FAIRFAX COUNTY TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY COMMISSION
MEETING SUMMARY
Regular Meeting - April 5, 2005
7:15 PM - Room 7, Government Conference Center
TAC Members in attendance: George Barker, Earl Flanagan, Harry Zimmerman, Eric Thiel, Roger Hoskin, Janyce Hedetniemi, Jeff Parnes
Others in Attendance: Leonard Wolfenstein, Wendy Jia, Jay Guy, Chris Wells
The meeting was called to order at 7:15pm
Main Topics Discussed
Meeting minutes of 03/01/05 were approved.
Board Referrals:
There were no new referrals from the Board of Supervisors.
Transportation Plan Briefing
Leonard Wolfenstein & Wendy Jia, FCDOT provided a summary of the seven public meeting held to date around the county.
Summary of Comments from those meetings were provided as a hand-out
Website has been revamped and now includes the briefing materials from those meetings
Policy recommendations review is ongoing with a plan to distribute initial draft of proposed policies within next month or two
Staff plans coordination \meetings with other committees with transportation interests
Planning Commission Transportation Committee meeting is planned May 26th. TAC is invited.
Draft policies should be available for Public distribution in August timeframe
Joint work session with TAC/PC/non-motorized transportation committee will be pursued in June – July timeframe.
Travel Demand Workshops are planned for June 15 and 18
TAC offered staff recommendations to improve delivery and level of interest for the next round of public briefings
Update on Pedestrian Task Force
Chris Wells, FCDOT provided update on the task force accomplishments and major milestones moving forward
The funding goals “pie chart” was provided as a hand-out. The chart represents the task force’s recommended priorities for future funding by category of projects and provides a durable framework for decision-making for years to come.
The recommended Ten Year Pedestrian Capital Improvement Plan was also provided as a hand-out and totaled $60 million with funding allocated to individual projects consistent with the priorities of the overarching funding goals in the pie chart.
Chris discussed each of the projects recommended in the ten year plan
The projects on this list are in addition to projects funded with County Spot Improvement project funds
TAC recommended the Countywide Bus Stop Access and Safety Improvements study results and recommendations be scheduled for a presentation to the Board of Supervisors
The Pedestrian Task Force Recommendations for Pedestrian Safety Education and Outreach were also provided as a handout
TAC recommended that the “Community Target Group” be expanded to include the homeless with the idea that the homeless shelters offer an opportunity reach this group of high-risk citizens
Discussion of outreach methods touched on television, cable, printed and electronic media, etc as pubic service venues for this important set of educational efforts
The future of the Pedestrian Task Force was also discussed. Consensus at the last Pedestrian Task Force meeting was to merge the Pedestrian Task Force with the Non-motorized transportation committee and to add “disabled” representation to that committee to assure adequate attention to this special set of challenges in pedestrian safety and mobility in Fairfax County
Transportation Summit Report
Jay Guy provided handouts with copies of the presentations from the keynote speakers and the closing presentations. Staff is developing a summary of the summit results and those will be provided to the TAC when available. Lessons-learned and recommendations for future meetings of this type will also be developed. TAC agreed to postpone deliberations on potential future actions from the Summit until the staff summary and lessons-learned are available.
Other Business
County Budget – Transportation Spot Improvement Projects have been funded through FY05. Follow-on funding requests are being developed in anticipation of FY06 funding availability. Staff is attempting to consolidate a master list of all known project recommendations for future consideration. Each District needs to make sure their projects are represented. Charlie Strunk and Kathy Ichter are available to help.
Upcoming Agendas
- An update on the South County Bus system (REX)
- Presentation by Walter Daniel on Employer Services and Telework Initiatives
- Presentation by Dennis Paddeu on the new “Travel and Train” bus for seniors and the disabled.
- Transportation Summit follow-up
- Bond Referendum Implementation
Announcements:
Mount Vernon is preparing formal presentations of their transportation issues for the upcoming Metro public meetings
Battlefield By-Pass DEIS and Tri-County Parkway hearings are upcoming, Public Private Partnerships projects of seven overpass projects are underway and scheduled to be completed next year.
New Task Force for Tysons area has been appointed with George Barker and Bob Adams as members.
TAC award presentation will be May 9th.
Meeting Adjourned
The meeting was adjourned at 9:20pm
