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BPC 11-17-20211 Bicycle Pedestrian Commission Regular Meeting November 17, 2021 FINAL MINUTES MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BICYCLE PEDESTRIAN COMMISSION November 17, 2021 Final Minutes The meeting was called to order at 7:01 p.m. ROLL CALL: Present: Jack Carter, Maanya Condamoor, Gerhard Eschelbeck (Chair), Ilango Ganga (Vice Chair), Erik Lindskog Absent: None Staff: David Stillman, Staff Liaison Others Present: Evelyn Moran, Project Manager APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. October 20, 2021 Minutes Commissioner Lindskog motioned to approve the minutes as presented, Commissioner Condamoor seconded the motion. Motion passed 4-0, Ganga absent POSTPONEMENTS No Postponements. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Roger Lee, Director of Public Works announced his retirement to the Bicycle Pedestrian Commission (Commission.) He thanked the Commission for their work. Vice Chair Ganga joined the meeting at 7:06 p.m. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS No Written Communication. OLD BUSINESS 2. Future Agenda Items Carmen Road Bridge Public places for bike racks Education on how to use two-stage left turn boxes Path between Lincoln Elementary and Monta Vista High School 2 Bicycle Pedestrian Commission Regular Meeting November 17, 2021 Touchless pedestrian push buttons The impact of semi-rural designation on bike and ped projects/priorities Adaptive traffic signal pilot update Multi-modal traffic count pilot update Reassess the Intersection at Bubb Rd/McClellan Rd Stevens Creek Boulevard, Phases 1-3 Bicyclists legally allowed behavior at stop signs Vision Zero 2022/2023 Workplan Item School Walk Audit 3. Cupertino Vision Zero Program (Eschelbeck Chair Eschelbeck asked what it meant to have the Vision Zero Program on the Work Plan. He questioned how the Bicycle Pedestrian Commission (Commission) was able to continue to execute the Vision Zero Program without proper funding. Commissioner Lindskog thought it might be more constructive to focus on concrete actions because the City of Cupertino was not big. Vice Chair Ganga remarked that whether big or small, it was always possible to scale things down. He suggested an action plan that worked for our individual City, choosing goals that pertained to our City and trying to accomplish those. He suggested this topic for next year’s Work Plan, including asking for funding. David Stillman, Transportation Manager said it was an option to suggest continuing the Vision Zero Program to next year’s Work Plan, along with funding. This year, the Commission can do background work and develop what the program would look like. Next fiscal year, the Commission could ask for funding to hire a consultant. Commissioner Carter commented that there needed to be a specific plan for analytics because without knowing what the main points were, the Commission was not going to gain City Council approval. Chair Eschelbeck thought that in putting Vision Zero in the Work Plan, there would be proper staffing and funding. If a project is not funded, it was not meaningful to have on the Work Plan. Mr. Stillman clarified that when a project is included in the Work Plan, there needs to be a request for specific funding, which is determined by how much the project is anticipated to cost. When Vision Zero was suggested, the Commission and staff thought this was something that could be handled at a staff level without the need for funding. Chair Eschelbeck inquired what a good, practical, and meaningful goal would be for this fiscal year. Having a goal would be beneficial in helping the Commission successfully request funding. Mr. Stillman agreed and said the City was moving forward with the Local Road Safety Plan (LRSP,) which was closely related to Vision Zero. The LRSP included the collection of accident data, which could also be applied towards the Vision Zero Program. A big part of Vision Zero meant compiling a scope of work for the Request for Proposals (RFP.) He said it 3 Bicycle Pedestrian Commission Regular Meeting November 17, 2021 would be helpful to have the Commission weigh in on what elements needed to be included in the RFP. He suggested talking with the City of Sunnyvale and the City of San Jose and asking them to send him the RFP’s they used for their consultants. After that, he would be able to share the RFP with the Commission, and they could contribute toward what they would like to see in Cupertino’s RFP. Chair Eschelbeck asked if it made sense to align the LRSP and the Vision Zero Program because the LRSP was already funded. Vice Chair Ganga suggested the Commission start working on a framework, which could be modeled after the City of San Jose. After the framework is created, data could be filled in; the key was data analytics and collection. Once the data is established, high injury corridors will need to be identified. After this step, a quick build could happen. He noted that crash and accident data was based on the past, but it would be good to look at future, and near-miss data as well. For example, there were two pilot programs that the Technology, Information and Communications Commission (TICC) initiated as part of one of their City Work Program items. One of them was the bicycle and pedestrian head counts; he understood there was the capability to collect “near miss” data from that. Once that data was collected, the City of San Jose’s model could be used to understand what the City could do to improve. This paved the way for the possibility of hiring a consultant, so that