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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo from Gary Smith City of Meridian Public Works Dept. RECEIVED MAR - 7 2003 City of Meridian City Clerk Office Memo To: Mayor & Council From:Gary D. Smith, PE CC: file; Brad Watson, PE Date: March 6, 2003 Re: Eagle Road Improvement @ St. Luke's - Widening & Center Median At a City Council Workshop on August 28, 2001, Jeff Hull, Architect/Construction Director at SI. Luke's Hospital, discussed a proposal to widen Eagle Road, along its east side, from the westbound 1-84 off-ramp to Franklin Road and to install a raised center median in Eagle Road. SI. Luke's had previously met with ACHD and ITD on this proposal. A copy of Jeff Hull's letter to Mayor Corrie and the minutes from that workshop is attached to this memo, along with a copy of the drawing of the proposal as prepared by SI. Luke's consulting engineer. Last week I received a phone call from a designer with ITD stating she was preparing a concept plan for this widening project, so that their survey crew could obtain field data, and she asked about Meridian's interest in the raised center median that was shown on the plan previously presented to us by Jeff Hull. The raised median is shown on that plan to be constructed in the middle of Eagle Road from the signal light at the 1-84 west bound off I on ramp northward to a point just north of the Magic View Drive intersection with Eagle Road. ITD is requesting written confirmation that the City of Meridian is supportive of constructing this raised center median. This raised center median will restrict northbound Eagle Road left turn movements onto Magic View Drive and eastbound Magic View Drive left turn movements onto Eagle Road. Police Chief Worley indicates that both of these left turn movements are dangerous, because of Eagle Road's traffic volume, with the most dangerous being the left turn from Magic View onto Eagle Road. Chief Worley and I are in From the desk of... support of installing this raised center median to restrict these left turn movements. GaryD.Smith,PE Public Works Director Merid;an Public Works Department 660 E. Watertower Lane, ~ 200 Merid;an, Idaho 83642 . Page 1 (208) 898-5500 Fax: (208) 887-1297 Installation of this raised median will mean north bound Eagle Road traffic access to Magic View Drive and east bound traffic egress from Magic View Drive onto northbound Eagle Road will need to take .pIace via the signalized intersection at St. Luke's Drive. The installed raised median will restrict use of Magic View Drive to "right turn in" and "right turn ouf' only. Action Requested: A request is hereby made for a Mayor and Council decision on the proposed construction of a raised center median in Eagle Road from the signalized intersection at 1-84 westbound off I on ramp to a point slightly north of the intersection of Magic View Drive and Eagle Road, said decision to include authorization for the issuance of a letter from the Mayor's office to ITD so stating the decision. R1~. ards, p~ Gary ~ith, PE . Page 2 . ~o East BannOCk B~lse, Idaho 83712 July 18, 2001 . ::!II!:: St Lùke's ,11 t r Re9onaI ~I Center ~r-...... '-' '. ' , J ...:.;"¡' ,~~ vOl. / .--ti) ~~48 0 /I ?tJ()¡ ,~'þ).ì ~l~~ 208.381 -2222 Edwin E, Dahlberg "..,idon' The Honorable Robert Corrie Office of the Mayor 33 East Idaho Avenue Meridian, Idaho 83642 Re: St. Luke's Meridian Medical Center Roadway Considerations Dear Mayor Corrie: Thank you for taking time to meet with Bill Bodnar and me regarding highway safety in the vicinity of St. Luke's Meridian Medical Center. As we stated in our meeting, we had met with Idaho Transportation staff. Since then we have met with Ada County Highway Department representatives. We are now prepared to present to your City Council and Planning and Zoning Commission our proposals to improve roadway safety and efficiencies in the area of our Meridian Campus. Our goal of this workshop would be to share our public/private partnering efforts with our City leaders and to gain support for our proposed improvements. We will make ourselves available at your convenience as to when and where we may meet. Thank you again for your time and consideration. Sin~/ Je~"" Director, Architecture and Construction RECEIVEDr~~-~~~~C77Irj; , JUl 2 0 2001 ;\ ÍUt/J: . CITY OF MERIDIAN' ~ rJad ~/./atI' A~I -r~ d}\ lV/S ~. rþv- r¡)It.J/tJ/ of- ffd~~~~~ , ' ,ftd tJf- ~ ~ wedv 4 ~-f 13i¿ -/7tL - ~ t/r-- ~ j-- 213 ~ ..,-"'-,'-"- --_.o._.~-~(~ç..,~q..o:__.-.-...._'~ ," v-.o""",,-.-,,-,'.o.o,,'" {/ . I 78(- Z£ 0 c¡ %X J&/- f613 ""^'.õ":+.',-.."'"",""",...,, Meridian City Council MeeUng August 28. 