Loading...
MPO TPC/TAC Board Minutes - 01/13/2010A3 C. `1� ♦.A f WICHITA FALLS METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION Technical Advisory Committee Minutes Wednesday, January 13, 2010 Voting Members Present: Lin Barnett —Wichita Falls MPO, MPO Director, TAC Chairperson Allan Moore — TxDOT, Director of Construction Danny Brown — TxDOT, Director of Trans. Planning and Development _ .. Dave Clark — City of Wichita Falls, Dir. of Community Development Davis Powell — City of Wichita Falls, City Engineer James Kelley — TxDOT, Area Engineer I Karen Montgomery-Gagne — City of Wichita Falls, Comm. Development Planner III i c> Mark Beauchamp — City of Wichita Falls, Traffic Superintendent i Tim Hertel — TxDOT, Director of Operations Jj MPO Staff: Donnie Arbeau —Wichita Falls MPO, Transportation Planner II Tammy Marlow — TxDOT, Funding Administrator c31. Visitors: Andrew Howard — Kimley -Horn and Associates, Inc. John Burrus — Director of Aviation, Traffic, and Transportation; Nora Hodges — Stakeholder,..W_�____- __..._ -_ Absent: I. Welcome & Introduction Mr. Barnett called the meeting to order at 10:01 a.m. and completed the role call. Participants gave their names and identified the agency and /or community they represented. Mr. Barnett proceeded on to the next agenda item. II. Public Comment on Agenda and Non - Agenda Items Mr. Barnett asked for any public comments. There was none. III. Review and Approval of the October 7, 2009 Technical Advisory Committee's (TAC) Meeting Minutes Mr. Barnett asked for any additions or corrections to the minutes. There was none. He then asked for motion to approve the minutes as presented. Mr. Clark made the motion to approve and Mr. Kelley seconded his motion. The board unanimously approved the minutes. Wichita Falls MPO TAC Meeting January 13, 2010 Page 1 of 7 v IV. Review and Comment Regarding the Transportation Policy Committee's (TPC's) October 26, 2009 Meeting Minutes - No Action Required Mr. Barnett asked for comments on the October 26, 2009 TPC meeting minutes. There was none. V. Wichita Falls Airport Master Plan Presentation Mr. Barnett informed the committee that he had asked Ms. Monica Morris, Airport Administrator for the City of Wichita Falls, to present the Airport Master Plan because, although the airport itself did not fall within the purview of surface transportation planning, the roads leading into and out of the airport connect to the MPO's overall transportation system. He indicated there might be federal or state funding available at a future date to reconstruct the road leading into the airport and that it was important for the committee to keep this in mind. He then asked Ms. Morris to give her presentation. Ms. Morris commented on the importance of sharing knowledge about all types of transportation, including aviation, with the transportation professionals in the room. She commented on the progress made at the Kickapoo Downtown Airpark and the goals for its future. She stated the City had invested nearly $8 million dollars over eight years into the Kickapoo Airport. She then began her presentation about the Airport Master Plan for the City's Municipal Airport. She stated the Municipal Airport was one of about 20 in the United States that qualifies as a true joint use airport. The Air Force owns the property and the municipality is a tenant on the property. She described the runways and their use, the layout of the military complex, and the civil side of the airfield. Ms. Morris discussed the number and type of civilian aircraft based at the field, and that they fly in and out of Sheppard /Municipal on a daily basis. She stated that a new 50 -year lease agreement signed with Sheppard Air Force Base now allows for federal funding improvements to take place at the municipal airport. She stated renovations were under way for the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) section of the terminal and that reconstruction work was taking place on some of the runways. Ms. Morris described the steps taken to develop the master plan, which included taking inventory of existing facilities to see how much square footage was available. Her team evaluated the entrance road and the parking spaces, and the passenger forecast for the next twenty years. The final steps included identifying the peak hour number of passengers utilizing the terminal building, the peak number of aircraft on the ground at any given time, and identifying funding sources to make the necessary improvements to the airport. She then presented diagrams and drawings of the existing terminal building and its limitations. Subsequently, she presented artists renderings of the proposed new terminal building. Ms. Morris also identified the road leading into and out of the airport that might qualify for some type of surface transportation funding. She described the various spaces inside the terminal set aside for special uses such as the USO office and the meditation room. She then presented the overall layout of the proposed terminal. She stated the name of the airport would change from Wichita Falls Municipal Airport to Wichita Falls Regional Airport in order to convey a sense of worldwide connectivity to passengers. Finally, Ms. Morris discussed the list of funding sources the City would try to use to construct the terminal