Chambana Sun

City of Urbana Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee met Feb. 21.

Here is the minutes provided by the Committee

Members Present: Annie Adams, Kara Dudek, Cynthia Hoyle, Audrey Ishii, Craig Shonkwiler

Staff Present: Marcus Ricci

Members Absent: Jeff Marino, Susan Jones, Lily Wilcock

Others Present: Dennis Roberts, Darrel Foste, Clark Bullard

1. Call To Order, Roll Call, And Declaration Of Quorum

Cynthia Hoyle called the meeting to order at 7:25 p.m. Roll call was taken. It was noted that a quorum of members was present.

2. Approval Of Agenda

Annie Adams moved to approve the meeting agenda. Craig Shonkwiler seconded the motion approve the agenda.

The motion was approved.

3. Approval Of Minutes From Previous Meeting

Annie Adams moved to approve the meeting minutes as amended.

Audrey Ishii seconded the motion.

The motion was approved.

4. Public Input

There was no public input.

5. Unfinished Business

There was no unfinished business.

6. New Business

a) Boneyard Creek Path

Dennis Roberts along with Darrell Foste, a property owner along the creek, presented on the topic of extending the Boneyard Creek Beautification Plan Westward and connecting the multi-use pathway to the University of Illinois Campus from downtown Urbana. They stated that they are advocates for the planning of a multi-use pathway from downtown Urbana to the campus area. Their main focus would be to create economic development and an inflow of students to the community by creating a 2017 plan to link the work already completed in the design and work done in the 1978 and 2008 plans. Mr. Roberts reviewed a map of the property owners in the “Golden Triangle” which lie on a block on West Main Street and West Springfield Avenue. Approximately 70% of those properties are owned by Darrel Foste and Peter Baksa. Mr. Roberts indicated that Darrel Foste, the City Council and the Mayor were invited to tour this portion of the Boneyard Creek to give them insight converting the area into a new park with a multi-use bicycle and pedestrian pathway. Mr. Roberts also requested the reestablishment of the Boneyard Creek Commission to advocate the planning and design of the extension to the Boneyard Creek Beautification Program westward and to coordinate the grant and other funding sources.

Clark Bullard, the Boneyard Creek Commissioner, commented on the Boneyard Creek District development and wanted to clarify the process by which this would be one. Mr. Bullard stated that a developer negotiates with city staff about what they want to build. An application would then be filled out by the developer with the guidance of the city staff. Mr. Bullard also stated that a meeting would then be scheduled a week or two in advance for his review. He stated his support for the recommissioning of an official Boneyard Creek Commission.

Cynthia Hoyle mentioned that she supported updating the plan but would like to wait until the next meeting so that more commission members would be present to make that decision. Cynthia Hoyle suggested that this could be presented to the Planning Commission and possibly the Sustainability Advisory Commission.

b) Bicycle Wayfinding Plan

Craig Shonkwiler laid out the framework of the Bicycle Wayfinding Plan (BWP) and stated the City would follow the guidelines in the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) guide and the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). He added that the City signs would be traffic signs, not regulatory signs and could be approved by the City Engineer for placement within the right-of-way. Craig Shonkwiler displayed various examples of signs that included destinations with distant, arrows and unique identifiers to the area, other options could include markings on the road however would require additional maintenance. He showed possible signs that could be used that are already implemented in cities like Chicago which include other destination information such as distance and time.

Craig Shonkwiler stated the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC) had done a proposal for the Wayfinding Plan. The scope of the plan would be to aid bicyclists navigate to their destination and to convey Urbana’s identity and to encourage people to ride.

The BWP development process would start with City Staff working with the CCRPC to formulate ideas that would be brought to a Steering Committee. After the steering committee, the BWP would then be presented to the Commission for their feedback and then onto the Traffic Commission, Plan Commission and ultimately to City Council.

Craig Shonkwiler described the composition of the Steering Committee which would be a technical group consisting of staff from Engineering and Community Development from the City of Urbana. Additional committee members would include representatives from the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District, the Urbana Park District (who would most likely be looking at the Green Loop) and the Champaign County Bikes. Craig Shonkwiler stated that there could be other agencies included in the Steering Committee, such as representatives from the police department or members from other bike groups for example.

Craig Shonkwiler outlined the BWP tasks which included the preplanning stage where a kickoff meeting with the City Staff and Steering Committee would be held. The next task would be conducted by the CCRPC to look at existing signs inventory and analysis by conducting field assessments and by preparing a GIS map. This would be followed by the system development where the key component would be to identify principal destinations and attractions and to identify preliminary routes. Craig Shonkwiler noted that there was a preliminary destination list that had been developed during the Bicycle Master Plan, but they would expand on that list for this BWP. The next task would be sign design standards and conceptual design phase which would entail research of local jurisdictions sign design standards, research into technical guidance and best practices. They could in this phase develop a wayfinding system conceptual design and then present same to the Steering Committee for review. Following the Steering Committee review, CCRPC would organize and conduct a public meeting. They would then would move on to route selection and sign placement. This would entail a selection of a preferred bike wayfinding network sign typology, they would develop prioritization criteria, do a route selection and prioritization those routes and finally present their findings to the steering committee. Subsequently, a second public meeting would be held for more input and lastly they would begin to prepare an implementation plan. Finally, a draft of that plan would be developed and reviewed by the Steering Committee and would then move onto the final stages of plan approval. Craig Shonkwiler stated that during the plan approval stage, the draft would go to the Commission for approval and review, a 30 day public comment period would be held and any final revisions would be made. He stated that final revisions would then head to Steering Committee, the Commission and City Council. A timeline of events and cost breakdown was provided by Craig Shonkwiler.

c) BPAC Annual Report to Mayor and City Council

Cynthia Hoyle presented on the BPAC Annual Report to the Mayor and City Council and stated that a draft was not complete and was waiting on City staff for their comments. Craig Shonkwiler stated that he would review same and tabled the discussion until next meeting.

7. Announcement

• February 22 – MCORE Preconstruction Open House 3 p.m. – 7 p.m.

• May 20 – Cyclist Night Ride and Bike Rodeo

• May 27 - Traffic Skills 101

• Pedestrian Master Plan Update – Kickoff meeting held

8. Future Topics

9. Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 8:58 p.m.

http://www.urbanaillinois.us/sites/default/files/attachments/February%202017%20BPAC%20Minutes%20-%20Approved.pdf