person was aware of what was needed to make further progress. Chair Eschelbeck inquired what was involved to begin work with a staff member, in terms of developing a goal. He wanted to know what needed to be accomplished by June, so the Commission could move forward. Mr. Stillman remarked that staff was able to work with the Commission if Brown Act rules were observed. Chair Eschelbeck asked for volunteers to work with staff. Vice Chair Ganga and Commissioner Carter volunteered. Vice Chair Ganga and Commissioner Carter will set a goal of what they think the Commission could accomplish before the year is over, and report back to the Commission in three months. Vice Chair Ganga suggested keeping Vision Zero as a standing agenda item. Commissioner Carter commented that since there were different representatives at the Mayor’s Meeting, the information in the Subcommittee could be mentioned at the Mayor’s meeting, to help keep the topic alive, so that when this topic went to City Council, they were informed. Chair Eschelbeck asked if this was a formal Subcommittee. Mr. Stillman said yes. Vice Chair Ganga and Commissioner Carter are now the Subcommittee of the Vision Zero Program. NEW BUSINESS 4. Junipero Serra Trail Update (Moran) Evelyn Moran, Project Manager provided the Bicycle Pedestrian Commission (Commission) with an update on the Juniper Serra Trail. Commissioner Carter asked how the trail was going to be patrolled. Ms. Moran said they were working with the local Sheriff to patrol the area, having patrols set before the trail opens. 4 Bicycle Pedestrian Commission Regular Meeting November 17, 2021 Chair Eschelbeck asked if the trail would be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Ms. Moran said the trail would be open from dawn to dusk. Chair Eschelbeck inquired if the trail would be locked at dusk. Ms. Moran did not anticipate gates that would close or lock the trail but said there would be signage stating the hours. Commissioner Carter suggested sensors if there were issues. Chair Eschelbeck asked about the purpose of the noise study. Ms. Moran said noise measurements were going to be taken in the central segment and compared with data from the 1990’s because neighbors were concerned. The schematic design was delayed to address this. Vice Chair Ganga inquired if the noise study was part of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requirement. Ms. Moran said the noise study was part of the CEQA document, but staff had the consultant prepare a separate noise study to address the neighbor’s concerns. The CEQA document specifically addressed what the project could do to the environment, but the noise study was more in depth. Vice Chair Ganga asked if the funding was for the design phase, or also the implementation phase. Ms. Moran answered that the funding was for construction costs for the east segment. Vice Chair Ganga questioned what part of the project was funded from Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) Measure B funding. Ms. Moran explained that Measure B funds were awarded for the design and construction of the central segment and only construction funds for the east segment. There was an agreement in place with VTA for the design of the central segment. The next step for the construction funds for the east segment was to move forward with an agreement. Vice Chair Ganga inquired what the total estimate was. Ms. Moran replied that construction for the east segment was $2.4 million, and Measure B provided $1.9 million of that. The project had a deficit, but the Apple donation was going to supplement some of the deficit. Chair Eschelbeck wondered if there were any access issues. Ms. Moran commented that City staff has regular meetings with Valley Water, and City staff was providing access when they needed to do maintenance. Chair Eschelbeck thought the most exciting part was the west segment. Ms. Moran remarked that design was to begin after the central segment was complete. There were no grant funds attached to the west segment at this time. City staff was going to need to look for grants for the west segment. Also, the west segment had more challenges, and it was more costly. Work on the easiest segment was done first, which was the east segment, then the central and then the west segment. Vice Chair Ganga inquired if City staff was continuing to gather input from residents near the central segment while they were going through the design phase. Ms. Moran clarified the design phase was halted for the central segment because of the noise element. Vice Chair Ganga 5 Bicycle Pedestrian Commission Regular Meeting November 17, 2021 asked to have the design brought to the Commission before City staff proceeded to the construction phase. 5. Suggestions for FY2022-2023 City Work Program Inclusion (Eschelbeck) Commissioner Lindskog suggested increasing bicycle parking facilities throughout the City of Cupertino. A second suggestion was related Assembly Bill (AB) 23, which allowed the City to set speed limits. He wanted lower speed limits on some streets to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety. Regarding bicycle parking, “U” locks were easy to install and not too intrusive. This was more important now because bicycles were getting more expensive. Chair Eschelbeck requested to see more progress on the Bollinger Road Project. David Stillman, Transportation Manager said ok. Mr. Stillman reminded the Bicycle Pedestrian Commission (Commission) of how the Work Plan process worked. December and January were when Commissioners discussed what they wanted to see in the Work Plan for the