City of Sunnyvale
Excerpt Meeting Minutes - Draft
Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory
Commission
6:30 PM Online and Bay Conference Room, City
Hall, 456 W. Olive Ave.,
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
Thursday, May 16, 2024
CALL TO ORDER
Chair Oey called the meeting to order at 6:34 p.m.
ROLL CALL
Chair Timothy Oey
Vice Chair Bryce Beagle
Commissioner Alex Bonne
Commissioner Dan Hafeman
Commissioner Sharlene Liu
Commissioner Leia Mehlman
Present 6 -
Commissioner Arwen DavéAbsent 1 -
Commissioner Davé absent (excused)
Council Liaison Sell (present)
PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS
3 24-0530 Recommend to City Council a Project for the Application of Transportation Development Act Article 3 Funding for Fiscal Year 2024/25
Alternative 1: Recommend to City Council to bank FY 2024/25 TDA Article 3 grant fund for the construction phase of Install Sidewalk on Poplar Avenue (Project No.1).
Angela Wong, Transportation Engineer gave a presentation on the final series of the TDA Article 3 presentations. Objective is for the BPAC to recommend a project to fund using Transportation Development Act (TDA) Article 3 funding for this upcoming fiscal year 2024/2025. Highlighting the following:
- Funds can be used for design and construction of bicycle/pedestrian capital or
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Sunnyvale
May 16, 2024Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory
Commission
Meeting Minutes - Draft
quick build project and Safe Routes to School projects
- There is about $140,000/year - based on sales tax
- Currently there is $411,038 TDA funding available(combination of last year's banked funds and this year's funds)
- Five eligible projects:
1. Install Sidewalk on Poplar Avenue
2. Convert all part-time bike lanes on Homestead Road into full-time bike lanes
3. Reduce pork chop islands on Westbound El Camino Real at Murphy Avenue at Frances Street
4. Implement Class III Bicycle Route on Pastoria Avenue
5. Widen fence opening at Crawford Drive near Las Palmas Park - Need a recommendation from the BPAC to City Council for one of the following:
1. Alternative 1: Recommend to City Council to bank FY 2024/25 TDA Article 3 grant fund for the construction phase of Project No.1, consistent with Council's preliminary direction on June 20, 2023
2. Alternative 2: Recommend to City Council to use the FY 2024/25 TDA Article 3 grant fund for an alternative project listed or a combination of projects listed
3. Alternative 3: Recommend to City Council to use the FY 2024/25 TDA Article 3 grant fund for a project not listed
- Staff recommendation is for Alternative 1: Recommend to City Council to bank FY 2024/25 TDA Article 3 grant fund for the construction phase of Project No.1, consistent with Council's preliminary direction on June 20, 2023 Commissioner Mehlman asked about the following:
- Where will the BPAC's recommendation appear to City Council? Ms. Tsang addressed the question.
Chair Oey asked about the following:
- Will the BPAC's recommendation and explanation of why it was chosen appear in the slides presented to City Council?
Ms. Tsang addressed the question.
Commissioner Mehlman asked about the following:
- Can the BPAC speak to the City Council about their recommendation? Ms. Tsang addressed the question.
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Commissioner Liu asked about the following:
- Can you confirm that the City Council decided on the previous year's TDA funding?
- Can the BPAC decide tonight on some projects and not use all the funds and bank the rest?
Ms. Tsang addressed the questions.
Chair Oey asked about the following:
- Are there any other sources of funding that can be combined with the TDA funds to allow the Poplar Avenue sidewalk construction to happen sooner or must it wait 4-5 years when banked enough?
- Will it take four years before there enough money or can we get it sooner? - What is your assessment of funding sources that could be applied to finish off construction projects?
Ms. Tsang and Council Liaison Sell addressed the questions.
Chair Oey called for a recess at 8:13 p.m. Chair Oey reconvened the meeting at 8:20 p.m.
Commissioner Liu asked about the following:
- Are we making use of the personnel to help with writing grants for active transportation projects?
- How many grant applications are expected to be made by the consultant? - Why aren't my recommendations from past meetings on the TDA funding not on the list?
Ms. Tsang and Ms. Wong addressed the questions.
Vice Chair Beagle asked about the following:
- Can staff state the BPAC's feedback from the previous meeting on TDA funding? Ms. Tsang addressed the question.
Public Comment opened at 8:30 p.m.
No speakers.
Public Comment closed at 8:30 p.m.
