1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,040
 All right.

2
00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:10,960
 We are live with our committee on persons with disability.

3
00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:11,960
 My name is Mario.

4
00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:16,880
 I'm the deputy city manager, and I'm going to hand it over to our chair, but before we

5
00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:21,720
 get started on officially calling the meeting to order, I just would like to say a couple

6
00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:24,360
 of housekeeping items.

7
00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:29,160
 This committee has not met for several months due to COVID.

8
00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:34,740
 We were scheduled to have a meeting, I believe, in March, and so a lot of the issues with

9
00:00:34,740 --> 00:00:41,360
 the pandemic started, and so as a result, city council authorized several of the committees

10
00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:47,480
 to stop meeting for the foreseeable future, and this is our first meeting back, and we

11
00:00:47,480 --> 00:00:51,620
 are doing a meeting virtually through Zoom.

12
00:00:51,620 --> 00:00:56,880
 So a couple of housekeeping things for our members and also for our committee members

13
00:00:56,880 --> 00:00:59,280
 and also for the viewing public.

14
00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:07,320
 Obviously, we're not in person, so this meeting is going out live via our streaming system

15
00:01:07,320 --> 00:01:08,980
 at the city.

16
00:01:08,980 --> 00:01:16,280
 So please be cognizant of the fact that we've got three presenters, staff presenters, certainly

17
00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:18,720
 members, was it a 11 member committee?

18
00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:23,320
 So it's a large committee, so please be cognizant of the fact that trying not to over speak

19
00:01:23,320 --> 00:01:27,700
 on people just because we're trying to keep some sort of order when it comes to the video

20
00:01:27,700 --> 00:01:32,600
 quality, audio quality of these meetings, and so if possible, if you could please raise

21
00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:42,000
 your hand, keep your microphones on mute so that we don't hear any feedback from the audio

22
00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:44,660
 that's going across your speakers.

23
00:01:44,660 --> 00:01:50,640
 So if possible, if you can raise your hand to be acknowledged so that the chair can acknowledge

24
00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:57,720
 you and allow you to speak, and so if there's a situation where there may be some crosstalk

25
00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:04,400
 that may not be audible, I'm going to do my best to try to reemphasize or at least restate

26
00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:10,440
 what was stated from the members so that way we can get that clearly on the record.

27
00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:14,520
 So with that, if there's any questions at that point, if there's no questions, I'd be

28
00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:18,200
 happy to hand it over to Mr. Rivera, but if you have any questions, I'd be happy to try

29
00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:21,120
 to answer that as best I can.

30
00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:22,120
 Okay.

31
00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:25,280
 Well, with that, Val, please take it away.

32
00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:26,280
 >> All right.

33
00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:27,280
 Thank you, Mario.

34
00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:28,280
 Appreciate that.

35
00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:29,280
 Thank you, everyone.

36
00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:36,680
 This is the Denton City Committee on People with Disabilities meeting, and it's nice to

37
00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:37,680
 see everyone.

38
00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:44,200
 It's been a few months, so it's nice to see everyone, and I guess it's time to get to

39
00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:45,200
 business.

40
00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:46,200
 Do we have any comment cards?

41
00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:50,140
 Do we need virtual cards now?

42
00:02:50,140 --> 00:02:51,140
 >> No, sir.

43
00:02:51,140 --> 00:02:52,140
 >> Okay.

44
00:02:52,140 --> 00:03:00,000
 So we will go to the next item, which is CPD 20-013, consider the approval of the minutes

45
00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:06,960
 of February 20th, 2020.

46
00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:12,400
 Yes, Rex.

47
00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:17,760
 >> I still move to accept the minutes as printed.

48
00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:18,760
 >> Alex?

49
00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:21,760
 >> I second.

50
00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:28,200
 >> All in favor?

51
00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:29,200
 >> Aye.

52
00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:30,200
 >> Yes, yeah.

53
00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:36,120
 So we will approve those minutes as stated.

54
00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:45,700
 Our second item, CPD 20-014, receive a report, hold a discussion, and give staff direction

55
00:03:45,700 --> 00:03:53,000
 regarding the allowable uses of the downtown reinvestment grant program and the possible

56
00:03:53,000 --> 00:04:06,840
 addition of funding of funding Americans with Disabilities Act improvements on eligible

57
00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:07,840
 projects.

58
00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:09,000
 >> Good afternoon, committee members.

59
00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:11,440
 This is the first time that I've met many of you.

60
00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:15,160
 I'm Jessica Rogers, I'm the director of economic development.

61
00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:21,320
 One of the responsibilities of our department is overseeing what we call development districts.

62
00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:25,520
 In this case, we're talking specifically about a tax increment reinvestment zone.

63
00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:28,180
 We have two here in the city of Dutton.

64
00:04:28,180 --> 00:04:34,980
 Out of our reinvestment zone that exists in downtown, we operate the downtown reinvestment

65
00:04:34,980 --> 00:04:35,980
 grant.

66
00:04:35,980 --> 00:04:39,480
 So I'm going to give a brief presentation about a suggested change that we're making

67
00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:42,200
 to that program that we thought the committee would be interested in.

68
00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:48,360
 So give me one second, and I'm going to bring up the presentation.

69
00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:52,440
 And while Jessica is doing that, one of the things that we've been working with our council

70
00:04:52,440 --> 00:05:00,040
 and other committees is to allow the presentation to go all the way through, and then the presenter

71
00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:04,700
 will then minimize the presentation and allow committee members or council members to ask

72
00:05:04,700 --> 00:05:09,320
 questions if that's okay.

73
00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:12,280
 >> Right.

74
00:05:12,280 --> 00:05:18,200
 So as I mentioned, we'll be discussing and getting your feedback about our plan to include

75
00:05:18,200 --> 00:05:24,240
 ADA improvements as eligible costs in our downtown reinvestment grant program.

76
00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:29,520
 A little background on the program is that the downtown reinvestment grant program provides

77
00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:35,880
 matching grants of up to $25,000 for improvements, renovations, rehabilitations, and historic

78
00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:39,000
 preservation projects in downtown Dutton.

79
00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:43,520
 Projects have to be within the boundaries of the downtown tax increment reinvestment

80
00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:51,200
 zone, number one, which is pretty much most of downtown, and those grants are funded through

81
00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:57,900
 dedicated tax dollars that come in through the reinvestment zone itself.

82
00:05:57,900 --> 00:06:04,740
 So in the grant program, applicants can submit for eligible projects that are within any

83
00:06:04,740 --> 00:06:07,000
 of these five categories.

84
00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:14,720
 So in the grant application, an applicant has to demonstrate the expenses, and the project

85
00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:16,240
 meets these categories.

86
00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:20,140
 So it could be a facade rehabilitation or a building renovation.

87
00:06:20,140 --> 00:06:25,200
 It could simply be an improvement to the awning and signs on the exterior of the building.

88
00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:27,840
 It could be impact fee reimbursements.

89
00:06:27,840 --> 00:06:32,540
 So there are many buildings in the downtown area that have to make utility improvements

90
00:06:32,540 --> 00:06:35,820
 during their renovation because they have older utilities.

91
00:06:35,820 --> 00:06:39,120
 And so this allows them to be reimbursed for a portion of those costs.

92
00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:44,560
 They may also do direct utility upgrades that could include water, wastewater, electrical

93
00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:45,560
 service.

94
00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:51,220
 And those utility upgrades could be either interior or exterior to the structure.

95
00:06:51,220 --> 00:06:54,840
 And lastly, any interior or code improvements.

96
00:06:54,840 --> 00:07:01,240
 That might include an asbestos abatement, mold abatement, or a fire suppression system.

97
00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:06,200
 Just to give you an example of what type of projects were going on that we fund with this,

98
00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:11,120
 this is actually a project that's being completed right now on McKinney Street.

99
00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:16,560
 If you're familiar with the area, so actually Locust would be right over here on the right

100
00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:18,480
 hand side of the skate shop.

101
00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:19,480
 And this is McKinney Street.

102
00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:25,000
 And so this is a former auto mechanic facility, and it's actually being renovated and converted

103
00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:26,480
 to a restaurant.

104
00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:31,600
 And so here's a rendering of what the project will look like when it's completed.

105
00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:33,680
 And it's actually under construction now.

106
00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:39,840
 It looks substantially different than this if you make your way past it today.

107
00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:44,000
 This is a rendering of what the, sorry, the schematic of what the interior will look like.

108
00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:48,000
 So if McKinney Street is over here, this is the front entrance.

109
00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:52,160
 And so those bay areas where the vehicles are in the last image are being converted

110
00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:58,640
 to a patio area, a bar area, a dining room, and then they're adding a full kitchen and

111
00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:02,040
 restroom and office and storage facilities.

112
00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:04,480
 So that's a project that came to us through the grant project.

113
00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:09,280
 Now because of this, the nature of this project and the conversion and the change in use of

114
00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:15,080
 the building, there are requirements that they meet come up to code on some ADA improvements.

115
00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:21,000
 So one of that is making sure that the bathrooms themselves meet ADA or compliant with ADA

116
00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:22,000
 requirements.

117
00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:29,720
 So a change in the grant that we're talking about would be to specifically call out ADA

118
00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:34,000
 improvements, like the one I just described, in the interior and code improvement section

119
00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:39,080
 of the grant to make sure that those expenses would be eligible if they were included in

120
00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:41,760
 the renovations that were occurring.

121
00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:48,400
 So our two boards that review these grants are our TERS board, and they expressed that

122
00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:54,900
 they wanted to specifically include ADA improvements under that interior and code improvement section

123
00:08:54,900 --> 00:08:56,600
 as an eligible project.

124
00:08:56,600 --> 00:09:01,480
 And then our downtown economic development committee also concurred with the TERS board.

125
00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:06,760
 And after we talked with those boards, we wanted to come to this committee to make sure

126
00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:12,660
 we have all of the feedback and understanding to move this forward.

127
00:09:12,660 --> 00:09:17,720
 And so our proposed change, like I said, is to add a specific definition under the interior

128
00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:23,680
 and code improvement section that improvements made as required or in accordance with the

129
00:09:23,680 --> 00:09:29,740
 Americans Disabilities Act as amended, certainly because it may change as we move forward,

130
00:09:29,740 --> 00:09:33,480
 would be eligible project expenses.

131
00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:37,840
 So just calling that out a little bit more is that the interior code improvement will

132
00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:42,080
 include that language now, or we're going to propose that to the TERS board at their

133
00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:45,200
 meeting next week that they adopt that language.

134
00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:49,280
 And then what will also change is the scoring criteria for grants.

135
00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:54,280
 ADA improvements can now be scored and can be awarded points on the scoring matrix for

136
00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:55,280
 the grants.

137
00:09:55,280 --> 00:09:59,920
 And so that may allow an applicant to get additional points, which increases the grant

138
00:09:59,920 --> 00:10:04,800
 that they're eligible to up to $25,000.

139
00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:09,120
 So the result of the work that we're doing is that we'll include clear language that

140
00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:15,000
 ADA improvements made as part of projects, either if they're required or elect if the

141
00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:18,720
 renovation, throughout the renovation there, it's elected to make those changes that those

142
00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:25,380
 are eligible expenses, and they can now be included as part of the scoring criteria.

143
00:10:25,380 --> 00:10:30,720
 So for our next steps after our discussion today, we'll move on to final review with

144
00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:33,280
 our TERS board next week.

145
00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:37,520
 And if the TERS board accepts the proposed changes, it will be going to the city council

146
00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:41,400
 for consideration later this summer.

147
00:10:41,400 --> 00:10:57,960
 And that's all I have and I will stop sharing my screen so I can see everyone.

148
00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:00,240
 I believe Mr. King has a question.

149
00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:01,240
 That's right.

150
00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:02,240
 Thank you.

151
00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:03,240
 I'm sorry.

152
00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:16,200
 Yes, before you distribute the grant, do you secure financial background on the on the

153
00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:22,560
 individuals to make sure they have sufficient funds to on their part to finish the project?

154
00:11:22,560 --> 00:11:24,600
 Yes, sir.

155
00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:25,920
 It's a reimbursement grant.

156
00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:30,640
 So they actually have to demonstrate the actual dollars they spent.

157
00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:34,880
 And so we approve the grant amount up to a certain dollar amount.

158
00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:38,800
 And then for us to before we actually pay them, they have to demonstrate that they made

159
00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:43,920
 those expenditures and provide us the invoices and receipts to document, to document those

160
00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:44,920
 expenses.

161
00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:47,920
 All right.

162
00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:48,920
 I have a question.

163
00:11:48,920 --> 00:11:49,920
 I can't raise my hand.

164
00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:50,920
 So I'll just jump in.

165
00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:59,320
 One of my main question is, if the grant is based on a competitive nature and a business

166
00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:10,000
 does not either get the grant to make those improvements, is there language that the business

167
00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:17,320
 where the business will understand that the ADA is a mandate regardless of whether they

168
00:12:17,320 --> 00:12:19,360
 get this grant or not?

169
00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:22,800
 I guess that's how I'm trying to get here.

170
00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:26,520
 For every business, I mean, the ADA is a mandate and they should be accessible.

171
00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:32,520
 So this should be looked at as, you know, an assistance to that.

172
00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:38,160
 But if they do not obtain it, it does not exempt them from not complying.

173
00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:40,160
 Yes, you're correct.

174
00:12:40,160 --> 00:12:47,080
 So many improvements that are made as part of these projects are well beyond the $25,000

175
00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:49,840
 in the grant, but they're still required to be made.

176
00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:54,720
 If someone's renovating a building, they have to bring it up to code at a certain point.

177
00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:58,960
 So yes, those would still be required, and those would be required as part of our building

178
00:12:58,960 --> 00:13:01,240
 review and development process.

179
00:13:01,240 --> 00:13:07,880
 The grant could help pay for them if that's what they elected to request in the grant.

180
00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:11,200
 Thank you.

181
00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:13,200
 Beth?

182
00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:30,840
 If they are requesting funds to use in their application for ADA renovations, are those

183
00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:38,960
 renovations and plans overseen by an ADA coordinator or an ADA engineer to make sure they're really

184
00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:44,360
 doing proper renovations?

