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02-28-2024 BPC Final Minutes1 Bicycle Pedestrian Commission Special Meeting February 28, 2024 FINAL MINUTES MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING OF THE BICYCLE PEDESTRIAN COMMISSION February 28, 2024 Final Minutes The meeting was called to order at 7:02 p.m. ROLL CALL: Present: Ilango Ganga, Grace John, Hervé Marcy (C), Joel Wolf (VC) Absent: John Zhao Staff: Marlon Aumentado, Staff Liaison Others Present: Chad Mosley, Director of Public Works, David Stillman, Transportation Manager APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. January 24, 2024 Bicycle Pedestrian Commission Minutes Commissioner Ganga said there needed to be a change to the minutes for Agenda Item 4. A mention of the acronym “CIP” needed to be replaced to “CWP.” MOTION: Commissioner Ganga moved, seconded by Commissioner John to approve the January 24, 2024 minutes with the following amendment: 1. Item 4, page 4, paragraph 1, first sentence, change “CIP” to “CWP”. MOTION PASSED: 4-0, Zhao Absent POSTPONEMENTS No Postponements ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS None OLD BUSINESS 2 Bicycle Pedestrian Commission Special Meeting February 28, 2024 NEW BUSINESS 2. Rodrigues Avenue bicycle and pedestrian safety Marlon Aumentado, Assistant Engineer said this was a discussion item. Chair Marcy gave a presentation regarding Rodrigues Avenue bicycle and pedestrian safety. Commissioner Ganga said monitoring the crossing at Rodrigues Avenue was important. This was not a new issue. Staff had an Action Item to monitor the traffic safety on Rodrigues Avenue, especially the crossings, and to bring it back to the City Council. David Stillman, Transportation Manager said that was correct, staff was in the study phase. He and his team were working with the Sheriff's Department to identify ongoing incidents or safety concerns and as soon as the weather improved, his team was going to start counts of the trail users. There were some observations done in the fall at the walkway easement that connected to the trail, so there was some preliminary data that could be used. They were going to collect a lot more once the weather improved and based on their study, staff was going to put together a recommendation to take to the Council. Commissioner Ganga assumed the problem on Rodrigues Avenue occurred on other streets in the City of Cupertino as well. Protected bike lanes were not necessarily going to provide the expected benefits. Vice Chair Wolf had a lot of experience with Rodrigues Avenue. He was shocked at how fast people drove. As a result, it was clear it was dangerous to him, he did not think a study was needed. Additionally, Rodrigues Avenue was very wide, and people cut the corner going fast. Also, since the trail was open, kids were frequenting the trail and crossing the street. The speed limit seemed to mean nothing to people. A protected roadway constricted the street, so maybe this street needed a road diet. Chair Marcy’s presentation was consistent with Vice Chair Wolf’s qualitative observations over the years and waiting a year for the results of the study was too long. Vice Chair Wolf wanted to make a motion to adopt the presentation. Mr. Aumentado said staff was not looking for a motion or a recommendation for this agenda item because this item was presented to foster discussion on Rodrigues Avenue. This gave staff time to review Chair Marcy’s presentation and to bring it back for a recommendation at a later time. Vice Chair Wolf clarified again that no motion was able to be made. Mr. Aumentado repeated that due to the nature of this agenda item, it was meant to foster discussion on Rodrigues Avenue safety concerns. Chair Marcy said Rodrigues Avenue was on the list of Future Agenda Items, so the item could be brought back to the Bicycle Pedestrian Commission (Commission) to make a motion in the future. Commissioner Ganga said the Commission was able to ask staff to bring whichever studies they were doing to the Commission. If the Commission wanted to add additional safety items, other 3 Bicycle Pedestrian Commission Special Meeting February 28, 2024 than the crossings, then the Commission was able to make those requests before the item went back to Council. Vice Chair Wolf asked if in order for the Commission to make a motion, the Agenda Item needed to be an Action Item. Mr. Aumentado repeated that the recommendation for this item today was to discuss. Vice Chair Wolf repeated his question that unless the item was listed as an Action Item on the agenda, the Commission was not able to make a motion. Mr. Aumentado said there was no motion because staff cannot take action based on the observations Chair Marcy gave. Staff data and observations were needed. Commissioner John wondered if after staff observations were made then a motion was able to be made. Mr. Aumentado said yes, when Staff brought this item back to the Commission, he also offered to attach Chair Marcy’s presentation at that time. Commissioner John thought all three points Chair Marcy made in his presentation were valid. Mr. Aumentado clarified that Chair Marcy’s data collection was appreciated but staff needed valid data collection where calibrated equipment was used to justify the results. Chair Marcy said Commissioner Ganga mentioned a Council recommendation that was to be made after a year. He wanted to know when that was going to come back to Council because he understood it was supposed to be after a year of observation. Mr. Stillman said that was about a year ago, but because of the closures