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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-05-04-WALKS-MIN Lexington Sidewalk Committee Meeting Minutes of May 4, 2009, 11:00 am, Selectman’s Board Room Members Present : Jerry Van Hook (chair), Francine Stieglitz, Judy Crocker, Lucy Fletcher-Jones, Margaret Lotz (secretary) Liaisons Present : Elaine Celi (Transportation), Richard Canale (Planning Board), Jeanne Krieger (Board of Selectman) Guests : Jane Kalinski. Craig Weeks First under discussion was general information about the minutes: Lucy reported that we should send approved minutes to her in a word document or in the body of the email. Then Lucy will forward the minutes to Lynn Pease, secretary of the Board of Selectman (BOS), Candy McLaughlin, the town web manager, and the town archives. Lucy mentioned that the LSWC website is currently deleted but when it is back online, the minutes will be posted there. We agreed that the minutes should report those present in these categories: members, liaisons (with affiliations), and visitors. Agenda topics: 1) April minutes were approved . We went off the agenda to discuss if the LSC should have rules about attendance. Jerry mentioned that there is no attendance rule in the town charge. He would like to have a rule that those members missing more than 6 meetings in a row should be taken off the committee. We decided to put this subject on next month’s agenda. Jerry also mentioned that he received a resignation letter from Lisa Baci. 2) Discussed letter to Selectman about Roosevelt Rd. Jeanne asked Jerry to first ask TSAC to give their opinion about Roosevelt, so that when Jerry sends the letter to the Selectmen, the board can proceed with both the TSAC and SWC opinions in hand. The SWC does not have to send a letter to TSAC; Lynn Pease can simply ask Gail Wagner, chair of TSAC, their opinion. 3) Safe Routes to School (SR2S) Liability Judy, in her role of SR2S Chairperson, informed us of the recent debate over who is liable for SR2S walks. SRTS was involved in a discussion concerning liability as it relates to SRTS and other PTA-sponsored programs. It began as the Bowman SRTS Committee was instructed by their principal to include a very unexpected disclaimer ASAP at the end of its SRTS Walking Wednesday- Massachusetts Walk Day flyer. It was to read," the program is sponsored by Bowman parents and is not affiliated with LPS." The award-winning Lexington SRTS vehemently objects to this proposed new directive. Historically, SRTS's programs are annually approved by the SC, LPS, BOS, and LPD. The program is covered under the insurance umbrella of the Town of Lexington (SWC is town-sanctioned), LPS, PTA (local, sate, and national), and is a partnered school with the MA Executive Office of Transportation. SRTS feels that this suggested requirement is unprecedented for a LPS backed PTA- sponsored event. All PTA-sponsored events are intuitively LPS/school sanctioned. SRTS questioned the immediacy of this proposed implementation, why this program was targeted and not others, lack of communication (i.e. it was not required at the other SRTS schools) and concern for possible far-reaching ramifications for other PTA functions. The head of the PTA Presidents was notified as this issue had possible system-wide implications. Craig asked if the police monitor crosswalks. Lucy reported that the police have directed traffic at the Pleasant Street crosswalk during one SR2S walk. Jeanne does not think that the Lexington police have enough staff to monitor crosswalks on a regular basis. Richard stated that street configurations can make crosswalks safer, for example, Trapelo Road in Belmont has “bump-outs” that slow the traffic down and make the road narrower for pedestrian crossing. 4) SR2S Public Relations Judy is planning on submitting articles on walking and traffic as well as photos of children participating on SR2S events to the Minute Man in order to gain town-wide media coverage of the program. She handed out a list of possible article topics and asked SWC members to consider contributing. The Minute Man editor has been contacted and is interested. Another idea that the editor liked was for the SWC to submit photos of the “most dangerous crosswalk” in Lexington along with a few sentences explaining why. These would be posted on their website with links to the town planning map. 5) Crosswalk on Mass Ave in East Lexington Lucy reported that the neighborhood group concerned with pedestrian safety while crossing Mass Ave. in the Follen Church area of East Lexington has decided to go ahead with the strategy of having pedestrians carry highly visible flags while crossing. The flags will be stored in barrels on either side of the Avenue. The neighborhood group has contacted individuals in Seattle and other places where this system is used and has received advice as how to proceed. The police officer present at the neighborhood meeting made no comment, so we assume the police have no objections. 6) Spring Street and Marrett Road Intersection Jerry reports that the crosswalk at this intersection will most likely be of the “Abbey Road” design, meaning the stripes will be parallel to the road. This is the most visible to drivers. 7) Lexington Gardens and the Hancock St. Rotary Jerry reports that he visited the planning department and that he feels the preliminary plan for Lexington Gardens is eminent. They had no suggestions has to how to make the sidewalk safer around the new development and had no plans to do so. Jeanne replied that the developer is under no obligation to do so, either. Richard felt strongly that the rotary poses a safety problem now, and the addition of 12- 26 homes will not make the rotary any less safe for pedestrians, and that pedestrian safety improvements to the rotary should be undertaken for their own merit regardless of the development at Lexington Gardens. Jeanne mentioned that the town has $50,000/year set aside for traffic management studies and improvements, and that the way to approach improving pedestrian safety would be for the SWC to submit a list of its top 5-10 most dangerous intersections/roads/crosswalks to the BOS. Jerry asked about the sidewalk spreadsheet that we all spent time compiling, and Jeanne said to distill a further list of priorities from the spreadsheet. It should include overall traffic issues as well as sidewalks, as these issues overlap. Jeanne stressed that the SWC, not TSAC or engineers, needs to identify and advocate the areas that it collectively feels pose threats to walkers. 8) SR2S Update Judy reports that regardless of the liability issue, kids had a lot of fun participating in Patriot’s Day themed walks in April. Some wore tri-cornered hats while walking and some wrote their Jane and John Hancocks with chalk once reaching the school’s playgrounds. Coming soon: Massachusetts SR2S Walk Day. Jane reported that ndrd Hastings is having its 2 Grade Pedestrian Safety Training for the 3 year in a row. She rdth has presented this to parents as preparation for the 3 grade walk to Fisk House, the 4 th grade walk to the reservoir for nature study and the 5 grade walk to the town pool. 9) State Funding for town pedestrian safety improvements through SR2S. Lucy heard some good news! The state is considering funding improvements for the cross walk on Pleasant St. and a walkway connecting streets in the Bowman School neighborhood with the bikepath. Wayne Brooks is working with the state officials on these projects. Meeting adjourned.