185
00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:48,840
 I'll defer to Mario a little bit, because that's handled through our development services.

186
00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:53,120
 So the actual plans that are filed go through our development services department.

187
00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:59,040
 And so we require that someone from development services sign off and say, yes, the improvements

188
00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:02,760
 that they're making meet code.

189
00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:09,160
 I'm not sure of the exact detail of that process on their side.

190
00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:10,160
 Right.

191
00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:16,200
 As far as the design, certainly it would have to be designed through a licensed engineer.

192
00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:21,480
 But as far as the inspections, to make sure, as Ms. Rogers said, as far as the inspections,

193
00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:24,000
 those would go through our building inspections department.

194
00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:28,000
 And I believe you may have seen a presentation several months ago from Scott McDonald, our

195
00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:29,160
 chief building official.

196
00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:34,360
 So him, along with his inspectors and the assistant building official, they're required

197
00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:41,440
 by law to make sure that those ramps and other improvements that are ADA required are done

198
00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:51,840
 according to code.

199
00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:58,120
 Are there any other questions?

200
00:14:58,120 --> 00:15:00,000
 Thank you for the presentation.

201
00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:03,400
 Well thank you for letting me join you guys today.

202
00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:07,800
 Just to make sure, because it does give staff direction, I would assume that the committee

203
00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:13,560
 is in favor of this provision within the grant requirements.

204
00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:14,560
 Okay.

205
00:15:14,560 --> 00:15:15,560
 Yes.

206
00:15:15,560 --> 00:15:16,560
 Okay.

207
00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:17,560
 Yes.

208
00:15:17,560 --> 00:15:21,560
 We just want to make sure that that's included as part of the staff report, that it was presented

209
00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:26,240
 before the committee, and that the committee was in favor.

210
00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:27,240
 Thank you.

211
00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:28,240
 Okay.

212
00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:39,640
 Our next item, CPD-20-015, Receive a report, hold a discussion, and give staff direction

213
00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:46,520
 regarding an update of the AWAP crosswalk pilot program at the downtown intersections

214
00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:55,400
 at Oak and Elm, Oak and Locust, Hickory and Elm, and Hickory and Locust.

215
00:15:55,400 --> 00:16:02,360
 And Mr. Chairman, if I may, this presentation is going to be made by, I believe, Brian Yahn.

216
00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:04,220
 He's in our traffic department.

217
00:16:04,220 --> 00:16:05,820
 He's not on site.

218
00:16:05,820 --> 00:16:10,720
 So I believe he'll be able to load the presentation here shortly, if you'll give him just a few

219
00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:11,720
 seconds.

220
00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:12,720
 Sure.

221
00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:13,720
 Yes.

222
00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:14,720
 I'll try and share my screen.

223
00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:15,720
 Right.

224
00:16:15,720 --> 00:16:33,760
 There you go.

225
00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:34,760
 Okay.

226
00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:35,760
 We see you, Brian.

227
00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:36,760
 Awesome.

228
00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:37,760
 All right.

229
00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:38,760
 Can everybody see that?

230
00:16:38,760 --> 00:16:39,760
 Yep.

231
00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:40,760
 Excellent.

232
00:16:40,760 --> 00:16:46,640
 So, Brian Yahn, City Traffic Engineer, here to talk today about a pilot program.

233
00:16:46,640 --> 00:16:53,160
 And if you'll remember, late last year, close to the end of November, beginning of December,

234
00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:58,600
 staff implemented a, what we're calling an AWAP crosswalk around the square, those four

235
00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:04,640
 intersections, those four traffic signals that bound the four corners of the square downtown.

236
00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:10,680
 And what we did was we created a pedestrian-only phase.

237
00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:19,680
 So if you activated the crosswalk button at the end of the vehicle cycle that was currently

238
00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:27,800
 underway, it would provide 26 seconds of pedestrian crossing time that could get you across one

239
00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:32,240
 or possibly two of the intersection approaches.

240
00:17:32,240 --> 00:17:38,120
 So during that phase, none of the other cars were allowed to move.

241
00:17:38,120 --> 00:17:41,080
 We put up no left turn on red and no right turn on red.

242
00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:48,440
 So all the vehicles were supposed to stop when that pedestrian phase was activated.

243
00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:54,080
 So we had to, again, we put up the signs, PD went out and we did some enforcement.

244
00:17:54,080 --> 00:17:59,120
 And at the same time, during those first several months, and I think we actually pulled the

245
00:17:59,120 --> 00:18:03,720
 data that I'm going to be talking about today, middle or end of June.

246
00:18:03,720 --> 00:18:10,400
 So we had an online survey where people could provide their responses and their opinions

247
00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:15,640
 and their experiences with this AWAP crosswalk so that we can get some feedback of is it

248
00:18:15,640 --> 00:18:16,640
 good?

249
00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:17,640
 Is it bad?

250
00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:18,640
 Do you like it?

251
00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:19,640
 Do you not?

252
00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:20,640
 So that's what we're here today.

253
00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:29,280
 I've summarized what I think are the hot topic questions and there were some that were very

254
00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:35,840
 difficult to quantify and it was what we're looking at today are just the high level.

255
00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:37,540
 How was your experience?

256
00:18:37,540 --> 00:18:40,200
 How did you use the crosswalk?

257
00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:44,900
 And would you like to see this continue?

258
00:18:44,900 --> 00:18:48,160
 So the first question was IMA.

259
00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:51,400
 And you'll see the big area in blue, that is a Denton resident.

260
00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:57,100
 The other options were a visitor, employee of a business, student or business owner.

261
00:18:57,100 --> 00:19:03,320
 So by and large, the greatest number of people who use these AWAP crosswalks were Denton

262
00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:06,160
 residents who were visiting the square.

263
00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:09,400
 The second question is have you traveled through an AWAP crosswalk intersection?

264
00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:14,680
 92% of the respondents said yes.

265
00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:18,480
 And then this question was to try to figure out how did you use it?

266
00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:19,480
 Did you drive through it?

267
00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:21,480
 Did you walk through it?

268
00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:25,140
 Did you go through it as a cyclist or as a transit passenger?

269
00:19:25,140 --> 00:19:34,880
 So 44% were drivers, 51% were pedestrians, we only had about 3 or 4% of transit riders

270
00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:35,880
 are cyclists.

271
00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:41,920
 So primarily drivers, people driving through those intersections, and pedestrians, people

272
00:19:41,920 --> 00:19:47,040
 who are just walking around the square going to a destination.

273
00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:50,280
 As a pedestrian, how safe did you feel at this AWAP crosswalk?

274
00:19:50,280 --> 00:20:01,000
 35% said they were safer, they felt safer than they did before, 35% were neutral, about

275
00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:04,320
 the same, and then we had 10% that didn't feel as safe.

276
00:20:04,320 --> 00:20:13,720
 So if you look at the neutrals and the people who felt safer, you've got about 90% of pedestrians

277
00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:19,840
 thought that the AWAP crosswalk were at least as safe, if not safer, than moving with traffic

278
00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:22,940
 with the vehicular traffic at the same time.

279
00:20:22,940 --> 00:20:30,440
 And then, this is kind of a follow on question, did you like the fact that basically did you

280
00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:38,440
 feel safe because there were no vehicles moving, 86% said yes, we felt safe, 9% were about

281
00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:44,600
 the same, and then 5% felt less safe crossing with just pedestrians versus crossing with

282
00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:47,540
 pedestrians and vehicles.

283
00:20:47,540 --> 00:20:53,840
 And then, as an auto driver, this is looking at that other 40 or 50%, do you feel that

284
00:20:53,840 --> 00:21:01,440
 they are safer or less safe than the option of moving pedestrians and vehicles at the

285
00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:08,920
 same time, and 55% were in favor or felt they were safer, and 28% neutral, and 17% didn't

286
00:21:08,920 --> 00:21:10,760
 feel it was as safe.

287
00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:22,080
 So if you add again the neutral and the safer, then you've got about 83% of the respondents

288
00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:29,280
 that said that if you're as a driver, it was as safe or safer than moving with pedestrians.

289
00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:37,400
 And then, the next question was basically aimed at all modes of transportation, do you

290
00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:42,600
 feel that the all walk crosswalks are safer in general, 78% yes, 22% no.

291
00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:48,920
 So again, we're seeing a majority, two thirds to three fourths at least of the respondents

292
00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:58,600
 that are finding the all walk crosswalk to be a safer option.

293
00:21:58,600 --> 00:22:08,120
 And then, this was with that all walk crosswalk, with that pedestrian phase, there's a little

294
00:22:08,120 --> 00:22:15,760
 bit of an additional delay inherent because we're offering only the vehicles move at one

295
00:22:15,760 --> 00:22:17,620
 time and the pedestrians move at one time.

296
00:22:17,620 --> 00:22:22,720
 So on average, whether you're a pedestrian or a driver, it's going to add at least three

297
00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:28,200
 to four seconds to your overall trip, that's just a nature of the way we've segmented the

298
00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:34,600
 time of the traffic signal, but again, 75% said yes, that three second to four second

299
00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:40,480
 delay, well worth the enhanced safety.

300
00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:46,440
 And do you think that there are benefit to downtown again, 75, 25 in favor?

301
00:22:46,440 --> 00:22:50,480
 Would you like to see all crosswalks, all walk crosswalks at other pedestrian heavy

302
00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:58,480
 locations within Denton, two thirds said yes, 25% no, and then this, the 8% was, it's kind

303
00:22:58,480 --> 00:23:04,200
 of a miss, there was a follow on question, but basically what we're talking about in

304
00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:10,440
 this question is, would you like to see these at other intersections where we've got high

305
00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:17,440
 pedestrian volumes, whether it be around UNT or TWU, anywhere we've got pedestrian volumes

306
00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:23,600
 that are significant enough to, we're really concerned about that, or we've got a long

307
00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:28,080
 crossing, or we're really concerned about getting the pedestrians across safely and

308
00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:33,880
 not having that conflict with the vehicles, whether they're turning left or turning right.

309
00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:38,840
 So with that, I'm not sure if any of you have had the opportunity to pass through any of

310
00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:47,880
 those intersections, but we would love some feedback or opinions or other input relative

311
00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:55,640
 to the question at hand is, should we retain this as a permanent operation or should we

312
00:23:55,640 --> 00:24:00,320
 terminate the pilot and revert back to having the vehicles and the pedestrians moving the

313
00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:01,320
 same time?

314
00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:12,800
 So I'll open up, I'll minimize this and I'll open up the floor for questions and comments.

315
00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:15,320
 Val, I believe Mr. King has a question.

316
00:24:15,320 --> 00:24:18,800
 Sorry, my screen hadn't popped up yet.

317
00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:19,800
 That's okay.

318
00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:22,240
 Go ahead, Rex.

319
00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:23,240
 This is more of a comment.

320
00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:31,080
 I have to use an electric wheelchair, occupational hazard of killing commies for mommy.

321
00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:43,320
 The new program where you have all intersections open for pedestrian traffic has greatly enhanced

322
00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:48,580
 my ability to get that electric wheelchair across the intersection safely.

323
00:24:48,580 --> 00:24:55,920
 There have been times where I've been in the intersection prior to this all intersection,

324
00:24:55,920 --> 00:25:02,120
 all stop situation where people were in a hurry and were making right or left hand turns

325
00:25:02,120 --> 00:25:11,280
 on red and I've actually been hit and they didn't hit me hard enough to kill me, but

326
00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:12,920
 it was a bit annoying.

327
00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:23,000
 So I, for one, am very pleased with this and I think it should be continued at intersections

328
00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:25,240
 where there are a lot of pedestrians.

329
00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:28,580
 I can't get out of the way of people when they turn like that.

330
00:25:28,580 --> 00:25:32,720
 They can't see me because I'm lower in electric wheelchair.

331
00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:39,600
 And so I think this is an enhancement and it's a safety issue.

332
00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:47,360
 Tom, then Beth, or John, I'm sorry.

333
00:25:47,360 --> 00:25:50,640
 I agree that they're safer.

334
00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:57,680
 And I think I'm completely blind, I've not met any of you yet, but I find those crosswalks

335
00:25:57,680 --> 00:25:59,280
 easier to cross and safer.

336
00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:05,600
 Now, if we can keep people from stopping on top of the crosswalk, then that would be great,

337
00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:08,000
 especially at Hickory and Locust.

338
00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:14,840
 But yeah, I think these new crosswalks, the new crosswalks set up is great.

339
00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:16,000
 Beth?

340
00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:24,360
 One, I apologize for my dogs, I can't work the mute button properly.

341
00:26:24,360 --> 00:26:34,400
 Two, I've gotten a lot of feedback from college-age kids and they say that they love the new system.

342
00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:36,120
 They're all for it.

343
00:26:36,120 --> 00:26:45,040
 They particularly would like to have the diagonals put in that we have talked about before.

344
00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:52,240
 But the comment that was the most striking was one said to me, "It's not just about

345
00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:53,840
 the crosswalks."

346
00:26:53,840 --> 00:27:01,880
 He said, "Pedestrians no longer lunge in front of our cars midway down the block trying

347
00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:06,240
 to beat the light cycle."

348
00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:10,480
 They were afraid of the light cycle, so they just try to jump out in front of cars and

349
00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:11,480
 run across the street.

350
00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:17,120
 And they said that that has cut way back.

351
00:27:17,120 --> 00:27:19,400
 Sonya?

352
00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:24,080
 Thanks, Val.

353
00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:30,560
 I'm looking at the feedback that was provided to us in our agenda on the feedback forum,

354
00:27:30,560 --> 00:27:38,520
 similar to what Beth said, a lot of comments about diagonal and making that a crosswalk,

355
00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:43,440
 making that time frame a little bit longer.

356
00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:52,200
 And so I didn't know how y'all were going to be using that feedback as I think the majority

357
00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:54,040
 of the comments were really positive.

358
00:27:54,040 --> 00:28:00,880
 And so I think keeping this would be ideal and expanding to other locations where there's

359
00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:06,840
 high pedestrian volume, but how are you going to be using some of this feedback and incorporating

360
00:28:06,840 --> 00:28:11,280
 that into more permanent designs?

