2019-04-11-LBAC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Capt McLean said he hoped the investigation would be complete soon. He said he hopes for more safety consciousness on the bikeway: the bike path is a "microcosm of society," and you see the usual variety of behaviors. Neva Coovert asked if there were any way to widen the path. Capt McLean said he thought that would cause people to go faster. Peggy added that it would be hard, not to mention expensive, to widen and pave the whole path because the bikeway runs through a lot of wetland; on repaved sections, DPW has added 2 ft on each side of gravel. Ross Morrow confirmed that gravel will be added on both sides in the next reconstructed section. Christopher Tonkin said that, in Arlington, police don't collect information on bike crashes. He noted that there is some talk of a state mandate. Notes that many accidents/crashes on the bikeway are unreported and we have no data about where the worst problem areas are. Capt McLean said that the Lexington police have introduced a new computer- aided dispatch system. Previously ped/bike accidents put in as a medical call, not easily searchable. Now new codes have been added to indicate car-bike, bike- bike, etc. He said he agrees that people need to report incidents, though. He added that he also heard that there is discussion of a uniform crash reporting method. Lexington has added 10 new bike patrol officers and that police academies now train all cadets on bikes. In addition to dedicated shifts from Memorial Day into October, there will be more patrolling. Peggy said she would send Chris the LBAC crash reporting recommendations that were provided to the Lexington police. Peggy commented that the current Mass state form for motor vehicle crashes is limited/old; a separate section for bike incidents should be added. In response to a question about the speed of the bikes involved with the crash, Capt McLean said that even if both were only going 10 mph, it would be a 20 mph crash. Peggy said that the tri-town bike committees have talked for some time about ways to make the bikeway safer. With the growth of e-bikes, should there be a speed limit? Peggy: tri-town committees have been talking about how to make bikeway safer for some time. Should there be a speed limit? In discussions, the general consensus is 15 mph — but all the time or at particularly busy times? And how would anyone know how fast they were traveling? Should there be passing guidelines?