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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Bicycle & Pedestrian Committee - 05/13/2015BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN COMMITTEE MINUTES 05-13-2015 The Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee held its regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, May 13, 2015 at 5:30 pm in the small conference room at the city office building. Members Present: Matthew Boulanger, Chair; Dana Farr, Vic-Chair; Cathy Frank, Clerk; Donna Leban. Members Absent: Roy Neuer City Representative: Maggie Leugers, Director of Recreation & Parks Also Present: Paul Conner, Director of Planning & Zoning, Jamison Goodwin, Mary Bonneau Meeting began at 5:37 pm. 1. Agenda: Changes or Additions - none 2. Comments from the public not related to the agenda Mary Bonneau - Mary was present to respond to the committee’s survey on “Challenging Bike and Pedestrian Crossings in South Burlington”, from a walker’s perspective. There are no pedestrian crossing lights on Dorset Street. She knows of 2 people hit by cars coming out of Barnes and Noble; the intersection of Dorset and Garden Streets are particularly challenging whether one is crossing from Sears Auto to Xfinity or crossing from Healthy Living to Trader Joe’s on Dorset Street or trying to cross Dorset Street itself. Additionally she noted that Bus Shelters are not shoveled in the winter. She also noted that there is some vegetation blocking the line of sight at the corner of the SBHS and Kennedy Drive. She asked if there was a way to have sidewalk between Blue Mall and Trader Joe’s. Director of Planning Paul Connor explained that in regard to Dorset Street and Williston Road traffic signals, the signals were put in when Dorset Street was rebuilt 20 plus years ago and the city is working with the NW Regional Planning to draw up a plan to update them. Fixing each signal piecemeal is impractical and would be very expensive. 3. City Center Update: Paul Conner gave an overview of streets in the City Center - Garden St which will connect to Midas Drive and Market St. which now connects Dorset St. to Hinesburg Rd which will be significantly upgraded. The Committee asked Paul about Williston Road and what plans were in place to improve it for pedestrians and cyclists. Currently the City only owns to the back of the sidewalks which does not provide enough space to improve bike/pedestrian traffic. On the north side of Williston Rd, starting about the location of the Holiday Inn, there is the possibility for a parallel road that would connect with Patchen Road. The city is also working on a planned 12 ft. street right of way, going forward, along Williston Rd and several others so when development arises 12 ft. sidewalk right of way would be required. The next step for the city is to develop a bike/pedestrian network map to become part of the city’s zoning map. This involves determining what the main arterial bike/ped routes, and branch routes should be. Paul was asked what the next steps on the Underwood property were. The City Council is looking at a proposal by staff to allocate a half cent of the City’s 1 cent tax for acquisition of open space, to development of those open spaces. If the city council approves this it would go before the voters. That would then make money available for the development of and improvements of parks that have been conserved - Underwood, Wheeler and Red Rocks parks. 4. Update: “Difficult Crossings” article and survey – Cathy reported that there have been 7 responses so far and suggested we keep the survey open, have a link to it on the South Burlington Home page to make it easier to access, and that we follow up with another article in The Other Paper about the survey. Once the survey is completed, an analysis of the results will be attached to the Committee’s minutes and reported in the Other Paper and shared with Public Works and Planning. Two problems resulting from vegetation blocking line of sight (See SBHS and Kennedy Drive above) and pedestrian crosswalk signs be blocked at 38 Eastwood Drive will be looked at immediately. 5. Draft letter to City Council and City Manager’s office re: Transportation Committee, Planning and Development Review Process; discussion of upcoming meeting with Council on May 18th. Mtg starts at 6:30. - It was agreed to identify the major responsibilities of our committee to the Council – Development Review; Long Range Planning, and Special Projects including the desirability of applying for the designation of “Bike Friendly Community”. Matt will draft a memo to be sent to the City Council before their meeting and Cathy and Donna will be present at the City Council meeting to speak for our committee. 6. Maggie will speak with Justin to set up a day or evening for our joint annual inspection of the Bike/ Pedestrian Path. 7. General Matters – Matt talked about a popup bike lane kit that Local Motion has available for communities to use for a day to try creating bike lanes on various street. It was noted that Local Motion, is an incredible resource and should be invited to one of our meetings 8. Minutes of the April 15, 2015 meeting – Donna: Motion to Adjourn, Dana: Second, Vote: Unanimous 9. Adjourn Dana: Motion to Adjourn, Cathy: Second, Vote: Unanimous Meeting ended at 7:30 pm. Respectfully submitted, Cathy Frank, Clerk Next article – summary of what we have heard so far, about pedestrian lights and how to use them. Use of Lights. Can’t see if from where you push it Driving too fast. Some don’t work Figure out if you can go, then hit the button. Can you adjust the length of the lights flashing? They stop too soon given that cars do not stop right away.