2014-06-02-WALKS-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Lexington Sidewalk Committee Meeting Minutes Monday, June 2, 2014, 9 AM Selectmen's Meeting Room Present: Judy Crocker, Bettina McGimsey, Sean Osborne, Francine Stieglitz,; Liaisons present: Elaine Celi, Marc Valenti; Visitors: Bonnie Brown, Hank Manz, Craig Weeks Judy Crocker called the meeting of the Sidewalk Committee (SWC) to order at 9:10 AM. 1.DPW Update: Marc Valenti reported on the following sidewalk projects: Forest Street: Sidewalks will be replaced on the northern side of the street. ADA ramps are being rebuilt at Muzzey/Forest Streets. Started at Clarke and Forest on the ramps. There is a tree in the way at the pool corner side of Clarke/Forest. May wait to do that part of the sidewalk until Clarke Street is done. To do the southern side of Forest, DPW may have to request easements to do all lots. Engineering will need to look into this. East Street sidewalk: Will be seeded. Lincoln pathway: The work on the pathway has had good results: no puddles, no residue runoff; the grade improvements have helped to channel water. The rest of the pathway will be worked on after July. Craig Weeks noted that one section of the path ices over - the area that is parallel to the home plate on the way towards Worthen. He also noted that the contractor left black plastic erosion barriers. Mr. Valenti said that the plastic should be biodegradable, but he will check into this. Muzzey Street: Phase 2 between Raymond and Forest will happen over the summer. Diamond Rotary: Will be redone over the summer and sidewalks will be renewed. Bedford Street: Sidewalks from Revere Street to the bike path will also be redone as part of the roadway construction program. Mr. Valenti also noted that he met with John Livsey and Bill Scarpacci from the engineering company that provides the pavement management system for the Town. They are discussing integrating sidewalks into the pavement analysis, which would provide an objective view with a survey of the conditions of sidewalks. The cost of such an assessment is at this point unclear. Presumably a small portion of the $400,000 allotted to sidewalk maintenance could be used. An additional factor that needs to be considered when thinking of sidewalk repair is the frequency with which sidewalks are used - those sidewalks that should be repaired are those where pedestrians most frequently walk. For example, the sidewalk on Turning Mill gets less use than sidewalks in town. Mr. Valenti would like to make this part of the overall assessment. A matrix that prioritizes condition and level of pedestrian traffic could be developed. Ms. Crocker noted that the manual inventory of sidewalks was one of the first things that Safe Routes to School and the SWC had done. It was inevitable that this would eventually be done electronically. Mr. Valenti noted that the goal of this is to get an objective viewpoint from an outside professional. Bettina McGimsey raised the point that the current inventory of sidewalks also includes streets that do not currently have sidewalks but may need them. It will be important that this information does not get lost. The current sidewalk inventory needs to be kept as an archival document. Discussion turned to Hill Street. Mr. Valenti noted that the repaving of Hill Street has been pushed off until next year to be done in conjunction with Revere Street, which will be done after the culvert near the bike path is rebuilt. It may be too late for petitioners to put in a petition for a sidewalk on Hill Street to coincide with the repaving of the road. School zone signage improvement work is currently in Phase 1, which is regulatory sign inventory (stop signs, do not enter signs, school zone signs). This should be completed by the start of school in the fall of 2014. Ms. Crocker expressed thanks for the extra no parking signs on Brookside near Clarke Middle School. She noted that the ticketing incident at Clarke has been discussed by the Board of Selectmen but not yet by the School Committee.