MPO Technical Committee Meeting   5/18/2021

Rory Stolzenberg.

Here.

Kevin McDermott.

Here.

Dan Butch.

Here.

Wood Hudson.

Here.

Tim Keller?

Here.

Bill Palmer?

Here.

Thanks, Rory.

Other than that, they look good to me.

We'll make those changes.

Do we have a second?

Second.

Thanks for being here.

And then, of course, we don't have any fatalities in this dataset because everyone was filling out the survey.

So they did not get involved in fatal accidents.

That's the end of what I have for you all today, and I'm happy to take any questions that you might have.

Can you get it right down to the exact spot that it happened?

So it was possible to just directly map that.

Maybe there's enough or few enough that that might be doable.

what the previous facilities were as well.

So it might not be precise to when it actually happened.

Yeah, I think at the time when we did this work, we contacted a number of cities and counties that did have GIS information about where their bike lanes were, but we just weren't able to get enough to match them up with enough crashes that had happened to get any kind of information.

Kevin?

Did you look at intersection-related crashes versus segment-related crashes, whether it was turning vehicles or turning bikes that were likely involved in the crash or a factor in the crash?

And about two thirds of the crashes occurred at intersections and the other third were on corridors.

I would assume that most of those crashes are probably less severe, whereas segment crashes are probably more severe because both the biker and the vehicle are going at higher speeds versus at an intersection when you would expect them to typically be slower speeds.

Yeah, that is what we saw in the data set that there were more crashes at intersections, but they tended to be less severe.

Because I would imagine that could be a proxy for high bike versus low bike areas.

We might have done that because that would be a logical step, but yeah, I can get back to you on that if you're interested.

This was really interesting.

So we'll go to Tim next, and then Steven.

Do you have any crash data on roundabouts?

I'm sure there were some crashes that occurred at roundabouts but I think that that variable wasn't significant in our model so we didn't include that so I'm not sure about the impact of roundabouts on injury severity for this data set.

And I think as we add more, that's something that would be worthy of further investigation in the future.

So if you wanted to look further into the circumstances of crashes at roundabouts, it would be in that data set.

Could you expand on that a bit more and are there other potential policy takeaways that you haven't shared with us that you'd like to?

So I think that's still a little bit up in the air as to how effective those kinds of laws are.

And any other policy takeaways?

Not that I can think of at the moment.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Is anybody using VR to put community members in different scenarios?

How easy would it be to build other parts of the city?

or different versions of different parts of the city or to show an evolution over time like condensed 20 years of development into a five minute VR experience.

using that in VR, which has less realism, but is definitely quicker.

Might have to start teaching VR classes in planning school.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Tim, you got more?

Thanks.

So what can we do to help advance the research and do anything we can?

In the future, I'm sure that we'll be doing more experiments and looking for people to participate in them.

Just thought your hand was up.

This is a really interesting study and I was wondering if you were able to identify any areas in the Albemarle and Charlottesville area where there was a high incidence of crashes?

But I could get back to you on that if you would like to know more about that.

And also is there, this is like really great, is there a similar study for pedestrians?

Okay, thanks.

And I hope you don't mind that I live tweeted most of that.

Thanks so much for having me.

And will you be presenting this to MPO Policy or other policymaking groups?

But if there were opportunities, it would be helpful.

OK, so I guess we'll go to the next item on the agenda, which is the top application.

Jeanette, did you want me to bring up any of the files, or did you want to share your screen?

Can everyone see that little map?

Yes, we can.

Shoot.

Will this essentially be kind of similar to what's further downstream at Greenbrier Park, that kind of surface and situation?

So if that's what's at that park, then yes.

Seems heavily used these days.

I can't remember if they were going to Greenbrier or somewhere else.

Possibly?

I will ask Katherine Knox.

Gotcha.

So Amanda Ponce just wanted me to let you all know about that as well.

And what will the actual items be for us just to endorse the grant application?

And then that too will be presented to the policy board.

And is there going to be like a local match for these or is it totally state funded?

This one is $500,000 is what we're asking for state or federal money and then $125,000 would be the local match for this trail project.

They don't really matter.

And if there is a proposal that actually does move forward, I know there's been, it seems three or four with this property, Seminole Square Shopping Center, that if something actually materializes, yes, Parks is definitely going to be involved in site plan review and requesting what their objectives could also work with what the private property owner, what they're planning to do.

Thanks.

Wonderful.

Well, thanks, Jeanette.

Thank you.

We'll go to Lucinda for that.

Any questions?

That's just one I'm not familiar with and I'm curious what the purpose of that code is.

I do not know, I can look it up and get back to you.

You know, all are, both flex tip and 5339 were federal dollars.

Thanks, just curious.

Wait, are we still just on the cat part or are we doing all the tip adjustments here?

We're doing them all.

The electric vehicle pilot has been going and whether it's been effective or has to go out of service for long periods or how that all works.

and what they're seeing at the state level and in terms of providing finance, we wanna make sure we're on the same page there.

Do you wanna mention that you're also gonna be doing a electric vehicle readiness study in FY22 through DRPD's TA grant program?

We're excited to get more information.

And then I guess for the out years, like, is this tip flexible enough that that could be adjusted as necessary?

Do you want to respond to that?

That makes sense.

But if you decide not to fund that, please give us gas vehicles instead and not no vehicles.

You know, I think if you could justify the case for vehicles that are aging out potentially, but you know, I don't want to misspeak and say, yes, you know, we'll just add a checkbox there when you're applying for an electric vehicle kind of thing.

and you bulk at that and then we get no vehicles.

