Pioneer Trails Regional Planning Commission Transportation Advisory Council (TAC) Meeting Summary September 12, 2013 Regular Meeting I. Call to Order The regular bi-monthly meeting of the Pioneer Trails Regional Planning Commission Transportation Advisory Council (TAC) was called to order on September 12, 2013 at 6:00 p.m. at the Concordia Community Center in Room 203 at 802 S. Gordon St. in Concordia, Missouri with Chair Dewayne Jackson presiding. II. Members Present and Quorum TAC members present were as follows: Bryan B. Berlin Bill Bernier Gene Cassell Marvin Coleman Mildred Conner Kenneth Dieckmann Don Eckhoff Paul Engelmann Phil Harris A quorum was present. Glenn Held John Hinz Mark Ives Dewayne Jackson Jim Marcum Abby McMullin Richard Strobel Dale Zank Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) staff members present were as follows: Eric Curtit, Administrator of Railroads Mike McGrath, Area Engineer Others present were as follows: Jerry Brown, City of Lexington Nancy Heidrich, PTRPC Glen Kolkmeyer, Missouri House of Representatives -- District 53 Aaron McVicker, SKW Will Osborne, City of Odessa Mark Rounds, City of Lexington Tracy Walkup, OATS, Inc. Randy White, PTRPC Chair Jackson welcomed everyone and asked guests to introduce themselves. John Hinz introduced the new TAC member from Lafayette County: Mark Ives. Bill Bernier made a motion to accept the agenda as presented. The motion was seconded and passed. III. IV. Consideration of meeting summary for July 11, 2013 meeting John Hinz made a motion to accept the July 11, 2013 PTRPC TAC meeting summary as presented. The motion was seconded and passed. MoDOT 20-year plan (On the Move) update PTRPC TAC Meeting Summary 09/12/13 Page 1
Mike McGrath stated that it looks like a draft long range plan will go before the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission (MHTC) at their November 2013 meeting. Mr. McGrath learned at a MoDOT meeting that $70 billion worth of projects have been submitted. The current estimate of funding for the long range plan will be about $17 billion. Once the project list is compiled, MoDOT will ask input from the regional planning commissions regarding prioritization of those submitted needs. Randy White reviewed a diagram of the relationship between the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) and the long range plan. Mr. McGrath discussed the 2014-2018 STIP that was recently approved by the MHTC. The projects also include Taking Care of the System or maintenance projects. Mr. McGrath noted that there is both an urban and a rural STIP within the MoDOT Kansas City area District. An amendment will be added to the STIP. It was noted that all of I-70 has been resurfaced within the past five or six years. A hard copy of the MoDOT Kansas City area District STIP was passed around. The complete STIP can be viewed on the MoDOT website at www.modot.org. There was discussion about pavement treatments used on roadways in the area. V. Shared Four Lane Mr. McGrath presented a video of the shared four-lane infrastructure. A brochure about the four-lane was distributed. Benefits of the shared four-lane were discussed. An example of a shared four-lane infrastructure in Missouri can be found on Route 5 between Camdenton and Lebanon. The project manager has reported that the project has been well accepted by the public. Sometimes the infrastructure is retrofitted and sometimes there is a new alignment. There was discussion about the difference between a two-plus-one and a shared four-lane. Mr. McGrath stated that with a shared four-lane, it is typical to have the middle lane in one direction for one to one and a half miles, and then switching back to the opposite direction for one to one and a half miles. VI. VII. VIII. Retroreflectometer update Mr. White encouraged the use of the retroreflectometer. Mr. White stated that once each one of the counties obtained the initial training over the internet, he would schedule the manufacturer to provide a four-hour face to face training. Battle of the Belt Nancy Heidrich briefly described the Battle of the Belt (BOTB) challenge. Ms. Heidrich showed some of the posters available to communicate the message of buckling up to arrive alive. Presently, two high schools are signed up for BOTB. Chair Jackson asked if the TAC members could encourage participation in area high schools. Ms. Heidrich will send the TAC members a copy of the letter that was sent to the 24 area high schools. Expanding transportation contacts with multimodal representatives Ms. Heidrich stated that MoDOT has requested that each regional planning commission develops a regional inventory of transportation stakeholders. MoDOT s goal is to better identify all transportation needs and priorities in each region by including a broader group of transportation users, providers and decision makers in the planning processes. The inventory PTRPC TAC Meeting Summary 09/12/13 Page 2
will include contact information for non-highway modes, e.g., transit, rail, aviation, bicycle/pedestrians and waterways. Eric Curtit briefly described the Planning Framework process with one goal in transportation planning being bottom up so that stakeholders would have input into the selection of the projects prior to finalization of the priorities. MoDOT s railroads staff are responsible for all public grade crossings. Mr. Curtit distributed a list of the public grade crossings in the Pioneer Trails area. Discussion followed about public grade crossing improvements. Crossings are prioritized. A list of projects is programmed. Sometimes the crossing work requires closing of roads. MoDOT tries to do about 35 upgrades a year; however, recently MoDOT inherited five years worth of funds. MoDOT desires to involve local transportation stakeholders prior to providing a list of projects to local folks. MoDOT anticipates returning next year to request input from the TAC. Railroad staff believes that the local folks know the area better than someone who sits behind a desk in another location. Changing the way we prioritize public grade crossings. There was some discussion about warning lights and signals. Safety at public grade crossings was discussed. Input from public stakeholders about how to make the crossings safer was discussed. AO is an