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9-7-23 TSAC MinutesTransportation Safety Advisory Commission Minutes Thursday, September 7, 2023 5:30 PM The Transportation Safety Advisory Commission (TSAC) convened for a Called Meeting on Thursday, September 7, 2023 at 5:30 PM in the Bob Andrews Conference Room, Building #2 1400 Schertz Parkway, Schertz, Texas 78154 TSAC Commissioners Present: Dziewit, Richard, Chairman Cornelisse, Chuck Heyward, Ferrando Martinez, Will Ragsdale, Roy Stevens, Ronald Wiley, Paul TSAC Commissioners Absent: Dominguez, Andres Hormel, Chris kke, Steven Winter, Michael Staff Present: Brian James, Deputy City Manager Kathy Woodlee, City Engineer Travis Westbrook, Graduate Engineer Larry Busch, Public Works Director Cyndi Simmons, Administrative Assistant Mark Davis, City Council Liaison CALL TO ORDER at 5:32 PM by Chairman Richard Dziewit. ROLL CALL HEARING OF RESIDENTS None present. 1. Minutes: Consideration/action for approval of August 3 and August 10, 2023, TSAC Meeting Minutes. Commissioner Ronald Stevens had one correction for the August 3, 2023 minutes. The note added under the "Future Agenda Items" citing Ordinance No. 08 -H -16 below, has since been superseded with Ordinance No. 13 -H -51 which removes the words "basketball goal ". Therefore, recommends the following paragraph be removed from the minutes. NOTE for Minutes: Ordinance No. 08 -11-16, Section 54 -21. Exterior Property Areas; Nuisance Upon Premises; b) It shall be unlawful for any person to permit or allow the keeping or the depositing on, or the scattering over the premises of any of the follow: 3) 09 -07 -2023 TSAC Minutes Page 1 of 5 Transportation Safety Advisory Commission Any sign, notice, pole, post, basketball goal, and any other obstruction placed or painted upon any sidewalk, street or in any public right -of -way within the corporate limits of the City. Motion was made by Commissioner Ferrando Heyward to approve the August 3, 2023 and August 10, 2023 minutes with this one correction to the August 3, 2023 minutes. Seconded by Commissioner Ronald Stevens. Chuck Cornelisse abstained due to him not being present for the meetings. Motion passed. 2. Updates on Various Requests and Studies: Presented by Travis Westbrook, Graduate Engineer. a. Speed concerns i. Data Collected: Wild Cherry, Westchester, Crest Oak, Rhine Valley, Mobile Villa, Turquoise • Wild Cherry (Greenshire) Recount o 2827 Wild Cherry, ADT - 444,85% - 25.0 MPH o 2842 Wild Cherry, ADT - 496,85% -25.0 MPH o Study Result: Counter does not meet volume criteria, 85% speed at limit o Next Steps: Deploy mobile dynamic speed sign, higher PD presence • The Village (Westchester) 0 621 Westchester, ADT — 2096, 85% - 24.7 MPH 0 505 Westchester, ADT — 980, 85% - 27.2 MPH 0 309 Westchester, ADT — 457, 85% - 22.0 MPH o Study Result: Counters warrant speed hump o Steps Taken: Petition form sent to Mr. Raymond Powlesson for surrounding resident signatures. • Crest Oak (Circle Oak) 0 1410 Crest Oak, ADT — 793, 85% - 27.7 MPH 0 1320 Crest Oak, ADT — 918, 85% - 30.4 MPH o Study Result: Field measurements recorded and does not meet required visual site distance to increase speed to 25 MPH. 4408 Lazy Oak Drive and Crest Oak has 0 feet of visual site distance. o Next Steps: Respond to citizen and explain the speed limit cannot be increased. Contact 4408 Lazy Oak Drive about brush/fence -line at corner. o Commissioner Ferrando Heyward asked who would be responsible for removing the bush that is overgrown and obstructing the view. Brian James responded that the property owner has responsibility for maintenance of the property up to the curb line, even in the right -of -way, it's the property owner's responsibility. When you're mowing, you have to mow up to the curb. Per code, it's the property owner and that's where we would start. We would meet with them and explain the problem and see if they do it and do it sufficiently. If it's in the right -of -way, we have the ability to do it if they are non - responsive or if the property owner responded that they are not physically able to then we would do it for them. • Alsatian Way and Mulhouse (Rhine Valley) o 10027 Mulhouse Drive, ADT — 256, 85% - 26.2 MPH o 9959 Mulhouse Drive, ADT — 531, 85% - 23.5 MPH o Alsatian Way, ADT — 493, 85% - 27.8 MPH o Rhine Valley Park, ADT — 21; 85% 14.7 MPH o Study Result: Very low traffic, doesn't warrant a multi -stop. Speeding issues on Alsatian. 