HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Bicycle & Pedestrian Committee - 04/13/20221
South Burlington Bike & Pedestrian Committee
DRAFT Special and Regular Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, April 13, 2022 @ 5:30 p.m.
VIRTUAL MEETING
Committee Attendees - Remote: Havaleh Gagne (Chair), Nic Anderson (Clerk), Amanda Holland, Dana
Farr, Donna Leban, Cathy Frank, Bob Britt
Committee Absent:
Other Attendees: Ashley Parker (City Liaison), Christine Forde (CCRPC), Brian Breslend (D&K) and Julia
Ursaki (D&K)
Public: Lauren Purcell, Lou Bresee
1. Welcome, Virtual Meeting Instructions, and Emergency Evacuation Procedure
2. Public Meeting: Potash Brook Crossing Feasibility Study–CCRPC (5:35)
a. Scope? Include sidewalk on north side of street
b. Julia Ursaki and Brian Breslend gave presentation that was included in the packet
c. Quick builds don’t include normal lanes with reduced vehicle lanes – How to get from
path to lane
d. Can you talk about winter plowing?
e. Amanda asked about surface material
f. Brian – Asphalt
g. Amanda asked about quick build. Is 10.5ft vehicle lanes too skinny for tractor trailer
uses.
h. Julia – Tight but should not just have to sacrifice for bike ped, should be all users.
i. Amanda – How would you maintain facility in the winter. Removal of bollards would
make it look like a really big road.
j. Julia – Jersey Barriers would need opening periodically to push snow between. Would
be a big challenge. Options 1-2 aren’t perfect.
k. Havaleh asked why we are doing quick builds?
l. Christine – CCRPC asked for it when they got back the costs for the real build.
m. Havaleh – Is this on CIP or someone else’s project for the implementation
n. Ashley – On CIP but not defined fully because waiting on study.
o. Bob – Winged the price and called it Kimball phase 2 because we were waiting on
Obrien.
p. Bob – Asked about quick build 3 and where the real estate was coming from.
q. Brian – Would be 2ft from curb. Haven’t come up with where it goes in relation to guard
rail. Conceptual not based on topography.
r. Julia – Path would be 8ft to get over stream. Would need to look into design
assumptions for crossing.
s. Bob asked if cantilevered bridge was too expensive.
t. Brian – Yes, didn’t make sense.
u. Donna asked what has been experience for pervious pavement for paths, is it a rougher
finish.
v. Julia – Crescent connector has pervious pavement for parking but haven’t seen for bike
path.
w. Amanda asked about how much work would be needed to have quick build path
installed beside existing curb.
2
x. Nic asked where the quick builds would end and why there wasn’t simply a quick build
of reducing vehicle lanes to 11ft and have 5ft+ on road bike lanes.
y. Nic also asked about scope. Why did it not include north side 1600ft wide sidewalk gap.
Wondering if there is economies of scale for doing both sides of the road
z. Brian – Yes, would be cheaper to mobilize construction activity etc. at the same time.
2020 path detail docs from VTrans show sidewalks being cheaper so may come out
cheaper.
aa. Bob – To Nic’s point, the businesses there likely need a sidewalk before the shared use
path on the other side as there are no crossings. Should include sidewalk gap on north
side to CIP. Asked what option consultants prefer.
bb. Brian said 1 or 2.
cc. Donna seems to think that the 2nd alternative has less wetland impact.
dd. Ashley – Scoping study funds are used. Would like to get a recommendation from the
committee on what they support.
ee. Christine – Don’t have to come to a conclusion on which alternative until there is a
funding ask. Just showing and getting feedback.
ff. Amanda – Asked what the final deliverable is? Will there be some narrative that
describes assumptions and cost options.
gg. Christine – There is a written report almost ready to release.
hh. Brian – Could have an appendix for cost items if needed.
ii. Bob – Congratulated team.
jj. Nic – Would support 1 or 2 but would like to see one of the quick build options to be
narrowing the travel lanes to 11ft and having wider on road bike lanes.
kk. Donna – Fog lines seem to need painting so could be prime time to change lane width.
ll. Lauren Purcell – Works on Kimball Avenue. Tight curve right now but narrowing of lanes
could help. People walking are forced to walk on the road. Short term would be
appreciated.
mm. Havaleh asked Lauren if the other quick build options would be supported.
nn. Lauren – Jersey barriers would be good, but also concerned about winter and most
employees use the north side of the road so worries there are no crossings.
oo. Donna – Is a recreational route and thinks there are more recreational than we think.
pp. Bob uses for walking group.
qq. Nic uses for loop with the kids so recreation too. Nic worries about how the quick builds
end at Kennedy.
rr. Ashley – Recommendation not needed now, so can just wait and discuss at a later date.
The three alternatives would require additional funding and grant applications so would
take a while.
ss. Brian – If asking for federal funding, typically has fall deadlines.
3. Changes or additions to the agenda
a. None
4. Comments from the public not related to the agenda
a. None
5. Consideration of minutes from March9,2022
a. No Edits
b. Motion by Donna to approve
c. Cathy seconded
d. Bob abstained
e. Vote: All in favor. Minutes approved.