2001 Page 26 that we can't do a land use matter on the 25th. So, we could still have a hearing on that date if we had to have it. Corrie: Okay, we could notice (inaudible) I don't think we will. (inaudible) Sedlachek: We have had a number of requests from commercial that generate a lot of cardboard that want to separate it and have us collect it. It would be at a reduced rate from their garbage collection so it would save a little bit of money. Bird: Right. Is this just corrugated cardboard or it wont be hard flat sheets of cardboard or anything? I beg your pardon? Sedlachek: Just corrugated. (inaudible discussion amongst Council) Sedlachek: Thank you very much. We will convene the SWAK and discuss rates and get back to you on the 25th. Corrie: I'll need a motion to that effect. To table this. Bird: Mr. Mayor. Corrie: Mr. Bird, Bird: I move that we table the CPI rate adjustment for solid waste collection services by Sanitary Services Company until September 25, 2001. De Weerd: Second. Corrie: Motion made and seconded to table item NO.9 until 9-25 of 2001 for comparison statistics. Any further discussion? All those in favor of the motion say aye. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES Item 10. St. Luke's Meridian Medical Center - Roadway Considerations - proposals to improve roadway safety and efficiencies in the area of our Meridian Campus: Corrie: Item No. 10 St. Luke's Meridian Medical Center, roadway consideration. Hull: Hi, Mayor Corrie, Council Members. My name is Jeff Hull. I'm the director of architecture and construction services for St. Luke's. We're here to ask a couple of favors. We have obviously spent some time on our Eagle Road location and we've experienced the Eagle Road traffic volume growth. Early this spring in Meridian City Council Meeting August 28. 2001 Page 27 anticipation of our, what we call phase 3, or the hospital opening on this campus on November 1ih we employed our traffic engineer to look at what options we had to improve the situation in and around our area on Eagle Road. In conjunction with the Idaho Transportation Department District 3 staff engineers, we've come together with what we think is, from a traffic planning arena, a good plan that should alleviate some of the congestion that we've experienced. Specifically focused between Franklin Road and the interstate, Our game plan is to take a proposal to the Idaho Transportation Department board of directors proposing a private St. Luke's public ITD partnership where we would provide the design services and a share of the funding to make the improvements in this area, requesting the ITD board to possibly look at some excess funds or some rearranging of other funds they may have to see if they couldn't participate to get this work moving ahead. We've met with the Ada County Highway District. They provided us with a letter from their chair I believe earlier this spring that had Eagle Road between 1-84 and Franklin as one of the top 3 priorities requesting ITD to focus on. We will go back before the ACHD Commission and request their support. So, what we're here for and I'll share with you the illustration of what we're proposing. What we're here to ask you is 2 things. We would like to ask if you agree with what we're proposing, that Meridian City in whatever way they could support the concept. In previous efforts in going before the ITD board, they really like the idea that we've communicated with all the other public bodies it involved or effected. In addition to maybe just some general support for the concept, there is also a specific safety feature in this plan that ITD directed that we request the City's consideration of. The request of that, they would like to see come from the City without (inaudible). (inaudible) illustration (inaudible). I apologize, for how difficult they are to read. (inaudible) it simplifies the engineering illustration. Then above that is an aerial photo that has the illustration superimposed on it in an attempt to orient what the engineering data is. I'm not a traffic engineer, although I am working on my merit badge to getting one because I've been spending way too much time on traffic lately. Bird: You see enough of it. Hull: Yes, everywhere we go. The general concept is of the volume of traffic on Eagle Road in this area at the peak, the morning peak and the evening peak exceeds the capacity of Eagle Road. That's pretty obvious but that's the basic premise. One of the ways of alleviating that, what happens is we see the peaks as the traffic stopped on Eagle Road backs up to a point that we block the entrances to the east and west driveways off of Eagle Road. We have a concern with the hospital opening of getting the public, the patients, and the visitors in and out of the facility and very specifically the emergency vehicles, The general concept is if you add more lanes to a road, in this case, the first step would be to widen it from a 2 lanes north and southbound through lanes to 3. You essentially take the cars that are stacked in 2 lanes, you're going to shorten that length of the stack because now a third of those cars could stack in the third lane so that stacking distance is reduced. Therefore you haven't encumbered if you will, or Meridian City Council Meetin. Augusl28. 