2015-06-06-LBAC-min (Tri-community meeting)

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Minutes of Tri-Community Bicycle Committee Meeting, June 6, 2015 Those in attendance were Bob Dangel, Bob Hausslein, Dave Enos, George Gagliardi, Jack Johnson, Jennifer Melot, Joey Glushko, Martha Dolan, Richard Canale, Peggy Enders, Rod Holland, Scott Smith, and Stephan Miller. The meeting was called to order at 9:05 am. Peggy Enders introduced herself and will chair the meeting. Other introductions were made all around. 10 minute updates from Arlington, Bedford and Lexington. Arlington update. Christopher Tonkin told us about the shooting incident at Thorndike field last night. He added that there is now a Bicycle Cop at every ABAC meeting so the communication with the Arlington Police Department is improving. He also gave a summary of the panel discussion at the last ABAC Winter Social which was about pedestrian/bike interactions. Scott Smith told us about the new Roadway Marking Guide Produced by ABAC and the Arlington Transportation Advisory Committee. The Guide will be used by the Arlington DPW to mark major roads as they are repaved. He added that the Arlington Police will be patrolling the bikeway this summer. Next he informed us that an Arlington Police Officer will be directing traffic at the Lake St./Bikeway intersection for a portion of the summer as a pilot to determine if a traffic signal could alleviate the traffic problem on Lake St. This topic brought on a discussion of the issue of whether bicyclists should dismount when crossing a roadway. Bedford update. A representative from the Bedford Bicycle Committee informed us about several CPA projects, one of which is a Bicycle Master Plan being assembled by the consultants, Toole Design. The plan will be finalized some time in June. He added that there will be an air pump for bicycle tires installed at the Bedford Depot funded by a CPA grant. There might be a second pump located at the bike shop across the street. The Narrow Gauge Path was graded and dusted with stone this spring. There are no plans to pave this path. The Minuteman Bikeway Extension will soon be paved and a cycle-track built on Railroad Ave. to connect it with the Minuteman Bikeway. Lexington updates. Peggy told us that Lexington has published a flier on bicycle safety that was sent out with the last property tax bill. The flier explains bicycle street marking, bicycle courtesy and bike law. This is the second brochure Lexington has sent out. They are planning on sending out a safety brochure every couple of years. They told us that the brochure was well received and that there is an electronic copy on the Lexington Friends of the Bikeway website. We were also told that Lexington has does bicycle training, especially for women, but has had a weak response for the on road rides. They also had a breakfast on the Bikeway during Bike Week. The Bikeway signage master plan for Lexington is being done by Toole design and will soon be complete. In addition, the Bikeway in Lexington will be repaved this summer. They did not know whether the entire path will be repaved or just worst sections. This means there will be sectional closings of the Bikeway this summer. Lexington wants to install traffic lights on Mass. Ave. at the intersection of streets that access the Bikeway. They will also be building another Bikeway access point at Maple St. There is some controversy about installing the traffic lights so it is not yet a settled matter.