TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE

The Transportation Committee Meeting was held on May 20, 2003, at 10:30 a.m., with Chairman Ruane presiding. Members present were Mr. Pitts, Mr. Ornauer, and Mr. Asay. Mr. Ritter was absent. Others present were Mr. DePrima, Mr. Koenig, Mr. Lee, Ms. Juanita Wieczoreck (MPO), Mr. Laing (Municipal Liaison DelDOT), and Mrs. McDowell.

AGENDA ADDITIONS/DELETIONS

Mr. Ruane noted that it would be necessary, at the conclusion of the meeting, to select an alternate date for the next meeting. Mr. Koenig requested the addition of item #7-F, DelDOT Paving Program 2003.

Mr. Ornauer moved for approval of the agenda, as amended, seconded by Mr. Asay and unanimously carried.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF APRIL 17, 2003

Mr. Ornauer requested that the minutes be amended to indicate, under “Next Meeting Date”, that he requested that House Bill 111, Legal Level for Drunk Driving, be placed on the agenda for consideration. Mr. Ruane noted that the item was on the agenda.

Mr. Ornauer moved for approval of the minutes of April 17, 2003, as amended, seconded by Mr. Asay and unanimously carried.

MPO/PAC/TAC REPORT (Koenig/Ornauer/Wieczoreck)

Mr. Ornauer reported that both the MPO/PAC/TAC and the Council approved House Bill 111, Legal Level for Drunk Driving. He noted that the Council approved the Transportation Improvement Projects (TIP) for 2004 and adopted the Prioritization for Projects 2005. Mr. Ornauer stated that a small contingent of the PAC participated in the Senior Expo.

Members were provided with the Revised 2005 List of Projects. Ms. Wieczoreck noted that, although some projects have been deleted, the Clarence Street project remains on the TIP list since it is part of a Transportation and Community and System Preservation Grant (TCSP), which is federally funded. Mr. DePrima suggested retaining the project in the TIP, as well as being considered for the TCSP. He noted that Mr. Jorgenson, Planning Director, was working on compiling the necessary information for the grant. It was Mr. DePrima’s opinion that the initial $400,000 would be used for engineering and design work and there would be insufficient funds to begin acquisition. Mr. Ruane stated that he would like for Mr. Jorgenson to provide a status report at the next Transportation Committee Meeting.

Ms. Wieczoreck informed members that the MPO has been in the process of hiring a consultant to perform neighborhood level transportation studies for municipalities. She stated that they could consider using that funding for a project on the west side of Dover if the City so desired. Ms. Wieczoreck stated that the municipality would be responsible for supplying the data for the synchro model. Mr. Koenig, Public Works Director, stated that he had submitted the area of North Street at West Street, continuing up Loockerman Street in order for the westside improvements to be modeled. Mr. Koenig stated that he would work with Mr. Jorgenson regarding potential projects for submission.

PRIORITIZATION OF CITY TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS - REVIEW OF MEMBER’S RECOMMENDATIONS

Members were provided the list of City Transportation Projects, as categorized during their Regular Meeting of April 17, 2003, and were requested to be prepared to prioritize the projects.

It was noted that the Lepore Road/Jefferic Boulevard Alignment, New Burton Road; N.E. Wyoming limits to Westview Terrace, and Forest Avenue projects were removed from the TIP list due to a low TAC overall rating.

Mr. Ornauer suggested revising the “Salisbury Road Extension” project to include New Burton Road, Webbs Lane, and the impact on the transportation network. Mr. DePrima suggested removing “Construct Service Roads on Routes 12/113 as per Concept Plan” due to redundancy. He also indicated that, according to correspondence from Transportation Secretary Nathan Hayward to Mr. Gary Patterson, President of the Downtown Dover Development Corporation, the State has funding available (FY2004) for the planning and real estate costs associated with the W. Loockerman Street Corridor Improvements (traffic circle), with construction funding likely to be available the following year (FY2005).

Ms. Wieczoreck informed members that the DelDOT scoping for “Kenton Road Corridor and Intersection Improvements” (Del. 8 to Chestnut Grove) is outdated and is no longer valid. Mr. DePrima recommended placing the “Kenton Road Corridor (Rt. 8 to Dennys Road)” project under Studies and the “Kenton Road/Rt. 8 Intersection Improvements” under Projects that are Scoped. “Signage on U.S. 13/113" was also added under Studies.

Mr. Ornauer stated that the “Cloverleaf Along SR1" project is strongly support by Central Delaware Economic Development and Dover Air Force Base.

It was the consensus of Members that they should individually rank the projects and have the results compiled (Attachment #1) for consideration during the June meeting. It was also agreed that non-committee members should be permitted to rank the projects.

Mr. Asay indicated that it was his impression that any amount of planning would not prevent future traffic problems, therefore, creative traffic alternatives, such as an emphasis on pedestrian and bike transportation are necessary. It was his feeling that the City needs to be more aggressive in making Dover more accessible for pedestrians and bicyclists. Mr. Asay noted that, although there is a bike route along Route 8, it is not at all bicycle friendly. Mr. Ruane suggested creating a third list for alternative modes of transportation, to include pedestrian, bicycle, and aviation projects. Mr. DePrima reminded members that the objective is to prioritize the list of DelDOT projects resulting from the Comprehensive Plan. The Plan includes a separate section on implementing the bike plan, which will be the City’s responsibility.

No further action was taken by the Committee.

