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2008-12-10 CITY OF BEVERLY PUBLIC MEETING MINUTES BOARD OR COMMISSION: SUBCOMMITTEE: DATE: LOCATION: MEMBERS PRESENT: Parking and Traffic Commission December 10, 2008 Third Floor, City Hall Chairman Rich Benevento, Vice-Chairman Joe Shairs, Tina Cassidy, Richard Hutchinson, Sue Mueller, Bill Bent, Bill Fiore MEMBERS ABSENT: OTHERS PRESENT: RECORDER: Tina Cassidy Benevento calls the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m. 1. Approval of Minutes The first item of business is approval of draft minutes of the Commission's November 12, 2008 meeting. Benevento asks if everyone has had a chance to review the draft and whether there are any changes that need to be made. Cassidy states that there is one correction. The blank space on page four of the draft should state "July and August". Additionally, she noted that several of the Commission's November votes relative to parking meters were specific as to hours of enforcement. After the meeting, Sgt. Shairs and the City Solicitor's Office determined that as voted (with specific hours of enforcement) the votes would conflict with the City Ordinance. Because of that, the hourly limitations mentioned in the votes for new meters at 393 Rantoul Street, 278 Rantoul Street, and 369-371 Cabot Street were not included in the official letters filed with the City Council. Benevento suggests that because the November meeting minutes accurately reflect the votes that were taken that day, the Commission should just simply note the differences between the votes and the letters in the minutes of this meeting. Bent: motion to approve the draft minutes of the Commission's November 12, 2008 meeting, seconded by Hutchinson. All members in favor, motion carnes. 2. Site Plan Review #98-08 (CVS) at corner of Rantoul and Elliott Streets Chris Iannuzzi and Greg Russell from VHB, Ine. introduce themselves to the members. Iannuzzi provides a brief overview of the property and the proposed redevelopment. Russell states that current traffic counts reveal that there are approximately 140 vehicle trips passing by the store on Rantoul Street every peak hour. The new store is expected to generate an additional 50-70 trips per peak hour. Cassidy distributes several copies of a traffic analysis that VHB prepared and which was hand-delivered to the Planning Department the previous Friday. P&T Commission minutes Page 1 0/9 December 10, 2008 meeting Benevento asks how much traffic will come from Rantoul Street, and how much will come from Elliott Street? Russell answers that more traffic is expected to enter the reconfigured site from Rantoul Street than from Elliott Street. Benevento expresses his doubts about this assumption. Benevento asks if the traffic analysis done to date included study of the Elliott/Beckford Street intersection or the Elliott St./McPherson Drive intersection. Russell states that they were not included in VHB's work to date, and Benevento strongly encourages them to study those two intersections because they could be significantly impacted by the new project. Russell states that the Rantoul/Elliott Street intersection operates at a Level Of Service (LOS) C, and bases that conclusion in part on the CTPS study that was conducted for the intersection earlier this year. He states that the study presumed that the pedestrian phase was activated at every cycle, and that is not what happens here in practice. Bent states that as a result, the actual service level of the intersection is probably somewhere between a LOS of "C" and "F". At the moment, the VHB analysis is overly-optimistic since turning movements post-construction will worsen current levels of service. Russell informs the members that VHB is aware that the City is planning to reconstruct Rantoul Street in the near future. Benevento states that that project may be five years or more away from construction, and so CVS should not assume that any roadway or signal improvements needed to support the CVS project could wait until the City starts its reconstruction project. They cannot. Benevento states that he has several general concerns with this proposal at this point, including the fact that two major arterial roadways and railroad preemptions are involved, and expresses great concern that eastbound Elliott Street traffic attempting to turn left into the new CVS will create significant challenges that need to be solved up front. Since the Commission just received VHB's traffic analysis and has yet to review it fully, Cassidy recommends that the Commission consider tabling discussion to its January meeting, and provide a list of questions or comments to VHB on it by no later than Christmas. Bent suggests that they consider relocating the loading dock to a different location. Shairs states that he prefers the more visible location that is currently being proposed. Bent: motion to table discussion of the CVS site plan to the January Commission meeting and to provide comments to VHB on the traffic analysis by December 24, 2008. Motion seconded by Shairs, all in favor. Motion carries. 