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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-03-13-WALKS-min SIDEWALK COMMITTEE Minutes of the March 13, 2006 Meeting Chairman Weeks opened the meeting of the Sidewalk Committee (SWC) at 11 AM. Nine committee members were present plus liaisons Wagner, Brooks, and Guttag. Minutes of the February 6 meeting were approved without change. Modifying the e-mailed agenda in response to new issues, Ch. Weeks laid out the topics to be addressed and their spokespersons: Van Hook discussing a new inventory subcommittee mapping program, Davies on Center sidewalk alternatives, Lucy FJ covering the SWC web site and Bowman school activities, Judy Crocker on SRTS progress in the other elementary schools, Lisa Baci on nearby town policies on sidewalks and paths, and Olga on strategies for Town Meeting passage of SWC warrants. These reports would be followed by discussion and a vote on the proposed DPW repairs list. A SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO WALKING DESTINATIONS Van Hook described how members of the original inventory group had tried to develop a systematic cataloging of destinations and routes for walking, bicycling and mass transit in Lexington. Two basic questions were posed: 1) What are the principle destinations for walkers and bikers within Lexington? a) to schools or to school-related activities by both children and parents b) to centers of commerce for errands, egg; post office, library, town offices, c) to attend group gatherings such as meetings, band concerts, church services. d) Commuting to workplaces within Lexington or in nearby towns. e) For personal exercise or to visit town parks and woodlands. 2) Are these destinations disbursed throughout town or concentrated? a) The schools are spread widely in town but students within any one school district would travel radial paths to and from school, limiting the number of logical routes. Greater distances for students to middle and high schools generally require bicycling or bussing, but the radial destination pattern still limits logical routes. b) Centers of commerce are primarily concentrated along the eastern end of Mass Ave and its extension along Bedford St. These centers are readily accessible from the Bikeway for three seasons and along plowed sidewalks on those avenues in winter. Other centers on Waltham St, Lowell St, and Marrett Rd. are not as convenient to the Bikeway and need sidewalk improvements for better access c) places for social gathering are generally concentrated near the town center and can be reached on foot or bike via off-road paths and via major streets with sidewalks that converge on the center d) for commuting to Worthen Rd offices or the Hartwell industrial area, the MM Bikeway is the better route. Commuting to offices at Cranberry Hill Properties or to businesses along Hayden Ave is less convenient and needs safer access for cyclists. e) Walking routes for recreation are highly disbursed depending on home location and personal choice. Parks and open space are also disbursed throughout town and no destination planning makes sense. However, walking and riding paths through open lands must be limited in number for preservation. Summarizing, in a) the limited number of radial pathways needed at schools makes targeted improvements beneficial, in b) and c) the concentrated services in the town center and the Mass Ave-Bedford St corridor also makes improvements to sidewalks on converging streets worthwhile. In d), commuting destinations are concentrated and improvements to specific connecting streets would be useful. In e) destinations and pathways are too disbursed to justify targeted route improvements. We conclude that efforts to improve walking to schools and along major roadways that converge on the center and on the Mass Ave-Bedford St corridor would have the largest payback for walkers. These latter are shown as ³red² and ³blue² streets on our map. . SWC FEEDBACK Lisa B commented that town must have data on traffic density of 'red' and 'blue' streets identified by the inventory group and we should cross-check the DPW traffic data with our committee choices. Sidewalk plowing maps should also be compared with priority red and blue streets. Davies commented that our so-called³red² streets mostly converge on the town center and being high traffic density/high speed roadways, they are hazardous and should get priority. Ms Cecere noted that high speed roadways discourage foot traffic and that less busy ³blue² streets might get more walkers ALTERNATIVES FOR CENTER SIDEWALK John Davies discussed an alternative to the DPW plan of re-laying paving brick in sand from the library to Waltham St.. He had met with Design Committee and brought photos. The new process clearly has a smoother surface but could be more costly. Davies will investigate this cost aspect for the next meeting.. The committee MSP a motion that a performance standard be developed to replace the design standard recommendation for town center sidewalks, Mr. Davies was asked to and accepted the task of drafting the performance standard, Ms Guttag noted the center sidewalk gets heavy use and could be our ³flagship² project in behalf of walkers. She also noted that the Design Adv. Comm. strongly supports the center project and we should not undercut their efforts On other hand, Cecere, Lazarus and others felt that the $100K might be better spent on many small repairs and that citizens might see this proposed Center expenditure as excessive. Steve Cropper said the point may be moot as town budget is tight and override status for all sidewalk work is likely. WEBSITE AND BOWMAN SCHOOL PROJECTS Lucy FJ encouraged more input for the web site as spring activities build. One website objective over the next few months is to restructure the site to reflect the committee¹s current focus. Lucy said the Bowman project had principal and PTA approval and 10-15 volunteers were signed on. The starting date for school programs would be late April, to coordinate with a town wide walk week, May1-5, organized by the PTA safe routes to schools groups. Gail Wagner said Global Warming Day will be April 29 from 9-2 at the Visitor Ctr with Nancy Nolan coordinating activities and SWC people should attend. OTHER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PROJECTS Judy Crocker noted that the other elementary schools also have necessary approvals and planned events to promote SRTS activities this spring. Efforts by many parents and teachers have made this possible TOWN POLICIES ON SIDEWALK ISSUES Lisa Baci said efforts were continuing to see how Town bylaws on sidewalk building and maintenance compared with neighboring communities, including citizen rights to deny new sidewalk or to remove an old one along frontage of their property. SIDEWALKS AND TOWN MEETING PASSAGE Olga Guttag outlined the challenges of passing sidewalk expenditure warrants in TM in the present fiscal climate. DISCUSSION AND VOTE ON DPW REPAIRS LIST Chairman Weeks asked for discussion on the DPW list submitted by Mr. Brooks. Since the listed projects probably exceed the $300 K we had voted to support, the members were encouraged to suggest deletions. Ms Cecere had objected to sidewalk repairs on Lowell St west of the intersection with North St since no sidewalks exist further west on Lowell and because North St is much safer walking access to the Mall. Others objected to the proposed 3800 ft overlay on Baskin Rd. since this is a closed loop road with minor traffic. Objections were raised to the center sidewalk repairs because they were relatively costly, because alternative treatments should be explored before proceeding and because many smaller sidewalk repairs, curb cuts, crosswalks, and signage needed for the SRTS projects starting this year might be sacrificed if center work was allowed.. Some members argued that the effort we all made to evaluate the DPW list and suggest changes was not given proper weight. Chairman Weeks countered this was untrue, that those calling for revisions were few and that a majority of members signaled approval when they declined to e-mail criticisms as he requested. Van Hook and Davies spoke in support of the DPW list, with the proviso that all interested committee members have input in paring down the projects to fit within whatever budget that TM and/or override restrictions finally bring upon us.. The sense of the SWC members present was that if funds for sidewalks were severely limited this year, the Center sidewalk project should be postponed, allowing sufficient funds for our core mission of Safe Routes to School i.e. we would like to support the Center Committee agenda, but we cannot compromise on the SRTS goal. Meeting was adjourned at 1:15 PM. The next SWC meeting will be on Monday, April 3 at 11 AM in the Selectman¹s meeting room..