HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-03-09-TAC-min
`Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) Minutes
March 9, 2015
Members Present
: Sara Arnold, Peter Levy, Francine Stieglitz, Sally Castleman, Bill
Levison, Hank Manz, Elaine Dratch
Members Absent
: Matt Zhang,
Staff Present
: Jeanette Rebecchi, Transportation Services Manager; David Kucharsky,
Planning Department
Liaisons Present
: Rich McDonough, COA; Richard Canale, Planning Board; Michelle
Ciccolo, Board of Selectmen; Nancy Adler, COA
Guest
: Shirley Bayle (Brookhaven resident)
1.Public Comment
Shirley Bayle, Brookhaven resident, spoke about her use of Lexpress services. Ms.
Bayle requested that Lexpress consider providing service on the Route 3 bus directly to
the front door at Brookhaven (instead of pick-up on Waltham Street).
Ms. Rebecchi commented that Ms. Bayle is not the first Brookhaven resident to make
this request. A pilot program was initiated in 2007, but was discontinued due to low
ridership.
Since the Route 3 / 4 bus takes a full hour to complete both routes, adding this service
will require elimination of some other part of the route.
See Brookhaven Lexpress service below for continuation of notes
2.Brookhaven Lexpress Service
Ms. Rebecchi proposed a solution for sharing pick-up off Waltham at Lexington Ridge
st
and Brookhaven. Beginning next fiscal year (July 1), a pilot program would be initiated
to pick up at the front door of Brookhaven on trips beginning at the Depot between 9:30
am and 1:30 pm and at Lexington Ridge for all other times. This issue is to be re-
examined and resolved at the April meeting after consideration of the March 2015
Lexpress ridership data.
The pilot program, if adopted, will be publicized along with other route changes before
July.
3.Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes
Minutes from the February 2015 meeting were unanimously approved.
4.TAC Position on Mitigation and Strategies
David Kucharsky, Lexington Planning Department, briefed the committee about the
planned expansion at Cubist (now on hold) and the South Lexington Traffic Study and
technical memoranda from FST consultants
(http://www.lexingtonma.gov/southlexingtontranspstudy.cfm).
These memoranda cover traffic studies at major intersections and assessed capacity for
further build-outs in the Hayden Avenue area. Mitigations, primarily focused on safety,
are suggested in the memoranda.
The mitigations being discussed with Cubist before the effort was put on hold were
primarily for supporting intersection upgrades suggested in the FST memoranda.
Boston Properties (owners of 191 Spring Street) have an on-going obligation to
coordinate traffic mitigation efforts among Hayden/Spring Street businesses through the
South Lexington Task Force. However, this effort stopped about 8 years ago.
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General discussion also focused on approaches for reducing vehicle traffic within the
th
town by Lexington residents. Ms. Arnold suggested that adding a 4 bus to Lexpress
could change the ridership dramatically and should be considered in any mitigation
strategy.
5.Lexington-Alewife Transportation Options
128 Business Council Buses can be boarded by anyone at Alewife, but the full $6 fare
would apply unless subsidized by one the member businesses. Boarding in Lexington is
problematic, since the only stops are on private company campuses.
All routes serving Hayden Avenue presently go to Waltham before returning to Alewife,
making a reverse trip fairly unattractive.
Mr. Kucharsky agreed to provide the committee with data from Hayden Avenue
companies indicating how people commute and where they are commuting from.
6.Transportation Systems Update
No update this month.
7.Lexpress Route Changes for FY16
Routes 5 and 6 are operating well. Changes to these routes are not anticipated.
Proposed changes to Routes 3 and 4 are similar to those described above in Item 2 for
accommodating service to Brookhaven. Additionally, minor changes are contemplated
for service to Sunny Knoll (limit to high ridership hours) and Greeley Village (shift times
to one hour earlier).
Routes 1 and 2 will be providing service to the new Community Center (due to open in
June). Some changes will be needed to add this stop and keep the total combined route
time to 1 hour. Ms. Ciccolo raised concerns about transportation of senior citizens living
at Muzzey to the new Community Center.
Ms. Rebecchi has requested devoting most of the April meeting to a discussion of
Lexpress route changes for next year. She will advertise the discussion for attendance and
comment by interested residents.
Materials Used at the Meeting:
Agenda
Minutes February 23, 2015 TAC Meeting
Route 3 and Route 4 annotated routes and proposed route changes
Route 4 Ridership Data – October 2014
Minutes recorded by P. Levy
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