corrections. Public Comment There were no public comments. Bend North Corridor Project Update – Omar Ahmed, ODOT Omar provided an update on the Bend North Corridor project, which has existed in some form since 2012. The primary focus of the project is the US 97 corridor, specifically to:  Reduce congestion on US 97 and US 20  Reduce overall crash rate and severity  Reduce truck-related crashes  Increase travel time reliability  Improve bike-ped access Page 2  Ultimately the project will realign US 97 to the east, with improvements addressing US 20, Robal and Cooley, among other intersections.  Funding: INFRA (Infrastructure for America) grant is providing $60.4 million; matches from ODOT, City of Bend, Deschutes County and private funds will bring total funding to $133.4 million.  Omar showed a concept plan of realignments, which peripherally include improvements on US 20—these are generally in analysis mode and some are not yet funded.  There will be money set aside for bicycle-pedestrian issues, but no specific plans yet exist.  Bicycle and pedestrian issues will be workshopped to determine goals (for instance, where to emphasize connectivity) over the next year.  Public involvement expected to occur from winter 2019 to early 2020.  Overall project will utilize a design-build contract, which is relatively rare in this region. It will take into consideration not the low bid but the best value, and will shorten the timeline.  Omar (and Chris) can provide relevant updates as needed. US 20: Mervin Sampels – Greenwood project update – Chris Cheng, ODOT Chris provided updates from last month on the project:  Mervin Sampels to Division: Narrowed the travel lanes to 12’ on outside, 11’ on inside; buffered bike lanes from Mervin Sampels almost all the way to Division; and will be completing the entire pedestrian network where sidewalks are missing.  Division to Underwood: Same 12’ and 11’ lanes as above, but there is not enough width for a bike lane so this segment will contain all shoulder bicycle facilities for less than one mile. Shoulder bicycle facilities are not bike lanes—while bicycles are allowed, they do not have the same legal protections as bicycle lanes.  Underwood to Greenwood: 11’ travel lanes throughout and shoulder bicycle facilities as there is not enough width for anything more. The sidewalk network will be completed.  An interim solution to crossing US 97 and US 20: northbound bicycle traffic on US 20 will get a bike lane and a buffer where it allows. Southbound, ODOT is fixing the island at Mount Washington and US 20.  There will be additional fixes to US 20 and River Mall Drive, including a two-step left turn and no right on red for vehicles.  6th Street crossing updates: There will now be a painted island to position turning cars behind bikes at Greenwood, and the bike lane striping and stencil will be removed on 6th Street southbound. Bend MPO Multimodal Count Program – Jovi Anderson, Bend MPO Jovi presented an overview of the multimodal count program.  Count data was not collected between 2009 and 2016, but efforts began in 2013 to get it started again.  There are three types of counters: 1. Tube counters (vehicles), which are counted every May at several locations, providing volume, speed, and classification for vehicles 2. Temporary counters in certain areas for a week at a time (vehicle, bike, ped) Page 3 3. Permanent counters (Eco Counters—vehicle, bike, ped) on bridges and the Franklin undercrossing, which get seasonality data.  Jovi provided a few examples, including the Galveston bridge, which showed a 7-8 percent mode split during peak summer hours. She also noted that the data provided is very preliminary and work needs to be done to correct some technical difficulties.  As more data is collected and cleaned up, Jovi will return with this information, which will help with decisionmaking in the future. BPAC project subcommittee organization update – Chris Trail connections subcommittee:  Chris distributed a list of potential questions about trail connections as well as people to potentially interview, and asked the committee to review.  It was determined that for the interviews, a mixed approach of some smaller interviews and some BPAC-wide interviews might be best, owing both to logistics and areas of expertise.  Next steps: Members to provide input to Chris and start dividing the list of interviewees . Community connections subcommittee:  Sam noted the overlap between the two subcommittees. Fewer people have expressed interest in this subcommittee, and it will meet separately. Committee Reports  Committee Reports were skipped due to time constraints. Regional Updates  Sisters – Did not receive the grant for a multipurpose path, so instead they are working more on general safety issues for bicycles and pedestrians.  Commute Options – Brian Potwin will be taking over as Executive Director. Congratulations to Jeff Monson for his service.  COIC/CET – Redmond meeting was successful, and there was helpful feedback from numerous stakeholders. They discussed flex bus routes, and there is funding for a feasibility study to look at fixed routes. The goal is to use the flex service as a springboard to future fixed routes. Next, a second meeting was held to discuss the La Pine-Sunriver summer service that will be funded through payroll tax. Updates to come in the future. Messaging: Sidewalk snow removal messaging will be released via the County in December. Please note that next month’s meeting is rescheduled to January 9. Meeting Adjourned at 1:40 pm Next Meeting Thursday, January 9, 2020 – 12:00 to 1:30 pm ODOT, 63055 N Hwy 97, Building M, Baney Conference Room, Bend