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6-1-23 TSAC MinutesTransportation Safety Advisory Commission Minutes Thursday, June 1, 2023 5:30 PM The Transportation Safety Advisory Commission (TSAC) convened for a meeting on Thursday, June 1, 2023, at 5:30 PM in the Council Chambers, Building #4 1400 Schertz Parkway, Schertz, Texas 78154 TSAC Commissioners Present: Dziewit, Richard, Chairman Cornelisse, Chuck Heyward, Ferrando Icke, Steven Stevens, Ronald Wiley, Paul TSAC Commissioners Absent: Dominguez, Andres Hormel, Chris Martinez, Will Winter, Michael Staff Present: Brian James, Deputy City Manager Kathy Woodlee, City Engineer Travis Westbrook, Engineer Robert Martinez, Public Works Larry Busch, Interim Director, Public Works Sergeant A.J. Arriaga, Police Department Cyndi Simmons, Administrative Assistant CALL TO ORDER at 5:34 PM by Chairman Richard Dziewit. ROLL CALL HEARING OF RESIDENTS None present. 1. Minutes: Consideration and /or action regarding -the approval of the minutes of the April 6, 2023 meeting. The Commissioners present voted on the electronic voting ballot and vote was unanimous. 2. Updates on Various Requests and Studies: a. Streetlights on Bench Trail • Citizens were concerned about theft and the street being too dark and one light that was broken. The light has been repaired and GVEC will be installing 2 additional lights. There is a light that is partially blocked by tree limbs but will remain. 06 -01 -2023 TSAC Minutes a. Chuck Comelisse asked if the light that is blocked by the tree will be trimmed. Brian James responded that at this time we will not have the tree trimmed as the two new lights should alleviate the issue. b. Speed Concerns: • Follow -up on Dimrock a. 824 Dimrock, 932 Dimrock, 1132 Dimrock — 1132 Dimrock exceeds 85% at 29.6 mph and barely exceeds the 500 cars needed at 556 average cars per day. This is due to a straight, long roadway that comes off FM 3009 and leads to FM 3009 with no stop signs until you get to Kline Circle which is approximately 1660 feet from FM 3009. The other two locations at 824 and 932 have stop signs every few blocks that slow them down. So, 824 and 932 Dimrock does not meet the speed hump qualifications. Solutions: Make sure there is sufficient speed limit signs with orange flags on top, rumble strips, police presence, do not recommend a speed hump yet, further study recommended. • Data Collected: Frank Baum, Wild Cherry, Crest Oak a. Greenshire, 2827 Wild Cherry, 2842 Wild Cherry — Counter does not meet volume criteria and counts produced have inconsistent data between approximately 200 feet distance of counters, possibly due to additional axles with trucks /trailers. Solutions: Traffic study recount, higher PD presence. Brian James commented that while it is just over 25 mph, the data is inconsistent enough that we don't trust it entirely. And again, while it is just over 25 mph, we're not inclined to install speed humps because of volumes that are slightly over. The test we use is that 85% are driving the speed limit and 15% are driving above the speed limit. The average speed is 18 mph and 17.8 mph at the two locations and at the 50% it is still only 20.9 and 20.8. b. Circle Oak, 1410 Crest Oak, 1320 Crest Oak — Crest Oak street segment is not a primary neighborhood street segment with only one property frontage. Consistent speeding throughout traffic study. Citizen requests to increase the speed limit from 20 mph. The 85% speeds were 30.4 mph and 27.7 mph. Speed limits are established on some roads by measuring how fast people are driving. For example, that is how they determined the speed limits on Hwy 130 from Seguin to Austin and that's the fastest posted speed limit in the nation at 85 mph. That's where drivers naturally feel safe. On Crest Oak it would make sense to have the posted speed be closer to what's actually being driven. Schertz has a speed limit of 20 mph on local streets not necessarily based on studies, it was based on what this community wants the speed to be because it is safe. This particular street is not your typical street — it only has one property that fronts it and there are only a few access drives. Solutions: Staff to evaluate sight distances at intersections to confirm safety, increase speed limit to 25 mph. c. Jonas Woods, 333 Frank Baum, 412 Frank Baum, 381 Frank Baum — Frank Baum traffic counts show no consistent speeding issue. Solutions: Few, random speeding events, traffic calming efforts not warranted. Periodic PD presence recommended. • Data Collection Pending: Rhine Valley, Westchester, Columbia, Oak/Marilyn, Livingston/Red Tip c. Request for four -way stop, data collection pending: Aero Drive and Oak Street (considering addition of stop sign) d. Request for evaluation of 4 -way stop, data collection pending: Woodland Oaks and Kline Circle (considering removal of stop sign) 06 -01 -2023 TSAC Minutes 2 e. Request for Deaf Child signs on Turquoise in Sedona, data collection pending. We feel we are going to place the sign, but before we do, there's no scientific evidence that demonstrates one way or the other where these signs are effective. There's not been a way to establish to make that determination. f. Pecan at Schertz Parkway — Traffic signal warrant study data has been