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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Bicycle & Pedestrian Committee - 04/14/2021 South Burlington Bike & Pedestrian Committee Regular Meeting Approved Minutes Wednesday, April 14, 2021 @ 5:30 p.m. Meeting was held virtually Committee Attendees: Shawn Goddard (Chair), Cathy Frank (Vice-Chair), Nic Anderson (Clerk), Bob Britt, Donna Leban, Dana Farr, Amanda Holland, Havaleh Gagne Other Attendees: Ashley Parker (City Liaison) 1. Welcome and clarification of meeting procedures 2. Changes or additions to the agenda. a. None 3. Comments from the public not related to the agenda. a. None 4. Consideration of minutes from the previous meeting(s): a. February 10, 2021 b. March 17, 2021 c. Both approved unanimously. No discussion 5. Updates from the City a. In agenda packet. Ashley read updates b. Bob asked when Underwood shared-use path would be constructed. c. Ashley hoping for next summer 2022 6. Discussion on improving Bike/Ped/Auto interactions-Chief Shawn Burke - South Burlington Police Department a. Three main topics: i. Current training/standards for South Burlington Police officers ii. Potential recommended updates to our standards iii. How can the Bike/Ped Committee best assist in this effort? b. Chief Burke (CB) – Philosophy of SB Police. Noted traffic stop numbers versus crash metrics. 50% drop in stops lead to no change in crashes. Noted complaint numbers and detailed perennial locations. Detailed how engineering strategies may be more effective long term. When at Burlington PD they had Local Motion doing education of officers. Could do this in SB if needed, but most important is awareness for motorists and cyclists to understand and operate correctly. Don’t want to be monitoring areas. Most important is engineering and education of the public. c. Shawn asked if bikers are policed. d. CB – low on list of things to do. Officer Schwartz is dedicated to traffic safety. A lot of communication with departments and others. Engineering is important. Examining speed limits is important. Lots of speeding on south Dorset at City boundaries and don’t seem to respond to data trailer. e. Bob – Notice people not stopping for flashing beacons at crosswalks. Asked for suggestions to suggest to DPW? f. CB – Suggest enforcement of lack of stopping at crosswalks could be good use of time. Could have Officer Schwartz focus on that component. People do odd things on divided highways and extra lanes such as Kennedy. g. Shawn – Close passes are prevalent to and a key contact point that can be extremely dangerous. Lot of opportunity for things to go wrong. Need to focus on the most egregious behaviors. Maybe partner at SoBu Nite Out with Officer Schwartz for outreach. h. CB – Haven’t used social media to have public information campaign but could be effective. i. Cathy – Sometimes bike groups also need to be informed about how their actions can impact. j. Shawn – Need all kinds of education. k. Cathy wondered if creative signs may be good on certain routes. Maybe even signs that can be moved around. l. CB – For signs they typically rely on Justin and engineers to ensure things are well understood. m. Ashley – Have a whole box of share the road brochures from VTrans. n. CB asked if they have a social media kit? Ashley can ask Jon Kaplan. o. Shawn – The design piece is being worked on, its just slow going. Have a situation where we have non-optimal shared spaces still. p. Dana – Asked about crash reports and public portal so that we can look. q. CB – All data goes through to the state. Provided crash data to Nic and Ashley recently. Police data can get pretty messy. Classification can be hard depending on the situation. r. Shawn – May be any number of near misses or complaints which may not get into crash database very well. s. Nic asked about the signs for crosswalks that state “it’s the law” style signs along with the normal crosswalk signs. t. Shawn suggested adding that topic to the agenda for Justin. u. Cathy noted that new Midland Ave has a lot more people going through to South Village. v. Dana – Its so narrow that it seems like people go slower and don’t use it for cut through. w. Donna – is SB police force ready for community e-bikes? x. CB – Will it be used in places that they aren’t allowed, yes. Will stand by and be ready for anything. y. Shawn – Happy to provide ways we can collaborate further. Can do articles in paper. May be better for this coming from the police z. CB – Excited to see share the road messaging and happy to do campaign to get things moving. Keep connecting through CB for the time being while Officer Schwartz is coming up to speed. aa. Shawn – Asked for committee members to work on this component. Super critical to continue working with Police and build relationship. bb. Amanda – Should we connect with Local Motion, Burlington or VTrans on what they are already doing? Cathy will do. cc. Havaleh - Asked if SoBu Nite Out is happening this year? Ashley suggested asking. Not sure what other things are planned. Will dig out notes. dd. After Chief Burke left meeting, Dana asked if we had police on bikes? ee. Ashley – Used to ff. Nic – Reiterated that its important to use language well. Posted link https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-11/don-t-say-cyclists-say-people- on-bikes gg. Ashley noted this could be a good article for the paper in itself. 