abbreviation for administrative order. There was a question about whether Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) features are considered in the public grade crossings. Mr. Curtit explained that typically the public grade crossings are in rural areas where there are not pedestrian facilities. If a pedestrian crossing needs to be installed, it must meet the ADA requirements. John Hinz made a motion that the TAC invite Eric Curtit to present additional information at the January 9, 2014 TAC meeting. The motion was seconded and passed. Mr. Curtit provided a handout on the Amtrak Missouri River Runner. The handout showed ontime performance measurement. (See attachment.) Mr. Curtit discussed the Amtrak fare. (See attachment.) The closer you are to the time of the departure, the higher the fare. The way Amtrak posts their fares is Amtrak s choice. The afternoon train fares are sometimes more economical than the morning train fares. The cost of the ticket is affected by demand. The importance of booking early for better rates was discussed. New coaches are now under construction and are expected for the Missouri River Runner in 2016. Passenger trains have priority over freight trains on the tracks. IX. TAC officer election preparation It was discussed that if a TAC member plans to leave his or her position, that person can inform their county commissioners of plans to leave and can suggest someone who is willing to take the vacant spot. The county commissioners may or may not fill the vacancy with that person. Chair Jackson stated that for 2014, Pettis County is in line to serve in the chair s position and Saline County is in line to serve in the vice chair s position. The current vice chair is Bill Beck and he could be the Pettis County candidate for chair for 2014. Saline County needs to provide a candidate to serve as vice chair. Plans are to elect the 2014 officers at the October 2013 TAC meeting. X. TAC County Reports PTRPC TAC Meeting Summary 09/12/13 Page 3
Johnson County Bill Bernier stated that the Highway 13 Corridor Coalition met this past Monday. Senator Pearce was in attendance as well as Representative Dohrman and Representative Kolkmeyer. The Coalition has requested that community leaders in Johnson and Lafayette counties (as well as three other counties represented in the Coalition) write letters of support for an expanded MO 13. The letters will be presented to the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission (MHTC) on November 7. Chair Jackson will submit a letter of support on behalf of the TAC. Richard Strobel reported that some trees are limiting visibility at the intersection of Route CC and Route 23. Limited visibility also exists at Route CC and County Road 900 due to tree growth. Mr. Strobel expressed concern about scheduling of maintenance work on Route 23 resulting in Route 23 being closed during the Concordia fair in September. Mr. McGrath explained that contract/contractor issues led to the project time being extended. Importance of communicating with MoDOT through Mr. McGrath about important upcoming events was discussed. Lafayette County Kenneth Dieckmann reported that on Route D near Napoleon (south) a culvert was replaced and some settling has occurred. Where Route D hits Route FF, there is a lot of wash boarding near the stop sign. Representative Kolkmeyer expressed thanks to MoDOT for fixing the chug hole on Route 131. He has heard complements about the north outer road on I-70 being paved from Higginsville to around Route 131. Representative Kolkmeyer has heard several complaints from farmers about Johnson grass on Route 131. Mr. McGrath stated that MoDOT staff has been attempting to spray the grass and will pass on the request. Representative Kolkmeyer has heard a request for resurfacing from Route D to Odessa on the south outer road along I-70 (Old 40 Highway). At the junction of Route 131 and US 24 heading north and turning east, tractor-trailers have created a hole on the inside (southeast corner) where pavement is missing. John Hinz reported that in Saline County about a half mile east of Grand Pass on northbound US 65, there is a drop. Mr. McGrath says they have done some repair work there and will continue to watch it. Pettis County Jim Marcum reported that there are a couple of construction possibilities; however, the county is waiting on some projects to be completed. Abby McMullin reported that MoDOT is doing some selective axel pavement between Dresden and Houstonia and it looks like they are fixing some areas that could have gotten away. On the Local Public Agency side, the City of Sedalia streetscape project funding has been obligated. Work can now begin on the streetscape sidewalk. Saline County Mildred Conner reported that there are two big chunks of concrete on Route 20 between Blackburn and Alma and one east of Blackburn. She requested that the reflectors be placed on top of the Missouri River bridge at Lexington. Mr. McGrath reported that MoDOT will seal the bridge this fall and will place the reflectors at the same time. Ms. Conner also requested reflective paint be placed where vehicles get on the bridge for additional visibility. Ms. Conner stated that the two bridges on Route 41 going toward Arrow Rock are very narrow. Mr. McGrath thinks that there are other bridges that have a greater priority according to the bridge rating. There was discussion about visibility on secondary roads during harvesting. PTRPC TAC Meeting Summary 09/12/13 Page 4
XI. XII. XIII. XIV. :nlh Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) Announcements Eric Curtit encouraged those present to contact 573-751-7121 if there is an issue about a rough railroad crossing in the area. Protocol is for an inspector to be dispatched to assess the reported crossing. Mr. McGrath stated that a public meeting regarding the intersection of Highways 50 and 58 will be scheduled. Other business No additional business was discussed. Next meeting: October 17, 2013, 5:30 p.m., Annual Pioneer Trails Dinner Meeting, Concordia Community Center Plans for the next meeting were announced. Adjournment John Hinz made a motion to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed. Chair Jackson adjourned the meeting at 7:42 p.m. ooo PTRPC TAC Meeting Summary 09/12/13 Page 5