TUCSON URBAN CORRIDOR COMMUNITY LIAISON GROUP MEETING #7
February 28, 2007,
5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
UA University Services Annex Building, 220 West 6th Street
Meeting Summary
1. Welcome and Introductions
Shellie Ginn, Tucson Department of Transportation Project Manager, welcomed everyone to the meeting. She introduced Freda Johnson the meeting facilitator, who asked the CLG and project team members to introduce themselves. Next Freda reviewed the CLG meeting ground rules and mentioned that in the observers meeting material packages there was a green comment form they could use to address any questions or concerns that may not have been brought up at the meeting.
Marc Soronson from HDR thanked everyone for coming to the meeting and for his or her commitment to the project. He provided a brief outline of the agenda topics and stated that there will be a project open house on March 21st at the Historic Train Depot and that the following week on March 27th, project team was planning to go before the Mayor and Council to provide a Final Project Definition with a revised Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA).
2. New Starts/Small Starts Proposed Guidance
Marc reminded everyone that the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is a partner since the project will be pursuing Small Starts funding. He stated that the FTA had recently released proposed Small Starts guidelines for fiscal year 2009 and that HDR was coordinating with other firms, agencies and the City of Tucson to provide the FTA comments on these guidelines.
Marc stressed the importance of receiving FTA funding and that because the FTA has limited funds to disseminate it is extremely important for this project to receive a high ranking. He noted that a request for under 50 percent federal share would lend to a more favorable ranking.
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3. Final Project Definition
Maintenance and Storage Facility
Terry Nash of HDR gave a brief overview of the preferred location and design of the maintenance and storage facility. He noted that there were other locations considered but these other properties met resistance so the Stevens Avenue location is being recommended and will adequately meet the project needs. Terry presented three renderings of what the facility will look like from the outside.
John Sedwick, representing the Fourth Avenue Merchants Association, pointed out that the facility sketches presented showed a two-story structure. Terry stated that this was because of the height requirement for a crane to be housed inside the facility.
David Bachman-Williams, representing the City of Tucson and Pima County Bicycle Advisory Committees (BAC), asked how far was the right of way from the railroad. Terry answered that it was approximately 80 feet.
4th Avenue Underpass Re-design
Marc addressed the 4th underpass redesign and that Terry has been coordinating with the 4th Ave design team. He noted that the 4th Ave project has added streetcar track for a turnaround loop that Old Pueblo Trolley will utilize when there are 4th Ave events occurring such as the street fair. It will allow storage of streetcars so that there is no impact to 4th Ave events. This loop is part of the 4th Ave underpass redesign project and will therefore be constructed before the modern streetcar project construction is underway.
Congress/Broadway One-way
Matthew Taunton from HDR, talked about how the recent Mayor and Council decision to have Downtown streets remain one way. The project's LPA had assumed Congress and Broadway as two-way systems using contra flow along Congress for movement of the streetcar. Now that these streets will remain one way, the modern streetcar will move west on Congress and east on Broadway. Stations that were originally planned for Congress will remain and additional stations will be planned for Broadway. Because additional routes and stations negatively impact travel times, the streetcar tracks will be placed in the streets' inside lanes to improve travel times and reduce the impact to on-street parking.
Granada Alignment
Matthew presented the revised Granada alignment. Originally the LPA planned to operate on the greenway but due to some changes in the Downtown Master Plan Area, the alignment was shifted to Granada Avenue with an off-street station adjacent to the Hotel Arizona. There are plans to remodel and enlarge the hotel and designers have contacted the project team recommending that the modern streetcar station originally planned to be in front of the hotel, now be incorporated on hotel property. A preliminary conceptual rendering of the future hotel was shown. Matthew pointed out that this new station location is advantageous because it is located out of the street and is therefore favorable for large number passenger boardings due to events.
