TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE

The Transportation Committee meeting was held on February 25, 2003, at 4:30 p.m., with Chairman Ruane presiding. Members present were Mr. Pitts (arrived at 4:37 p.m.), Mr. Ornauer (left at 5:35 p.m.) and Mr. Asay. Mr. Ritter was absent. Others present were Mr. Jorgenson, Mr. Lee, Mr. Laing (Municipal Liaison DelDOT), Ms. Wieczoreck (Kent County MPO), Mr. Edgell (Delaware Office of State Planning and Coordination), and Mrs. McDowell.

AGENDA ADDITIONS/DELETIONS

Mr. Ornauer requested the addition of Item #7-F - Update - Traffic Study of the Intersection of Division Street and Route 13. He requested that the item remain on future agendas until the study is complete.

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

APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF DECEMBER 16, 2002

Mr. Asay recalled that Mr. Laing, during discussion of the “North Street Improvements”, acknowledged that the crosswalk at Salisbury Road was not very distinct and indicated that he would look into the possibility of more substantial striping in that area. Mr. Asay requested that the minutes be amended accordingly.

Mr. Ornauer moved for approval of the minutes of December 16, 2002, as amended, seconded by Mr. Pitts and unanimously carried.

COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE/DRAFT OF TRANSPORTATION SECTION

Members were provided the draft update to the Transportation Section of the Comprehensive Plan for their review and recommendations. Mr. Randy Jorgenson, Planning Director, stated that he and Mr. David Edgell, Delaware Office of State Planning Coordination, have reviewed and concur with the comments provided by Mr. Ruane and Mr. Ornauer (attached to original minutes). He noted that their recommendations would be included in the update.

Mr. Ruane requested Ms. Wieczoreck to compare the projects on the City’s “wish list” with those that are still slated for consideration by DelDOT.

Responding to Mr. Ruane’s concerns regarding the figures in the Delaware Transit Corporation Ridership Report, Mr. Jorgenson assured him that he would note that ridership increases and decreases on a regular basis. Ms. Wieczoreck stated that passenger trips are the truest indication of ridership. Mr. Asay requested that the relationship between ridership and school closings be better clarified. Mr. Edgell responded that he would either clarify the statement or remove it.

Mr. Ornauer requested that it be noted that both the City and the DelDOT subdivision plans require the installation of sidewalks with the construction of new subdivisions, or if changes are made to an existing facility. He thought it should be emphasized that the City is taking steps toward becoming more pedestrian friendly. Mr. Asay expressed concern that when the sidewalks are covered with snow, many children have to walk in the streets to get to school. Mr. Jorgenson agreed that it was a public safety issue.

Mr. Ornauer requested the use of “large percentage” instead of “good percentage” in the following sentence: “The Plan should note that the State Department of Transportation is responsible for maintaining a good percentage of the roadways and these specific roads should be identified in the Plan.” He also noted that if the Dover Police Department Summary Data is referenced, the word “violations” should be used in place of “arrests”.

Mr. Ornauer suggested that the following sentence be incorporated into the goal statement: “It appears that the City, the State, and the MPO will have to employ increasingly creative solutions to traffic congestion in Dover over the course of the 25-year planning horizon reviewed by the MPO.”

Mr. Ruane and Mr. Ornauer requested that the “back seat/front seat” analogy used to describe the City’s role in Transportation Planning be eliminated.

Referencing Mr. Ruane’s suggestion to “Support traffic mitigation measures (related to the SR1/Rt 8 Connector along Route 8 between SR1 and US 13, within the Edgehill Community, and along Division Street between US 13 and State St.”, Mr. Ornauer requested that the area of study be extended to West Street.

With reference to Recommendation 9 - Salisbury Road Extension, Mr. Ornauer requested that any study of the extension include an environmental aspect of the development.

Mr. Ornauer noted that he felt staff did an outstanding job updating the Transportation Section.

Referring to the Pedestrian and Bikeways section, Mr. Asay requested clarification on the statement that “Even on Route 13, 51% of the respondents felt walkers were becoming a hazard and 48% of respondents saw a need for sidewalks (14% did not)”. He was unclear about whom walkers were hazardous to. Mr. Asay, referring to the comment that “There are indications that pedestrian and bicycle safety has increased in recent years . . .”, suggested that the increase may be related to a decrease in bicycle miles traveled due to increased vehicle traffic making it less safe to ride a bicycle. Mr. Ruane noted that there have been no major pedestrian/bicycle projects in recent years and any reference to a “major pedestrian/bicycle” project should be deleted from this section.

Mr. Asay requested that the paragraph referencing “Progress toward the sidewalk and bike path goals  . . .” be reworded by placing the description in the beginning and listing the progress made at the end of the paragraph.

Referring to Recommendation 2: Increase the Capacity of the Transportation System, Mr. Asay suggested that bicycles be mentioned specifically. Mr. Jorgenson noted that this recommendation refers to non-motorized transportation and referring specifically to bicycles would exclude all others. Mr. Asay suggested referencing a schedule or CIP of bike/pedestrian projects proposed by the City. It was his feeling that a more pro-active approach should be taken in developing bike/pedestrian projects. It was Mr. Ruane’s feeling that the gaps in the existing system should be identified and the City should prioritize how it is going to fill the gaps. Mr. Edgell concurred and stated that he would include the appropriate text.

Mr. Ruane, referring to Recommendation 4: Miscellaneous Transportation Improvements, noted that “Draft Technical Memorandum No. 5A Short Term and Intermediate Term Improvement Analysis” should be stricken because it is no longer relevant. Ms. Wieczoreck noted that the MPO recommendations had changed significantly. Mr. Edgell stated that he would cross-check the projects in the City plan with the MPO plan.

