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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-04-16-LBAC-min APPROVED MEETING MINUTES Committee Name: Lexington Bicycle Advisory Committee Date, Time and Location of Meeting: April 16, 2009, 7 pm, Ellen Stone Room at Cary Hall. Members Present: Peggy Enders (Chair), Stew Kennedy, Mike Tabaczynski, John Frey, Jerry Van Hook, Marita Hartshorn, George Gagliardi, Abe Shenker (FoLB Chair), Sandra Shaw, Recreation Committee Liaison Others Present: Bob Hausslein and Richard Spencer Members Absent: Richard Canale (Planning Board Liaison), Hank Manz (Selectmen’s Liaison), Laurel Carpenter. Minutes: February 26, 2009 were accepted as amended and March 12, 2009 were accepted as corrected. Bike Racks: Marita contacted Dave Pinsonneault to ask if he would coordinate the effort to place more bike racks through the additional money granted from the Commonwealth. (The town will need to pay for shipping and installation.) No response yet. Marita contacted the PTAs. To date one or two racks have been requested for Lexington High School. Sandra Shaw reported that the Recreation Department is doing an inventory of existing racks and will get back to us if and where racks are needed. Bike Committee members suggested additional racks at Cary Library, on the west side of Mass. Ave. (possibly singlets), on the bike path in the center, on the playing field near Harrington School, and at Bow Street Playground. Abe suggested we look at the needs of other commercial areas in the town. Peggy will ask Dave Pinnonnealt if the town or the plowing contractor will replace the rack that was destroyed after the first snowstorm in December located behind Craft Cleaners. Discovery Day (May 23): The committee decided not to participate this year. Marita will send regrets. Spring Clean Up: Bob Hausslein and Stew Kennedy are coordinating. Marita contacted Lexington Girl Scouts; Mike will contact Lexington High School. Sections and leaders are: Bedford Street to Bedford-Bob Hausslein; Revere to Bedford-Peggy Enders; Hancock to Revere-Stew Kennedy; Woburn St. to Hancock-Jerry Van Hook; Waldorf School to Woburn-John Frey and Marita Hartshorn; Arlington line to Waldorf School-Abe Shenker. Starbucks will seek volunteers. It was agreed we should focus on aggressive pruning. ndth Bike Path Count : Peg will request counters for May 2 and May 5. Bike Path Upgrading and Maintenance : Peggy distributed copies of the draft document (“Bikeway Priorities for Engineering and Redesign”) assembled based on conversations between Peggy, Stew, and Abe about short- and long-term improvements needed on the Minuteman Bikeway. The 2007 Town Meeting approved $175,000 for Bikeway paving; these funds have not yet been spent. Peggy Enders, John Frey, and Abe Shenker will ride the path on Friday, April 24 at 10:00 am to review the entire Bikeway length with Town Engineer John Livsey. Everyone is invited to come along. The ride is intended to underscore the short- term needs as well as to begin the work with the town over plans for major upgrades. Abe will bring spray paint to clearly mark the areas on the pavement that pose a danger. Peggy said that she was interested in pursuing Community Preservation Act resources as a possible source of Bikeway improvement money, given all the drainage problems along its length. Bollards and Gates : Peggy distributed an e-mail from Cynthia McLain, who is a member of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail and on the Chelmsford BAC, which discussed her experience bollards and gates at bikeway intersections. In part, the email advised, “the use of gates and dual barrier posts are discouraged on new projects since such obstacles in the travel lane have resulted in crashes.” Jerry said that he is an advocate for gates because he thinks cyclist slow down more. Peggy said that many cyclists go around the opposite-direction gate in order to get past slower people, resulting in near misses with folks on the other side of the gate. Abe said he thought pedestrian crossing signs should be placed in the streets at intersections to slow down cars. There was a general discussion about the various accidents members have witnessed at intersections. We concluded that one solution will not fit all intersections and will work with the town to that end. Beal/Ledgemont III : Stew recommended that the committee not weigh in on their proposal, as their provision for bicycle commuters is mixed. Lane Striping : Jerry said the focus of this effort is to improve safety on busy streets. He said that Grove, Burlington, and North Streets are up for resurfacing; the committee should recommend fog line striping on these three as well as others that are major and unstriped. He had written to John Livsey to ask for a list of streets and their striping; John replied that there is no such list and no fixed policy around striping. Peggy said that John had indicated his interest in striping Woburn Street with an adequate side shoulder (i.e., 3 foot side lanes), given its width and its status as a feeder street to the Bikeway. In a discussion about Jerry’s request for help to measure all major street widths in town (based on his list of arterial and collector streets), all members present agreed to participate in measuring a few streets. Jerry will send out specific assignments. Since we have written twice to the Selectmen about meeting on this topic, Peggy promised to remind the Selectmen that this is a topic we would like to discuss at an upcoming BoS meeting. Meeting adjourned at 8:32 pm. Record of Friends of Lexington Bikeways Discussion Abe Shenker opened the meeting at 8:33. Treasurer’s Report: $6,696.32 Farmer’s Market : We voted to donate $100 for coupons to be given to people riding their bikes to the market on June 16 and 23. We will again offer to staff a bike-parking corral. Peg will ask the Farmer’s Market organizers about what happened to the remainder of last year’s coupons. Use of the Minuteman Bike Path for a 5K Run: Steve Meinelt from the Running Company is planning a 5K run with Shire that would use a small portion of the bike path. We will wait to vote on this after he makes a formal request through the Selectmen’s Office. Bikeway Stewards Program: Bob Hausslein announced that he is starting a new program to enlist people to take responsibility for portions of the Bikeway. He is putting a letter in the Minuteman and has created an email list at bikewaystewards@gmail.com. George talked about a related program, adopt- a-bikeway and said he will send out an email outlining his ideas. A member suggested that we consider printing Friends of Lexington Bikeways shirts. Group Bike Ride : Laurel Carpenter asked us to save May 16 for the bike ride through Lexington. We will begin and end at the Visitor’s Center and have a picnic lunch. The meeting adjourned at 9 PM. Information Distributed: ?? Agenda for meeting ?? Draft minutes from February 26 and March 12 meetings ?? E-Mail from Cynthia McLain ?? Minuteman Bikeway: Priorities for Engineering and Redesign Recorder : Marita Hartshorn Editor : Peggy Enders Next Meeting : May 14, 2009, 7 pm, Room 111 of the Town Office Building.