361
00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:12,280
 Let me address that.

362
00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:20,800
 So our intention all along has been that if this is received in a positive manner and

363
00:28:20,800 --> 00:28:25,560
 the city council decides to make it a permanent operation, then we're going to come back and

364
00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:27,360
 add those diagonals.

365
00:28:27,360 --> 00:28:30,480
 What we didn't want to do, and because it's going to take some capital dollars, we actually

366
00:28:30,480 --> 00:28:35,360
 have to reconstruct partial portions of the corners, what we didn't want to do was create

367
00:28:35,360 --> 00:28:43,280
 that diagonal and then have the program not be successful and then not have that safety.

368
00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:45,640
 Basically you provided a crosswalk that we can no longer protect.

369
00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:51,200
 So that's always been the plan is if this is is permittized, if we continue to do the

370
00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:57,680
 all walk crosswalk, then we will come back with sidewalk dollars and create those diagonals

371
00:28:57,680 --> 00:29:03,360
 is that's going to help a lot of getting instead of having to make two crossings, you'll just

372
00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:04,360
 have to make one.

373
00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:10,480
 So yes, that is the plan and we are committed to that.

374
00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:17,160
 So as far as the like timeframe, some of the other feedback in the feedback form is increasing

375
00:29:17,160 --> 00:29:22,400
 the length of time, you don't anticipate the need to increase the length of time if you

376
00:29:22,400 --> 00:29:24,640
 add those diagonal crosswalks.

377
00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:25,880
 Exactly.

378
00:29:25,880 --> 00:29:30,880
 If we add the diagonals, the feedback that I saw, sometimes it's difficult for people

379
00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:35,400
 to depend upon how fast they're actually able to travel to make it across two.

380
00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:40,320
 So if we put the diagonals, it's actually a shorter distance, so we might not have to

381
00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:44,840
 increase the time, they may find that they can make that diagonal very comfortably within

382
00:29:44,840 --> 00:29:46,720
 the amount of time that we're providing.

383
00:29:46,720 --> 00:29:51,000
 Of course, we're constantly looking at opportunities to tweak it.

384
00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:57,280
 So when we when we do put the diagonals in, initially, we'll leave the timing as is, but

385
00:29:57,280 --> 00:30:02,360
 we'll constantly monitor and we may be able to shorten the time, because now you can get

386
00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:06,560
 across that intersection diagonally, you don't need the same amount of time that we were

387
00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:09,440
 trying to provide to be able to cross two legs.

388
00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:14,320
 So if you're crossing one leg, or you're making a diagonal, you may actually need less time,

389
00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:15,780
 we just don't know yet.

390
00:30:15,780 --> 00:30:22,200
 But we'll constantly monitor whatever direction we end up taking, we'll change those timings

391
00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:25,200
 as needed.

392
00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:29,920
 Yeah, sorry, lots of questions.

393
00:30:29,920 --> 00:30:35,880
 My other question is, again, looking at the feedback and me being a violator myself, I

394
00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:42,640
 know it was took a little bit of time to get used to not turning right on red, and be mindful

395
00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:43,640
 of that.

396
00:30:43,640 --> 00:30:47,080
 So what type of education did y'all use?

397
00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:51,440
 I know I saw some of the signs and those kind of things, but what do you plan on continuing?

398
00:30:51,440 --> 00:30:55,440
 Or did you see that decrease as time went on?

399
00:30:55,440 --> 00:31:04,160
 Well, so I drive through the square as often as I can, just to watch this pilot program,

400
00:31:04,160 --> 00:31:06,080
 and it has diminished significantly.

401
00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:11,880
 The turns on red, now, we still get violators, and we still get pedestrians that are crossing

402
00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:18,200
 without trying to activate the button, they just walk.

403
00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:23,440
 We'll never get rid of all of that, but we will continue the enforcement with PD, and

404
00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:29,240
 the social media on the website, and we'll continue the education process as long as

405
00:31:29,240 --> 00:31:30,240
 needed.

406
00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:36,440
 And it is a learning curve, and as people are now starting to drive again, they may

407
00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:40,760
 not have driven through those in a while.

408
00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:46,200
 So we still have, because we're coming out of the entire COVID, and people are starting

409
00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:50,080
 to go back, and activity is starting to pick up, we're going to have a little bit of that

410
00:31:50,080 --> 00:31:51,840
 learning curve all over again.

411
00:31:51,840 --> 00:31:59,680
 So we quelled a lot of it, and now people are going to be kind of new again, oh, I don't

412
00:31:59,680 --> 00:32:02,960
 remember that I can't turn right on red here, or left on red here.

413
00:32:02,960 --> 00:32:07,920
 So that education will continue.

414
00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:19,440
 >> What type of textual feedback will you provide for blind people on the diagonal crosswalk?

415
00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:24,160
 >> Could you repeat that, I missed the first part.

416
00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:30,080
 >> What type of textual feedback on the diagonal crosswalk will you provide for blind people?

417
00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:36,360
 >> Well, it will be the same as the other, the domes will be there, it will be the same,

418
00:32:36,360 --> 00:32:41,760
 we may actually do a, well, it's better to have it channelized, we have found.

419
00:32:41,760 --> 00:32:47,440
 So it's just going to be another accessible ramp that's pointing diagonally.

420
00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:51,640
 So you'll have, potentially have three ramps on a corner.

421
00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:55,240
 I don't like to lay down, where they lay down the entire corner, that doesn't give enough

422
00:32:55,240 --> 00:32:59,600
 direction as far as I'm concerned, and you're not lined up.

423
00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:03,560
 So it will be, and that's the construction that I talked about, we have to go back and

424
00:33:03,560 --> 00:33:08,120
 add those additional ramps, so they'll have the same treatment that the other facilities

425
00:33:08,120 --> 00:33:09,120
 do.

426
00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:10,120
 >> John?

427
00:33:10,120 --> 00:33:18,920
 >> I agree with you about the corners not being fully flattened, that's very difficult

428
00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:24,120
 to figure out which direction to walk, and if there's any way, since we're talking about

429
00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:32,120
 the crosswalks, to have any other textual thing, maybe along the sides of the crosswalks,

430
00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:41,080
 that would be great, it's not the truncated dome that's necessarily as large as it is

431
00:33:41,080 --> 00:33:48,280
 on the ramps to the crosswalks, but I know there are countries with textual stuff within

432
00:33:48,280 --> 00:33:53,440
 the crosswalk that have to blind out tremendously.

433
00:33:53,440 --> 00:33:56,840
 We try to walk straight, but it doesn't always work out.

434
00:33:56,840 --> 00:34:03,000
 And we can certainly look at options, again, if we're going to initiate a construction

435
00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:09,040
 project to create those new ramps, we can certainly look at options to address the crosswalks

436
00:34:09,040 --> 00:34:10,040
 themselves.

437
00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:16,120
 It may be something that we want to incorporate as a standard on an all-walk crosswalk, or

438
00:34:16,120 --> 00:34:21,760
 maybe all-crosswalks, to see if that's an additional, tactile reference for pedestrians.

439
00:34:21,760 --> 00:34:35,160
 Beth, you're muted or I'm mute.

440
00:34:35,160 --> 00:34:40,660
 I just wanted to mention that when we first were learning about the all-walk crosswalk,

441
00:34:40,660 --> 00:34:48,040
 we talked about the initial pedestrian delay that they had been using, and one of the things

442
00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:56,120
 we talked about was adding that initial pedestrian delay to every crosswalk in Denton, because

443
00:34:56,120 --> 00:34:58,800
 we didn't see any reason not to.

444
00:34:58,800 --> 00:34:59,800
 Correct.

445
00:34:59,800 --> 00:35:06,780
 You're talking about what we call the leading pedestrian interval, where the walk sign comes

446
00:35:06,780 --> 00:35:13,440
 up five or six seconds, and we're installing that, we are.

447
00:35:13,440 --> 00:35:18,320
 It's taking a little bit longer than we thought, we got pulled in some other different directions,

448
00:35:18,320 --> 00:35:24,000
 but that's still our plan is to, wherever we've got pedestrians, we're going to have

449
00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:25,600
 that leading pedestrian interval.

450
00:35:25,600 --> 00:35:26,600
 Okay.

451
00:35:26,600 --> 00:35:27,600
 Thank you.

452
00:35:27,600 --> 00:35:30,600
 Yeah, that's still the plan.

453
00:35:30,600 --> 00:35:34,280
 All right, great.

454
00:35:34,280 --> 00:35:39,880
 I just have one comment that's maybe a minor thing, just on the use of language of the

455
00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:50,600
 all-walk, perhaps change that to all traverse or all direction, so that the language is

456
00:35:50,600 --> 00:35:52,200
 inclusive of everyone.

457
00:35:52,200 --> 00:35:55,040
 How about the all-ways crosswalk?

458
00:35:55,040 --> 00:35:56,040
 That's perfect.

459
00:35:56,040 --> 00:36:02,560
 That was something that was, I don't know that we coined it, but it's out there in the

460
00:36:02,560 --> 00:36:09,000
 industry, and I hear what you're saying, and we can certainly wordsmith that title.

461
00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:12,080
 Yes, I have.

462
00:36:12,080 --> 00:36:16,080
 Mr. Chair, before we move on to the next item, I do want to make one quick comment.

463
00:36:16,080 --> 00:36:20,000
 One thing I don't think that Brian mentioned in his presentation is, and it was something

464
00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:24,800
 that's come up since the whole pandemic, was to try to figure out a way to minimize the

465
00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:29,040
 touching touch points there in some of those public areas.

466
00:36:29,040 --> 00:36:34,000
 And so there will probably be, and that is an item that was brought forward by some city

467
00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:37,880
 council members and some members of the community that was providing input.

468
00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:43,160
 And so what they'll be doing in addition to, and again, I don't want to speak for the committee,

469
00:36:43,160 --> 00:36:50,760
 but if you all do recommend moving forward with this proposal to maintain that is it

470
00:36:50,760 --> 00:36:57,840
 always a crosswalk, that we also look at the appropriate technology to, again, minimize

471
00:36:57,840 --> 00:37:00,480
 those touch points around the square.

472
00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:05,200
 And we're also looking at not just the square, but around those more highly pedestrian areas,

473
00:37:05,200 --> 00:37:11,760
 but certainly kind of get started with the square just because it is a high profile area

474
00:37:11,760 --> 00:37:17,320
 with a lot of pedestrian traffic throughout the course of any part of the year, any part

475
00:37:17,320 --> 00:37:20,100
 of the day.

476
00:37:20,100 --> 00:37:23,160
 So if you don't mind, Mario, I'm going to follow.

477
00:37:23,160 --> 00:37:26,320
 We are doing a pilot project.

478
00:37:26,320 --> 00:37:27,920
 It's not downtown.

479
00:37:27,920 --> 00:37:35,160
 We are testing some of this technology that is basically, it's a passive pedestrian detector.

480
00:37:35,160 --> 00:37:42,560
 So it's just a sensor that mounts on a pole above the crosswalk or the landing.

481
00:37:42,560 --> 00:37:47,000
 And our first location we're going to try is Riddell at 380.

482
00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:50,880
 That's a fairly high pedestrian crossing and it's a long crosswalk.

483
00:37:50,880 --> 00:37:55,880
 So one of the issues that we're trying to figure out how well that technology would

484
00:37:55,880 --> 00:38:00,740
 work around the square is sometimes people just dwell there on the corners and they're

485
00:38:00,740 --> 00:38:05,120
 not really ready to cross yet, but they're standing there and they're talking and they're,

486
00:38:05,120 --> 00:38:10,880
 so we're trying to figure out how sensitive we can make this equipment so we can really

487
00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:15,140
 just detect only those people who are ready to make that crossing.

488
00:38:15,140 --> 00:38:17,680
 So we are working towards that.

489
00:38:17,680 --> 00:38:26,960
 Okay, one more question, Beth.

490
00:38:26,960 --> 00:38:30,600
 When are you going to be testing that at Riddell on 380?

491
00:38:30,600 --> 00:38:39,920
 I, so we met about a month ago with the vendor and the pilot is at no charge to us.

492
00:38:39,920 --> 00:38:45,640
 So I think he said we were 60 days out, so probably another 30 days for them to get the

493
00:38:45,640 --> 00:38:52,080
 hardware and get it installed and start our test period.

494
00:38:52,080 --> 00:38:53,080
 Thank you.

495
00:38:53,080 --> 00:38:54,080
 You're welcome.

496
00:38:54,080 --> 00:39:02,240
 No other questions, comments?

497
00:39:02,240 --> 00:39:03,240
 That's your Brian.

498
00:39:03,240 --> 00:39:10,600
 So Mr. Chair, again, just like the previous item, we were just trying to get input from

499
00:39:10,600 --> 00:39:18,160
 the committee to recommend or not recommend to the full council on this program.

500
00:39:18,160 --> 00:39:23,780
 So just really just looking at consensus or shaking of nodding of heads or whatever you

501
00:39:23,780 --> 00:39:28,720
 all feel is comfortable.

502
00:39:28,720 --> 00:39:36,240
 I think there is consensus considering with all the comments and the minor.

503
00:39:36,240 --> 00:39:37,240
 Good deal.

504
00:39:37,240 --> 00:39:38,240
 Well, thank you very much.

505
00:39:38,240 --> 00:39:39,240
 Yeah.

506
00:39:39,240 --> 00:39:40,240
 Thank you, Brian.

507
00:39:40,240 --> 00:39:41,240
 Okay.

508
00:39:41,240 --> 00:39:52,200
 Our next item, CPD-20-016, receive a report, hold a discussion and give staff direction

509
00:39:52,200 --> 00:39:58,800
 regarding the 2020 debt mobility plan update with a focus on the one-way versus two-way

510
00:39:58,800 --> 00:40:02,040
 traffic analysis.

511
00:40:02,040 --> 00:40:06,840
 And this will be Brian Yon again, be bringing that presentation to the committee.

512
00:40:06,840 --> 00:40:07,840
 Okay.

513
00:40:07,840 --> 00:40:15,960
 All right, I've lost my mouse, so there we are.

