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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-04-29-WALKS-minLexington Sidewalk Committee Meeting Minutes Monday, Apri129, 2013, 9 AM Selectmen's Meeting Room, Town Office Building Present: Judy Crocker ,Mary HosmerFanucci, Bettina McGimsey, Francine Stieglitz, Jerry Van Hook; Members absent:, Jeanne Canale;Liaisons: Hank Manz(BOS), Marc Valenti (DPW), Elaine Cell (Transportation); Guests: John Livsey (DPW),Sean Osborne, residents of the Winthrop Street neighborhood: Vera Peidl, Marion Krupka, Alex Bonnier, Trish Green The meeting of the Sidewalk Committee (SWC) was called to order at 9:03 AM by Judy Crocker. Proposed Winthrop Road Sidewalk: Ms. Crocker opened the meeting by noting that she had asked the SWC to consider whether or not they had enough information to vote on the Winthrop Road sidewalk. If so, they would make a recommendation either pro or con to the Board of Selectmen. If not, they would determine what they still needed, get that information, and then make a determination. Ms. Crocker then read a prepared statement: After many interactions with citizens, the Sidewalk Committee, whose members include both municipal and school representatives as well as community volunteers, a few years ago recognized that Lexington citizens had no vehicle to concisely instruct our community as to how to go about the process of requesting a new sidewalk in their neighborhood. So, as it is our charge to "increase pedestrian activity and reduce traffic by considering the adequacy of the town wide sidewalk network, " the SWC set about to right this omission. Working with DPW, Engineering, and members of TSAC, the end result submitted by the SWC and approved by the Lexington BoS is the Resident Guidelines for Requesting New Sidewalks. This guideline is a good faith effort. It relies on the integrity of the members of our community, many of whom are elected representatives of our community thru Town meeting and members of Lexington's 75+ Town recognized committees and endless number of community civic organizations. Members of the Winthrop Rd neighborhood used this vehicle in good faith in an attempt to complete an existing sidewalk on their street. • This sidewalk is recognized as being a point of connectivity to the town center and the schools by both TSAC and the Sidewalk Committee. • Importantly, TSAC recommended that the proposed sidewalk be installed prior to the Sidewalk Committee being established in 2005. Given these facts and to be most fair to those who made use of this advertised, approved, best practice approach any present parties who have made use of the current set of guidelines should be heard. While recent objections to the process itself from Mr. Krupka to halt the good faith efforts made by members of the Winthrop Rd community and this committee are heard and the current set of guidelines will be re- examined by this Committee and re- approved by the BoS, I feel that it would not be in the best interest of our community not to grandfather this neighborhood group's request. Following Ms. Crocker's comments, Jerry Van Hook spoke. He noted that he had planned to just make some general comments regarding sidewalks and transportation safety but instead would also use his time to address Dan Krupka's email that SWC members had received the evening prior to this meeting regarding the SWC's process. He noted that he believes that the key to safe and enjoyable transportation lies in the separation of vehicles and pedestrians due to the differences in vulnerabilities of the two. Vehicles should be in proper travel lanes, bikes should be on the right, and pedestrians should be on sidewalks. The ideal of separation is cars on the road, bikes on a bikeway, e.g. Minuteman Bikeway, and pedestrians on their own safe routes. When separate paths are not possible, it is important for cars and pedestrians to have expected, separated locations. In Lexington Center, the coexistence of pedestrians and cars works well, because cars are aware that pedestrians will be on the sidewalks or on crosswalks. In the broader Town, however, where roadways have become more heavily traveled in the last years, a danger exists because pedestrians, cars, and bikes are all traveling in the same space at less frequent and therefre less predictable intervals. In terms of Mr. Krupka's email, he noted the following: Regarding the lack of support of abutters: Mr. Van Hook noted that the SWC always wants the cooperation and acquiescence of abutters to aid with neighborhood unity. However, the SWC has never said that the petitioners have to be immediate abutters. He feels that the people who would use the road's sidewalk should have an equal say. He noted that perhaps the SWC should have pushed petitioners to try to reach all of the abutters, although the committee would never be able to ensure 100% contact. The SWC believes that it is important to strive to get the consideration of all abutters, either pro or con. Regarding the call for quantitative data indicating the demonstrated need for a sidewalk: Mr. Van Hook noted that it is difficult to get quantitative data when there are no conditions with or without the sidewalk to compare, particularly in view of the number of people who would walk but do not currently do so due to the danger of the road and thelack of a sidewalk. This biases the number of pedestrians downward. For this reason, he does not believe