AUGUSTA REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION STUDY MEETING OF THE POLICY COMMITTEE, ROOM 803, MUNICIPAL BUILDING, AUGUSTA, GEORGIA THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 2012, 11:00 A.M. Voting Members present: Voting Members absent: Deke Copenhaver, Mayor of Augusta, Chairman George James, Mayor of Grovetown Ron Cross, Chairman, Columbia Co. Commission, Henry Taylor, SC – 2nd Congressional Vice- Chairman District Commissioner, ½ vote Thomas McQueen (representing Keith Golden, GA Charles Dalton, SC – 3rd District Highway DOT Commissioner) Commissioner, ½ vote Ron Price (representing -MG Alan R. Lynn – Fort Robert Buchwitz, Chairman Hephzibah Gordon) Commission C. H. Williams, Mayor of Burnettown Patricia Cole, Mayor of Blythe Fred Cavanaugh, Mayor of Aiken Skip Grkovic (representing Lark Jones, Mayor, North Augusta) Stephen Strohminger (representing Ronnie Young, Chairman, Aiken County Council) Augusta Planning & Development Department Mobility Transit - APT George Patty David Jones Paul DeCamp Marya Moultrie CSRA RC Lynn Russell Christian Lentz Juriah Lewis SC DOT City of Augusta Mike Sullivan David Griffith Lower Savannah COG GA DOT Dana Luttrull Reuben Woods Andrew Heath City of Aiken Sandra Korbelik Fort Gordon Carleton Roach Aiken County Gerald Jefferson OTHER Elizabeth Sanford, Cambridge Systematics, Inc FHWA Garth Lynch, HNTB Yolanda Morris 1 1. Election of Officers (a) Chairman Mr. Cross moved to nominate Mr. Copenhaver as Chairman. Mr. Cavanaugh seconded. The motion was approved unanimously. (b) Vice-Chairman Mr. Cavanaugh moved to nominate Mr. Cross as Vice-Chairman. Mr. Copenhaver seconded. The motion was approved unanimously. 2. Consider approval of the minutes of the Policy Committee held on December 1, 2011. Mr. Grkovic moved to approve the minutes. Mr. Cross seconded. The motion was approved unanimously. 3. Consider recommending approval of the final ARTS FY 2013 Unified Planning Work Program (see attached) Ms. Moultrie presented this item. The draft was presented to the TCC / CAC at the November meeting and the Policy Committee approved it in December. The draft was sent out to the participating agencies for comments. There were minor changes made to the narrative of the document. This document will run from July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013. Mr. Grkovic moved to approve the final FY 2013 UPWP. Mr. Cross seconded. The motion was approved unanimously. 4. Consider approval of the following amendments to the FY 2012-2015 Transportation Improvement Program: (a) U.S. Highway 1 (Richland Avenue West) Beautification Improvements – This project involves the installation of trees, an irrigation system, curb, gutter and drainage infrastructure in the median of U.S. Highway 1 (Richland Avenue West) between Dyches Road and Gregg Highway, a distance of approximately 1,800 feet or 0.34 mile. In addition, the intersection of Dyches Road (north) and U.S. 1 will have a median relocated/modified to improve traffic safety. This project will use up to $152,568.00 in federally-allocated transportation enhancements funds available through FY 2011. (b) Whiskey Road Beautification and Streetscape Improvements – This project involves the installation of lighting, trees, curb & gutter, irrigation, sidewalk, and drainage 2 infrastructure on a) Whiskey Road (approx. 2,315’ on the west side) from Dougherty Road (S-419) to Aiken Mall Drive and on b) Dougherty Road (approx. 300’ on the south side) from Whiskey Road to Murrah Avenue. This project will use up to $520,977.60 in federally-allocated transportation enhancements funds available through FY 2011. Mrs. Korbelik presented these items. The US 1 project is to correct storm drainage problems and increase Formatted: Font color: Auto safety for the landscape crew. The Whiskey Road project will correct drainage issues, sidewalk landscaping, Deleted: projects are to curb and gutter. The combined projects total less than $700,000. Each year, the City of Aiken and the Formatted: Font: 12 pt, Font color: Auto City of North Augusta alternate using enhancement funds. Aiken uses the funds on odd years and has Deleted: and safety improvements carried over the funds for a few years to accumulate enough to make these improvements. Deleted: Deleted: will be Mayor Cavanaugh moved to approve these projects to the FY 2012 - 2015 Transportation Improvement Deleted: for both Program. Mr. Cross seconded. The motion was approved unanimously. 5. Status of Projects (a) Georgia Highways GA DOT was not available to give the update status. Ms. Russell read the email from GA DOT with the changes. William Few Parkway Extension from SR 104 to Hardy-McManus Road) - the right-of-way has been authorized. A property owners meeting is scheduled for March 12, 2012 Wrightsboro Road Widening - from Jimmie Dyess Parkway to the southbound I-520 Ramp - scheduled to be let September 2012. SR 28 Intersection Improvements at Laney Walker / Riverfront Drive - current let date is May 2012. SR 56 Widening - from Bennock Mill Road to Old Waynesboro Road - four parcels have been acquired out of a total of 145 parcels. (b) SC Highways Mr. Sullivan presented the status of South Carolina highway projects. There are no significant changes since the last update. (c) Augusta Public Transit Mr. Jones presented this item. APT is in the process of purchasing new cash and change machines for the Broad Street terminal. Monitors for the rest of the fleet are also being ordered. (d) Aiken County Transit Mrs. Luttrell presented this item on behalf of LSCOG. 