collected and referred to consultant. This study was done four or five years ago and it just didn't quite meet the warrants, but it continues to be a spot where there have been near - misses and frustration from motorists. g. Mobile Villa Estates traffic and speeding concerns, investigation and data collection pending. Located just before Lowe's on 35 had complaints from a resident. Years ago, when the Brake Check business developed on the corner of that subdivision, there was concern expressed by residents that this was going to cause some traffic problems for them. h. Belmont HOA Issues — The HOA has brought these issues to TSAC. • Celtic Ash Run and Cloverbrook — Commissioner Ferrando Heyward explained that there are some residents who park their truck and other vehicles almost to the corner of Cloverbrook and Celtic Ash Run and there are small children who will attempt to cross at that location and it is difficult to see. Brian James responded that if we make it a crosswalk, you can't park within so many feet and would eliminate the sight issue. We're not entirely sold on that idea, because what it does is that when you have a crosswalk, people tend to know that the pedestrians have the right -of -way. However, in residential neighborhoods pedestrians tend to let the motorists pass and wait until nobody's coming to cross and drivers tend to expect that. The concern about solving this problem with a crosswalk is that it may create more problems than helps because it's probably still good in the neighborhood for kids to cross the street when there's not a car coming. The suggestion we have is maybe a couple of us go out to that location, knock on the door and suggest to the residents not to park so close to that corner because it creates a sight distance issue for kids who are trying to cross there and ask them if they mind not parking there. If what we get is, no, you can't tell me what to do and I can park wherever I want, then maybe we will need to deal with it a different way and maybe have No Parking signs around the corner. They may say that they've never thought about that and didn't realize it and I'm so sorry and will agree to not park there. • Crusader Bend at Noble Way — There is a current crosswalk at Crusader Bend and Noble Way and the HOA is asking for additional signage and markings like are on a crosswalk on Belmont Parkway. The extra signage on the crosswalk on Belmont Parkway should not still be there — part of an older program and the city missed removing it as it is not in a school zone. Staff would like to speak with the School Resource Officer and see if we can figure out if this is a problem and what would be appropriate for this area. Commissioner Ferrando Heyward commented that one issue is that during school drop - off and pick -up times, there are cars lining either side of the street and sometimes very close to the crosswalk. Staff will do further studies at this location and report back — maybe after school has started back up and the situation can be monitored with school in session. 3. Staff comments and /or New Requests: • Commissioner Ronald Stevens reports that he spoke with the owner /representative from the Rock Point Church in the Arlan's shopping center and they are not opposed to making it one way in, one way out off of Schertz Parkway, however, do not want to pay for the signage. He will forward her name to Brian. • Commissioner Ferrando Heyward regarding sidewalk repairs. It is his understanding that sidewalks in front of a home are really the responsibility of each homeowner. Brian James 06 -01 -2023 TSAC Minutes responded, yes, most cities specify that it is the property owner's responsibility for repairing sidewalks in front of their home. The problem is nobody does. One of the things that Larry Busch from Public Works has had a lot of conversations about has been we have a street striping plan, street sweeping plan, and pothole plan but we haven't had a sidewalk plan in part because we haven't had money for it, but we do have some money. One of the city manager's top three priorities is street repair issues, including sidewalks. Larry Busch and Robert Martinez have been tasked with coming up with a plan. We may use this group as a bounce - off for the plan going forward. One of the challenges is that when an issue is brought to our attention, sometimes when we get out there, there are actually bigger problems that may require replacing /repairing more of the area than anticipated. That will be a policy question that we will have to solve as to how we will approach the requests. On one hand it seems absurd to ask residents to maintain their sidewalks; on the other hand, that is a lot of sidewalk to maintain, especially since we seem to have sidewalks on both sides of the streets in residential neighborhoods. 4. Future Agenda Items Requests from Commissioners (Next meeting scheduled for Thursday, August 3, 2023): None. 5. Adjournment: Motion was made by Commissioner Chuck Cornelisse to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Commissioner Ron Stevens. Motion passed. Vote was unanimous. Meeting adjourned at 6:33 PM by Chair Richard Dziewit. Attest: <fha'rd�Dziewit, airperson 06 -01 -2023 TSAC Minutes yn i Simmons, Recording Secretary