Sure.

Is that because of an increase in demand, because of unavailability, because of electric starting or some combination or?

How quarantine is going to affect our need for buses.

Is that where that's coming from?

I will need to go back and review that and compare that to our RTP.

Thanks.

Otherwise, we'll just be asking for you all to make a recommendation that we will communicate to the policy board when they vote on this.

So I guess I would entertain a motion.

Do a motion to recommend approval to the Board of Supervisors for the UPWP?

And do you want to do a roll call vote for this one?

Why don't we just raise hands and if it doesn't look like it's a clear vote, then we can go by first.

So back to Sandy again.

Or if any of the rest of you have any questions, I think this can be a pretty open discussion just to make sure that you have information you need to determine what you think would be the best opportunity for the MPO right now.

So some reevaluation of that concept may be necessary, but I think there's general support.

Any other questions on that one or feedback?

It looks like one house in the city and then some amount of that parking lot and then that it?

Chuck, are you able to answer that?

I don't know at this point.

And Kevin, does that new building go like actually all the way up to the corner?

Yep.

Any questions on this one or anything anybody else wants to add?

I think at that point, there'll be plenty on retiring anyway, but it might make sense to engage them and I'd be happy to put you in touch.

Did you want to say something, Jack?

But we basically have a stub out from that project that we would tie into this project with.

Anything, Jessica, Tech, the rest of you, anything you want to add on this one?

Nope.

Jeanette, Kevin, especially anything you want to say on this one?

So the other two, the Hillsdale extension and the roundabout, to us those are less important than these three that we're discussing now.

So are there any questions or comments on this one?

I know they were talking about like a roundabout last year at Taylor, I think.

So yes, we would propose that that be one, at least one.

Could you speak to the county part of that just as the city was spoken to?

Just need to kind of figure out what the highest priority is.

Yeah, Kevin.

So I think, you know, staff supports both those projects and we'd like to see if the board supports us putting those resources, small amount of resources into working with VDOT on studies to potentially come up with a couple of projects there.

Or is that just something in addition that you're going to discuss with the county what direction they want to take with that?

I guess we're interested in possibly you all submitting those for us.

So these were the two areas that had the most potential for us in the MPO area that we wanted to pursue through that mechanism.

I guess my question, Chuck, is can you share what those five locations are?

So we didn't want to, we could have considered that as one of those five locations, but I wanted to try to see if I could find a separate location that we wanted to consider.

certainly attest that they are right up there with the ones for around here.

beginning early in June is what we're shooting for.

Or is it like way out in Shadwell with like a jaunt connector?

But I want to try to see where we can identify a site for this area because this is definitely one of the locations where we need one.

And do we have a sense of like what the utilization of that lot we lost was or the ridership there?

I see a lot of nexus in this area to where people have options that they could drive, park here and then commute into the city via other modes to get them into their jobs and out or for even tourism.

It's got fairly decent 64 access, but it's still not really quite right there.

And is that something you guys have like approached the parks departments about, like potentially expanding hours or specifically keeping that lot open at Darden Child?

In my 10 years, I don't think that lot has ever been utilized by more than one or two cars.

Patrick, thanks.

So that's what we will be asking you to do in two months from now.

You're on mute.

Nobody's told me.

I guess just any updates that are happening in the county that you feel might be germane to the rest of the group.

We will be interested to see what happens tomorrow.

Bill, any updates from UVA?

It has a lot to do with what the social distancing rules and all that are.

Dan?

Anything else, Kevin?

Great, thanks.

Steven?

And I know that there's been discussion about extending that to the city line.

Steven, a couple of months of John, you got any updates for us?

So getting ready for that.

Here we got some big news yesterday.

We'll be discussing that more with City Council on how, what's our strategy moving forward with that program.

And do we know what's driving that change?

Not sure how the state feels about that.

Like, I think it was phase two of West Main that was revenue sharing, right?

So.

Got any updates for us?

And those are probably going to be our top priority moving forward for the near future.

Like, do we expect it to go back to a one year out award in the future or

So I'm not sure how that's going to affect the other programs moving forward.

And will that affect the smart scale awards that were like tentatively made?

Tim, do you have a question?

And is there anything interesting that we should be looking forward to in the next couple of years on that?

Stan, you want to talk about this?

Kevin, you might want to answer this or both.

You mean the rural paving program?

And anything else in terms of rural road improvements, bicycles in rural areas, like 70s and that sort of stuff.

So we'll see how the board, what direction they take and they'll be in the public hearing tomorrow night.

Moving bicycles more safely and for the recreational vehicle as well as the commuter vehicle to Monticello, Ashlawn, Morbun, etc.

So we're at least identifying and bringing these to them.

Thanks.

We also have our overall

Is there anything happening with that?

What we're trying to do now is to see if that it can work into a future planning process, but nothing immediate right now.

Sarah, we'll go to you for right here.

So just always keeping on top of all of that.

Don't run your stationary bike if you're not commuting nowadays.

Or do a quick bike around the neighborhood at lunchtime or for your 15 minute break.

Lucinda?

That's all, thanks guys.

Any other updates, Sandy, Jessica?

And I know our staff would love to have the opportunity if that's a priority.

Does anyone else have any updates or anything to say?

The PDC is hiring for a regional transportation planner, so feel free if you have networks that you want to communicate that with, please feel free to help us get the word out.

Right on time.

Thank you, Rory.

Thanks everyone.