3 Overall, the Best Friend Express fixed route service continues to enjoy strong ridership. There was a 9% increase in ridership from fiscal year 2010 to 2011. Comparing ridership numbers between Q2 last year and Q2 this year: o 22% increase in transfer between Aiken County and Augusta (88 more transfers for the quarter) o 23% increase in seniors and persons with disabilities riding the Best Friend Express Aiken County Transit will be retiring two buses that have met their useful life. They will be offered up for sale as soon as the second appraisal comes in and SCDOT releases the titles. LSCOG staff members attended the FTA Triennial Review Workshop in Atlanta in January in preparation for this year’s Triennial Review. The review, conducted once every three years, is expected to take place in August 2012. Concern over media talk about the potential increase in fuel prices is raising concern for the transit system. Dana Luttrull and Rhonda Mitchell are scheduled to meet with the BFE contractor on March 7th to discuss the upcoming contract for the new fiscal year. Towards that end, LSCOG did participate with the MPO in a joint grant application due on February 29, 2012 for the one-time operating assistance from the federal government called “Fuel as a Capital Expenditure” offered nation-wide to all large urban transit systems to assist with rising fuel prices. If awarded, that should help offset rising costs for the next fiscal year. 6. Update on Special Studies Projects (a) ARTS Regional Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan Ms. Moultrie presented this item. The final Steering Committee meeting was held on February 16th at the North Augusta Community Center and the final public workshop will be held on March 22nd. Information will be sent out at a later date for this workshop as well as posted on the website. Additional information can be found on the www.bikewalkarts.com website. Mr. Jefferson also commented on this status. Aiken County has a sub-contract with Alta for a more focused look at Aiken County for the Bike and Pedestrian Plan. The first subcommittee meeting was held in November. The second meeting was held on February 15th at the Aiken Municipal Building. The consultant is working on design guidelines and the network. A public meeting will be scheduled later in March. (b) City of Aiken and Aiken County Special Studies Mr. Jefferson presented this item. The US 1 / 78 Corridor study is virtually complete. The draft of the corridor study is posted on the Aiken and North Augusta websites. The executive summary was presented to the Aiken County Council last week and hopefully will be adopting the plan within the next few weeks. The consultants will make a final presentation to the Aiken County Council on May 3rd. Mrs. Korbelik informed the Committee that the Northside transportation study is almost complete. An RFQ for a new study of the SC 19 corridor study has been issued and will close on March 5th. 4 6. Presentation on the Connect Central Georgia Study - Elizabeth Sanford, Cambridge Systematics, Inc. Mr. DeCamp introduced this presentation. GA DOT is sponsoring an ongoing study called the Connect Central Georgia Study. This study is designed to identify and prioritize transportation projects that complement existing projects that are already in the STIP and /or regional TIPs. This is not designed to reinvent the wheel with regards to transportation connections throughout the thirty-one county area across central Georgia, but rather to complement what is on the books and find ways to fill in the gaps. The goal is to improve mobility for motorists and freight haulers across this area stretching from Augusta on the east, down through Macon and over to Columbus. Garth Lynch with HNTB and Liz Sanford with Cambridge Systematics will be making this presentation. Mr. Lynch stated the study has been underway for about seven months and will go through August of this year. For many years, improved connectivity across Central Georgia has been a priority of Georgia's leadership. Home to three of Georgia's largest cities, the corridor has been a strategic target for economic development initiatives and is identified as a critical freight and mobility link between Georgia and the Southeastern U.S. in Georgia's Statewide Strategic Transportation Plan (201 0-2030), also known as Investing in Tomorrow's Transportation Today (IT3). Facilitating efficient east-west mobility across central Georgia is critical for several reasons.