09 -07 -2023 TSAC Minutes Page 2 of 5 Transportation Safety Advisory Commission o Next Steps: Take counts on Alsatian and Kruth which is north of that intersection. • Mobile Villa o 5310 Cabana Drive, ADT — 68; 85% - 24.6 MPH o 5229 Well Drive, ADT — 54, 85% - 22.9 MPH o Study Result: Very low traffic, very low speed. o Next Steps: Additional counts planned (add additional location and comparison of data from previous studies before Brake Check facility was built to see if there's any different in speeding before and after. Turquoise — Request for Deaf Child sign o 3020 Turquoise, ADT— 116; 85% - 23.4 MPH o Study Result: Very low traffic, very low speed. Counts done to establish baseline. o Next Steps: Installation of Deaf Child signs and then do another set of counts to see what if the solution affects any change. ii. Columbia, Greenfield Village Alley b. Request for four -way stop, data collection pending - Aero Drive and Oak Street c. Request for evaluation and removal of 4 -way stop, data collection pending - Woodland Oaks and Kline Circle d. Signal wwarrant study — Pecan at Schertz Parkway Kimley -Horn completed their study. • Goals of the project: o Support pedestrians at the unsignalized crossing. o Enhance visibility and mitigate potential confusion associated with two -way stop condition at intersection. With the stop bar at Pecan, some people think that cars are going to stop or think it's a 4 -way. • Options evaluated: • Static signage improvements at intersection. • Dynamic warning improvements at intersection. • Potential crosswalk relocations away from the intersection. • Existing conditions and concerns: • Vehicles on Schertz Parkway observed stopping at existing stop bar without the presence of a pedestrian which is not required in the absence of an all -way stop condition. • Potential for users on Pecan Drive to see stop bars on Schertz Parkway and incorrectly assumes right -of -way. • Visibility of pedestrians crossing Schertz Parkway. • Multi -Way Stop: Warrant Results o Requirements: • Sum of Major Street ( Schertz Parkway) >300 vph for 8 hours — exceeded limit (between 705 vph and 1,608 vph) • Sum of Minor Street (Pecan Drive) >200 vph for 8 hours — did not exceed limit ( <100 vph) o Results: o Warrants not satisfied due to insufficient minor street volumes. • Traffic Signal: Warrant Results o Requirements: 09 -07 -2023 TSAC Minutes Page 3 of 5 Transportation Safety Advisory Commission • Warrant 1 — 8 hours • Warrant 2 — 4 hours • Warrant 3 — Peak Hour o Results: o Warrants not satisfied due to insufficient minor street volumes. • Traffic Signal: Crash Warrant Results o Warrants Utilized: o Warrant 7 — Crash experience >5 in the preceding 12 calendar months that are susceptible to correction with a traffic signal. o Results: o Warrants not satisfied due to insufficient crash history — only 1 in previous 12 months. • Proposed Improvements: Static signage upgrades • Upgrade signage to reflect new state law where vehicles "STOP" for pedestrians in the crosswalk (current signage indicates "YIELD ". • Install new advanced warning and crosswalk signage for both approaches of Schertz Parkway — "pedestrian symbol with arrow and AHEAD ". • Install placard on existing Pecan Drive stop sign — "CROSS TRAFFIC DOES NOT STOP ". Potential for users on Pecan Drive to see stop bars on Schertz Parkway and incorrectly assumes right -of -way. • Potential future enhancement — solar powered RRFB either pedestrian actuated or utilizing passive pedestrian detection. • Intersection Data Peak Hours 0 8 AM -9 AM: Pecan Drive EB, 47; Driveway WB, 15; Schertz Parkway NB, 601; Schertz Parkway SB, 803 0 12 PM -1 PM: Pecan Drive EB, 31 ; Driveway WB, 30; Schertz Parkway NB, 428; Schertz Parkway SB, 405 0 5 PM -6 PM: Pecan Drive EB, 39; Driveway WB, 58; Schertz Parkway NB, 1,021; Schertz Parkway SB, 648 o Schertz Parkway ADT — 12,000 vehicles per day • Commissioner Ferrando Heyward commented that if we remove the stop bars on Schertz Parkway, being creatures of habit and used to seeing something and an action associated with it, if it's not there you won't take that action. Kathy Woodlee responded that we aren't going to remove them right away. Kimley Horn alerted us that the state law had changed from yielding to pedestrians to stopping for pedestrians in the crosswalk and that's why the stop bars were added. The purpose of the stop bar is that vehicles are supposed to stop, but only when pedestrians are in