Title
Resolution to Prohibit On-Street Parking on the West Side of South Seventh Street from Scio Church Road to Lawton Elementary School and Incorporate Additional Speed Management and/or Traffic Calming
Memorandum
Attached for your review and approval, please find a resolution to approve the prohibition of on-street parking on the west side of South Seventh Street from Scio Church Road to Lawton Elementary School.
The South Seventh Street Water Main Replacement and Resurfacing project design includes replacing the old and undersized water main with a new, larger water main, while also improving the vehicular, pedestrian, and bicycling environment. The project will resurface the roadway, add crosswalks with bump-outs, and upgrade bike facilities.
The City held a public meeting to discuss the project on September 13, 2022. A survey was also open to the public to obtain feedback on the proposed bike facilities. As part of that survey, City staff presented four options:
Option #1: Retain existing configuration but add pavement markings for parking and “sharrows”.
Option #2: Retain all on street parking and add standard bike lanes.
Option #3: Remove parking from one side of the street and add buffered bike lanes.
Option #4*: Separated bike lane (same as Option #3, but with posts for separation)
*Note: this option would not be able to be fully implemented until adequate snow clearing and street sweeping equipment is procured.
The survey results indicated that respondents were divided amongst the different options. However, over 50% of respondents wanted some form of a bike lane (options #2 through #4 above). The full summary of A2 Open City Hall survey and comments are attached.
Based on these findings, staff proposed to implement Option #2. This was presented to the Transportation Commission at their September 21, 2022 meeting. At that meeting, the Transportation Commission voted to recommend to City Council the removal of on-street parking from one side of the street to accommodate protected bike lanes. Based on the proposed configuration of the crosswalks at the intersections, staff determined that removal of parking on the west side of Seventh would fit best with the proposed design.
At their October 19, 2022, the Transportation Commission revisited the recommendations they made in September. Specifically, the Transportation Commission further recommended incorporation of additional speed management and/or traffic calming in the design of the Seventh/Greenview project and that the City gather vehicle speed data. This recommendation is in addition to and augments their original recommendation from the September 21 meeting.
Chapter 10 of City Code requires Council approval for the permanent or temporary restriction of parking for more than one block. Therefore, the attached resolution is being submitted to City Council to prohibit on-street parking on the west side of South Seventh Street from Scio Church Road to Lawton Elementary School in order to accommodate the Transportation Commission’s recommendation.
Budget/Fiscal Impact: The additional bike lanes will initially cost approximately $71,300 for pavement marking installation and increase yearly maintenance costs by an estimated average of $2,890 ($2,400 for pavement marking maintenance; $490 for bike lane maintenance). The cost of any speed management or traffic calming elements that might be added to the project has not been determined at this time.
Staff
Prepared by: Nicholas Hutchinson, P.E., City Engineer
Reviewed by: Brian Steglitz, Interim Public Services Area Administrator
Approved by: Milton Dohoney Jr., City Administrator
Body
Whereas, The City is undertaking a project to upgrade the water mains and resurface the pavement on South Seventh Street and Greenview Drive south of Scio Church;
Whereas, The project provides an opportunity to improve the experience of pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers on these streets;
Whereas, Residents in the project area have expressed a strong concern that the unusually large width of the street creates an environment where speeding cars are observed regularly;
Whereas, Residents on the adjacent block of South Seventh Street requested traffic calming in 2005;
Whereas, Seventh Street is an important Safe Routes to School corridor leading to Lawton Elementary, Pioneer High School, Bach Elementary, Slauson Middle School, and Ann Arbor Open;
Whereas, The Comprehensive Transportation Plan identifies South Seventh between Scio Church and Meadowbrook Park as a proposed part of its All Ages All Abilities network of bike routes, recommending design features that encourage safe speeds, like those in the city’s Traffic Calming Program;
Whereas, The process by which the proposed roadway design changes were created did not prioritize speed management because the City’s Traffic Calming process is currently a neighborhood-initiated process;
Whereas, The Transportation Commission has established a subcommittee to conduct a comprehensive review of the City’s current Traffic Calming Program processes, in part, to look for opportunities to more effectively and efficiently incorporate speed management work into all City road projects,
Whereas, At the request of the Transportation Commission, the City collected data on traffic speed and volume on South Seventh Street in the project area and found that 60 percent of drivers exceeded the 25mph speed limit; and
Whereas, It is acknowledged that executing this resolution could push the project back by one year to allow for this redesign and public engagement to occur;
RESOLVED, City Council directs the City Administrator to develop new designs for South Seventh between Scio Church and Delaware that narrow the road using speed management tools such as, but not limited to, chicanes, pinch points, and/or mini roundabouts to slow traffic to safe neighborhood speeds, and then integrate an appropriate all ages and abilities bike route for a neighborhood street; and
RESOLVED, Additional public engagement shall be conducted to present the new designs to the public for feedback, then the designs will go to the Transportation Commission, then to City Council if necessary.
As Amended and Approved by Ann Arbor City Council on November 10, 2022