514
00:40:15,960 --> 00:40:16,960
 Okay.

515
00:40:16,960 --> 00:40:25,160
 So I'm going to share my screen again.

516
00:40:25,160 --> 00:40:31,640
 Can you see that?

517
00:40:31,640 --> 00:40:33,640
 Yes.

518
00:40:33,640 --> 00:40:35,640
 Okay.

519
00:40:35,640 --> 00:40:41,680
 So, can everybody see that?

520
00:40:41,680 --> 00:40:42,680
 Yeah.

521
00:40:42,680 --> 00:40:43,680
 Okay.

522
00:40:43,680 --> 00:40:45,640
 There it goes.

523
00:40:45,640 --> 00:40:46,640
 Okay.

524
00:40:46,640 --> 00:40:55,960
 So, this topic has been brought about by a request from council to look at the conversion

525
00:40:55,960 --> 00:41:02,280
 of Elm and Locust and Oak and Hickory from one-way operation to two-way.

526
00:41:02,280 --> 00:41:05,560
 What are the impacts and how does that work?

527
00:41:05,560 --> 00:41:09,600
 So I changed the title of this.

528
00:41:09,600 --> 00:41:14,680
 I used to say one-way versus two-way, but there's not really a versus.

529
00:41:14,680 --> 00:41:21,360
 Both types of streets have their good points, their bad points, they both have their place.

530
00:41:21,360 --> 00:41:27,400
 It's really up to the community as to what type of street they want to have.

531
00:41:27,400 --> 00:41:32,480
 So basically what I want to talk about today is some of the characteristics of one-way,

532
00:41:32,480 --> 00:41:42,600
 some of the characteristics of two-way relative to pedestrians, congestion, mobility, et cetera.

533
00:41:42,600 --> 00:41:46,800
 So if you ask any two, sorry, this is my humor.

534
00:41:46,800 --> 00:41:50,320
 If you ask any two traffic engineers are two-way streets better than one-way streets, you're

535
00:41:50,320 --> 00:41:53,920
 going to get three answers, yes, no, and it depends.

536
00:41:53,920 --> 00:41:57,900
 And it's really that middle answer there that it depends.

537
00:41:57,900 --> 00:42:03,680
 That's what I want to focus on because it really does depend on the choices that the

538
00:42:03,680 --> 00:42:10,720
 community makes and their goals and what they want for their community.

539
00:42:10,720 --> 00:42:17,120
 So relative to goals, improve safety, that's always one of our top goals.

540
00:42:17,120 --> 00:42:24,000
 We always are striving to increase the safety of the intersections and the roadways in town.

541
00:42:24,000 --> 00:42:30,920
 Mobility options, how do we get all modes of travel better served?

542
00:42:30,920 --> 00:42:39,200
 Economic vitality, how can we serve our business stakeholders to the highest level?

543
00:42:39,200 --> 00:42:41,960
 Is that with a one-way street, is it with a two-way?

544
00:42:41,960 --> 00:42:46,760
 And then the last one is to decrease congestion.

545
00:42:46,760 --> 00:42:52,960
 This historically has been the traffic engineer's first thing as well, we need to decrease congestion.

546
00:42:52,960 --> 00:43:00,600
 But at some point, there are times when the tradeoff versus increased congestion is worth

547
00:43:00,600 --> 00:43:06,600
 the increase in safety or increase in mobility or economic vitality.

548
00:43:06,600 --> 00:43:10,520
 So it's really, it's always a tradeoff.

549
00:43:10,520 --> 00:43:16,440
 One of the ground rules of this particular study is that we are not reconstructing these

550
00:43:16,440 --> 00:43:17,440
 four roadways.

551
00:43:17,440 --> 00:43:21,840
 We're taking them as is, curb to curb, the pavement that's there, it's not going to get

552
00:43:21,840 --> 00:43:23,120
 any wider.

553
00:43:23,120 --> 00:43:25,200
 So that's one of our constraints.

554
00:43:25,200 --> 00:43:30,880
 So we're looking at how do we best purpose these roadways one-way or two-way?

555
00:43:30,880 --> 00:43:36,040
 So I'm going to start with safety and I'm going to start with pedestrians.

556
00:43:36,040 --> 00:43:41,840
 So on a one-way street, if you're crossing the main street and it's in one direction,

557
00:43:41,840 --> 00:43:42,840
 you only have to look one direction.

558
00:43:42,840 --> 00:43:45,720
 So that's kind of a plus.

559
00:43:45,720 --> 00:43:55,280
 Just as a side note, when I was at the city of Fort Worth, we converted the West Seventh

560
00:43:55,280 --> 00:44:01,640
 area from two-way to one-way and it's significantly enhanced the ability of pedestrians to cross

561
00:44:01,640 --> 00:44:02,760
 the street.

562
00:44:02,760 --> 00:44:09,080
 So with two-way streets, if you're crossing a, say if you took Locust and made it two-way

563
00:44:09,080 --> 00:44:14,840
 and you want to cross from east to west, well now you've got to make sure you look both

564
00:44:14,840 --> 00:44:15,840
 directions.

565
00:44:15,840 --> 00:44:22,360
 And to that end, if you're crossing a one-way street that's more than one lane wide, the

566
00:44:22,360 --> 00:44:27,160
 first car at the curb sees you as you step off the curb, it stops, but that second car

567
00:44:27,160 --> 00:44:31,080
 may not because you're now shadowed by the car that stopped for you.

568
00:44:31,080 --> 00:44:34,520
 So that's a definite detriment for pedestrian traffic.

569
00:44:34,520 --> 00:44:43,360
 They're not, with multi-lane one-way streets, you have this factor of basically invisibility.

570
00:44:43,360 --> 00:44:50,560
 On a two-way street, the same width, one lane in each direction now, both cars have a clear

571
00:44:50,560 --> 00:44:57,680
 line of sight to the pedestrian as they step off the curb, whichever direction you go.

572
00:44:57,680 --> 00:45:03,460
 One of the other things we look at as we analyze the safety of a given situation are the number

573
00:45:03,460 --> 00:45:05,200
 of conflict points.

574
00:45:05,200 --> 00:45:13,320
 So we look at pedestrian and vehicular conflict points on a two-way, one-way, and when you've

575
00:45:13,320 --> 00:45:19,320
 got a one-way main street, you've got literally half as many conflict points as if you have

576
00:45:19,320 --> 00:45:20,600
 a two-way.

577
00:45:20,600 --> 00:45:26,720
 So again, you've got cars now coming in both directions, you've got pedestrians that have

578
00:45:26,720 --> 00:45:28,640
 to look left and right.

579
00:45:28,640 --> 00:45:35,160
 So that's a very important factor that we look at is just the more conflict points we

580
00:45:35,160 --> 00:45:40,100
 have, that's a greater opportunity for crashes to happen.

581
00:45:40,100 --> 00:45:45,440
 So with the fewer conflict points, you have a lower crash potential, increased conflict

582
00:45:45,440 --> 00:45:50,880
 points, higher crash potential, and the key word there is potential because just because

583
00:45:50,880 --> 00:45:56,680
 you have more conflict points doesn't necessarily mean you're going to have more crashes.

584
00:45:56,680 --> 00:46:01,440
 One of the other characteristics of one-way streets are because you don't have that friction

585
00:46:01,440 --> 00:46:07,320
 of somebody traveling in the other direction, you tend to have the potential for higher

586
00:46:07,320 --> 00:46:13,720
 speeds and that higher speed leads to higher severity of crashes.

587
00:46:13,720 --> 00:46:18,080
 On a two-way street, you've got the potential for somebody to be traveling in the other

588
00:46:18,080 --> 00:46:19,080
 direction.

589
00:46:19,080 --> 00:46:20,320
 You've got a head-on traffic.

590
00:46:20,320 --> 00:46:25,080
 Somebody facing you, people tend to slow down, lower speed, more survivable crash, so the

591
00:46:25,080 --> 00:46:32,560
 severity of those crashes on a two-way street typically go down.

592
00:46:32,560 --> 00:46:36,920
 So I just wanted to throw up the little summary here.

593
00:46:36,920 --> 00:46:49,040
 This is the last 10 years of crash data from the state, and their database is filled or

594
00:46:49,040 --> 00:46:53,420
 created by all of the cities throughout the state submitting their crash reports.

595
00:46:53,420 --> 00:46:59,200
 So this is a fairly accurate depiction of the number of crashes on Oak and Hickory,

596
00:46:59,200 --> 00:47:05,240
 that's the top slide, and then Elm and Locust, and I apologize, but north would be to your

597
00:47:05,240 --> 00:47:06,240
 right.

598
00:47:06,240 --> 00:47:12,280
 So that on the bottom half of your slide where it says 219, that is Elm and Locust, those

599
00:47:12,280 --> 00:47:16,240
 two yellow lines, and that's University Drive 380.

600
00:47:16,240 --> 00:47:23,400
 So Oak and Hickory in the last 10 years, we've had 617 crashes, zero fatalities, but a hundred

601
00:47:23,400 --> 00:47:24,400
 and ten injuries.

602
00:47:24,400 --> 00:47:28,000
 Now, some of those injuries are severe and some are not.

603
00:47:28,000 --> 00:47:34,080
 On Elm and Locust, much higher volume roadways, higher speed roadways, almost 1,100 crashes

604
00:47:34,080 --> 00:47:38,640
 in that same 10-year period, two fatalities, and 362 injuries.

605
00:47:38,640 --> 00:47:42,080
 This is the kind of thing that we look at, we look at the hotspots.

606
00:47:42,080 --> 00:47:51,160
 If you look at on the bottom half of your screen, the 322, that's around the square.

607
00:47:51,160 --> 00:47:58,040
 So a lot of crashes around the square, and a lot of crashes on Elm and Locust at University.

608
00:47:58,040 --> 00:48:03,520
 Now, that's not saying it's because they're one way or not, but that does give us some

609
00:48:03,520 --> 00:48:08,680
 indication of the type of crashes, the number of crashes that we can expect.

610
00:48:08,680 --> 00:48:12,200
 Hey, Brian, can I stop you for just a moment?

611
00:48:12,200 --> 00:48:21,080
 Hey, Val, I believe I'm getting a word in my ear that I believe Mr. Rivas may have his

612
00:48:21,080 --> 00:48:26,160
 hand up, the virtual hand that you can do with Zoom.

613
00:48:26,160 --> 00:48:31,280
 I don't know if you need to just acknowledge Mr. Rivas to see if he has any questions before

614
00:48:31,280 --> 00:48:34,280
 we move forward.

615
00:48:34,280 --> 00:48:44,720
 Can you bring the presentation down, Brian, for just a moment, please?

616
00:48:44,720 --> 00:48:47,920
 Yeah.

617
00:48:47,920 --> 00:48:51,400
 You see everybody now, Val.

618
00:48:51,400 --> 00:48:54,920
 If you don't mind asking Joe if he has anything.

619
00:48:54,920 --> 00:49:08,560
 Joe, did you have a question?

620
00:49:08,560 --> 00:49:15,120
 Joe, we can barely hear you.

621
00:49:15,120 --> 00:49:36,680
 I don't know if you can bring your image up, please.

622
00:49:36,680 --> 00:49:46,560
 Okay.

623
00:49:46,560 --> 00:49:48,560
 I'm not hearing anything on my end either.

624
00:49:48,560 --> 00:49:53,920
 Mario, would it be appropriate if you had a question to use the chat just for accommodation?

625
00:49:53,920 --> 00:49:54,920
 Sure.

626
00:49:54,920 --> 00:49:55,920
 Yeah.

627
00:49:55,920 --> 00:49:56,920
 Certainly.

628
00:49:56,920 --> 00:49:57,920
 If he could, if that's possible.

629
00:49:57,920 --> 00:50:10,200
 What I'll do is I may touch base with our folks in manager DTV, maybe reach out to Mr.

630
00:50:10,200 --> 00:50:20,360
 Rivas via text or by call and see if there's some technology issues that's happening.

631
00:50:20,360 --> 00:50:29,040
 We can barely hear you, Joe.

632
00:50:29,040 --> 00:50:54,200
 Was there a question, Joe, or did you have some technical issues?

633
00:50:54,200 --> 00:51:02,600
 No.

634
00:51:02,600 --> 00:51:10,480
 Okay.

635
00:51:10,480 --> 00:51:34,640
 I may recommend if that's okay ... Well, I'm just ... Maybe we should ... If that's

636
00:51:34,640 --> 00:51:38,440
 okay with the committee, do maybe just take a five-minute break.

637
00:51:38,440 --> 00:51:40,160
 Would that be okay?

638
00:51:40,160 --> 00:51:43,120
 Just to make sure we can make ... I just want to make sure that if he's got some connection

639
00:51:43,120 --> 00:51:48,120
 problems, we can try to get those resolved for him before we continue.

640
00:51:48,120 --> 00:51:49,120
 That's fine.

641
00:51:49,120 --> 00:51:50,120
 Okay.

642
00:51:50,120 --> 00:51:55,560
 It is ... Again, you'll need to call us to recess, but it's 1-53, so could we just say

643
00:51:55,560 --> 00:51:57,360
 we'll be back online at two?

644
00:51:57,360 --> 00:51:58,360
 Is that okay?

645
00:51:58,360 --> 00:51:59,360
 Sounds good.

646
00:51:59,360 --> 00:52:00,360
 Okay.

647
00:52:00,360 --> 00:52:01,360
 We'll just take a quick break.

648
00:52:01,360 --> 00:52:04,880
 I apologize, but we'll see if we can get Mr. Rivas resolved on any technical issues that

649
00:52:04,880 --> 00:52:05,880
 he may be having.

650
00:52:05,880 --> 00:52:10,800
 We'll be back at two.

651
00:52:10,800 --> 00:52:15,640
 All right.

652
00:52:15,640 --> 00:52:17,960
 We're back from our recess.

653
00:52:17,960 --> 00:52:23,040
 Joe, did you have a question before we proceed?

654
00:52:23,040 --> 00:52:24,040
 No.

655
00:52:24,040 --> 00:52:25,040
 Yeah.

656
00:52:25,040 --> 00:52:26,040
 He does have a question.