that quantitative data would be really valid. What is critical instead is whether the road has curves, intersecting streets, and whether the Town Engineering Department says it is safe for pedestrian travel. Mr. Van Hook also noted that Engineering has an objective of completing incomplete sidewalks on Lexington streets. Winthrop Road would fall under this category. Regarding the reference to the SWC Resident Sidewalk- Installation Guidelines where it states that " [a]t any point along the process, the petitioners may drop their request for a sidewalk or the project may lose support of committees, abutters, and Town Meeting ": Mr. Van Hook noted that the guidelines refer to petitioners and not the SWC. For the project to have been dropped, it would have been up to the petitioners to do so. The SWC makes no judgment or determination of where sidewalks should go on a street, but rather considers the petition that has been brought before them. If the project appears to have support, the SWC will vote for it. It is only when Engineering takes up the project and determines which side of the road the sidewalk will appear that additional objections come to light. Regarding the point that alternative measures to sidewalks should be considered: Mr. Van Hook spoke to various types of traffic calming measures. Speed platforms have detractors, in that when roads are snowy, it is not always possible for drivers to see the platform and they then lose control. The cost of deploying a greater police presence to all neighborhoods that have traffic safety concerns would be prohibitive. Increased signage starts out as a positive factor, but then is often ignored thereafter. Regarding the fact that this would be a burden to abutters: The costs of a sidewalk on Winthrop Road are being borne by all families in Lexington. Given that it is on a public right of way, Mr. Van Hook does not see a specific financial burden to the abutters. Regarding the suggestion that a sidewalk be replaced with a gravel path: A gravel path would be difficult to plow. A modern sidewalk would last many years longer than a gravel path. Following Mr. Van Hook, Bettina McGimsey spoke. She first spoke to the Town's Comprehensive Plan (2003), Goal 4, Objective C: Improve and expand sidewalk network. Both pedestrian safety and major pedestrian generators such as schools are to be taken into account when developing prioritization strategies. She noted that Winthrop Road is the most direct route for many students and other pedestrians living on Munroe Hill and on the various streets off of Winthrop Road to get to Lexington High School (LHS) and the Town Recreational facilities. She addressed the pedestrian safety factor, noting that she had walked the street a number of times both to and from Waltham Street. Having walked from Highland Ave to Waltham Street, she observed that pedestrians had trod their own path along the left- hand side of the road. The space is there to walk, albeit on the grass, and is the location for the plannedsidewalk. She noted that if pedestrians walk from Waltham Road toward Highland Ave, and do so with the guidelines students learn through Safe Routes to School (SRTS), namely that they walk on the left -hand side facing traffic, walking is more problematic. At a number of locations, planting goes all the way to the edge of the street, leaving the pedestrian no option but to walk in the street. At a number of places, it is virtually impossible to see oncoming cars. For this reason alone, she noted that she would vote for a sidewalk. Ms. McGimsey also noted that she had read through all of the comments from the various meetings and the emails that had been sent to the SWC. Comparing the addresses of those who wrote to /spoke before the SWC to those listed in the Lexington Assessor's Database, it appeared that a majority of Winthrop Road households supported the sidewalk. Further, it was clear that many people in the extended neighborhood supported the sidewalk. Finally, the Town has the right of way to the land and no property has to be taken from private landowners to build the sidewalk. For all of these reasons, she would vote in favor of the sidewalk. Francine Stieglitz noted that she had read through all of the correspondence that the SWC had received regarding Winthrop Road since 2005. She said that based on the safety issue alone she would vote for the sidewalk. She further noted that as far as the process being as stringent as it could be, the SWC in good faith had done what it could do. Given the critique of the process, committee members could work on revising the guidelines. She noted that compared to the Traffic Safety Advisor Committee (TSAC), the SWC was primarily volunteers as opposed to Town employees. She also said that the TSAC flowchart that had been discussed had been newly developed. Just as they had brought their process up to speed, so could the SWC. After all members who wished to speak had done so, Ms. Crocker asked whether all members had enough information to take a vote. All replied affirmatively. She then called for a vote on whether the SWC would make a recommendation for a sidewalk on Winthrop Road. The result was a unanimous affirmative vote for the sidewalk. 2. Review of meeting minutes from January, February, March, and April 2013: The minutes were approved as amended. 