2014 01-06Meeting Minutes
Meridian Transportation Commission
January 6, 2014
Council Chambers -Meridian City Hall • 33 East Broadway Ave., Meridian, Idaho
I. Meeting called to order at 3:30pm and Roll taken:
X Ryan Lancaster X Pat Morandi o David Zaremba (ex-officio)
Vacant x Jo Ann Bujarski o Shawn Martin (ex-officio)
x Stephen Lewis X Jack McGee x Toni Tisdale (ex-officio)
p David Ballard X Micah Gale x Jordan Swain (ex-officio)
x Tracy Hopkins X Mark Wasdahl (ex-orrao) x Bruce Gestrin (ex-officio)
Others Present: Ted Baird, Caleb Hood, Austin Peterson, Officer Myron Severson
2. Adoption of the Agenda
a. Motion by Lancaster to delay election of officers for one month and to Adopt
the Agenda as it is written -second by McGee -all ayes -motion carried.
3. Approval of Minutes
a. November 4, 2013 Transportation Commission Minutes
b. December 2, 2013 Transportation Commission Minutes
After discussing changes to the November 4`~ Minutes and December 2nd Minutes
Motion by Commissioner Gale to Approve the Minutes as amended, second by Lewis -
all ayes -motion carried.
Discussion of Vacancy on the Commission.
4. Old Business Items
a. Transportation Projects Update Memo (attached)
Nothing to report.
5. New Business Items
Note for the record that Shawn Martin is in attendance.
a. Overland/Stoddard Traffic Patterns (C. Hood)
Discussion regarding Center Median which doesn't allow traffic to enter Wal-Mart Main
Entrance Parking Lot from Overland other than the Lowe's entrance; Causing drivers to
use Stoddard with complaints including U-turns, traffic noise, and near-misses on
Stoddard but police didn't see a major traffic issue on Stoddard when they went to the
site. Major conflicts are primarily from left-turn out and crossing over several lanes.
Commissioners mentioned driving the route and overshooting the current entrance, as
well. Commissioner Morandi mentioned that a directional sign indicating the current
Wal-Mart entrance. He added that initially, his business never wanted the medians in the
first place. It was also pointed out that the signal at Roaring Springs is busier in the
Summer Months than the Winter Months and that the upcoming construction on
Meridian Road may increase traffic coming from the West. Shawn Martin discussed how
ACHD determined where to place the turn lanes. Chairman Lancaster mentioned that
there are adequate landscape buffers between Wal-Mart and the residences. The
Chairman also reviewed the process with Shawn Martin to be sure the Commission is
clear on the ACHD process. He also noted that initially the complaints were from the
residences but they are now coming from the Customers. Caleb Hood mentioned that
the Management at Wal-Mart has been working with ACHD staff to come up with a
solution and that the Management thought it would be nice to have the left-in signal, but
signage was also discussed. Caleb addressed the Commission and suggested that possibly
initially starting with signage to see if it would be a solution since it is the least-expensive
approach. Commissioner Morandi inquired as to whether there could be a left-in to the
Wal-Mart Parking and Roaring Springs to eliminate excessive traffic on Stoddard. Shawn
Martin mentioned that it could be done. Commissioner Morandi is asked about his
three-quarter driveway -right in, right out, left in. Caleb Hood is asked to discuss road
classification and access. He indicates that Overland is considered to be a main arterial.
Motion by Commissioner Morandi to recommend to City Council that they engage with
ACRD and recommend a modification to the center median. Second by Bujarski -all
ayes -motion carries.
b. Franklin/Cinder Median (C. Jackson/R. Teffeteller)
This has been a project on the Project Updates List and is about completed. Caleb
Hood gave an overview and outline of the area thus far and how the project has
progressed. Center Medians were a part of the project design initially in 2007. Over
the years the plan has been changed to accommodate the public requests. In July 2010,
ACHD took up this item and presented to the ACHD Commission and they agreed to
remove part of the center medians but retained them at the Ten Mile Location. Caleb
referenced previous discussions of the Transportation Commission regarding access
points and signaling. Chairman Lancaster reviews additional items within Caleb's Memo
and the ACHD Staff Memo. Through discussion, it seems that there was not any
additional public outreach after the final decisions were made regarding the median, but
information was available to the public, though information is posted on ACHD website.
Chairman Lancaster continues discussing traffic volumes that was also included in
Caleb's Memo. He questions whether traffic volumes affect when to install a median.