657
00:52:26,040 --> 00:52:27,040
 I'm not sure if he already covered this.

658
00:52:27,040 --> 00:52:28,040
 It was kind of breaking in and out when we were on the computer, but he was wondering,

659
00:52:28,040 --> 00:52:29,040
 are they going to expand the frostbite program to other areas of Denton?

660
00:52:29,040 --> 00:52:46,120
 The all-way crosswalk and other parts of Denton?

661
00:52:46,120 --> 00:52:52,520
 Right now, the issue at hand was that the proposal or the presentation that was made

662
00:52:52,520 --> 00:52:57,640
 just a few moments ago for the committee, it was a pilot program that was initiated

663
00:52:57,640 --> 00:53:05,280
 late in 2019, and so the information was brought to the committee back last fall, and we're

664
00:53:05,280 --> 00:53:11,920
 now at the conclusion of that pilot program, and we were requesting input from the committee

665
00:53:11,920 --> 00:53:19,480
 to then bring it to the city council to either continue it as it was, as it was previously,

666
00:53:19,480 --> 00:53:27,880
 which had stopping at various intersections, or doing the all-way crosswalk as the pilot

667
00:53:27,880 --> 00:53:30,520
 program was in place.

668
00:53:30,520 --> 00:53:34,840
 So right now, it was just really the square area that we were considering.

669
00:53:34,840 --> 00:53:35,840
 Okay.

670
00:53:35,840 --> 00:53:37,200
 Thank you.

671
00:53:37,200 --> 00:53:39,840
 You're very welcome.

672
00:53:39,840 --> 00:53:41,400
 Anything else, sir?

673
00:53:41,400 --> 00:53:42,400
 No.

674
00:53:42,400 --> 00:53:43,400
 Okay.

675
00:53:43,400 --> 00:53:44,400
 Very good.

676
00:53:44,400 --> 00:53:45,400
 Thank you.

677
00:53:45,400 --> 00:53:46,400
 Thank you all for everyone's patience.

678
00:53:46,400 --> 00:53:52,080
 And if that's okay, Val, can I go ahead and allow Brian to continue where he was?

679
00:53:52,080 --> 00:53:53,080
 Yes.

680
00:53:53,080 --> 00:53:54,080
 Okay.

681
00:53:54,080 --> 00:53:55,080
 Brian, please proceed.

682
00:53:55,080 --> 00:53:56,080
 All right.

683
00:53:56,080 --> 00:53:57,080
 Thank you.

684
00:53:57,080 --> 00:54:06,200
 Let me share my screen again.

685
00:54:06,200 --> 00:54:13,480
 Okay.

686
00:54:13,480 --> 00:54:17,560
 So we were just talking about some crash data, historical crash data on the four streets

687
00:54:17,560 --> 00:54:19,040
 in question.

688
00:54:19,040 --> 00:54:28,140
 Again, higher volumes and higher crash numbers on Elm and Locust versus Oak and Hickory.

689
00:54:28,140 --> 00:54:33,680
 So the next item we're going to talk about is economic vitality, and basically this is

690
00:54:33,680 --> 00:54:43,440
 how do one-way and two-way streets either benefit or are they a detriment to the businesses

691
00:54:43,440 --> 00:54:45,640
 along them?

692
00:54:45,640 --> 00:54:51,440
 And one-way streets for visitors are much more difficult to navigate.

693
00:54:51,440 --> 00:54:56,200
 If you've ever visited a city and you don't know the one-way street pattern, a lot of

694
00:54:56,200 --> 00:55:01,840
 times it's easy to get confused and turn around and frustrated because you can see where you

695
00:55:01,840 --> 00:55:04,280
 want to go and you can't get there from here.

696
00:55:04,280 --> 00:55:07,440
 Two-way streets have the advantage of they allow access from both directions.

697
00:55:07,440 --> 00:55:13,600
 So you can turn left, you can turn right, you can travel east, west, north, south, and

698
00:55:13,600 --> 00:55:19,560
 it's much more friendly to visitors.

699
00:55:19,560 --> 00:55:25,640
 Other characteristics of one-way street, because you can only travel one direction, you typically

700
00:55:25,640 --> 00:55:30,280
 will have to, especially on the one-way cupboards like we're talking about where you've got

701
00:55:30,280 --> 00:55:34,360
 one in one direction and one street in the other direction, you'll have a little bit

702
00:55:34,360 --> 00:55:35,580
 farther to travel.

703
00:55:35,580 --> 00:55:41,160
 So if you look at, and I just picked Giuseppe's there on Locust.

704
00:55:41,160 --> 00:55:46,920
 And if you're coming from, in this photo, or this slide, north is to your left.

705
00:55:46,920 --> 00:55:51,480
 So that red arrow on the left-hand side of your screen is University.

706
00:55:51,480 --> 00:55:54,760
 So if you're coming down University with a one-way street system, you have to come down

707
00:55:54,760 --> 00:56:01,840
 Elm, cut across, come back up Locust, versus if it was a two-way, you're coming from University

708
00:56:01,840 --> 00:56:07,080
 and you simply turn left onto the new two-way Locust and you arrive at your destination.

709
00:56:07,080 --> 00:56:12,480
 So it shortens the travel distance, which is, again, another index that we look at of

710
00:56:12,480 --> 00:56:13,640
 vehicle miles of travel.

711
00:56:13,640 --> 00:56:19,840
 If you can reduce the vehicle miles of travel, you can reduce emissions and you have fewer

712
00:56:19,840 --> 00:56:23,480
 opportunities for crashes, so your conflict points are down.

713
00:56:23,480 --> 00:56:27,720
 It's just much more convenient.

714
00:56:27,720 --> 00:56:28,640
 Mobility options.

715
00:56:28,640 --> 00:56:38,700
 So what we want to talk about are bicycle, some transit, some deliveries.

716
00:56:38,700 --> 00:56:46,840
 How do our vehicles and our pedestrians and our cyclists move through these corridors?

717
00:56:46,840 --> 00:56:52,800
 So looking at bicycles, on a one-way street, you're going to need one bike lane because

718
00:56:52,800 --> 00:56:54,360
 there's only one direction of travel.

719
00:56:54,360 --> 00:57:00,120
 Typically, the bikes would travel with the vehicular flow, on a two-way street, since

720
00:57:00,120 --> 00:57:04,840
 you have two directions of travel, the expectation is that you have two bike lanes.

721
00:57:04,840 --> 00:57:13,280
 So that basically adds up to utilization of pavement and then that puts us into the area

722
00:57:13,280 --> 00:57:18,320
 of having to decide, do we want to put on-street parking, do we want to have two bike lanes,

723
00:57:18,320 --> 00:57:21,880
 do we want to have a bike lane on every other street?

724
00:57:21,880 --> 00:57:26,440
 And so it just becomes, again, that trade-off and that decision that we have to make is

725
00:57:26,440 --> 00:57:32,560
 how do we best utilize the pavement that we have.

726
00:57:32,560 --> 00:57:38,960
 So relative to deliveries, and I'm going to lump deliveries and transit in here because

727
00:57:38,960 --> 00:57:41,400
 they both have very similar characteristics.

728
00:57:41,400 --> 00:57:46,520
 They want to drive down a street, stop and unload or load, and then continue.

729
00:57:46,520 --> 00:57:50,840
 So on a one-way street design, like Elm and Locust and Oak and Hickory, where we have

730
00:57:50,840 --> 00:57:57,640
 two lanes in each direction, even with a bike lane, you have an opportunity for a delivery

731
00:57:57,640 --> 00:58:06,900
 vehicle or a transit vehicle to stop in a lane of traffic and still allow other vehicles

732
00:58:06,900 --> 00:58:12,040
 to bypass because you've got a parallel lane of traffic that's not being blocked.

733
00:58:12,040 --> 00:58:17,000
 So on a two-way street system, if we converted these two-lane streets to two-way, one in

734
00:58:17,000 --> 00:58:22,400
 each direction, that delivery vehicle now blocks the one and only travel lane that you

735
00:58:22,400 --> 00:58:23,400
 have.

736
00:58:23,400 --> 00:58:31,200
 So potentially, if there's significant oncoming traffic, motorists have to stop behind this

737
00:58:31,200 --> 00:58:35,520
 vehicle until he's ready to move on or until there's a gap and they can drive around.

738
00:58:35,520 --> 00:58:40,440
 Again, it's a convenience factor and it does lend itself to some safety issues because

739
00:58:40,440 --> 00:58:48,580
 you might get drivers on that two-way street that take a chance on getting around that

740
00:58:48,580 --> 00:58:57,200
 vehicle when there may possibly be a gap that's too small for them to make that movement

741
00:58:57,200 --> 00:58:58,200
 safely.

742
00:58:58,200 --> 00:59:03,520
 Another issue as we talk about mobility and how we use this pavement and how we keep that

743
00:59:03,520 --> 00:59:11,600
 all modes of traffic flowing, on-street parking, while it has a definite, you know, we need

744
00:59:11,600 --> 00:59:19,080
 parking and especially around the downtown area, some of those buildings were never designed

745
00:59:19,080 --> 00:59:24,080
 to provide off-street parking, so the parking occurs on the street, but again, we're working

746
00:59:24,080 --> 00:59:27,520
 with a limited pavement, we're not widening the streets.

747
00:59:27,520 --> 00:59:34,920
 So we may conflict between if we go to a two-way and we want two bike lanes, we may have to

748
00:59:34,920 --> 00:59:35,920
 lose some parking.

749
00:59:35,920 --> 00:59:42,280
 So again, that balance and that trade-off, we have to decide which is the most critical.

750
00:59:42,280 --> 00:59:43,280
 So decreased congestion.

751
00:59:43,280 --> 00:59:48,240
 And this is the one that most people will say, the traffic engineers, this is how they

752
00:59:48,240 --> 00:59:56,360
 rate a facility and that's how fast can I go and how many cars can I get down that roadway.

753
00:59:56,360 --> 01:00:02,440
 Two-way streets, because they don't have that friction of oncoming traffic and because you've

754
01:00:02,440 --> 01:00:14,920
 got twice the number of lanes in one direction, you can get up to 50% more cars, bikes, whatever,

755
01:00:14,920 --> 01:00:18,400
 more vehicles in that corridor than you can with two-way.

756
01:00:18,400 --> 01:00:23,480
 So that friction that you introduce when you have head-on traffic and people wanting to

757
01:00:23,480 --> 01:00:30,680
 turn left, which actually operates or acts very much like a vehicle making deliveries

758
01:00:30,680 --> 01:00:37,720
 or a transit picking up and dropping off passengers, it stops for a shorter period of time.

759
01:00:37,720 --> 01:00:42,200
 To make that left, you have to stop, wait for a gap, make your move, and the people

760
01:00:42,200 --> 01:00:45,600
 behind you have to wait as well.

761
01:00:45,600 --> 01:00:56,200
 So just because of that increased delay, we decrease our capacity on a two-way street.

762
01:00:56,200 --> 01:01:01,280
 One of the other elements that's inherent to a one-way street system is that it allows

763
01:01:01,280 --> 01:01:05,680
 much better progression because we don't have the turns.

764
01:01:05,680 --> 01:01:11,920
 All the turns from a one-way street, all the turns from the main street are free.

765
01:01:11,920 --> 01:01:15,720
 If you're traveling on locust northbound and you want to turn left, you don't have to stop

766
01:01:15,720 --> 01:01:16,720
 for anybody.

767
01:01:16,720 --> 01:01:18,440
 Same thing with a right turn.

768
01:01:18,440 --> 01:01:23,080
 But if you make that same street two-way to turn left, as we just talked about, you've

769
01:01:23,080 --> 01:01:30,200
 got to wait for a gap in traffic, make your move, and that basically takes away some of

770
01:01:30,200 --> 01:01:34,080
 the efficiencies and it doesn't allow us to have that progression.

771
01:01:34,080 --> 01:01:38,960
 This is all, again, from a driver's standpoint, but it's still something that we have to look

772
01:01:38,960 --> 01:01:44,840
 at, and what we don't want to do is make it so difficult to get down the roadway that

773
01:01:44,840 --> 01:01:51,680
 you get the driver in the road rage and people are starting to make some bad choices.

774
01:01:51,680 --> 01:01:58,760
 This is another impact of that same characteristic of a two-way street, when you have that additional

775
01:01:58,760 --> 01:02:04,080
 delay and the capacity is diminished because of the left turns, what you see is you get

776
01:02:04,080 --> 01:02:09,560
 people migrating from the primary roadway to parallel facilities.

777
01:02:09,560 --> 01:02:10,560
 Sometimes that's okay.

778
01:02:10,560 --> 01:02:16,120
 In the case of Elm and Locust, we've got Carroll not far away, you've got Bell, and in the

779
01:02:16,120 --> 01:02:20,280
 future you'll have a widened, improved Riddell.

780
01:02:20,280 --> 01:02:24,400
 That overflow is fine because those streets are designed to carry the traffic.

781
01:02:24,400 --> 01:02:29,680
 When you talk about Oak and Hickory, that's a much more residential characteristic neighborhood.

782
01:02:29,680 --> 01:02:35,840
 So when you push people off of those two roadways, Oak and Hickory, because you've introduced

783
01:02:35,840 --> 01:02:40,960
 this delay and some increased congestion and diminished capacity, you now have them driving

784
01:02:40,960 --> 01:02:45,040
 through people's neighborhoods, and that's not really where we want that traffic to be.

785
01:02:45,040 --> 01:02:51,240
 We want it to be on the roadway that's designed to carry that traffic load and where we can

786
01:02:51,240 --> 01:02:57,840
 make safety improvements to enhance the safety of the entire corridor.

787
01:02:57,840 --> 01:03:01,540
 So this is just an example.

788
01:03:01,540 --> 01:03:03,760
 I've got two slides.

789
01:03:03,760 --> 01:03:07,680
 One of the elements of our mobility plan, which this one-way, two-way conversation is

790
01:03:07,680 --> 01:03:14,080
 part of, was an analysis of the travel demand in and around Denton.

791
01:03:14,080 --> 01:03:21,800
 So we forecast 24-hour traffic volumes using software and our land use and comprehensive

792
01:03:21,800 --> 01:03:27,600
 plan, and we try to forecast future volumes, and they did a scenario.