7. O’Brien Development Prep for next DRB meeting on 4/20/21 a. Objective: Review latest materials & define feedback for upcoming DRB b. Cathy talked about colored plan from VHB. O’Brien is fighting need for off road path. Bob and Cathy spent a lot of time talking about it. O’Brien are proposing advisory bike lanes. Noted City supports Advisory lanes but not in this situation. Huge residential population. c. Shawn asked if there is enough ROW for a shared use path. d. Cathy – Not sure but Paul and Marla leaning towards shared use path. e. Bob emailed photographs. Concerned if we push them too hard, they may not do the path on Kimball. f. Shawn – Asked if we are being asked to endorse something? g. Nic – Usually advisory bike lanes are only for low traffic streets. Was there more info from VHB to meet this proposal? h. Cathy – No. City was concerned. i. Shawn – Does the committee think we should NOT endorse a shared use path? j. Bob – Concerned about losing path on Kimball. Don’t want to do trading. Thinks Kimball is more important. k. Havaleh – Path makes sense here and want to understand what the challenges are. l. Nic – If a rec path is not possible, then Advisory Bike lanes could be OK. m. Motion by Shawn that the committee support and recommend a shared use path on this section. Seconded by Donna. Approved unanimously. n. Cathy will attend and speak on behalf of committee. Shawn will try to attend too. 8. P4P & Bike/Ped Priority List Discussion a. Airport Parkway Sidewalk Project Update b. Ashley – Project cost is significantly more than estimate in CIP (186K). Mainly for cost of retaining walls. Over 500K. Just the section from Kirby to Bedard. Phase 2 for Airport Pkwy is the roundabout and narrow bridge. c. Nic asked who would use this sidewalk. Seems like a long section in the middle that people may not want to walk. d. Shawn – Should it be pushed to a later date. e. Amanda – Would be good to know the other facilities it could connect with such as Rt 15 path. f. Nic – Could it be pushed to FY26 when Phase 2 would be done. g. Ashley – Cost also includes protecting gas lines etc. h. Shawn – Is there a benefit of doing phase 1 well before 2? i. Ashley – There are things lined up with plans etc. Would be good sell to grant funding with “shovel ready” project. Would be good to find out if there has been movement or obstacles on the phase 2. j. Shawn – Seems like many other projects are more important. k. Bob – Suggests doing the Williston Road crosswalks first. Need to do something in Chamberlin neighborhood. l. Shawn asked if there is a problem pushing it out to obtain grants first? m. Ashley – Think the landowner easements would last and the plans etc. are done at reasonable cost so we have not sunk too much at the moment. Not a reason to not push it back. n. Motion by Shawn to move airport parkway out in CIP to FY23 and bring Williston road up the list to our next highest priority. Bob seconded. All in favor. o. Nic asked Ashley about paving of Airport parkway and repainting. p. Shawn and Bob will talk with Justin about making sure stencils and signs are done whenever lines are done. q. Bob wanted to talk impact fees. Noted omissions of Queen City Park Road path/sidewalk. He thinks it should be there in place of Lower Allen Rd. project. Does committee have any issue with that? Concerned that Kimball Ave takes priority funds from potential to get over Potash Brook. r. Amanda asked for more information on the impact fee document. Normally these are specific to a location and doesn’t know if we can move the locations. s. Bob – Just want to get a sense from committee how we feel. t. Nic – Could there be impact fees from Kmart redevelopment. u. Shawn – If Bob discusses with Paul, would the committee support substituting Queen City Park Rd. for Lower Allen Road. Committee were ok with Bob asking Paul about substitution. v. Ashley – FYI, Paul about to have a baby so may not be quick to respond. 9. Swift & Spear Intersection Feasibility Study a. Input from Bike/Ped to Planning Commission b. Not sure who asked for this on the agenda. c. Bob suggested that a 3rd lane be added in each direction where the ROW would allow so that vehicles could turn right, left or travel straight through the intersection unimpeded by turning vehicles. He also thought that a “No Right on Red” sign be installed northbound on Spear at the intersection when the white crosswalk light is activated and that perhaps crosswalks should be added in all four directions immediately adjacent to the intersection. d. Nic – Think there could be some design improvements but not sure when there is a chance actually have discussions on design. Definitely need better north south connectivity on road. e. Ashley – Suggested committee members completing Local Concerns survey on the story map. f. Shawn suggested Ashley reach out to the Planning Commission Chair to ask when we will have time to comment on design elements. Just don’t want to miss the boat. 10. Committee membership outlook a. Havaleh, Bob and Amanda up for appointment. All three have put their name in. b. Shawn noted another person interested who works for a development company and had concerns about possible conflicts of interest. c. Ashley – They would just need to recuse themselves at times but wouldn’t be an issue. 11. Confirmation: Next meeting Wednesday, May 12, 2021 @ 5:30pm 12. Other items a. Bob and Shawn meeting with Justin on 4/27. Asked for safety issues or updates to the Maintenance Workbook that should be brought to Justin’s attention. b. Nic – Paint, paint, 10ft lanes, paint. c. Havaleh asked where list of things is kept in the drive. d. Nic mentioned using the report web page e. Ashley mentioned resident interest in a shared-use path on Hinesburg Rd from Kennedy to Cheesefactory. Been getting a lot of questions. Seems like we need to be focusing on there more. f. Lots of free ranging discussion. g. Shawn – Does warrant a scoping study. Should follow up. h. Donna – Listened in on Planning Commission last night. Unanimously supported 13 Single diamond over 12B. Instead of 14, should leave and do bike/ped bridge instead. Other item, they recommend Swift St extension be taken off the official Map and planning maps. i. Shawn asked if Donna attends regularly. Would be nice to have a SB Bike Ped rep attend the planning commission. Can do. j. Donna also noted that a rec path was suggested to connect over to Oak Creek from there. k. Nic would love comments on the SB Art Hunt. Sent email. 13. Adjourned at 7.55p.m.