LEE COUNTY BICYCLE/PEDESTRIAN MEETING MINUTES July 20, 2016

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1 LEE COUNTY BICYCLE/PEDESTRIAN MEETING MINUTES July 20, 2016 MEMBERS PRESENT STAFF Jane Bowser, At Large, Secretary Debbie Carpenter, LC DCD T. Patrick Connor, District 2 Andy Getch, P.E., LC DOT Al Giacalone, Vice Chair, At Large, Affordable Housing David Murphy, LC DOT Don Mayne, Chair, District 4 David Wagley, LC DOT Dr. Ileana Sisson, District 1 Sarah Clarke, LC DOT Dave Wheaton, At Large Vince Miller, LC DOT Keith Kibbey, At Large MEMBERS ABSENT Damon Shelor, District 5 GUESTS Joanne Wilson, Yacht Club Colony James Klenota, Yacht Club Colony Beverly Cayton, Yacht Club Colony Dianne Barry, Yacht Club Colony Rosie Gaylord, Yacht Club Colony Robert Barry, Yacht Club Colony Debbie Schmaos, Yacht Club Colony Gordon, Schmaos, Yacht Club Colony Judye Russell, Yacht Club Colony Al Garza, Yacht Club Colony Ron Gogoi, LC MPO Marita Garza, Yacht Club Colony David Russell, Yacht Club Colony Barb Carlson, Yacht Club Colony Becky Demo, Yacht Club Colony Don Gohde, Yacht Club Colony Judy Gohde, Yacht Club Colony Anita Finnegan, Yacht Club Colony Catherine Mayhugh, Yacht Club Colony Susan Forrest, Yacht Club Colony Michael Forrest, Yacht Club Colony Agenda Item#1, *Call to Order, Introductions and Review of Agenda: Mr. Don Mayne, Chair, called the meeting to order at 2:59 p.m., asked for introductions and welcomed guests. Mr. Al Giacalone moved to add the Yacht Club Colony (YCC) item to the agenda. Mr. Mayne called the motion with the addition of this modification. Ms. Jane Bowser seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. Agenda Item #2: *Approval of the June 15, 2016 Meeting Minutes: Mr. Giacalone moved to approve the June 15, 2016 meeting minutes as submitted. Mr. Pat Connor seconded the motion for discussion. Dr. Ileana Sisson asked for two additions to the minutes: (1) include the names of additional persons attending the meeting with Commissioner Manning as mentioned in Item #6a, and (2) include a comment in Item #6b concerning the ability to search documents on the county website noting that older.pdf documents may not be searchable. Dr. Sisson also asked that a summary of the meeting with Commissioner Manning be included with the June minutes, however, after discussion it was decided that the summary would be distributed at the next meeting and made a part of the official record at that time. After discussion, Mr. Giacalone amended his motion to approve the minutes with the changes as stated. The motion carried unanimously. Agenda Item 3, Public Comments: None. New Business Agenda Item #4: *Donald Road to Club House Road Sidewalk Request. Representatives of the Yacht Club BPAC Meeting July 20, 2016 Page 1

2 Colony attended today s meeting to express a need for a sidewalk, bike path or shared use pathway on Donald Road in North Fort Myers. Ms. Rosie Gaylord, President of Yacht Club Colony, introduced Dianne Barry who read a prepared statement citing pedestrian and bicycle safety as the main reason for the request. She stated that Donald Road is narrow with no shoulders or bike paths, has deep ditches and dense vegetation on either side, is heavily traveled by vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians, and is currently impacted by adjoining neighborhoods, commercial properties and a large daycare center at the corner of Donald and Coon Roads. The residents feel the situation will be made worse due to a recently approved 180 home subdivision with 2 new streets accessing Donald Road and they have been told the associated construction traffic will use Donald Road exclusively during eagle nesting season which will contribute to an already dangerous situation. They would like to see a shared use path on Donald Road. More than 20 residents attended the meeting to voice their concerns and to ask for the committee s support of this request. Staff stated the project scored points out of 100 in the BPAC Point Scoring System, and estimated the cost for installation of an 8 foot shared use path, including piping, from Coon Road to Club House Road at $1,694,725. This did not include the cost for any wetland mitigation or permitting that may be required by South Florida Water Management District due to an area of wetlands on the site. Further discussion included commentary from residents on past efforts to get a sidewalk installed; a discussion concerning the criteria of the scoring system; budget constraints; questions related to the use of impact fees as a source of funding; DOTs investigation into complaints related to flooding; and more. Mr. Wagley said he would submit a request for action to cut back vegetation to improve driver sight distance especially at the blind curve. Following discussion, Mr. Mayne thanked all for attending. He said the committee would discuss the request and provide options at the next meeting scheduled for August 17 th. Old Business Agenda Item #5a: *Ottumwa Avenue/Settler Drive, Muskegon Avenue & Lorraine Drive Sidewalk Request: Mr. Mayne reviewed the request to install a sidewalk on Ottumwa Avenue/Settler Drive, Muskegon Avenue and Lorraine Drive. There are two schools in the area, Manatee Elementary and Oak Hammock Middle School and as a result there are eighteen school buses that travel through the community during school hours. Staff had estimated the cost for the entire project as $865,000, with a point score of 26. After committee discussion, the consensus was that a BPAC score of 26 was not sufficient to add the project to the list. One possible solution would be to change bus routes. The policy of buses traveling into the subdivision rather than picking students up at a main intersection would be more appropriately addressed by the school district and the suggestion was made to table this item until a school district representative could be present. Staff agreed to contact the District and have a representative attend the next meeting After committee discussion, it was decided to table this item as noted above. Agenda Item #5b: *CIP Update Sarah Clark, Lee County DOT, reviewed the CIP list and provided project updates as follows: Fiddlesticks. Waiting for the Notice to Proceed. Contractor should be starting in the next week; BPAC Meeting July 20, 2016 Page 2

