HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-02-08-LBAC-min
MEETING MINUTES
Committee Name: Bicycle Advisory Committee
Date, Time and Location of Meeting:
February 8, 2007; 7:00 pm; Cary Hall
Members Present:
Stew Kennedy (BAC chair), Harvey Bingham, John Frey, Marita
Hartshorn, Abe Shenker (FOLB Chair) Mike Tabaczynski, Jerry Van Hook
Others Present:
Bob Wessells (Woburn resident)
Members Absent:
Richard Canale (Planning), Hank Manz (Selectmen), Sandra Shaw
(Recreation), George Gagliardi, Jim Wichmann
Record of Votes taken and issues discussed.
Minutes
from the January meeting were not ready and so weren’t reviewed.
West Lexington Greenway CPC Application Status:
Mike reported that the project
was approved (unanimously) by the CPC and will go to Town Meeting for approval of
funding in March. If Town Meeting approves it, the next task will be development of a
request for proposals in preparation for putting the Master Plan work out for bid.
Bedford extension (Reformatory Branch) public hearing report
John, Jerry, Harvey
:
and George attended this hearing hosted by the Bedford Board of Selectmen and
expressed the LBAC position recommending the paving (with asphalt) of the proposed
extension of the Minuteman Bikeway. They also gave personal observations on the
benefits paving has on allowing multi-usage by the community. A vocal and seemingly
organized group of neighbors presented the usual fear-of-change arguments against
paving. Jerry hopes to write a follow-up letter to the Bedford Minuteman supporting
paving.
Bicycling Safety:
Bob Wessels, an in-line skater and heavy user of the Bikeway for
skating, read a statement complaining about some rude cyclist he has encountered on the
Bikeway and recommending some safety rules changes and new / additional signage
accordingly. He thinks the main problem comes from some high-speed cyclists who have
little regard for other users. We listened to his suggestions for improving safety but saw
no practical measures among them we felt are necessary to adopt. It was agreed by all
that, just like among auto drivers, some from the mixed types of users of the Bikeway can
be rude, reckless and inconsiderate of others. (This includes some cylists, skaters,
runners, walkers – all types of users.) There is not much we can do to change such
behavior beyond continuing to educate users on best practices.
Other Business:
John and Stew had been contacted last June by Dawn McKenna,
representing the Tourism Committee, about a project to get permission to remove
redundant and / or visually noisy signs in the Center. We had reviewed the suggestions
affecting the Bikeway (at the Station Way crossing), and they had been reported and
approved at our June meeting. In January Dawn requested our added approval of the
replacement of the Center Safety signs located on the Bikeway, with larger, more
effective signs. Stew misunderstood this to mean replacement of all of those signs, not
just the ones on the Bikeway, and so mistakenly described that request at our February
meeting. We voted to approve the request with the provision that the existing signs
remain until the replacements are approved and are ready to install. [Subsequent to the
February meeting, Stew found out from Dawn about his misunderstanding. Currently – as
of March 4 – the HDC and then the Selectmen have approved the project to the following
effect as far as those Center Safety signs are concerned. The existing sign on the Bikeway
and the one in front of Starbucks are to be left in place, the one near the library is to be
removed, and four more are to be added near the Bikeway: one near Craft Cleaners, one
near the Depot, and two others in places to be determined. As of now, the new signs,
unfortunately and for the obvious reason, will be the same size and design as the
originals.]
Meeting adjourned
Record of Friends of Lexington Bikeways votes and discussions.
Treasurer’s Report
: Balance unchanged at $2,031.30.
Newsletter:
Harvey reported that the newsletter is now viewable on his lexbike website
and encouraged reviewing it and informing him of any changes spotted. Abe suggested it
will be a good idea to do a (paper) mailing of it, including a request for recipients to sign
up again. This will help to refresh the mailing list. Harvey will get to Marita and Rich his
update of the current list.
MAPC Bike Rack Program:
Marita reviewed status of preparing the list of locations
for the free municipal bicycle racks to be provided under the MAPC program. (They’re
free provided the Town first buys the racks and pays for shipping, with MAPC then
reimbursing the cost of the racks – but not the shipping.) She has gotten a shipping cost
estimate for ten racks (that look like the HDC-approved Cora racks) of about $1000. The
total of ten racks was arrived at using the following criteria for recommending bikeracks
at recreation areas. If children or adults need to lockup their bikes to participate in an
activity at the site then we think the area warrants a rack. We recommend the following
recreational areas to the Recreation Department: Old Res, New Harrington playing field,
and New Fiske playing field. In the center we recommended Lexington Square opposite
the Post Office, front or side of Carlson Real Estate, Grant Street Bridge, Post Office,
Bikeway next to the new steps behind CVS, Corner of Meriam St. and Mass Ave, and in
front of the Town Office Building. This totals 10. Marita will give our recommendations
to the Recreation Department.
Spring Cleanup:
Saturday, May 5 was chosen as the tentative date for the cleanup.
Detailed planning will be done at the March meeting.
Other Business:
Harvey raised the suggestion that the collection of railroad depot photos
being saved for display by Marita now, be given to the Historical Society for their use as
they see fit. It was unanimously voted to do so on the condition that we could borrow
them back for our use as needed.
Harvey announced he has bought copies of Lester Brown’s book “Plan B: Rescuing a
Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble” for each committee member and will
bring them to the next meeting.
It was agreed that the repainted bollards (by the DPW) are looking very good, as is the
job done by the DPW in removing graffiti from the Maple St. bridge.
Meeting adjourned.
Information Distributed:
none
Recorder Name:
Harvey Bingham (scribe); Stew Kennedy (editor)
Next Meeting: March 8, 2007, 7PM, Ellen Stone Room in Cary Hall