Shawn Martin stated that most signalized intersections within the County are designed
with the medians so that these issues won't come up. Mr. Teffeteller is called to share
his perspective. Jackson's was caught off guard when these medians were installed and
are concerned about the implications these medians may cause. He references photos
of the location and states that they thought the medians would be based/installed when
future traffic conditions warranted and were not based on current flows. He stated that
the current traffic hasn't increased and that this median addition has actually decreased
business due to access. His request is that the dialog continues and that the
Commission would support their request which would ultimately be that the medians
be removed and/or full access at the middle driveway. Mr. Teffeteller also mentioned
the issues that occur with cross-site and cross-access traffic issues. He said they
weren't aware that curbs were being installed until ACRD was installing them and they
contacted ACHD to have them removed. ACHD's response was that conditions had
changed to warrant the curbs and they requested any information that ACRD had
regarding to the traffic changes. They have yet to receive anything. Chairman Lancaster
reviews the letter from Mr. Jackson regarding traffic figures and inquires whether there
have been any accidents in the area that he's aware of. Chairman Lancaster then asks if
they have seen any financial impact since the curbs have been installed. Mr. Teffeteller
indicated that at this point they don't have any good data to provide because business
increased with Construction Workers but decreased due to construction and it hasn't
been long enough since the project concluded to provide accurate information.
Chairman Lancaster's final question to Mr. Teffeteller was what Jackson's would like to
see done. Mr. Teffeteller responded that ideally their request would be to have the
medians fully removed, or if not that, then it would be to allow the 440 full access at the
middle driveway. Chairman Lancaster inquired as to whether there are other Jackson
Stores who are having this similar issue. Mr. Teffeteller stated that this is a growing issue
for the Jackson Stores. He indicated that they go to ACRD, when notified of these
upcoming conditions, working throughout the design process with ACRD. He stated
that the only difference with this particular project was the surprise. There was no
communication regarding this project. Austin Peterson, Transportation and Utility
Coordinator for the City of Meridian, came forward to speak regarding the State
Highway 65 dumping extra traffic into all of our arterial roadways and that the Meridian
Interchange will most likely cause an increase in traffic volumes. He suggested that
before removing curbs, they might look into models and working with COMPASS.
Commissioner Hopkins referenced the cross-traffic, Dutch Brother's, the Air Quality
Truck, a lot of traffic within the parking lot. He suggested we should wait at this point in
time to see how things might change at this point. Commissioner McGee pointed out
that there is usually a conflict between safety and Community Development. He stated
that the rules need to be applied by ACHD consistently. He doesn't see any reason to
go back to ACHD to request the medians to be removed. Commissioner Bujarski asked
Caleb if he has any idea what the development at the dirt driveway is going to be. Caleb
stated that he can find out what is going into that area but it is a mixed use, and there
will be multi-family units and commercial office space. He can look it up and provide
information at a later date. Commissioner Gale indicated he is in favor of taking this
back to ACHD since the businesses were not notified that the curbs were coming.
Commissioner Gale moved that they petition the City Council to petition ACHD to
reconsider the raised curbs with input from the businesses; to re-evaluate whether to
allow the curbs to be removed. Motion Seconded.
Deputy City Attorney, Ted Baird recommends that they address the issue at hand,
which is the letter from Jackson's. Please support Jackson's and other local businesses
in Meridian by sharing your concerns with ACHD requesting that the existing medians
be removed and that the installation of medians along Franklin Road and throughout the
City of Meridian be curtailed until future traffic volumes warrant. Motion by
Commissioner Gale stands with aSecond. 3ayes - 4 nays. Floor opened again for a
recommendation. No recommendations made one way or the other by the
Commission. Caleb Hood stated that they have already met with the City Attorney and
this will go before Council.
c. Staff Communications (attached)
The City received another complaint regarding lack of sidewalks adjacent to Rocky
Mountain High School. Chairman Lancaster inquired as to whether or not there was an
accident that caused this complaint. Officer Myron Severson indicated that there was an
accident there. A student tried crossing the street by the Moxie Java and there is no
painted crosswalk at that location but there is an intersection. So, from his
understanding, the vehicles have the right-of-way. The pedestrian needs to watch if
there's no painted crosswalk at that location. Caleb indicated that there is a pedestrian
beacon that is going in and possibly another beacon being installed.
6. Future Meeting Topics
a. Scentsy/Pine Crossing Update (Feb/March 2014)
b. Franklin Road, Black Cat to Ten Mile Median Update (Feb 2014)
c. Woodbury/V1/aterbury/flair Street Cut-Through Update (Feb 2014)
d. Prioritization of Roadway, Intersection and CP Projects (Feb 2014)
e. Woodbridge/Locust Grove Speed and Cut-Through Analysis (Spring 2014)
f. Transit Planning (cont.)
g. Added Elections (Feb 2014)
h. Added Streetlights along roadways
7. Next Meeting Date: February 3, 2014
8. Adjourn (5:00 p.m.)
Motion by Hopkins and second by Gale to adjourn -all ayes -motion carried.
(AUDIO RECORDING ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS)
APPROVED:
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