Mr. Asay suggested replacing the word “reconsider” in Recommendation 7: Implement the Route 13/113 Corridor Improvements.

Ms. Wieczoreck requested that the MPO be referred to as the “Kent County MPO” in the report.

Referring to Table 8-2 - AADT and Percent Change, 1990-1998, Ms. Wieczoreck noted that last year DelDOT updated the traffic count data to include more streets. She indicated that the information could be obtained from Mr. Mike Summers at DelDOT. It was Mr. Edgell’s feeling that there would not be time to include the information in this draft; however, he requested Ms. Wieczoreck to forward the necessary information to him for possible inclusion in the final draft.

Ms. Wieczoreck suggested noting the expected completion of sidewalks from Court Street to Denney’s Road by calendar year 2005.

With reference to rail travel, Ms. Wieczoreck noted that the statement “Nationwide, the railroad industry is seeking to disinvest in low-volume, non-profitable rail lines. This is true of Norfolk Southern, which is the leading rail freight hauler in Kent County and throughout Delaware” is no longer true since Norfolk Southern now owns the line. Mr. Ruane noted that the rail-to-truck commodity transfer facility owned by Corrado America in Felton is no longer operating and his suggestion that it could be expanded should be deleted.

Ms. Wieczoreck suggested noting that the City of Dover participated in the development of the Airport Environs Overlay Zone (AEOZ) and Air Installations Compatible Use Zones (AICUZ) - a Department of Defense program to achieve compatibility between air installations and neighboring communities.

Mr. Pitts requested that it be noted that the City should continue to evaluate sites along Route13 and Route 113 for the relocation of the Greyhound bus station.

Mr. Edgell stated that the preliminary draft would be reviewed by the Planning Commission and Council. A final rough draft would then be submitted to the public and the State for their review process. He anticipated that the Planning Commission and City Council would conduct a final review in June.

Mr. Jorgenson informed members that Mr. Steve Lee has been assigned to represent the Planning Department in future Transportation Committee meetings.

RESURFACING OF COLLEGE AND WALKER ROADS (Koenig)

In the absence of Mr. Koenig, Mr. Ruane noted that the State Department of Transportation received the City’s request for resurfacing of College and Walker Roads. They indicated that they would review the road condition during their February scoping meeting and provide Mr. Koenig with the results.

PUBLIC WORKSHOP - CRAWFORD CARROLL AVENUE

Ms. Wieczoreck stated that it was her understanding that the Workshop had been cancelled due to the snow.

UPDATES

South Dover Entrance Sign

Mr. Ruane noted that he and Mr. DePrima attended a meeting with Mr. Ralph Reeb (DelDOT) and Mr. Daniel Wolfensburger (CDEDC) to discuss the development of the entrance sign. He noted that the State did not want to fund it from its resources but would rather have the city request Transportation Enhancement funding. It was Mr. Ruane’s feeling that the South Dover Entrance Sign was not a priority project that the City should pursue if it means that more critical transportation enhancement projects, such as the Loockerman Street Gateway, would be deferred.

DelTrac

In the absence of Mr. DePrima, Mr. Ruane noted that the preliminary estimate to upgrade the City’s 18 existing signalized intersections and incorporate them into the DelTrac System was provided to members for their review.

It was Mr. Ruane’s understanding that Mr. DePrima intends to now have the MPO reaffirm its support and request that the improvements be included in the State’s Capital Transportation Program. He noted that the Comprehensive Plan suggested that one of the City’s goals should be to upgrade the 18 intersections.

Mr. Asay moved to recommend that the City consider this signalization improvement project as one of its priorities in terms of moving it forward to the State of Delaware and the MPO for funding, support, and implementation. The motion was seconded by Mr. Pitts and unanimously carried (Mr. Ritter and Mr. Ornauer absent).

Division Street Railroad Crossing

Due to the absence of Mr. DePrima, no update was provided.

Eden Hill Farm

Mr. Ruane noted that Secretary Hayward has indicated that there is now a Letter of Understanding between the State of Delaware and the owners of Eden Hill Farm. It was Mr. Jorgenson’s feeling that, due to its importance, the City Council, the Planning Commission, and the Planning Department should be directly involved in determining the appropriate use of the land. He noted that funding for Liveable Delaware and for the type of development espoused as a result of the Governors initiative for that area should not solely be derived from DelDOT. It was Mr. Jorgenson’s feeling that funds for this purpose should be derived from a separate Planning related State line item rather than from the state's Capital Transportation Program.

Mr. Ruane noted that one of the City’s key projects was moved to an “out year” in DelDOT’s Capital Transportation Program(CTP) when $1M was appropriated in the State’s CIP for DelDOT to explore ways of developing the Eden Hill farm. He suggested that careful attention needs to be paid to how the funding of this project affects the funding of transportation projects which have been requested by the City over a period of years.

Mr. Ruane, noting that one of the City’s key projects was moved to an “out year” when the Eden Hill Farm purchase came up, suggested that they pay close attention to what is included in State funding.

MISCELLANEOUS

Ms. Wieczoreck informed members that House Bill 56 has been introduced to propose using 10% of the State Transportation Trust Fund to preserve open space. Mr. Ruane stated that it would be included on the next Transportation Committee agenda for discussion.

ANNOUNCEMENTS - TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION SURVEY

Mr. Ruane noted that the Transportation Management Association is planning to re-survey the community for a better response regarding carpooling and alternative means of transportation.

NEXT MEETING

The next meeting will be March 18, 2003 at 10:30 a.m.

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

Meeting Adjourned at 6:28 P.M.

Respectfully submitted,

Eugene B. Ruane

Chairman

EBR/tm

S:ClerksOfficeAgendas&MinutesMisc-MinutesTRANSPORTATION20032-25-2003.min.wpd