05-84 Transpo Board & South Bend Common Council

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Olmunttirr P�1D1`t (QUO tht &mown alounfil of Up Qlitg of Dont!! Wink JOINT MEETING OF THE TRANSPO BOARD AND THE SOUTH BEND COMMON COUNCIL The Joint Meeting of the Transpo Board and the South Bend Common Council was called to order by Council President Beverlie J. Beck at 4: 10 p.m. in the Council Informal Meeting Room, Persons in attendance included : Councilmen Beck, Serge, Puzzello , and Braboy; Transpo Board Members: Margarita Howard , Frank Gootee , Richard Pfeil, Jerome Vogel, and David Wells , Joseph ZaVisca, Joseph Griffith, Scott Kosnoff , Intern, Jim Wensits , and Kathleen Cekanski-Farrand . Councilman Beck opened the meeting by having an introduction of all persons in attendance and noting that she had requested this meeting to review a safety problem experienced by residents of the Karl King Tower. Councilman Puzzello then gave a brief history of the present situation. She noted that prior to November of 1983 she had been contacted by some of the 225 residents of the Karl King Tower regarding the problem of boarding and disembarking the Transpo buses . A fire hydrant had been taken out near the Tower due to the accidents in the area and that she had gone to a Transpo board meeting in January of 1984 and requested that the Transpo buses utilize the turn-around in front of the Tower . On February 16 , 1984 she had a meeting in the Karl King Tower where Dave Wells and other Transpo board members were in attendance. The situation was described as very dangerous and that most residents were afraid to cross the street since Monroe was a "raceway" in that part of the City. Councilman Beck echoed the claim that Monroe is very dangerous , Mr. Wells noted that he had turned over to the staff Councilman Puzzello ' s request and was informed that " not alot could be done". Spot traffic enforcement was to be attempted in the hope of catching some of the speeders. He noted that Farrington Apartments have a bus turn around which was a staff decision some time ago, however this service would be removed if the Karl King residents feel they are being discriminated against . The Manager of Transpo noted that limited service of a few times a day would not be of assistance from an operating standpoint . It is basically a safety issue rather than an operating issue since the ingress and egress of a Transpo bus would be of prime concern. It was the staff ' s decision that using the turn-around would make a bad situation worse. This decision was based on the Staff ' s knowledge and experience of transit situations. Councilman Puzzello noted that a crosswalk and a blinker have already been ruled out by the City. Councilman Serge and Councilman Braboy requested that a test run a using the turn-around be tried. Mr. ZaVisca then passed out a memorandum detailing their report (copy attached) . Mr. Griffith added that . today there were two vehicles blocking the entrance to the turn-around which would also cause problems . Margarita Howard noted that operational questions are typically treated by the Staff and that policy questions are heard by the Board . She further noted that several individuals are unable to utilize Transpo but do not qualify for STS since they are not "Transportationally disabled. " •11 Pm,.• okeito. PV.11•MIM• CO.