next Fiscal Year (FY). The Commission had until January to propose a maximum of five items. After those were decided, Public Works staff considered those items and then made a recommendation to the City Council; City staff could recommend all, or just a few of the items. The City Council was informed of all items recommended by the Commission. Ordinarily, the projects that were recommended were not Capital Improvement Projects (CIP); projects that required construction were classified more as CIP related. A project like Bollinger Road fell more into the CIP group because it was capital improvement on a roadway. As the Commission moved forward, they could consider all the projects together, making the discussion a combined Work Plan/CIP discussion. The list of items could then be separated into Work Plan and CIP project recommendations. Mr. Stillman could make recommendations to CIP projects, and the Commission could make recommendations to the Work Plan. Chair Eschelbeck recapped that last year the Commission recommended Vision Zero and Carmen Road Bridge. Vice Chair Ganga added that the Commission included the bike racks, but it was not recommended by staff. Mr. Stillman confirmed Vision Zero and Carmen Road Bridge were the two that moved forward last year. Chair Eschelbeck added that the Carmen Road Bridge project was classified as CIP. Mr. Stillman confirmed. Vice Chair Ganga hoped to continue with Vision Zero next year. The second item he wanted to recommend was “near misses.” He suggested a pilot program at the intersections where there were already cameras. He believed this would entail a software upgrade. The other part was data collection. He cited the City of San Jose and how they collect data from an internal and external system, then they map the information and make that available to the public. He wanted to automate the process, so it was continuously available. 6 Bicycle Pedestrian Commission Regular Meeting November 17, 2021 Commissioner Condamoor suggested touchless crosswalk signals for next year’s Work Plan. She also recommended the McClellan Road bridge over Stevens Creek, and the related pedestrian walkways. She recalled an environmental impact report there that was paused; she wanted to know the next steps for that program. Mr. Stillman said he would investigate that and get back to Commissioner Condamoor. Commissioner Lindskog mentioned buffered bike lanes on De Anza Boulevard. He commented that there were some south of Bollinger Road. This item was in the Bicycle Pedestrian Plan. Vice Chair Ganga recalled there was a Class 4 Bike Lane planned on De Anza. Mr. Stillman corrected Vice Chair Ganga, noting a buffered bike lane was planned on De Anza. Commissioner Lindskog suggested re-striping the bike lane. Vice Chair Ganga thought the touchless push buttons was part of the Technology, Information and Communications Commission (TICC) Commission’s Work Plan but did not make the City’s Work Plan recommendation. Mr. Stillman said that was more of a CIP project. Chair Eschelbeck asked if the touchless pushbuttons were part of the Commission’s Work Plan or the TICC Commission’s. Mr. Stillman said it belonged to the Bike Commission. STAFF AND COMMISSION REPORTS 6. Staff Update and Commissioner Activity Report (All) David Stillman, Transportation Manager mentioned the Lawson Bike Path. He had been working with many stakeholders to develop a solution for students to be able to safely ride their bikes to the bike cages at Lawson Middle School. He was going to bring this item to the Bicycle Pedestrian Commission (Commission) in December. This was an important project from the Walk Audit. Chair Eschelbeck wondered if this was the only item that would be discussed at the December meeting. Mr. Stillman said yes. Most of the Walk Audit items were very routine. Vice Chair Ganga thought it was a good idea to bring in any projects that dealt with infrastructure so the Commission could provide input. Chair Eschelbeck suggested adding the Safe Routes to School Walk Audit to the running list of agenda items. Vice Chair Ganga agreed. Mr. Stillman wanted the Commission to keep in mind that some projects were outside the purview of the Commission. There were some things such as drop-off at the schools, or vehicle operation that were not under the purview of the Commission. Mr. Stillman promised to bring items to the Commission that were properly under their purview. He further reported that there was a neighborhood meeting for one of the Bike Boulevard neighborhoods by Kennedy Middle School. Discussions were about what was presented at the first meeting before the pandemic, to listen and collect input. Staff will compile the feedback received at the meeting and conduct another meeting after the holidays regarding the path forward for that neighborhood. Chair Eschelbeck asked for a summary. Mr. Stillman said he was putting together a summary and will share that when it is ready. 7 Bicycle Pedestrian Commission Regular Meeting November 17, 2021 Commissioner Lindskog gave an update on the Valley Transportation Authority Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Commission on November 10. Commissioner Carter updated the Commission regarding the monthly Mayor’s Meeting and the Safe Routes to School Working Group Meeting. Chair Eschelbeck said Vice Chair Ganga would attend in December. ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned at 8:49 p.m. SUBMITTED BY: ____________________________ David Stillman, Staff Liaison Note: Any attachments can be found on the Cupertino Website https://www.cupertino.org/our-city/agendas-minutes