Matthew pointed out that there is an issue with the hotel parking access off Granada. There will need to be a traffic analysis to see if a signal or gate is needed to ensure the streetcar movement is not jeopardized by parking traffic flow.
Cultural Plaza
The next issue presented by Matthew was the relocation of Cushing Street. Initially it was planned to go south but has shifted north due to relocation of the Science Center and Cultural Plaza. There will now be stations incorporated into the plaza and its parking structure. Under the LPA, this station location was considered the End of the Line (EOL) but after requests by the Menlo Park Neighborhood Association and Rio Development Company for a new west end line terminus the line has been extended. Avenida de Convento will need to have back-in angle parking and parallel parking to accommodate the streetcar. Two station locations were presented with the preferred location on the outside of the roadway.
David brought up his appreciation that the project team met with the El Tour de Tucson committee and is happy that the streetcar will not stop the Tour from being Downtown and asked how the decision was made on where to re-enter Granada from the Hotel Arizona station. Matthew said that there was already a signal location proposed so to have efficient use of resources they chose that location but it could be revised if there was new information regarding the new Arena.
David said that he prefers reentering the street farther south and that the El Tour would probably also advocate his suggestion. Matthew agreed to look into David's request but it would depend on the Arena information available.
David also stated that he agreed with advocating back-in parking along Avenida de Convento and other areas, as it is safer for bicyclists but concerned that it may not work on a high traffic street such as Congress or Broadway.
Don Durband representing the Downtown Business Alliance, asked Matthew to explain what the different colors used on the graphic handouts represented.
Matthew noted that he expected the station in front of the Sun Tran Ronstadt Transit Center to have the highest passenger traffic.
John asked if there is still time to address preferences of station locations. Matthew responded that the number of stops and spacing pattern is flexible but only minor movements. The further the project progress in the FTA process, the more difficult to make changes that do not negatively impact FTA's ranking. He also stated that after approval of the revised LPA, the next CLG meeting will address station locations. Marc again noted that adding stations affects travel times negatively and it is very important for the project to stay between 10 and 12 minute intervals.
Marc asked John to speak to the attendees about a recent trip he and the President, Daniel Matlick made to Portland Oregon to see first hand how the streetcar operates. John gave a brief description about the trip he and Daniel made. He noted that they both went with skepticism and a critical eye. They were pleased with how clean and quiet the vehicles were. They were impressed with the LED GPS interface notices at stop locations that posted the next train's arrival time. He commented on how easy and quick it was to board the vehicle especially for anyone in a wheel chair or with a bicycle. One concern that he had was how the construction of the system had impacted the nearby businesses but was informed that constructors only have to dig a foot down the center of asphalt and could lay two 300 foot blocks of track in two weeks.
John and Daniel spoke to people along the street and in malls about their opinions of the streetcar. Everyone had positive things to say about this type of transportation.
They also surveyed many local businesses and found that none were negatively impacted by the streetcar construction. Those they surveyed said they had encountered no hardships due to the streetcar. When they interviewed an independent bookstore, they found that the store had initially been against the streetcar but after operations started, it changed their opinion and they are full supporters. Another business that John mentioned was a tire store. The streetcar doesn't directly provide them business but they have gained a marketing advantage by providing a streetcar pass for customers to use while their vehicles are being serviced.
He also explained that only because of the streetcar and light rail systems in Portland were he and Daniel able to see as much of the city as they did. He felt that if they were using a car, they would never have had the opportunity to visit so many places in such a short timeframe.
John said he would like to see more parking provided near 4th Ave so people can park their cars, visit 4th Ave and then hop on the streetcar to visit other destinations.
David addressed the CLG stating that he liked the new alignment going along Congress and Broadway especially using the inside lane so there is less of a safety concern of bicyclist getting pinched between the streetcar and parked vehicles.
