MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
FEBRUARY 23, 2007
Chairperson Harney called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 10:01 a.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Larry Meyers, Terrence Neuzil, Sally Stutsman, and Rod Sullivan.
Senator Joe Bolkcom thanked the group for attending the meeting on trails with the Iowa Department of Transportation. Bolkcom explained that the DOT is planning a resurfacing project along Highway #1 and there is interest from members on the Johnson County Trails Committee about putting a trail on that alignment.
DOT Assistant District 6 Engineer Jim Schnoebelen said that they have an opportunity to apply for Federal funding to pave the shoulders on Highway #1. The current policy with this traffic level is to do four foot paved shoulders. With the Federal funding they will be able to do six foot paved shoulders. Schnoebelen emphasized that this is not a roadway reconstruction but an improvement. They will also be doing some intersection realignment. R. Sullivan asked if there is a plan to go from Solon to Mt. Vernon or south of Iowa City. Schnoebelen said it would be based on pavement need, but there is no current plan. Schnoebelen said that they will do the paved shoulders whether there is a separated trail or not. Federal Safety money is for six foot paved shoulders.
Johnson County Trails Committee Member Terry Dahms said that over 20 years ago they started working on the Iowa River Corridor Trail. Currently there is a separated trail from Napoleon Park to West Overlook. Other significant trail segments have happened through JCCOG. From North Liberty they are trying to get to Solon, which is currently a paved shoulder. Dahms said that they have made significant accomplishments for trails. The most significant change happened 10 years ago. 10 years ago JCCOG had new standards for arterial streets. The standard was set at 30 feet with eight feet shoulders. After 20 years there are 30 miles of separated trails. With arterial streets there have been 40 miles in 10 years. This is now called the Complete Streets Program. Dahms said that what they would like is a loop back to Iowa City along Highway #1. This would tie in with a lot of the work along North Dodge Street and the wide sidewalk. They would like to leverage what the DOT is doing and start doing complete roads. Over width pavement accommodates bicyclists but wide sidewalks accommodate joggers, walkers, and beginning cyclists. He said that their goal is that when a road goes in it would automatically have a trail. Dahms said that it seems to make sense that the DOT would cooperate and help make the loop back to Iowa City.
DOT Office of Systems Planning Director Stuart Anderson said that the DOT does have a Complete Streets policy with six foot paved shoulders. With a resurfacing project they would be able to do some things but not as many as with a reconstruction project. If there was a major reconstruction they would be talking about that. With a resurfacing it's not as feasible. Schnoebelen said that they have already had emails from cyclists saying they prefer paved shoulders. Dahms said that cyclists who prefer paved shoulders are extreme cyclists who have rights to the road and don't need paved shoulders, but are only a well organized minority. Dahms explained that casual users and beginning cyclists aren't going to be on paved shoulders.
R. Sullivan said that the Dubuque Street Trail average daily traffic count is 500 per day. R. Sullivan noted that a lot of roads don't have that total. Schnoebelen asked if Highway #1 is on a trail plan. Harney said that Johnson County does have a trails plan that sets out County trail priorities. R. Sullivan said that the County identified key areas but left the plan flexible enough that if opportunities present themselves they could act. Schnoebelen asked if the County has a similar trails policy as Iowa City's Complete Streets Program. Stutsman said that the County has adopted a Trails Committee and has started to prioritize. Schnoebelen said that they would want advocacy from the local groups. Harney said that the Trails Committee has just begun and they've set priorities not knowing about the repaving of Highway #1. Harney said that Highway #1 is busy, and keeps getting busier and busier. He doesn't feel the DOT plan is going to be adequate in the long term. Dahms said that they want roads to be multimodal. He said that they are so close but Highway #1 won't be multimodal with paved shoulders.
Iowa City City Council Member Dee Vanderhoef said that with the Iowa City/Johnson County Fringe Area Agreement, and where residential housing is planned for the county, there are areas that have been planned on Highway #1 for clustered housing which means lots of housing and lots of children. Many of the children are in the Iowa City or Solon Community School Districts. They are looking at the safety for the young cyclists. Vanderhoef said that they won't be able to have children ride the paved shoulders along Highway 1. Vanderhoef explained that she looks at trails just like she looks at roads. Trails help with parking and street traffic also. Vanderhoef said that Iowa City is constructing an eight foot separated sidewalk up to the I-80 bridge on the reconstruction of North Dodge Street. She said that it would make sense for it to continue past I-80.
Bolkcom said that the American Discovery Trail is looking at a realignment. Anderson said that if the American Discovery Trail is along Highway #1 they would still be looking at a six foot paved shoulder.
Vanderhoef said that all new designs in Iowa City have had separated wide sidewalks for a number of years. They are now looking at putting eight foot paved trails on all existing arterial streets. Vanderhoef listed a number of streets where they have completed eight foot sidewalks.