3 Palomino Lane. The design contract has been executed. Hole Montes is surveying. Next step is wetlands determination; Hancock Bridge Parkway. Still waiting for the design contract to come back from Procurement; West Mariana project will now be designed in-house; Gulf Blvd. shared use path. Ready to be bid. Goal is to be done with the project by Thanksgiving. Homestead project should be out to bid by August. There was a brief discussion about the roundabout that opened on 7/19/16 at Crystal Drive. Ms. Clark addressed a question related to the Three Oaks Parkway Extension. Mr. Gogoi suggested coordinating with Mr. Getch to apply for state funding for the Kismet Littleton Road project since it falls within the Sun Trail network and has funding available as a result of Amendment One. Agenda Item #5c, TIGER V Update: Mr. Ron Gogoi, Lee County MPO, reported that most of the bike lanes, share used paths or sidewalks have been built but have not yet been turned over to the county for maintenance. FGCU is under construction and expected to be completed sometime in August. Construction of the Daniels multi-use path is underway, with the segment from 6 Mile to Red Sox stadium expected to be complete sometime in November. Once the entire Tiger-funded project is complete, those sections that will be county maintained will then be turned over to LCDOT. Bus Shelter Stops: Eleven completed. Two under construction. Mr. Gogoi said there were funds left over from the grant and as a result that surplus money will be used for wayfinding signs for Tiger Grant facilities. Mr. Mayne said he and another committee member attended a wayfinding sign design workshop recently. He was interested to learn where the funding came from. Mr. Gogoi said these signs will only be used for Tiger Grant facilities, however the design criteria, based on national standards, will be replicated throughout the county. Jurisdictions with bike/ped master plans underway will be encouraged to include implementation of wayfinding signage. Dr. Sisson said the signs were informative and helpful and suggested using volunteers such as those of Florida Trails Association to help maintain the signs. She recommended a letter to the commissioners to request additional funding and the committee agreed to discuss this again in November or December. Agenda Item #5d, MPO Crash Report: Mr. Gogoi reviewed a Traffic Fatality Report from the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicle Department which compared data through July 18 th from this year to last. Accumulated Deaths to Date in 2015 = 57 Accumulated Deaths to Date in 2016 = 59 Mr. Gogoi provided an update on the bike/ped injuries and fatalities in Lee County: (preliminary data as of July 19, 2016) *data is gathered from Tallahassee/Signal Four Analytics Bike Injuries = Bike Fatalities = Pedestrian Fatalities = Pedestrian Injuries = 126 Agenda Item #6, Member Comments: Mr. Pat Connor asked for a status of the motion from the last meeting that recommended changing a section on Pine Island Road from sidewalk to a shared use path. Staff explained that the recommendation would be part of an overall update of Map 3D-1 which will include all desired changes, not just those to BPAC Meeting July 20, 2016 Page 3

4 Pine Island Road. Dr. Sisson stated the 3D-1 map was old. She recalled that the committee had workshops and made several recommendations that are not reflected on the map. Staff explained that the map was slated to be updated a few years ago but did not go through the final approval process and therefore was never adopted by the BoCC. Mr. Getch is working on updating the transportation element of the Lee Plan and Map 3D-1 will be part of that process. More discussion followed concerning an FDOT PD&E study, funded by the MPO, scheduled to begin in the next four years for Pine Island Road. The county can make recommendations for a multi-use path but depending on what the study concludes, the outcome is not guaranteed. Mr. Giacolone wished to honor a local deputy who stopped a bike rider in North Fort Myers for disobeying traffic laws. This peaked his interest because of the need for educating the average bike rider. After questioning, the man was arrested and found to be counterfeiting money. Kudos to the deputy. Agenda Item #7, Staff Comments: Mr. Getch said that traffic cops find more wanted individuals during routine traffic stops than anyone else. Agenda Item #8, Upcoming meeting agenda items: Discuss Ottumwa sidewalk request with School District representative. Wayfinding Signs Update Agenda Item #9, Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 5:00 p.m. Next Meeting: Wednesday, August 17, 2016 from 3 to 5 p.m. Digitally recorded minutes are available upon request. BPAC Meeting July 20, 2016 Page 4

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