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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-12-07-LBAC-minTown of Lexington Bicycle Advisory Committee-12/07/2023 Meeting Minutes December 7, 2023 / 7:00- 9:00 PM / Virtual Meeting on Zoom ATTENDEES Committee Attendees: Dave Armstrong, Sarah Hews, Betty Gau, Jim Cadenhead, Mike O’Connor, Suzan Caihbxuan, Tom Shiple Also Attending: Peggy Enders, Mike Tabaczynski, Ross Morrow (Town Engineer), Sarah Socolosky (MWRA), Paul Rullo (MWRA), Mark Sandeen (Select Board) The chair and the committee members welcomed new Committee Member Tom Shiple. 1. Approve November 9, 2023 Meeting Minutes Minutes approved 2. MWRA presentation on bikeway closure and proposed bike detour plan Paul Rullo introduced his presentation, noting improvements in the Lexington plan for 5300’ length of bikeway where water main work will be done in 2025. Addresses comments from the last meeting: – Protected 2-way bike lane will only be feasible up to Oak Street, because of road width and curb bump-outs in the remaining road up to Maple. – Proposes making two striped bike lanes, one on either side of Mass Ave, with signage to direct people to the lane on the far side of Mass Ave, and also to encourage sidewalk use. Reference the following project map, Project in Blue is complete Yellow line in MMBW – water main being installed, and on Maple Street Green is 3-5 years down the line but is in Arlington – to improve water service in the area A 2-way bike lane may be feasible from Bow St to Oak St, and single lanes on either side of Mass Ave from Oak St to Maple St., with signage to encourage sidewalk use by cyclists Dave Armstrong noted - since this will be a detour from the bikeway which is used by commuters and experienced bikers but also used by families and people with disabilities, is there a way to make these bike lanes feel safer than an ordinary bike lane? Can there be barriers put up to be more comfortable? In response to Dave Armstrong’s question, Mr. Rullo notes that having the bike lane along the curb with car parking outside that, closer to traffic, was not considered, and that it is not a popular option for drivers. Notes that 60 parking spaces are at issue. Jim Cadenhead notes that: – the Minuteman Bikeway is one of the busiest in the nation, and that bike lanes along Mass Ave will not be safe enough during busy periods – Other bike detours are not good due to steep elevation changes – Proposes taking one lane of Mass Ave and detouring that lane - Jim has been thinking of putting the detour on the other side streets but its easier to detour cars than bikes Suggesting taking the south bound lane and have the cars detour through Follen Hill and turn northbound lane into contra flow lane The section below Pleasant there is enough room to have bike lanes if removing parking School bus drop offs are all along this road Ross Morrow concurs that bike lanes along the curb were not popular when tried before, in part because of car doors opening into the traffic lane and bike lane. Tom Shiple notes that intermittent barriers, lots of green paint, and signage reminding users that the bike lanes and sidewalks are shared space are all useful. Also, that the Maple Street crossing feels exposed, and suggests a signalized crosswalk across Maple back at the point where the Minuteman access path meets Maple Street. Peggy Enders asks if 12-foot travel lanes are really needed, suggesting 10.5-foot lanes to allow a buffer. Also notes that publicity is needed to inform out-of-town users of the Bikeway detour. She questions whether the point where the Bikeway access ramp meets Maple Street is wide enough. Paul Rullo says that reducing the Mass Ave travel lane to 10.5 feet has not yet been considered. Sara Hews questions the safety of bikes using the sidewalk as a bikeway detour. Bike access from the Maple Street Bikeway access onto Maple street is questioned, with Peggy Enders saying that there is a curb cut farther up the sidewalk towards Mass Ave. Betty Gau asks why we aren’t considering a bigger reduction in parking spaces, and asks if this has been researched. She notes that April to November is a major time for Bikeway use, and that 2025 will be a huge year for tourism. Paul Rullo says that vendors would not approve of parking space reductions, but notes also that this is not MWRA’s call to make. Mike Tabaczynski asks if all those parking spaces are needed. Jim Cadenhead notes that