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BPC 11-20-2019 MINUTES MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BICYCLE PEDESTRIAN COMMISSION November 201h, 2019 C U P E RT I N O Minutes The meeting was called to order at 7:03 p.m. ROLL CALL: Present: Commissioners Erik Lindskog, Muni Madhdhipatla,Jennifer Shearin and Gerhard Eschelbeck. Absent: Pete Heller. Staff Present: David Stillman City Transportation Manager and Cherie Walkowiak City Safe Routes 2 Schools Coordinator. Visitors: Anne Ng, resident; Larry Dean, resident. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Motion made by Gerhard Eschelbeck, seconded by Jennifer Shearin to approve September 18, 2019 BPC meeting minutes with a change to item 3) to read "Regnart" instead of "Stevens". Unanimous approval (4-0). 2. Upon review of the September 18, 2019 minutes, it was confirmed that the July 9, 2019 minutes were already approved on September 18, 2019. No further action taken on this item. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Commissioner Lindskog presented two emails: • One from Raj Shah, student at Cupertino High School (see attached letter in minutes). • The second was from a resident regarding an accident at Mary Ave. Bridge (see attached letter in minutes). David Stillman stated that there will be a review of standards and present conditions regarding the bollards near Mary Bridge and in other locations. It will be brought forward on a future BPC agenda (December or January) for discussion. • Commissioner Madhdhipatla suggested to reduce one bollard and go with one bollard in the middle instead of two right now. The current arrangement causes confusion. Commissioner Eschelbeck presented emails which had been sent during the last month to the entire BPC commission by residents or forwarded by the BPC Staff Liaison: • Emails were regarding safety on McClellan after the installation of the new bike lanes, including infrastructure concerns and accidents. Gerhard requested review from staff for options for improvement. Anne Ng, resident, spoke regarding her concerns about the McClellan Road bike lanes: • She sees greater hazards with right turns and passing issues with bikes in bike lanes. She would prefer bollards instead of concrete curbs. • She also saw kids jostling for space in the bike lanes. Commissioner Lindskog stated sidewalk-height bike lanes would help. Commissioner Madhdhipatla responded that bidirectional bike lanes would help with passing. Responsive discussion was that bidirectional bike lanes create great problems at intersections. • Larry Dean, resident, discussed issues with blacktop/gutter intersection being too different in height and a utility pole that is still located in the bike lane. David Stillman stated the city is still waiting on PG&E to move the pole. • Commissioner Shearin mentioned that leaving the St.Jude's parking lot onto McClellan has not been an issue. • Commissioner Lindskog stated that extending the bike lane divider into the intersection to slow down turning cars and increase visibility would possibly improve safety for cyclists. • Commissioner Madhdhipatla mentioned traffic is driving more slowly and carefully around the school area, perhaps because of the perception of narrower lanes. David Stillman reinforced that the lanes are not any narrower than they were previously. He also stated there is limited right of way on McClellan and the focus for these lanes was to encourage students to ride more. • Some discussion occurred regarding sidewalk-height bike lanes that were installed on McClellan to prevent conflicts with garbage cans. • Commissioner Shearin questioned whether the bike lane cleaning issue is settled. David said an RFP will be going out soon for a cleaning permit, and the quotes include this requirement. • Commissioner Madhdhipatla discussed bollard locations. He stated that near intersections, drivers move closer to the bike curb as there aren't any bollards there. Anne Ng asked whether the Stevens Creek bike lanes will be six (6) feet wide. • David Stillman responded that the SCB lanes will be a minimum of six feet wide, and seven in some locations. Anne Ng responded that experienced cyclists do not like the McClellan Lanes, and "escape routes"—large curb cuts between the bike lane and drive lane— would be helpful. Larry Dean mentioned he sees more children on bikes on McClellan now than before the lanes were put in. Commissioner Madhdhipatla stated he has seen the same change. