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Bicycle AdvisoryCommittee
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ATTENDEES
Peggy Enders, Bob Hausslein (chair, FoLB) , Betty Gau, Omar Khudari , Matt
Beebe, Mike Tabaczynski , Kevin Falcone (chair) , George Gagliardi
Members absent: Lou Savarino
Others attending: Jim Cadenhead, Tom Fortmann, Mark Sandeen
Meeting opened 7:1OPM
AGENDA
1. Appoint Scribe - Omar
2. Review January 2020 Meeting Notes
Notes approved by unanimous vote.
3. Recommendations to Select Board (followup)
We will have to make a recommendation on high-power e-bikes.
3.1. Bikeway Signage Improvements
We propose multiple messages similar to Shining Sea Bikeway, but fewer
messages per sign, and hopefully swappable (so they can vary) .
Most difficult issue is how to warn about safe passing.
Locust Street Signs did the Shining Sea signs
P.E. spoke to Cristina Burwell at Monroe Center for Arts to see if she
could recommend a designer. She sent her own "Roy Lichtenstein” style
cartoony signs, which probably won't work. Christina would like to do
the project, although she is very busy at the moment.
K. F. Select Board asked us to come up with designs.
T. F. E-bike legislation: 20mph is too fast. I hope Massachusetts will
draw the line at a lower speed. Class A should have 15mph max. Class B
should be 15mph too.
P.E. Galen Mook pointed out it's all about speed. If we think 20 mph is
too fast for e-bikes on the Bikeway, we should develop local guidelines.
T. F. 20 mph is not necessarily too fast for a skilled rider when no on
else is around. E-bike riders will be less skilled. 20 mph is too fast.
P.E. Asked shining sea person if 15mph signs are effective. She said
not, but they give us an excuse to say something to people riding fast.
K. F. There is nothing on the Town Meeting warrants pertaining to bike
speed limits or bike path rules.
P.E. At Select Board meeting, Suzie Barry said she doesn't want any rule
that is not also adopted by Arlington and Bedford.
M.B. Can we ask the Board members to try riding 15mph on the bike path
to see how fast it is?
P.E. We need courtesy signs whether or not the speed advisory is
approved. Chief Corr said he would be happy with "15mph recommended"
Maybe the Friends should buy a speed monitor.
K. F. There is a proposal to put 20mph speed "safety zone" signs in
Lexington Center on Mass Ave.
P.C. Some streets already have "congested zone, 20mph limit" signs, e.g.
Baker Ave in East Lexington.
K. F. What about "15mph when congested," "when busy"
T. F. "In traffic" is short.
3.2 Bike counter
We need more counters. Maybe Friends will buy one.
4. School Committee
4.1. High School Traffic Study
School committee wants to do a traffic study to see what can be done to
reduce car congestion.
B.G. Was planning to go to the school committee meeting to raise the
point that the traffic study should include bikes. Did not get to the
school committee meeting. Spoke to 2 members who encouraged us to go.
K. F. Will help to draft a letter. We should encourage installing more
bike racks.
P.E. They did put in more bike racks, but they did not pay attention
that they need more.
B.G. They need to plan good routes for bikes so they don't ride across
playing fields, etc.
P.E. They spent so much money on driveways.
J.C. Could offer leadership certificates to high school students who
volunteer to lead bike busses for younger kids.
K. F. Lou has thought about recruiting high school students to help with
Bike Smart/bike rodeo
5. Liaison reports
P.C. Town has lost servers due to a water leak. Police logging must be
done by hand. There were 47 bike crashes in 2019
12 were general (cyclist fell, but no vehicle)
19 were vs. vehicle
31 were "bike disposition" (could have been coded as medical)
T.G. How many doorings?
P.C. We don't have a code for dooring. It could be "bike vs. vehicle,"
it could be Medical.
P.G. Waltham posts their crash reports.
P.C. We can't do that.
K. F. Could we provide volunteers to help comb through the reports to try
to pull out data like doorings?
J.C. It would be nice to know how many children, to know how education
might help.
P.C. The public can't look at the narrative of the logs.
P.E. We are getting much better data than we used to, but we have a wish
list that includes more info.
ACTION ITEMS
Kevin & Betty: Draft letter for sending to school committee
The meeting was adjourned.
Record of the Discussions of the Friends of Lexington Bikeways
Treasurer's Report was given.
Some ideas were discussed regarding spending FoLB cash reserves including bike
racks, reflective vests to be sold at cost, design money to update bikeway
map, a traffic counter, and a bike repair station with pump (in the event the
bike node behind the center never gets installed) . These included a "speed
warning" flashing signal. PE investigated costs, Omar and others thought that
such a sign on the bikeway would be "unfriendly."
Recorder: Omar Khudari
Editor: