TO: Mayor and City Council
THROUGH: Steve Powers, City Manager
FROM: Peter Fernandez, PE, Public Works Director
SUBJECT:
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Removing on-street parking at transit stops for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Ward(s): 1
Councilor(s): Kaser
Neighborhood(s): Grant
Result Area(s): Safe, Reliable, and Efficient Infrastructure
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ISSUE:
Shall the City Council approve removal of on-street parking at four locations to provide transit stop access per the Americans with Disabilities Act?
RECOMMENDATION:
recommendation
Approve removal of on-street parking at four locations to provide transit stop access per the Americans with Disabilities Act.
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SUMMARY:
Cherriots is constructing bus stop improvements to meet the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility requirements. The work is being done in phases throughout the transit district. The phase currently underway requires removal of on-street parking at five locations. The proposed on-street parking removal is the minimum needed to meet Cherriots bus maneuvering needs.
Public comment received for four stops on Winter Street NE requires the removal question to be referred to the Citizens Advisory Traffic Commission (CATC) for consideration. At its May 15, 2019 meeting, CATC approved removing the on-street parking at the four locations with a 4-3 vote. Owing to the narrow majority, the commissioners deemed the issues controversial. Per Salem Revised Code 5.030, controversial traffic issues as determined by CATC shall be referred to Council.
At total of 278 linear feet of existing on-street parking (between 11 and 13 on-street parking spaces) on Winter Street was originally proposed by Cherriots for removal. After the May 15 CATC meeting, City and Cherriots staff met onsite at two of the locations and this distance has been reduced to 255 feet, adding back two or three spaces to the neighborhood.
For one stop, located on Church Street NE, removal of on-street parking has been approved per Salem Revised Code.
FACTS AND FINDINGS:
On April 9, 2019, Cherriots asked the City to remove on-street parking at five locations (Attachment 1- Aerial Maps, Attachment 2 - Proposed Improvements):
88 feet along the east side of Winter Street NE north of Belmont Street NE;
90 feet along the west side of Winter Street NE north of Belmont Street NE;
40 feet along the east side of Winter Street NE south of D Street NE;
60 feet along the west side of Winter Street NE south of D Street NE; and
22 feet along the west side of Church Street NE south of Mill Creek.
The proposed on-street parking removal is the minimum needed to meet Cherriots bus maneuvering needs (Attachment 3 - Curbside Bus Stop No Parking Zones).
Cherriots has notified the affected residents and property owners around the five bus stop locations (Attachment 4 - Email of Notification). The City posted notices of the proposal to remove on-street parking at the five locations, April 17 through April 26, 2019.
Residents and property owners near the four locations on Winter Street NE contacted staff with questions and concerns for the proposed parking removal (Attachment 5 - Emailed Comments and Concerns). Staff did not receive any concerns for parking removal at the Church Street NE bus stop location and approved the removal at this location.
On May 15, 2019, a Citizen Advisory Traffic Commission (CATC) hearing was held. Ten residents and two Cherriots staff attended the hearing. At the conclusion of the hearing, CATC voted 4-3 in favor of the parking removal and determined the matter to be controversial and in need of referral to Council. Attachment 6 contains the CATC hearing minutes.
Cherriots will be requesting the City remove on-street parking at a number of additional locations in the future. Those requests will be processed through CATC if residents are opposed to those proposed parking removals.
After the May 15 CATC hearing, City staff meet at two of the proposed locations with Cherriots staff. The purpose of the meeting was to determine if the original proposal could be modified so that less parking would be removed. On the east side of Winter Street NE north of Belmont Street NE, the on-street parking removal was reduced from 88 feet to 66 feet. On the west side of Winter Street NE north of D Street NE, the on-street parking removal was reduced from 60 feet to 37 feet. An aerial view of the revised parking to be removed is provided in Attachment 7. The total length of parking to be removed was reduced from 278 to 255 feet, which returned to the neighborhood two to three spaces. The new proposal for Council consideration is as follows:
66 feet along the east side of Winter Street NE north of Belmont Street NE;
90 feet along the west side of Winter Street NE north of Belmont Street NE;
40 feet along the east side of Winter Street NE south of D Street NE;
37 feet along the west side of Winter Street NE south of D Street NE; and
22 feet along the west side of Church Street NE south of Mill Creek.
BACKGROUND:
The accessibility improvements include new concrete bus stop pads and accessible walkways connecting the bus stop pads to sidewalks and shelters. In order to deploy its service ramp at these locations, a bus must stop adjacent to the street curb. Making room for curbside pickup necessitates removing on-street parking in the immediate vicinity of these stops.
The Citizen Advisory Traffic Commission (CATC) operates under the authority of the Salem Revised Code (SRC), Chapter 5. Per the SRC, CATC is an advisory body for the Public Works Director and City Council on matters related to traffic and parking control.
SRC 5.030 states “Controversial traffic issues, as determined by the Citizens Advisory Traffic Commission, shall be referred to Council with the recommendation and report of the Citizens Advisory Traffic Commission.…”
The Salem Transportation System Plan (Salem TSP) under the Transit System Element supports accessible transit services:
Policy 1.5 - The City supports accessible fixed route services; and
Policy 1.7 - The City supports efforts made by Cherriots to increase mobility for transportation disadvantaged citizens.
Robert D. Chandler, PhD, PE
Assistant Public Works Director
Attachments:
1. Aerial Maps - Original
2. Proposed Improvement
3. Curbside Bus Stop No Parking Zones
4. Email of Notification
5. Emailed Comments and Concerns
6. CATC Hearing Minutes
7. Aerial Maps - Revised