2019-02-21-LBAC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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APPROVED MEETING NOTES LEXINGTON BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE THURSDAY, February 21, 2019. 7 pm Cary Memorial Hall - Ellen Stone Room Members present: Kevin Falcone, Omar Khudari, Lou Savarino, Bob Hausslein (FoLB Chair), Jennifer Melot, George Gagliardi, Richard Canale (Planning Liaison) Members absent: Peggy Enders, Bob Dangel, Mike Tabaczynski Others present: Paul Callahan, Matthias Beebe Presentation to Board of Selectmen: Peggy presented the Committee's information and recommendations regarding "E-Bikes and Other Bikeway and Bicycle Issues" to the BoS on February 4. The Board will consider content of "burma shave" signs at a forthcoming meeting. Board member Doug Lucente expressed interest in pursuing the recommendation that a town staff person be tasked with coordinating bicycle-related matters in Lexington. The Board did not comment on recommendations and concerns about the growing popularity of electric-assist bikes or concerns about e-scooters. Kevin said he will discuss LimeBike concerns with ABAC during their social next week. The legal status of scooters in MA is unclear. Jennifer notes that Lime is starting to remove bikes from their fleets in the SF bay area and moving entirely to e-scooters and that some e-scooter company has remotely enforced e-scooter limits on a multi-use path in California. Kevin provided an overview of the Mass House e-bike laws proposal: Class 1 and 2 bikes would be allowed on trails and shared-use paths. This raises the question of whether Lexington would want to have a local ordinance pertaining to e-bikes. Omar said he went to a meeting in Chicago put on by People for Bikes which promoted this legislation. He reported that this group felt that, because a fit bike rider can go 20 mph, e-bike riders should be able to. He added that People for Bikes reiterated that people need to behave safely given the conditions. He thinks that the distinction between pedal-assist bikes with and without throttles is somewhat irrelevant. Omar thinks that it's ok for Lexington to opt out of pedal-assist bikes if the other towns are also opting out. Kevin mentions that the issue of the streets needing to be safer for riders — given the need to promote healthy and sustainable transportation as well as the growth in a-bikes — was raised by Peggy in her presentation a few times at BoS meeting. Lou mentions that MassBike proposal seems reasonable and there's no need to go against MassBike and introduce local legislation. Paul Callahan reminded members of that enforcement would be a problem. Jennifer pointed out that there are much more