3. Discussion and Update: Winter Use of Winter Street by Montserrat College of Art's dormitory construction project and update on construction project to date Shairs informs members that the transport of modular units from Rantoul and McKay Streets went very well and without any significant problems. He also states that he reviewed the Winter Street situation and notes that Montserrat has relocated the Jersey barriers to the P&T Commission minutes Page 20/9 December 10, 2008 meeting library side of Winter Street. The fence located on the opposite sidewalk will be relocated/reconsidered as construction needs warrant. Bottom line, he is satisfied that traffic will be able to use Winter Street safely during construction throughout the winter. Fiore asks what the minimum width of Winter Street will be, with Jersey barriers and fence in place. Shairs answers at least 14', and Fiore states that is sufficient for a fire truck to pass. 4. Discussion/ recommendation: Order #111: Request for Comprehensive Traffic Study of Congress Street neighborhood and follow up site visit held 11- 19-08 Shairs updates the members on the issues reviewed during the latest site visit and the list of recommendations that resulted: (a) Cox Court/Goat Hill Lane: Post an additional stop sign on the left hand side of Cox Court at its intersection with Goat Hill Lane. (b) Wellman Street: Relocate the existing "No Parking Here to Corner" sign to within 20' of the intersection of Wellman and Linden Streets and post a new "No Parking This Side" sign at the location of the current "No Parking Here to Corner" sign. (c) School Street: Eliminate the loading zone in front of Quality Press (#45 School Street) and post a new "No Parking Here to Corner" sign on the northbound side of School Street, running from the School/Rantoul Street intersection for approximately 20'. Bent suggests that the commission write a letter to the City Council summarizing these recommendations and suggesting that the notion of a "comprehensive" traffic study be tabled until development of the Ventron site is certain and imminent. Shairs states that the recommendations also included the possibility of eliminating on-street parking on a portion of River Street to improve traffic safety at the intersection of River and School Streets. Cars currently park on both sides of the lower end of River Street, which creates site visibility issues for motorists entering the intersection. However, he suggests that the Council should contact the property owners and residents in the immediate vicinity to discuss the matter prior to enacting the change, given the neighborhood's general dependence on on-street parking. Bent: motion to recommend to the City Council that the following parking and traffic changes be made: (a) Cox Court/Goat Hill Lane: Post an additional stop sign on the left hand side of Cox Court at its intersection with Goat Hill Lane. (b ) Wellman Street: Relocate the existing "No Parking Here to Corner" sign to within 20' of the intersection of Wellman and Linden Streets and post a new "No Parking This Side" sign at the location of the current "No Parking Here to Corner" sign. P&T Commission minutes Page 30/9 December 10, 2008 meeting (c) School Street: Eliminate the loading zone in front of Quality Press (#45 School Street) and post a new "No Parking Here to Corner" sign on the northbound side of School Street, running from the School/Rantoul Street intersection for approximately 20'; and (d) River and School Street intersection: Consider eliminating on-street parking on both sides of River Street, from its intersection with School Street to the existing driveway at #6 River Street. However, the Commission strongly encourages the Council to contact the property owners and residents in the immediate vicinity to discuss the matter prior to enacting the change, given the neighborhood's general dependence on on-street parking. Motion seconded by Hutchinson, all in favor. Motion carries. 5. Discussion: Update on meeting held regarding installation of new crosswalk at Elliott and Greene Streets Shairs and Benevento update the members on the meeting held several weeks ago on this subject. Ward 1 Councilor Maureen Troubetaris, Ward 3 Councilor John Burke, Ward 1 School Committee member David Manzi, Shairs and Benevento attended an evening meeting to discuss Troubetaris' concern about the need for an additional crosswalk on Elliott Street, now that the School Department has eliminated a crossing guard in this area. It was agreed at the meeting that a crosswalk could be installed at the westerly side of the Greene Street outlet (opposite the Beverly School for the Deaf) if wheelchairs ramps were installed and a small portion of sidewalk constructed. Cassidy states that the Commission should include an estimate of cost whenever it makes a recommendation that would require the expenditure of funds to implement. Benevento estimates the cost at about $5,000, not including the costs for signage and constructing a portion of sidewalk. Bent: motion to recommend to the City Council that a crosswalk be installed on Elliott Street immediately west of the Greene Street outlet (opposite the Beverly School for the Deaf), SUBJECT TO it being staffed with a crossing guard during school hours, given the volume of traffic on Elliott Street, the age of the school children likely to use it, and the lack of a pedestrian traffic light at this location. Additionally, if and when the crosswalk is installed, the Commission recommends the use of high-intensity yellow green signs and advanced signage that meet the standards of the MUTCD. For advance warning the City should use Sl-l signs coupled with W16-9p signs. At the crosswalk itself, the City should use Sl-l signs coupled with W16-7p signs. Motion seconded by Shairs, all members in favor. Motion carries. P&T Commission minutes Page 40/9 December 10, 2008 meeting 6. Discussion: Herrick and Heather Street parking issues including Council Order #267: Request to eliminate winter parking restriction on portion of Herrick Street / Councilor Burke Cassidy and Shairs update the members. Shairs conducted a site visit to the Montserrat Condominium project at the corner of Herrick and Heather Streets, since residents at this location were the impetus for Councilor Burke's request. They complained about the lack of parking available for visitors and had requested changes to free up parking on the street. He counted the number of spaces on the condo site and asked Cassidy to research the Zoning Board of Appeals' (ZBA) decision on this project. The minutes of the ZBA meeting revealed that the developer's attorney told the ZBA that there were going to be seven parking spaces over and above the number needed to meet zoning requirements that would be