the crosswalk. We may remove the stop bars after we change the signage and add the notification that cross traffic doesn't stop. Commissioner Heyward then asked if we are adding signage indicating you have to stop. Kathy Woodlee reported that yes, they will be changed from "YIELD" to "STOP" for pedestrians. e. Belmont HOA Update i. Celtic Ash Run and Cloverbrook — Complaint regarding resident parking at the corner Police contacted the homeowner and he immediately moved his vehicle and there were no issues. The officer will randomly check to see if the homeowner has continued to park there, but the officer did make contact with no issues. Commissioner Richard Dziewit asked if the residents understand that there is a limit to the space between where they can park and where they can't park. Commissioner Ferrando Heyward replied that they have an HOA meeting on September I 1 and so 09 -07 -2023 TSAC Minutes Page 4 of 5 Transportation Safety Advisory Commission far, so good with the homeowner, however, be prepared that people will still complain about it if the homeowner parks anywhere within 20 feet of that corner. The homeowner has no choice based on where his house is located and if you go down Celtic Ash, the community mailbox is there. Travis Westbrook also commented that to get that out to the residents, it would be helpful if the HOA could provide that information to the residents or some sort of public outreach explaining. Kathy Woodlee clarified that there is no restriction of parking because this is not an intersection so there is not a distance factor. The issue is that there is a place where kids cross the road — not a protected crosswalk, but a place where walking across the road is occurring and so there's a perception it may be unsafe. Commissioner Heyward remarked that when the homeowner would park more on the bend of the road and people traveling from Celtic Ash and turning on Cloverbrook, it is hard to see smaller children. The concern is that someday somebody coming too fast around that corner may clip a small child due to not being able to see if a vehicle is parked there. Brian James responded that if the Commission is comfortable, you can make a recommendation that we stripe Cloverbrook and Celtic Ash for whatever distances you want for no on- street parking. The issue we have though, is that we have this situation throughout residential streets — a car is parked on the street, kids are playing, even in a driveway and a ball rolls out and the kid comes out and someone is driving too fast and not paying attention, you can have an accident. You would hope that drivers would know there's a crosswalk there and would be extra - careful. We got a positive response from the homeowner and we can see how it goes. This is one from a staff perspective, there's not a solution that doesn't have an implication too it. So, he may end up parking in front of his neighbor's house and we'll be getting calls from the neighbor asking why he's parking in front of his house. What we had said is that he's agreed to move it, let's see if he continues with that and if we only need to remind him every 12 months or so, we thought that was the best solution. If it doesn't turn out that way, then we revisit. If the Commission is not comfortable with that and wants to make a recommendation that we stripe a section for no parking. Commissioner Ronald Stevens asked what the definition is for an intersection. Brian James replied that it is a signed intersection, so you need some sort of stop sign to have to keep back from. That is one of the problems with this one — you don't stop either way which triggers the concern. There doesn't seem to be a great solution and how we mandate that is a challenge. Commissioner Heyward agreed we will monitor and he will address at his HOA meeting. One solution would be to move the crosswalk. Brian James also remarked that for everything we do there are consequences, often unintended, which can create another issue. 3. Staff Comments 4. Future Agenda Items Requests from Commissioners 5. Adjournment: Motion was made by Commissioner Roy Ragsdale to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Commissioner Chuck Comelisse. Motion passed. Vote was unanimous. Meeting adjourned at 6 :08 PM by Chair Richard Dziewit. Attest: *card ziewit, ai erson 4CI�6_r�� yn ' Simmons, Recording Secretary 09 -07 -2023 TSAC Minutes Page 5 of 5 Transportation Safety Advisory Commission