MINUTES

SPECIAL MEETING

TRAFFIC COMMISSION

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2004

Voting Members Present: Ron Eck, Chris Gluck, Graham Kenneweg, Mary Ann Liberatore, Ken Martis, Roy Nutter, Don Spencer, Paul Steel

Members Absent: Terry Hough (Non-Voting), Sharon Semans, Jeff Thorne (Non-Voting), Buffy Vehse

INTERMODAL FACILITY

The special meeting of the Traffic Commission was called to order by Chairman Eck. Chairman Eck read from the attached list each question and subsequent response and then allowed for questions and or comments from Commissioners.

Present representing Buchart-Horn was Bill Keaton, and John Wigal. The Monongalia County Commission was represented by John Pyles and Bob Bell.

Following is the corresponding comments to the aforementioned questions.

Question #1:

Ron Eck stated the Wharf District already has one parking facility and is planning on adding an additional facility his concern was how the County proposed facility would take parking from the Wharf District.

Mr. Keaton stated that he understood that the facility in the Wharf District was at 80 to 90 percent capacity. He further stated that the plans for the intermodal facility are going to be downgraded from 500 sites to 350 sites.

Don Spencer requested that Tom Arnold, Director, of the Morgantown Parking Authority speak regarding the use of the garage in the Wharf District and any concerns he may have in regard to the proposed intermodal facility.

Tom Arnold stated that the parking garages in the Wharf District and on University Avenue are very busy, but the one located on Pleasant Street is not busy at all. He said that looking at the future he could not respond accurately but that a needs assessment would have to be done on a block by block basis. He said that the biggest issues when dealing with a new facility is need, and the ingress and egress of the facility. Mr. Arnold does not know how the proposed facility would affect the Wharf District until an impact study is done.

Mr. Arnold stated that the Parking Authority is planning on building a new 600 unit facility near the university, and there is also one proposed in the Square at Falling Run Project.

Ken Martis asked where the proposed 600 unit facility was going to be.

Mr. Arnold said at the corner of Willey Street and University Avenue, and there would be ingress and egress on different levels so as not to interfere with traffic flow.

Mr. Martis asked for a possible timeline.

Mr. Arnold stated the Square at Falling Run is a go but no definite time frame for University Avenue at Willey Street.

Paul Steel inquired whether these facilities would be long term parking such as permit parking, or hourly.

Mr. Arnold stated that number wise there are more hourly parking spaces needed.

Paul Steel asked if there were people waiting for permits.

Mr. Arnold replied yes particularly with students given the closing of the Mountainlair parking garage. He said that he does not feel there is enough parking but, you have to maximize and utilize the space you have and a major concern is getting people in and out of parking facilities.

Roy Nutter asked Mr. Arnold what he thought of the proposed intermodal facility.

Mr. Arnold said his main concern was traffic patterns.

Mr. Nutter asked Mr. Arnold if he was concerned with the taking away of parking from the Authority.

Mr. Arnold said additional parking anywhere is a good thing, how you manage it is a challenge. He said that he would be happy to assist with the management and traffic patterns of the proposed facility if asked.

Mary Ann Liberatore asked if Mr. Arnold felt there would ever be a day when on street parking would be eliminated.

Mr. Arnold replied no.

Ms. Liberatore asked about angle parking.

Mr. Arnold said in the Wharf District there was an issue of impeding traffic. He further said that he felt that angle parking would be a deterrent to speeding.

John Wigal of Buchart-Horn asked Mr. Arnold if he would be interested in helping with the operation of the proposed facility.

Mr. Arnold stated that he would be.

County Commissioner John Pyles addressed the Commission by saying that students, courthouse users, senior center visitors and employees, tourists and such would be able to use the facility and with the Convention and Visitors Bureau’s historic trail it could be a very viable asset to the community and help keep the area alive.

Question #2:

Mr. Keaton stated that he was a biker and uses the Rails to Trails quite frequently and on several occasions he has had to find another parking space, because, the lot near Whitetail has been full.

Ron Eck stated that if families were to rent bicycles from the facility how could they safely get to the rail trail.

Mr. Keaton stated that timed crosswalks would need to be initialized; however this issue has not been studied yet because it is in the next phase of the plans.

Question #3:

Ron Eck asked if a tour bus could make the turning radius.

Mr. Keaton stated he could not answer that question but could find out and let the Commissioners know.

Question #4:

Mr. Keaton stated that the taxi companies were asked about their interest and none of them desired to comment.

Question #5:

Don Spencer stated that this was an important question and just as important observation. He said it seems the capability of the site for transit services is very important and wanted to know if 15 buses would be adequate with the rising gas prices and possible increase of riders.

Question #6:

Don Spencer said that the map showed a definite zigzag it does not show the proposed changes.

Mr. Keaton said he could have the graphics redone to show the proposed changes.

Don Spencer asked how the widening of Court Street would be accommodated.

Mr. Keaton said he could not answer that as he did not have the expertise.

Mary Ann Liberatore asked if there would be sidewalks on Chancery Row.

Mr. Keaton said no.

Question #7:

Roy Nutter stated that when exiting from the garage to Court Street it is proposed that a person could go left or right, he wanted to know if the sight distance was adequate.

Mr. Keaton stated that the study showed that the lines of sight were sufficient to meet the FHA and State requirements. He said the numbers were in the study and he could forward them at a later time.