building. She then answered questions from the attendees. Wichita Falls MPO TAC Meeting January 13, 2010 Page 2 of 7 Mr. Barnett thanked Ms. Morris for her presentation and moved on the next item of business. VI. Kimley -Horn Presentation on the Final Draft of the 2010 -2035 Metropolitan Transportation Plan Mr. Barnett informed the committee that he had received a list of comments about the MTP update from the Federal Highway Administration. He stated, working with Mr. Howard, that they had addressed the comments. The document contained red text indicating the changes. Mr. Barnett stated that had updated the Financial Section of Appendix A in the appendices with current information about area projects from the City of Wichita Falls, Lakeside City, Pleasant Valley, and from TxDOT. He then asked Mr. Howard to comment on the changes to the document since the public meetings in November 2009. Mr. Howard stated that it was good to have FHWA review the document prior to submitting it for approval in order to catch any problems or inconsistencies. He commented the purpose of today's document was to highlight the changes made since the November public meetings. Mr. Howard stated that now was the time to make any final revisions to the document and invited the committee members to voice their comments and suggested edits. Mr. Powell stated the Lane Miles section still needed clarification because it was hard to understand. He stated the information in the graph did not match up with the information in the text of the paragraph. Mr. Brown pointed out that only lane miles marked Functional Classification 1 through 5 would qualify for any state or federal funding and not City residential streets. Mr. Powell asked that pictures not representing Wichita Falls be removed and replaced with ones that did, or that the text under the pictures change to inform the reader that the pictures were for examples only. Mr. Powell asked Mr. Clark if the Bicycle Master Plan was accurate. Mr. Clark stated that it was slightly different from the Park Plan, but that both plans may change because of discussions with the railroad concerning where the trail crosses at Seymour Highway. He stated, for the MPO's purposes, the plan was fine. Mr. Arbeau commented that an Option A and Option B could be added to the map to indicate two different paths for future trail expansion. Mr. Kelley stated the interchange designation under Congestion should include US 277 as part of the description. Ms. Marlow stated the legend on the 2005 Congestion Map needed updating to reflect the correct colors for the Level of Service. Mr. Arbeau stated he would fix that problem. Mr. Howard, who had been making note of all the revisions, stated his team would make the corrections and updates to the final draft and have it ready for the Policy Board's review and approval at the January 27, 2010 meeting. Mr. Barnett moved on to the Appendices of the MTP update. In Appendix A, the Financial Section, Mr. Barnett began with the improvements to the Project ID Legend. He commented that this was one of the improvements requested by FHWA. He commented that the numbering system he developed for identifying the projects would easily transition between the MTP, the TIP, and the annual prioritized project list. Mr. Arbeau commented that he added a statement at the top of the Project ID Legend to let the reader know that the MPO was adopting this project ID system in order to standardize project listings across all MPO project specific documents. Mr. Barnett reviewed for the committee the TxDOT 10 -year Plan (2010 -2020) list of projects. He commented that in a TxDOT teleconference held on December 22, 2009 Mr. Brown and he learned that the forecasted 10 -year allocation for the Wichita Falls district had been reduced from $22 million to $9 million. Mr. Barnett stated that a note was added at the bottom of the list to inform the reader that whatever funding the Wichita Falls TxDOT District received would have Wichita Falls MPO TAC Meeting January 13, 2010 Page 3 of 7 to be allocated across nine counties and not all spent on projects located within the MPO's boundaries. Mr. Brown informed the committee that the FHWA would probably make the MPO revise and amend the TxDOT 10 -year Plan, the TxDOT Long -Range Plan, and the TxDOT Unmet Needs List because of the change in forecasted revenues. Mr. Barnett asked if the MPO should make those changes before submitting the final document to FHWA. Mr. Brown responded that it would be best to first let FHWA see the work done and to let them respond with any recommended revisions. Mr. Barnett agreed and asked for consensus from the committee to submit the three tables to FHWA in their current format. The committee agreed. Mr. Barnett moved on to the City of Wichita Falls Unmet Needs list. Mr. Powell recommended removing the North Beverly Drive project ID number RH -04WF (from Loop 11 to Old Iowa Park Road, widen to four lanes) because he doubted the feasibility of the project. Loop 11 already ties into US 287 north and Seymour Highway south (US 277A Business). The committee agreed with Mr. Powell assessment. Mr. Clark asked about the TxDOT Unmet Need, Kell Frontage Road West project ID number RR -05TX between Barnett and Fairway, whether it should be left on the list. Mr. Brown stated it might