13A - COUNCIL COMMITTEES MINUTES

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city identifying the hot spots, and met with Senator Correa and Senator Sanchez on how to obtain funding. Commented that the city has the responsibility to make sure safety comes first before speed, noted the Police Department started their initiative several months ago giving tickets to pedestrians and motorists and provided education on bike safety, noted Public Works has gone out to schools promoting the Safe Routes to School program, noted the placement of speed readers with the assistance of City Engineer William Galvez. Noted when working with OCTA and receiving funding from Measures M1 & M2 to keep in mind that as they provide funding, it does not mean we have to follow suit, adding OCTA's main goal is to increase speeds on the arterials. Noted we have the ability to change the speeds in the city and need to start with that first, then the street design, when new developments occur, and that safety needs to come first. Noted when OCTA wants to widen a street, we need to pause and set policy and advise OCTA we are going to do business differently and give staff direction to reduce speeds in the city with safety a priority, adding we may not be able to accept funding. Committee member Benavides commented on the tragedy on Fairhaven, noted the makeup of the city, the density and congestion with different priorities and issues, need to rank and figure what as policy makers we want to focus our energies on with direction of staff and funds, noted different steps the city can take with the General Plan Update /Vision Plan and the Circulation Element process, Strategic Plan to go back and look at issues around pedestrian safety and take a step back in light of all these different plans, where does the Vision Zero Plan fit in. Noted having a Study Session would be helpful for the Council where all members can be included in this conversation and asked the City Manager and staff to assist in taking the city where it can be and have these conversations and think outside of the box. City Manager Cavazos noted policy direction is very important and indicated OCTA has been previously told the city was not interested in some studies such as South Main where the purpose of the study was to increase the speed and Bristol Street. Noted voters in San Francisco approved the funding of the project and if we have comprehensive outreach and strong policy direction from the Council, people will support safer streets, and noted it will come down to funding and priorities. Vice Chair Martinez noted the need to have the comprehensive plan since the Circulation Element is being updated to include the Mobility Plan, to include the safety component within the complete street plan and have a bike and pedestrian master plan. Also, the Community Engagement Plan will allow us to hear from the community and ensure the various plans are integrated, and discussed the possibility of going out to voters to approve plans and funding, and in the interim to look at the Capital Improvement Plan on what we can do now to improve lighting and signage. Ms. Haluza noted with new direction on active transportation, we are looking at making these concrete changes in our culture and how we look at designing our streets, funding them and use that policy document for the Circulation Element. Mr. Mousavipour noted five weeks ago the City Manager authorized staff to commence the Citywide Traffic Calming Master Plan which is similar to Vision Zero Plan that highlights "Triple E "— enforcement, engineering and education, will Development & Transp. Council Committee Minutes November 6, 2014