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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-10-09-LBAC-min.pdfTown of Uxington Bicycle Advisory Comrriittee 10/9/2025 October 9 2025 / 7: 00 PM/ Town Hall Parker Room and Hybrid Ntmbers present: Betty Gau, Jonathan Schwartz, Jim Cadenhead, Dave Arrrstrong, Sarah Hews, Tom Shi pl e, Jason Dear 1 i ng, Ben Al per ovi ch (LES Student Liaison) Also Attending: Susan Barrett (Lexington Transportation Nknager), Ross Nbrrow (Lexington Assistant Town Engineer), Nick Dell'Anno (LPD), Jay Luker 1. Motion to approve September 11th, 2025 LBAC meeting minutes was approved 2. E -Mobility Devices on the Minuteman Commuter Bikeway And 3. Bike Safety Group Update Betty will moderate a Tri -Town e -bike focused meeting on October 22, 2025 at 7:30 pm on Zoom. Action items from Arlington and Lexington brainstorming session include: 1. Paint speed limits on pavement at each intersection/entry point 2. Add speed limit signs on the barrels at each intersection 3. EDUCATION: Develop a guideline sheet for parents — post from Police and Town in social media 4. EDUCATION: Develop guideline sheets to distribute in schools 5. Research getting a speed monitoring device on the Bikeway — with smiley/frowny face monitoring speed — costs about $5k — there are grants available and we may be able to be rented for pilot project Regarding speed monitoring, Sarah asks if people really know their speed when biking, and Ben adds that speedometers may make people try to go faster! Jim notes that e- bikes have good speedometers, and suggests school assemblies to address safety issues. Regarding education, Betty suggests social media, noting that the Lexington police have a good presence there. Sarah adds that parents don't know legalities, e -bike classes, etc., so targeting them may be more important. Tom relates seeing a 43mph capable e -bike (Surron) at Stop & Shop, wondering if it is street -legal. Jim suggests asking another entity (Friends of Lexington Bikeways) to host an information session. Jason asks what buyer education happens at the point of sale. Jim confirms that Surrons are fast, that there is a long history of dirt bikes being ridden in Great Meadow, and that these e -bikes are often bought online. Sarah asks if parents can be held accountable for their kid's behavior on e -bikes. Nick replies that it is almost impossible. He related an incident with two kids on 55 -mph e - bikes on Mass Ave (where someone called 911), where the parents were called and lectured. Jim relates that a sting in England caught an e -bike capable of 90mph, and stresses the need for education about e -bikes. Betty noted rail trails are restricted to class 1 and 2 e - bikes, and that Mass DOT recommendations are due in December. She asks what do we tell parents? Nick says he was asked for a write-up about e -bike classes to share, and that Andover and Hanover have information on their web sites. Nick plans to call them, noting that Lexington just follows the state's rules on a -bikes at this time. Betty suggests LBAC may be able to help. Jim notes that Surrons are unclassified and that speed can be adjusted. Sarah responds that speed and behavior enforcement is the best approach, with Tom concurring. Tom also suggests that 20mph may be a better speed limit for the Bikeway, as that would fit many e -bikes' capabilities. Jim suggests a two-pronged approach — education and enforcement. He argues that students should learn, for instance, how to safely make a left turn as a priority in schools. Betty suggests possibly having weekly postings on the town's web pages, with bullet points. She will ask the town's communication person. Jim also suggests weekly giveaways, and that he has tips and such that could be used as a starting point in addition to e -bike information items. Sarah expresses the need to keep an e -bike backlash from becoming a general bicycle backlash. Jason asks how far are we from registering e -bikes? Jim responds "not even close". He notes that kids don't even know when their brakes don't work, and that we need education to be focused on this school year. On speed, monitoring devices can provide immediate feedback to cyclists (they display a smiley when under the speed limit and frowny face when exceeding the speed limit), Betty relates that MassBike says they are effective, and cost $4000 - $5000. There may be grants, and possibly Friends of Lexington Bikeways might have funds for the purchase or rent of one of these devices. Jim asks about coordinating with other towns, and Betty says she will bring it up at the upcoming Tri -Town meeting. 