2001 Page 28 blocked the driveways east and west. That also, the traffic engineers tell us creates a shorter platoon which creates gaps between as they kind of go through the traffic signal. You have a longer gap then for those accesses that don't have a traffic signal to get them out onto Eagle Road. In addition to the through lanes, there is proposed a second to travel westbound on 1-84, you exited for Eagle Road and you were turning north (inaudible). Right now there's 2 through lanes, There's a third merge lane that came (inaudible) vicinity of Magic View Drive and our driveway there. The proposal is to add another (inaudible) right turn. Then shorten that stack distance (inaudible) merging onto Eagle Road northbound, Another feature of this, then. If you're southbound on Eagle Road, and whether your destination is on to Boise or on west further to Meridian and or Nampa et cetera. (inaudible) 2 lanes that continue across the traffic signal there and allow you to take a loop to Boise. Most drivers haven't figured that out so if they're headed to Boise, they're over in the right lane because they're wanting to go forward, they're feeding cars, that are wanting to make that free right and head west. So, the proposal here is to construct an additional lane on the west side in an area that would allow those cars that are specifically wanting to make this loop on west that would free that up. So that wDuld, that also reduces those stacks those cars that are now stuck waiting for the people who want to go through the traffic signal that are actually wanting to go right would allow them to go into that right lane and move right. The other feature is a safety specific feature and that's the red hatched area you see in the center of Eagle Road from the on off ramps on the north side there to and through our driveway and Magic View Drive. Our traffic engineer's estimation and the ITD staff believe that there are numerous wrecks and unsafe situations where people who may be coming off the interstate westbound heading north are trying to not only make the merge into the flow of traffic but merging on further left to get onto Magic View Drive. Additionally we have quite a stack on Magic View Drive for people who are trying to make a left turn off the interstate or onto Eagle Road, excuse me. They're causing quite a delay because if you tried it its not the safe thing to do and you're going to be there quite a while so it causes quite a delay on Magic View, ITD, I believe did add a sign sometime this summer on the stop sign at the Magic View Eagle Road intersection that indicates no left turn. De Weerd: But you (inaudible) Bird: Right in, right out. They still are trying to come out left. Hull: You don't see it until you get there. Bird: That stoplight has been the greatest thing ever done. Hull: Getting access over to the traffic signal certainly has helped, We also have a few folks, even though we've got, we keep adding signs here, Our site is designed as a right in right out. You've got a medium here. We still have some people to make this, try to turn south just isn't safe. TherefDre the raised medium Meridian City Council Meetin. August 28.2001 Page 29 prevents some of those unsafe activities and forces people to deal with the merges et cetera and get to the traffic signal if they want to go east or west. ITO is supportive of that. ITO will pay for that. It's estimated about $30,000 out of their maintenance funds. But they need to hear from the municipality with which it resides that there is a safety interest. Our understanding is that you folks have been through this adventure once before south of the interstate just before Overland Road. I hope I didn't drag on tDO long but essentially what we've done is we wanted to share with you what our plans are in trying to improve Eagle Road and partnership with ITO and we would like to ask your consideration if you could support that concept as we proceed to the ITO board, Secondly if we might ask you to communicate appropriately to ITO the safety issue and asking their assistance in the raised medium. With that, I'm prepared to answer any questions you might have. Bird: Mr. Mayor. Corrie: Mr. Bird. Bird: Jeff, when do you need this letter? When are you going before ITO? Hull: We wont be going before ITD anytime soon. We needed to get in front of you folks first and see where the city stood. Bird: Okay, Hull: We then, once we can conclude this venture. We'd want to go to ACHO and have a similar conversation with ACHD. ACHO is supportive as I said and they actually asked us to draft a very specific letter requesting something for them. So, it will be --. ITO's board is busy like you folks are. It will be later this fall, early winter the SDonest before we can go to lTD. Bird: This is the most sensible plan I've seen for that mile. It looks like it would work too. I would like to see our fire department, fire chief our police chief and his staff go over this. Look at it from the emergency vehicle standpoint and I for one, Councilman can support it wholeheartedly. It looks like its at least going to flow another few thousand vehicles a lot easier than what we're getting out there right now. Hull: Yes. Mayor Corrie, Commissioner Bird. We would make our professionals available if they need