HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-09-19-GCC-min Minutes of Greenways Corridor Committee Meeting September 19, 2024
Present in person: Keith Ohmart(chair), Stephen Perkins, Bob Hausslein, Eileen Entin, Mike
Tabaczynski (nonvoting member)
Present virtually: Alex Dohan, Bobak Moshiri, Joe Pato (Select Board Rep),
Votes: June 13, 2024 minutes accepted
Reports/Updates
Vacant seat: Mal Crawford's term ended and he is stepping down. Keith has a potential
replacement candidate to consider. Bobak will send Keith some other potential candidates.
Keith may also send notice of the opening to ACROSS Challengers who may be interested in
joining the committee if need be.
Brochure distribution coverage: There has been reasonable coverage. There are about 1800
brochures left.
Oct 6 LexHarvest Booth: The fair is from 1-4 pm. Keith will cover the GCC booth but anyone
else is welcome to join him.
Response from 25oth Committee regarding creating battleroad signage: Peggy passed on the
GCC's idea for creating signage for a connection to the Battle Road Trail from the Town Center,
but received no response. Keith suggested we could use ACROSS logos to mark the line of
march. We could change the text on the logo, the cost for which would be about$400 for 50
logos. As a GCC project-owned project, the signs would follow Mass Ave, starting at the
Lexington/Arlington line, going through town and to the Battle Road. Alex suggested we change
the color to make them distinct. Mike noted it should be a color that shows well on the on-line
map. The route would be posted on Mass Ave., not the bikepath. Keith noted that we will need
to check with the HDC on accuracy. He also suggested the route marking should be permanent.
Keith will create a draft proposal incorporating the ideas discussed during the meeting and
circulate it to the committee. He will integrate the committee members' feedback and then seek
endorsements from the 250th committee and the HDC. The goal is to complete the planning
process by the GCC's November meeting.
Ongoing Business
Review of current route development projects:
• Proposed Route 8/Concord Ave.: The Land Management Consultant(Bill Giezentaner)
for the Concord Ave conservation area marked a trail and Mike suggested a couple
revisions, which Bill thought were good. There will be a 2nd public meeting on the plan
on Sept 30.
• Proposed Rte 22/Solomon Pierce connector. Mike is developing a set of slides for a
meeting with the Arlington Friends of the Great Meadow. We will also need approval
from Karen and the Conservation Commission to reroute Route L through the Joyce
Miller Meadow, which would reduce the Bikeway portion of the route.
• Route O: The route has been marked. We discussed when a new map showing that route
can be created and included in the on-line map. Mike said he will do it this fall.
• Waterstone Connector/Concept 3: The critical part for this route is Bowman Park. We
will need to wait on this until the traffic rotary on Pleasant St. is in place—hopefully by
spring.
Destination Sign Project: There was a question of whether to put the signs next to the
wayfinding signs and whether this is overload. We could add QR codes to the destination signs.
There will be further discussion at the next meeting.
New Business
Brochure Reprinting Design Options: There was considerable discussion about whether and
how we could change the design and content of the brochures. For the next printing, which
needs to be available before Patriots Day 2025, we will update the map to include route O (and
perhaps route I) and update the cover page. Mike noted these two routes will almost surely not
involve new POIs. Stephen noted that the POIs are likely to be of most interest to out-of-town
visitors coming for the 250''. Ideas discussed for changing the brochure include:
• Continue with what we have,just adding new routes to the map
• Use just the POI titles not explanation. Put the explanation on the website. Use extra
space generated for pictures
• Organize POIs by route
• Eliminate POIs and incorporate pictures with the photos
o linked to a route
o showing various types of terrain and landscape
o showing different activities (walls, bike, snowshoe,
handicapped)
o showing walkers with a range of ages
• Reduce or eliminate POIs and use space for detailed (expanded) map of dense or complex
areas (possibly in conjunction with pictures)
There was a definite consensus that in order to have a brochure printed and ready to distribute by
April 25, we will to leave the brochure as it, with the exception of changes to the "front cover'
(eg., `title', date, picture) and appoint a task group to look into redoing the brochure for
subsequent additions.
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 5:30 pm.
Next Meeting: Oct 10, 4-6 pm in the Parker Room