793
01:03:27,600 --> 01:03:29,020
 This is as is.

794
01:03:29,020 --> 01:03:32,340
 This is one-way Elm, Locust, Oak, and Hickory.

795
01:03:32,340 --> 01:03:37,480
 And then the next slide is two-way Elm, Locust, Oak, and Hickory.

796
01:03:37,480 --> 01:03:44,000
 So if you look at the green number on the top, Elm and Locust, north of the university,

797
01:03:44,000 --> 01:03:45,880
 it dropped between the two streets.

798
01:03:45,880 --> 01:03:53,040
 It dropped about 11,000, and you can see that Bell picks up part of that and Carroll picks

799
01:03:53,040 --> 01:03:54,360
 up part of that.

800
01:03:54,360 --> 01:03:56,320
 So that's okay.

801
01:03:56,320 --> 01:04:04,680
 Those roadways, at some level, are designed to carry that traffic volume, especially Carroll.

802
01:04:04,680 --> 01:04:08,200
 So that's not so much of a concern.

803
01:04:08,200 --> 01:04:13,560
 But when you look at Oak and Hickory, we've dropped 8,000 cars a day on those two.

804
01:04:13,560 --> 01:04:18,080
 Just because of the number of -- if you think about those two streets, you've got so many

805
01:04:18,080 --> 01:04:27,200
 residential driveways, there's a lot of increased delay and increased congestion, because of

806
01:04:27,200 --> 01:04:30,840
 -- just because people are coming home and turning into their driveway or turning left

807
01:04:30,840 --> 01:04:38,800
 on a street, you've got two-way traffic now, so we introduced a lot of left turns.

808
01:04:38,800 --> 01:04:44,160
 The downside is that those 8,000 cars are now in the neighborhoods.

809
01:04:44,160 --> 01:04:50,680
 There's no significant facility east-west until you get down to Eagle to carry that

810
01:04:50,680 --> 01:04:51,720
 displaced traffic.

811
01:04:51,720 --> 01:04:57,080
 So that's -- again, that's the intent of the slides to show you what might be diverted

812
01:04:57,080 --> 01:05:00,200
 from the primary corridors that we have today.

813
01:05:00,200 --> 01:05:05,200
 In the future, if we make those two-way, that traffic is going to go somewhere.

814
01:05:05,200 --> 01:05:12,280
 If it has too much delay on those two streets, Oak and Hickory, it's going to end up in the

815
01:05:12,280 --> 01:05:13,280
 neighborhoods.

816
01:05:13,280 --> 01:05:17,720
 So this is one of my last slides, I promise we'll get to the end.

817
01:05:17,720 --> 01:05:20,120
 Just a quick summary of parking.

818
01:05:20,120 --> 01:05:22,280
 We talked about it may conflict the bike facility.

819
01:05:22,280 --> 01:05:30,680
 One of the things we looked at, or flexibility, parallel parking offers the best flexibility

820
01:05:30,680 --> 01:05:34,200
 when we talk about the conversion from one-way to two-way, because it doesn't matter what

821
01:05:34,200 --> 01:05:40,120
 direction the traffic -- you parallel park on the left, you parallel park on the right.

822
01:05:40,120 --> 01:05:43,000
 Parallel parking is nondirectional.

823
01:05:43,000 --> 01:05:45,680
 Parallel parking requires much more of that pavement.

824
01:05:45,680 --> 01:05:52,920
 You get a lot more parking on a block face, but it eats into your opportunities for bike

825
01:05:52,920 --> 01:05:56,120
 lanes and turn lanes, et cetera.

826
01:05:56,120 --> 01:06:02,880
 And then this last comment, if a one-way road is converted to two-way, and this is specifically

827
01:06:02,880 --> 01:06:08,080
 around the square, we looked at where we've already got the -- the islands are designed

828
01:06:08,080 --> 01:06:14,680
 for directional, and now we're going to change it, we may lose without reconstruction, and

829
01:06:14,680 --> 01:06:19,760
 again, we're not talking about rebuilding these roadways, if we just remark that parking,

830
01:06:19,760 --> 01:06:21,240
 we may lose 5 to 10%.

831
01:06:21,240 --> 01:06:25,880
 So just a quick discussion of some of the impacts and some of the decisions associated

832
01:06:25,880 --> 01:06:27,720
 with on-street parking.

833
01:06:27,720 --> 01:06:36,940
 So a quick summary, one-way streets, higher capacity, less congestion, safer space for

834
01:06:36,940 --> 01:06:43,880
 delivery and transit, fewer conflict points, however increased travel distance, potentially

835
01:06:43,880 --> 01:06:50,980
 higher traffic speeds, and that leads to potentially more severe crashes.

836
01:06:50,980 --> 01:06:57,600
 Two-way streets, lower traffic speeds, severity of crashes go down, but because we've introduced

837
01:06:57,600 --> 01:07:02,440
 all these conflict points, the likelihood that the number of crashes will go up is very

838
01:07:02,440 --> 01:07:03,440
 high.

839
01:07:03,440 --> 01:07:06,800
 They'll be less severe, but you'll see more of them.

840
01:07:06,800 --> 01:07:09,880
 Construction of vehicle miles of travel, we've talked about that, it's much easier to get

841
01:07:09,880 --> 01:07:13,720
 from point A to point B if you don't have to loop around.

842
01:07:13,720 --> 01:07:17,480
 More convenient access to business and neighborhoods, just you don't have to know which street to

843
01:07:17,480 --> 01:07:22,200
 be on, you just need to know where you're going because you can now travel any direction

844
01:07:22,200 --> 01:07:23,840
 on any street.

845
01:07:23,840 --> 01:07:28,320
 Better visibility for PEDS cyclists as they cross because they don't have that shadowing

846
01:07:28,320 --> 01:07:32,560
 of the two-lane, one-way street, that first car stops and the second one doesn't.

847
01:07:32,560 --> 01:07:39,560
 Again, we talked about more conflict points, possible increase in delay and congestion,

848
01:07:39,560 --> 01:07:46,880
 possibly need double the bike facility, a little bit lower in the capacity, and that

849
01:07:46,880 --> 01:07:53,520
 last point, the potential for traffic to migrate to parallel streets that may not be intended

850
01:07:53,520 --> 01:07:59,320
 to carry traffic, or may not be where you want traffic to divert.

851
01:07:59,320 --> 01:08:05,160
 So just as we're going through a series of meetings, in June we met with the Main Street

852
01:08:05,160 --> 01:08:09,440
 Association, in July we met with Economic Development.

853
01:08:09,440 --> 01:08:18,520
 Most of the comments we're getting back are, primarily leave it as it is for now, a lot

854
01:08:18,520 --> 01:08:24,200
 of the business owners are concerned if we make them two-way and people divert and they

855
01:08:24,200 --> 01:08:32,980
 lose some pass-by traffic, but not a strong argument in favor of the conversion to two-way.

856
01:08:32,980 --> 01:08:42,000
 And so with that, and I've got recommendations and, but what we want today, as Mario said

857
01:08:42,000 --> 01:08:44,880
 with the last presentation, we want your input.

858
01:08:44,880 --> 01:08:51,560
 We're trying to get your feedback so we can formulate and summarize all the input from

859
01:08:51,560 --> 01:08:56,440
 the public and the committees, we're taking this on Monday to traffic safety, and then

860
01:08:56,440 --> 01:09:02,480
 July 28th, we'll package all of that input up, all the responses, and take it to city

861
01:09:02,480 --> 01:09:07,260
 council to see what direction they want us to take.

862
01:09:07,260 --> 01:09:12,960
 So right now I'm going to close this presentation and open the floor for questions and comments.

863
01:09:12,960 --> 01:09:21,960
 And there you go.

864
01:09:21,960 --> 01:09:28,120
 I'm sorry, let me give a good question and comment and I'll pass it on.

865
01:09:28,120 --> 01:09:33,720
 I think one of my concerns and probably the concerns of others is the changes and how

866
01:09:33,720 --> 01:09:41,720
 that would impact the existing accessible parking spots and the potential for adding

867
01:09:41,720 --> 01:09:49,400
 more, because that's definitely something that's needed, especially in the square area

868
01:09:49,400 --> 01:09:52,840
 where the accessible parking is very limited.

869
01:09:52,840 --> 01:10:00,520
 So my concern would be how that would impact that.

870
01:10:00,520 --> 01:10:08,200
 So no matter what direction we take, and I'm going to address around the square first,

871
01:10:08,200 --> 01:10:12,240
 we actually have a plan to add more accessible parking around the square.

872
01:10:12,240 --> 01:10:18,040
 We've looked at where the ramps are and we can add some spaces.

873
01:10:18,040 --> 01:10:22,760
 If we had to change the direction, we're still going to maintain the same number of accessible

874
01:10:22,760 --> 01:10:23,760
 parking.

875
01:10:23,760 --> 01:10:27,920
 Before we lose accessible parking, we'll lose some general purpose parking.

876
01:10:27,920 --> 01:10:33,560
 Now the impact it might have is that if you have to take away parking on a block phase

877
01:10:33,560 --> 01:10:37,880
 because you just don't have enough room to put all the features that you want, that might

878
01:10:37,880 --> 01:10:45,080
 reduce some parking that, while it may not be truly marked as accessible, it might reduce

879
01:10:45,080 --> 01:10:50,920
 the overall parking space.

880
01:10:50,920 --> 01:10:51,920
 Thank you.

881
01:10:51,920 --> 01:10:53,880
 Was it Sally?

882
01:10:53,880 --> 01:11:04,360
 Yeah, I'm going to speak as a cyclist, if you don't mind.

883
01:11:04,360 --> 01:11:11,840
 My experience is I find one-way streets much easier to navigate and much safer.

884
01:11:11,840 --> 01:11:15,640
 I've had more close calls on two-way streets myself.

885
01:11:15,640 --> 01:11:22,960
 I just wanted to throw my two bits in.

886
01:11:22,960 --> 01:11:23,960
 John?

887
01:11:23,960 --> 01:11:26,320
 I think two things.

888
01:11:26,320 --> 01:11:32,560
 The statistics may say things about two-way streets being safer in ways, but you're talking

889
01:11:32,560 --> 01:11:37,000
 about the square being area that's got a lot of bars.

890
01:11:37,000 --> 01:11:42,920
 I have no problem with that, but if you have two-way streets, you're welcoming more head-on

891
01:11:42,920 --> 01:11:49,920
 collisions, which will definitely increase injuries and deaths.

892
01:11:49,920 --> 01:11:56,360
 And then the pedestrian side of it, I find traveling in downtown cities or wherever with

893
01:11:56,360 --> 01:12:03,320
 one-way streets to be safer for a blind person because it's the flow of traffic one direction

894
01:12:03,320 --> 01:12:07,320
 all at the same time, you just have to pay attention to.

895
01:12:07,320 --> 01:12:11,640
 I hardly ever even need to find a crosswalk button because I just listen, and then that's

896
01:12:11,640 --> 01:12:12,640
 when I go.

897
01:12:12,640 --> 01:12:13,640
 So that's important.

898
01:12:13,640 --> 01:12:23,520
 So to that, John, if you'll remember, I talked about the West 7th area in Fort Worth.

899
01:12:23,520 --> 01:12:25,280
 It's a 12-block area.

900
01:12:25,280 --> 01:12:31,520
 There's over 40 bars, and our crash history when we converted it from two-way to one-way

901
01:12:31,520 --> 01:12:33,360
 dropped over 50%.

902
01:12:33,360 --> 01:12:38,240
 Well, what's the speed limit right there?

903
01:12:38,240 --> 01:12:42,760
 It's unmarked, so it's 30, but you can't.

904
01:12:42,760 --> 01:12:48,440
 When the bars are active, in that particular area, it's practically gridlocked.

905
01:12:48,440 --> 01:12:53,280
 Most of the crash history was coming after the bars were closed or during the day.

906
01:12:53,280 --> 01:13:00,380
 Well, around here, even on neighborhood streets, there are people that drive way too fast, and

907
01:13:00,380 --> 01:13:05,560
 I just like the one-way traffic better.

908
01:13:05,560 --> 01:13:07,360
 Thanks.

909
01:13:07,360 --> 01:13:09,040
 Beth?

910
01:13:09,040 --> 01:13:16,320
 You're muted, Beth.

911
01:13:16,320 --> 01:13:22,680
 No, maybe not.

912
01:13:22,680 --> 01:13:23,680
 Go back.

913
01:13:23,680 --> 01:13:24,680
 I'm sorry.

914
01:13:24,680 --> 01:13:25,680
 Maybe you weren't.

915
01:13:25,680 --> 01:13:26,680
 Hear me now.

916
01:13:26,680 --> 01:13:27,680
 Yes, ma'am.

917
01:13:27,680 --> 01:13:28,680
 Okay.

918
01:13:28,680 --> 01:13:35,960
 On the parking issue, some of y'all have heard this, but maybe not everyone.

919
01:13:35,960 --> 01:13:43,040
 It is not easy for a lot of disabled people to do reverse parking, and it is not easy

920
01:13:43,040 --> 01:13:49,000
 for disabled people to do parallel park.

921
01:13:49,000 --> 01:13:58,640
 If you're looking at parking options for handicapped spots, I would not recommend parallel parking

922
01:13:58,640 --> 01:14:05,120
 or reverse parking, because those can just be really difficult for people like me that

923
01:14:05,120 --> 01:14:09,600
 have arthritis in their neck and can't turn their head all the way and look, or if you've

924
01:14:09,600 --> 01:14:15,800
 got a scooter on the back of your car, you can't back up far enough.

925
01:14:15,800 --> 01:14:19,440
 That was my concern with the parking talk.

926
01:14:19,440 --> 01:14:20,440
 Agreed.

927
01:14:20,440 --> 01:14:27,360
 Parallel parking is all but impossible to mark as an accessible space.

928
01:14:27,360 --> 01:14:39,120
 Although we do have some, there's a couple of parallel spots behind the Wells Fargo building

929
01:14:39,120 --> 01:14:40,640
 that comes to mind.