to sit down and meet with your emergency personnel to understand the plan and the details that that would facilitate. Bird: I think that that would be smart on our part to have our fire and police or emergency services and the same time you've got your emergencies, people will be running out of the hospital out there. And look this over and see if there is any Meridian City Council Meeting August 28, 2001 Page 30 flaws. As a layman looking at it I don't see any flaws. It looks real good to me, but (inaudible) travels through that area quite a bit. De Weerd: Mr. Mayor. Corrie: Mrs. de Weerd. De Weerd: I believe probably our public works director and planning director should also look at this. There are easements involved and you know other, I don't know what other issues might that this might impact. But, have them look at it. You know one other comment and I always have kind of wondered why you actually have to go clear up the off ramp and onto Eagle Road to get into your facility from 1-84. Why you couldn't have just a direct route into your campus? I don't know what kind of an option that is, but -. Bird: That's the federal boys. Hull: Mayor Corrie, Commissioner de Weerd. WE have studied some of those alternatives. We've worked with the federal transportation folks in the region. Looking at an additional off ramp or an off ramp that would be exclusive. If they're less than 2 miles in separation, it reduces the speed limit. In order to maintain the 65-mile an hour speed limit in this section they strongly discourage us from coming forward with any kind of extraordinary off ramp. Beyond that as we look at other ways to approach our campus, the free running right performs pretty well. We are aware of the ACHD Eagle Road corridor study that proposes numerous levels of service enhancements along Eagle Road. One of the very first of which is to start closing the non-controlled or non-signalized accesses. At our right in right out there that aligns with Magic View Drive, we anticipate that that will be closed some day. Really our traffic signal is the only way in and out of our campus until here yet this winter we hope the Touchmark folks complete their Franklin Road traffic signal. Then we'd have the cross access agreement with them that will allow some relief of the St. Luke's campus to and from Franklin. I hope that answered your question. De Weerd: Somehow, Boise Town Square got something that- Hull: They're not doing 65 miles an hour by it. That's the difference. Once you're less than 2 miles apart. De Weerd: Well, I go 65. Corrie: We're not going to have you around long. Bird: Mr. Mayor. Corrie: Mr. Bird. Meridian City Council MeeUn~ Augus126.2001 Page 31 Bird: Jeff, you're saying, coming up through over there where what you call your construction entrance now, to get onto the campus --. That's going to have to practically be a right in right out isn't it? Hull: Mr. Mayor, Commissioner Bird. That piece of property is now owned by Touchmark. We exchanged that for another 10 due east of our eastern boundary and we purchased another 10 from them in that same direction. When we bought that piece of property ACHD was in the impression that between Eagle and Cloverdale they would allow traffic signals on Franklin at third points. That would have been right at that. It also aligned with some of the developers to the north property and some of their traffic plans. Since then with the traffic volume of traffic on Franklin Road, they're now at one signal at the mid point. That's what landed on the Touchmark property which brought us to working with our neighbors at Touchmark and trying to work an agreement between the 2 of us. We will get access to Franklin Road though it will be on across someone else's property. Bird: But it's going to be hard to turn left off of Franklin Road without a light there. Like you said, they haven't changed their mind. They're not going to allow a light that close to the other light. Hull: Yes, exactly. Bird: I would sure like tD see our people study it and I for one would encourage the Mayor to write, the Council to write a favorable letter to ITD and get this thing going. Anderson: Mr. Mayor. Corrie: Mr. Anderson. Anderson: I just had a couple of comments. I like the overall concept and the plan. I guess there's just a couple of other issues that concern me in this area. Number one we still don't have a signal light when you're going eastbound to get off the interstate over there. It's very difficult to get onto Eagle Road in the first place because there's not really enough breaks in the traffic there. That's on the other side of the freeway from you guys but - Hull: Mayor Corrie, Commissioner Anderson. They, ITD does have in their program funds to install a traffic signal at that location. That was also one of the priorities we went to them with. I forget exactly which fiscal year in their program they have it but they do have it and it is funded. Anderson: Yes, that was one of my questions. You know they also put them in the plans but how many years down the road are they is the problem and how Mendian City Council Meetin, August 28. 