and the weather staff was not able to collect good data. Commissioner John wondered if the study was initiated because of an accident. Mr. Aumentado did not believe that was the trigger for the study. Commissioner Ganga suggested the Rodrigues Avenue crossing be part of Vision Zero. Vision Zero was supposed to come to the Commission in February. Mr. Stillman said yes but there was a delay; it will come in March. Vice Chair Wolf emphasized that this was an area where kids crossed the street and people did not want to go to the crosswalk at either end of the street at Blaney Avenue or Torre Avenue. A Vision Zero study was not needed to tell him the street was dangerous. NO ACTION TAKEN 3. Report on bicycle pedestrian objectives and grant applications Marlon Aumentado, Assistant Engineer gave a presentation on the report of bicycle pedestrian objectives and grant applications. Vice Chair Wolf asked about grants and wanted to know if the City of Cupertino had to put in a percentage or if grants were fully funded. Mr. Aumentado replied that the Transportation Development Act (TDA) 3 funds were received on an annual basis, so no percentages were needed for those. Federal grants typically required some type of local match. Chair Marcy wondered what the percentage of the match was. David Stillman, Transportation Manager interjected that percentages varied depending on the grant. Some percentages were as high as 4 Bicycle Pedestrian Commission Special Meeting February 28, 2024 40% and some had no local match requirement. Vice Chair Wolf suggested finding a grant that covered 80% and then finding another that covered the remaining 20%. Mr. Aumentado said yes but it was not recommended because the reporting requirements got complicated, especially if a person was looking to split or reimburse the project afterward. Some grants had stricter requirements than others. Commissioner John did not see the bike racks project in the presentation. Mr. Aumentado said yes, he talked about it in the beginning; the project was called Bicycle Facilities. There was going to be a Subcommittee meeting coming up for which Bicycle Facilities was to be discussed. Chair Marcy asked what the recommendation was. Mr. Aumentado said there was none, it was just a discussion. Commissioner Ganga inquired about the Federal Infrastructure Plan and understood there were funds set aside for bicycle and pedestrian improvements. He wondered what the criteria was to apply for those grants. Mr. Stillman said it depended on the program and what the funds were used for. Mr. Aumentado said there was no one set of criteria, sometimes it was crash data, other times it was speed data. Mr. Stillman assured the Commission that staff was always investigating grants. He explained that Federal grants were generally more resource intensive, so staff looked for a grant with a large ask when it came to those, but staff did consider all grants. Vice Chair Wolf commented that he listened to a webinar about Federal funds for grants. There was about $1 billion per year for five years under the Federal Reduction Act; the planning funds he remembered were undersubscribed. NO ACTION TAKEN STAFF AND COMMISSION REPORTS 4. Staff update and Commissioner Activity Report (All) Marlon Aumentado, Assistant Engineer said there were no updates from staff. The Safe Routes to School Working Group meeting was on March 13. Chair Marcy was scheduled to attend. Commissioner Ganga inquired about the VTA BPAC updates. Mr. Aumentado said there has been no correspondence from Erik Lindskog, the VTA BPAC representative for the Bicycle Pedestrian Commission. There was no presentation tonight as he was not present. FUTURE AGENDA SETTING Work Plan • Bicycle Facilities – In Progress • Vision Zero – In Progress – March meeting • Lawson Middle School Bikeway – Completed • New Bicycle Pedestrian Plan (FY 24-25) Grants 5 Bicycle Pedestrian Commission Special Meeting February 28, 2024 • Know/Understand Fed Grant Funding with Caltrans on updated bike ped planning • Understand/Educate on what funding standards are (Fed/State) Studies / Plans • Staff update - Rodrigues Ave Speed Study and Street Crossing Behavior-suggested for April meeting • Staff update - Stevens Creek Corridor Vision Study • Examine Pedestrian Walkways for Safety • Install Bollards at existing buffered bike lanes (Public Request) • Path between Lincoln Elem and Monta Vista HS • Regnart Creek Trail Crossing at Blaney Avenue • Speed Limit Reduction Study on Blaney, Rodrigues, McClellan (Public Request) • Speed Limits Studies • Bollinger Road Corridor Projects • Staff update - Stevens Creek Boulevard, Phases 2-3 • Staff update - Safe Routes to School (SR2S) • Staff update – De Anza Blvd Buffered Bike Lanes • Carmen Road Bridge • I-280 Wolfe Interchange Education • Adult Bicycle Education • Impact of Semi-Rural Designation on Bike and Ped Projects/Priorities • Lead Pedestrian Walk Interval (LPI) – Start pedestrian green before vehicles Miscellaneous • Bicycle Licensing (Theft Prevention) • Review Progress toward BPC Objectives & Grant Applications (6 mo.) • Status – VTA BPAC Adult Bicycle Education (Lindskog) • Inventory of Traffic Lights (triggering traffic light from a detector) – Staff update o Is there a sensitivity setting? ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned at 7:58 p.m. SUBMITTED BY: ____________________________ Marlon Aumentado, Staff Liaison 6 Bicycle Pedestrian Commission Special Meeting February 28, 2024 Note: Any attachments can be found on the Cupertino Website https://www.cupertino.org/our-city/agendas-minutes