3
6. Updates from the City
a. Ashley read through updates that were in packet.
b. Tom not taking meetings right now. For now, send email to Ashley and she will get to
him.
c. ARPA Funds. Asked what we want to work on for priorities and strategies. Last round of
strategies and updates attached to packet. Take a look.
i. Nic – Bike path maintenance seems like is underfunded and would love to see
more of that
ii. Ashley – Take a look at the ARPA guidelines. Doesn’t have them on the tip of her
finger.
iii. Bob asked if the state has additional restrictions.
iv. Ashley – Not the same as normal grants. More flexibility. But there will be a lot
of requests so need to be strategic.
v. Amanda - VT League of Cities and Towns www.vlct.org may be best source for
info.
d. Ashley – Maybe the committee could send the top 10 things that need addressing each
month.
e. Continued reading through updates
f. Nic mentioned the Awasiwi Trail crosswalk painting may have washed away in the rain a
bit. Should also paint the church crosswalk while they are out because its mostly gone
and thought that the church sign posts were going to get additional treatments (yellow
color down the pole). Ashley will check with Tom.
g. Cathy asked when there would be a process on the Hubbard path material type.
h. Ashley – It is proposed as asphalt right now and it would take a City Council meeting to
discuss and instruct staff if we wanted to change materials.
i. Cathy – Wonders if committee should be more active. Would like to have information
available first.
j. Amanda – Ways we could be useful would be to discuss with St Albans for their Taylor
Park for their testimonial. Could talk to staff there if that helps. Took out some sections.
k. Ashley – Would like support too. Would not want this to become a bigger issue where
more are requested. Need to also focus on the accessibility concerns.
l. Nic – Should do a position statement of the committee recommendation why we
support the asphalt path
m. Cathy happy to draft it for review and input.
n. Havaleh – Seems like we should bring it up at our next meeting and make it official.
o. Ashley – Should steer away from going to Council just yet but should make the
recommendation to her.
p. Donna – One of the items for the Climate Action Task force mentions the need for paths
that can be maintained year-round. Can send the Transportation items to the
committee from that task force.
q. Ashley – Tom mentioned we have road typologies in the LDR’s. Maybe we have that for
paths in the future. Put something together and she can take to Jessie.
r. Havaleh would like to see landscaping to address stormwater.
s. Ashley – Interesting arguments with lots of different site considerations
7. Review Safety Work Group Recommendations
a. Bob went through list in packet
4
b. Nic mentioned that we should focus on white lines that serve as bike lanes or wide
shoulders, not just any white line (example of the line on Kennedy that is 6 in from
curb).
c. Ashley – Next budget cycle will be looking at how we fund path and sidewalk
maintenance/replacement. Large spreadsheet. Not sure how much to allocate but this is
a place to start. Not sure if it can be made public.
d. Bob asked if speed limit should still be there.
e. Nic thinks we very much need to address speed. Not just here and there, but
everywhere. Kimball is a perfect example.
f. Amanda noted that it would be a city council decision and the ordinance is available to
read online
g. Ashley – Would need engineering justification, not just an ask. May be a good CCRPC
project.
h. Nic thinks mid-road pedestrian signs are very effective and should simply be about
replacing them when they get destroyed, because they will.
i. Bob continued reviewing the report
j. Nic recommends the school speed zone signs should be recommended for elementary
schools too.
k. Amanda – Likes the speed feedback signs. But not sure about speed cameras.
l. Nic thinks that the speed cameras are not permitted in VT state statute. Maybe just
leave and state that it needs more research
m. Bob asked if we should keep the autonomous vehicles comment. No decision.
n. Market St – still a problem. Donna mentioned very hard to see pedestrians due to
parked cars.
o. Ashley noted there has been discussions about the possibility of a four way stop at the
School entrance road. Curve makes it hard to see.
p. Nic asked what the deal is with crossing guards.
q. Ashley – School decision. Stop signs would require a process for a “Stop Warrant” to
justify it so could take time.
r. Ashley suggested making the 15 item list prioritized so it is more easily digested and to
get stuff done.
8. Updates Ongoing Committee Work–(7:40p.m.)
a. Chair Updates/Comments -Havaleh
b. DPW –Bob, Dana, Amanda, Donna
c. Climate Action -Donna
i. Climate Task Force Meets tomorrow and are discussing transportation
component. Starts at 7pm. Will take comments from public
d. DRB Update –Cathy
e. Communications/Outreach–Cathy, Donna (Havaleh)
i. Havaleh – Any interest in doing bike month events?
ii. Nic suggested promoting Park Your Car(bon) Week as an easy plug and play.
Also could do something May 20th for bike to work day.
f. Safety –Bob, Dana
g. Mapping –Amanda/Nic
h. Signs –Nic, Donna, Dana
i. Nic shared via email the priority list and would love to have people’s feedback
on what signs we missed or any adjustments. Shown on a map too. Asked
people to email him direct.
5
i. Bike Friendly Community Planning –Nic
9. Confirmation: Next meeting Wednesday, May 11, 2022@ 5:30pm
a. Bob away until October. Impact fee thing could come up and he sent four-page list to
Paul.
10. Adjourn (by 8:00 p.m.)