parking is complicated, that Toyota and Accurate use street parking a lot. He says that putting kids into this area is risky. Dave Armstrong asks if weekend/holiday parking rules could be used, and if an alternate plan that includes the removal of parking spaces could be made for comparison. Mike Tabaczynski suggests as active solutions that police details are needed. Paul Rullo notes that police details are always part of the planning, but availability of details is hard to predict. Sarah Hews says that the Bikeway is already too busy, and that this makes it obvious that using the sidewalk as a detour will not work. Betty Gau asks if we can make a design that does eliminate parking, as the present proposal does not meet our needs for safety and is not one that we can recommend to the Select Board. Paul notes that there will be difficult areas, such as near Follen Church. Ross Morrow notes that there are really two separate sections of the project – the stretch from Maple to Pleasant, having bumpouts, will not work, but the stretch from Pleasant to Bow has more possibilities. Betty Gau asks about using flaggers in the narrower spots. Mark Sandeen asks for clarification about how flagger would work. Paul Rullo says flaggers would be police details. Mark Sandeen asks about what a biker would experience. Ross Morrow says that police details would be used for the more dangerous street crossings. Tom Shiple asks if we really need to have the whole path closed for that whole time? Peggy Enders says she’s happy to revisit this question. Paul Rullo says they will look at that again. Ross Morrow notes that the project’s equipment is very big and too dangerous to have people passing nearby, and that some of the excavations are also too big, and that any path alongside the construction will not be ADA compliant. Mark Sandeen asks if the work can be divided into sections? Ross Morros says that may be possible, but access to the Bikeway in the middle goes by a pond, and also would not be ADA compliant. Paul Rullo notes that the access near the pond also traverses private land. Paul asked about a local commerce group – Chamber of Commerce and Betty Gau took the action to connect Paul with Sandha Iyer (completed via email that same evening Dec 7th) Betty Gau suggests using the January 11th LBAC meeting to revisit this topic, and Paul Rullo agrees. 3. LHS Student Parking and Worthen Rd Bike Lanes In this committee there has been much discussion about protected bike lanes on Worthen Road. Tom Shiple introduced the idea of moving student parking to the Lincoln Park lot. The big idea is to move parking to Lincoln Park and remove parking on Worthen to create permanent bike lanes Jim noted that in the Bike Ped Plan the Worthen Road is on the top of the list of infrastructure projects. 4. Bike/Ped Plan Update Jim Cadenhead provided an update. Sheila Paige is looking at the Bike/Ped plan as a 15 year plan as living document Next step – issues with funding Finalizing the Plan in February – waiting on feedback from the Select Board There will be annual funding asks Jim Cadenhead says he spoke with Sheila Page, and that Worthen Road is a very high priority. Also that the issue will be funding, which will probably be by annual funding asks. Mark Sandeen notes that Select board is being pretty proactive, and that they heard concerns about sidewalk priorities, particularly on North Street and Burlington Street, where residents have been waiting for sidewalks since 2018. 5. Bike Park Update Mike O’Connor presented, beginning with a review of the project: – 2 years work, meeting with stakeholders, Lexington town staff, and Select Board – Kinneen Street site didn’t work out due to land owners selling The site near Diamond School, considered next best, is moving forward. It is a one-acre site on land without existing trails. He met with Dr Hackett and David Coelho recently, and they asked about a flat-ground option, possibly as part of the new high school complex. Mike noted that an asphalt track might be a good option there, as asphalt makes it more accessible and lower- maintenance. 6. Other Business Peggy Enders notes that Friends of Lexington Bikeways will be holding meetings separately, bi- monthly on Mondays. Betty Gau relates that Susan Barrett will be sending a liaison report, and that the Bedford Rd / Hartwell Ave proposed designs she saw had very nice bike lanes included. The next LBAC Meeting will be January 11, 2024