Monday, October 18, 2010

September 16 Meeting

Monument Community Partnership
TRANSPORTATION ACTION TEAM
Meeting Minutes

Date: Sept. 16th 2010
Time: 7:05 pm
Place: Front Porch, Keller House, 1760 Clayton Road, Concord, CA 94520


Facilitator: Mary Lou Laubscher
Secretary: Bruce Lyon

WELCOME: ROLL CALL: Dave Pitman, Mary Lou Laubscher, Wes Laubscher, Ray Kuzbari, Bruce Lyon, Eric Amaya, Catalina Wright, Jeff Smith, Dianne Slattery, Jeff Slattery

INTRODUCTIONS:
Ray Kuzbari, gifted the Transportation Action Team with a large format map of the Iron Horse trail along the Monument area of Concord. It shows the three street and trail improvements in progress or in the planning phases.

REVIEW ITEMS:
Ray Kuzbari, City of Concord Transportation Manager, reported to the Transportation Action Team the progress of two phases of improvements to the existing trail paths from Monument Blvd. to Willow Pass Road next to the Iron Horse trail.

THE TRAIL:
Phase I
Phase I trail improvements will include a 12’-0” wide paved path from Monument Blvd. to Mayette Avenue and is expected to be completed by 2011. This part of the Trail is owned by the County and includes the “Bulge”. Phase I budget is $900,000. Phase I trail improvements are not approved yet because the City needs a design consultant for the design work. The expectation is the trail improvements would be approved by the city by January 2011. Proposed gates at both ends of the trail will be incorporated to improve security.

Phase II
Phase II trail improvements will include a paved trail from Mayette Avenue to Market St. with both sides of the trail to receive Landscaping and Irrigation. Phase II budget is $675,000. The Proposed bike routes will improve pedestrian and bicycle safety. The red lines on Ray’s map show special road pavement marking demarking the bicycle lane and will improve bicycle safety.

Phase III
Phase III trail improvements will include a paved trail from Market St. to Franquette, improved lighting in the tunnel that runs beneath Highway 242, bike lane, landscaping, irrigation, and sidewalk improvements on Franquette Ave. This part of the trail is owned by the City of Concord. The long narrow parcel is located near the existing storage facility. The City is still waiting for Proposition 84 funding with an expectation that the funding will be available in November and will fund the last segment of the trail.

Bruce asked about the “ Bulge”. Ray responded that the “bulge” is located on County land and the approved budget and scope of work approved by the county only allows for the trail improvements and does not currently include a shared water meter.

A future trail extension from Willow Pass Road to Commerce Avenue called the “Commerce Avenue Extension” will extend from the terminus of Commerce Ave to Water World. The proposed extension will cross Pine Creek.

Request to Ray in designing the trails
 Please leave room in the design for future community projects such as:
 A nature trail
 Signs showing the History of Concord
 Example of drought resistant plants that do well in Concord
 A recreational area

OTHER PROJECTS:
Construction of pedestrian improvements is currently underway along Monument Blvd. Ray described Class II Bike Lane and Class III Bike Route improvements for Monument Blvd.

Ray described the following terminology;
Class I Bikeway is a paved bike trail 10’-0” to 12’-0” in width.
Class II Bike Lane and sidewalk improvements .
Class III Bike Route with “Sharrows” markings signage, with 4” wide paint edge line on the street pavement. “Sharrows” are bike lanes shared with the roadway.

Monument sidewalk improvements are scheduled to be completed before the end of the September

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Computer training classes are offered at the Michael Chavez Center. The center recently graduated over 100 persons and will be starting a new cycle. The enrollment is full and there is a waiting list for classes starting in January.

The Monument Community Partnership Health Fair will be on October 2, 2010 from 11:00 to 3:00pm.at Meadow Homes Park.

Dave announced he has expanded the Transportation Action Team Blog. He has newer maps of the Monument Trails we discussed tonight.

MEETING FEEDBACK:
People were pleased with the change in venue having the meeting outside in good weather. One of the guests brought a flashlight and used it to illuminate the map as Ray spoke. Many people came to the meeting interested in the Community Garden project and commented their support for the incorporation of a community garden project into the “bulge” in the Trail project. We welcome our new members.

ADJORNMENT: 8:15pm


NEXT MEETING:
October 21st, 2010, 7 p.m. Keller House


Vision Statement By the year 2015 The Monument Transportation Action Team will have planned and implemented a “local” transportation system that will serve all residents of the Monument area who need it. It will be affordable, sustainable, safe, coordinated, environmentally sound, and get riders where they need to go in a reasonable time

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Grand opening of pedestrian overcrossing

Grand opening of Iron Horse Trail Overcrossing of Treat Boulevard is on Sat. October 2, 2010 from 10 AM to 2 PM. See www.511contracosta.org for more information.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Presentation to Parks Commission

At the Sep. 8 meeting of the Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Commission, Danea Gemmell, Acting City Engineer presented on the two Trail Improvements projects described elsewhere in this blog. The projects are funded, and will start this fiscal year. She is still waiting to hear about the Proposition 84 grant, and will hear if funding is granted later this fall. This grant will provide amenities for the Market Street trail site, and extend the trail to Willow Pass Road. For the Class I Bikeway, she’ll have Conservation Corps volunteers working on the trail, and security gates and dog facilities will be installed. The project design will be until June 2011, bids will go out in the summer and then construction a year from now.

Joan Carrico, Director of Community & Recreation Services told the commission “we did work with the Monument Community Partnership Transportation Advisory Committee.” “The Monument Community Partnership is very happy to see these improvements in the community.”

Thursday, August 12, 2010

News on Pedestrian Infrastructure Improvements


Traffic Light poles waiting to be installed at intersection of Robin and Meadow Lanes.


Article in Contra Costa Times:

Monument Corridor sidewalks getting a face-lift

By Paul Thissen

Friday, July 16, 2010

July 15, 2010 Transportation Action Team Meeting

Even though the transit authority has improved bus routes that benefit seniors and people in need of traveling from the Monument Corridor to local hospitals, clinics, and health care facilities, there is still a need in the community for a replacement van for the Route 8 Shuttle. According to the Seniors Needs Assessment , Seniors are in need of transportation to many regularly scheduled events and available services. The Transportation Action Team explored ideas to develop a sustainable van route, a “Van Plan”, including the ideas of partnering with local businesses and employing trained volunteers. All aboard the Van Plan… Join us at our next meeting is Thursday, September 16, 2010, 7:00pm.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Reports on June 16 BART Meeting

By Bruce Lyon

At the BART outreach meeting on June 16, 2010, at El Ranchero, BART presenters solicited community input on two issues. BART suggested that $2.3 million surplus be given back to the community in some way. They asked for suggestions and the group consensus was that the money be spent to improve the cleanliness of the trains. People were concerned that a near term decrease in fares would need to be followed by a future increase in fares.

BART presenters asked the community to decide what constituted a Major Service Change. BART presenters suggested that the definition of Major Service Change would be used to define the trigger for future outreach required for fare changes or system expansion. BART collected a survey filled out by the group who came to the meeting.

The people in attendance were generally puzzled about the significance of the definition of a Major Service Change.


By Denis Cuff, Contra Costa Times
BART to spend $800,000 on public outreach to monitor fairness of service and fare decisions

BART wants to hear your ideas about how to assure that future changes to fare and service are fair and just to all. View Full Story