APPRO-2025-26 : An Appropriation from Free Cash (01-324001) in the amount of $75,000 to DPW Highway (#422) for traffic improvements.

Transcript (~10 min @ 2:25:50)

Speakers identified by voice; unnamed voices are numbered within this recording. Auto-caption text — verify against the video.

▶ 2:25:49 Mark Garipay: That will be recommended. Next up Id 1, 2, 6, 4 4. And appropriation from free cash. 0 1 3 2 4 0 0 1 in the amount of 75,000 to DPW Highway and traffic improvements.

▶ 2:26:03 Speaker 9: Thank you. Um, this is an item that has come up in the discussions with the Public Safety Building Committee. Um, there have been questions from the neighborhood about, um, traffic impacts and there's been specific concern brought to the traffic commission about the intersection at Foster Maple and Florence and Vinton. Um, and the, uh, the traffic commission recommendation was to wait until the traffic study was completed from the consultants for the police station. Um, those consultants are in the process of evaluating options, and we know the neighborhood based on our traffic commission meeting is strongly in favor of some sort of reconfigure, reconfiguration of that inter intersection. Um, this was not something that was identified as part of the Public Safety Building project, so there's a desire to fund it from outside of the allocation for that project. And we took the 75,000 as roughly the, um, cost of the modifications we made at the Emerson Vinton intersection. Um, so it's, it's a rough number. It's a placeholder, but we think it should be able to address any issues at that intersection or other immediate areas around the police station that, that come up from the discussions about the police station.

▶ 2:27:26 Mark Garipay: So, for clarification, if you don't mind, um, this is just for the, um, east West Foster Vinton intersection. This

▶ 2:27:35 Speaker 9: One, it is for that intersection. And anything else? I worded it in the memo that, um,

▶ 2:27:45 Speaker 5: Yeah, I got it. I'm sorry, I looked at the wrong one. I got it.

▶ 2:27:47 Speaker 9: Yeah, no, that's okay. To improve pedestrian and vehicular safety, the proposed funds will be used for this and any other traffic safety projects identified as beneficial in the neighborhood of the new police station. So it would be restricted to that neighborhood. But I did want it to be a little bit more broad because we are allocating a somewhat random number and if we only need 50,000 for that intersection, but if the neighbors also want something else down the road, literally down the road, I wanted to have money available.

▶ 2:28:16 Mark Garipay: Thank you for that clarification, counsel and Hamilton.

▶ 2:28:19 Ward Hamilton: Thank you. Um, is This something, and I support this, is this something that instead of using free cash, we could use funds from the public safety building projects to pay for?

▶ 2:28:31 Speaker 9: I think that would be fantastic if we could. Um, but the, I was told that the project didn't, since it didn't have that in its original scope, it's not likely to have the funding for it. Um,

▶ 2:28:45 Ward Hamilton: Did we have anything like this in the original scope when we thought we were gonna be out at the Ripley? No. Okay. Um, but with public safety, the public safety product project over there, we are doing a traffic study for that area and there'll be recommendations that come out of that. And that will, I imagine we'll dovetail with this. Yes. And this will be the money that will fund the improvements. Yes. Thank you. I support this,

▶ 2:29:13 Mark Garipay: Uh, council Williams and President Ley Riley. Sure. Thank you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Council Jamal. Sorry she was head. Sorry. Mistake. Sorry.

▶ 2:29:21 Maya Jamaleddine: It's fine. Thank you. Um, just to clarify, so is this based on the study that was done and completed?

▶ 2:29:29 Speaker 9: So the traffic study is still underway. There's not a final report yet. We've seen some preliminary sketches of, of the options that they're evaluating. So it is based on assuming that we will move forward with some sort of either tightening up of that intersection or changing the configuration.

▶ 2:29:45 Maya Jamaleddine: So that's very random number. We don't know if it's gonna be lower than 80,000 or more than 80,000.

▶ 2:29:54 Speaker 9: This, the number that I put in there is what it ended up costing us to do the intersection at Vinton and Emerson, which we deemed to be a fairly similar project. So that's where we took the cost estimate from.

▶ 2:30:06 Maya Jamaleddine: Okay. So, but you mentioned that if in case anything that got added, we do have extra amount.

▶ 2:30:14 Speaker 9: No, we don't have extra. I was saying if it comes in under budget that we would use whatever extra we had in the same immediate neighborhood.

▶ 2:30:23 Maya Jamaleddine: So we may come under budget,

▶ 2:30:24 Speaker 9: It may come under budget. Yeah.