Johnson County Trails Committee Member Janelle Rettig said that it is a priority of the corridor to connect the corridor. She asked if there is a way to combine resources. She said that if they can't convince the State that they want separated trails, there might at least be a way to combine resources. Schnoebelen said that there are opportunities to combine resources. Schnoebelen said that he isn't sure that by the DOT doing their project they are precluding a separated trail. Bolkcom said that the County would have to design the trail. Bolkcom said that minus a design for a possible trail, the DOT wouldn't be able to do anything substantive.
R. Sullivan asked if the State is willing to put in the extra work to design a trail that the County could construct at a later date. Schnoebelen said that if there was a concept they could do whatever they could to work within that concept. Schnoebelen said that the County would probably have to buy a lot of separate right-of-way. R. Sullivan asked if the DOT could do a design for a separated eight foot trail. R. Sullivan said that the DOT would be the controlling authority, not the County. Harney asked if the DOT would allow a separated trail on their property. Schnoebelen said that if there was room, they would, but he doesn't think there would be room. Parker said that the Code of Iowa reads that they cannot condemn ag land for trail opportunities. They would have to have willing property owners. Pulkrabek asked if it would be advantageous for the DOT to put it in their plan, and then where right-of-way does need to be acquired, the Trails Committee could work on that to convince the landowners to give the land. Schnoebelen said that they would work with them and cooperate but there should be a local lead because that is where the advocacy is.
Bolkcom said that this just came onto the radar screen. He said that it is really just another proposal to get a trail in the corridor. Bolkcom said that there are financial constraints for the County, and the DOT doesn't have the money to build seven or eight miles of trail in this spot. He suggested this be another item to give to the Trails Committee. He said that the County will probably only do one alignment.
Bolkcom asked that Anderson explain the State Trails Program. Anderson said that they administer several grant programs for trails construction. There is two million funded through the State Recreational Trails Fund. This program accepts applications any time and has a 25% local match. Anderson noted that $4.5 million goes to the COGs on a per capita basis. The Federal Recreation Trails Program accepts trails applications October 1 of every year. Another Federal program, the Safe Routes to Schools program, just had its first round in Iowa. This program provides $1 million a year in funding. The program is geared towards encouraging elementary and middle school children to walk/ride to school safely. The deadline for this program is also October 1.
R. Sullivan asked if any of the grants are looked at more favorably if they come from a couple of different municipalities. Anderson said that all applications are intended to have a statewide significance. Rettig asked if grant fundings can be combined. Anderson said that applications will typically be submitted to each grant program. They would like each application to be able to stand on its own though. He said that they also want them to have independent utility. Anderson explained that the Hoover Nature Trail has received multiple types of funding.
Dahms said that they are not making progress fast enough with $2 million in funding for $20 million in applications. He said that the Complete Streets Program works for JCCOG and questioned why it couldn't work for the County and the State. Schnoebelen reiterated that the Highway #1 project is just a maintenance project and not a reconstruction.
Bolkcom said that whatever the requirement is, there is a financial cost that is not accounted for now. He said that if the trail bonding legislation is passed the people who have designs on the table will get the funding. Bolkcom said that unless there is a specific proposal there won't be something in the queue to present. Anderson said that they haven't had much thought about the trail bonding legislation. Their intent is to do an upfront infusion of funding. They would expect that it would be over two years or less depending on if the money is available up front.
Bolkcom asked about the status of trails grant proposals that don't get funded. Anderson said that entities can resubmit them, but they typically don't change much from year to year. Bolkcom asked if it is common for people who didn't apply in 2003 to get to the top of the list. Anderson said that is a fair statement for the good projects that have a strong regional or statewide significance. Bolkcom asked about the statewide significance of a corridor trail. Anderson said that does have the significance of projects that have been funded in the past.
Dvorsky said that it would be helpful to know each year who received trails funding and why. Anderson said that he would be happy to provide that information. Dvorsky said that it would also be helpful to have a guide with all of the possibilities for trail funding on the DOT website. Anderson said that he will provide that information.
Neuzil said that if would be a shame if the DOT rehabilitates Highway #1 without Johnson County's ability to put in a separated trail. Anderson said that he doesn't know anything about the project that doesn't preclude a separated trail. Dahms said that the safety issues bother him, and they are addressing safety issues at the intersections. He said that they have considerable experience with 36 foot wide roads, and people drive faster on a wider road. He said that there is a conflict because the DOT says they're safer but the high speed traffic is less safe. Schnoebelen said that studies show that paved shoulders provide safety benefits. Meyers confirmed that trails applications just have to have a concept. Anderson agreed.
Adjourned at 11:10 a.m.
Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor
By Casie Kadlec, Recording Secretary