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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-01-14 Bicycle Advisory Board Minutes Bozeman Area Bicycle Advisory Board (BABAB) Meeting Minutes, Wed, October 1, 2014 6-8 pm, Commissioner’s Room, City Hall Board members present: Rebecca Gleason, Sam Haraldson, Daniel Davis, Jenna Fallaw, Juliana Olliff Board members absent: Brian Hughes, Bill Cochran, Jason Delmue, Jessie May Campbell, Jen Petersen, Mike Davis, Petra Davis Other attendees: Jeff-community member, Dorian- Montana Conservation Core, Anna-MSU Bike Task Force, John Van Delinder-City Streets Superintendent A. Called meeting to Order B. Public Comment: Rebecca wanted to acknowledge John Van Delinder and all of his accomplishments in working with BABAB. She also wanted to acknowledge Jessie May’s letter to the DOT about rumble strips which had a big impact on the project as they did more research on the placement of the strips and biker safety. Brian Hughes has also recently resigned so there will be an opening coming up on the board. C. Approve September meeting minutes: tabled. D. September Bike Count results and follow up: The city will compile the data and they are still waiting for a few documents from volunteers. Thoughts for future years: get out volunteer information earlier in hopes that people will sign up earlier, change time to 4-6 pm, make it easier for volunteers to email results of the count to the city. E. City updates- Transportation Plan, Striping Plan, Mendenhall sharrow outreach: Transportation Plan: Bozeman Area is in the works and the city will bring both the striping plan & the transportation plan to the board to see if we have any additions. Sharrows have already been painted on Mendenhall following the city commission meeting concerning the sharrows. Outreach: Snow Creative will contact Rebecca. F. Pro Walk Pro Bike conference Overview – Rebecca. Pittsburg, PA. Penn Street turned a traffic lane into two way protected bike lanes through the city to become more bicycle friendly. Green Lane Project: The Rise of protected lanes in the US. This project uses the idea that protected bike lanes should be designed for the 12 year old girl “Isabelle” providing access to biking for more people. Protected bike lanes have increased significantly over the years and they are important because they have increased bicycle traffic and make riders feel safer. Taking City officials from places like Pittsburg to the Netherlands to see the infrastructure has been effective at convincing them to make changes in U.S. cities. Could a city representative from Bozeman be sent there? The Secretary of Transportation spoke at the conference about various bike initiatives. The USDOT is issuing design guidance soon on “Road Diets” and protected bike lanes. Road diets reallocate existing space to make room for bikes and are being implemented in many cities. Instead of 2 traffic lanes in each direction, a road diet may reallocate that space into center turn lane and one traffic lane each way allowing room for bike lanes. Pittsburg also has put together a plan for a connected grid of bikeways that would be good for Bozeman to implement as well. Minimum grid idea-provide just enough bike pathways for people to get around town without any gaps. Check out: Minimumgrid.ca G. Bike Safety Outreach/Education · Subcommittee on Safety Outreach/Education- Sam: The committee met to discuss how to convey safety messages here in Bozeman and eventually throughout the state. The first step will be to contact cities that do well such as Portland, Boulder and Madison to find effective ways to spread the message. Second: What message do we want to convey? They plan to pick one or 2 key concepts such as rules of the road and sharing the road. Maybe other groups such as pedestrian board could be involved? The committee will be meeting again next month. New information is out from American League of Bicyclists that could be helpful for the group to look at. · High School Drivers Education- Rebecca-Wed Oct 8th-if anyone can help out with Jen, please contact her. · Bike safety –Education at MSU – Rebecca-Bike to school day had a good turnout last week. Bike valet parking that started at MSU games seems to be popular with lots of bikers using the service. They are looking into lighter bike racks that might be able to be shared with the city for special events. · Bike safety PSA update- Can we use Snow Creative? H. Courteous Mass Ride follow up: Jessie May: About 20 people showed up. It went well & riders were able to ask questions about bike safety and rules. I. Bike Week 2015 –start plan for prizes/incentives – Let Jessie May know if you are interested in helping on subcommittee. J. Discuss Facebook use, public comment on bicycle licensing and roundabout A letter to the city was written suggesting the implementation of bicycle licenses. He used examples of when bike licensing was used in Bozeman in the 50’s. It has not been found to be very cost effective in other cities. Rebecca will write him a reply back. Can we create a distribution list so that we can get our meeting notes and agendas out to more people? Sam will set up a list serve and Michelle from the city might be able to help with distribution. Facebook protocol: For future agenda, we just need to make sure we clarify our protocol. K. Old business: Tabled. * Bozeman Striping plan * FTA state of good repair funds * Bozeman bike code revision * Other L. New business Valley Center Drive-People have until Oct 8th to submit comment to city commission. Should they close the spur road that accesses Valley Center Drive for safety concerns? The line of sight to turn is impaired and the RR tracks create safety issues as well. Could they close the road to vehicles but keep it open for emergency vehicles and bikers/pedestrians to access? Rebecca will email more info if anyone wants to submit an individual public comment.