930
01:14:40,640 --> 01:14:41,640
 Right.

931
01:14:41,640 --> 01:14:45,520
 Where we've got the pavement, we can make, and we have an area for the landing.

932
01:14:45,520 --> 01:14:46,520
 Yes.

933
01:14:46,520 --> 01:14:47,520
 I have a question.

934
01:14:47,520 --> 01:14:48,520
 Go ahead.

935
01:14:48,520 --> 01:14:49,520
 Is most handicapped parking free in all areas?

936
01:14:49,520 --> 01:14:50,520
 Yeah.

937
01:14:50,520 --> 01:14:51,520
 Did you catch that, Brian?

938
01:14:51,520 --> 01:15:16,040
 No, could you repeat that?

939
01:15:16,040 --> 01:15:17,040
 Sure.

940
01:15:17,040 --> 01:15:22,680
 The question is, from Joe, is all handicapped parking free in all areas?

941
01:15:22,680 --> 01:15:23,680
 Yes.

942
01:15:23,680 --> 01:15:29,640
 Even at the Wells Fargo Bank?

943
01:15:29,640 --> 01:15:39,840
 Well, if it's in the public right of way, it's free.

944
01:15:39,840 --> 01:15:40,840
 Yeah.

945
01:15:40,840 --> 01:15:45,880
 Basically, the answer is, if it's a public lot, it's absolutely free.

946
01:15:45,880 --> 01:16:01,880
 If it's a private lot, where they're charging fees to park, then you do have to pay.

947
01:16:01,880 --> 01:16:03,920
 Does that answer your question, Joe?

948
01:16:03,920 --> 01:16:04,920
 Yeah.

949
01:16:04,920 --> 01:16:05,920
 Okay.

950
01:16:05,920 --> 01:16:06,920
 Thank you.

951
01:16:06,920 --> 01:16:07,920
 Yeah.

952
01:16:07,920 --> 01:16:13,080
 Are there any other questions or comments?

953
01:16:13,080 --> 01:16:21,720
 So, Val, because again, you've got competing interest, not on this committee so much, but

954
01:16:21,720 --> 01:16:28,720
 as Brian mentioned, he has gone before a number of groups here locally.

955
01:16:28,720 --> 01:16:35,280
 Some of it is more business-oriented because some businesses are suffering, and so they're

956
01:16:35,280 --> 01:16:37,680
 wondering, "Why are you doing this now?"

957
01:16:37,680 --> 01:16:38,680
 Which we're not.

958
01:16:38,680 --> 01:16:41,120
 We're not looking at implementing this in the immediate term.

959
01:16:41,120 --> 01:16:46,800
 That's something that would be discussed with city council and then recommended to be phased

960
01:16:46,800 --> 01:16:52,480
 in in the future time, but you do have some competing interest in the community versus

961
01:16:52,480 --> 01:16:58,680
 those that want to make sure businesses are well-viewed by the commuting public when it

962
01:16:58,680 --> 01:17:04,360
 comes to two-way, but it sounds like from this committee's perspective, you all are

963
01:17:04,360 --> 01:17:05,360
 more concerned.

964
01:17:05,360 --> 01:17:09,720
 And again, I don't want to speak words, but you're more concerned about just the pedestrian

965
01:17:09,720 --> 01:17:17,960
 safety of being able to traverse the roadways there in the square, and you all would be

966
01:17:17,960 --> 01:17:20,160
 more inclined with a one-way option.

967
01:17:20,160 --> 01:17:21,160
 Is that correct?

968
01:17:21,160 --> 01:17:27,280
 I believe so, yes, from the comments here.

969
01:17:27,280 --> 01:17:28,280
 Okay.

970
01:17:28,280 --> 01:17:29,280
 Yes.

971
01:17:29,280 --> 01:17:32,280
 So, Brian, is that the input that you need, or is there some other components that you

972
01:17:32,280 --> 01:17:33,280
 need for...

973
01:17:33,280 --> 01:17:38,960
 No, I think that's just the general preference of one-way versus two-way.

974
01:17:38,960 --> 01:17:45,600
 Obviously, even if we did decide to go to a two-way option before we did any conversion,

975
01:17:45,600 --> 01:17:51,680
 we'd do a design and we'd, again, receive feedback on what elements need to be included.

976
01:17:51,680 --> 01:17:55,040
 So I think just the general consensus of one-way versus two-way.

977
01:17:55,040 --> 01:17:56,040
 Great.

978
01:17:56,040 --> 01:17:57,040
 Okay.

979
01:17:57,040 --> 01:18:02,040
 I think that's what we have.

980
01:18:02,040 --> 01:18:13,160
 We'll go on to the next item, the CPD 2018 staff report.

981
01:18:13,160 --> 01:18:14,160
 Sure.

982
01:18:14,160 --> 01:18:16,160
 And let me go ahead and I'll provide...

983
01:18:16,160 --> 01:18:20,760
 This will be more of a verbal report, if that's okay.

984
01:18:20,760 --> 01:18:25,040
 Just to make the committee aware, this will be my last meeting.

985
01:18:25,040 --> 01:18:28,640
 Actually, I'll be resigning to the City of Denton come early August.

986
01:18:28,640 --> 01:18:34,840
 I'll be assuming a new position in a different location starting in, I guess, sort of early

987
01:18:34,840 --> 01:18:35,840
 August.

988
01:18:35,840 --> 01:18:38,560
 So, hello and goodbye, all at the same time.

989
01:18:38,560 --> 01:18:45,040
 I know I've worked with you all early on on the early on in the committees, and I know

990
01:18:45,040 --> 01:18:50,680
 Mark Oliphant was a liaison for the last several months, and that transitions to that next

991
01:18:50,680 --> 01:18:55,600
 topic is replacing Mark, Mark's position.

992
01:18:55,600 --> 01:18:59,600
 Mark left the City of Denton towards the end of June.

993
01:18:59,600 --> 01:19:07,160
 And so we are in the process of replacing that position, and we're retooling the position,

994
01:19:07,160 --> 01:19:08,160
 just so you all know.

995
01:19:08,160 --> 01:19:14,840
 What we're looking at doing is creating a transportation/ADA coordinator that will be

996
01:19:14,840 --> 01:19:17,680
 specifically on the transportation side.

997
01:19:17,680 --> 01:19:23,400
 Now, as you all know, if you've been on the committee for a while, the city, because of

998
01:19:23,400 --> 01:19:29,080
 its size and scope, has basically three coordinators from an ADA perspective.

999
01:19:29,080 --> 01:19:32,960
 One is regarding facilities, which is our facilities manager.

1000
01:19:32,960 --> 01:19:36,800
 And we actually have an architect on staff that has those skill sets.

1001
01:19:36,800 --> 01:19:42,640
 I think you may have met him, but certainly we'll still maintain that.

1002
01:19:42,640 --> 01:19:48,360
 We have one on the human resources side when it comes to interfacing with the community

1003
01:19:48,360 --> 01:19:53,900
 in regards to our employment, any issues related to those kinds of things on the soft skills

1004
01:19:53,900 --> 01:19:55,900
 kind of areas.

1005
01:19:55,900 --> 01:19:58,280
 That's in our human resources.

1006
01:19:58,280 --> 01:20:05,040
 When it comes to infrastructure, as far as trails, paths, sidewalks, the items that Brian

1007
01:20:05,040 --> 01:20:09,720
 covered this morning, or excuse me, earlier today, and some of the areas that were discussed

1008
01:20:09,720 --> 01:20:12,640
 by Jessica, those fall under engineering.

1009
01:20:12,640 --> 01:20:19,840
 But what we're wanting to do is, because of this opportunity that we have with that vacancy

1010
01:20:19,840 --> 01:20:26,920
 that Mark created, is to go down that path, kind of this next generation of employee skill

1011
01:20:26,920 --> 01:20:27,920
 set.

1012
01:20:27,920 --> 01:20:32,240
 And so what will happen with that is we're working with human resources to make sure

1013
01:20:32,240 --> 01:20:39,680
 that the job description on our recruitment incorporates ADA expertise in the job description.

1014
01:20:39,680 --> 01:20:48,920
 So it's not something that will be, certainly there will be opportunities for training and

1015
01:20:48,920 --> 01:20:56,600
 seminars, just to keep those skill sets fresh and that continuous learning.

1016
01:20:56,600 --> 01:21:02,040
 But the job description that we'll be recruiting towards will have those ADA coordination or

1017
01:21:02,040 --> 01:21:08,280
 ADA skills through policy regulations.

1018
01:21:08,280 --> 01:21:12,280
 All those components that are required under the ADA law, we want to make sure that that

1019
01:21:12,280 --> 01:21:15,160
 is incorporated as part of that recruitment.

1020
01:21:15,160 --> 01:21:18,520
 So that will be, we're working on that as we speak.

1021
01:21:18,520 --> 01:21:25,120
 And so that will be forthcoming in the near future as far as when it comes to recruitment.

1022
01:21:25,120 --> 01:21:32,360
 In the meantime, Brian Yahn, who you heard earlier, will serve as your liaison for the

1023
01:21:32,360 --> 01:21:33,360
 near future.

1024
01:21:33,360 --> 01:21:37,720
 This is not a permanent assignment, it's just a temporary thing until we actually bring that

1025
01:21:37,720 --> 01:21:39,920
 person on board.

1026
01:21:39,920 --> 01:21:51,040
 So I just wanted to keep the committee informed on that.

1027
01:21:51,040 --> 01:21:56,400
 And then the last thing, and then I'll open it up for questions that you all may have,

1028
01:21:56,400 --> 01:22:01,680
 is the last piece is, you know, this is certainly our first meeting in a virtual environment.

1029
01:22:01,680 --> 01:22:10,640
 And as long as the governor along with and his authority across the state is allowing

1030
01:22:10,640 --> 01:22:15,760
 cities and counties and other public entities to meet virtually, we would like to continue

1031
01:22:15,760 --> 01:22:16,760
 that.

1032
01:22:16,760 --> 01:22:19,120
 We've been doing this with city council for several months now, and we will continue doing

1033
01:22:19,120 --> 01:22:21,500
 that as long as we're allowed to do so.

1034
01:22:21,500 --> 01:22:27,360
 And so what I would like to ask of the committee is, do you prefer to do the virtual meeting

1035
01:22:27,360 --> 01:22:34,560
 as you have had today, or is your preference to do something in person?

1036
01:22:34,560 --> 01:22:39,040
 I would say for me personally, I think the virtual meeting just makes the most sense

1037
01:22:39,040 --> 01:22:47,080
 right now, considering not just the circumstances, but the makeup of the individuals in the committee

1038
01:22:47,080 --> 01:22:54,600
 as individuals with disabilities or immune compromise or underlying health conditions.

1039
01:22:54,600 --> 01:22:59,160
 Okay, well, I appreciate that.

1040
01:22:59,160 --> 01:23:03,160
 I mean, you know, knowing that the committee is an 11 person member committee, and we do

1041
01:23:03,160 --> 01:23:09,280
 have sort of tight spaces anyway, being able to keep that social distance between, you

1042
01:23:09,280 --> 01:23:15,300
 know, person to person, and just the logistics of being able to have bring folks under the

1043
01:23:15,300 --> 01:23:19,480
 within a in person environment does make it more challenging.

1044
01:23:19,480 --> 01:23:25,960
 So as long as the committee is is is okay with that, then we will continue to host these

1045
01:23:25,960 --> 01:23:27,900
 meetings virtually.

1046
01:23:27,900 --> 01:23:31,560
 And as long as law allows, we'll continue to do so.

1047
01:23:31,560 --> 01:23:35,520
 And hopefully, it will get better with time as we get more experience in this in this

1048
01:23:35,520 --> 01:23:40,640
 environment.

1049
01:23:40,640 --> 01:23:42,800
 I think Sonia has a question.

1050
01:23:42,800 --> 01:23:43,800
 It's okay.

1051
01:23:43,800 --> 01:23:44,800
 Thanks, Val.

1052
01:23:44,800 --> 01:23:52,880
 Just a quick question, do we anticipate increasing the frequency of the virtual meetings?

1053
01:23:52,880 --> 01:24:00,720
 Because I know we have a long gap this during the initial stages of that transition.

1054
01:24:00,720 --> 01:24:04,600
 So I didn't know what the timeline and what to prepare for.

1055
01:24:04,600 --> 01:24:11,880
 Well, again, I don't want to speak for for the chair and the committee members.

1056
01:24:11,880 --> 01:24:15,680
 But you know, I think we, you know, obviously, with the gap, that was just to kind of get

1057
01:24:15,680 --> 01:24:17,680
 our trying to get things in order.

1058
01:24:17,680 --> 01:24:22,040
 And so now we're kind of bringing these committees back into the fold all virtual.

1059
01:24:22,040 --> 01:24:28,640
 And so the thought would be is to sort of maintain that once a month meeting, just because

1060
01:24:28,640 --> 01:24:33,140
 it is a it's a it's a large lift for our staff.

1061
01:24:33,140 --> 01:24:37,960
 You heard Billy Matthews earlier, speaking to Joe via phone, it is a large lift for him

1062
01:24:37,960 --> 01:24:40,640
 and his staff, and he has a limited number of resources.

1063
01:24:40,640 --> 01:24:48,160
 And so as we bring these committees in a virtual environment, it is it's it while it's it's

1064
01:24:48,160 --> 01:24:51,200
 it just makes it more challenging because of just, you know, making sure that everybody

1065
01:24:51,200 --> 01:24:55,560
 has the technology and the bandwidth at home or wherever they are.

1066
01:24:55,560 --> 01:24:57,440
 And and not only the bandwidth for own staff.

1067
01:24:57,440 --> 01:25:02,440
 So my suggestion would be that we do it on a monthly basis still.

1068
01:25:02,440 --> 01:25:08,240
 But we make sure that that to be cognizant of your time and the cognizant of the time

1069
01:25:08,240 --> 01:25:14,420
 for staff is that we are tighter on our presentations and our agenda items and that we make sure

1070
01:25:14,420 --> 01:25:19,600
 that that those those presentation materials are to the point.