▶ 2:30:26 Maya Jamaleddine: Okay. And just so that, um, whoever is seeing us, if someone is seeing us would understand, uh, what if you receive tomorrow because of that statement hundred of requests, what kind of requests are you able to accept and how can you consider that moving forward? Because now that, you know, if I live on that intersection and I hear your comment, I am going to say, well, we probably need to have a traffic coming, um, or, or lights or flashing lights or stuff like this there, or stop sign, whatever it is. Um, so I would submit a request to you and then you would take it into consideration? Or how is that going to happen?

▶ 2:31:11 Speaker 9: Yeah, it all depends on exactly what the item is that's being requested. If it's a regulatory item, it would have to go before the traffic commission for consideration before anything could be approved. Um, if it was a traffic calming item, our standard is that we, we put that onto our list for the traffic calming toolkit and then we pilot projects. Um, we hope to pilot a couple projects every year and then decide which projects merit based on the pilot, um, installation. So, you know, it's, if somebody came in and said, I think we should have a raised crosswalk at, you know mm-hmm. To the Milano, we, we wouldn't necessarily say, okay, we'll just use this money for that. Um, we would, it would have to go through the same process of,

▶ 2:31:57 Maya Jamaleddine: So there is a process for this and, um, would, uh, are we going to be able to get an update on this project in terms how much it costs and how much, uh, we have left? Uh, just so we would open it then for public, say that we are extending, if in case we have any money left, we're extending for other projects?

▶ 2:32:22 Speaker 9: Yeah. We can certainly provide an update at any time upon request. I would say that the, the neighborhood is heavily involved as a group in the public Safety Building committee process. And so chances are we're going to hear through that form what the priorities of the neighborhood are with regard to traffic. Um, and so hopefully that would also, you know, it's sort of a separate process from our usual, but hopefully that would also inform any future decisions about anything else in the neighborhood. Alright.

▶ 2:32:52 Maya Jamaleddine: Can you talk to us about what are the, um, uh, like suggestion or recommendation that came up in terms of what this project is going to specifically cover?

▶ 2:33:05 Speaker 9: I think it's a little premature to, they have an issue to final report, so I don't wanna get too specific, but I will say that intersection right now is sort of an awkward configuration of two offset streets and one more, more major street, but not much more major. I think there's a desire and there's a lot of pavement. I think there's a desire to tighten there, streamline in some way the flow of that traffic, um, to, to just make the crossings shorter and the, the movements a little safer.

▶ 2:33:42 Speaker 5: Okay. Thank you. Uh, council Williams.

▶ 2:33:44 Ryan Williams: Thank you. Uh, I just wanted to provide a little context for this because I, I was at the December traffic commission meeting and I talked to a couple of the folks there. Um, and of course, Councillor Vanderberg was also at the December traffic commission meeting as a traffic commissioner. Um, so this is a, um, one of the key things to understand about this intersection is that it's a really highly trafficked pedestrian intersection for kids. Um, kids going from the north to Lincoln, kids coming from the south of Roosevelt, kids going to the middle school. If you go down Vinton in particular, anytime between like 7 45 and eight, it is packed with kids. And because of the, the offset design of this intersection, which I can't figure out for the life of me, what the purpose of the design is, it must have been a streetcar or something. Um, you have a lot of instances where kids are like really having to dodge traffic as they cross this street. And it's, and it's unexpected because it's not Linville's Parkway, it's not Lebanon, it's not Main Street. You know, it's a little neighborhood street with a park next to it. Um, so I know I personally have heard, 'cause I now, this is my route to school. I go, I'm a Lincoln parent. I've personally heard from a number of parents who are very excited that this is moving, uh, forward and very thankful that it's, that it's being considered after all the discussion that people had at the traffic commission meeting and with the public safety building. So, so thank you, um, very much.

▶ 2:35:02 Speaker 5: And, um, is there anybody else in queue for question? Uh, president Ley. Okay. That's it. That's it for me. Thank you.

▶ 2:35:07 Speaker 2: I was just gonna make a motion to recommend. Second. Okay.

▶ 2:35:11 Mark Garipay: We have a motion to recommend by President me seconded by Councilor Fanucchi on discussion.

▶ 2:35:19 Speaker 4: Councilor Vanderberg.

▶ 2:35:20 Kimberly Vandiver: I'll just comment since I was also at the traffic Commission meeting that, um, having heard similar context, I, I definitely support this work.

▶ 2:35:28 Mark Garipay: Thank, um, anyone else on discussion? Madam Clerk, can you please call the role?

▶ 2:35:33 Speaker 4: Yes. Vice Chair Jamine? Yes. Councillor Ro? Yes.

▶ 2:35:37 Speaker 1: Councillor Hamilton? Yes. Councilor Karen Chetty? Yes. Cremsky? Yes. Councillor Romanul? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Vandiver? Yes. Councilor Williams? Yes.