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Home My WebLink About2011-04-14-LBAC-min APPROVED MEETING MINUTES Committee Name: Lexington Bicycle Advisory Committee Date, Time and Location of Meeting: Thursday, April 14 , 2011, 7 pm, Ellen Stone Room, Cary Hall. Members Present: Peggy Enders (Chair), Stew Kennedy, John Frey, Marita Hartshorn, Jerry Van Hook, George Gagliardi, Bob Hausslein (FoLB Chair), Richard Canale (Planning Board Liaison), Laurel Carpenter, Others Present: Bob Dangel, Richard Spencer, Susan Rockwell, Paul Knight Members Absent: Mike Tabaczynski, Peter Kelley (Selectmen’s Liaison), Sandra Shaw (Recreation Committee Liaison) Minutes : The March 2011 minutes were accepted as corrected. Revolutionary Revelry Bikeway Use Requests : Peggy announced Revolutionary Revelry activities, which involve the bike committee and/or the bike path. st … May 1 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Depot. Kick-off Day. We will share a booth with the Recreation Department. st …May 1 Greater Boston Running Club Scavenger Hunt. We will advise the Selectmen not to approve this activity on the bike path for safety reasons. th …May 7, Plein Air Painting along the bike path. 9 to noon. We will advise the Selectmen to caution the participants to set-up well off the path for safety reasons. th …May 14 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Co-sponsored rides with Ride Studio Café. Routes to be determined. Stew volunteered to lead one of the rides. Plans for Bikeway Drainage and Root Control: In 2009 Town Meeting approved the $320,000 CPA project for Bikeway drainage and root control. The five areas that will have drainage work done this summer are 1) near the landfill; 2) both sides of Revere Street; 3) Maple Street, 4) to the east of Season’s 4, and 5) to the west of Bow Street. The committee discussed the proposal from John Livsey that some of the major work – involving a three week closure at Revere Street – be done in October. The committee preferred that all work be done in the summer, since the fall season brings out more cyclists. Plans must first come before the Conservation Commission. Work will be requested to begin in July. Bikeway Intersection Safety Upgrades (Status Report): The first three intersections to be upgraded are Westview, Hancock, and Meriam. Thermoplastic warning strips will be installed on the bike path and on the street. Other improvements include removing the gates, installing collapsible bollards, reconfiguring the pavement, and removing the widening blacktop around the gates. There were some questions about the proposed new collapsible bollards. Planning for the West Lexington Greenway and Minuteman Connector (Status Report): Paul Knight from the newly formed Greenways Corridor Committee defined the West Lexington Greenway area as a five mile corridor west of route 128 from Burlington to Lincoln Street. Of particular interest to us at this time is the section between the Minuteman Bikeway and the Battle Road Bike Trail, called the Minuteman/Battle Road Connector. The 2007 Town Meeting approved CPA money for a master plan and a 25% design plan. Ninety-five per cent of this work is complete. This particular section involves a great deal of wetland, steep grades, working with the power company, and private property issues. It will be costly, as much as $2 to 4 million for the 1.7 miles. Due to the cost a more practical approach may be to change the route to more closely follow 128, and install two prefabricated bridges at a cost of $40,000 each. This alternate location would also involve work by the conservation stewards. In the future we may have to decide which route to endorse. There may be Enhancement Program money ($5M/year for this region) and/or Scenic Byway money in the future. Paul mentioned an alternate route to the Battle Road from the Minuteman Bikeway through Meagherville and side streets to Mass. Ave., suggesting that an upgrade to this route might be attractive. Richard suggested a next step be to apply for CPA funds. Bikeway Usage Guidelines: Tabled to June. Bikeway Map (Status Report): Our GIS generated map and the Arlington GIS map are being combined and refined. Subcommittee on Streets and Roads Heavily Traveled by Cyclists Update: Peggy gave Bob Dangel John Livsey’s data for his perusal and inclusion in the ever-growing spreadsheet. John, working the Traffic Safety Advisory Committee, is recommending sharrows on Worthen Road from Bedford Street to Waltham Street. Town Meeting Doings (Fiske Common Easement): Jerry Van Hook reported that Town Meeting voted to approve the “walking easement” at Fiske Common. Any other business: Terry Gleason reported via an email that the Bedford Town Meeting has approved $30,000 for designing the Minuteman Extension from Route 62 to the Concord line. There will th be a Mass. Bicycle Advisory Committee Summit on May 7 at the Armory in Somerville. Alex Epstein is the organizer, and Peggy hopes LBAC is represented. The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 pm. Record of the Discussions of the Friends of Lexington Bikeways Treasurer’s report: Bob H reported a balance of $10,313.16 with one snowplowing bill outstanding. Incorporation of FoLB: Sue Rockwell led us through Articles of Organization for a non-profit corporation. The bylaws, the directors, the articles of organization, and the resolution to use Cambridge Savings Bank were approved as amended. We are grateful to Sue Rockwell for volunteering her services. May Activities a. Bikeway Cleanup: May 7, 9:00 to noon, Area Captains are: Bob Hausslein, Bedford Town line to Bedford Street; Peggy, Bedford Street to Hancock; Jerry and Stew, Hancock St. to Woburn; John Frey, Woburn to Maple; Marita, Maple to Fottler; George, Fottler to Arlington Town Line. b. Bikeway Counts: May 14 and 17, Margaret Stebbins has volunteered to organize. c. Community Bike Ride (Saturday, May 14) (See May Activities) d. Bike Donation Day/Discovery Day (Saturday, May 28) e. Bay State Bike Week (May 14 – 20) Bike Corrals at the Farmers’ Market: We will do 5 corrals this summer – tentative dates are June 14, July 5 or 12, August 2, September 13, and October 4 or 11. The Farmer’s Market is donating $100 for coupons. We voted to match this amount, so that 20 $2 coupons will be given out at each market day . Other Business: The garlic mustard pull on the Bikeway will be on Sunday, June 5. 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. with Grace Chapel volunteers. Upcoming Dates  LBAC/FoLB meeting Thursday, May 12 at 7 PM in the Ellen Stone Room, Cary Hall  Bikeway Cleanup Day: Saturday, May 7  Bikeway Counts at the Depot: All day, Saturday, May 14 and Tuesday, May 17  Revolutionary Revelry Bike Rides: Saturday, May 14, 10 am and 2 pm, starting at 1720 Massachusetts Avenue (Ride.Studio.Cafe)  Bay State Bike Week, May 14 to May 20 (http://massbike.org/bsbw/)  Bike Donation Day @ Discovery Day: Saturday, May 28, 10 am – 3 pm to benefit Bikes Not Bombs Recorder: Marita Hartshorn Editor: Peggy Enders