2008-01-10-LBAC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

SWC and TMG Report: Jerry came from and reported on a concurrent public hearing on sidewalks for Spring St and Hayden Ave. Shire Pharmaceuticals has agreed to fund these, as part of their TDM efforts. The west side of Spring and the north side of Hayden were chosen. An additional benefit of these new sidewalks will be opportunities for office workers in the area to walk at lunchtime. It was agreed we should look into the possibility of getting Patriot Partners to open up the old fire road through their property that connects Spring St to Lincoln St. This would provide a key off-road connection of these excellent walking areas. Snowplowing the Bikeway in Arlington: Arlington has commenced a trial program of plowing the Bikeway after snowstorms. To get a sense of the effect, Mike biked it on Sunday, January 5 (and took photos to show us.) He found heavy usage by walkers and people with strollers, but very few bikers. He saw hundreds of people out enjoying the Bikeway. Stew learned that even with the six storms that required clearing in December, Arlington had spent for the month only $1584 for plowing and sanding. He heard from the Arlington Planning Office that public feedback has been generally favorable. Mike observed that people seemed less conscious of path sharing than usual. And the shoulder buildup after several plowings also suggests that our recommendation for plowing only half the path (a sidewalk’s width) in Lexington may need to be reconsidered. We agreed to wait until the end of this season to see what else Arlington learns from their experimental program and then revisit our position on plowing. North – South Bike Route : Abe and Peg are interested in developing bike lanes in a north - south direction between the Center and Concord Avenue and between the Waltham line and the Burlington line. There is interest in the committee to take this on as a future project. We should look at the proposed routes in the Comprehensive Plan as a first step. Environmental Bond Bill : The LBAC voted unanimously to go on record in support of the Environmental Bond bill currently before the state legislature. Woburn Street crossing : We looked at new optional designs for the Bikeway crossing of Woburn St. that were provided by Engineering. Stew will feed our comments back to Dave Cannon. Dave expects to hold a public hearing on Woburn St design changes later this winter. Meeting adjourned. Record of Friends of Lexington Bikeways votes and discussions. Treasurer’s Report : Rich reported that the treasury now contains $2093.13.