4. Bike Parking and Review Planning Board Projects Regarding bike parking and the police station bike rack, Nick hasn't heard anything new, but is following up on it. Ross reminds us that personnel changes are a factor right now. Tom notes that there is now a completed list of town bicycle racks, and that Melissa Battite (Recreation Dept) can use this information. He also suggests that removing abandoned bikes and locks should be the responsibility of the rack owner. He asks if we can add this to the regulations, noting that Avalon has full racks with clearly abandoned bikes taking up space. Sarah encourages us to start the discussion. Betty also notes that Susan Barrett will connect the committee to the LHS GIS (Geographic Information System) Club, who may be able to map bike rack locations. Ben knows a person in the GIS Club, and will facilitate a connection. 5. Liaison Reports — Tom Shiple (Planning Board) Tom shows the FY27 Land Use Capital Requests - Capital Improvement Project (page 8). The Bike/Ped plan implementation shows a funding items for the connection of the bikeway to LHS! He notes that there is a good description there also. Ross directs us to page 12, explaining the pacing of spending for the Worthen path. Jim expresses appreciation for this progress. — Ross Morrow (Public Works - Engineering) Not much new, but will be meeting with LBAC about the Hartwell Ave project. Sarah asks about Adams Street roundabouts, and Ross said that roundabouts are unlikely for Adams Street. There will be a pilot for a "No Turn on Red" signal at the Maple Street and Mass Ave intersection, that will turn on when the pedestrian crossing signal is active. Jim asks when the Bikeway will be closed for MWRA work. Ross expects mid-October, noting that a Mass Ave resurface has to be completed first. — Ben Alperovich (Lexington High School) He reports that he is working with Jim and Omar, the owner of Omar's World of Comics on Waltham Street, for a bike corral on Waltham St on school half days. The bike corral would be in a parking space and could accommodate 8-10 bikes. He will make a petition. 6. Other Business Walk Your Wheels and Town Bylaw Betty explains a proposed "Walk Your Wheels" bylaw update to Chapter 100. The update would include e -devices, including skateboards and scooters. It will be brought to TSG (Transportation Safety Group). The bylaw update proposal is as follows: To amend the Code of Lexington, Chapter 100-2D(l) second sentence from "When necessary in the interest of public safety, non -motorized bicycles may be ridden on sidewalks, except within business districts and within such other areas as may be designated by the Select Board." To: "When necessary in the interest of public safety, non -motorized bicycles, scooters and skateboards may be ridden on sidewalks, except within business districts and within such other areas as may be designated by the Select Board." Adding scooters and skateboards to the bylaw. LBAC will weigh in if TSG wants our input. Sarah expresses support. Dave suggests specifically excluding wheelchairs and walkers. Tom, Sarah and Jim ask for simplified language. Sarah says we don't want to be trying to write the language, with Tom agreeing that we should tell the town how we would expect it to be written and let them re -write the entire bylaw paragraph. It is suggested to make the bylaw more generic and not add specific devices. Types of devices can always be changing, for example the mono -wheels and other micromobility devices. The wording of this bylaw need to be revised and made generic so it can include future devices. Just adding "scooters and skateboards" does not suffice. Part D was discussed and considered redundant. Taken as a whole, the paragraphs need to be rewritten. There is agreement to suggest having Part D rewritten with more generic device language. Town Committee Boot Camp Betty recounts the town's Committee Boot Camp that she and Tom attended, and that it was helpful in clarifying the rules that committees should follow as well as suggestions for effectiveness. Tom gives the examples that all documents should be filed along with the minutes, that all contacts with the town should go through the chair, and that committees should have 3-5 goals, each with a champion. Betty proposes setting goals at the November meeting, and adds that there should be annual reports to the Select Board. Regarding working groups, she relates advice to keep them informal, loose, with limited scope and duration. Bikeway Block Party Jim gives a Bikeway Block Party recap, noting that it went very well, with more people attending than last year. Betty had a good time and Jason liked the bands at the Depot. Article 45 "Town Wide Process for Safety" from 2015 Tom brings to our attention that article 45 "Town Wide Process for Safety" from 2015 called for town -wide bike/ped safety progress". The article was unanimously passed by Town Meeting. He suggests that we can remind the town that they have passed this. Sarah asks if we could have mentioned this before the Hancock flashing beacon was voted down. Betty notes that the bikeway signage project took five years to complete. Jim notes that the LAB (League of American Bicyclists) accreditation needs to be applied for every two years, and that this is also leverage we can use, as we should be trying to make everything accessible by bike. Meeting adjourned 9:00 PM