18 - Downtown Traffic Committee presentation

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Item No. 18 Memorandum TO: Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, and City Council FROM: Grayson Path, City Manager SUBJECT: DOWNTOWN TRAFFIC COMMITTEE DATE: April 22, 2024 BACKGROUND: In January 2022, the City in partnership with TxDOT, implemented a 90 -day STOP Sign Study in the Downtown Plaza for the purpose of testing whether the electronic signals could be replaced with static STOP signs. The roads through the Plaza, that being Main Street, 1St Street NW / SW, Lamar Avenue / Bonham Street, and Clarksville Street / Grand Avenue, are TxDOT roadways, therefore they must approve changes to traffic flow, including signage. This study was in an attempt to determine if portions of the Downtown Toole Design Study could be implemented. After analyzing the data and surveys, TxDOT in October 2022 made the determination that STOP signs would not be allowed. Reasons were provided to the City Council at that time (this memo is not intended to repeat the results of that study, but instead to discuss the next steps we took as a result of this outcome). Following this determination, the City Council and Staff agreed that an ad- hoc committee should be formed to study and implement other traffic -calming measures that might work for TxDOT. This committee came together for its first meeting in January 2023 and met approximately nine (9) times until January 2024. The first meeting involved TxDOT to get parameters we could follow given these are their roadways. We kept TxDOT and the City Council informed throughout the process, but we ultimately concluded by meeting with TxDOT again to verify everything we had done was acceptable. The Committee changed over time, but the following individuals served key roles at portions, or all, of the process: - Mayor Paula Portugal - Mayor Reginald B. Hughes - Mayor Pro Tem Mihir Pankaj - Grayson Path, City Manager