qualify for upcoming stimulus dollars and that he would like to leave it on the list. He commented that it was highly possible the project could be completed with stimulus funds by this time next year (2011) as an unmet need. Mr. Powell recommended removing the project ID number PM -02WF (5th and 6th Streets maintenance) from the list. He made this recommendation because it was a maintenance issue that only needed to have the proper paperwork submitted to transfer responsibility for maintenance from TxDOT to the City. The committee agreed with his recommendation. Mr. Barnett stated Mr. Arbeau would update the project map accordingly. He then directed the committee's attention to the TxDOT Category 1 — PM and Rehabilitation and the Category 11 — District Discretionary tables. He commented that the tables were included for readers to understand the TxDOT funding cap restrictions. Mr. Barnett briefly outlined the Transit Financial Summary informing the committee of the changes to the FY 2010 transit programming. Mr. Barnett asked for any other changes or revisions to the remaining appendices. Mr. Arbeau stated he would update the Bicycle and Pedestrian Trail System map in Appendix B. Mr. Clark commented that it was correct and Mr. Howard stated it represented the system, as proposed by the citizens and stakeholders that attended the workshops and public meetings. Mr. Barnett recommended removing the Planned Improvements page because he had already moved the projects on that list into their respective tables in the Financial Section of Appendix A. The committee agreed with his recommendation. The TAC committee recommended a few more minor changes to the appendices to make the information more understandable to the reader. Mr. Howard stated he would make the revisions. Mr. Barnett asked for a motion to forward the MTP update, with revisions, to the Policy Board for review and approval at the January 27, 2010 TPC meeting. Mr. Clark made the motion. Mr. Kelley seconded the motion. The TAC committee unanimously approved forwarding the MTP update, with revisions, to the Policy Board for their consideration. VII. Review and Recommendation for Transit TIP Amendment for Policy Board Approval Mr. Barnett presented the transit Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) amendment to the TAC committee. He informed them that because of the ARRA transit grant and the TIGER grant applications taking precedence over other work in 2009; he was just now preparing the amendment to incorporate actual funding for the FY 2010 annual transit - operating grant. He Wichita Falls MPO TAC Meeting January 13, 2010 Page 4 of 7 stated the required public hearings took place in 2009, but not the submission of the grant to the Federal Transit Administration. Mr. Barnett stated he presented the grant to the Texas Review and Comment System (TRACS) on the evening of January 12, 2010 and received favorable comment. The FTA was waiting for the TIP amendment before continuing to process the transit grant. Mr. Barnett asked for any questions. He stated the amendment would apply to the 2008- 2011 TIP. Mr. Brown made the motion to forward the transit TIP amendment to the Policy Board for their review and approval. Mr. Clark seconded his motion. The motion carried unanimously. VIII. Discussion Concerning Development of the Wichita Falls 2011 -2014 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) Mr. Barnett informed the TAC committee of the upcoming development process for the 2011- 2014 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). He briefly went through the requirements, flowchart of events, and the TxDOT issued timeline for 2010. Mr. Barnett informed the committee that he would be contacting them for additional workshops and meetings throughout 2010. He stated there would also be some public meetings. Mr. Brown commented that the TIP development process mirrors the MTP development process except that it refines the number of projects down to a level that is fiscally constrained within a 4 -year time period. Only projects reasonably expected to receive funding can be included in the new TIP. Mr. Brown asked if grouped CSJ projects would still be allowed in the TIP. Mr. Barnett stated that he had not heard of any changes but that he would check on that issue. Mr. Barnett commented no action was required at this time, that he was simply making the committee aware of what was to come. He asked for questions, but did not receive any. He then moved on to Other Business. IX. Other Business: A. Discussion & Overview of Progress on Local Transportation Projects — City and TxDOT staff (Quarterly Review) TxDOT Report: Mr. Kelley reported that the contractor was finishing up on the punch list for the Kell West Main Lanes. Once completed, the construction office would make their inspections. He commented that the facility might show up again on the list because it is a lengthy process to finish a large job such as this. He reported inspections of bridges on BU 287J, CR 228, and CR 339 were under way. He reported that the Holiday Creek Hike and Bike trail was awaiting the pre- construction meeting with the contractor. He stated their paper work needed correcting because of the stimulus fund regulations before starting to work on the project. Mr. Barnett commented that the Kell West