3. DPW Update: John Livsey updated the committee on the status of the Robinson Road and Grove Street construction projects. The Grove Street portion has been put out to bid with 5/9/13 the date for opening bids. Construction on Grove Street will start as soon as school is out, followed by the gas company lowering in the gas main. Once the gas mains are installed, the road will be resurfaced. Robinson Road is more complicated as it requires approval from the Conservation Commission and the Mass Department of Transportation. The approval process will start in the next couple of months, with construction start expected in Fall of 2013 or Spring of 2014. Work on Waltham Road will be done over the summer. Water main work on Bedford Street will start beginning in June. It was further noted that a mixed -use pathway on Hartwell Avenue between the bike path and Bedford Street was funded at Town Meeting. Later in the meeting, Mr. Livsey noted that a proposal has been received by Engineering for a five mile stretch of conduit to be installed from Hartwell down Wood Street, Mass Ave, and Marrett R as far as the bridge over Route 128. This would need approval from the Conservation Commission and the Board of Selectmen, with costs paid for by Hanscom. Marc Valenti reported that trip hazard maintenance has been done in the vicinity of Cary Hall on the horseshoe and the handicapped ramps. Ramps have been rebuilt at Mass Ave and Edison Way, as well as at Bedford and Hancock Streets. Construction has started on East Street between Adams and Emerson. Drainage issues on the pathway behind Lincoln Fields between Middleby and Worthen Roads will be addressed as that path is redone. It will be replaced in kind and will not be widened. Mr. Valenti also noted that pathways on Whipple Hills will be enhanced starting in September. The sidewalk on Hancock Street on the eastern side is in need of repair. At the intersection of the bike path and Hancock, the crossway for the bike path will be made perpendicular to Hancock as opposed to a diagonal. Mr. Livsey said that Dave Cannon has a sketch for this that can be viewed. Mr. Valenti noted that the culvert on the bike path will be repaired starting in May. There will be a detour from Seasons Four to Woburn Street. Mr. Van Hook inquired about the path around the Old Res between Marrett and Bridge School. Mr. Valenti said there were no issues there. 4. Safe Routes to School: Elaine Cell noted that 1800 children had registered for the bus as of April 29, 2013, with the help of the new online registration tool. Ms. Crocker noted that an Honors Class at LHS will be doing a marketing assignment on alternate ways to get to school. She update the committee on the May calendar for SRTS: May 8 is Massachusetts Walk to School Day, and May5-11 is Bike, Walk, & Bus Week. Finally, the State is constructing a school -based survey for individual schools to use to identify where their students live whowalk and bike to school. The premise is to identify walk and bike sheds in order to create safe, usable walking and biking routes. This new tool could be helpful as the Lexington considers redistricting of schools. 5. Correspondence Log: Two requests had been received, with one taken care of A request for a sidewalk along Marrett Road between Cary and Lincoln on the eastern side was received. Mr. Valenti noted that because Marrett Road is a state road, all the Town can do is to forward the request to the State. The SWC and the Town have no jurisdiction on this road. Mr. Livsey noted that the sidewalks on the western side of Marrett Road will be redone due to the pipe work that has been done. 6 LexEngage Sidewalk Requests: LexEngage is anew electronic bulletin board for the Town. Requests have been received for sidewalks on Follen Road, Camelia Place at Bedford, Lincoln between Marrett and Shade, Hill Street, Pleasant Street, and Clarke between Mass Ave and the Center playground. Mr. Livsey noted that Hill Street is scheduled to be paved in the near future. Mr. Valenti noted that Clarke Street definitely needs repair. It was noted that it would be good if this bulletin board could have a link so that requests could go directly to the SWC. 7. Discussion of Committee's Resident Sidewalk- Installation Guidelines: Although this topic was tabled until June, various comments were made regarding who the petitioners could be (not just direct abutters), the need for better documentation of time /date of petitions, and the possible use of certified mail by petitioners to prove that they reached out to all abutters. 8. New Business: Sean Osborne is interested in joining the SWC. He has a particular interest in SRTS. Mary HosmerFanucci noted that a comment had been made to the SWC chair Judy Crocker prior to the meeting that Ms. Fanucci found to be offensive. An opponent of the proposed Winthrop Rd sidewalk made the comment. Ms. Crocker noted that since the comment had been made prior to the meeting, it should not be entered into the minutesbut, after discussion by the Committee, she said that she would notify the BoS chair. Ms. Stieglitz gave thanks to Ms. Crocker for her handling of the Winthrop Road sidewalk process and Ms. Crocker to Ms. Stieglitz for the organized handling of the many correspondences received by the SWC. 9. The meeting was adjourned at 10:45 AM. The next meeting of the Sidewalk Committee will be June 3 at 9 AM in the Estabrook Room of Cary Hall.Please note the location change. Respectfully submitted by, Bettina McGimsey I DO NOT HAVE THE SIGN IN SHEET FOR THE MEETING — DOES ANYONE HAVE IT?