TISC Meeting Notes
Date: April 20, 2006
By: Gaye Smith, Staff Assistant
Subject: April 18, 2006 Trucking Issues Subcommittee Meeting
The meeting was held in the 4th Floor Conference Room (401 Large), City Administration Building,
30 S. Nevada Avenue, and began at 3:10 p.m.
In Attendance
CTAB: Bob Hartwig, Chairperson; Don Schley
At Large Members: Scott Arnold, Vice-Chairperson; Glenn Frank
Trucking Industry Members: Rich O’Connell, Rick Wright
City/County Staff: Craig Blewitt, Transportation Planning Manager
Dave Krauth, Principal Traffic Engineer
Dick Carlson, Traffic Engineer
Gary Herbst, Traffic Technician
Gaye Smith, Staff Assistant
Officer Michael Merson, CSPD
Janet Stephens, El Paso County Dept of Transportation
Other: Donna Drialo, Take Back Our Neighborhood Streets; ONEN
Beth Kosley, Downtown Partnership
Thomas Nycum, Colorado College
John O’Donnell, Surface Transportation Advisory Coalition
Steve Rodemer, Old North End Neighborhood (ONEN)
Absent
Larry Bagley, Gene Bray, Scott Shevock
Citizen Comment
Tom Nycum, Vice President for Business and Finance at Colorado College, referenced the letter that the Colorado College President had sent to CTAB and TISC on February 10. He reiterated the major reason that the college was concerned about North Nevada remaining a truck route was because of pedestrian safety; specifically, that of students. Additionally, visitors park on Nevada Avenue, and a child care center is in the vicinity. Farther south on Nevada, in the downtown area, the “Imagine Downtown” project is intended to be pedestrian friendly, and safety of Palmer High School students is another concern. He said that trucks should stay on I-25, and that it is inappropriate to use Nevada Avenue as a truck route. However, the College is opposed to through truck traffic, not delivery truck traffic.
Steve Rodemer said that he and Dave Munger, another ONEN representative, have met with some of the TISC members. He said ONEN was not trying to attend TISC meetings en masse; rather, they would like to help facilitate the process. The Board has agreed that in the event an emergency route for trucks is needed, this is acceptable use of North Nevada Avenue.
Officer Merson asked what the largest issue was regarding trucks on North Nevada—was it the gross vehicle weight rating, such as large semis? Tom Nycum responded that any truck that is difficult to stop is an issue, as well as using North Nevada for through-truck traffic. Officer Merson said that he was trying to identify commercial vehicle size, because perhaps one option could be to impose a truck weight limit on North Nevada.
Update on County Trucking Issues
Janet Stephens provided an update on the formation of the County’s trucking subcommittee. The first meeting has been delayed until a Highway Advisory Commission member can be appointed to serve on the subcommittee. She hoped the first meeting could be set for the first week of May. Either Craig Blewitt or Dave Krauth will serve as the City’s representative to this subcommittee. One of the first orders of business will be to discuss what the definition of a truck should be, and Janet will start by looking at Federal Highway Administration definitions.
Work Session on the Truck Route System
Gaye Smith distributed letters that have been received since the March 21 meeting to Subcommittee members and the audience. Citizens’ Transportation Advisory Board members will also be sent the same copies:
Date / Name / Organization / To: / Subject03/24/06 / Jan Mahony / Resident / City Council / N Nevada and trucks
03/31/06 / Patty Chase / ONEN / City Council, CTAB / N. Nevada Truck Route
Report on Truck Safety on Colorado Springs Streets
Dick Carlson provided 2005 data regarding the involvement of heavy trucks in crashes in Colorado Springs. Heavy vehicles were defined as over 26,000 pounds.
Total crashes: 381 involving trucks, out of 11,545 accidents (3.3%)
Injury crashes: 65 out of 3,082 injury accidents (2.1)
Fatal crashes: 2 out of 21 fatal accidents (9.5%)
Officer Merson noted that one of the fatal accidents was the El Paso County incident when a mud flap and bracket broke off a truck and crashed into a car, killing the driver.
Dick also provided copies of a report that CSPD Analyst Eddie Orff had prepared for staff that analyzed crash reports from 2002 through 2005 from the 1200 – 3000 block of North Nevada Avenue, as well as the 17 intersections on North Nevada from Uintah Street to Fillmore. The total number of crashes over the four-year time frame was 353; 18 involved semi/tractor trailers (5%). The commercial vehicles were at fault in 7 of the 18 crashes (39%).
Finalize Criteria for Truck Route System Review
At the March 21 TISC meeting, Subcommittee members discussed the criteria to use for identifying and evaluating potential changes to the City’s truck route system. Some criteria were removed, some suggestions to add criteria were made, and some criteria were deferred. At the end of that meeting, input from the public was solicited, but no discussion or decisions on the suggestions were made. Subcommittee members were given the criteria list with additions/changes bolded so that the criteria could be finalized.
Discussion of Criteria:
· ADD Traffic volume: part of intersection operation criteria; will incorporate into that
· ADD Number of driveways: part of Sensitive Zones/Neighborhoods
· ADD Proximity and density of vehicles parked along route: also part of Sensitive Zones/Neighborhoods. Subcommittee decided a better way to measure this criteria was to determine whether parking was allowed on the street.
· ADD Economic Impact to community as a whole: Concern was expressed that this is something above TISC’s purview, and would be subjective and difficult to measure.
Don Schley suggested that a Leichart Scale (scale of 1 to 5; highest score = 5) be used for criteria that cannot be objectively or easily measured. Dave Krauth said that only roadway changes/additions would need to be scored, and the subcommittee could assign weights to the criteria later in the process.
A copy of the roadway list will be sent to City Engineering and the Streets Division for their input.
Define Gap in Truck Route System
The question asked was how to measure a gap: is it the distance a truck travels out of direction, or is it time based, or perhaps a combination? Subcommittee members decided to rank and score the roads on the list and from there see if any apparent gaps develop. Gaps can then be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
Schedule Additional Work Sessions
Subcommittee members agreed to meet on Wednesday, May 3 at 3:00 p.m. Gaye will reserve the conference room. Staff will attempt to provide complete data for several specific roadways, which will help the Subcommittee figure what data will really be at the work sessions.
Next Meeting
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Trucking Issues Subcommittee will be May 16, 2006 at 3:00 p.m. in the City Admin Building, 30 S. Nevada Avenue, 4th Floor Conference Room, Suite 401 Large.
The meeting adjourned at 5:00 p.m.
1