Don Spencer asked during peak hours of traffic when the traffic backs on Walnut Street, how traffic would get out.

Mr. Keaton stated that he wanted the Commission to know that there was never any intent to improve the traffic situation nor to impact the traffic situation.

Chris Gluck wanted to clarify that when someone went down Court Street to University Avenue they can only go to the right, they must then go all the way around the block to get to Westover.

Ron Eck asked if during peak hours wouldn’t this cause queues on Court Street or Chestnut Street.

Mr. Keaton stated the traffic study was done between 7:00 am and 10:00 am and 3:00 pm and 6:00 pm, and it did not show increase queuing.

Paul Steel asked how it could not really impact traffic.

Mr. Keaton said they feel it would alleviate some of the problem because people who parked there would most likely be staying there for a while.

Ron Eck asked with the distance from the Wharf District to Walnut Street how they would get people to park there as opposed to the Wharf District.

Mr. Keaton stated most of the people would be tourists, people utilizing the courthouse, or county offices. He further stated this was based on hypothesis, formulated by past projects from other like areas, there were no exacts. He said there main concern was traffic patterns.

Roy Nutter stated that when making a right onto Court Street from University Avenue there is a 1 to 2 car distance before entering the garage, he feels this would cause a sight distance problem.

Mr. Keaton stated that the drawing was a schematic only, not a detail.

John Wigal of Buchart-Horn stated that this was a very valid observation and that further attention would need to be given to this detail.

Roy Nutter suggested an elevated entrance.

Mr. Keaton stated that the entrance was midway on the other side maybe that was a possibility for this side.

Question #8:

No further questions or comments.

Question #9:

No further questions or comments.

Question #10:

Mr. Keaton noted that the response indicated that there was an attachment, unfortunately the attachment was not available he will forward it at a later time.

Roy Nutter indicated that he feels that this is delaying the Traffic Commission in their decision.

Ron Eck stated that he wanted to remind everyone that the Traffic Commission cannot approve any traffic changes, but can make recommendations to Council. Council is the only one who can change traffic patterns.

Don Spencer inquired as to whether there was a projected vehicle count of traffic traveling east on Chancery Row.

Mr. Keaton said there was but he did not have the calculations with him.

Don Spencer stated that anyone heading for the left hand turn on Pleasant Street only has a small space to turn in.

Roy Nutter stated that his concern is not just for the peak times of traffic but also during special events.

Question #11:

No further questions or comments.

Question #12:

Roy Nutter wanted to verify that the bus garage was exiting out one way east.

Mr. Keaton said that was correct.

Question #13:

No further questions or comments.

Question #14:

No further questions or comments.

Question #15:

No further questions or comments.

Question #16:

No further questions or comments.

Question #17:

Don Spencer stated this seems to be a critical question especially during peak hours. He said that during most of the day it would work very well, but during peak hours it would be very discouraging.

John Pyles said he wanted to point out that before the merger the bus station on Walnut Street was a County station and there were 8-9 buses doing it all day everyday without difficulty.

Mary Ann Liberatore asked if at any time during the study did they anticipate the possibility of changing Walnut Street to a 2 way street.

Mr. Keaton said he was not certain if that issue was discussed.

John Wigal of Buchart-Horn stated that he was an engineer and he thanked the Traffic Commission for taking the very thorough look at the project. He also wanted to take the time to thank the County Commission and staff for their time and efforts.

Mr. Wigal went on to say that the reality is that 7.7 million dollars of new money was coming to West Virginia from Washington because of the potential of an intermodal facility. He stated that by bring this facility to Monongalia County it could enhance the economy and have an overall effect on the County and the City of Morgantown.

The public portion of the meeting was closed at 5:07 pm.

MATTER OF BUSINESS:

Roy Nutter said there was no argument with the parking aspect of the intermodal facility, the issue was the traffic. He feels the Commission should handle it as best as we can. He feels we should move it forward however without addressing any of the traffic issues at this time.

Mr. Keaton stated that all they needed was a recommendation saying that the City of Morgantown felt the County was on the right track. He also wanted to make the Commission aware that the facility will not impact traffic nor will it improve traffic. The desire of the County Commission was to have the City’s okay in order to keep the proposed funding.

Ken Martis stated that there is only so much one can perceive in such a large project. He feels its okay to allow the County to move forward just with reservations about the traffic patterns.

Don Spencer said the concept of an intermodal facility in Morgantown was a great idea, however, he doesn’t feel it will work in the proposed location. He further stated that throughout this meeting there were 6 different issues that could not be addressed because of lack of information. He does not fill confident that this will work and would not be willing to allow the County to go ahead with the project.

Roy Nutter stated that if the traffic flow was left the way it was they could still build the facility and it would work, if Court Street was the only change it would still work, Chancery Row may or may not work if left the way it is, and keeping Court Street one-way downhill it was still doable. He feels that the project could be done if time was taken to find the optimum flow for traffic.

Motion by Ken Martis that the Traffic Commission approves the intermodal facility concept and urges the County Commission to go forward provided there is continuous correspondence between the County Commission, the City of Morgantown, and the Traffic Commission of the City of Morgantown. Seconded by Paul Steel. Motion carried on a vote of 6-1.

Ron Eck wanted to clarify that the motion does not affirm exact traffic flow.

Don Spencer wanted some assurance that circulation of pedestrians and vehicular traffic would be worked out.

ADJOURNMENT: 5:30 PM.