2012-02-06-LBAC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

MEETING MINUTES Committee Name: Lexington Bicycle Advisory Committee Date, Time, and Location: February 6, 2012 at 7 pm in Room G-15 Town Office Building Members Present: Peggy Enders (Chair), Stew Kennedy, John Frey, Bob Hausslein (FoLB Chair), Mike Tabaczynski, George Gagliardi, and Jerry Van Hook Members Absent: Laurel Carpenter, Marita Hartshorn Others Present: Hank Manz (Selectman), Sandra Shaw (Liaison, Recreation Committee), Paul Callahan (Liaison, Police Department), Richard Canale (Liaison, Planning Board), Patria Lanfranchi (Ride.Studio.Cafe), Bob Dangel, Joel Adler Minutes: The January minutes were accepted as written. Discussion on the Center Streetscape proposal: Peggy began the discussion by reminding the group of the LBAC vote to recommend that the Town back a professional traffic study of the Center to model and evaluate traffic flow as part of a larger effort to improve safety, convenience, and enjoyment for all who travel in the town center – pedestrians and bicyclists as well as motorists. The committee felt that the Streetscape plan had not met these goals. The whole object of the center project, the committee agreed, should be to make the interactions of all participants safer and more pleasant, and that the aesthetics be addressed. Committee members related to Selectman Manz a variety of concerns, including the “chaos of downtown” and that not enough modeling had been done to understand what cyclists and pedestrians need to feel safer on Mass Ave. Selectman Manz responded by saying that a wider scale traffic study, extending beyond the Center, was being contemplated and that this might answer some of the questions being raised by the committee. Selectman Kelley at a recent meeting had spoken favorably of such a study. Hank said he would get back to the committee about this alternate study. He suggested that the committee provide the Board of Selectmen with a hint of the vision: “What do you want to see as a safe street?” Rich Canale supported the discussion, saying that a more inviting and vibrant town center would result from giving all form of transport equal footing by changing from the current, vehicle-centered, multi-lane pattern for Mass Ave. Stew Kennedy mentioned the Hartwell Avenue study as a good example – a proper traffic study of Mass Ave would include analyses of throughput a different times of the day, traffic simulations, etc. Sgt. Callahan said the town center had several high accident locations that he hoped and expected a traffic analysis might note and offer fixes. He felt that