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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTraffic Safety Commission 01-20-10 NOTICE OF MEETING AND AGENDA ST. CROIX COUNTY TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMISSION January 20, 2010,10:00 A.M. Training Room — St Croix County Sheriffs Office CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING OLD BUSINESS NEW BUSINESS 1. Putting no parking signs along CTH E between Hwy 64 and Hwy 35 in Houlton. 2. Hwy 12 / Hwy 128 intersection 3. 2010 State Hwy Improvement Projects in St. Croix Co. 4. Traffic routing for Farm Technology Days in Pierce Cty, July 20 -22, 2010 5. Status update on 1 -94 / Hwy 65 interchange improvement, year 2012 ADJOURN (Items may be taken in different order) ** Additions /Changes /Corrections St. Croix County Traffic Safety Commission Minutes St. Croix County Traffic Safety Commission meeting was held on January 20, 2010, in Sheriff's Office training room of the Government Center in Hudson starting at 10:04 A. M. Present were: Cpt. Scott Knudson, Dennis Johnson, Miles Wittig, Sergeant Brian Erickson, Greg Helgeson, Trooper Jody Wood, Tim Ramberg, and Marion Standaert. Meeting was called to order by chairman Knudson. Correction was made to the October 2009 minutes on page 1, at the end of paragraph 3 under New Business. In the last sentence it should read ".. so the over -sized loads have had to..." Motion was made by Brian Erickson to adopt the revised October 2009 minutes, seconded by Miles Wittig. Motion carried. NEW BUSINESS Captain Knudson brought up the issue of putting no parking signs on Cty E between Hwy 64 and Hwy 35 (Houlton Hill) as they have problems during the 4 th of July and Lumber Jack Days in Stillwater. It was under discussion as to who would be responsible for putting up temporary signs and if a County Ordinance would be needed. Sergeant Erickson hoped that between laws for not blocking the lane of traffic and not parking too close to a stop sign would be enough to take care of the problem during those times. Greg Helgeson discussed the intersection of Hwy 12 and Hwy 128. The State will be resurfacing Hwy 12 going towards Menomonie. There have been 11 crashes in the past 5 Y2 years, 6 of those related to southbound traffic colliding with an eastbound vehicle because of limited visibility. All of those 6 crashes have been due to failure to yield at a stop sign. Mr. Helgeson explained to us that roads are separated into three different categories: arterial, which is a major or main highway; collector; and local, which are your neighborhood roads. The traffic on Hwy 12 is at 1,000 to 1,500 vehicles a day making it a major collector and Hwy 128 is at 3,000 vehicles a day making it a minor arterial road. Which means that Hwy 128 is the larger road even though it is the road that is stopped, not Hwy 12. The State expects the usage on Hwy 128 will continue to grow. In 1997 the State worked on the intersection and attempted to lower the hill slightly on Hwy 12 and they realigned the approach to the stop sign. Mr. Helgeson stated that if there continues to be growth and they continue to have problems with crashes at that intersection that they might put in a 4 -way stop with rumble strips and overhead lights. More improvements for St. Croix County in 2010 include work on 1 -94 on the river bridge. The State is going to paint the beams on the westbound bridge and do some repair on the bridge. This will last from mid April until mid October. The next improvement is to mill and resurface 1 -94 between the Roberts and Hammond interchanges. 1 The -State plans on erecting median cable guard on 1 -94 east of Carmichael Road through exit 4 where the third lane ends eastbound. They will also put up some median cable guard near the Hammond interchange for approximately 2 '/2 miles. Mr. Helgeson stated they will be using a 3- strand cable system. Mr. Ramberg informed us that the County highway workers will have to be trained on how to repair this cable system and they will have the supplies to fix it. Mr. Ramberg also brought up the need to educate 1 St Responders on how to deal with the cables when responding to a crash scene. There will also be considerations to be made when it comes time to mow the medians. Hwy 65 is going to be milled and resurfaced from River Falls to Hwy 12 in Roberts. However they will be skipping the areas where they are scheduled to put in rounda- bouts in 2012. During this time they will be erecting temporary traffic signals at the railroad bridge in Roberts while they do the bridge overlay. He also told us about the public information meeting in Roberts tomorrow night (1/21/10) regarding the 2012 planned improvements for the 1 -94 /Hwy 64 interchange. These changes include rebuilding the bridge, lowering the hill to the west, flattening and improving the ramps, and the proposing of a round -a -bout. Between River Falls and Hudson the State will be putting in a bridge over Hwy 35 (an overpass with no access) at Coulee Trail (old Cty F). This is all part of the plan to slowly make Hwy 35 into more of an "interstate." The last improvement Mr. Helgeson had to share with us for 2010 was the resurfacing of the River Falls bypass on Hwy 35/65 just north of Cty N through to Cemetery Road in Pierce County. At this time they will be putting in a round -a -bout at the intersection of Hwy 65 and Cemetery Road. Mr. Helgeson spoke of the road closures and detours that will be taking place in River Falls for the Farm Technology Days being held July 20 -22. Mr. Helgeson stated that all of their projects are to be completed or suspended during that time. Mr. Dennis Johnson informed us that the daily fatality report was at 16. Last year at this time we were at 25, and the 5 year average is 30. The reports are not final yet, but it is looking like 2009 ended with 545 fatalities which is the lowest year since 1944. St. Croix County has had none so far this year. Mr. Johnson discussed the legislative report in which WI Act 100 (OWI Reform) was signed into law in December 2009. OWI penalties will increase starting July 1, 2010. He reminded us that the mandatory insurance law goes into effect on May 1, 2010. Yesterday the Assembly passed a law against texting while driving. Now it has to go back to the Senate for voting. Act 97 was signed into law on January 1, 2010, allowing u -turns at controlled intersections. You have to be in the furthest left lane and be able to pass in one motion. This law also makes it legal to pass a left- turning vehicle on the right, as long as you are on a paved shoulder. Law of the month for November 2009 was Winter Driving is a Challenge. Law of the month for December 2009 was National Drunk and Drug Driving. Driving on drugs is just as bad as driving drunk. And the Law of the month for January 2010 is Tailgating Causes Countless Crashes. 2 Mr. Johnson passed out brochures for the Teaching Safe Bicycling training on April 24 in Eau Claire. This is a free class with classes in the morning and a bike rodeo and demonstrations in the afternoon. Mr. Helgeson mentioned that we should reschedule the summer meeting, as it is now scheduled for Farm Technology Days. It was agreed that we would reschedule the meeting from Wednesday July 21, 2010, to Wednesday July 14, 2010. ADJOURNMENT Motion was made by Tim Ramberg to adjourn the meeting, and was seconded by Brian Erickson. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 11:21 A.M. Respectfully submitted, Marion Standaert 3