City of Lawrence
Lawrence – Douglas County Bicycle Advisory Committee
June 23, 2014 Notes
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MEMBERS PRESENT: |
Lisa Hallberg, Erin Paden, Bill Anderson, Justin Eddings |
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MEMBERS ABSENT: |
Dan Ashley, Chad Foster, Chris Rogge, David Hamby, Jacki Becker |
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STAFF PRESENT: |
Todd Girdler, David Cronin, David Woosley, Jessica Mortinger, Ernest Shaw, Eileen Horn, Mark Hecker, Tim Laurent |
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PUBLIC PRESENT: |
Travis Harrod, Dan Dannenburg, Bonnie Uffman, Andy Clayton, Michael Almon, Marilyn Hall, Chris Tilden, Seokwon Kim, Tim Herndon, Michael Morley, Charlie Bryan, Mike Myers |
1. Call Forum to Order
The meeting began at 5:04 p.m. A quorum of BAC members was not present.
2. Introductions
Attendees introduced themselves and the group they represented if any The following groups were represented: City of Lawrence Staff from the Planning, Parks & Recreation, and Public Works Departments; and community groups including LiveWell Lawrence, Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department Staff, Lawrence Pedestrian Coalition, Sustainability Action, Traffic Safety Commission, Parks & Rec Advisory Board, and the Lawrence-Douglas County Sustainability Advisory Board.
3. Discussion: What do our plans say? What is our community’s vision?
Jessica Mortinger presented what Transportation 2040, the Countywide Bikeway Plan and the Community Health Plan say about Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordination. All three plans recognize the need for increased coordination. Each of these community developed plans included a public participation process that solicited the public about their visions.
4. Discussion: What should the emphasis be? And how do we get there?
Lisa Hallberg began by saying everyone could probably agree that an important priority for Bicycle & Pedestrian issues in the region is the need for funding. Attendees generally agreed.
Erin Paden talked about identifying who the BAC is truly representing. Laura Roth questioned whether the Pedestrian Coalition being added on to the BAC or staying as separate entities would be appropriate for bicycle/pedestrian issues. She suggested that combining the two groups would perhaps take away focus from each groups’ respective issues and could potentially be inefficient when resources are limited. Laura went on saying sidewalks are an essential part of a transportation network and limited support from the community has made it difficult to incite political support for future plans to improve sidewalks. Erin Paden added that most communities have a joint voice when it comes to bicycle/pedestrian issues. Bill Anderson asked whether salaried staff that can coordinate the “voice” of bicycle/pedestrian issues exists. He asked if it was possible to create a group separate from the government that was privately funded. Laura Roth replied saying Lawrence typically relies on City appointed advisory boards to bring change.
Lisa Hallberg added that it helps to have a voice of users of the networks being created and how taking into account the attributes of different users can lead to better planning of a multimodal network. Erin Paden disagreed saying different users’ issues can be coordinated and advocated together, especially for the groups that have no other choice. For example, issues such as land use, roadway types, traffic speed, safety, etc. can be categorized as a single group of related things and discussed together by one advisory committee. Laura Roth added that part of the Complete Streets plan is to change the framework and accountability for engineering. She then changed the conversation back to funding, bringing up the misallocation of funds for recreation promotion. She thought transportation networks needed to be prioritized, focusing on neighborhood collector roads where more pedestrians are likely to be found. Erin Paden replied saying the need for sidewalks is great but shared use paths are important for networks too, bringing up the example of the role that recreation paths have in Colorado transportation networks. Laura Roth then asked the audience who has the right of way on a recreation path? The consensus was that pedestrians have priority and the cyclist should announce their presence.
5. Discussion: Next Steps for Continued Coordination
Eileen Horn brought up the structure of the Douglas County Food Policy Council (FPC) as a potential model for a combined bicycle/pedestrian advisory board. She said conversations occur at commissions where the City appoints representation from local farmers, non-profit organizations, government and commercial representatives etc., and it looks better when those groups come together to coordinate a voice. Lisa Hallberg thought it was a good suggestion to retain individual purpose while having a coordinated voice in a joint council. Laura Roth asked when the FPC was born and Eileen replied saying the FPC was created by the County Commission in 2010 and the City of Lawrence joined shortly after. Eileen went on to say that the FPC consists of 4 subcommittees and because the City appoints specific guaranteed roles in the makeup of the group, there is more credibility. Laura Roth agreed that this was a good model that should be proposed to the City Commission. Mark Hecker noted that independent groups fail but when they work together they usually succeed. Andy Clayton agreed, saying a combined voice for the City Commission would be louder and more effective if points were agreed on by both groups. It was then asked if there was an argument against a combined bicycle/pedestrian committee. Lisa Hallberg was concerned about the perception of losing power as a single group and how the increased workload would be distributed. Marilyn Hall thought that the most impactful strategy as a small/limited group is to convince the City as a whole of the importance of bicycle/pedestrian issues. Bill Anderson added that the BAC should try to avoid being too political, but groups without regulations can work to engage citizens.
Michael Almon added that if the facilities were built, people would come and that the plans and designs implemented for the transportation network tried to facilitate the needs of others whenever possible. Laura Roth said historically City decisions are based on advisory meetings or task forces first than City Commission commitment and that better implementation of Complete Streets would come from better coordination. Lisa Hallberg talked about how commuter cyclists are a small passionate group that is a small percentage of the whole population. However, often times most people that own bikes are silent because they don’t use them for riding to work but mostly for recreation, and those people need to be considered for outreach/engagement as well. Chris Tilden said that the door for a task force that overarched Complete Streets was open. Engagement with the community was again brought up when talking about how Safe Routes to School plans and projects could be used to get support from parents, who are a big portion of the constituent. Laura Roth added that bringing children into the conversation for bicycle/pedestrian safety is good but all abilities and level of mobility such as the elderly and disabled need to be considered as well.
Jessica Mortinger asked if the BAC wanted to submit a formal request to the City and/or County Commission for a taskforce to explore the structure and feasibility of a joint committee. Some disagreed and thought the BAC should just ask for a Complete Streets Committee outright instead of first asking for a taskforce to make a recommendation on the issue. Tim Herndon believed a Complete Streets task force would narrow the scope too much and needs to consider all of the goals LiveWell has for cyclists and pedestrians. Laura Roth thought Complete Streets lacks implementation but is a nice three-ring binder of plans. Tim Herndon asked if the taskforce would only be concerned about Complete Streets or an umbrella that incorporates many different issues, groups, goals etc. Mark Hecker emphasized the need for dedicated funding first and foremost and inquired about funding sources such as a tax increase. Dave Cronin asked about the infrastructure sales tax which included many City projects and how that could affect bicycle/pedestrian goals. Michael Almon thanked all of the City staff who attended for being allies for bicycle/pedestrian issues. He also mentioned the plans for a 30 million dollar new police facility and remembered Bob Schumm suggesting 0.5 million could go towards a “multimodal” network in a joint proposal. Lisa Hallberg established that there was at least consensus that there was a need for a task force to address the better coordination for bicycle and pedestrian planning and implementation. Laura Roth discussed potential dates for the next meeting, saying the pedestrian coalition typically meets on the second Wednesday of every month.
Jessica Mortinger indicated that staff would put together a draft request to be entertained by the BAC at their next meeting. Other groups would be able to sign onto the request or write a letter of support of their own to accompany the BAC request to the City Commission.
6. Public Comments
7. Adjournment of Forum and Announcement of Next Meeting