2001 Page 32 many times do they get bumped before they get built. The other one is I wonder what they call the street right across from your main entrance now but that one is going to be reaching capacity real easy because all the rest of that subdivision back behind the McDonald's and the Chevron and the Texaco is starting to go commercial and I don't -. If the only way to head north is to come on down to the stoplight there, that road is going to be easily out of capacity so I guess when you make you improvements along Eagle Road there needs to be an adequate cut out I guess in my mind to increase the capacity on that road whether its widening on that stub street or whatever. Hull: Mayor Corrie, Councilman Anderson. One of the, I didn't say this earlier. One of the criteria or goals of this plan was to work within the existing right of ways along Eagle Road and not to have to acquire right-of-way. We left that intersection alone because it was another person's property and we certainly don't have the right to go in and condemn or negotiate the purchase of right-of- way, The same thing is true at the Franklin intersection. We did get some good news however from ACHD. When we met with them we asked them to consider accelerating the improvements of Franklin Road going from 3 to 5 lanes on both miles east and west of Franklin Road. They were hesitant and they already had some of that in their plan and to accelerate that kind of messed up the machine if you will but they did commit to the western section of that intersection of Franklin Road. I forget what part of the plan and what year it is. I believe 2003 or 4, they were going to look at studying extending it instead of stopping it on the west side of Eagle Road. Extending it and making the improvements to Franklin Road which would include some right-of-way acquisition they felt they could pursue right now and create 2 northbound on Franklin Road 2 lanes of free running rights if you wanted to head east towards the mall and the retail development. Meeting with them they did get fairly creative in trying to find some solutions to free up some of these other issues other than just Eagle Road. Corrie: I think that's 2003, the early part of 2003 for that signal light at Overland (inaudible) the eastbound ~-. Bird: Off ramp. Corrie: Off ramp, yes. Talking to Chuck (inaudible) it's right after the one on Meridian Road. Then they'll (inaudible) its in their funded projects. Any other questiDns? Bird: I have none. Corrie: Okay. We can get to the different departments for you Jeff and get some feedback from them and then I'll get a meeting with YDU and see what they're saying. Then we can have the Council approve a letter if they wish and I can make that one up as well. Meridian City Council MeeUnl August 28, 2001 Page 33 Hull: Thank you for your time. Corrie: (inaudible) post haste then for you. Bird: Thank you Jeff. Item 11. Appointments for Urban Renewal Committee: Corrie: Item No. 11, appointments of the urban renewal board. You have a list of the board of directors of the urban renewal agency. We were going to have 7 people on that board. The only reason I don't have the 7th one, we were talking about Terri Smith might be the ih one but he is unable to serve in that capacity. So, I have the 6 right now and then if anybody has any ideas or would like to see or have me talk to anybody on the 7th, I certainly welcome that from anybody, I am talking with some of the others on this one. For the board I've had the 6 as Mr. Jim Johnson, in the parenthesis it shows that their time is 3 year. Mr. Clarence Jones, number 2, one year. Anne Marie Molenaar-Schram, number 3, a 2 year. Clair Bowman number 4 at 3 years. Councilwoman Tammy de Weerd 5, 2 years, and Councilman Bird at 1 year. Then we would have a rotating every other year for the Council. Then ex-officio members are Stacy Kilchenmann and Steve Siddoway. Those are the ones that I would bring forth to the Council and then the 7th one I'll bring as soon as I can, maybe I can within the next week or so. So, that is my proposal and I would entertain any questions. Anderson: Mr. Mayor. Corrie: Mr. Anderson. Anderson: Just a question. Is there a set, I know you have 2 Council people on there right now but is there set agencies that you're looking for people from like business people to arrive at your 7? Or is this just kind of a --? Corrie: I would like to have somebody within the Meridian area now and has their stakeholder in Meridian but it's not necessary. According to the makeup of the board of directors, we can change those. We can change the whole thing in 3 years so its whatever you want to do. I have nobody right now in mind for that ih seat. I mean that's why I say if you have somebody I would be happy to entertain that and talk to them as well. That's entirely up to you. De Weerd: Mr. Mayor. Corrie: Mrs. de Weerd. De Weerd: I guess he raises a good point to make sure that the 2 Council seats are for City Council members and that they don't go for people -