HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-05-13-LBAC-min
APPROVED MEETING MINUTES
Committee Name: Lexington Bicycle Advisory Committee
Date, Time and Location of Meeting:
May 13, 2010, 7 pm, Room 111, Town
Office Building
Members Present:
Stew Kennedy (Acting Chair), John Frey, Marita Hartshorn,
Jerry Van Hook, Laurel Carpenter, Sandra Shaw (Recreation Committee Liaison)
Others Present:
Bob Hausslein, Richard Spencer, Dawn McKenna
Members Absent:
Peter Kelly, (Selectman’s Liaison), George Gagliardi, Abe
Shenker (FoLB Chair), Peggy Enders (Chair), Richard Canale (Planning Liaison),
Mike Tabaczynski
Minutes
: The April 2010 minutes were accepted as corrected.
Dawn McKenna dropped in and said the metal signs about “no bike riding on
center sidewalks” will arrive next week. They will be installed by DPW. The
Tourism Committee has offered to fund a new bike map. Peggy and Bob Dangel
are working on this project and should coordinate with the Tourism Committee.
Bikeway Counts:
Both the Tuesday and Saturday bike count numbers
increased substantially from previous counts [ed note: 4,059 trips counted on
Saturday, May 1; 949 trips counted for commuter and noon hours on Tuesday,
May 4]. Stew and John will send the exact numbers to Jerry for his talk on May
16.
th
20 Century Memories:
Jerry will give a 10-minute talk about the Minuteman
Bikeway from a historical perspective on Sunday, May 16 at 2:00 at the depot.
The Historical Society sponsors the event.
Center Parking Session:
Peggy represented us at the meeting. The town hired
a consultant to analyze the parking situation. Bicycle parking will be factored in.
Lowell and Woburn St. Development.
Jerry reported on TD Bank’s proposal.
We hope the reconfigured site will be pedestrian and bicycle friendly. Laurel
circulated a petition to that effect.
Scenic Battle Road:
The Minuteman Bikeway and connectors like the West
Lexington Greenway and possibly the Bedford extension will be considered a
part of the scenic Battle Road Corridor. Stew Kennedy, Keith Ohmart, and Dick
Canale all spoke in favor of multimodal transportation at the roadways
subcommittee meeting and hope the committee will rate it highly when setting
their priorities. Peggy is our official liaison. Some funding may be available to us
for improvements with this designation.
Traffic Mitigation on Hartwell Avenue:
Jerry Van Hook reported that a rotary
is proposed at Hartwell Avenue and Maguire Road. A rotary presents problems
to cyclists and pedestrians. We should be watchful of the final design because
this intersection is heavily used by cycling commuters.
Meeting adjourned at 7:51 pm.
Record of Discussion of Friends of Lexington Bikeways:
Stew Kennedy
conducted this meeting.
Treasury:
Bob Hausslein reported a balance of $5,236.23. Expenses included
20 vests totaling $131.27.
Bike Donation Day and Discovery Day.
Stew, Bob, Marita, and Peggy will be
working on the Bikes Not Bombs Donation effort. John Frey is a possible
volunteer for Discovery Day.
Spring Clean Up:
Bob reported that we had about 15 volunteers and suggested
that next year we should revise section assignments for better coverage east of
Woburn Street. We should also publicize the clean up one week in advance on
the bikeway. Stew suggested that we regularly report to the BoS on such
Bikeway improvement projects. Bob will draft a report on the cleanup.
Garlic Mustard Pull:
Bob and Stew have organized a large-scale garlic mustard
removal project along the entire Lexington portion of the Bikeway: Grace Chapel
offered their 65-member youth volunteer group for community work, and it will
happen on Saturday, May 22 from 9:00 to noon. Jerry, Bob, Stew, Peggy, and
perhaps Sandra will help direct the volunteers. Meet at Camilia Way (behind the
main fire station.) A similar project was organized recently by Keith Ohmart
along the Lower Vine Brook bike path, where a team of Girl Scouts removed
garlic mustard from Hayes Lane to North Street.
Farmer’s Market:
Stew, Marita, Sandy, Peggy, and John will man the bike
corral on June 15. The Boston Sports Club is giving 3-day passes for the first
100 people who ride their bike to the market.
Bike Racks at Retail Establishments:
Jerry Van Hook is working with Stop
and Shop to get permission for Starbucks and Walgreen’s to install bike racks at
their stores. Stop and Shop owns the land. He is also working with Busa Liquors
and Neillio’s for a rack on their corner.
Tour de Lexington:
The ride is proposed for July 10 or 11, and Laurel talked
about a route highlighting little known entry points for Lexington for commuters.
Marita proposed a route highlighting conservation land and boardwalks. It was
agreed that the theme for the route needs to be decided upon. Bob mentioned
that we should determine our audience (participants) when determining the route.
Laurel said we should have cue sheets and a flag system at intersections. We
will invite all the Selectmen, the town manager, and both state representatives on
the ride.
MassBike Festival:
August 14 on Hayden Field. We would like Bob Dangel to
keep us posted.
Bike to Work Week
is May 17 to 21, 2010.
The next LBAC/FoLB meeting is Thursday, June 10, 2010, 7:00 p.m. in Rm 111.
Items Distributed: Agenda and April Minutes
Marita Hartshorn: Recorder
Peggy Enders: Editor