Title
Facilities and Transportation Committee Meeting Highlights of March 13, 2012
Body
CITY OF SAN LEANDRO
CITY COUNCIL FACILITIES AND TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE
March 13, 2012
4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
San Leandro City Hall
835 East 14th Street
San Leandro, California
Sister Cities Gallery
HIGHLIGHTS
Committee Members: Councilmember Cutter, Councilmember Souza (Chair - Absent), Councilmember Starosciak
City staff present: Keith Cooke, Ken Joseph, Lianne Marshall, Maureen O'Callaghan, Austine Osakwe, Nick Thom, Uche Udemezue, Chris Zapata
Outside Presenters: None
Public present: None
The meeting was called to order at 4:07 p.m. Agenda Item 2 was moved to Item 1.
1. Discussion Regarding BART - San Leandro Boulevard Pedestrian Interface Project
Nick Thom gave a brief presentation on the BART - San Leandro Boulevard Pedestrian Interface project. He presented a drawing of the project showing the sidewalk widening, crosswalks, new traffic signals, driveways and selected trees.
Discussion ensued. Staff responded to questions from the Committee. Councilmember Starosciak asked if parking issues have been discussed. Uche Udemezue stated that no decision has been made regarding on-street parking, but staff will discuss over the next couple of months restrictions and metering stations. City Manager Chris Zapata asked how much is budgeted for the project. Nick stated that the budget is $6.2 million, with $4.6 million in Grant funds.
2. Discussion Regarding Undergrounding Master Plan / East 14th Street Undergrounding Project
Austine Osakwe gave a PowerPoint presentation regarding the Undergrounding Master Plan / East 14th Street Undergrounding project. He gave a brief history of the project and discussed the administration of the master plan, funding sources and criteria of the project.
Discussion ensued. Staff responded to questions from the Committee. Councilmember Starosciak asked who directs Comcast to do the undergrounding. Keith Cooke stated that the City notifies PG&E that the City is ready to go ahead with the undergrounding. PG&E takes the lead in the undergrounding, and Comcast follows suit. Councilmember Cutter asked who decides that undergrounding is going to take place. Uche Udemezue stated that the City decides, has a discussion with all of the utility companies regarding who is going to take the lead on the project, and then goes to the City Council.
3. Discussion Regarding AC Transit Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Project
Keith Cooke gave a brief presentation regarding the AC Transit BRT project. He stated that the March 1, 2012 neighborhood meeting had about 50 attendees. Written comments were received and varied. Some suggested not extending the route to the southern City limits, others mentioned parking impacts, others discussed problems with delivery trucks, and others supported the project. Final comments are due from staff to AC Transit by March 19, 2012.
Discussion ensued. Staff responded to questions from the Committee. Councilmember Cutter stated that one of the reasons for doing the BRT was having islands in the middle and beautification of the City, but found out from the meeting that those things are no longer included in the project. She asked what the benefit would be of having a dedicated lane. Uche explained that the project is a regional benefit to BRT as a total package. Staff is looking at the long term benefit to San Leandro. In order for the City to be considered a fully participating partner in BRT ideally there would be some sections of dedicated lanes in the city limits for San Leandro. With the dedicated lanes it would be easier to go after funding to extend BRT if the City desires to later. Councilmember Cutter stated that she is concerned for the older residents in Broadmoor who will have to walk to Durant Square to catch the bus and for students who will have to stop at the San Leandro Downtown BART Station to transfer to go to San Leandro High School.
Councilmember Starosciak stated that she believes that BART is for rapid transit and AC Transit needs to recognize that they are the last few miles in the connection. AC Transit is not BART and shouldn't try to compete with BART. AC Transit should be the spokes where BART is the hub. AC Transit is there for the last one or two miles, not for 14 miles. Its mission should be the last few miles. The City created Flex Shuttle and LINKS Shuttle for the last few miles because AC Transit didn't do it. She stated that AC Transit missed out on new users and should recognize their value to the community. Uche stated that in the future, BRT may be something that is necessary in San Leandro. Councilmember Starosciak stated that it would be a good use of funds if AC Transit created the missing spoke. Keith stated that this needs to be pointed out to AC Transit to inform it of what is most beneficial to San Leandro.
4. Project Updates / Discussion
Committee members were given a handout regarding Project Updates, and staff responded to questions. Councilmember Starosciak asked if the 136th Avenue and Bancroft project is scheduled to begin when the school year ends. Uche stated that the plan is to start as soon as school ends and to be complete before school starts for the new school year. Councilmember Starosciak asked if Community Development is working on the parking strategy for downtown and the garage project. She stated that as soon as drafts go out to the community, the better educated everyone will be.
5. Public Comments
None
6. Committee Member Comments
Councilmember Cutter stated that she would like to discuss changing the time of the Facilities Committee Meeting in the future.
Councilmember Starosciak stated that regarding ACTC issues coming up, with the sales tax measure in November, there is going to be a pilot project with funds available for getting kids to school. It is called the AC Transit Bus Pass, but it is still in discussion. Each community can come up with their own pilot project. The LINKS Shuttle is going to have trouble getting funding. A suggestion was made that if some of the students from Lincoln High School are allowed to use the LINKS Shuttle, perhaps the City could use some pilot funds for the transit bus pass program to supplement that. That would help the students get to school and help the LINKS Shuttle as well.
7. Adjourn
The meeting adjourned at 5:26 p.m.