Main Lanes project was an unequivocal success and that he drove it nearly every day. City of Wichita Falls Report: Mr. Powell reported the Faith Village Drainage Phase II & III project was 40% complete. He stated traffic control would switch the week of January 25`h to move all traffic to the north bound side of Kemp. There will be two lanes of traffic going north and one lane of traffic going south. He stated one lane on the west side of Kemp would be open to allow access to businesses along Kemp. Mr. Beauchamp asked how long the phase would take to complete. Mr. Powell responded that it should take from May to August to complete, but hopefully, the phase would finish by May. Mr. Powell stated a public information notice would soon be issued and that affected businesses would receive notification. Mr. Powell reported that a short section of the hike and bike trail connecting Rhea Road to the existing trail at Lake Wichita Falls MPO TAC Meeting January 13, 2010 Page 5 of 7 IL Wichita had just been awarded to a contractor and was scheduled to begin soon. He reported the annual scheduled Alley Rehabilitation project and the Street Rehabilitation project would begin in April 2010. B. MPO Quarterly Financial Report (4th Quarter FY 2009 — July, August, September) Mr. Barnett informed the committee that this was the last report for FY 2009. He directed the committee's attention the summary page. He commented that the majority of the 2009 carry over would go into the 2010 UPWP to fund the Mobility Study West of Kemp. Mr. Brown asked Mr. Barnett if he had received any new information about the 2010 UPWP allocation. Mr. Barnett stated he had received a letter from TP &P that released partial funding to the WFMPO. Mr. Brown commented that based on information he had received that Congress would probably continue to fund the existing transportation bill with extensions until they created a new bill. C. 2010 West of Kemp Mobility Study Report Mr. Barnett informed the committee during negotiations with the consultant Lockwood, Andrews, and Newnam, Inc. (LAN) that he had reached a set contract price of $93,494.00 to complete the study. He stated this was $15,586.50 below the amount budgeted for the study. Mr. Barnett stated that once TP &P in Austin validated the 2005 base year Travel Demand Model then there would be a kick -off meeting with the TAC committee. Until that time, LAN was gathering traffic data for use in the study. According to TP &P, the TDM might be ready for use in May 2010. Mr. Powell asked if the delay would affect the contract start date. Mr. Barnett stated there was no set start date for the study, but that the contract was set to expire on January 31, 2011. Mr. Barnett stated he had hoped to have the study done and ready to make a report to the Policy Board at the July 2010 TPC meeting, but that it would probably be towards the end of 2010. Mr. Powell asked if there would be a kick -off meeting with the TAC committee. Mr. Barnett stated there would be a kick -off meeting. D. Update on FY 2008 /ARRA Grant Transit Bus Delivery Mr. Barnett informed the committee that three of the new style transit buses arrived early in the week and that the other eight were on the way. He then provided them with a Power Point presentation of photos illustrating construction of unit 462 from beginning to end. After the meeting adjourned, he gave them a tour of the bus. He stated the remaining ARRA funds would be used to purchase AVL/GPS systems, street annunciators, radios, and bus shelters with benches. The new locator systems will be installed over time on the all of the buses. E. Other items Mr. Barnett informed the committee that another round of stimulus funding might come out of Congress in the next few weeks. TxDOT in Austin sent an email alerting all Districts and MPO's that a bill called the "Jobs for Main Street Act ", or Recovery Act II, was in the House of Representatives and would soon make its way to the Senate. RA II requires projects to be under contract in 90 days. Districts and MPO's are required to begin the planning and public involvement process to select projects once the Act passes in Congress. Fifty percent of the funding must be contracted within 90 days of the funding being made available or the un- contracted amount would be made available to the states. The total amount that would be made available to the states would be $1.125 billion. MPO's would need to amend TIP /STIP's to include eligible projects. Mr. Barnett shared the remaining requirements for RA II funding with Wichita Falls MPO TAC Meeting January 13, 2010 Page 6 of 7 the committee. Projects must be "shovel ready" and must be functional classification 1 through 5 to qualify. Mr. Burrus stated he would re- submit the TIGER grant applications if the RA II funding became available in order to have a chance of acquiring funding for the airport terminal building and the downtown transit hub. Mr. Brown stated that his team was already looking at projects on the prioritized project list that might qualify for funding. He gave examples of several projects they were considering. X. Adjourn The meeting adjourned after the bus presentation at 12:15 p.m. Iran F. "Lin" Barnett Jr. MPO Transportation Planning Director Wichita Falls MPO Wichita Falls MPO TAC Meeting January 13, 2010 Page 7 of 7