Ellen Adelstein asked if the project was costing $25 million per mile and once built, what is the operation cost and how much of it will be covered by fares and other sources? Matthew answered that her cost per mile was accurate and that in 2012 the approved RTA plan has funding for operations. As far as the fares, normally they support 18-25% of the operations costs. Portland has a free ridership zone because fare collection slows the system.
Ellen asked if the UA has donated any money towards the project. Marc said that they have donated property and financed the environmental studies and will rebuild at their expense for the project to use.
Richard Basye, an observer, asked if the project was considered a trolley line or commuter line. Marc answered that people will use it for both. The project is trying to serve commuters and circulation by connecting the dots without getting in a car so as to create pedestrian activity on the streets.
Richard asked if the project was planned to extend up Campbell. Mathew explained the there had not been an expansion study done.
Richard asked what the projected ridership and fare price was to be. Marc answered that rider ship for the original LPA had been forecasted to be about four thousand a day but with the new LPA it may be higher. He noted that Portland had forecasted four thousand riders a day and that turned out to be very understated. The rider ship in Portland is more like ten thousand a day.
Richard also asked if the radius turns at Fourth Avenue will work. Marc said that the Fourth Avenue tracks are being designed by the Fourth Avenue design team and coordinated with this project team so they are being looked at and designed to work.
Richard then asked if the Santa Cruz Bridge will have pedestrian and bike lanes. Terry answered yes.
Joseph La Mantia, CLG representative for the Iron Horse and Grant Road neighborhood associations, stated that he had recently been to San Jose and liked the light rail system there. He noted that there were many good ideas and requested the project team to look at the San Jose system to see if there were things that could be integrated into the modern streetcar system in Tucson. Matthew agreed that San Jose had a great light rail system but noted that light rail is a much larger scale than the modern streetcar system being proposed in Tucson. Marc mentioned that light rail is between $65 million to $75 million per mile and operates in exclusive lanes where as the modern streetcar is about $25 million per mile and operates in mixed traffic.
Robert Blizzard the CLG representative for Commission on Disabilities Issues asked the project team to put more emphasis on how the modern streetcar will address clean air issues. Matthew responded that there will be an air quality analysis performed as part of the EA.
One of the observers commented that if the maintenance facility were built on Stevens and Fifth Ave it would eliminate a large number of on street parking spaces. What plans are being made to replace those spaces? Matthew answered that as part of the alternative analysis there was a parking analysis done but it did not include the maintenance facility because the location had not been determined then. There will be a traffic study that will address the Stevens/5th parking question. Neither Matthew nor the observer knew how many spaces would be impacted by the maintenance facility.
James Hennessy an observer, asked what parking accommodations are being made when there are major events taking place? Matthew noted that the UA is redeveloping some of their parking and that different activity center parking structures have different peak parking timeframes so not all parking structures are in full use during the same hours.
4. Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Work Program
Marc informed everyone that the Tucson Department of Transportation has provided HDR with a scope to review TOD at four areas along the alignment. The study will look at what type of TOD development is feasible and generate a marketing analysis. Marc showed a map of outlining the four areas. They were quarter mile areas around alignment stations located on Fourth Avenue and near the UA. He said that Downtown was not to be studied because there was already a similar analysis being done by the TDA. He also said that the Fourth Avenue and UA studies were being coordinated with Corky Poster of Poster Frost Associates, who is working on the Downtown Links project.
Marc addressed everyone that he was appreciative that they came to the meeting and noted that he would like to see by a show of hands, how many were in favor of the revised alignment. It was a unanimous in favor of the revised LPA.
5. University of Arizona Coordination
Marc explained there has been continued coordination with UA regarding noise and vibration issues related to the streetcar. In addition, the project will be working with UA on the reconstruction of 2nd Street.
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6. Next Steps
Marc informed everyone that March 21st there would be a community meeting presenting information on the project along with TOD, Downtown Links, the Fourth Avenue Underpass and Río Nuevo.
7. Discussion
Freda asked if anyone had further questions or concerns. There were none.
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