NORTH STREET/SAULSBURY ROAD CROSSWALK RE-STRIPING (Laing)

Mr. Laing stated that Secretary Hayward requested that the existing striping along North Street be freshened up with a new coat of paint. The re-striping on the pavement has been approved; however, the striping will be white on white and not easily visible.

HOUSE BILL 111 - LEGAL LEVEL FOR DRUNK DRIVING (Ornauer)

Members were provided HB 111, proposed legislation which would establish .08 as the prohibited blood or breath alcohol concentration for driving, operating or having physical control of a motor vehicle in the State of Delaware and establish a limit on entering the First Offender Program to those individuals who have a reading of less than twice the prohibited concentration, or .16. Mr. Ornauer also distributed a summary of federal sanctions (Attachment #2) to be imposed if HB 111 is not passed by the State Legislature.

Mr. Ornauer moved to recommend to City Council that it support House Bill 111 (Attachment #3), seconded by Mr. Asay and unanimously carried.

UPDATES

Dover Signalization Project (DePrima/Koenig)

Mr. Koenig stated that a TIP submission has been prepared for the project. He noted that the City would be willing to negotiate the terms of implementation. Ms. Wieczoreck stated that she was under the impression that the DelDOT Signal Department would like to complete the Wilmington Signalization project prior to beginning the Dover project. She noted that they are also concerned with the maintenance cost of the 18 Dover signals. Mr. DePrima stated that the City could develop a plan to gradually transfer the maintenance costs to the State. Mr. Ruane suggested that the installation of cameras at various intersections and the resulting increased fines could contribute to the signalization support.

Mr. DePrima recommended that, if City Council ranks the signalization as the number one or two priority for the City, a very specific letter, including the TIP submission, could be sent to Secretary Hayward. He thought it should also include the proposal to discuss the phasing of the transfer of the maintenance cost of the signalization. Noting that five (5) of the seven (7) participants have ranked Signalization as the number one (1) project, Mr. Ornauer recommended that the recommendation be forward to Council without finalizing the project prioritization.

Mr. Ornauer moved to relay to City Council that it is the collective consensus of the Transportation Committee to endorse Signalization as the City’s number one project, and to request Council to bring it to the attention of the Secretary of Transportation, Nathan Hayward, along with advising him of the City’s willingness to discuss the phasing and financing of the costs associated with the project and subsequent maintenance. The motion was seconded by Mr. Ruane and unanimously carried.

Division Street Railroad Crossing

Mr. DePrima stated that he continually leaves messages for the contact person at DelDOT and, to date, has not heard back. Mr. Koenig stated that Mr. Vasuki Hiraesave, Central District Engineer with DelDOT, informed him that the spare set of tracks will be removed and the paving will be brought up to grade with the tracks that are in service.

Eden Hill Farm

Mr. Ruane, referencing a memo dated May 8, 2003 from Secretary Hayward to Governor Minner, noted that they “will be working with the community to decide whether, how, and when to build the extension” and that “the question of where the road might go and where it might be tied into New Burton Road remain to be answered with the help of the people who live in the area.”. Mr. Ornauer suggested that, once it is prepared, the scope of the project be presented to the Transportation Committee.

Mr. DePrima suggested writing a letter to the Secretary indicating that the Committee is privy to his memo to the Governor and that they support 100% his efforts and his eagerness to include the area neighbors. He also suggested that the Transportation Committee relay its willingness to help with the transportation aspect of the project.

Mr. Ornauer moved to recommend to City Council that they send a letter to Secretary Hayward recognizing his memo to the Governor (Attachment #4) and lauding him for the memo with respect to the openness of the study and his determination to include the concerns of the neighbors in the study and requesting that the City of Dover Transportation Committee be given some role, in either the study group or the hearing process, with respect to the road network issues. The motion was seconded by Mr. Asay and unanimously carried.

Update - Traffic Study SR1/SR8

Mr. Laing informed members that the traffic comparison of March 2002 and March 2003 is complete and they will be reviewed by the working group and the public to determine appropriate mitigation measures. The counts have been performed for the traffic impact study related to the three (3) proposed developments along Rt. 8 and will be summarized by the consulting company for submission to DelDOT for review. Mr. Laing expected to have a response within the month and the information would be provided to the Committee.

Dover to Wilmington Rail Study

Members were provided information regarding the Dover to Wilmington Rail Study. It was Mr. Ornauer’s understanding that the rail would begin with Middletown to Newark based on the connection to Septa.

DelDOT Paving Program 2003

Mr. Koenig provided members with correspondence dated May 9, 2003, from Mr. Hiraesave indicating that they have reviewed College Road from Saulsbury Road to Kenton Road and have agreed to re-pave this portion of the roadway during this year’s construction season. The letter also indicated that eleven (11) other city streets were scheduled for re-pavement.

NEXT MEETING DATE

Due to a conflict of schedules, the next meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 24, 2003 at 5:00 p.m.

Mr. Ornauer moved for adjournment, seconded by Mr. Asay and unanimously carried.

Meeting Adjourned at 12:08 P.M.

Respectfully submitted,

Eugene B. Ruane

Chairman

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S:ClerksOfficeAgendas&MinutesMisc-MinutesTRANSPORTATION20035-20-2003.min.wpd

Attachments to Original Minutes and File Copy

Attachment #1 - Compiled Project List

Attachment #2 - Summary of Federal Sanctions

Attachment #3 - House Bill 111

Attachment #4 - Memo from Secretary Hayward