1071
01:25:19,600 --> 01:25:23,440
 And that way you all can get the information that you need and ask ask the questions that

1072
01:25:23,440 --> 01:25:27,040
 you need to give input as necessary.

1073
01:25:27,040 --> 01:25:38,320
 That's going to be transportation slash ADA coordinator.

1074
01:25:38,320 --> 01:25:45,040
 What percentage is transportation and what percentage is ADA coordinator?

1075
01:25:45,040 --> 01:25:47,640
 You know, it's it's hard to say.

1076
01:25:47,640 --> 01:25:53,280
 Certainly the job description will will dictate that it's that it's a 50/50 split it just

1077
01:25:53,280 --> 01:25:58,040
 as far as just the the expertise and the and the needs.

1078
01:25:58,040 --> 01:26:04,120
 But you don't know until you start recruiting to see what the actual skill set skill sets

1079
01:26:04,120 --> 01:26:07,920
 that are out there and the just people that may apply.

1080
01:26:07,920 --> 01:26:17,480
 And so certainly having someone that has a full cadre of ADA skills and and policy understandings,

1081
01:26:17,480 --> 01:26:21,960
 it does limit the population that's out there that has that expertise just because it's

1082
01:26:21,960 --> 01:26:25,280
 a very it's a very niche industry.

1083
01:26:25,280 --> 01:26:30,480
 But but we are definitely interested in making sure that that person comes to the table with

1084
01:26:30,480 --> 01:26:31,480
 those skill sets.

1085
01:26:31,480 --> 01:26:35,640
 They may have it on paper, but then on the resume, but then when they go through the

1086
01:26:35,640 --> 01:26:39,680
 interview process, we want to make sure that they have the requisite skill set so they

1087
01:26:39,680 --> 01:26:53,480
 can hit the ground running and not be too new in that in that arena.

1088
01:26:53,480 --> 01:26:54,480
 Thank you.

1089
01:26:54,480 --> 01:26:55,480
 Welcome.

1090
01:26:55,480 --> 01:26:56,480
 Vow.

1091
01:26:56,480 --> 01:26:57,480
 Yes.

1092
01:26:57,480 --> 01:27:08,320
 Good afternoon, everyone, and to you, Deputy City Manager, when the committee is formed

1093
01:27:08,320 --> 01:27:14,200
 for interviewing selected applicants for the position, will you consider having our chair

1094
01:27:14,200 --> 01:27:16,640
 or co-chair participate on that committee?

1095
01:27:16,640 --> 01:27:17,640
 Absolutely.

1096
01:27:17,640 --> 01:27:21,200
 We can certainly make sure that that's something that that's that's considered.

1097
01:27:21,200 --> 01:27:22,200
 Yes, ma'am.

1098
01:27:22,200 --> 01:27:23,200
 I'm Mario.

1099
01:27:23,200 --> 01:27:35,680
 I'll be one say that I'll be sad to see you leave and wish you well on your new endeavors.

1100
01:27:35,680 --> 01:27:36,680
 Well, thank you.

1101
01:27:36,680 --> 01:27:37,680
 Appreciate it.

1102
01:27:37,680 --> 01:27:38,680
 Yeah.

1103
01:27:38,680 --> 01:27:42,880
 I do agree that the meeting should probably continue as once a month.

1104
01:27:42,880 --> 01:27:51,200
 I think one of my questions and concerns is, as Mario mentioned, streamlining the processes

1105
01:27:51,200 --> 01:27:56,600
 for putting agenda items on, making those suggestions.

1106
01:27:56,600 --> 01:27:59,080
 The other one is making this format more accessible.

1107
01:27:59,080 --> 01:28:09,240
 I know we talked about closed caption when we were live, but now that we're streaming,

1108
01:28:09,240 --> 01:28:15,960
 that might be a concern that we have to to address.

1109
01:28:15,960 --> 01:28:23,880
 I'm just writing those things down.

1110
01:28:23,880 --> 01:28:33,360
 Are there any other questions or just for the concluding remarks?

1111
01:28:33,360 --> 01:28:34,360
 Yes.

1112
01:28:34,360 --> 01:28:35,360
 Beth.

1113
01:28:35,360 --> 01:28:43,640
 No, I think I'm I'm sorry, Rex.

1114
01:28:43,640 --> 01:28:50,640
 Beth.

1115
01:28:50,640 --> 01:28:51,640
 You may be muted.

1116
01:28:51,640 --> 01:28:52,640
 OK, better.

1117
01:28:52,640 --> 01:28:53,640
 Yes, ma'am.

1118
01:28:53,640 --> 01:28:54,640
 All right.

1119
01:28:54,640 --> 01:28:59,760
 I feel like I'm preaching to the choir, especially since Mario's leaving.

1120
01:28:59,760 --> 01:29:04,720
 But the committee was already behind when we started and all the city employees worked

1121
01:29:04,720 --> 01:29:10,280
 really hard to get us to where we are.

1122
01:29:10,280 --> 01:29:15,920
 And it was a steep learning curve just not just for us as a committee, but for the city

1123
01:29:15,920 --> 01:29:21,200
 employees that really didn't know much about disabilities.

1124
01:29:21,200 --> 01:29:24,480
 And I feel like we're still behind.

1125
01:29:24,480 --> 01:29:27,040
 We haven't seen the ADA plan.

1126
01:29:27,040 --> 01:29:31,240
 We haven't had input on the 2030 plan.

1127
01:29:31,240 --> 01:29:35,400
 We're still addressing parking and bus stops.

1128
01:29:35,400 --> 01:29:43,760
 And we haven't gotten as far as I feel like we should maybe.

1129
01:29:43,760 --> 01:29:48,700
 Or better, we need to get better at working faster.

1130
01:29:48,700 --> 01:29:56,280
 But I think we're now further behind because of the covid crisis, because Denton will have

1131
01:29:56,280 --> 01:30:03,200
 a much larger disabled population when that crisis is over.

1132
01:30:03,200 --> 01:30:09,560
 People that have recovered have decreased lung capacity, balance and walking issues,

1133
01:30:09,560 --> 01:30:12,400
 amputations, brain injury, strokes.

1134
01:30:12,400 --> 01:30:14,680
 The list is long.

1135
01:30:14,680 --> 01:30:22,040
 And when you start looking at the number of handicapped parking spaces and walkable areas

1136
01:30:22,040 --> 01:30:29,320
 in Denton, you really need to consider that you're going to have a larger and much younger

1137
01:30:29,320 --> 01:30:33,460
 disabled population when this virus is over.

1138
01:30:33,460 --> 01:30:41,080
 So if we started out behind, we need to catch up fast and start running forward.

1139
01:30:41,080 --> 01:30:46,080
 And one way to do that is there's got to be a way for committees to communicate better.

1140
01:30:46,080 --> 01:30:53,840
 It's like we're all working in our own bubbles and information's not being shared between

1141
01:30:53,840 --> 01:30:58,760
 the committees.

1142
01:30:58,760 --> 01:31:01,680
 So that was what I had.

1143
01:31:01,680 --> 01:31:11,440
 Thank you, Beth, I'll kind of piggyback off a couple of those items, I think.

1144
01:31:11,440 --> 01:31:16,680
 Being away for five months, I think there were some opportunities that were missed for

1145
01:31:16,680 --> 01:31:23,560
 this committee to input on, especially in the navigation of a pandemic and how that

1146
01:31:23,560 --> 01:31:26,720
 would impact our community.

1147
01:31:26,720 --> 01:31:31,720
 The same goes for the social unrest and use of police force.

1148
01:31:31,720 --> 01:31:38,440
 I understand that the mayor has a hand pick committee, but I would safely say that this

1149
01:31:38,440 --> 01:31:44,360
 committee has a lot more diverse and more broad perspectives on those kind of things.

1150
01:31:44,360 --> 01:31:52,920
 So I think what Beth said is true is making sure that this committee is at the forefront

1151
01:31:52,920 --> 01:32:00,200
 of almost every issue that could come up, you can almost put a stamp on disability and

1152
01:32:00,200 --> 01:32:04,120
 say how does this impact our residents with disabilities.

1153
01:32:04,120 --> 01:32:10,200
 Well, let's take this to the committee and see.

1154
01:32:10,200 --> 01:32:14,640
 I will share one thing, if it helps.

1155
01:32:14,640 --> 01:32:18,760
 We are in the process, the city is in the process of doing some building renovations,

1156
01:32:18,760 --> 01:32:24,200
 and so we'll be bringing those things to the committee for your input.

1157
01:32:24,200 --> 01:32:27,720
 There's two buildings, or I guess really two areas in specific.

1158
01:32:27,720 --> 01:32:33,320
 One is our public safety, we're renovating the police headquarters along with adding

1159
01:32:33,320 --> 01:32:38,240
 the police substation on the southwest side of the community, and then our development

1160
01:32:38,240 --> 01:32:46,280
 services building, which was a former day break facility just off of McKinney.

1161
01:32:46,280 --> 01:32:55,120
 So that will be coming forward to you all for input in the coming weeks, months.

1162
01:32:55,120 --> 01:33:07,160
 Are there any other questions or concluding comments?

1163
01:33:07,160 --> 01:33:11,480
 Will our meeting date remain the same, the third Thursday?

1164
01:33:11,480 --> 01:33:16,000
 I think so, I think that's kind of what everyone sort of already has penciled in.

1165
01:33:16,000 --> 01:33:21,800
 So we'd like to maintain that schedule and at least get back to normal as normal, whatever

1166
01:33:21,800 --> 01:33:22,800
 normal means now.

1167
01:33:22,800 --> 01:33:23,800
 Exactly.

1168
01:33:23,800 --> 01:33:29,840
 And John, let me welcome John, John's a new committee member.

1169
01:33:29,840 --> 01:33:32,320
 Oh, well, I didn't realize, welcome.

1170
01:33:32,320 --> 01:33:33,320
 Thanks.

1171
01:33:33,320 --> 01:33:41,040
 Yeah, I just wanted to know, will we keep the same time slot also if we're doing every

1172
01:33:41,040 --> 01:33:42,520
 Thursday still?

1173
01:33:42,520 --> 01:33:43,520
 It's up to you all.

1174
01:33:43,520 --> 01:33:44,520
 We're here.

1175
01:33:44,520 --> 01:33:49,160
 We're already working so whatever committees wishes are.

1176
01:33:49,160 --> 01:33:53,640
 Does this time not work for anyone?

1177
01:33:53,640 --> 01:34:00,920
 I took off of work to be here.

1178
01:34:00,920 --> 01:34:05,760
 I guess an after hours option would not be available.

1179
01:34:05,760 --> 01:34:12,680
 At this point, it's not just because what we're trying to do is leave those time slots

1180
01:34:12,680 --> 01:34:14,120
 for city council.

1181
01:34:14,120 --> 01:34:16,960
 Those go, they meet weekly and they go long.

1182
01:34:16,960 --> 01:34:24,640
 And so our, we're trying to as best we can keep those committees and other board meetings

1183
01:34:24,640 --> 01:34:28,320
 during the work day, if at all possible.

1184
01:34:28,320 --> 01:34:33,920
 And so Ali, maybe it's something that maybe working with Becky Owens, we can maybe try

1185
01:34:33,920 --> 01:34:41,200
 to find an amenable time that might work for you or again, my hope would be that the most

1186
01:34:41,200 --> 01:34:45,280
 that the committee meets, again, if you're meeting monthly, try to keep the meetings

1187
01:34:45,280 --> 01:34:50,000
 to about an hour and a half, no more than two hours tops, because just at some point,

1188
01:34:50,000 --> 01:34:53,080
 you know, you just, people just lose steam and they've got other things going on.

1189
01:34:53,080 --> 01:34:58,880
 So that's why I'm very, you know, key on keeping those meetings pretty, those, those topics

1190
01:34:58,880 --> 01:35:03,880
 tied and the presentations on point to get people in and out.

1191
01:35:03,880 --> 01:35:05,240
 I agree.

1192
01:35:05,240 --> 01:35:07,240
 Becky, do you have your hand up?

1193
01:35:07,240 --> 01:35:14,020
 If you all could just share an email with me on a preferred time or a preferred day of

1194
01:35:14,020 --> 01:35:20,080
 the week, keep in mind, I'm working with 27 other public meeting committees for time slots

1195
01:35:20,080 --> 01:35:22,280
 between eight and five.

1196
01:35:22,280 --> 01:35:27,240
 So what we tried to do for this particular meeting was keep it on the same third Thursday

1197
01:35:27,240 --> 01:35:32,680
 of the month, but we may have some wiggle room in the time slot.

1198
01:35:32,680 --> 01:35:37,240
 So please share your or voice your opinions.

1199
01:35:37,240 --> 01:35:41,480
 It's best if you could share those individually to me in an email.

1200
01:35:41,480 --> 01:35:47,780
 So then I can just juggle everything and then perhaps throw out some options on availability

1201
01:35:47,780 --> 01:35:49,880
 for the coming months ahead.

1202
01:35:49,880 --> 01:35:51,880
 All right.

1203
01:35:51,880 --> 01:35:55,960
 Any other final thoughts?

1204
01:35:55,960 --> 01:36:04,560
 Anyone I want to make a motion to close the meeting?

1205
01:36:04,560 --> 01:36:06,600
 Any seconds?

1206
01:36:06,600 --> 01:36:07,600
 Great.

1207
01:36:07,600 --> 01:36:11,440
 Well, thank you everybody for joining us.

1208
01:36:11,440 --> 01:36:17,960
 Thank you Mario again for being with us and our speakers and we'll see you guys next month.

1209
01:36:17,960 --> 01:36:18,960
 All right.

1210
01:36:18,960 --> 01:36:19,960
 Take care everyone.

1211
01:36:19,960 --> 01:36:20,960
 Good, good meeting.

1212
01:36:20,960 --> 01:36:21,960
 Thank you all.

1213
01:36:21,960 --> 01:36:22,960
 Have a great one.

1214
01:36:22,960 --> 01:36:23,960
 It's been a pleasure working with you.

1215
01:36:23,960 --> 01:36:24,960
 Absolutely.

1216
01:36:24,960 --> 01:36:28,320
 Best to you. Bye-bye. Bye-bye now.