available for visitor and overflow parking needs on site. Shairs' site visit revealed that those seven spaces were apparently never constructed and instead the developer built only the number of spaces needed to satisfy zoning (two per unit). Shairs recommends that with respect to Order #267, the Commission should recommend that the Order not be adopted. To the contrary, the Commission should recommend that the parking prohibition on Heather Street which is currently a seasonal ban should instead be made into a year-round prohibition. He also suggests that he would like to continue reviewing the parking situation in this area and report back to the Commission at a subsequent meeting. Bent: motion to recommend to the City Council that Order #267 NOT BE ADOPTED for two reasons. One, the area in which winter parking is presently restricted is unsafe whenever snow banks narrow the overall travel width of the right of way. Two, the residents' request for additional on-street parking can be met at least in part by simple adherence to the site plan approved by the ZBA. Further, the Commission recommends that on-street parking be prohibited on the northeasterly side of Heather Street at all times by: (a) Removing Chapter 14-121 (3), Same During Certain Months, From December first to April first: Heather Street, northeasterly side, from Herrick Street to #34 Heather Street; (b) Removing Chapter 14-120, Prohibited on Certain Streets at All Times, from the current ordinance: Heather Street, northeasterly side, from Colon Street to 20' north of 34 Heather Street; and (c) Adding to Chapter 14-120, Prohibited on Certain Streets at All Times, Heather Street, northeasterly side, from Colon Street to Herrick Street. Finally, the Commission will continue to review the existing on-street parking configuration in the area and will report back any resulting findings and P&T Commission minutes Page 5 0/9 December 10, 2008 meeting recommendations to the Council. Motion seconded by Hutchinson, all members in favor. Motion carries. 7. Discussion: Order #266: Request to install "Handicapped Parking" sign at 10 Porter Street / Councilor Slate Shairs informs the members that there is a second request to install the same type of sign at 21 Knowlton Street, and states that the Council has already taken action on both of these requests. Members hold a general discussion on the subject of handicapped parking signs, noting that there does not appear to be any rationale for approving them or for tracking them through time to ensure they are still needed. Benevento suggests that perhaps there should be an application form for such requests that could solve both issues. Shairs says that he will research the issue between now and the next meeting and will report back to the Commission. Bent: motion to recommend to the City Council that the Council approve the installation of a handicapped parking sign at 10 Porter Street and at 12 Knowlton Street. Motion seconded by Hutchinson, all members in favor. Motion carries. 7. Discussion: Informal Request from Councilor Cronin to review parking situation on Hull Street adjacent to the Centerville School Shairs states that he spoke with Councilor Cronin on this issue. Parking is apparently scarce at this location and parents often park on the school side of the road when dropping off children at school or using the recreational facilities. Motorists drive over the curb and park on the sidewalk and Cronin has asked whether parking should be prohibited on both sides of Hull Street from the intersection of Essex Street past the school to address the problem. Benevento states that he does not support the idea of eliminating parking on both sides of the roadway since it will only motivate people to park further down the street, in locations that are more removed from the school and even less safe. Members suggest that a better long term solution would be for the Council, School Committee, and Public Services Department to investigate the possibility of constructing more off-street parking near the school. 8. New or Other Business (a) Hurd Stadium Cassidy distributes copies of the letter sent to the City Council on this matter. Benevento states that the Cedar Street lot could be much better utilized for parking if the parcel were cleaned up or if the materials stored on site were reorganized. (b) Follow up on Order #194 (Cole/Boyles Street) Members review the following issues: P&T Commission minutes Page 6 0/9 December 10, 2008 meeting Blind Corner at 18-20 Cole Street Overgrowth and a dilapidated fence obstructed the view of on-coming vehicles at this location. The Commission worked with the Department of Public Services to determine ownership of the fence (which was subsequently determined to be privately-owned) and to provide a short-term solution to the problem of the overgrown vegetation (which is also located on private property). The Public Services Department performed a one-time clean- up of the overgrown vegetation, but a permanent solution must be found to ensure that the private property owner maintains the landscaping on his/her lot in the future. Enforcement of Speed Limits on Cole Street The posted speed limit on Cole Street (between Essex Street and Paradise Crossing) is currently 20 m.p.h. During the months of July and December 2008, speed data and traffic volumes were monitored by the Police Department with the use of stationary radar devices (Speed Spy). The research showed that 85% of the traffic on Cole Street was traveling at approximately 30 m.p.h. The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices indicates that when a speed limit is posted, it should be within 5 miles per hour of the 85th -percentile speed of free flowing traffic on a roadway. If a change in the posted speed limit was requested for Cole Street, the speed limit could actually be increased to approximately 30 m.p.h., based on the data collected to date. Speed