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Commissioner Mehlman commented on the following:
- Recommends Alternative 2: Recommend to City Council to use the FY 2024/25 TDA Article 3 grant fund for an alternative project listed or a combination of projects listed
- In favor of converting all part-time bike lanes to full-time bike lanes on Homestead Road - can pay for the design phase portion
- In favor of Class III bicycle route to Pastoria Avenue - Would rather start on two items rather than put all the funds towards one item Commissioner Liu commented on the following:
- Shouldn't wait too long to bank funds for sidewalks due to increasing construction costs
- #1 choice is to use the TDA funding for the Homestead Full-time Bike Lanes - So many more people are using Homestead Road vs the sidewalk to Peterson Middle School
- Does not support the Pastoria Avenue Class III Bike Route because that doesn't improve safety for cyclists
- If banking funds are chosen then in favor of banking construction funds for the Homestead Road Full-time Bike Lanes and not the Peterson Middle School sidewalk
Vice Chair Beagle commented on the following:
- The BPAC is too far removed from the budget process to see how all the funds are allocated which leads to making uninformed recommendations - Need a better way to present the TDA funding to the BPAC - Would like to see explanations on the slides presented to City Council why a project wasn't eligible for TDA funding from a BPAC commissioner - Supports recommending funding for the Homestead Road Full-time Bike Lanes Commissioner Hafeman commented on the following:
- Supports recommending funding for the Homestead Road Full-time Bike Lanes and bank the rest
- Tremendous public input on the Homestead Road Full-time Bike Lanes, safety issue
Chair Oey commented on the following:
- Likes Install Sidewalk on Poplar Avenue project
- Likes the Homestead Road Full-time Bike Lanes project - Does not support Reduce pork chop islands on Westbound El Camino Real at
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Murphy Avenue at Frances Street project
- Ok with Implement Class III Bicycle Route on Pastoria Avenue project as long as there are sharrows
- Bike route not useable because the fence opening at Crawford Drive near Las Palmas Park is not wide enough for bikes with trailers. Would recommend using funding for it
MOTION: Commissioner Liu moved and Commissioner Hafeman seconded to fund design phase of Homestead Road Full-time Bike Lanes project and bank the remaining $301,038 for the construction phase and have the City find the remaining money needed for construction ($218,962) with a grant or out of the City budget.
Commissioner Hafeman commented on the following:
- Phase 1 - Complete sign distancing
- Phase 2 - Lane adjustments where identified along the project limits Ms. Tsang stated the road requires resurfacing the roadway and re-striping Vice Chair Beagle commented and asked about the following:
- Clarification on what can be recommended to City Council - Does a project have to be completed when using the funds? Or can you partially complete it?
- Will support the motion if the BPAC just recommends to City Council what needs to be prioritized and that City Council find funding elsewhere Ms. Tsang addressed the questions.
Commissioner Mehlman commented on the following:
- Clarification on how much money is available for TDA funding - Could spend all the money on three projects for the design phase - Could fund the Homestead Road Full-time Bike Lanes project 100% in the design phase
- Recommends paying 100% for the design phase for Homestead and then all the proposed projects except for Poplar Avenue
Chair Oey commented on the following:
- In favor of getting the design phase done on Homestead Road as soon as possible - Fund widening the fence opening at Crawford Drive near Las Palmas Park. A lot of people use the route and would like to see a 5 foot minimum width
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- Bank whatever is leftover in case something else comes up - Not in favor of the current motion. In favor of doing the design phase on Homestead Road and doing the construction on Las Palmas Park and leaving the rest of the funds available for other projects that might come up Vice Chair Beagle asked about the following:
- How long will design take? Is there enough funding for construction? Would construction start within a year?
Ms. Tsang addressed the questions.
Commissioner Hafeman commented on the following:
- Supports the motion as proposed
- Also, supports funding or the design on Homestead Road and bank the rest of the money for the Poplar sidewalk
- All the other projects are not as important
Commissioner Bonne commented on the following:
- El Camino does not have a lot of bicyclists and VTA will improve El Camino in the next 10 years
- Not in favor of implementing Class III Bicycle Route on Pastoria Avenue - Paint is not a suitable protection for bicyclists
- Install Sidewalk on Poplar Avenue should be high on the list of projects to complete and it is very popular with the public
- Supports converting all part-time bike lanes on Homestead Road into full-time bike lanes
Council Liaison Sell commented on the following:
- City Council voted against phasing the implementation of Homestead Full-time Bike Lanes by first changing the signs and then later on doing the other construction
- City Council voted to do all of the construction together Commissioner Liu commented on the following:
- Homestead Road project and the Poplar Sidewalk project are the most important - The other three projects aren't as important in terms of safety - In favor of allocating the remaining funds toward the construction of the Homestead Road project rather than giving it to Poplar Sidewalk project - Homestead High School serves 4,000 students versus the 900 students at
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Peterson Middle School
- Homestead serves all commuters versus zero commuters on Poplar Avenue - To complete the Homestead Road project, the City would have to find $220,000 versus having to find $500,000 - $600,000 for the Poplar Avenue sidewalk project - Design phase for the Poplar Avenue project has begun
Commissioner Mehlman commented on the following:
- All the commissioners agree that the Homestead Road project is the number one choice to fund for the design phase
- Can't agree on the secondary projects
- In favor of recommending to City Council to fund the design phase for Homestead Road and banking the funds leftover
Chair Oey and Vice Chair Beagle agree with Commissioner Mehlman's comments to recommend to City Council Alternative 2: Recommend to City Council to use the FY 2024/25 TDA Article 3 grant fund for an alternative project listed or a combination of projects listed. Voting no on the current motion.
Commission Liu asked about the following:
- Is there an advantage to allocating all of the money to the Homestead Road project today versus allocating all to design and not allocating any to construction? Ms. Tsang addressed the question.
FRIENDLY AMENDMENT: Commissioner Liu would like to allocate the $110,000 to the design of the Homestead Road Full-time Bike Lanes and bank the remaining funds. Commissioner Hafeman accepts the friendly amendment.
MOTION: Commissioner Liu moved and Commissioner Hafeman seconded to go with Alternative 2: Recommend to City Council to use the FY 2024/25 TDA Article 3 grant fund for an alternative project listed or a combination of projects listed with $110,000 of the funds to be allocated for the design phase of Homestead Road and the rest of the funds to be banked.
The amendment carried by the following vote:
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Yes Chair Oey
Vice Chair Beagle
Commissioner Bonne
Commissioner Hafeman
Commissioner Liu
Commissioner Mehlman
6 -
No 0
Absent Commissioner Davé1 -
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