HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Bicycle & Pedestrian Committee - 06/10/2015BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN COMMITTEE
MINUTES 06-10-2015
The Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee held its regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, June 10, 2015
at 5:30 pm in the small conference room at the city office building.
Members Present: Matthew Boulanger, Chair; Cathy Frank, Clerk; Donna Leban
Members Absent: Dana Farr, Roy Neuer
City Representative: Maggie Leugers, Director of Recreation & Parks
Also Present: Jamison Goodwin
Meeting began at 5:43 pm.
1. Agenda: Changes or Additions
New item added to the agenda: Maggie presented Matt with framed certificate for his service
on the committee and as chairperson for the past 3 years. Certificates were also presented to
Michelle Connor and David Jacobowitz. Arrangements were made to get these certificates to
David and Michelle.
We will miss Matt as he reluctantly retires, we hope temporarily, from the committee because
of family demands. His expertise in city planning and as an avid cyclists have been invaluable to
the committee. He expressed a willingness to volunteer for specific projects and to be available
for questions.
2. Update: “Difficult Bike/Pedestrian Crossings” survey – there have been no new responses in
the past month, probably because The Other Paper did not print our 2nd article. Cathy will
create a summery report for the next meeting. In general the most complaints involved
problems crossing South Burlington’s main arteries: Williston Road, Shelburne Road, and Dorset
Street. These streets all have a lot of vehicular traffic including cars traveling through South
Burlington to get to somewhere else. While many if not most of these problems involve long
term fixes the committee discussed what short term steps might be done to alleviate some of
the problems.
· Flashing pedestrian lights – Some are not working and need to be monitored on a
regular basis. Also since the lights start flashing immediately after the button is pushed,
but the pedestrian is not always on the right side of the light to see this, the length of
time one has to cross the street is quite short, a particular problem for wider streets.
Can the length of the flash be adjusted to lengthen the time?
· Traffic signal controlled pedestrian crossings are too short– some of these are too
short, particularly on Dorset and Shelburne streets where the road is wide and has
heavy traffic. Where the pedestrian path crosses Shelburne Road is particularly difficult
since the crossing requires one to cross two roads, Shelburne Road and the extension of
Queen City Park Road to get to the Bike/pedestrian path on the other side.
· Pedestrian crosswalks become faded over the winter and without that visual signal
many motorists do not readily recognize them. Can these stripping’s be repainted early
in the spring (April) each year. Likewise is there a way to make these markings, more
attention grabbing to motorists? See link for some examples other municipalities are
using. See attachment (PedestrianCrosswalk.pdf) “The Effects of Innovative Pedestrian
Signs at Un-signalized Locations: A Tale of Three Treatments”.
· Right turns on red make some intersections almost impossible for cyclists and
pedestrians to cross safely unless there is no traffic at all. Example: corner of Swift/ Swift
St. Extension and Dorset Street. This is the main entrance to Veterans Memorial Park
and needs to be pedestrian and bike friendly, yet right on red is available for all cycles of
the light. The corner of Trader Joe’s/Healthy Living and UMall is almost impossible to
cross both if one is trying to cross Dorset or to cross Garden Street. There is heavy traffic
and all traffic light cycles allow right on red.
· Motion: The Committee recommends that Planning and Public Works look into the
feasibility of implementing short term solutions to difficult bike/pedestrian crossings:
Places where right turns on red make it hard for pedestrians and cyclist to cross safely,
repainting pedestrian crosswalks each spring and extending the length of flashing lights
on Kennedy and Williston roads, and the bike path crossing Shelburne Road. (Motion:
Matt/ Second: Donna – vote unanimous)
3. Meeting with City Council – Donna and Cathy reported on their report to the City Council.
Among other things they mentioned our efforts to keep on top of Planning and DRB issues that
need pedestrian path consideration, recent improved reporting to us from Planning on current
developments, our desire to have more general traffic expertise on our committee, our need for
more members, and our frustration at how far into the future any updates to bike path appear
and how underfunded they appear to be.
4. Updates from Maggie Leugers – At Maggie’s suggestion the committee will place a review of
the City Comprehensive Master Plan on our agenda as well as the Official City map. Maggie will
also try to arrange the annual review of the Recreation path ride with committee members and
Justin.
5. A General Discussion followed about how we could remove the bike path from the city’s back
burner, and move it forward (filling gaps and connecting new residential areas). It was observed
that there are groups of users who are on the verge of using the path for transportation except
for the difficult gaps and crossings. In reviewing the City Plan we should make sure there are
specific objectives for the recreation path. Matt mentioned that Burlington has bike rack
standards and suggested we urge South Burlington to adopt bike rack standards. (Motion; Matt/
Second: Cathy – vote unanimous)
Matt recommended that we keep contact with the City Council.
Underwood Park: short term improvements – Cathy asked what plans were in place for
improvements to Underwood Park this summer. The Task Force had suggested mowing some
walking trails. Cathy suggested that a path, a little wider, also be mowed for the future
recreation path. Maggie will look into this.
6. Election of officers – since this is Matt’s last meeting and we will not elect new officers until our
July meeting, Cathy agree to be Maggie’s contact until that meeting.
7. Minutes of the May 13, 2015 meeting – approved, Motion: Matt/ second: Donna
8. Motion to Adjourn – Donna/ second Matt , unanimous
Meeting ended at 7:34 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Cathy Frank, Clerk