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS No written communications. OLD BUSINESS j 3. Cupertino 2019 Fall Bike Fest-Debrief (Walkowiak) • Cherie Walkowiak, Safe Routes to School Coordinator, led a review of the Fall Bike Fest, held on September 28, 2019. • Commissioners attending (Lindskog, Shearin, Eschelbeck) were polled as to what worked well and what could be improved for this year's event. Full information is attached to these minutes. NEW BUSINESS 4. Two-stage Left-Turn Bike Box Education (Stillman) • Two issues for education: "right hook" turn and two-stage left-turn bike boxes. • Avoiding the "right hook" for cyclists: - Staff and commissioners discussed adding signalization just for bikes. This is not possible as there is no dedicated right turn lane. - David Stillman stated the city will consider creating a protected intersection by extending bike lanes and adding a pork chop to protect bikes from "right hooks"'. - A new sign showing drivers should yield to bikes is to be added near intersections. The sign will be on the sidewalk. David Stillman states it can't be on the bike curb as the curb isn't wide enough. • Staff is planning to create a video to show right-turn behavior and two-stage left- turn bike box function. This is being created by Safe Routes to School staff. Bike boxes discussion: - There are complaints from residents about no right on red and about congestion. - Commissioner Madhdhipatla and Commissioner Lindskog state people will get used to waiting for right on red. - Volume of pedestrians crossing the street during school peak times causes the problem of"never being able to turn." • Lincoln and Kennedy schools will show the video to students, and links to the video will go to parents. Monta Vista High will only send links to parents. Commissioner Shearin recommended contacting the PTSA at Monta Vista to reach other parents. f 5. Stevens Creek Class IV Bikeway Project(Stillman) • Commissioner Shearin discussed the angled intersection at the SW to NW corner of Miller and Stevens Creek. This was discussed previously in the BPC when concepts were shown for Class IV lanes on SCB. It may be handled in the second phase of this project. • Discussion regarding bike box for cyclists turning south on to Wolfe/Miller. The location would likely be between the crosswalk and bike lane on the north side of intersection. Consensus is that cyclists will not want to cross lanes of traffic to try to use a left-turn lane shared with cars, and a bike box is necessary. • During the discussion regarding intersection at Tantau and SCB, Commissioner Shearin endorsed a pedestrian scramble phase, proposed previously in a Walk Audit meeting at CHS. This will work well for pedestrians and decrease vehicle waiting time at light. • Commissioner Lindskog is concerned light timing is too slow for cyclists, and they won't want to wait that long for a green light. David Stillman assured him that would be helped by bike detection in bike lanes. • Commissioner Shearin brought up lack of detection by bikes at Main Street facing south, crossing SCB. David Stillman said that there will be video detection and there is a possibility to add a signal that a bike has been detected (a light). Our city does have video detection at several locations already throughout the city. • Commissioner Madhdhipatla recommended additional law enforcement monitoring at all intersections with no right on red to improve compliance. 6. Draft Ethics Protocol (Stillman) • Commissioner Shearin discussed her concerns with the proposal's lack of an enforcement protocol. Written feedback was submitted to David Stillman. • It was confirmed by Commissioner Eschelbeck that all feedback should be sent in writing to Katy Nomura. The City Council meeting discussion on this topic will take place on December 17, 2019. STAFF AND COMMISSION REPORTS 7. Staff Commission Report (Stillman) • New Transportation staff engineer is starting on December 9, 2019. • Interviews were held today for a design consultant for phase 2 of the McClellan Class IV Bike lanes. • The design process for the Regnart Trail is proceeding, including having meetings with neighbors about fencing and meetings with Water District. The project complies with the General Plan per Planning Commission meeting on 11/12/19. • Commissioner Eschelbeck asked about the Westport(The Oaks) center bike path on the back side of the property. This path did not appear in the latest developer proposal. David Stillman confirmed the city will be making that a condition of the development. • Commissioner Shearin would like a copy of the latest timeline with stages for all projects, as the last one available was from August. David Stillman stated he will follow up and provide her with an updated version. 8. VTA BPAC Report • No report this month. 9. Public Relations Subcommittee Report • No report this month. 10. Report on Committee Assignments and General Comments • Commissioner Madhdhipatla attended the last(November 2019)Mayor's meeting. He will send the other commissioners his update from the meeting. • Commissioner Shearin stated that the BPC should begin work soon on next year's Work Plan. David Stillman stated it would be put on the agenda for next i month. • Commissioner Shearin mentioned that as the Bike Plan would be due for an update in 2021, next year it would be a large part of the Work Plan. She also stated that she would prefer to have a combined Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan to eliminate issues seen previously regarding priority differences between the plans. David Stillman stated City Staff agrees with having a combined plan. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 pm. SUBMITTED BY: Jenhl fifer Shearin, Commissioner , I