monitoring efforts included a flashing radar board with illuminated display that was in place for several weeks in the months November and December. In conjunction with that, several officers have been utilized as "Directed Patrols" using patrol radar units for the monitoring and issuance of speeding citations. The enforcement in this area has been fluid and ongoing since the early summer months, and an area resident reports that these patrols have had a noticeable and positive impact. Addition of a Sidewalk on Cole Street to Improve Pedestrian Safety Members concur that Cole Street would be safer for pedestrians if there was a sidewalk on at least one side of the road. The Commission discussed the matter with Public Services Director Mike Collins who indicated that it might be possible to construct a sidewalk on one side of the street. He cautioned however that doing so might be complicated and relatively expensive. Collins agreed to have his department develop a conceptual plan and cost estimate for the installation of a sidewalk on the northerly side of Cole Street extending from Essex Street to Foster Street. The conceptual plan would show the possible sidewalk location, identify trees, ledge, and other obstructions that would need to be removed and show the extent and location of land takings that would be necessary for the project to advance. Collins estimates that the plan will be ready by mid-January 2009. Installation of a Crosswalk on Cole Street at the Essex/Cole Street Intersection P&T Commission minutes Page 70/9 December 10, 2008 meeting Residents of the area suggested the installation of a crosswalk at this location so that pedestrians have a safe method of travel across Essex Street. The Public Services Department previously determined that it was difficult to construct a crosswalk that would meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Exclusion of Heavy Vehicles and Trucks from Cole Street Residents of the area requested that trucks be banned from Cole Street. The Parking and Traffic Commission expressed concern about this concept, given the potential impacts the decision could have on other roadways and neighborhoods that may carry an undue share of this type of traffic as a result. Heavy commercial vehicle exclusions for any municipal roadway may only be authorized by the MassHighway Department. Mass. General Laws Section 11A-9, Heavy Commercial Vehicle Exclusion, sets forth specific requirements that must be followed when a municipality considers banning heavy vehicles from a local road. Bent and Benevento suggest that the Commission provide the Council with the requirements and processes for requesting and establishing a truck exclusion for roadways. Bent: motion to make the following recommendations to the City Council with respect to Order #194: (i) The City Council should contact the property owner at 18-20 Cole Street directly to determine how best to achieve a long-term solution to the perennial problem of brush clearing at this location. Department of Public Services Director Mike Collins indicates that the City can remove the fence, if the property owner is willing to give the City permission to do so; (ii) The Police Department should continue to employ speed monitoring devices and conduct directed patrols in the Cole Street area periodically; (iii) The City Council should discuss the details of the conceptual sidewalk plan when it is available. The Parking and Traffic Commission is happy to assist the Council in reviewing that plan once it is developed; and (iv) That a crosswalk be installed at the Essex/Cole Street intersection, when and if a connecting sidewalk is constructed on Essex and/or Cole Street that meets the requirements of the ADA. Benevento and Bent state that there are several warrants that must be met and specific data that must be collected before a truck exclusion can be requested/considered for a given road. They also say the research and analysis required for a truck exclusion route are well beyond the abilities of the Parking and Traffic Commission. However, Bent notes that the City can ask MassHighway to perform the necessary documentation and analysis, although it may take months or more for that agency to find the needed resources to complete it. Another option is to hire a consulting firm to collect and analyze the data, develop and P&T Commission minutes Page 8 0/9 December 10, 2008 meeting designate an alternate route through the community for heavy commercial vehicle traffic as well as confirm other prerequisite warrants. Cassidy asks what it might cost to perform the research and studies. Benevento says that it is difficult to estimate the engineering cost associated with this effort unless and until the study area is defined, but it may be in the neighborhood of $10,000. Cassidy will include this information in the letter to the Council. (c) Removal of "N 0 Right on Red" sign at the corner of Balch and Cabot Streets Hutchinson suggests that the City should consider eliminating the prohibition on right hand turns from Balch Street onto Cabot Street. The traffic from Cummings Center is often blocked at this location, since there is only one travel lane shared by both left- and right- turning traffie. Shairs states that he would not be in favor of eliminating the prohibition because of limited sight visibility. He suggests tabling the discussion to the next meeting so that he can review the functional design report for the Route 1A project and review traffic accident data for this location. Bent: motion to table discussion to the January 2009 Commission meeting, seconded by Hutchinson. All members in favor, motion carries. Benevento asks if there is any other business for the Commission to discuss. There is none. Bent: motion to adjourn, seconded by Hutchinson. All members in favor, motion carries. The meeting is adjourned at 12:10 p.m. P&T Commission minutes Page 9 0/9 December 10, 2008 meeting