The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About07/06/2010 04B Minutes 06-17-2010 Council Transportation and Transit Committee 4 6 2. Minutes of Yakima City Council Transportation and Transit Committee Yakima City Hall, 129 North 2 nd Street, Yakima, WA 98901 • Thursday, June 17, 2010 1:00 -1:45 p.m. City Council Members Staff Other Micah Cawley) Chris Waarvick, Public Works Director Rick Ensey Ken Mehin, Transit Manager Maureen Adkison (Alt) Joe Rosenlund, Streets & Traffic Operations Manager Kevin Futrell, Transit Planner Doug Mayo, City Engineer Transit Items Councilman Rick Ensey called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m. in the Community & Economic Development (CED) Conference Room at City Hall. Ken Mehin, Transit Manager, started the meeting by going over the Transit items on the agenda. Mehin brought up the Terrace Heights extension which they had received prior approval from City Manager Dick Zais and the City Council to continue for another year if funding was available. Mehin said they applied for a CMAQ grant to help with the cost of the service but unfortunately they were unsuccessful in getting support from the County on this project. Chris Waarvick, Director of Public Works, explained the route structure of Terrace Heights extension and that eliminating that length didn't reduce the cost of Route 6. Ken Ill ehin added that they will continue the Terrace Heights service just until the end of this year. ehin stated that Kevin Futrell, Transit Planner, submitted a CMAQ grant application for Sunday service which has been highly scored, and they should find out by the third Monday of this month whether the grant was approved. Futrell said that the Sunday service routes would run hourly and the hours of operation would be from 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Ken Mehin gave an update on the AFSCME negotiations and said they are waiting for the final language on the contract and added that there was a zero percent wage increase for Transit this year. Waarvick commented that they are working on a few internal modifications with AFSCME and have some cost containment challenges and efficiency measures they need to come to an agreement with. Ken Mehin noted that 5 new buses will be put in service in September 2010. We will retire the older buses since the maintenance costs outweigh keeping them in service. Ken Mehin mentioned that their sales tax has gone up by 1.3% to -2.3% which is a positive sign compared to January 2010, which was down to -4.1%. He added that bus ridership is down 4% compared to last year and reported that the vanpool program is up to 24 vans on the road again. There were no other items for discussion so the Transit portion of the meeting adjourned at 1:30 p.m. Transportation Items Street Maintenance Bond Project and Revenue Options Listing Joe Rosenlund, Streets & Traffic Operations Manager, provided the Committee a listing of available nding mechanisms for street improvements and maintenance. He also provided a list of potential rojects that could be fundediwith a $20 million bond. After a short discussion on some of the details, 1 the Committee recommended that the information be provided to the full City Council and a more in- depth discussion occur when the City Council meets to review city infrastructure projects, plans and funding. Traffic Operations Primer During the recent City Council discussions regarding red light camera enforcement, many of those commenting on the plan stated that they believed the yellow clearance intervals at intersections were too short. Joe Rosenlund gave a presentation on how yellow clearance intervals are determined at signalized intersections. He discussed how Traffic Operations is trying to reduce red light running through updating design standards and equipment. The -Committee recommended the report be provided to the full City Council. MLK Two -Way Configuration A report was provided to the Committee detailing the steps that would be needed to properly evaluate conversion of Lincoln Avenue /MLK Boulevard to two -way operation. The report also details some potential impacts to the grade separation project now under construction and funding for future projects. The Committee stated that it was more important to look at the Boise - Cascade Mill Site redevelopment on a broader scope. The study WSDOT is conducting in partnership with the City of Yakima, YVCOG and Yakima County is nearly complete. Dave Zabell and Michael Morales are to bring more information to the Committee at the July meeting so that the Committee can have a clearer picture on the impacts of the development and what other road network changes should be considered. 0 Rc _ Approved by: Of , W -7 7( ) 1 b • 0 2